CHAPTER FIVE
MIA
Mia handed her brother, Justice, a plate of food—and Ophelia handed him the card Jes left for them when she’d knocked on their door earlier that morning.
“She left it with the maid,” Mia told him. “If one of us had opened that door….” She let the rest go unsaid.
He stared at it, then looked at his sisters. “It wouldn’t have mattered. It’s time to have a talk with her,” he told her.
Jasmine gave him a quivering smile. Mia knew she wasn’t the only one who sometimes felt afraid of him. They were all afraid for him.
“We’re not going anywhere,” he told the three of them. His eyes glittered. Mia knew he realized it because she and her sisters withdrew slightly, and he made a conscious effort to soften his demeanor. “We’ve come home to stay,” he said, in a softer tone. “It’s time,” he said, the ring in his voice, final. He looked at them. “You’ve been training all this time for this. The least I can do is face Jes.”
Mia glanced at him, and three heads nodded in unison.
Jasmine came around the counter and hugged him. Next to his petite sisters, he seemed like a giant. Tall, and naturally muscle-bound, the stout, young man of his youth had taken on his promised size. People usually gave him a wide berth when they saw him. Some did so because of how big he was, others—because of the look in his eyes—and the ever-present rage that seemed to boil off him.
Not a patient man—his sisters usually didn’t argue with him—but he had a big heart, and Mia loved him. They all did. He’d have laid down his life to protect them, as they’d all witnessed many times, first-hand. They chalked his impatience to his need to protect them—and to the constant danger.
Mia busied herself making a new pot of coffee. They were here, in Chicago. They were ready—at long last. As a boy, Justice had immense tolerance. Yet, the years took a toll on him. Now, others constantly pursued him. Half the time, they didn’t know who their enemy was—the other half they did. He’d taken his sisters outside the city, to the Alliance, after their parents disappeared since he’d known the gangbangers weren’t the only ones who hunted them.
But Mia believed Justice did know who hunted them—who still hunted them. Whoever they were, they never stopped—and she knew Justice knew why.
Mia poured in a pot of water and turned the coffee maker back on. She turned around, eyeing her family. While she and her sisters trained—their brother hunted.
She once heard him say that there was too much at stake for their unknown enemy to let him and his sisters go.
That’s why he’d taken them to the Alliance—to protect them. He’d taken them to the only place that stood a chance of doing that.
His destruction would ensure an easy victory for a nation of rogue factions—and one particular enemy, who’d been slowly, ever so slowly, maneuvering his chess pieces into place—in the effort to take over the power. A power that would give him control over the world—with no one to stop him.
Well, with no one to stop him—until now.
Now—the time for Prophecy had come. And her brother had returned.
She glanced up as he looked around at his three sisters. She knew he considered himself lucky enough to have one sister—even luckier to have three. She did, too. They never forgot they were blessed to have each other. And Justice told them how thankful he was, often enough
The Jaguar People were not an immortal race, but they appeared so since they lived long lives, compared to the shorter lifespan of humans. However, because of the hardships, this placed on their bodies, the people didn’t have many children. Families were usually blessed even to have the one. Yet, somehow his parents had been blessed enough to have four.
Still, as she glanced at her brother, Mia knew this too had been foretold.
The sisters didn’t live together now that they were in Chicago. They had good reasons for this separation since several men lived with each of them. They were their guards, and they couldn’t exactly keep that many people in one house. People would talk. So, they lived in three different houses on the same street.
For their safety, they couldn’t live any farther apart.
Mia picked up the fresh coffee pot, glancing around at her sisters. Her gaze came to rest on her brother, talking to Jasmine. Justice was closest to Jasmine since they were closest in age, and she knew that he missed her the most whenever he went away.
She smiled without rancor. They all had their place in his heart—and they all had their training. They needed to get moving. She shivered with growing anticipation. Justice had always been hunting—until, now….
Now, everything was set into motion. They’d come, in part, in hopes of eventually getting Jes back. Everything was set into place for the Peace Talks. Attempting to pull Jes back into the fold had happened a little sooner than any of them expected, but Jes set that into motion, herself, by seeking him out.
