Oath Bound
Page 44
“Technically?” I wasn’t very familiar with syndicate bindings, but I knew who Cavazos was. Everyone knew who Cavazos was.
“Not by choice. But one of these days, he’s going to cross the line, and I’m going to have to...renegotiate.” She glanced at Hadley and forced a smile.
“Cavazos will never cross the line,” Kori mumbled. “Because you keep pushing the line back. When Cam gets tired of that, he’ll renegotiate for you. He may even survive.”
I glanced from Kori to Olivia. “And Cam would be?”
“Cam’s her boyfriend,” Hadley said, and I looked down to see her smiling up at Olivia. “He works for my biological father, too.”
“Your biological father?” That struck a little too close to home.
The child nodded, and brown hair fell over her forehead. “Ruben. He lives in a big house, and there’s a huge TV in my room there.” She glanced at her mother and frowned at Anne’s stiff expression. “But I still like it better at home.”
“Your dad is Ruben Cavazos?”
“Not her dad,” Anne corrected. “Her father.”
Damn, could I ever identify with that statement.
I already knew about Kris and Kori Daniels, and their missing sister, Kenley, who was a Binder. Ian introduced himself as Ian Holt, a Blinder—he could pull darkness from...wherever and make shadows wherever he wanted. He and Kori kind of seemed made for each other.
Vanessa was unSkilled. She was also Kenley’s girlfriend, though it didn’t take long for me to realize that Gran seemed to think Van and Kris were an item.
“Your turn,” Kris said when everyone else was done making formal introductions. “Who are you? Who are you really?” he added for emphasis.
“Sera Brandt.”
“And...” Liv prompted.
I sighed and sank on the edge of the couch cushion behind me. “And...I’m a Jammer. But I don’t tell people that.” Then I told them what my mother had told me when I was eighteen and we’d finally figured out that I was, indeed, Skilled, even though she wasn’t. “I’m fortunate enough to have escaped syndicate notice so far, both because I live as far from organized syndicate activity as I can, and because I’m naturally hard to find. That’s part of being a Jammer.” The very best part of being a Jammer, and the only reason my mother had been able to hide me as well as she had. I shrugged. “That’s it. All that’s worth telling, anyway.”
Anne shook her head. “There’s more,” she said and they all turned to me expectantly. Again.
“What, you think I’m just going to bare my soul to a room full of strangers? Not gonna happen. The interrogation’s over. We’re either going to have a civil discussion, or none at all.”
“I’m fine with that,” Kris said with a shrug, and I glanced at him in surprise.
“Good. But to be clear, in a legitimate conversation, both sides get to ask questions and no one monitors the truth in their answers.” I shot a pointed glance at Anne, who shrugged, and I wondered if her ability was impossible to turn off, like mine. If so, was it even realistic of me to expect her to keep a perfect stranger’s secrets?
“I think we can all respect that,” Kris said. “What do you want to know?”
“What are you all doing here? Why are you hiding out in a house locked up from the inside? What is the ‘higher purpose’ you mentioned earlier? Why does Julia Tower need your sister?” I hadn’t realized I had so many questions for them, until the words tumbled from my mouth.
“Okay.” Kris took a deep breath. “Every one of those questions has a complicated answer, and when you put them together...the explanation is pretty involved. But the short version is this—we’re trying to take the Towers down.”
“Take them down? Like, kill them?” I wasn’t sure whether to be thrilled by the prospect—considering Julia’s willingness to take me down—or horrified.
“Put them out of business,” Ian clarified. “We’re trying to end their syndicate.”
“Which will mean killing some of them,” Kori added. “Most notably, Julia.”
Olivia sank into the chair where Kris still perched on the arm. “Kenley’s an important part of the effort. Julia took her to stop her from working against the syndicate.”
“But you’re sure she won’t kill Kenley?”
Kris gave me a grim nod. “She can’t afford to, at least for the moment.”
“Okay.” I stared at the floor, still processing most of what I’d just heard. “Your turn.”
“What do you want from Julia?” Ian asked. “What could possibly be worth putting yourself on their radar?”
“I need her to do something for me. Something personal and very important, that I can’t do for myself. But you don’t have to worry about them recruiting me. She doesn’t know I’m a Jammer.” And she wants me as far away from her borrowed empire as possible. “So I think I’m safe in that respect.”
“Some people are never safe,” Vanessa whispered. “Even when they legitimately have no Skill.”
“Anyway, she’ll figure it out if you wind up working with her.” Kris shrugged. “She’s a Reader. She’ll know if you lie.”
