Blaze of Secrets (Asylums for Magical Threats) (6 page)

He maneuvered to pin Garrett’s legs when he heard a woman yell, “Don’t touch him!”

Jaxton turned around and saw Kiarra barreling straight for him.

Stunned at the sight, Garrett managed to kick him in the stomach right before Kiarra’s shoulder

impacted with Jaxton’s chest. Jaxton lost his balance and landed on his arse on the floor.

“Kiarra? What the fuck?”

There was a flicker of fear in her eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it had come. She stood in front of Garrett’s bed and raised her arms in protection.

“Touching him is the last thing you want to do. It’ll only make it worse.”

Jaxton slowly stood up, never taking his eyes off of Kiarra. “Make what worse?”

“First, tell me who he is to you.”

He bit back his first reaction, to call her out on insubordination. But then he realized that Kiarra had spent a good chunk of her life inside the AMT and might know something he didn’t.

Garrett’s screams had morphed into a mixture of mumblings and quiet outbursts, but he was still

writhing on the bed in obvious pain. Jaxton would do anything to make it stop. He took a step toward

Kiarra and growled, “He’s my older brother. Tell me how to help him.”

Kiarra lowered her arms and looked from Jaxton to Garrett and back again. Luckily they shared the

same deep eyes, solid chin, and dark blond hair. Judging by Kiarra’s expression, she saw the resemblance.

She raised her index finger into the air and said, “Give me a second.”

The woman who had fainted, fucking
fainted
, less than an hour ago was giving him orders in his own house. Jaxton clenched his jaw to prevent himself from saying something stupid.

He watched Kiarra bend over Garrett, hovering close to his ear, but careful never to touch him. In a

quiet voice she said, “Shh, it’s okay. No one’s going to take you to the experiment wing today, or ever

again.” She motioned for Jaxton to come closer. “Your brother Jaxton is here. See? He’ll protect you.”

Garrett’s murmuring stopped, but his eyes were still wild, darting around the room. Kiarra stood up and

whispered to Jaxton, “Talk to him. Remind him of who he was before the AMT, but just remember not to

touch him.”

Jaxton motioned for Kiarra to leave, but she shook her head and stood her ground. He didn’t want to

share such a private moment in front of an audience, but yelling at Kiarra might send Garrett into a relapse, and he wasn’t about to risk it.

Jaxton crouched down next to Garrett’s bed. “You’ve missed a few pub nights and everyone’s been

asking after you.” At least they had for the few first months after Garrett’s capture. “You’re their favorite tone-deaf karaoke regular. Without you, hard liquor sales have dropped. Your singing is bloody awful, but good for business.”

His brother said nothing, but some of the wildness cleared from his eyes, so Jaxton decided to keep

talking. “You know how much I hate singing, but if you pull out of this, Gary, I’ll sign up for the first amateur karaoke contest you can find. This is a one-time offer, so you’d better take advantage of it, mate.”

For a second, Garrett met his gaze. Jaxton held his breath until Garrett mumbled, “Jax.”

Jaxton resisted the urge to grip his brother’s shoulder. “I’m here, Gary, and I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

Kiarra began to hum a familiar tune he couldn’t name. Jaxton maintained eye contact with Garrett,

hoping for more, but his brother didn’t say anything else. The longer Kiarra hummed, the more his older

brother’s eyelids drooped. Soon he was out, his face calm and finally free of pain.

There was nothing more Jaxton could do for Garrett until he woke up again. Jaxton turned away from

his brother’s sleeping face and switched his mind back into work mode.

After his brother, his top priority was to address the situation with Kiarra. Jaxton was in charge of her training and it was time she accepted that and gave him the information he needed.

He motioned toward the door with his head, took one last look at Garrett, and headed into the hallway.

Marco was nowhere to be found. He’d have to deal with the young man later.

Jaxton waited for Kiarra to close the door behind her and gestured down the hall with his arm. She

avoided his gaze, but took the hint, and they headed down the hall toward her room. He noted the

goosebumps on her arms as she passed and decided he needed to find her some clothes. Not that he cared

that she was cold, he told himself, just that she couldn’t fight properly wearing her baggy AMT uniform.

