Surrender (THE DRAGONFLY CHRONICLES) (3 page)

“Everywhere.” Kailin smiled, momentarily throwing Jackson’s planned conversation off course. Damn, when the woman smiled, it lit her whole face, a perfect porcelain reflection of the moon in the cool dark. She pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders.

“Anthony mentioned that you are in the same line of work as he, just in Scotland.”

She nodded and buttoned the wrap up to her chin.

“So,” he continued, “you know that digging and discovery can be hard, dirty, uncomfortable, even dangerous…for a woman especially.”

Jackson would have felt triumph in the manipulation of the conversation, but the disappearance of Kailin’s smile soured his victory.

“Yes, Mr. Black, I am a woman and an archeologist. I understand discomfort and dirt. I think I can manage to get by without my tea and scones while gaining my father’s freedom.”

“Comfort aside, it will be dangerous.” Jackson studied her. The pert nose, the gently tipped eyes at the far edges, the soft curve of her lips upon one another. So delicate, yet so strong. “The men responsible for taking Anthony will be watching you.”

Kailin smirked yet didn’t meet his gaze for more than a brief second. “With any luck they will take me to him.”

Jackson frowned. “And you will just rescue him, like that.” He snapped his fingers.

Kailin’s eyes found his. She paused long as if contemplating how much she could trust him. “Yes.” He waited, but she didn’t continue. Apparently she could only trust him enough for a one-word answer.

Jackson grunted. “Perhaps we should retrieve the orb first anyway. Just so they don’t decide to shoot Anthony or you when we show up. These men aren’t playing around. Anthony’s room was ransacked when I found the letter.”

The thought of rough, greedy men handling Kailin, touching her soft skin, stripping that mask of courage off her face, tightened his gut. He may be a bloody bastard treasure hunter, but he would never let harm come to such lovely strength.

“Thank you for delivering the message. However, I won’t need your services once we reach Luxor. I will pay you for your escort thus far.”

Jackson stared in astonishment. She was trying to get rid of him. First of all, ladies didn’t get rid of Jackson Black; he got rid of them. Secondly, it just wasn’t safe for an Englishwoman to travel alone in Egypt, camping outside or digging at a site, even if she wasn’t in jeopardy of being kidnapped by those seeking the powerful orb. Thirdly, her working without him wasn’t part of the plan.

“The hell you won’t need my services,” he growled. “Even if you weren’t a woman traveling alone in hostile territory, I know the last location your father was digging for the blasted orb.”

“I can figure that out from his letters and from knowing Anthony’s mind.”

“I can help you narrow it down to a specific vicinity. It will save time.”

“I am certain, Mr. Black, that I can find the coveted orb as quickly as you can.”

Jackson’s eyes narrowed. “And I can crawl underground to retrieve it.” Jackson watched fury and embarrassment pinch her features. Damn, he’d insulted her, but he needed to convince her that she needed him. It was common knowledge in archeology circles that Kailin Whitaker wouldn’t go underground, and her balcony bed confirmed the fact that the brave lady before him was severely claustrophobic.

Kailin took a long inhale of the cool night air and exhaled. “Very well, then, Mr. Black. Since you’re so accomplished at slithering on your belly in the dirt, you may accompany me on my expedition.”

With that, Kailin turned her straight back on him and walked toward the prow of the sailboat, her face into the wind.

He’d won, Jackson reminded himself as he watched her graceful shape saunter away. His plans were in motion. Kailin would be safe. Dr. Whitaker would be retrieved, and the orb would be his. Jackson inhaled the wind and closed his eyes, slamming the dark images from his past back into their cell inside his chest.

Kailin stared below at the dark swirls of current made by the swiftly moving boat. Her power pushed the hull through the mild river current of the Nile. A steamer would have been faster under its own power, but the small sailboat glided through the deep channel with unnatural ease. Would the captain notice? She hadn’t seen any of the crew walking along the deck to ponder the rushing water. Perhaps they’d accept the fact that they’d arrived a day early in Luxor as a sign of good luck.

She watched Tuto dive below a low sand hill far out under the bright moon. It didn’t matter what they thought, what anyone thought, as long as she got to Anthony before anything further happened to him.

