Blaze of Secrets (Asylums for Magical Threats 1)

She didn’t know how he’d acted back then, before Garrett’s capture. Jaxton had spent all of his efforts on investing his family’s money, thinking more money would mean more happiness. Only after Garrett had been locked inside the AMT had Jaxton realized that he’d been a fool and taken the importance of family for granted.

Not even his sister Millie knew about Jaxton’s selfish actions before Garrett’s capture—she had been quite young and sheltered.

He’d had enough of talking about his past and decided to change the subject. “Where did you learn to swear?”

He stole a glance and saw Kiarra’s raised chin. “Why is it such a big deal? You swear.”

“Yes, but I wasn’t locked away when I was thirteen years old.”

She removed her hand from his leg and crossed her arms over her chest. “Between my guards and my researcher, I could make your ears bleed with what I learned.”

Her researcher. Jaxton gripped the steering wheel again at the image of Kiarra being used as a test subject, little different from a rat or mouse.

Kiarra fidgeted in her seat for a good ten seconds before she blurted out, “Why did you rescue me from the AMT?”

Usually he would just tell her that it’d been an order, but for some reason, he wanted to tell her the whole truth. Maybe knowing she’d been part of a bargain would help put distance back between them. That would make his work in Edinburgh easier. “Neena would only tell me the location of my brother if I agreed to rescue one other inmate.” He glanced over. “That was you.”

Kiarra’s brow furrowed. “Why would she want me?”

Because you’re a Fire Talent. But they’d gone down that road before. “You’ll just have to ask her.”

Kiarra crossed her arms over her chest. “Ask Neena this, ask Neena that. The woman needs to learn how to delegate. What if something happened to her?”

The corner of his mouth twitched and he was about to tell Kiarra that she try and suggest that the next time she saw Neena, but as he checked the rearview mirror out of habit, he realized that the rest of this conversation would have to wait. “Hold on tight. We’re being followed and I’m going to try and lose them.”

Jaxton

swerved onto the motorway exit at the last possible moment, earning a few honks in the process.

A dark blue SUV had been tailing them for the last hour, shadowing every movement, and were either bloody awful or assumed Jaxton wouldn’t know how to spot a tail. He hadn’t wanted to alarm the SUV too early, so he’d been keeping an eye on it. But not only had he seen the glint of a gun in the rearview mirror, they had just entered Seattle, where he could easily hide in a parking garage and contact Amma. The tricky part would be losing the tail; Garrett would not be easy to move.

Seattle was full of one-way streets, which irritated the hell out of Jaxton. It took so damn long to get to another turn, but he soon reached the Seattle Center and turned back around, heading south. He finally turned down the right street and parked in a garage on Spring Street.

Kiarra turned and looked out the back window. “Do you think they’ll find us?”

“Possibly.” Jaxton took out a brand new prepaid phone and waited for it to turn on. “Amma will have to meet us here, and we’ll hop on the Amtrak to Vancouver, getting off and back on along the way until we reach Squamish Airport in BC.”

“How do you know the area so well? Your accent isn’t even American.”

Jaxton wished the bloody phone would turn on quicker. “My mother is American.” The phone had one bar, so he dialed Amma’s number. “I’ve been here before, and even if I hadn’t, I always scout the location where I’ll be working.”

Amma finally answered and Jaxton quickly explained the new plan. He pushed the end button on the phone and turned toward the back seat, for once grateful that Garrett was still unconscious.

“He’ll be all right,” Kiarra said and Jaxton turned to face her, “I’m sure he’ll forgive you later.”

Jaxton kept silent and pulled out his Glock. He noticed Kiarra pull out her own small gun. “Where the hell did you get that?”

“Cam gave it to me. She gave me some lessons.”

Jaxton shook his head. “Just don’t shoot yourself in the foot. Or anyone else, for that matter, unless they’re trying to kill you.” He unlocked the doors. “I’m going to check out the area. Stay in the car and use the gun as a last resort. The on-duty car park staff works with DEFEND, but he can only do so much tinkering with the security feeds.”

“You’re going to trust me with your brother?”

“I don’t have a choice, so don’t fuck up.”

Adrenaline filled Kiarra with a sense of bravado. For the first time in her adult life, someone was relying on her. She had a task.

Once Jaxton was gone, Kiarra eased out of the car, crouched down, and inched her way to the rear of the vehicle. Maybe she was being overly dramatic, but she couldn’t stay in the car. She’d be trapped if anyone attacked.