Crux

Chapter 18

Jackson watched a small motorboat make its way across the lake and grumbled under his breath. The place was beautiful, the scenery breathtaking…and he was ready to explode.

The three days since they’d arrived in New Hampshire had been filled with activity. He, Mahalia and Michelle had been focused on pooling their efforts to create the talismans that would allow them access to Talbot’s compound, and the shifters had occupied themselves with planning the more mundane details of the assault.

And it would be an assault. That was unavoidable. His body hummed with adrenaline at the thought, and he tamped it down. He was getting restless, edgy, and that would do no one any good.

Least of all Mackenzie.

Jackson closed his eyes and slapped his hand on the cedar picnic table.

Next to him, Alec huffed in annoyance. “Is that helping? Beating up the furniture, I mean. Not sure I’m getting the tactical value.”

“Shut up,” he snarled, glaring over at him. “I don’t recall asking your opinion.”

“Too bad. You’re getting it anyway.”

Jackson laughed, a short, humorless sound. “By all means, wise old sage, impart some wisdom. You’re going to whether I like it or not.”

His partner leaned back and grinned at him. “Damn straight I am. I think you should go run laps around the cabin until you’re too fucking tired to sit here and fidget like Kat on a caffeine binge.”

He cocked an eyebrow at Alec. “Is this an army thing? I’m a little nervous, so I have to do laps?”

“A little nervous?” Alec snorted. “Yeah, Jackson. Keep telling yourself that.”

Jackson’s hands itched. In the last five years, he and Alec had had a normal friendship, with the accompanying ups and downs. They’d laughed together, but they’d also beaten each other’s asses, and it was looking like today was going to be a case of the latter rather than the former. “Keep pickin’ at me, Jacobson, and I’ll smack you down. I’m not in the mood.”

Alec rose with enviable grace, the lazy grin still curling his lips. “Sure, if trying to land a punch on me will help, go right ahead.”

The cabin’s back door opened, and Mahalia stepped onto the porch with a steaming cup of coffee. She surveyed the scene in the yard. “Oh, Lord. Peyton!” she bellowed into the kitchen.

Nick appeared a moment later, looking a good bit less polished than Mahalia and stifling a yawn. “What—oh. Are they going to throw down?”

Jackson scowled and pointed his finger at her. “Stay out of this, Nicky.”

Nick merely laughed and leaned over the porch railing. “Kick his ass, Jackson. You can do it.”

Mahalia was less amused. “I was going to say, ‘Damn fool men,’ but you’re not much better, Nicole. You might even be worse.”

Jackson turned his attention back to Alec. “Let’s get one thing straight. I won’t be trying to hit you. I’ll be moppin’ the floor with your ass.”

“Uh-huh.” Alec swung his arms back and forth to loosen up. “What about you, Mahalia? Who are you laying your money on?”

She gave him a dark look. “I’m laying it on myself, Alexander, because when you two are finished acting like babies, I’m going to whoop both of y’all’s asses.”

Nick’s mug thumped on the railing. “No unfair advantages, Alec.”

Jackson shot her a disgusted look. “Nick.” His ego was already taking a beating, and they hadn’t thrown the first punch.

“What?” she asked innocently. “You’re not going to zap him, so he can’t get all Dark Warrior of the Night on you.”

Alec laughed with infuriating amusement. “Fair enough. We can both play nice.”

The door opened again. Michelle came out, as perfectly put together as Mahalia, and her gaze went from Alec to Jackson before jumping to her sister. “Are they going to—?”

“Fight?” Nick nodded and sipped her coffee. “I’ve got twenty bucks on Jackson.”

Mahalia looked sheepish. “Fifty on Alec. But I believe in fairness above all…” She closed her eyes and whispered something Jackson couldn’t hear.

A tingle of magic rushed through him, and he drew in a sharp breath. The world suddenly seemed slower, brighter, more intense. He could hear his own heart, as well as the leisurely beat of Alec’s. “May…”

“Now, when Alec pummels you, I’ll have won fair and square. You’ve got all the strength and speed of a shifter for about fifteen minutes, Jack.”

