Blaze of Secrets (Asylums for Magical Threats) (34 page)

necessary ten miles by now. She stole a glance at Jaxton in the driver’s seat, and without a word, he reached out to squeeze her hand.

His touch helped, but not enough to ease all of her nervous energy. Kiarra decided to focus on

something other than their upcoming meeting of doom. “Are you sure no one’s following us? We’re in the

middle of nowhere and pretty easy to spot.”

Jaxton raised an eyebrow and slid his gaze to Kiarra before focusing on the road again. “Would I ever

knowingly put you in danger?”

“No,” she answered without thought. “But after recent events, I can’t help but be a little paranoid.”

He glanced at her again. “I know you’re worried about Millie, but she’s alive. She’d call us again if she needed our help. As for the rest, Neena and Aislinn have things in hand. Neena ordered us to take two days’

rest, and unless you want another scary visit from her, I wouldn’t disobey her orders.”

“Hmph.” Kiarra had almost forgiven Neena for drugging her unconscious. The woman had been scarce

of late, unwilling to give them much help and only contacting them to let Kiarra and Jaxton know that they would be in charge of a new operation.

“I know you’re not really upset with Neena,” Jaxton said. He squeezed her hand before shifting as the

car slowed down to make a turn. “As I’ve said many time before, don’t worry. She’s going to love you.”

“You’re obligated to say that,” she murmured, “but I’m not sure I believe you.”

Jaxton’s hearing was keen. “Well, I look forward to you apologizing to me later, love. We’re here.”

He pulled in front of a small single-level cottage with bushes and flowers decorating the yard. There

was even a garden and two benches off to the side. It was exactly how she pictured the British countryside

—slightly aged, but quaint and charming.

Kiarra gave her hair a final run-through with her fingers before exiting the car and joining Jaxton. Even with his arm around her waist, all Kiarra could think about were her doubts.

What happens if she doesn’t like me? What then?

The front door of the cottage opened and revealed a medium-sized woman with hair more gray than

brown. The woman smiled and walked toward them. When she finally reached them, the woman pulled

Jaxton down for a hug, her embrace fierce with love. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” she said, her voice muffled against Jaxton’s chest.

When the woman finally stepped back, she kept a hand on Jaxton’s chest and turned her green-gold

gaze to Kiarra.

Kiarra started sweating. The time had come.

The woman patted Jaxton on the chest and said, “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your lovely

companion?”

Jaxton placed a hand on Kiarra’s lower back and said, “Mum, this is Kiarra Melini.” He gave Kiarra a

look of encouragement and said, “Kiarra, this is my mum, Ellen Ward.”

Kiarra put out a hand to shake. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Ward.”

Ellen Ward ignored Kiarra’s hand and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Dear, I’m American, and we

hug.”

Kiarra stopped breathing. Not because she was still adverse to touch, but rather because of the ease of

Ellen’s acceptance.

Ellen pulled back, keeping her hands on Kiarra’s arms. “And call me Ellen, Mum, Ellie, or anything you like that doesn’t make me sound a thousand years old.”

Kiarra smiled. “Ellen, then.”

“Right,” Ellen said before situating herself between Jaxton and Kiarra and looping an arm around each

of their waists. “Let’s have some tea and I’ll bring out photos of Jax as a lad.” When Jaxton made a sound to interrupt, Ellen shushed him. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this day, Jaxton Oliver Ward, so don’t you dare deny me this opportunity.”

Kiarra leaned forward and saw the resigned look on Jaxton’s face and couldn’t help but grin. Ellen

Ward was fantastic.

As they made their way up the walkway, Kiarra felt another link tethering her to her past shatter. Even

though her future might be uncertain, her gut told her that the Ward family was her family now too, and she never had to worry about being alone ever again.

Thank you for reading!

