“Our parents were murdered right after I joined the police force. I did my best to keep her safe. After Nero got me, it was more of a struggle, but until Fonthill found my cell phone, even Sebastian had no idea she existed.”
“When she asked how we met, I told her we’d worked together in the past.” She hesitated for a second. “She misses you.”
I gnawed at the inside of my cheek. “Since Sebastian bit me, I’ve been dodging her. Until recently, I thought there was an antidote, so I kept putting off a visit. We talk on the phone, but I haven’t seen her face to face in almost two years…”
The door opened and Adam peered out. “Ready to join us?”
…
I sat on the sofa, trying not to fidget. Now that I was actually going to see Nadya again, my stomach twisted in knots. “Is Nadya here?”
“She’s down at the barn with the twins.” Before I could jump up to go check on her, Adam shook his head. “Don’t worry, they’re not alone. Luke and Logan are down there keeping watch.”
Aren sat beside me and took my hand. “Adam wanted to talk to us first before Nadya gets up here.”
“Aren told me you think she’s psychic,” I said. “But she would have said something to me if she was.”
“All the horses are fed.” My heart leapt into my throat at the sound of my sister’s voice.
Lana rushed past me and took the twins as my sister rounded the corner into the kitchen. My eyes brimmed with tears when I saw her.
“Sash!”
She rushed to my arms, and I held her tight. “Sorry I’ve been away so long.”
Nadya gripped me back and then stiffened against me before pulling away. Tears swam in her eyes, making me wonder if I had imagined the physical change in her. “I was so worried about you.”
I could tell there was more she wanted to say, but she didn’t. Could she tell I was something more than the big sister she’d always known, too? Was she afraid of me now?
“We have a lot to catch up on.” I glanced over at Aren then back at Nadya. “Let’s sit down.”
Lana vanished into one of the back bedrooms with the twins while Nadya and I found a place on the sofa by Aren. Unable to come up with a smooth opening, I opted for charging straight ahead.
“There’s a psychotic bounty hunter after me, Nadya. That’s why I wanted you to come here to stay with Lana and Adam. If he found you, he’d find my weak spot.”
“A bounty hunter? Why? Who hired him?”
Aren leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs. “He’s not the reason we’re here tonight.”
Nadya’s brow creased. “All right.”
I sighed, resting my hand on his leg. “Long story short, when I lost that witness, I left my job.”
“You did?” Her eyes searched mine, but I didn’t see shock in her gaze. She’d sensed something wasn’t right, probably for a long time. “Then why haven’t I seen you? You told me you were on a case.”
I took a deep breath. “Adam and Lana think you might already know the answer.”
“What? I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.” Nadya shot up from the sofa so fast that Adam and Aren were on their feet too. Her body language screamed my statement hit close to home.
I reached for her hand, encouraging her to sit beside me again. “I think you understand more than I realized.”
“Who are these people, Sasha?” She sounded like she was pleading with me, but I couldn’t figure out why.
I kept a grip on her hand and answered. “Aren and Adam are werewolves, and Lana is a jaguar shifter.” I swallowed a giant knot in my throat, struggling to keep my voice from cracking. “I spent the last couple years trying to find an antidote because…” I felt Aren’s fingers caress the small of my back and accepted the small measure of comfort. “Because I was bitten, Nadya.”
She pressed her lips together for a moment. “Let’s say I believed you. Tell me how this works. Can you turn into an animal right now?”
I shook my head. “It’s not like that. The shifts coincide with the lunar phases. The wolves shift when the moon is full and the jaguars change during the new moon.”
Adam sat back down in his chair. “When we agreed to hide you from Nero, we also agreed not to tell you about our true natures.”
A loud roar cut through the silence. I frowned, reaching inside my coat for my gun.
“It’s Gareth. He’s going to the barn to relieve Luke and Logan. Jared should be here soon, too.”
I relaxed and took a little comfort in seeing first-hand Adam had a handle on protecting his own. And my sister.
Lana came back down the hall. “When we realized you were figuring out our ‘secret’ on your own, you threw us for a loop.” She sat on the arm of Adam’s chair. “The babies are down for naps.”
I gave my sister’s hand a squeeze. “Mom told us once about women in our family who knew things. I thought her tales were just superstitious stories from the old country, but now…” Her eyes met mine and for the first time, I noticed shadows hidden there. “Now I’m not so sure.”
“I didn’t know what happened to you, Sash. I sensed you weren’t telling me the whole truth and I felt your guilt, but I can’t see the future. I wanted to help you, but I didn’t understand what was wrong.” Nadya sighed and stared at her feet. “I see things when I touch people. Mom and Dad knew, but they told me not to tell. They told me people would be afraid. Then after they died, you pulled me out of my special school, and I was too afraid to tell you.” Her eyes met mine as a tear slid down her cheek. “I thought you might send me away. When I got older, I got better at controlling it, so I never said anything.”
I cupped her cheek. “I never would have sent you away.”
Lana crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s probably wise your parents told you to keep it secret. Nero’s been experimenting with psychic females for their breeding program.”
Beside me Aren stirred and sat forward again. “What kind of special school were you in?”
“Brightwood Academy.”
I nodded, trying to swallow my fear about the news Lana just shared. “It was a school for gifted kids, but after our folks were killed, I pulled her out and moved across town. I didn’t want whoever murdered our parents to find us.”
“It was more than that.” Nadya’s voice was so soft I barely heard her.
I frowned. “What?”
Her eyes met mine, before looking at the others. “It was a school for children who display unexplained psychic gifts.”
My jaw went slack. “That’s not what I understood.”
“They didn’t advertise the types of gifts. You just assumed it was for reading and writing.”
“So you are psychic?” I tried not to sound betrayed, but I felt like the rug had been yanked out from under me. I’d raised Nadya from the time she was ten years old. How could she have kept such a huge secret from me?
“Calling someone psychic is really generic.” Nadya fidgeted with the sleeves of her sweatshirt, sliding them up her forearms slightly. “Like I said, I can touch people and sense things about them, usually their emotions, but sometimes deeper things. It depends how open they are.”
“Like reading their mind?” Adam asked.
“It’s not that clear.” Nadya shrugged. “It depends on the person, but I usually get images I have to decipher.”
“When I hugged you, you saw what I was, didn’t you?” I had to ask even thought the answer seemed obvious. I needed to understand how it all worked.
“Not exactly. You behaved differently, and I saw a jaguar, but I didn’t realize people could actually shift into animals. I wasn’t sure what it meant.” She paused and added, “How did you get bitten?”