“Quinn claimed her so she’s no use to Osric?”
“Basically.” He found the phone and handed it to her. “I’m not saying she’s no longer in danger. Allowing ourselves to believe that is foolish.”
“He’s just more interested in me now?”
“He’s always been more interested in you.” Jake set the bag aside and returned his gaze to her face. “Carissa’s definition just widened the gap.”
Rather than ask him to explain the strange claim, she activated the phone and entered Carissa’s number. Still, the comment buzzed around in the back of her mind. They were fraternal twins. Why would Osric care more about her than he did about Carissa?
“Hello.” Carissa’s voice sounded hushed and thin.
“It’s me, Car. I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“Thank God I answered. I didn’t recognize the number, but Quinn thought it might be Kyle.”
Ava smiled, soothed by the familiar cadence of her sister’s voice. “I guess that means you’re all right.”
“I’m wonderful.” She laughed. “But where are you? They found Kyle’s truck out on Pine Valley Ranch. Are you with him? How did you leave the cabin?”
“Keep the information general, just in case,” Jake cautioned. “You’ll be with her tomorrow. You can catch up then.”
Ava nodded. “Jake says to keep it short. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Don’t you dare hang up!”
“I wasn’t going to. It’s just better if we leave the details until tomorrow.”
Clearly beyond caution, Carissa persisted, “Jake? I thought you were with Kyle? Where are you?”
“It’s a really long story and Jake’s right. This phone is disposable, but you’ve had yours for years. Chances are slim that we’re being recorded, but better safe than sorry. The important thing is we’re both safe and we’ll be together soon.”
Carissa finally calmed down enough to pause. “I really missed you. This has been the worst week of my life and yet it’s been the best. It’s so confusing.”
“I’m right there with you.” Several times literally. Ava smiled.
“I love you. Please be careful.”
Emotion thickened her sister’s tone and Ava blinked back tears. “I love you too. And I’m always careful. You’re the reckless one.”
“Tell Jake to be nice or he’ll answer to me.”
Ava looked at the brawny tiger-shifter seated across from her and smiled again. “I’ll tell him.” She ended the call and handed the phone back to her host.
“You’ll tell me what?”
“To be nice or Carissa will kick your ass.”
He chuckled as he returned the phone to the bag. “Ordinarily I’d welcome the challenge, but Quinn’s scent was all over her long before we defined her.”
“‘We defined her’?” She scooted forward and lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. “You were part of that ritual, weren’t you? You were in that classroom. Carissa drank your blood.” Images from the vision flickered through her mind and she shuddered. She only saw Quinn and the blond man, Ian, clearly, but she’d sensed others in the background waiting to participate. “How many were there? How many different natures did she absorb?”
“I can’t believe Kyle got into all that with you. He should have made sure you were safe before he even brought it up. There’s devotion to the Omni Prime and then there’s outright obsession. He’s moving closer and closer to obsession.”
Warmed by Jake’s overreaction, she quickly hid her smile with a sip of water. He was concerned about her, even to the point of being angry with his friend. But it wasn’t fair to let his misconception stand. “Kyle didn’t say a word. In fact when I brought up what I’d seen in my dream, he confirmed that the ritual was real then refused to talk about the specifics.”
Jake stretched his arm out along the back of the booth and narrowed his eyes. “You saw the ritual in a dream?”
She nodded. “That’s why I decided to run. I knew it wasn’t happening live. I’ve had enough dreams to know the difference between real time and memory. But I was left with a sense of dread. Something was horribly wrong and I needed to get the hell out of there.”
“So you threw your stuff in a backpack and headed for your motorcycle, but Kyle grabbed you when you ducked around the corner.”
They’d already been through all this, so she just nodded. She was pretty sure he was thinking out loud anyway.
“What if ‘fight’ engaged rather than ‘flight’. The flash might have taken you to the source of danger rather than away.”