Carl walked around the broken glass toward her and asked, “Kayla?”
“Stay out of this, Carl.” She couldn't explain. Not now. She was having trouble getting her head around it herself. Not only that, but the thought of Carl's reaction scared her. How do you tell the man you're sleeping with that your ancestors had wings?
Alec chuckled. “Good advice. It would be a shame for Carl to get involved with something he doesn’t understand.”
Carl looked back and forth between Alec and Kayla. Kayla scowled at Alec, wanting him to shut up. Snatching a computer tablet off the table, she threw it at him. He caught it easily and circled Kayla.
Furious, she glared at Alec. “You leave Carl out of this!”
“I intend to. I’m much more interested in finding out if that’s your intention as well.” His voice seemed casual but she caught the edge of challenge in it. The bond between them flared and understanding hit her. He was asking if she was willing to let Carl go now that she knew the truth.
She wasn't. She understood the reason Alec had been hunting her down in the towers wasn't because he was trying to turn her in to Edwin. He'd been trying to keep her away from Carl and corral her back to her own kind.
Sick and tired of people trying to control her, she said angrily, “I’d call you a parasite but that would be injurious and defamatory to the thousands of existing parasitic species.”
“You are truly a fascinating creature, Kayla Rath’Varein. I’ve never met anyone so completely ruled by their passions.”
She lunged for him again. He grabbed her this time and pinned her against the wall. She threw more energy in his direction, but he was expecting it and somehow wrapped it around her. Her anger evaporated, replaced with surprise and fear. Her voice came out as barely more than a whisper. “How did you do that?”
Alec's eyes widened. He immediately released her and stepped back a split second before Carl rushed forward to insert himself between them. Glaring at Alec, he said, “I don’t care if you’re an Inner Circle member or not. Keep your hands off her.”
Alec glanced at Carl in annoyance. “This doesn’t concern you.”
He turned back to her and his expression softened. “I would never hurt you,” Alec promised. “But you need to learn to protect yourself.”
Kayla felt the sincerity of his thought and nodded at Alec. She put her hand on Carl’s arm to let him know she was okay. “It’s okay. He just surprised me.”
Carl looked at her curiously, but made no move to step out of the line of fire. She crossed her arms and asked Alec, “So what happens now?”
“You can either wear the bracelet or we can try to upset the balance of power. It’s up to you. You know the risks and consequences of both.”
She blinked, surprised he would even bother to ask. “Gee, let me think. I’m going to go with kicking some High Council ass.”
* * * *
While Kayla changed into the clothing Director Borshin had retrieved, Carl waited in the living area with the other men. Alec was on his comlink, looking out of place in the trader applicant's surroundings.
Rand poured everyone a drink while Alec spoke with Seara and asked her to meet him at his office. When he disconnected from the call, he accepted the drink Rand offered.
Carl looked at Alec. “I don’t get it. Why the change of heart? You were ready to put a bracelet on Kayla and now you’re going to take on the entire High Council?”
Alec took a drink and regarded him. Carl had the feeling Alec was weighing the merit in answering his questions. “My motivations are my own business. However, I never intended to allow Kayla to wear a bracelet.”
“Then why did you hunt her down? Why didn’t you let her escape?”
Alec raised an eyebrow. “She belongs here. You may believe you understand her, Trader Carl Grayson, but you would be sorely mistaken.”
Carl’s expression darkened. “I understand her far better than you think.”
Alec chuckled. “Go ahead and enjoy her while you can. But she belongs to me. That’s something you won’t ever be able to change.” He put his glass down. “I’ll be waiting outside. I need to make a few more calls.”
Carl's jaw tightened. He made a move to go after him, but Rand's hand on his shoulder stopped him. Rand shook his head, letting him know it was a bad idea. “You know, I’ve been called cocky and arrogant in my life, but I don’t come anywhere close to that.”
Carl's voice came out as a low growl. “I don’t trust him.”
