Chapter Twenty
They stayed another night in Maysville, much to Connie’s delight. Jade thought she was a warm and wonderful woman, and she obviously loved her son very much. Sebastian was incredibly lucky to have a strong and loving mother. He, of course, adored her and she was happy to see this other side of him. The three of them had a quiet dinner at home, then went to bed early.
The next morning, they flew back to New York. Connie promised to visit them soon, hinting that she’d love to see Jade again. The older woman didn’t prod either of them about their relationship, and for that, Jade was grateful. She wasn’t sure herself what they were, and Sebastian made no indication if he thought they were in a relationship or not. She supposed they were lovers or friends-with-benefits, but whatever was between them seemed much more than that. It frustrated her keen, scientific mind, as its instinct was to put labels on things, arrange them neatly in little boxes. But her emotions refused to be categorized or organized. The cyclical arguments led nowhere, so she just decided to ignore them for now.
After they touched down, Sebastian brought her home. She thought he was dropping her off, but he marched her up to her apartment, unloaded all her dirty clothes from her carry-on, and ordered her to pack—they were going to spend the night at his place. Normally, the caveman act would have turned her off, but on him it was sexy. And she spent the rest of the night showing him exactly how turned on she was.
Jade showed up to work the next day, feeling surprisingly refreshed. The lab on the 33rd floor was much quieter without Meredith and Lara, not that there was much activity in there these days. She had hit a wall in her research. She’d read all the texts twice, backwards and forwards, and even ran various translation programs to try and decipher what they meant. There was only way to discover how the mages were controlling humans, and that was to talk to someone with direct knowledge on the subject. That meant she had to talk to Daric.
She decided to go and see the warlock and try to get him to help her with the texts. The warlock was probably not going to cooperate, but she could try. She took a printout of the text she needed to ask him about and headed to the basement level under the pretense of checking on the newer version of the power dampening bracelet.
“Hi Meredith,” she greeted the Lycan, who was standing outside the metal door that led to Daric’s cell.
“Jade!” the other woman cried. “Have you come here to save me?”
“What’s wrong?” Jade frowned. “Did Daric hurt you?”
“You mean Hobo Jesus?”
Jade laughed at her descriptive moniker for Daric. He did very much look like a hobo with his long hair and beard.
“I mean,” Meredith continued. “Save me from boredom! Do you think you can bring me my princess chair here?”
Jade laughed and patted her friend on the shoulder. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Meredith’s brows drew together. “Say…did you do something different?” She grabbed a lock of her hair and sniffed it. “New shampoo? Or face cream? Girl, you’re seriously glowing.”
She swatted her off. “I’m not…I mean…” God, what should she say? “I’ll tell you later, okay?”
“Fine,” Meredith said. “Now, what are you doing here?”
“I have to check on the bracelet, make sure it’s working. I cleared it with the Beta,” she lied, mentally crossed her fingers.
“All righty.” Meredith punched a code into the door and pressed her palm on the sensor.
“Has he said anything at all?”
The blonde Lycan shook her head. “Hasn’t said a word since the last time you were here.”
Jade waited for the door to open and then stepped inside, Meredith standing just behind her. Nothing much had changed since her last visit. Daric sat in the same spot on his bed, his eyes fixed on the wall.
“Daric,” she called softly.
He gave her an acknowledging nod. “Doctor. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“I want to make sure the bracelet is working.”
“Oh, it’s working,” he sneered, raising his hand. “I’m still here, aren’t I? But what else?” Haunted blue-green eyes stared at her.
It was as if he saw through her, and it sent chills down Jade’s spine. “I want to ask you something.”
“You can ask. Doesn’t mean I will answer.”
She took a deep breath and came closer to him, unfolding the piece of paper she had tucked away in the back pocket of her jeans. “Here. This text. It refers to a source.”
He looked at the text and made a motion to grab the paper, but instead, brushed his hands over hers.
Jade quickly jerked away from him, but his large hands held on to hers. His touch was like a hot poker, sending raw power through her. A snarl came from somewhere deep in her chest.
Protect…must…protect.
She whipped her head around. Who said that?
“Keep your hands to yourself, warlock,” Meredith warned.
“The Doctor asked me to read some interesting texts she brought,” he stated, drawing his hands back.
“You don’t need to read with your hands, yeah?” Meredith shot back. She then looked at Jade. “What’s going on? You said you just needed to look at the bracelet.”
“Meredith, please,” Jade said.
Daric’s blue-green eyes zeroed in on Jade. “Seems like you didn’t heed my advice, Doctor.”
“Advice?” Jade asked. “Will you tell me what this means? What’s the source?”
“It doesn’t matter now,” the warlock said. “When Stefan finds out, he will take you and use you to control the monster.”
“The what?”
“Dr. Cross!” Nick’s sharp tone cut through the air. “What are you doing?”
Jade shot to her feet, scrambling away from Daric. “Mr. Vrost…I was just…checking on the bracelet.”
“You need to consult me before you come in here,” Nick reprimanded. “What if you had gotten hurt? Meredith, I told you no one was to come in here without my express permission.”
“Sorry, Mr. Vrost,” Meredith said, then shot Jade a glare.
Nick rubbed his forehead with his palm. “All right, well, Miller is outside, ready to relieve you,” he said to Meredith. “Go and take your break.”
“Yes, Mr. Vrost,” Meredith nodded. She grabbed Jade by the arm and tugged her out of the room. “You owe me, girly,” she hissed. “Whatever you have to tell me better be juicy.”
Jade sighed. “Let’s go get some lemon curd muffins.” She hoped she wouldn’t regret telling Meredith about her and Sebastian.