Would she share the same kind of mental link with Shane? Was it a Sidhe thing or a vampire thing? Dragons didn’t share that sort of mental bond, and Seers… Well, her mother said she’d always known her love would be brief, but the love the Seer held for her fallen mate couldn’t be denied. Akane’s father had been killed by a member of the Black Court a long time ago, leaving his mate and infant daughter to the tender mercies of the Courts. She stared into Jaden’s eyes, that quirky little something that made them such good partners kicking in. “We could just break into his room—”
Jaden began to pace. “Have Red go through his computer files—”
“Sack the place—”
“Maybe even leave a little present for Henri.” Jaden rubbed his hands together gleefully. “Daddy likey.”
“It’s too risky. If Henri or Tristan discover what you’ve done they could move on Ruby before we’re ready, or worse, come up with a completely different plan.”
“Tristan is Glorianna’s agent, I’m almost positive of it.”
Etienne glared at Akane. “I’m not.” He turned to Robin. “I would suggest further investigation into Tristan’s background. Perhaps there’s something there that we can use against him or, even better, Henri.”
Robin hopped off the table, light as a cat. “You do that.” He turned to Jaden. “Are you ready to get back to work, Jaden?”
Jaden cracked his knuckles with an evil laugh.
Robin smiled serenely. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He turned to Akane. “You’ll be working with Jaden on this from here on out.” He patted her cheek, then Jaden’s. “Make me proud, children.”
With that Robin was gone in a swirl of wind and blowing papers.
“Shit.” Jaden sighed, his hands on his hips. “Duncan’s going to be pissed.”
“Over being assigned this job?” Akane reached down and picked up one of the papers Robin had accidentally blown to the floor.
“Nope. He’ll have to go through all that paperwork again.” Jaden scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Oh wait. That was my paperwork. Guess my mate will have to lend me a hand since I have to work for the foreseeable future.”
“Why does Robin place such trust in a vampire?” Etienne was glaring at them both.
Akane almost laughed in his face. “You weren’t there when Clan Blackthorn was formed, were you?”
Etienne shook his head.
Jaden merely smiled, but that echo of Robin’s green light flashed once more through his eyes, there and gone again.
“Jaden shares blood with Robin, confirmed by both Robin and Oberon himself. Robin claims him as blood of his blood.” Where was this animosity was coming from? Etienne was Gray Court; he should have gotten used to the vampires in the Court by now. “That means Robin Goodfellow considers Jaden family.”
Etienne paled. “Ah.” He stood and bowed. “I will get to work gathering the background information we need.”
“Something that should have been done before you two even started. Seriously, Akane, where was your head? Up Shane’s ass?”
She growled at Jaden. “Shut up. My primary objective was to protect Shane. My secondary objective was to fuck with Tristan Malmayne.”
“You might want to discuss that last one with Shane. He might have an objection.”
She let the star in the center of her eye grow, looking for Shane. His incandescent power danced across her senses, warming her. “Two completely different kinds of fucking.” She grinned. “Trust me. I know the difference.”
“Freaky dragon bitch.”
Akane tilted her head. “Remind me some day to tell you how you got Robin’s blood in you.”
Jaden shuddered. “Please don’t.”
They barely acknowledged Etienne leaving the room. “You know?”
“I have…nightmares. Duncan tried to help me see what had happened, but when we were done he was… Gods, he was destroyed, and I still didn’t know for certain what Robin did to me.”
“Meaning Duncan turned around and re-blocked the memory.” It was Akane’s turn to shudder. “Jade, remember when you kidnapped Shane?”
“How could I forget? I still taste Kaitlynn occasionally when I burp. Blech.”
Akane resisted rolling her eyes, barely. “Robin knew you’d taken Shane and, to get you to tell him where Shane was, he hurt you. When he realized you were trying to keep things together until Duncan got home he fixed you the only way he could.”
Jaden nodded. “I kind of figured it was something like that.” He ran his hand through his hair. “What bothers me is that Duncan is having a hard time letting it go. You and I, we know the risks of working for Robin. If he thinks we’ve betrayed him, we’re toast.”
“And you walked that fine line during Shane’s abduction, praying you wouldn’t cross it before it was too late.”
Jaden nodded. “I love Duncan. Watching him suffer sucks. But this is one of the reasons I was worried they’d never accept me. I can’t stop being a Blade, no matter how many times it hurts my bondmates. I can’t let someone else get tortured or die just because Duncan and Moira might worry about me.”
“I think they know that, Jade.” She pointed toward the door, where Jaden’s mates stood. Moira had her arms crossed over her chest, scowling at them both equally. Duncan had his arms around her waist, but his gaze was glued to Jaden’s face.
“Oh goody. It’s lecture time.” Jaden dropped back into his chair and waved his mates into the room. “C’mon in, guys!” He started to tilt his chair back again.
Moira stopped him by dropping into his lap. “Idiot man.”
Jaden pointed to himself. “Me?”
“Yes, you.” Duncan’s fingers buried themselves in Jaden’s dark hair as he perched on the arm of Jaden’s chair. “Of course we’re going to worry, but we’re not going to stop you from being a Blade. Just as we have to put up with your work, you’ll have to learn to live with your family worrying about you.”
Jaden’s cheeks flushed. “I know that. But what happened with Robin could happen again.”
Duncan shivered. “No. It won’t.” He pressed his fingers against Jaden’s lips when the vampire started to protest. “Those were very special circumstances. You were trying to protect me in a strange sort of way. You were afraid killing Kaitlynn would make me hate you, so you played along, hoping I’d get here in time to save you all. Blame my father and Kaitlynn for that mess, not yourself. You kidnapped Shane on their orders, then kidnapped Ruby when you realized there wasn’t anything else you could do to stop them short of revealing you were a Blade. If Kaitlynn or Cullen had figured it out they might have killed you before you could find out what was really going on in the clan.”
“Killing Cullen and Kaitlynn without Robin or Oberon’s consent could have resulted in Jaden not only being stripped of his Knighthood but also his life. So don’t blame Robin either. Killing Kaitlynn on your orders, as head of his clan, was just fine.” Akane shrugged when the trio’s attention turned to her. “Besides, in a strange sort of way, if Robin hadn’t done what he’d done Jaden might not have survived what West did to him.” Another vampire had been working with Duncan’s sister Kaitlynn to take Leo Dunne by force. He’d been promised Jaden’s death in return for doing what Kaitlynn wanted. He might have succeeded if Robin hadn’t already fed Jaden enough blood to change the vampire, making him stronger, faster and a lot less vulnerable.
The arrested expression on Duncan’s face was priceless.
Moira frowned and tapped Jaden’s chin. “I think Shane let Jaden take him.”
Akane stared at Moira. “I think so too.”