Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

and Jackson had grown fast, ever since she’d connected with him when he’d been in the prison camp. The more they shared their minds, the more tightly woven the connection had become. He had been alone most of his life, not just alone, but a loner by choice, and now he couldn’t imagine his life—his mind—without El e in it. Her touch, not just physical, was addictive. The warmth she shared with him, her unreserved, uncompromising love that she poured into him was so much a part of him now. When he looked around at his home, he knew it was home because she was there.
    Jonas made a sound in the back of his throat. He caught the grin Hannah and Joley threw at each other. The Drake women loved Jonas. He was more than Hannah’s husband, he was truly their brother in their hearts. The only one they had. Their fierce protector and their biggest pain. They knew he wanted to talk to Jackson in spite of Jonas’s attempt to keep it a secret.
    El e flashed him a smal smile and he winked at her. Her smile widened.
    â€œYou’re going to do this, then, El e.†Jackson made it more of a statement than a question. “Once you do, we move back to the Drake home. It’s the center of power and we’l have even more ammunition against the son of a bitch. In the meantime, that house can protect you better than I can.â€
    She shook her head. “No, it can’t. He’d be al over me if you weren’t stopping him, Jackson.†There was quiet conviction in her voice.
    â€œHe can’t get past you.â€
    Damon stood, leaning heavily on his cane. “Are you certain?â€
    â€œAbsolutely certain. I can’t keep him out. I don’t know if it’s because of the lesions and I can’t maintain a natural barrier against him, or if he knows exactly every weak point. But as soon as Jackson pul s away from me, I can hear Stavros whispering to me, tel ing me he’s coming for me. That if I don’t come back to him he’l kil everyone I love and that sooner or later he’l get to that one person who matters above everything to me.†She looked at Jackson and there was pain in her eyes. “He means you.â€
    Jackson curved his palm around the nape of her neck and drew her to him, tilting her head back with his thumb, pressing his forehead against hers.
    â€œThen he’s in for a big disappointment, baby. We both know I don’t kil so easy.â€
    â€œI couldn’t bear it if anyone else was hurt or kil ed because of me,†she whispered, pressing closer. “I don’t know how to live without you anymore.â€
    â€œLook around you, El e,†Jackson said. “Take a good look at your family. Nothing is going to happen to any of us. In this one thing, you trust me. He isn’t going to win.â€
    Jackson turned abruptly and left the living room, Bomber at his side. He shoved open the door and went out onto the deck, rage wel ing up inside him.
    For a brief moment it consumed him, ate at him, until he felt the boards under his feet shift.
    Damon and Ilya fol owed him, Damon dropping into one of the deck chairs. “You’re going after him.â€
    â€œI won’t have to go after him. The son of a bitch is going to come right to me,†Jackson said. “He’s so ful of himself he thinks he can come onto my home turf and take my woman.†The edge of a glacier was in his voice.
    â€œYou have a plan.â€
    Ilya and Jackson exchanged a long, knowing look. Jackson shrugged. He just needed his gun and the man in his sights and Ilya was with him 100
    percent on the strategy.
    Damon smiled at him. “I think we might need to rethink your plan a little bit.†He patted the chair next to him.
    â€œThe bastard isn’t coming out of this alive.†The grim finality gave no room for argument. Jackson looked at Jonas, who had fol owed them out, Tyson, Aleksandr and Matt close behind.
    â€œJackson,†Jonas cautioned. “You can’t kil someone in cold blood. You’re a deputy sheriff, sworn to uphold the law.â€
    â€œYou can have my badge, Jonas,†Jackson said quietly. “I’l write up my resignation and have it in your hands in five minutes.†He started back into the house.
    Jonas stepped in front of him. “Don’t be an asshole. What are you going to do? Shoot him and go to