Her forehead pinched and she breathed slowly in through her nose to control the panic that could shatter her plan if she wasn’t controlled. She wasn’t fearful for herself. That would be hindering, and well, silly really. There wasn’t much that could stop her or hurt her for that matter.

She frowned as her internal gaze formed around Jackson as he’d stood against her magic on the balcony, totally unaware of and unaffected by her power. He could stop her. The thought of his biceps straining against his sleeves hitched Kailin’s breath. She’d witnessed his might as he’d broached her wall. She’d watched his tall, cowboy-like grace as he rode before her along the road south. And just now she’d seen the strength of his will behind his sharp, intelligent eyes as he played against her phobia to manipulate himself into a position of need on her expedition. Jackson Black. He was dangerous, not only physically but also emotionally. She exhaled through
O
-shaped lips to steady the slight rocking of the boat as they nearly flew down the center of the Nile.

I’ll keep my distance
. Her frown relaxed. They didn’t call her Ice Princess for nothing.

The water swirled and Kailin breathed in the fresh air. Jackson had delivered her small trunk to a cabin below. She’d have to go inside the ten-foot-square box at some point, but she’d never be able to sleep there. She scanned the deck. Several lounge chairs sat scattered for guests. Perfect. A blanket would keep her warm and she’d pretend to doze off while watching the stars. Kailin strode with slow, measured steps toward the narrow stairs leading down into the depths. One more full breath and down.
In and out. Keep breathing
.

She trotted lightly down. Reaching the bottom, Kailin kept her run under control as she strode to her quarters and turned the flimsy lock in the door with her mind. Click and slide. She was in.

“Good heavens,” she murmured and concentrated on her thumping heart until it calmed slightly. Stars sparked in her periphery and she fought to control the desperate need to suck in air. “It’s like a bloody tomb.”

She grabbed a blanket roll from the end of the netting-draped cot. She’d brush her hair and rub the dust off her teeth outside. They’d disembark in the morning and she would refresh herself at the hotel in Luxor where she planned to buy clothing suitable for expedition.

Kailin turned and gasped, the air catching in her throat. The porcelain pitcher in the bowl near the small porthole rattled. Jackson Black’s imposing, mountain of a body blocked the doorway. Trapped!

His head nearly brushed the ceiling. He stared with a lopsided grin at her full arms. “Vacating? It’s customary to wait until the boat stops moving, preferably at a dock, before disembarking,” he drawled.

Kailin cleared her throat and tipped her nose higher. “I dislike these accommodations. Until another room can be found, I will wait on deck.”

“There are no other accommodations.”

They stared at each other for a long moment. “You may have these,” Kailin offered. “I prefer the outside anyway.”

She stepped closer to him, which would force polite company to move aside. Apparently Jackson Black wasn’t polite company. He didn’t even twitch as she walked up to him, invading his space. He grinned, a cocky tilt to his head.

Kailin frowned up at him. “Excuse me.” Her shoulders tightened and she breathed deeply. The room crowded her from behind and Jackson blocked her forward escape. In and out she breathed. “I…I need some air.” The porcelain pitcher rattled in its basin behind her again, but Jackson didn’t break the stare.

His grin faded to stone lines. “You’re pale.” Without further explanation, Jackson grabbed her valise and moved aside. His empty hand slid along the curve of Kailin’s back to usher her out. She could feel the heat through her gown. Her heart leapt at the contact. Very few people had ever dared to touch her, dared to even meet the sharp glint she’d perfected.

Kailin’s control slipped. She stopped mid-stride on the narrow line of the corridor. Jackson stopped with her, waiting. Kailin’s gaze strayed to the paintings lining the short walls on either side of them. Her heart flew, her breathing hitched in and out, not smooth at all. Yet…the paintings hung, un-abused, un-rattled. As if only air wafted around them, not insanely unchecked magic.

“Shall I carry you?” Jackson’s breath brushed against her ear where her hair cinched back into a tight bun.

“Out,” she hissed and half expected the roof of the small boat to shatter upward into the night sky. But nothing happened. Only her own hyperventilating echoed in the silence around them. “I must get out.” Kailin jerked forward and Jackson’s hand fell away as she sprinted toward the steep steps leading to freedom and the promise of fresh air.

