“Yeah, I get it. Say no more. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but…” She opened the cooler and took out a packet of blood.
“I know you’re sorry. Jade, you don’t have to keep apologizing. Really. I just wish Raven had shared with me what she was doing… That she changed you.”
Jade sighed. “She wanted to. It was really hard for her to keep it secret. From you. Damn, she scared the shit out of me! She loves you so much. You’re a lucky guy. I got the inside scoop from Raven when she shared her blood. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for you. It’s really intense, the way she feels about you. And it has a timeless quality, her love for you has no beginning or ending.” She was quiet a minute. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you all this. Oh, well. Pretend I didn’t say anything.”
Bo clenched his jaw, the nervous energy building inside. The images from his dream still haunted him. Frustration swallowed him. “Look, I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but it truly is not working. Drink the blood and see if you can feel her.”
Jade looked perplexed as she fumbled with the pack of blood. “How exactly do I do this?”
“There’s a round cut-out on the top. Pop it out and put the straw in-and drink.”
She followed his directions and began drinking.
“Do you know the only reason she didn’t marry you sooner is because she knew your family wanted you to pair off with Bethany?”
“What?” The carnal lust rose within. Raven was his. It didn’t matter who approved or disapproved.
Jade smacked her lips together. “Yeah, she worried about you and how your family would feel if you got married. Raven knows your grandfather loves her, but your mother…is a different story.”
Bo didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. It was true Bo’s grandfather loved Raven, but his daughter wanted Bethany for a daughter-in-law. However, her son was stubborn, and he told his mother in no uncertain terms that Raven would be his wife someday, or he would remain a bachelor. Over time, Bo’s mother came to accept Raven. Not that it mattered.
“She also worries when you go off with the pack, that you’re-how do I say this?-mating with Bethany. And that you either don’t recall or won’t tell her. As secure as Raven is-with you-she is very insecure about Bethany.” Again she was silent. “You have to not let me talk anymore. I’m revealing all Raven’s insecurities. Not good.”
“That’s ridiculous. She knows I don’t get amnesia. Gods. I told her I remember everything that I do when I change, and I don’t ‘mate’ with anyone. Raven is mine.” He was going to remind her that wolves mate for life, but that was old news.
Jade took in a deep breath. “Well, apparently, a while back Bethany told Raven she was pregnant with your-cub? Baby? How does that work?” she asked between sips. “Hey, is this flavored?”
Bo narrowed his gaze at Jade, smirking. “Shit-very funny, Jade. A baby, not a cub. Gods, I guess your father didn’t teach you everything. And yeah, it’s flavored. What’d you get-strawberry?”
“Cranberry and…tastes peachy.”
“Oh, that’s a new one Tracy came up with.”
Jade returned to the topic at hand. “So, you never had sex with Bethany?
Bo looked over at the young woman sipping cranberry-peach type O blood. “I did in the past, but that was a long time ago.”
“You two are lucky to have each other. Raven and you, I mean.”
He knew that all too well. Why had he let all those years go by without claiming her? The love he felt for Raven was unlike any other emotion he’d ever experienced. It consumed him like fire. In the beginning he told himself he was still young and had plenty of years to settle down. He always assumed Raven would be there for him. Yes, his mother pushed him incessantly to pursue a relationship with Bethany, but his heart was never truly in it.
It was always Raven he wanted.
“Bo, your hands are white. Relax.” Jade broke the spell he was under. Thoughts of Raven inundated him. He gazed down at his hands. His knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel.
Clearly, it was time for a subject change. “We’re not too far from Port-au-Prince -a two hour plane ride.”
Jade watched as the palm trees began swaying in the breeze. The winds were picking up, and the rain was coming down in sheets. “He wouldn’t take her there. If I know my father-and I do-he won’t take her to Haiti. He wouldn’t want to risk infecting the people there.”
Bo shook his head at the irony. “What a humanitarian.”
Jade drank in silence.
He scratched at his head, confusion plaguing him. “I don’t get it. Sol said she’s not on the mainland, yet I feel her.”
Bo pulled over to the side of the road, got out of the vehicle and put his nose up in the air. The winds whipped his hair straight out behind him. He gazed over at Jade who stared at him through the car window. From the expression on her face, he assumed he must have looked like a crazed native Aztec god. Within no time, he was soaked to his skin from the rain. His felt the burn in his eyes indicating they’d turned golden, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he tuned in to his mate.
Jade sat back with her eyes closed and concentrated on her sister. Raven had not taught Jade the fine art of using her Lamai senses. Everything had happened too fast with just the basic changes in DNA, although the transformation was a slower process due to the immediate blood transfusion. And Laroque had taken Jade before Raven had a chance to teach her anything.
Bo returned to the car. “Anything?”
Jade said, “This is all new to me. I’ll do the best I can. Maybe if I focus on the blood memories of my sister, it will work.”
Her main point of concentration became her beating heart. “The thumping in my head is beating out a solitary rhythm. No, wait-it’s split into two beats,” she whispered. “One loud and persistent, the other farther away.”
Jade got out of the vehicle. “I feel her!” she yelled over the winds. “It’s faint, but I feel her heart beating.” She wiped the rain from her face.
Bo couldn’t get past his own racing heartbeat. He got out of the car. “Where is she?”
She looked over at Bo. “Hey, your eyes are changing color. They’re gold. Are you going to get all snarly on me?”
“No. Concentrate.”
Jade seemed to be listening to the two hearts beating. “I’m turned to the east; no change. Now to the north, it’s faded slightly. Wait, the thumping’s getting louder. What about any islands off the coast, to the south-the Keys? Technically they’re not part of the mainland, so Solaris would be right-and yet they are.” She strained, raising her voice over the growing winds.
“That may be it. Let’s get to a rest stop and find a map.” Bo gazed up at the darkening sky. He had to get to the Keys before the storm hit and the authorities closed down the bridges.
“Shit!” Raven grasped her hair and gave a tug in frustration.
“Ma’am, is everything all right?” Mick asked.
After a few hours, Raven had given up trying to convince Mick to call her Doc, or any other name, for that matter. He was a gentleman, and that was just the way he spoke. His mother raised him to be respectful of women and men. They were ma’am and sir, end of story.
Raven tapped her fingers on the table. Nothing was going right. That was the understatement of the year. She was having a difficult time getting a handle on the virus. This was not her area of expertise. “No! This virus has me baffled. I want to try to introduce some of your blood into this soup. Maybe you built up anti-viruses within your Lamai DNA, and I can add it to the human DNA without somehow changing species.”
Mick cleared his throat. “Wouldn’t it be better to use the blood from the fae? Their DNA is closer to that of a human. I have a little experience with this. I studied pathogens a few years ago. Nothing beyond a level one.” In the world of bio-safety, level one referred to agents that don’t normally cause diseases in humans.