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She was happy for Skye, really, yet it was bittersweet. She couldn’t lie to herself. The woman had found something she’d never be able to claim—true love and everything that went with it. To have a man look at you with such raw need was something she could only imagine.
The problem with imagining such things was that it led to hope. Her gaze strayed to Julian once more. They belonged to each other, yet it was a divide that could never be crossed. Hope and Julian Castille shouldn’t be in the same sentence.
“Damn, Jaden, you’ve got quite the entourage.”
“Yeah,” she answered, “not what you expected I suppose.”
Skye’s eyes regarded her closely, and Jaden shifted beneath the intensity of her gaze. “Julian Castille, back from the dead. Who would have thought?” The eagle shifter frowned and lowered her voice. “What’s wrong with him? He seems . . . strange.”
Jaden’s heart constricted painfully as she studied him. He stood to the side, his back to everyone. Cold. Aloof . . . and so very alone.
“Can he be trusted?”
Skye frowned, and though Jaden sensed concern, the question did nothing but raise her hackles.
Can he be trusted? How could she ask such a thing? What gave Skye the right to question his integrity, his honor. It burned her ass big time
to hear it.
None of them knew what he’d been through; hell, she could only guess.
“What kind of question is that?” Jaden’s voice was sharp, and she bared her teeth as she turned on the eagle shifter. “Of course he can be trusted.”
“He’s not the same. His energy is dark, and it’s strong.”
Jaden’s temper flared, and she clenched her hands so tightly she felt her nails rip through skin. “Of course he’s not the same. How can he be? He just spent the last six months being tortured. In hell. You try a vacation like that and see if you come home with an attitude that’s all sunshine and full of happy.”
Skye took a step back. “Hey, I don’t mean any disrespect. Trust me, I know a little about what went on down there. When I first woke up after the explosion, I had images in my mind that even now creep me out.” Skye’s eyes were wide, and Jaden knew she was speaking from the heart. “Of Julian and Declan and where they were. I get that he went through hell, but something is definitely wrong with him. Even little Logan can see that.”
Jaden remained silent, aware that they were attracting attention.
“I just need to know if we can trust him. There are a lot of lives at stake, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure what’s mine is protected.”
The subtle challenge was thrown down, and Jaden’s back bristled at her tone.
“You mean Jagger.” She could barely get the words out as her jaw was clenched so tightly together.
“Yes, among other things.” Skye arched an eyebrow and cocked her head. “It’s interesting to me, the change in your attitude. I thought you hated Julian. If I recall correctly, you told me he was an asshole.”
“He is,” she retorted quickly.
He’s my asshole. The thought whispered through her mind, and she stilled, her body and mind freezing as a realization hit her like a Mack truck going one hundred miles an hour.
Her eyes found him once more, and she drank in his profile, the stubborn bent to his chin and the lips that had haunted her for years.
Her world was a chaotic mess, with nothing to look forward to other than a looming battle of epic proportions that might save humanity . . . or might not. And yet she felt a glimmer of hope nestled in there somewhere. A small ray of light. She thought that maybe there could be redemption, that Julian might somehow find his salvation.
She licked her dry lips and looked away from him. The man had caused her all kinds of pain and given her untold pleasure. Their families hated each other. But he was her mate, and with that came a bond that was not so easily cast aside. She wanted him to have a future even if she was not in it.
“You coming?” Jagger held the door open.
Both women turned toward the shifter. The others had already disappeared, and she followed Skye, noticing the way the eagle shifter’s hands caressed the tall jaguar as she walked by. She nodded to Jagger and disappeared through the doors.
She found herself in a smallish foyer with two large guards standing by what she assumed were elevator doors. Both were otherworld and looked mean as hell. The doors slid open, and she slipped in behind Skye, with Jagger not far on her heels.
He moved around her, and the low, muted tones of the other two grated on her nerves as the lift descended rapidly. Their intimacy and obvious love for each other was sweet, but she was not in the mood to be around it. Too much sugar made her ill.
As soon as the lift doors opened, she bolted and stepped into a shiny, modern world that would make the geekiest techno wizard take notice. The main hub for intel was staffed by seven operatives, all of them busy tapping away on their computers while overhead flatscreens kept them abreast of the latest developments.