“You don’t have to trust him. It’s whether or not Kayla does that matters. From all appearances, there’s something going on between them.”
“Going on between who?” Kayla asked and stepped into the room. She wore a simple white dress that stopped just above her knee. The light fabric moved with her as she walked and enhanced her femininity. The sight of her completely distracted him from his thoughts.
“It’s nothing,” Carl replied, not wanting to discuss Alec. “You look absolutely beautiful, Kayla.”
She looked down at the dress and asked, “Why the hell don’t Omni women wear any practical clothing?”
Carl admired her figure. “From my point of view, I’m glad they don’t.”
Rand held up his drink in salute and added, “You won’t hear me complaining either.”
Kayla sighed and asked, “Where’s Alec?”
“He’s waiting outside to take you to his office to meet with Seara. We should get going. Thanks for your help, Rand.”
Kayla kissed Rand lightly on the cheek. “Yeah, thanks for letting me crash here. You’ve been great.”
Rand's eyes lit up and he smiled at her. Carl chuckled, realizing she'd just charmed another soon-to-be-trader.
“You’re definitely the most memorable Inner Circle member I’ve ever met, Kayla. If you two don’t mind, I think it would be best if I stayed here. Getting involved in Inner Circle business tends to have long-lasting repercussions.”
She grinned at him and headed toward the door. Carl stopped her and asked her quietly, “Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t trust Alec.”
Kayla looked up at him, determination in her gaze. “I need to do this. Alec is the only one who can help me get those bracelets off.”
Carl frowned. “I’m going with you then. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I was hoping you'd say that.” She smiled at him, slipped her hand in his, and they headed outside.
* * * *
Alec looked up when they emerged. “Seara will be meeting us in my office in about an hour. That gives us a little bit of time to discuss our options.”
Kayla and Carl followed Alec toward one of the priority elevators. They filed inside and Alec pressed the button.
“Maybe it’s just me, but isn’t Edwin going to be pissed off when he finds out you’re not sending me back to that little room?”
“I’m sure he will,” Alec replied, clasping his hands behind his back and watching the numbers increase on the screen above them. “However, he considered you a flight risk at the time. You’re accompanying me willingly and he gave me permission to train you. That’s what I intend to do.”
She had to give him credit. “Sneaky. I like the way you think.”
The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into a large lobby area. Tables and seating were scattered around a cascading waterfall in the center of the room. A small restaurant area was off to the side. Several people were milling around the area.
“This is the entrance to the administrative offices,” Alec explained, leading them through a pair of double doors. As they walked down the hall, a woman called out, “Alec! There you are.”
The woman appeared to be a few years older than Kayla. She was tall with long straight blonde hair falling nearly to her waist and bright blue eyes. Her features were delicate and well-defined. She wore an elaborate and sophisticated pantsuit with several pieces of strange jewelry. Sauntering over to Alec, she kissed his cheek affecti
onately.
“I’ve missed you,” she cooed, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
Kayla raised her brows. She'd never seen anyone flutter their eyelashes before. She blinked rapidly to see if she could pull it off. A quick glance at Carl smothering a laugh let her know she wasn't successful.
Alec paused and greeted the woman politely. “Celeste, I don’t believe you had the opportunity to meet Kayla Rath’Varein last night. The gentleman with her is Trader Carl Grayson.” He turned to Kayla. “I’d like to introduce you to Mistress Celeste Sharthorn. Celeste’s father is Master Marcus Sharthorn, one of our High Council members.”
Celeste ignored Carl and focused her attention on Kayla instead. “So this is the woman who has the entire circle gossiping. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
She gave Alec a teasing look and added, “Maybe next time Alec takes you to dinner, he won’t keep you all to himself. Speaking of which, Alec, you still owe me dinner since you cancelled on me last week.”
Alec inclined his head. “Of course, Celeste. I’d be happy to escort you to dinner later this week. Just let me know which day is best for you. I’ll make the arrangements.”