Mia realized she’d unwittingly accelerated their plans—launched them, actually when she’d started digging around and searching for Justice. Yet, that was okay since nothing would be lost by them reaching out to her sooner.
They’d all waited a long time for this. If anything, they were all relieved to finally be doing something, instead of just training for it.
All but Justice.
Mia came over and hugged her brother, as they began cleaning the kitchen.
Her brother didn’t sit idle, even to take the time to train. He’d been busy—and so were the men he trained. None of them had been sitting—or waiting—either. They’d been busy waging their own brand of war. And they’d gained the respect of all the nations for it.
She and her sisters itched to start moving forward, as well. They’d trained long, and hard, and still didn’t have the privilege of doing anything besides train. So, they were ready. They’d waited a long time—and they were ready.
The four of them looked at each other, anticipation heightening their senses. She sensed their excitement—and knew that none of them were afraid. They’d waited for this moment for far too long to be afraid. If anyone one else faced, what they were about to face, they’d have wanted to run—would have been feeling more than a little fear.
Jasmine cleared the table, while Mia cleared the counter that sat like a bar top between the kitchen and the table. She glanced at her sisters and her brother, as she worked.
She and her siblings trained for this, from the time they’d born. They’d planned for this since the day someone tried to steal it all away from them that horrible day—fifteen years before.
She glanced around at her sisters—then back at Justice. They were—the four of them—like well-honed steel, born of fire and ash. They’d prepared for every aspect of what would take place, and followed every aspect down its path—allowing for anything that could possibly go wrong—to make sure they had a contingency for every situation. Save one.
They hadn’t figured out the mystery surrounding the disappearance of their parents—that was the one x-factor. Well, and another existed too.
Her name was Jessica Kincaid
She’d been the one contingency they couldn’t anticipate. And she’d been the one part of their strategy they couldn’t prepare for. Mia knew her brother had no intention of going without—ever again.
Mia glanced at Justice, an ache in her heart. She knew that he didn’t have a choice when he’d been fourteen years old and suddenly found himself responsible for getting his sisters to safety—forced to walk away from Jes.
Ophelia gave a slight shake of her head when she caught Mia’s gaze, warning her away from saying anything as she handed Jasmine a plate. Jasmine went to the sink and began cleaning it out, so they could wash them.
But she couldn’t help it. Mia glanced over at her, and she had to wonder if Ophelia ever thought she’d made a mistake. After all, she’d been the one to convince Justice that day that he’d only put Jes in more danger if they brought her with them. She’d told him, then, that only Jes’s grandparent
s could protect her—within the walls of a different sector of the Alliance.
Ophelia, being the sage one, Mia knew that he’d counted on her to be practical—and kind—even as a young child. But Mia also knew that he’d found leaving Jess to be the most difficult thing he’d ever done—and that he’d never again walk away from her.
Now, she’d become their second x-factor.
Actually, she’d become more than an x-factor. She’d become the hinge to the swinging door—a door that could easily swing wide open—or slam shut.
Now, as the siblings gathered the left-overs and condiments off the counter, quietly glancing at each other, they could see the one question in each other’s eyes.
Would that x-factor make their plan work—or destroy it?
Jes hated her brother—and Mia knew that he didn’t blame her. Yet, the problem was that she might do anything in her hate. Still, she played an integral part of their plan as any other part. None of them imagined a contingency for the possibility that she couldn’t be brought back to them. They didn’t have a plan for that.
She’d been too important to each of them—to him—and to her sisters—but especially to her brother. Jes was an important part of their future—a part of everything that would happen—and too important a part for them to fail in getting her back. They wouldn’t even consider the possibility that they’d fail. They wouldn’t plan for that.
Mia felt her brother come up beside her, his arm coming around her as he hugged her to him, glancing up in time to see him close his eyes. She knew he could feel Jes, as clearly as if she were sitting right beside them, and that had to be hard on him. Especially since—Jes was his mate.
Suddenly, he pulled away—telling his sisters he had to go. They each hugged him as he left. They all knew who he’d gone into the night to look for.
The time had come—to bring forth the prophecy.