Genesis (15 page)

Well, this was awkward. I eased away
from him until his hands dropped to his sides. “It’s okay. I’m
still pretty sensitive about what happened.”

“
Understandably so.” He
followed me soundlessly until we reached the end of the buffet
table. “You failed to answer my question. Did you sleep
well?”

I studied the carpet. “Not so
much.”

His upper arm brushed my shoulder,
sending a zing through me. “I’m sorry to hear that. With the way
you worked in training yesterday, I worried I would have to come
for you this morning.” After I sat down, he settled into the chair
beside me. Deliciously warm fingers nudged my chin around. He
sucked in a shallow breath as his eyes studied mine. “Training will
be difficult today.”

I stifled my groan. All I wanted to do
at the moment consisted of filling my tummy and finding Mom. “Do
you know where my mom is?”

The hardness around his mouth softened.
“I’m afraid I have bad news. She and Theran were delayed. She may
not make it back before you leave.”

My heart sank to my toes. “Where’d they
go?”

“
Lombarda.”

Figured. “What are they doing
there?”

“
They had a council
meeting.”

“
Council? But I thought the
king and queen...” It took me a minute, but he’d just said my mom
was queen of Eldrea.

“
You are
correct.”

I paled. Seriously? My mom was the
queen. What the heck? Shouldn’t someone have mentioned that before
now? I just wasn’t quite sure how to process this information.
Besides, Jett had given me an answer before I even asked the
question. I gave him a stare. “Are you reading my mind
again?”

His chuckle caught me off guard. “I’m
afraid not. Your face, however, is a pretty clear window at
times.”

Great. Now I had to worry about my
facial expressions. Poker had never been my game of choice. Heck,
I’d never even played a full game. I was more of a bingo
gal.

His hand whispered over mine. “Not to
worry. I’ll help you with that too.”

I shook my head, still not believing
how wrong I had been about Jett. “Taylor wasn’t so
generous.”

A secretive light lay in his gaze. “Ah,
I would expect not. He prefers the upper hand.”

“
But you don’t?” Hadn’t
seemed that way before, then again, Mom told me she ordered Jett to
do what he had. Considering she was his queen somehow made his
actions easier to handle. It also explained the
complications
he had mentioned in
Ignis. Stealing the heart of the queen probably wouldn’t go over
very well.

“
I prefer equal ground,
Rayla. I’m not always able to approach from that level, but it is
where I like to be.”

Me too. If we had met under normal
circumstances, would he have tried to woo me instead of compel me?
The thought was nice even if the reality had been much different.
From what I had already seen from Jett, I was certain he was a
charmer at heart. “I wish…” I stopped myself. Was this wise? Should
I open up to him so freely?

His concerned eyes swept over me. “Tell
me what you desire, and I will make it happen.”

I laughed, remembering the
first thing he told me.
I am Jett, your
deepest desire. Anything you want I will give you.
“You make some pretty strong promises,
Jett.”

The corners of his mouth turned up.
“Give me a wish; I will be your genie.”

I grinned. Stupid as it was, temptation
to see just what Jett could do slithered around in my mind. “Okay,
big talker, I want to see my family.”

He took in a sharp breath, his eyes
alight with concern. “Are you sure you truly want such a
thing?”

My pulse kicked up. Was I sure? Could I
see them and not help them?

Relief thickened his voice. “Why don’t
you think of something that doesn’t have the capability to turn
into a disaster?”

I bit my lip then nodded. I had never
cared about money. I just wanted to not have to think about it too
much. “What are my options?”

“
Anything, but know this:
all wishes come with a consequence.”

“
Ooh, going all Aladdin on
me are you?”

He smirked. “You have no
idea.”

I took that as a challenge. “Okay.
Something without consequence. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

I got a sardonic raise of the eyebrows.
Another dare.

Since we were talking about wishes
here…

“
Paris,” I said. “I want to
see the Louvre.”

He pushed his chair back and pulled me
up in one flawless motion. When he released me, he bowed low. “Your
wish—”

I laughed. “I know that part
already.”

The air grew as thick as the
anticipation in my belly. Could this be real? When he took my hand,
it sure felt like it.

Honking, whistling, chatter, and
something not quite right in the air battled for my attention. The
buzz won.

So many people. Everywhere. Crowding.
Laughing. I didn’t mind that so much, but the constant hum hammered
on my head. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

Jett leaned his big body against my
back as his arms encircled me. His lips brushed my ear, making me
shiver. “What is the matter, my lady?”

Had he mentioned something about
consequences? I wasn’t about to relent. For an instant I considered
how nice it would be right now if he could read my mind. I shook
off the thought before it fully formed. “It’s nothing really. I’m
just not used to this kind of crowd.”

The expanse of courtyard was barely
half full, yet the people took up so much space I might as well
have been sandwiched between Frick and Frack again. I tried to
control my pounding heart, but I would have been more successful if
I could have cleared the area.

Jett squeezed my elbow. “Do you wish to
continue? We could come back, some oth—”

“
No! Really, I’m fine. I
just need a minute.” I let my eyes travel the length of this part
of the building then on to the other wings. I could spend days just
studying the statues carved into the edifice. When I had my fill, I
faced him. “Okay. I’m ready to see more.”

No one turned to look at us when we cut
in line to descend the escalator. Relief pulsated through me. All I
had to do was imagine these people weren’t here. I let Jett be my
eyes as I studied the paintings and sculptures. When he finally
stopped, I nearly ran into him.