Celeste put her hand on his arm and said suggestively, “I’ll check my schedule. But I’m thinking I’d like to have dinner at my place instead. There’s so much we should catch up on.”
Kayla frowned at the woman’s blatant invitation. Alec stepped away from Celeste. “If you insist. However, you’ll need to excuse us. We have some pressing matters which need to be handled.”
“I wouldn’t dream of keeping you.” Celeste smiled at him. She gave a brief nod to Carl before turning to Kayla. She held out her hand. “It’s been wonderful meeting you, Kayla.”
Kayla hesitated before accepting her offered hand. The moment her fingers touched Celeste, Kayla felt the familiar energy tingle. Celeste’s blue eyes widened and she pulled her hand away quickly. She stared at Kayla for a moment before turning to Alec in alarm. “So this is why you’re so drawn to her. Does the High Council know how much energy she can channel?”
“Yes.” He stepped in front of Kayla protectively and reached out to touch Celeste’s arm. Kayla felt a shift in the energy current around Celeste as Alec spoke his next words. “I trust you’ll keep your observations to yourself.”
Celeste nodded, looking slightly dazed. Alec removed his hand and the energy web dissipated. “It was a pleasure seeing you again, Celeste.”
Kayla gave Alec a questioning look when the young woman walked away. He shook his head indicating he would explain later and motioned for them to continue following him.
Alec led them down the hall to another large office. The room was spacious with a large desk in the corner of the room. Large video screens were mounted on two adjacent walls. Another wall had an enormous fish tank while the last had a built-in cabinet with numerous artifacts and other decorations.
“Wow,” Kayla murmured and walked around the office.
“Nice setup,” Carl said appreciatively.
Alec leaned against his desk, watching Kayla. She stopped at the fish tank and they darted away from her. She tapped on the edge of the glass. “They’re real?”
“Yes,” he replied, looking pleased at her interest. “We have large tanks on some of the lower levels. I’ll take you to see them at some point, if you'd like.”
“I think I could spend years here and not see everything.”
“That’s entirely possible,” he admitted. “Before Seara gets here, we need to discuss the best way to proceed with removing the bracelets.”
Kayla walked over to the desk and sat down on the edge of it. Her dress hiked up slightly and she dangled her legs off the side. Leaning back, she said, “Okay, go for it.”
Alec glanced down at her legs and offered, “I have chairs, if you prefer.”
“I get a better view of the room this way,” she said with a laugh. Besides, she enjoyed the advantage it gave her. It threw people off balance and served as a great distraction. The dress she wore seemed to enhance the effects. Maybe the Omnis did know what they were doing with their strange clothing. “So what’s the best way to handle the bracelet thing?”
“As you know, the bracelets pool energy,” Alec explained, tearing his gaze away from her legs. “They can be used at will by some of the High Council members. Our scientists continuously monitor the energy pool. If there’s a sudden depletion in resources, such as by having the bracelets removed, they’ll know immediately.”
“So we have to try to remove them all at once?”
“That’s one option,” he admitted. “But I’m not sure it’s the best solution. I don’t know how removing a bracelet will affect either of us. It’s possible we’ll experience a significant drain on our energy that could leave both of us vulnerable. Even if we take away the pooled energy, the councillors are still powerful in their own right.”
“And they’ll come after us,” she guessed.
Alec nodded. “Yes. There’s no doubt. There may be a way to give false data readings to the monitoring system to cover our activities. But we’ll have to plan a time when the High Council will be distracted and not using the pooled resources. Otherwise, they’ll notice the depletion for themselves.”
“What are you thinking?” Carl asked.
“The final bid for the trader position is happening tomorrow,” Alec explained. “I think we should try to do this before then. That doesn’t give us much time, but they’ll all be focused on the trader meeting.”
It sounded good to her, but her scope of experience was limited to taking advantage of traders. She looked at Carl, hoping to get his opinion. He paced the room, rubbing his chin in thought. “Xantham and Cruncher can work on developing a program that can send these false readings. But they’ll need your access codes to get into the system.”
