“Of course,” he said with a paternal smile. “Take three, and let me know what you decide. I believe this is the room Marcus chose for you?”
“Yes.” It was impossible to smile at him, but she managed to keep her expression neutral as she walked into the room. Every instinct in her body raged against the idea of turning her back on him, but she struggled to suppress them. Calm. Docile. Subdued. In all likelihood, Charles already knew she planned to escape, but she couldn’t sit and wait for him to strip her of her free will.
“Mackenzie?”
She took a deep breath before turning to face him, her expression as blank as she could make it.
His own face was serene. “I’m only as heartless as I have to be. Remember that.” He closed the door behind him, and she could hear his quiet footfalls taking him down the hall, away from her.
Mackenzie rested her forehead against the door as she listened to the hushed sounds of the house around her. She was almost positive escape would be impossible. Charles was too smart, too determined, to have failed to cover every eventuality. If she was lucky, he’d find her attempt to leave amusing. If she wasn’t…
She had no idea what the extent of an empath’s powers were, but she had no doubt Charles could find someone to rewrite her feelings, maybe even her entire personality. If he thought she was going to be too much trouble he’d do it tonight, before Marcus even returned.
So I try. And maybe—just maybe—luck would be with her for once.
Chapter 18
Jackson watched a small motorboat make its way across the lake and grumbled under his breath. The place was beautiful, the scenery breathtaking…and he was ready to explode.
The three days since they’d arrived in New Hampshire had been filled with activity. He, Mahalia and Michelle had been focused on pooling their efforts to create the talismans that would allow them access to Talbot’s compound, and the shifters had occupied themselves with planning the more mundane details of the assault.
And it would be an assault. That was unavoidable. His body hummed with adrenaline at the thought, and he tamped it down. He was getting restless, edgy, and that would do no one any good.
Least of all Mackenzie.
Jackson closed his eyes and slapped his hand on the cedar picnic table.
Next to him, Alec huffed in annoyance. “Is that helping? Beating up the furniture, I mean. Not sure I’m getting the tactical value.”
“Shut up,” he snarled, glaring over at him. “I don’t recall asking your opinion.”
“Too bad. You’re getting it anyway.”
Jackson laughed, a short, humorless sound. “By all means, wise old sage, impart some wisdom. You’re going to whether I like it or not.”
His partner leaned back and grinned at him. “Damn straight I am. I think you should go run laps around the cabin until you’re too fucking tired to sit here and fidget like Kat on a caffeine binge.”
He cocked an eyebrow at Alec. “Is this an army thing? I’m a little nervous, so I have to do laps?”
“A little nervous?” Alec snorted. “Yeah, Jackson. Keep telling yourself that.”
Jackson’s hands itched. In the last five years, he and Alec had had a normal friendship, with the accompanying ups and downs. They’d laughed together, but they’d also beaten each other’s asses, and it was looking like today was going to be a case of the latter rather than the former. “Keep pickin’ at me, Jacobson, and I’ll smack you down. I’m not in the mood.”
Alec rose with enviable grace, the lazy grin still curling his lips. “Sure, if trying to land a punch on me will help, go right ahead.”
The cabin’s back door opened, and Mahalia stepped onto the porch with a steaming cup of coffee. She surveyed the scene in the yard. “Oh, Lord. Peyton!” she bellowed into the kitchen.
Nick appeared a moment later, looking a good bit less polished than Mahalia and stifling a yawn. “What—oh. Are they going to throw down?”
Jackson scowled and pointed his finger at her. “Stay out of this, Nicky.”
Nick merely laughed and leaned over the porch railing. “Kick his ass, Jackson. You can do it.”
Mahalia was less amused. “I was going to say, ‘Damn fool men,’ but you’re not much better, Nicole. You might even be worse.”
Jackson turned his attention back to Alec. “Let’s get one thing straight. I won’t be trying to hit you. I’ll be moppin’ the floor with your ass.”
“Uh-huh.” Alec swung his arms back and forth to loosen up. “What about you, Mahalia? Who are you laying your money on?”
She gave him a dark look. “I’m laying it on myself, Alexander, because when you two are finished acting like babies, I’m going to whoop both of y’all’s asses.”
Nick’s mug thumped on the railing. “No unfair advantages, Alec.”
Jackson shot her a disgusted look. “Nick.” His ego was already taking a beating, and they hadn’t thrown the first punch.
“What?” she asked innocently. “You’re not going to zap him, so he can’t get all Dark Warrior of the Night on you.”
Alec laughed with infuriating amusement. “Fair enough. We can both play nice.”
The door opened again. Michelle came out, as perfectly put together as Mahalia, and her gaze went from Alec to Jackson before jumping to her sister. “Are they going to—?”
“Fight?” Nick nodded and sipped her coffee. “I’ve got twenty bucks on Jackson.”
Mahalia looked sheepish. “Fifty on Alec. But I believe in fairness above all…” She closed her eyes and whispered something Jackson couldn’t hear.
A tingle of magic rushed through him, and he drew in a sharp breath. The world suddenly seemed slower, brighter, more intense. He could hear his own heart, as well as the leisurely beat of Alec’s. “May…”
“Now, when Alec pummels you, I’ll have won fair and square. You’ve got all the strength and speed of a shifter for about fifteen minutes, Jack.”
Nick hooted with laughter. “You’re on. Fifty bucks.” She nudged Michelle. “You want in on the action?”
“Fifty on Aaron,” Michelle replied before turning to look back into the house. Her quiet voice should have been too soft for him to understand, but with magic coursing through his veins, her words were clear. “Can I bet on you?”
Jackson heard a low chuckle as the bodyguard stepped through the doorway, his fingers sliding briefly against Michelle’s arm. The hulking man approached them, his short red hair blowing lightly in the breeze as he grinned. “If you don’t let me play, she’ll pout for months. You ever seen a Peyton pout? It’s horrible.”
“I see it all the time, buddy,” Jackson commiserated as he rolled up his sleeves. “It ain’t pretty.”
Nick pouted at Mahalia. “Is it too late for me to put my money on Alec?”
But Mahalia paid her no mind. “How do we want to do this? Flip a coin, third guy fights the winner? Or are y’all just going to brawl?”
Jackson stretched his shoulders and considered the question. “I just want to hit someone. I don’t care if it’s in a clean, organized fight or a dog pile.”
“Well, then.” Alec swung a punch at Aaron’s head.
“Hey!” Jackson rushed Alec and caught him with a shoulder in the stomach as Aaron recovered and threw a retaliatory punch at Alec. It hit Jackson instead, knocking him dizzy.
The fight soon dissolved into a blur of swinging fists, laughter, grunts, and the occasional muttered curse. Jackson could hear Nick cheering him on and whooping as he landed a hard punch to Alec’s midsection and caught another glancing blow from Aaron.
The back door of the cabin opened and closed, and a whistle pierced the air. Jackson elbowed Aaron one last time and looked up, panting.
Steven stood on the porch, looking stern. “Boys.”
Even doubled over and breathing hard from the solid punch Aaron had landed in his stomach, Alec managed a cocky grin. “Jackson needed to blow off some steam.”