Jonas was close. She could feel him moving fast toward her. She’d come to rely on herself, but it felt good to know that when she was disoriented and surrounded by strangers, she could count on Jonas. He was a strong wall of energy, a force all his own.
Kyle nodded and, after shooting Kaden a dark frown, went back into the dining room, leaving her alone with the battle-scarred stranger.
“We can’t stay out here in the open when I talk to you,” Kaden said. “We have to be somewhere private.”
“Don’t touch her,” Jonas said, striding up, coming at them right from the front of the U-shaped garden. “You’ll make the symptoms worse, Kaden.”
Two blurry figures followed Jonas, but Camellia didn’t try to make them out. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his shoulder when he swept her up. Everything about him was familiar—too welcome. She didn’t question it then, not when she needed him.
“Follow me.” Kaden sounded terse. Abrupt. Not at all happy to see Jonas. “I didn’t realize this was going to turn into a circus, Ryland. My health is private.”
“What Camellia knows, I do,” Jonas said. “I didn’t have time to fill either one of you in on how that works between us. It has to do with our connection and the way Whitney paired us. It isn’t her fault or mine.”
Is she a psychic surgeon? Ryland asked. It would be a miracle for us to have one. Even a psychic healer would be a miracle, and we’d take that.
Camellia noted that Ryland spoke telepathically, so there was no way anyone could overhear them. He directed the question to Jonas but included her in the conversation along with Kaden and the other man trailing behind them.
She was shocked at the ferocious surge of reactive energy rushing through Jonas’s veins. Every aggressive animal trait he had roared to life. She felt the hot testosterone-laced adrenaline spread like a wildfire through his body.
You dare to ask me this when, right at this moment, Tansy, who just pretended to welcome her and act as though she wanted to be her friend, is examining her silverware in order to discover everything about her she can? That’s a betrayal by the way. Because it sure as fuck isn’t welcoming or friendship.
They were in another building now, striding down a hall. Camellia kept her face buried against Jonas’s shoulder. His rage filled the hallway and had to be felt by the three men accompanying them. She could feel their uneasiness. Their rising guilt.
Jonas, we couldn’t just accept a stranger into our midst with the stakes so high. We knew nothing about her, Ryland said.
What you’re telling me is that my word isn’t good enough. I told you I was connected to her, and I had already made certain she was safe before I ever took the chance of bringing her here. Jeff and Kyle did as well. You clearly don’t trust me either, despite all I’ve done for this team. If it weren’t for me sensing a warning no one else felt, we wouldn’t have known these men were on the way.
Jonas, calm down, Ryland said. You would have demanded we be even more careful of any stranger coming into our midst under any circumstances, and you know it. You’re having a predatory reaction. I understand completely wanting to protect her, but we have to protect every single person here.
Camellia felt Jonas take a deep breath. She didn’t feel a reverse in the wildly aggressive chemicals and electrical impulses rushing through his system. Jonas kicked open the door to a room as Kaden twisted the knob and stepped back. He set Camellia on her feet to the right of the door up against the wall, his larger body shielding her from the others. The moment the door was closed he spoke aloud.
“What is it you’d like to know, Kaden?” There was pure challenge in his voice.
Camellia got the hint. These men were no longer dealing with her or their teammate, the man under their command. They were dealing with Jonas, the extremely dangerous predator. She was certain she could calm him down, but she wasn’t altogether positive she wanted to. In a way, she found him magnificent. No one had ever stuck up for her before. Even under the circumstances, the feeling was exhilarating.
“How did she know I was ill?” Kaden asked.
“You sat at the table with her in a closed environment. She listened to all of you talking about Mari and thought she was reacting to what she was hearing, but the healer in her was reacting to whatever is wrong with you. You put your arm around her and she really reacted. Whatever your problem is has to be an immediate threat to you, or she wouldn’t have had such a severe reaction.”
Camellia leaned her forehead against Jonas’s back and breathed deep in an effort to push the healer back. Now that there was a little distance between Kaden and her, she had some respite. Jonas’s neurons snapping and rushing with heated aggression helped to push the terrible need further down so she could think again.
“Do you even want me to take a look at you, Kaden?” Camellia asked. “It’s not like I’m this great gifted healer. I wish I could say I was. I just know I need to try when I’m close to you. I didn’t mean to give anything away that I shouldn’t have.” She did feel bad about making a scene.
“It would be interesting to see what you think can be done,” Kaden agreed. “If anything.”
“Would you take off your shirt and lie down on the cot? I presume we came in here for that purpose. Jonas, you’re going to have to actually move in order for me to get a look at him.” Camellia pressed on his ribs in an effort to get Jonas to take a step forward so she could get around him.
“Tell me what you want me to do to help you.”
“Go to the other side of the cot and stay connected to me. I imagine when I touch him again, the need to heal him will hit me just as hard as it did before. I want to share that with you so I can sort out what needs to be done.” She was all business, moving into position on Kaden’s right side, ignoring the skeptical expression on his face.
She glanced over her shoulder at Ryland. He had come up behind her to watch.
The other man moved in on Jonas’s side. He flashed a sexy grin at her. “Raul Fontenot, ma’am. Mostly, they call me Gator around here.”
Camellia switched her attention back to Kaden. He lay on the cot, eyes fixed on her face, as if he could see right through her. She ignored everyone else in the room, took a deep cleansing breath, and lay the pads of her fingers very lightly on the bare skin of his wrist right over his pulse. The jolt was hard, hitting her like a fist. She accepted the blow, mostly because she’d been expecting it this time.
She didn’t fight the instantaneous flood of Red’s nutrients and antioxidants, of all the weapons she provided to fight off infection while Camellia took care of the festering wound in Kaden’s body. Camellia followed the thin trail of yellow invading his system back to the source. The sounds in the room receded until they were a distant blur. She could hear only Kaden’s heartbeat combined with Jonas’s and hers. The three of them settled into a steadier rhythm.