While Kiarra had a long way to go before she’d take orders like a soldier, he was more concerned about

her mention of an experiment wing inside the Cascade AMT compound.

That was as good a place as any to start finding out about Garrett’s altered state. His brother had never been abhorrent to touch growing up.

Jaxton entered Kiarra’s room and closed the door.

Chapter Six

Kiarra was huddled in an oversized chair, hugging her arms to her chest, staring at the floor. The bold

woman who’d shouldered Jaxton aside a few minutes ago was gone. It was almost as if she were waiting

for him to punish her.

Jaxton knew that the AMT compounds had strict sets of rule and regulations, recently made stricter by

the current members of the AMT Oversight Committee. But reading about it and seeing a woman ready to

submit to punishment for doing the right thing, without putting up any kind of fight, were two different things.

His regular training program, which stressed the importance of following orders and strict discipline,

wasn’t going to work with Kiarra. Without confidence and the ability to make decisions regardless of

consequences, she wouldn’t be of any use to him, let alone DEFEND.

He needed Kiarra to become the woman who’d stood up and tried to protect Garrett from a man twice

her size. He was going to have to create a new regimen on the fly, one that would coax out the woman

hiding behind the AMT’s conditioning.

Kiarra started to shiver in her chair, but she didn’t reach for any of the blankets on the bed next to her.

Determined to show he was different than the AMT guards, and to start gaining her trust, he plucked a

blanket from the nearby bed and tossed it into her lap. She blinked a second before reaching out to touch the blue material.

When she didn’t move to cover herself, Jaxton decided that the first rule of Kiarra’s training would

require the Ward family specialty: bluntness.

He gestured toward the blanket. “If you’re not going to use the bloody thing, then I’m going to take it

back.” She looked up, her eyes widened in surprise. “Well, what’s it to be?”

Kiarra caressed the blanket like it was a long-lost treasure, but made no move to cover herself. Jaxton, never one to back down from a threat, reached out with his hand to snatch it back. That kicked her into

action, and she pulled the blanket tight around her body.

Kiarra stopped shivering and a part of him relaxed at the fact, but he didn’t think too hard about why

her well-being mattered. “Right. Now that you’re no longer in danger of catching pneumonia, let’s get down to business.” He took a step toward Kiarra and she huddled deeper into the blanket before squeezing her

eyes closed.

Oh, hell no. He was having none of that. Jaxton crossed the space between them and took her chin in

his hand. She flinched and he forced his voice to remain level yet gentle. “Look at me.”

The second rule of Kiarra’s training? Push.

When she didn’t react, he squeezed her chin gently and Kiarra finally opened her eyes, but he couldn’t

read her expression. “What do you think I’m going to do to you, Kiarra?” He raised her chin another inch.

Her breathing was fast now, tickling his wrist. “And be honest. I can tell if you lie to me.”

He held her gaze, glad that she didn’t look away. She tugged the blanket closer around her body and

mumbled something, but he couldn’t make it out.

“Say it louder.”

“Punish me.”

“And what do you think is a good punishment?” She mumbled again, so he tapped the soft skin under

her chin. “Never mumble. Yours words are meant to be heard.”

She searched his eyes, but said nothing. He tapped her chin again and she finally spoke up. “Whatever

you think is best.”

Jaxton let go of her chin and crouched down so that he was eye level with her. “Take a look around you. Does this look like the AMT?”

“No.”

“Exactly. No one’s going to beat you, starve you, or whatever the hell else they do inside the Cascade F-block.” He leaned in closer and the smell of sweet grass filled his nose. Despite his proximity, she didn’t flinch. “As long as you don’t betray me or my men, no harm will befall you. Do you understand?”

They stared eye to eye, but her scent was starting to surround him. He wondered if her hair smelled just as good.

Where the hell did that come from?
This was a mentally scarred first-born, put into his charge. He could not view her as anything other than a recruit.