Nick hooted with laughter. “You’re on. Fifty bucks.” She nudged Michelle. “You want in on the action?”

“Fifty on Aaron,” Michelle replied before turning to look back into the house. Her quiet voice should have been too soft for him to understand, but with magic coursing through his veins, her words were clear. “Can I bet on you?”

Jackson heard a low chuckle as the bodyguard stepped through the doorway, his fingers sliding briefly against Michelle’s arm. The hulking man approached them, his short red hair blowing lightly in the breeze as he grinned. “If you don’t let me play, she’ll pout for months. You ever seen a Peyton pout? It’s horrible.”

“I see it all the time, buddy,” Jackson commiserated as he rolled up his sleeves. “It ain’t pretty.”

Nick pouted at Mahalia. “Is it too late for me to put my money on Alec?”

But Mahalia paid her no mind. “How do we want to do this? Flip a coin, third guy fights the winner? Or are y’all just going to brawl?”

Jackson stretched his shoulders and considered the question. “I just want to hit someone. I don’t care if it’s in a clean, organized fight or a dog pile.”

“Well, then.” Alec swung a punch at Aaron’s head.

“Hey!” Jackson rushed Alec and caught him with a shoulder in the stomach as Aaron recovered and threw a retaliatory punch at Alec. It hit Jackson instead, knocking him dizzy.

The fight soon dissolved into a blur of swinging fists, laughter, grunts, and the occasional muttered curse. Jackson could hear Nick cheering him on and whooping as he landed a hard punch to Alec’s midsection and caught another glancing blow from Aaron.

The back door of the cabin opened and closed, and a whistle pierced the air. Jackson elbowed Aaron one last time and looked up, panting.

Steven stood on the porch, looking stern. “Boys.”

Even doubled over and breathing hard from the solid punch Aaron had landed in his stomach, Alec managed a cocky grin. “Jackson needed to blow off some steam.”

The door opened again. John Peyton seemed less surprised by the scene on the back lawn. “Get it out of your system, Holt?”

He straightened before answering. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” His steely blue gaze roved over the assembled group. “We move tomorrow.”

Jackson shot Alec a sober look. His partner nodded and straightened as well, wincing as he pressed one hand to his side. “We should go over the plan one more time. Make sure everyone knows their parts.”

Jackson gingerly prodded his throbbing cheek. “Yeah. May?”

“Come on inside. We’ll get you fixed up and triple-check the talismans.” She turned, raising an eyebrow at Nick. “Our boys just cost us a hundred bucks.”

“Damn straight they did,” Nick agreed.

Jackson huffed at Alec. “We shouldn’t feel bad about that, right?”

“With that walking mountain swinging his fists around?” Alec grinned and slapped Aaron on the shoulder. “What do you do, anyway? Carry Michelle around under your arm?”

Aaron was almost completely unscathed except for a slight red mark on his jaw where Jackson had caught him with a stray fist. “Can’t. She bites.”

Alec laughed. “And you say I don’t talk much.”

“You don’t,” Jackson said absently, rubbing his knuckles as he walked back toward the porch. “He just talks less.” His mind was already back on getting Mackenzie out of Talbot’s clutches and back home.

Over the course of three days they’d turned the dining room table into a staging area for strategy and developed a carefully organized plan of attack. Steven and John took their places at the head of the table, leaving everyone else to perch on bar stools or chairs. Steven waited until he had everyone’s attention before speaking. “Going over this again may seem like overkill, but humor me.”

He outlined the plan. Steven, Michelle and Mahalia were to neutralize Charles, with Nick and Aaron there to take care of physical attacks. Either or both of them would have been useful helping Jackson and Alec track down Mackenzie, but Aaron wouldn’t leave Michelle’s side, and Nick couldn’t.

Michelle had admitted it to him the night before. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’m one of the only Seers who’s still sane. You can’t imagine what it’s like, having that much power roaring through you…” Her voice trailed off, but Jackson had been able to see the confusing mix of revulsion and pure yearning in her expression. “The more powerful the magic, the more I-I feel that. Like I want to use it again, keep using it. But when Nick’s around, she grounds me. I can draw more power without losing control.”

