Khan (Bowen Boys, #2)(27)
“Am I in trouble? Because if I am, I want to know right now.” She pounded her fists on the table. “Right now, Khan.”
“Why on earth would you be in trouble? I mean, I’m afraid for you. If someone, another species, finds out you can listen in on the conversations that are for their packs or groups, they may get a tad pissy, but you’re not in trouble.”
“Then tell me why I can do this. I want to know why you looked so…ashamed of me because I could talk to Warren.”
“Ashamed? Of you? Never. Christ, what I wouldn’t give to know what someone I’m talking to is thinking. If they are planning an attack or if they have five hundred of their kind on my porch. But ashamed? No, I love you.” He kneeled down in front of her. “You are so wonderful and special to me that I can’t help but be mesmerized by you every time I look at you.”
She laughed. “Okay, that was a little over the top. Good, but too much.”
He kissed her. “I’m working on it. Bear with me, okay?”
Chapter Ten
Dylan sat in the kitchen. He’d been traveling all day and he was tired. He had to drive back tonight too, as he had class in the morning. But when Reed had called him, he knew it was important to Khan and Monica that he make the trip. When the pretty little maid told him that Mr. Khan and Miss Monica were on their way, she winked at him. Dylan, never one to pass up a chance to get laid, winked back.
When they both walked in, he stood up. The girl had certainly changed from the last time he’d seen her. He nodded to her, then shook her hand and hugged Khan. They had their differences and plenty of them, but they were brothers first and foremost.
“I thought you couldn’t get away.” Dylan nodded at Khan’s statement. “But you drove all the way up here when you could have flown with us.”
“So I did. I have to talk to you both. It’s important.” When the maid left the room, Dylan leaned in his chair to watch her walk away. He sure loved a woman’s ass. When Khan cleared his throat and Monica giggled, he sat up.
“What couldn’t be done over the phone, Dylan? It’s four in the morning. And I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but someone is trying to kill my mate.”
Dylan had heard, but that wasn’t why he was here. “Reed called me last night. I wanted to talk to you about a couple of things.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a scroll. “It’s very old, so be careful with it. Mom doesn’t know I have it.”
“Good thing too. She’d kill you. What the hell are you doing with the family tree? And the original one at that.” Khan touched it gently. Dylan didn’t blame him. It was as old as their race was.
“I needed to show you something. Mostly Monica, but I wanted you to see this.” He pointed to the name of a person that had been born and had died long before their grandmother had. “Her name is Elizza Manchester Bowen. She was our great-great-grandmother.”
Each of them looked at the name, but Monica noticed what he was trying to get them to see. She leaned into the parchment and squinted before she was able to read it aloud. When she did, she looked at him. “It says ‘no boundaries.’ What does that mean?”
He felt her touch his mind and he let her. This was the only way she’d learn.
“It means she could hear all the other species like you can.” She leaned back in the chair so quickly she nearly tipped it over. “You’re not the only panther to have this ability.”
“How do you know this? She’s been dead so long, for all you know it could mean she wouldn’t stay on her own land and didn’t know any boundaries.” Khan stood up to pace, and Dylan watched Monica. “This is the most… Is that why you came up here in the middle of the night? To give us your opinion on old folk tales?”
“He’s telling the truth. They’re not tales. She really could do what I can.” She looked him in the eye. “What you can as well.”
Dylan nodded and didn’t look at his brother. “Since childhood. I was terrified when I figured out that none of the rest of them could do it, but when I saw this…I asked my grandda and he told me what it meant and what happened to her.”
Khan sat down hard. “You’re like Monica? You can hear other species as well? How is that possible?”
Dylan laughed. “It’s as much a part of you as it is me. Had it not been, then she wouldn’t be like us either. And she is. We can hear things, know things that others can’t.”
“Why didn’t I know about this? Why didn’t…why did Reed know about this?”
Dylan heard the hurt in Khan’s voice. “He didn’t. He was relaying the events of the day as he’s done since you got here. He doesn’t…” Dylan got up, got a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and sat back down. He knew that neither of them wanted any.
“None of you know.” Monica looked at Khan. “He didn’t want any of you to know because he was ashamed at first then later he felt it was too late.”
“You two want me to leave the room?” Khan got up to pace again. “I don’t want you talking to her like that. You know that we’re newly mated and—”
“She was reading my mind. I didn’t say a word to her that you’ve not heard. She’s a lot better at this than I was when I figured it out.” Dylan grinned at her. “Tell him, sweetheart, before he tries to rip my throat out.”