Savage Awakening (Alpha Pack #2)(15)

"Oh, sweetie," Kira breathed, hugging him tight. "You've got to stop blaming yourself. Aric's being taken was Chappell's doing, not yours."

Confused, Rowan waited for someone to enlighten her. Zan obliged.

"Jaxon's gift, other than his wolf, of course, is that he's a Timebender. He can literally bend time backward, but by no more than a few minutes. A few weeks ago on a rescue op, Kira was killed and-"

"No offense, but she's looking pretty good to me," Rowan interrupted, studying the other woman.

Zan continued while Jaxon stared at his plate. "That's because Jax bent time back and saved her. But that caused Aric to be taken prisoner by Chappell's minions instead."

"Uh-huh." Her cop's brain balked at this one. She pinned Jaxon with a steely look that had made many a suspect squirm. "Show me."

"What?"

She waved a hand. "If you can bend time, show me. Back up to when I walked in with the angel here."

"Fae," Sariel corrected.

"Whatever."

Jax gave a wry chuckle. "I can't. Wouldn't do any good."

"Why not?"

"Because you wouldn't remember if I did. How do you know I didn't perform it already, and we're simply repeating the same conversation?"

She stared at him a few seconds, trying to process this, then snorted. "Damn, what a mindf*ck." The men laughed, and she supposed the joke was on her. Undaunted, however, and determined to get some sort of proof of these gifts Nick told her about, she addressed Zan. "So what's your talent? Bet you can't prove it, either."

"I'm a Healer," he said, arching a black brow. "And actually, I can. Ryon, give me your hand."

The blond held it out. "Man, just don't leave a scar."

Zan turned his friend's hand palm up, then reached into his pants, extracting a pocketknife. "This will make a cleaner cut than the steak knife."

Rowan's eyes widened. "Wait a minute. I didn't mean-"

"Just watch." With a grin, Zan flipped open the blade. Quickly, he made a swipe across Ryon's palm. A thin line oozed red, but not too badly. "Do you see that? His hand is bleeding, right?"

"It is," she agreed. "I think you're both crazy."

Without answering, Zan laid his palm on top of Ryon's, aligning their fingers.

"Um, guys, that's a good way to pass HIV or hepatitis," she warned. Her cruiser was stocked with latex gloves in case she ran across someone with blood on them while on duty, which happened more often than one might think. Blood-borne illnesses were always a concern in her line of work.

Ryon winked. "It would be, if we were still able to catch human diseases."

Before she could respond to that nonsense, Zan lifted his hand, turning it so she could see their palms.

"Now you both have blood on you. So?"

Zan took his cloth napkin and dipped it into a nearby water glass. Then he used the napkin to wipe Ryon's palm clean and held the man's hand closer to her. "Care to inspect it?"

Leaning over, she peered hard at the skin. His perfectly unmarred skin. She grabbed Ryon's wrist and rubbed his palm with the pads of her fingers. No mark at all!

"I'll be damned!" Releasing Ryon, she sat back in her chair and looked away from the small group as the total impact of everything she'd seen and heard in her short time here hit her full force.

Really hit. Micah was part of a paranormal black ops team, and the nonhuman type of evil truly did exist. As an LAPD cop, she faced danger every day, but even that couldn't begin to compare to the world she'd stumbled upon and was now up to her neck in trying to grasp.

I wear a badge, carry a gun, and until today I walked around confident that I knew who the bad guys were and was sure of my ability to handle them. Then I find out I'm an insignificant bug on the stalk of the universe. Monster food.

Dinner forgotten, overwhelmed, she rested her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands. She was in no way prepared for this. How the hell was she supposed to help Micah?

A gentle hand rubbed her back and she started, sitting up to glance at Sariel. His expression was warm, understanding. No one except Dean had bothered to comfort her in years, and the small kindness almost did her in. But she wouldn't cry. She never did.

"It will be all right," the Fae man said, smiling faintly. "Trust me."

"What, so you're a PreCog like Nick?"

"No. But you're not without your own gifts and I have a feeling they will serve you well in your quest."

"You mean I have some sort of talent, like Micah?" He nodded and she perked up some at the idea. She thought of the Dreamwalking thing Nick had told her about. "Cool. What's my gift? How do you know?"

"Humans are so impatient." He sighed, then shook his head. "How I know isn't important, and it wouldn't be as effective for you if I told you the nature of your gift. You must experience it for yourself to accept and use it."

"Great. I want answers and I get Yoda for a sidekick," she muttered.

"Who?" Sariel looked baffled and the rest of the group chuckled.

"I think she's going to fit right in," Ryon said.

Before anyone could comment, a Goth guy walked in who commanded not only Rowan's attention but that of everybody in the dining area. He walked like a graceful cat and looked like a cross between a rock star and a gunslinger. Even among these men, he was unique. And no wonder-this was the man she'd seen shift to human from panther form.