Dear Reader:

I hope you enjoyed Kiarra and Jaxton’s story. While the next book will focus on Cam and Marco, keep

an eye out for Kiarra and Jaxton. They’ll be back, along with a lot of the other characters in future books. I love it when authors show us how our favorite characters are doing later on, and I plan to do the same.

This is my debut novel, and I’m grateful for all of the wonderful feedback and honest reviews I’ve

received from readers like you. I’m always curious to hear what you think—both good and bad. You can

email me at
[email protected]
or find me on Twitter
@jessiedauthor.
I really do read every email/tweet I receive, and I try to reply when I can! If you want to receive exclusive content (deleted

scenes, short stories, etc.) and updates, you can sign up for my
monthly newsletter
. I also have an AMT

Reader Group on Facebook.

And finally, I need to ask you a favor. Reviews can be tough to come by these days. You, the reader,

have the power to make or break a book, and I’m asking for your help. If you have the time, could you

leave an honest review?

Thank you for spending time with my characters. I hope you return to the world of the
Feiru
in
Frozen
Desires
, and continue to follow the journey of Neena, DEFEND, and all of the rest. Make sure to turn the page for an excerpt.

With Gratitude,

Jessie Donovan

The story continues with Cam and Marco…Excerpt from
Frozen Desires
(AMT#2)

Chapter One

“In 1953, the first-born children of Feiru (FEY-roo) mothers were deemed dangerous by the Feiru

High Council. Because these first-born children have the ability to control fire, earth, water, or wind, the
council passed a law requiring them to be imprisoned at the age of magical maturity. The council’s aim
was to keep the Feiru secret of elemental magic from humans…One of DEFEND’s primary goals is to

dismantle the Asylums for Magical Threats’ prison system and to integrate elemental magic users back
into our society.”

—
Excerpt from
DEFEND Rules and Regulations

After what had happened four years ago, Camilla Melini had never expected to be back in Merida,

Mexico.

But DEFEND had sent her here to find one of the Four Talents—legendary elemental magic users who

could both heal and destroy—and she wasn’t about to let memories of that day ruin her chances of success.

As long as she kept her eyes open, and was careful, she should be able to get in and out of Merida before anyone from her old life could find her.

And if they did, well, she had a few extra tricks up her sleeves these days that she could use to try to defeat them.

Cam looked over at Zalika, one of two people that made up her team, and asked, “Are we finally on the

right street?”

Zalika offered Cam the map in her hands. “You try reading a map in Spanish and see how far you get.”

“All I care about is reaching our contact’s shop. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can take off this stupid straw thing on my head.”

Zalika smiled. “But since the real Cam would never be caught dead in that hat, it’s a good disguise.”

“I’d rather take my chances if it means I can see properly.”

Zalika laughed as they turned the corner. “Jacek is watching our backs, and he’ll let us know if he sees anything suspicious.”

Jacek was the other half of Cam’s team. “He’s a good enough lookout, but that’s not what I’m worried

about.”

“You haven’t seen your asshole ex or any of the other psychos from your past, have you?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean they’re not here.”

Zalika nodded to the right. “Well, there’s the stall. If everything goes to plan, then we should be out of Merida by this evening, and you’ll have one less thing to worry about.”

She only hoped it would be that easy. “Let’s try to be out of here by this afternoon.”

Doing the best she could with the brim of her hat hanging partially in front of her face, Cam did a

sweep of the area. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary—just street vendors selling food, salespeople

trying to entice tourists into their shops, and friends chatting on the street.

Confident that no one was following them, she nodded the all clear to Zalika, and they approached the

vendor stall filled with Mexican handicrafts.

Cam glanced over the brightly colored tablecloths, place mats, and purses until she found the section of hand-painted ceramics. Most of the cups and plates featured some kind of flower, but she kept looking until she found a plate with DEFEND’s secret symbol subtly worked into the design.

The middle-aged man running the stall matched the picture she’d been given in her assignment file, but

to keep up appearances, she asked, “Do you speak English?”