“
Sorry,” I said, then all
thought left me. There she was. The Mona Lisa.

Girl knew how to smirk. I hadn’t meant
for my voice to come out whiny, but there it was. “It’s so
small.”

Jett turned and grabbed my hand.
Without a word he transported me beyond the barricade, past the sea
of people. She was still covered by a wall of glass, but somehow I
didn’t mind from this distance. Here was the painting that had
inspired me to want to become a painter. Tears pushed against my
eyes, blurring my view. I swiped them away. Time stopped
altogether. Voices disappeared. It was just her and me connecting
despite the distance and time between us. It was clear to me why da
Vinci had chosen her. Mischief, mystery, and something unknown
called out from the canvas.

“
My lady,” came Jett’s soft
call after what could have been minutes or hours. “I’m afraid we
have to return. Too much time has already passed, and you still
have training to do.”

I nodded, taking one last sweep of her.
It would last a lifetime.

Knowing when to be silent had to be
Jett’s finest quality. He hadn’t bombarded me with facts every
tenth grader should already know, nor did he hover over me to take
in my expressions. He let me experience on my own.

By the time we got back to Eldrea, the
bright sun dominated the sky. I walked closer to him. My voice
sounded thick. “Thank you, Jett.”

He pulled me in tighter then encircled
me in his arms. “I am happy you enjoyed it. For a moment, I thought
I had made a mistake.”

I laughed. “Don’t mind me. I get
freaked out over the stupidest things.”

A shield fell over his eyes. “About
that, Rayla. I need to apologize to you. When I finally found
Alithea in the mortal realm, I was acting as the captain of the fae
army. I had to bring her home. My whole kingdom was in an uproar,
not to mention Theran. She begged me to give her more time. I
allowed her one day. I didn’t follow her on one
condition.”

Not really hard to guess what came
next. “You would have rights to her firstborn?”

He nodded. “The Order has overseen the
way we interact with Elementals for quite some time now. I knew I
couldn’t have Alithea, so I thought to claim the next best thing.
When I found out about you, I confronted her. She denied having
you, but I knew better. You act like her, you move like her, you
even smell like her.”

I glanced away from him, not able to
take his hard stare. “I’m considering you, Jett. I’m not sure I
will ever be able to overcome your love for my mother, but I am
giving a full effort to get to know you, to understand you. I like
you, which I didn’t think was possible a few days ago, so who knows
what will ultimately happen?”

He swallowed. “That is all I can ask of
you. But I want to be clear about something. I would have never
acted the way I did if I had known you were there. I let my anger
rule me that day. Alithea deceived me, and I paid a heavy price for
letting down my king.”

I frowned. “What did he do to
you?”

Clasping his hands behind his back, he
paced in front of me. “He did nothing. It was the council that
stripped me of my lands and forced me to live in the
castle.”

“
I don’t
understand.”

“
When I came home without
Alithea after my first search, the council set into motion a plan
that had been in the works for some time. My family had the best
lands within the kingdom. I would take you, but I am forbidden from
entering them without escort.” He gave a solid chuckle. “I
surprised the council by fighting back. The only reason I am still
the captain of the army is because I am the strongest warrior we
have.”

I smiled. “Boastful much?”

“
What?” His face held real
surprise. “Is it not a good thing to know one’s strengths and
weaknesses?”

“
To know them is
understandable, but you move to a much higher level of conceit when
you start talking about them.”

He scrubbed a hand down his chin.
“Point taken. So, do you forgive me?”

Somewhere along the way, I had, but did
I want him to know it? Jett was a trustworthy man. He had given me
back my privacy without thought to how that might set him at a
disadvantage. He could have an ulterior motive I couldn’t see, but
I doubted that. He seemed sincere. He seemed like a good guy
despite my initial thoughts about him. “I have.”

His smile ate up his face as light
danced in his eyes. He had never looked so attractive to me. I
hesitated, but the temptation to tell him clobbered my misgivings.
“I like your smile.”

Serious found his eyes. “You seem to
like much about me.”

I laughed. “You need to learn
humility.”

“
Am I wrong?”

I shook my head. “Haven’t
you heard the phrase,
something’s are best
left unspoken
?”

“
Sure.”

“
Think about what that
really means, Jett.”

He gave me a slight nod. “Are you ready
for training? We have little time left in the day, and I had hoped
to have you competent when you leave.”

“
I guess so.”

Jett studied my face. “Is something
bothering you, my lady?”

I shrugged off the feeling I had been
having all day. It hovered over my shoulder like a wraith waiting
to snatch me, but he would know if someone was watching us. I
didn’t want to admit that I had been followed out of Uldran, but
there was no way to deny it now. For all I knew it was someone
assigned by him to keep us safe. I sort of doubted that, but being
paranoid hadn’t done me any good before now. “I’m good. Let’s get
started.”

Two hours later, I wished I had gone to
my room. Mud encrusted skin is hard to maneuver. He’d taken much
the same tactic that Taylor had—throwing me into a situation that
called for action.

“
Again,” he said.

“
I need a break,
Jett.”

“
The enemy will not be
compassionate. She will find your weakest point and stick a knife
in it. I cannot let you quit.”

I stiffened. “I don’t want to quit. I
just need five minutes!”

“
Is that what you will tell
her in the middle of battle?” He threw his arms out. “She is
relentless, Rayla. Didn’t you see what she did to Ammon and
Luthais? Ammon is her blood. She has no feeling. She has no
compassion. What she does have is a hunger to win.”