or former AMT prisoners. Jaxton had briefly considered sending his brother there before deciding to take on the job himself.
Neena jumped up from her perch on the windowsill and strutted to the other side of the room, near the door. Her smile disappeared, her features more serious than he’d ever seen before.
The sight made him nervous.
“The Four Talents must be found,” she whispered, “and quickly.”
“Pardon?” A Talent was a first-born with extraordinary powers, but they were nothing more than a legend amongst the Feiru, and even then, they only emerged to help with some great oncoming catastrophe.
Neena’s smile reappeared before she peeked her head out the door, into the hall. “Kiarra is only the first of your guests to arrive. You’ll soon have a full house.” She glanced back at Jaxton with a stern look that failed to scold. “Don’t let Marco turn this place into the Animal House of DEFEND safe houses. I like fun as much as the next person, but let’s take care of business first.”
She was trying to change the topic, and while he had little hope of steering Neena back on course, he was going to try. “Neena, let’s go back to the bit about the Four Talents. Are the legends true?”
Neena ignored him and motioned with her hands.
Kiarra stepped into the room.
Neena wrapped an arm around Kiarra’s shoulders, and Kiarra tensed before easing into Neena’s touch. Either Neena was using her healing elemental wind to soothe the other woman or Kiarra was progressing faster than he would’ve guessed.
“So, Kiarra,” Neena said, “have you made your decision?”
What decision? Jaxton was not doing well with finding out information today.
Kiarra eyed Neena’s hand on her arm. “Will I be able to stay with you?”
Neena patted Kiarra’s shoulder. “I’ll take that as a yes. But as lovely as my company is, I’m a bit slammed for time right now.” She gestured toward Jaxton. “Buzzkill Jaxy here is going to train you. Let me know right away if he does anything rude or naughty.”
Kiarra blinked. “Naughty?”
Neena gave Jaxton a sly glance. “He may not be able to control himself around such a beautiful woman.”
“Neena,” Jaxton growled in warning.
Neena laughed and blew him a kiss. “No worries, Kiarra. I wouldn’t leave you with someone dangerous, although I think a little danger makes life interesting.” Neena moved her gaze to Jaxton. “Of course, others just need a kick in the posterior once in a while to keep them in check.”
Ignoring Neena, Jaxton looked Kiarra straight in the eye and motioned forward. He could only imagine what she thought of him now.
She hesitated, but after Neena gave her a gentle push, she came a little closer. The unsure woman now in front of him was the exact opposite of the woman who’d stabbed him. There was strength in there somewhere and he would have to extract it the only way he knew how—by pushing her boundaries.
Jaxton put out his hand. “We’ll start training tomorrow morning.”
Chapter Five
The room swayed back and forth as Kiarra struggled to stay upright and focus on what Neena and Jaxton were saying to each other. Between shaking off the aftereffects of the tranquilizer, her lack of food, and an overload of new information, Kiarra was exhausted.
She’d contemplated sitting down on the nearby bed, but then Neena had given her a push and now Kiarra stood in front of Jaxton, his hand out, telling her they’d start training tomorrow.
Taking his hand would make things easy. Yet due to her exhaustion—or maybe fueled by her newfound hope, Kiarra didn’t know—but she ignored his proffered hand and blinked to bring his face back into focus. “I haven’t agreed to stay with—let alone work with—you yet.”
He retracted his hand. “It’s not open for discussion. I’ll train you, and when you’re ready, you’ll work for DEFEND. Think of it as the price for rescuing you from the AMT.”
So bossy. “I never asked you to rescue me…” She paused as the room started to spin. Kiarra closed her eyes, hoping that the lightheadedness would pass.
Lights danced across the inside of her eyelids. She took a deep breath, smelling a familiar combination of soap and clean male, but the dizziness didn’t go away. She knew what was coming. This had happened before, a few months ago, after a grueling three days of medical tests.
She was going to faint.
Kiarra opened her eyes, but ignored Jaxton’s outstretched arms and tried to take a step toward the bed. If she could just sit down a minute and put her head between her legs, she could regain her composure and avoid showing any more weakness in front of Jaxton and Neena. For some reason, she wanted to show them that she could be strong if she tried hard enough.