Which meant that Nick would have to stay with her, no matter what. He and Alec could find Mackenzie on their own, but it would take more time. Time was something they only had if Charles could be contained in the first place.

Nick stared at the blueprints of the house, the ones Jackson had already memorized. “There’s one thing we haven’t discussed.”

“What’s that?” Mahalia asked.

She raised an almost frightened gaze to Steven. “What if we can’t stop Talbot? What if all we can do is hold him off for a few minutes?”

“Then you all get the hell out of that house, as fast as you can.” Steven’s tone was quiet but firm. “I’ll stay behind. He’s not going to kill me.”

Mahalia started in shock. “Steven, that’s—”

Steven shook his head. “Not now, May. We’ll talk about it later.”

Her jaw clenched, and Jackson laid a hand on her arm. “What exactly is that supposed to accomplish, you staying behind? I think we all have a right to know that.”

“If you can’t get Mackenzie out, it’ll mean she’s not alone there. I swore I’d take care of her twenty-five years ago, and I’m not leaving without her.”

Jackson eyed him, incredulous. “I wasn’t aware that was an option.”

Alec spoke. “No one likes it, Jackson. But if we can’t contain Talbot, we may have to retreat. We’re not gonna do Mackenzie any good if we’re all dead.”

“If we manage to piss Talbot off badly enough, will any of that matter?” Jackson cast a quick glance at Michelle, who stood silently between her father and Aaron. “I’ve heard what happens to Seers when they get drunk off the power. They get a little high and then they get a little nuts.” He glared at Steven. “How can you guarantee Mackenzie’s safety in that situation? Or your own for that matter? God knows what he’ll do if he well and truly loses his shit.”

Steven looked uncomfortable, and Alec said, “We’re going to try. You and I will do what we can to get her out, but you don’t get to make that decision for everyone. You can’t tell them they have to stay and die for nothing.”

“I’m not trying to boss anyone.” Jackson crossed his arms over his chest. “But I’m not leaving without Mackenzie.”

Nick shook her head. “I’m not leaving without Jackson.”

“Nicole.” Her father’s voice cracked through the room like a whip. “You’ll take care of your sister, and if Aaron tells you to leave, you’ll leave. Otherwise, none of you will go.”

She opened her mouth, snapped it shut and lowered her gaze. “Fine.”

Further argument on his part would only serve to plant the notion that perhaps the risk involved with the siege was too great. “I’ve fought his spell caster before. He’s pretty powerful, but cocky.” He nodded to Aaron. “The shifter is a decent fighter but smaller than you, and not too bright.”

Aaron returned his nod, his face just as impassive as Michelle’s, but the tense energy between the two of them was so strong Jackson could almost see it. For all of Michelle’s protestations, it was hard to believe anyone could miss the fact the two were in love.

Then again, with tensions so high around the table, everyone’s emotions seemed closer to the surface. Steven had rested one hand on the back of Mahalia’s chair and was leaning so close that his arm brushed her hair. But the line of her shoulders was stiff, and she wouldn’t look at him. “Testing the talismans could mean trouble,” she said, her tone a study in careful nonchalance. “We’ll have to take our chances.”

John surveyed the group. “It’ll be quick, straightforward. Get onto the grounds and get to the house. If lethal force is necessary, the Conclave condones it. Charles Talbot has become too large a threat to ignore. Stalking, assault, kidnapping, murder… He’s escalated past the point of leniency.” He brushed a speck of lint from his sleeve. “The Conclave has only one request in return for its cooperation. If any wolves are taken alive, they’re to be turned over to us. Casters, psychics and other shifters don’t concern us. But we’ll handle our own.”

“Fine. We leave first thing in the morning.” Steven’s gaze landed on Jackson. “No more fighting.”

Jackson couldn’t tell whether he was talking about the brawling or the arguing, and he honestly didn’t care. “I’m done. Let’s get some rest.”