Alec nodded. “That’s fine.”
Carl flipped open his comlink and called Cruncher. He explained what they were looking for and Alec supplied them with his codes.
When they finished with their call, Alec turned to Kayla. “I’ll need to teach you how to defend yourself against a mental attack. There’s a good chance that once they realize what’s going on, they’ll try to stop us. I can shield you in part, but I’m sure they’re already aware of your potential. If they focus on you, you’ll need to learn how to circumvent their attack.”
She sat up straight and asked, “Is that what you did to me earlier?”
“Yes. I turned your energy back toward you with a shield. That’s one technique. There are several others you can learn. You’re able to channel a great deal of energy, but it’s chaotic and not well developed because you haven’t been trained.”
“The woman in the hall mentioned that,” Kayla recalled. “How did she know?”
“Celeste has a talent for detecting energy potential. She can sense if someone is channeling or directing energy too. When she touched you, she picked up on that. I helped her ‘forget’ so she won’t think to tell anyone else before we’re ready.”
“So that’s what you did,” Kayla mused. “I felt a shift in the energy but I wasn’t sure if that’s what it was.”
“You felt me influencing her?” Alec frowned.
She nodded. “Yeah. You touched her and there was this weird shift around her when you spoke.”
Alec shook his head, looking troubled. “You shouldn’t have been able to detect that.”
Kayla shrugged. It was an advantage as far as she was concerned. If she could detect when someone was using energy around her, she could avoid it. “Well, at least this way I’ll know when you’re up to no good.”
The door beeped. Alec pressed a button and Seara entered the room. When she saw Kayla, she rushed over and hugged her.
“I’m so sorry,” Seara gushed. “I didn’t know how to tell you about Edwin and the bracelets. I’m glad you’re safe.”
Kayla hugged her awkwardly. She was growing more accustomed to Seara's displays of affection,
but she wasn't sure she'd ever feel completely comfortable with it. “Uh, don’t worry about it. Thanks for bailing my friends out.”
“Yes, thank you again, Seara,” Carl added.
Seara turned to look at Carl. She offered him a warm smile. “I’m glad it worked out.”
“Thanks for coming,” Alec greeted her. “We wanted to take a closer look at your bracelet. Kayla discovered some information in Cessel’s notes indicating there’s a way to safely remove the bracelets.”
Seara’s eyes widened in shock and she whispered, “Truly?”
Kayla nodded at her hopeful expression. “Yeah. I can show you, but it involves directing a great amount of energy in two specific locations. It’ll fry the bracelet and render it useless. It won’t affect you at all.”
“How much energy is required to deactivate it?” Seara asked Alec.
“More than most of us are able to channel,” he admitted. “But I suspect Kayla can channel that kind of energy easily. The difficulty is that it requires pinpoint accuracy.”
Seara's shoulders slumped at the news. “At least we know there’s a way this can eventually be accomplished.”
Kayla shook her head. “Alec is going to do that funky connection energy transfer thing with me. He’ll use my energy to zap those suckers. We don’t have to wait.”
Seara gaped at her and whirled around to glare at Alec. “Absolutely not! You are not going to link with my daughter when she hasn’t learned anything about our ways. I can’t believe you’re entertaining the idea.”
Alec cleared his throat and tugged at his collar. “We’ve already attempted some preliminary trials, Seara. I explained to Kayla what was involved and showed her how the connection would work.”
“Yeah, it was fine,” Kayla agreed, and gave Alec a sheepish look. “It was a little intense when our energy mixed together, but Alec said we don’t have to do that again to break the bracelets.”
Seara’s eyes widened in horror at Kayla’s words and she turned to Alec. She slapped him across the face. His eyes narrowed slightly but he didn’t move. “How could you? It's one thing to be forced to wear the bracelet, but it doesn’t require us to share that level of connection with anyone. You’ve created a permanent link with her!”