He began pulling out his skillets and bowls to make omelets. “I saw Ian come through the wall. Actually come through it. It was like something out of a movie. I could see it took a toll on him. It wasn’t easy and he had to go through without clothing. One arm appeared to be very twisted and misshapen. He sat on the floor for nearly an hour, shaking. It was stupid of him to do it without someone watching over him.”
He knew his tone was perfect. No anxiety whatsoever. His expression was the same, completely deadpan. Unreadable. With anyone else, it would have worked, but Camellia was so connected to him, she saw inside his head. She knew Ian had terrified him with what he was doing.
“Did you confront him?”
Jonas pulled open the door to the refrigerator so he wouldn’t have to look at her. “That was my first thought. I realized after I got over my initial shock that he was just like the rest of us. He was practicing in what he considered a safe place without anyone around in order to perfect a new ability he’d discovered. He didn’t want anyone knowing until he could control it.”
He pulled out the ingredients he needed for the omelets. “You can choose what you want in yours, and I’ll throw it together.”
“But it was so dangerous, Jonas.”
He nodded. “Yeah. I did take precautions. I made a point of trying to track his movements more closely. That way, I’d know if he was on his way here. I also put in a silent alarm so I’d know when he was trying his skills if I missed him before he got here. When I was leaving for a few days, I wasn’t too worried because we’d be a few men down, and he’d have too many assignments to use the opportunity to get into the greenhouse.”
Camellia tilted her head to look up at him. “You always think the worst of yourself, but just the fact that you were so careful of Ian’s feelings and gave him the room to practice his skills in a relatively safe environment while you looked after him shows what kind of man you are.”
“Since I’ve decided I want you to always see me as heroic and wonderful, I’ll let you think that.” He sent her a quick grin. “Although if I’m being strictly truthful with you, my actions fall under my need to protect family, which Ian is to me.”
She watched as he chopped vegetables, the knife flashing fast as he made short work of the variety she’d indicated she liked.
“You really are fast with that thing.” She seemed fascinated. “I can barely see the blade.”
He lifted the knife and indicated the target on the wall across the room. “Sometimes I get distracted.”
Camellia made her way across the room to look up at the target. “Um, Jonas, it looks to me as if you never hit anywhere but the exact center.”
“That’s the idea.”
“That’s no fun. In fact, I would say it’s far too easy if you’re always hitting the same exact spot. Muscle memory and all that sort of thing.” There was a hint of challenge in her voice.
He looked up from where he was pouring the eggs into an omelet pan. “What does that mean?” Her eyes were sparkling with mischief, and his belly reacted, doing a hard clench and then a long drop. She got to him every single time.
She shrugged. “Just that it seems like it might be easy to hit the exact same place on the target if you’re always aiming for it every time you’re in the kitchen. That omelet looks delicious.”
“You’re changing the subject on purpose.”
Her laughter was inviting as she wandered over to the bay of windows and looked out. “You have more shrubs out here as well, Jonas. They’re growing right under the window.”
He glanced out the window and frowned. He’d never planted any landscaping, no flowers or shrubbery. He’d wanted the ground clean so he could see enemies coming at him. But she was right, there were plants growing up just outside the bank of kitchen windows. They weren’t small either. It appeared they’d been growing for some time.
He pushed her omelet onto a plate and flipped his, which was cooking in a separate pan. “I think maybe someone in the team, most likely Ian, is playing a prank on me. I was here before I left to go up the mountain only a few days ago, looking right out these very same windows, and there were no shrubs. If there were, they were barely peeking through the soil, not even enough for me to notice them.”
“Mmm. That must be it.” Camellia collected her plate and silverware and sat down at the table. While he finished cooking his omelet, she stared out the window at the glossy leaves. A tiny smile curled the edges of her mouth. “They are beautiful, aren’t they? Look at all the buds on them.”