Luckily she nodded, interrupting his thoughts. “Yes,” she said clearly, without mumbling.

Jaxton stood up and took a few steps back to clear his head. “Good. Make sure that you don’t forget it.”

When Jaxton finally put some distance between them, Kiarra let out the breath she’d been holding.

She’d managed not to flinch beyond his first touch, but it’d taken everything she’d had not to fidget under his direct gaze.

She still couldn’t wrap her head around his actions. She’d openly stood up to him, at one point even

attacking him when she’d rushed to help the other rescued AMT prisoner, but he hadn’t issued any

punishment. Not even a mild one, such as withholding food for the next twenty-four hours.

No, instead of a punishment, he’d given her a blanket.

Jaxton took another step back, garnering her attention. “Now, why don’t you tell me about the

experiment wing inside the Cascade F-block?”

Kiarra rested her chin on her knees. It was only natural that Jaxton would ask about the experiments,

but talking about them might bright back the memories she’d fought so hard to forget.

But she was willing to try if it meant she could get more information, especially since Neena had been

less than helpful.

She looked up at Jaxton and said, “Only if you tell me about DEFEND first.” He kept quiet and she

waited for him to strike her for speaking up, but he said nothing, so she added, “Neena mostly talked about what the letters stood for, but not the organization itself.”

He stared her down a few more seconds and Kiarra wondered if she’d made a mistake. But luckily his

lilting voice filled her ears before she could panic. “Neena rarely makes sense and only tells you what she wants to tell you, never a word more.” He moved to lean against the dresser. “In a show of good faith, I’ll give you the overview. But don’t fuck with me, Kiarra. If you don’t hold up your end this time, don’t

expect me to ever exchange information again.”

His honesty was refreshing, but his tone only reinforced the idea of staying on his good side. “Tell me

about DEFEND.”

Jaxton uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on either side of his hips. “DEFEND is a first-born

activist group, started a little over ten years ago by two escaped first-borns. Its goal is to gain enough public support to dismantle all of the AMT compounds and set the first-borns free.”

This might be her only shot at information, so she forced herself to say, “But the AMT compounds still

exist. First-borns aren’t running around on the street, enjoying their freedom. What has DEFEND

accomplished in the last ten years? Anything?”

Jaxton leaned forward. “I think you’ve forgotten that we agreed to an information exchange. It’s your

turn, pet.”

She wanted to protest and say that two sentences didn’t really constitute an overview, but Kiarra didn’t want to push her luck.

Still, this wasn’t going to be easy. Each first-born was required to keep their experiment-related experiences private or risk being carted away to a secret room, never to be seen again.

Kiarra took a deep breath, the smell of clean laundry soap filling her nose, reminding her that she was

no longer a prisoner. No one was going to cart her away for more tests. Or enforce compliance

Meeting Jaxton’s gaze, Kiarra found the strength to say what needed to be said. “Within the first year of entering the AMT, first-borns are put in front of a panel and assigned to one of three types of experiments.”

Everyone remembered their sorting day. Even now, she couldn’t block out her memory as a young teen.

She’d stood up in front of a panel of men and women while they’d discussed her as if she wasn’t there.

While afraid, Kiarra hadn’t yet morphed into a compliant inmate. She’d kept her chin up, unafraid of

punishment, looking for ways to challenge them.

Eventually, her refusal to answer the panel’s questions had cost her. Within the hour, they’d whisked her away to her first compliance session.

After a full day of verbal abuse and conditioning, she’d experienced firsthand that the AMT wasn’t a

compound created for first-borns’ safety; it was a prison, where first-borns had no rights.

She’d only been thirteen years old.

“Earth to Kiarra.”

Jaxton’s gentle yet firm voice brought her back to the present. She looked up at his face, surprised to

find a lack of pity, only interest, and that encouraged her to keep going. “Each experiment track has its own pros and cons. Once assigned, the inmate goes through weekly sessions, unique to each individual.”

“But what are the three tracks?”

“They refer to them officially as the psychological, breeding, and gene therapy tracks.”