He knew his tone was perfect. No anxiety whatsoever. His expression was the same, completely deadpan. Unreadable. With anyone else, it would have worked, but Camellia was so connected to him, she saw inside his head. She knew Ian had terrified him with what he was doing.
“Did you confront him?”
Jonas pulled open the door to the refrigerator so he wouldn’t have to look at her. “That was my first thought. I realized after I got over my initial shock that he was just like the rest of us. He was practicing in what he considered a safe place without anyone around in order to perfect a new ability he’d discovered. He didn’t want anyone knowing until he could control it.”
He pulled out the ingredients he needed for the omelets. “You can choose what you want in yours, and I’ll throw it together.”
“But it was so dangerous, Jonas.”
He nodded. “Yeah. I did take precautions. I made a point of trying to track his movements more closely. That way, I’d know if he was on his way here. I also put in a silent alarm so I’d know when he was trying his skills if I missed him before he got here. When I was leaving for a few days, I wasn’t too worried because we’d be a few men down, and he’d have too many assignments to use the opportunity to get into the greenhouse.”
Camellia tilted her head to look up at him. “You always think the worst of yourself, but just the fact that you were so careful of Ian’s feelings and gave him the room to practice his skills in a relatively safe environment while you looked after him shows what kind of man you are.”
“Since I’ve decided I want you to always see me as heroic and wonderful, I’ll let you think that.” He sent her a quick grin. “Although if I’m being strictly truthful with you, my actions fall under my need to protect family, which Ian is to me.”
She watched as he chopped vegetables, the knife flashing fast as he made short work of the variety she’d indicated she liked.
“You really are fast with that thing.” She seemed fascinated. “I can barely see the blade.”
He lifted the knife and indicated the target on the wall across the room. “Sometimes I get distracted.”
Camellia made her way across the room to look up at the target. “Um, Jonas, it looks to me as if you never hit anywhere but the exact center.”
“That’s the idea.”
“That’s no fun. In fact, I would say it’s far too easy if you’re always hitting the same exact spot. Muscle memory and all that sort of thing.” There was a hint of challenge in her voice.
He looked up from where he was pouring the eggs into an omelet pan. “What does that mean?” Her eyes were sparkling with mischief, and his belly reacted, doing a hard clench and then a long drop. She got to him every single time.
She shrugged. “Just that it seems like it might be easy to hit the exact same place on the target if you’re always aiming for it every time you’re in the kitchen. That omelet looks delicious.”
“You’re changing the subject on purpose.”
Her laughter was inviting as she wandered over to the bay of windows and looked out. “You have more shrubs out here as well, Jonas. They’re growing right under the window.”
He glanced out the window and frowned. He’d never planted any landscaping, no flowers or shrubbery. He’d wanted the ground clean so he could see enemies coming at him. But she was right, there were plants growing up just outside the bank of kitchen windows. They weren’t small either. It appeared they’d been growing for some time.
He pushed her omelet onto a plate and flipped his, which was cooking in a separate pan. “I think maybe someone in the team, most likely Ian, is playing a prank on me. I was here before I left to go up the mountain only a few days ago, looking right out these very same windows, and there were no shrubs. If there were, they were barely peeking through the soil, not even enough for me to notice them.”
“Mmm. That must be it.” Camellia collected her plate and silverware and sat down at the table. While he finished cooking his omelet, she stared out the window at the glossy leaves. A tiny smile curled the edges of her mouth. “They are beautiful, aren’t they? Look at all the buds on them.”
He growled at her. He’d perfected the growl, thanks to the animals Whitney saw fit to include in his enhancements. He was pleased to see goosebumps rising on her skin. She lifted her chin at him, and her eyes showed her laughter, but she couldn’t hide her response to his aggression. She liked it.
He set his plate on the table and sat down across from her. “Why do I think you know far more than you’re telling me?”
Her eyebrow went up. “Why would you think I would know about the landscaping on your property when I’ve never been here before?”
There was that little enigmatic smile again, the one that told him she knew exactly what he was talking about. She liked teasing him, and he liked her teasing just a little too much.
Camellia took her first bite of omelet. “Mmm. This is really good.”
“One of my many talents.” He grinned and took his own large bite. Cheesy, savory goodness melted on his tongue, reminding him of how long it had been since he’d eaten. He tucked into his meal and didn’t stop until his plate was clean.
Leaning back in his chair, he eyed Camellia across the table. “It’s time you give me the rundown on what you did for Kaden, Camellia. That wasn’t the same as a psychic healer, at least not according to any of the explanations I’ve ever heard. You used the same method healing him that you did when you helped Kyle when he was using the eyes of the owl to spy on Crawley and his men, didn’t you?”
She nodded slowly, finishing off her omelet. She pushed the empty plate toward the middle of the table and took a drink of water before she sank back in the chair. “I don’t have a psychic healing talent the way Ryland expected me to. Or you for that matter. That isn’t the way my gift works. You have a bit of talent yourself, Jonas. You just haven’t discovered or developed it yet. Didn’t you feel it when you were connected to me when I was working on Kaden?”
“Yes.” There was no denying it. He had. “But whatever gift I have is nothing compared to yours. Even if I worked at it day and night, I’d never come close to your ability. It’s possible, since Whitney paired us, that my talent is more of a support system for yours.”
Her brows came together in that little frown he found far too adorable. Adorable. What the hell kind of word was that for a man like him? It suited that look though—and her. She could melt him so easily. Her dark lashes fluttered, went down, covering her blue eyes, and then lifted so he found himself drowning there. Small white teeth bit at the side of her lower lip for a moment.
“That’s a possibility I never considered, Jonas. Are you sure your healing gift isn’t the same? Maybe you just need to practice more.”