Beneath the Fallen City - Jamie A. Waters (large ebook reader .txt) 📗

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 alone,” 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. She turned to Alec and 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!”

Carl’s head jerked up to focus on Alec. “Is that what you meant earlier?”

Kayla’s jaw dropped. “Whoa, did I miss something? What’s this about a permanent link?”

Seara looked shocked and asked in a whisper, “Alec, you didn’t tell her?”

“Carl, none of this is your concern. You’re here as a courtesy, nothing more,” Alec replied icily. He turned back to Seara. “It didn’t get that far, Seara. The connection was shared, but it was not completed.”

“You stopped it? How?”

“With great difficulty,” Alec admitted and darted a glance at Kayla.

Kayla slid off the desk. If there was one thing worse than people trying to control her, it was when they were talking about her like she wasn’t in the room. She put her hands on her hips, determined to get some answers. “Uh, excuse me, but I’d like to know what the hell you two are talking about.”

Seara took a deep, steadying breath and turned to Kayla. “We may, in the heat of the moment, toss energy back and forth with someone. But sharing energy at the same time can create a permanent link with the other person. This is usually only done by two committed mates and both parties fully understand what’s involved.”

Kayla shook her head. This sounded like one of those birds-and-the-bees talks. “Um, still not understanding this permanent link stuff.”

Seara looked weary and took a nearby seat. “We essentially claim one another. It’s a way of committing to that one other person. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, you’ll always feel a permanent connection with the other person.”

“Wait, you claim one another?” Kayla asked in alarm. She felt the blood drain from her face. “But that’s what I wanted when… Oh shit.”

Her gaze flew to Alec, and he nodded. “I know. That’s why it was difficult to stop it.”

“I’m surprised you had that sort of willpower,” Seara said thoughtfully. “It’s an almost overwhelming force to complete the claim.”

“No kidding,” Kayla muttered and rubbed her arms. The idea of irrevocably bonding to another person gave her chills. She’d enjoyed the moment they shared. Okay, that was a lie. It was one of the most intense and profound experiences of her life. But she was much safer flying solo. She took a quick peek at Carl and wondered what it would have been like to share the moment with him instead.

“Your father and I shared that bond,” Seara recalled sadly. “When I lost him, I knew it immediately. I felt the connection disappear. I didn’t think I’d survive it.”

Alec was quiet for a moment and then said, “Seara, I told you before that I would do everything possible to protect Kayla. I admit, not forging that connection was incredibly difficult, but I assure you I will not intentionally put her in that position again unless she is fully cognizant of what it means.”

Carl glared at Alec. “From where I’m standing, it would be better for you to keep your distance from her.”

Alec looked amused. “I’m sure you’d like that. But that won’t ever happen.”

Kayla looked back and forth between the two men. This wasn’t good. If they were going to succeed, they all needed to work together.

She glanced at Seara and saw the older woman had come to the same conclusion. Before Kayla could say anything, Seara neatly changed the subject, preventing a more heated argument. “You wanted to examine my bracelet?”

“Yes, if you don’t mind.” Alec motioned toward the seating area. “With Kayla’s help I can take a closer look at it. I don’t want to deactivate it, though, until we know we can mask it properly.”

“Of course.”

Kayla and Seara sat on the couch. Alec pulled up a chair to sit across from them and held out his hand for Kayla. Carl frowned when she slipped her hand into his.

“Kayla, you’ll need to connect to me the same way you did earlier,” Alec instructed.

She nodded. Closing her eyes, Kayla gathered her threads of energy and sent them toward Alec. The moment she did, the same familiar intimacy from before returned. This time she was more prepared for it. She couldn’t help but take a moment to revel in the sensation. The pull toward him was becoming stronger, and she felt the urge to share energy with him again.

“I feel it too,” he told her. “It’s possible that even though we didn’t complete the connection earlier, it created a small bond between us. People don’t normally initiate a bond without completing it, so I can’t be sure.”

Kayla opened her eyes and bit her lip. It seemed like they were both in new territory. Seara looked between them. “What’s wrong, Kayla?”

“Nothing,” Kayla replied. “It’s fine. Let’s do this.”

Alec reached for Seara’s wrist to examine her bracelet, and Kayla leaned forward to get a better look. It was a small, braided-gold band interlaid with strange stones. The colors in the stones appeared to shift and change when it moved. It reminded Kayla of the colors she saw when the energy threads blended together.

“Go ahead and send a large, steady stream toward me, Kayla,” Alec instructed.

She did as he asked, and she could feel his urge to match her energy flow with his. He closed his eyes for a moment, and Kayla could sense his struggle to control his desire before turning back to the bracelet. Once he’d gotten it under control, Alec began gently probing the bracelet with her energy in the areas she had identified. She could see the small fluctuations of the energy surrounding the bracelet as he studied it.

After a long time, he lowered Seara’s hand. Kayla stopped the flow of energy and felt Alec’s longing from the withdrawal. He closed his eyes, and she felt him trying to steady himself.

He took a deep breath and said, “Go ahead and break the connection.”

She pulled back and broke the connection. He squeezed her hand before releasing it.

Seara watched them for a minute. “Will it work?”

Alec nodded. “Yes, but it’ll take a great deal of energy to deactivate them. We’ll have to wait for the masking program before we try anything though. I don’t want to risk alerting the High Council too soon.”

When Seara nodded in agreement, Kayla offered, “I can help Cruncher and Xantham write the masking program. It shouldn’t be too difficult if they already have your access codes.”

Carl pulled Kayla up and wrapped his arm around her waist. “I’ll take Kayla back to my family’s quarters. She can work with them there. That is, unless you’re planning on raiding us again.”

Alec stood, not bothering to hide his irritation at the question. “It would be better if she stayed here in the Inner Sanctum. As long as she’s here and the High Council believes she’s willing to wear the bracelet, they won’t pursue her.”

Kayla scowled. Alec had a lot to learn if he thought she was going to roll over for the OmniLab bigwigs. “The High Council can kiss my ass. Seara’s quarters are under surveillance. At least if I’m with Carl, you don’t have bugs there. Besides, I need to be able to work with Xantham, Cruncher, and V to get this program going.”

“I’m afraid that won’t work, Kayla. The High Council will insist you remain in the Inner Sanctum until the bracelet is equipped. As long as you’re here, I can claim you’re cooperating fully and we’re waiting for the metabolic booster to leave your system. If you leave, they may employ more drastic measures.”

Seara had been quiet up until now. “Everyone could stay in our family’s quarters. We may have surveillance, but you could use the safe room while you’re working on the program.”

Alec’s eyes narrowed. “You have a safe room?”

Seara smiled. “Yes. My husband had a great many secrets, Alec. It was originally designed to be a hidden storage room, but Andrei had some concerns and turned it into a safe room.”

Carl’s arms tightened around her waist. “What sort