So they knew her Skill. But they hadn’t yet realized I knew ways around the truth.
“Not by choice. But one of these days, he’s going to cross the line, and I’m going to have to...renegotiate.” She glanced at Hadley and forced a smile.
“Cavazos will never cross the line,” Kori mumbled. “Because you keep pushing the line back. When Cam gets tired of that, he’ll renegotiate for you. He may even survive.”
I glanced from Kori to Olivia. “And Cam would be?”
“Cam’s her boyfriend,” Hadley said, and I looked down to see her smiling up at Olivia. “He works for my biological father, too.”
“Your biological father?” That struck a little too close to home.
The child nodded, and brown hair fell over her forehead. “Ruben. He lives in a big house, and there’s a huge TV in my room there.” She glanced at her mother and frowned at Anne’s stiff expression. “But I still like it better at home.”
“Your dad is Ruben Cavazos?”
“Not her dad,” Anne corrected. “Her father.”
Damn, could I ever identify with that statement.
I already knew about Kris and Kori Daniels, and their missing sister, Kenley, who was a Binder. Ian introduced himself as Ian Holt, a Blinder—he could pull darkness from...wherever and make shadows wherever he wanted. He and Kori kind of seemed made for each other.
Vanessa was unSkilled. She was also Kenley’s girlfriend, though it didn’t take long for me to realize that Gran seemed to think Van and Kris were an item.
“Your turn,” Kris said when everyone else was done making formal introductions. “Who are you? Who are you really?” he added for emphasis.
“Sera Brandt.”
“And...” Liv prompted.
I sighed and sank on the edge of the couch cushion behind me. “And...I’m a Jammer. But I don’t tell people that.” Then I told them what my mother had told me when I was eighteen and we’d finally figured out that I was, indeed, Skilled, even though she wasn’t. “I’m fortunate enough to have escaped syndicate notice so far, both because I live as far from organized syndicate activity as I can, and because I’m naturally hard to find. That’s part of being a Jammer.” The very best part of being a Jammer, and the only reason my mother had been able to hide me as well as she had. I shrugged. “That’s it. All that’s worth telling, anyway.”
Anne shook her head. “There’s more,” she said and they all turned to me expectantly. Again.
“What, you think I’m just going to bare my soul to a room full of strangers? Not gonna happen. The interrogation’s over. We’re either going to have a civil discussion, or none at all.”
“I’m fine with that,” Kris said with a shrug, and I glanced at him in surprise.
“Good. But to be clear, in a legitimate conversation, both sides get to ask questions and no one monitors the truth in their answers.” I shot a pointed glance at Anne, who shrugged, and I wondered if her ability was impossible to turn off, like mine. If so, was it even realistic of me to expect her to keep a perfect stranger’s secrets?
“I think we can all respect that,” Kris said. “What do you want to know?”
“What are you all doing here? Why are you hiding out in a house locked up from the inside? What is the ‘higher purpose’ you mentioned earlier? Why does Julia Tower need your sister?” I hadn’t realized I had so many questions for them, until the words tumbled from my mouth.
“Okay.” Kris took a deep breath. “Every one of those questions has a complicated answer, and when you put them together...the explanation is pretty involved. But the short version is this—we’re trying to take the Towers down.”
“Take them down? Like, kill them?” I wasn’t sure whether to be thrilled by the prospect—considering Julia’s willingness to take me down—or horrified.
“Put them out of business,” Ian clarified. “We’re trying to end their syndicate.”
“Which will mean killing some of them,” Kori added. “Most notably, Julia.”
Olivia sank into the chair where Kris still perched on the arm. “Kenley’s an important part of the effort. Julia took her to stop her from working against the syndicate.”
“But you’re sure she won’t kill Kenley?”
Kris gave me a grim nod. “She can’t afford to, at least for the moment.”
“Okay.” I stared at the floor, still processing most of what I’d just heard. “Your turn.”
“What do you want from Julia?” Ian asked. “What could possibly be worth putting yourself on their radar?”
“I need her to do something for me. Something personal and very important, that I can’t do for myself. But you don’t have to worry about them recruiting me. She doesn’t know I’m a Jammer.” And she wants me as far away from her borrowed empire as possible. “So I think I’m safe in that respect.”
“Some people are never safe,” Vanessa whispered. “Even when they legitimately have no Skill.”
“Anyway, she’ll figure it out if you wind up working with her.” Kris shrugged. “She’s a Reader. She’ll know if you lie.”
So they knew her Skill. But they hadn’t yet realized I knew ways around the truth.