“Damn,” Jackson swore on an exhale behind her. The sound of paintings jumping from their nails and clattering against the hard floor punctuated the curse. But Kailin didn’t care. She reached the top of the steps and flew to the railing. She gripped the wooden rail as hard as she tried to grip her power. Like a fish fighting against the line, Kailin fought to reel herself back in.

She breathed and imagined a bright blue sky, open and free, white puffy clouds high above. Her eyes closed as she imagined Tuto soaring up and through the azure with a gentle breeze.
In and out. Gentle, open, and free.
And little by little Kailin spooled in her magic, funneling it into the current surrounding the boat to speed it once more toward Luxor.

After several minutes she blinked open to reality, the deep blue-black shade of night across the desert. The splash of the water under her propulsion continued a constant lap and gurgle that melted into the background. In and out, she breathed and eventually her fingers relaxed around the unpolished rail. Tuto flapped upward from a nearby tree as if he’d been checking on her.

“All’s well,” she whispered to the night, even though she felt weakness throughout her muscles like she’d physically climbed Benn Druim in western Scotland. How long had it been since she’d lost such control? Years. Her forehead ached and she rubbed cool fingertips along stretched skin there. The cabin, the corridor, they’d just been too much. Even as she justified, blamed her reaction on the confining space, she knew it was not the complete reason she’d lost control. The skin tingled along her lower back where the man’s hand had rested.

“He follows you.” Jackson’s voice shot through Kailin like cold lightning. He leaned forward against the rail she still clutched.

Kailin caught at the lightning, forcing it down into her core, swallowing it with the bile trying to crawl up her throat. She turned to Jackson with an iced-over stare. “We look out for each other, keep each other company so that I do not have need for any other.”

Jackson’s glance slid away from her, ignoring her obvious request for solitude. Since the man wasn’t ignorant, he blatantly chose to refuse her polite requests. He stared out over the Nile and the banks into the moon-drenched desert.

“So your one friend is an owl. Interesting.” His tone was nearly mocking.

“I have other friends,” Kailin defended and rifled through the small group of acquaintances and archeologists she knew. There was that man in Scotland who tried to talk to her several times on her last expedition, the one with the castle and sheep. Her brows furrowed. What was his name? There were the Macleans at Kylkern Castle in the Highlands. They considered her a friend, didn’t they?

Jackson stared down at her. “Ah yes, the lady Samantha McGivens. I’m sure she will be looking forward to reacquainting herself with you when we reach Luxor.”

“Samantha McGivens?” Kailin hadn’t seen the woman for half a decade, not since finishing her degree. “She still resides in Luxor?” Kailin’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know Miss McGivens? Know that we were…are friends?”

“Your father mentioned it,” Jackson glanced back out at the swirling black water.

Kailin watched Jackson’s ruggedly attractive profile. Strong jaw, perfectly sloped nose, good cheekbones. Striking, strong, and utterly dangerous. Not just physically dangerous to her since he was immune to her magic, but also dangerous because he loosened her control on it. Plus, she couldn’t trust anything he said. No close friend of Anthony’s would call her Kailin. His circle only knew her as Anthony’s beloved Cleo.

Kailin paralleled his stare out over the water.
Samantha…hmmm…
“I look forward to seeing her again. Does she know I journey to Luxor?” Jackson seemed to know everything, perhaps he’d contacted Samantha.

“I wouldn’t know.” Jackson’s voice slid over the words with his drawl which sounded almost scandalous there in the dark loneliness. She blinked and glanced his way disapprovingly.

“You sir,” she said, “have just such a way of saying things to make a woman frown.”

A small chuckle cracked from his lips. “They either love me or despise me.”

“Are those my choices?”

One of his eyebrows rose at her quip. “If they are, I fear you’ve already passed judgment,” he replied.

Kailin grinned and stared back out into the darkness. “Firstly, I doubt you fear much, Mr. Black. Secondly, judgment is something I do not have the authority nor the desire to pass on anyone.” Her smile faded, dulled as past, childish pain tried to push upward. “I find those who judge to be…unworthy.”

“Ah, but that is a judgment in itself, is it not?” Jackson’s words didn’t sound derisive, just inquisitive.