The man smiled. “Yes. Is there something I can help you with?”

Time to use the secret pass-phrase. Cam held up the plate with DEFEND’s symbol on it. “My aunt has

one just like this in her house, and since she loves it, I’d like to add another one to her collection. Do you have any plates with the same design, but painted in different colors?”

The man replied, “Yes, but my wife tries to hide them away in the back of the store, hoping that I’ll

forget about them so she can keep them. But if you have time, I can take you to the inside portion of my shop and find the others for you.”

The man had used the correct response to the pass-phrase. But in the interest of looking authentic, she

looked over to Zalika and said, “What do you think? Can we take a few minutes to look at the other

designs?”

Zalika shrugged. “Sure, you’ve waited for me enough times. Let’s check out the other plates.”

The man put up a hand. “Give me a second.” He disappeared into the door behind him and soon

reappeared with a teenage boy that Cam assumed was his son. The man said something in Spanish to the

boy and then waved for them to follow him. “Come inside.”

Cam took the lead, but right before she reached the door, her instinct told her that she was being

watched. She glanced over her shoulder and listened intently with her supersensitive hearing—one of the

many bonuses that came with her latent abilities—but came up with nothing. As much as she wanted to find the source of her unease, she and Zalika should be safe enough inside the shop. If someone tried to barge their way in, she had a gun and a knife strapped to her leg under her flowing skirt.

She needed the information this man could provide to get the hell out of Merida and complete her

assignment. If she left now, she’d have to linger in Merida long enough to arrange another meeting.

She decided that the possible threat wasn’t grave enough to abort her mission. She ducked inside the

door, and Zalika followed.

Marco Alvarez watched Cam enter the shop and breathed a sigh of relief. When she’d turned around,

he’d barely had time to hide in the crowd inside the eatery, the one he was using to stake out the vendor stall across the street.

His orders were clear—he was to watch over Camilla Melini and make sure her mission succeeded. The

longer he could do it from the shadows, the less of a chance someone would connect them, giving him the

advantage of surprise if things turned sour.

Since he’d seen her knock out a shadow-shifter back in the States, he knew firsthand that Cam could

take care of herself. But Jaxton Ward—a high-ranking member of DEFEND and his old boss—was either

being cautious or knew something that he didn’t. Cam was here to explore some Mayan ruins and hopefully

find a clue left by a Talent, but he had a feeling that something else was going on. Maybe another group was also searching for the Four Talents.

Whatever it was, watching over Cam and protecting her team was only half of the reason he was back

in Mexico. He was also here to hunt down an anti-AMT fringe group that was targeting innocent
Feiru—
and killing them
.
He was still in the process of collecting evidence, but all Marco knew for certain was that this group had a reach far beyond Mexico.

While waiting for Cam to arrive in Merida, he’d received news that had made his second assignment

personal—the same fringe group he was here to investigate had killed one of his cousins down in

Colombia.

He clenched his hands inside the pockets of his jeans and tried not to think about how his fourteen-

year-old cousin would never grow into the woman she was meant to be. He was determined to prevent

other children from dying through no fault of their own. More than enough children already suffered inside the Asylum for Magical Threats compounds simply because they were the eldest child.

He’d started interviewing witnesses last night after the shops had closed, and would interview a few others later. During the day, however, he needed to focus on protecting Cam and Zalika. The owner of the handicraft stall was one of DEFEND’s local contacts, and while they didn’t think their contact’s identity had been compromised, it was always a possibility, especially with the constantly shifting landscape of
Feiru
politics.

He finished the soda in his hand and moved toward the door of the open-air eatery. He needed to find a

better place to stake out the stall, one with easier access in case a threat appeared while Cam was inside. But halfway to the exit, a man walked by and knocked him hard on the shoulder. Marco cursed, but the man

paid no attention and simply kept on walking.

Marco frowned. It seemed that Mexico, like every other country in the world, had its fair share of rude