Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

him.
    â€œShe’s alive, Jonas, you know that, and her cover has to be blown, which means her life is in danger. Wherever she is, they’re hurting her and they have to kil her when they’re done finding out everything she knows.â€

    Jonas studied his friend. Jackson was Cajun, with broad shoulders, roped arms, a heavy powerful chest and shrewd, cool eyes—black obsidian, glittering when upset, or absolutely flat and cold, showing no emotion whatsoever. His thick, unruly, wavy hair was as black as midnight. Scars ran down his face and neck and disappeared into his shirt. His features were etched with lines of hard violence and a stil ness that belied his lightning-fast reflexes.
    Jackson rarely spoke of his family, and from what Jonas had gleaned from the few times he’d mentioned them, they’d lived in the bayou itself, on a smal island, boating to the mainland for supplies. His dad had been a fighter, a veteran of more than one war and a biker who left his family often because he couldn’t settle, but returned just as often because he couldn’t be away from them. From the things Jackson had let drop, his father had begun teaching him survival and fighting and the use of weapons at a very early age.
    He seemed to love and despise his father, feeling as if the bikers he’d run with had been his family and Jackson and his mother had gotten the leftovers. Although the details were sketchy, Jonas knew that Jackson had been the one to provide for his mother. When she’d gotten cancer, his father had disappeared once again, unable to face the prolonged il ness. Jackson had been fifteen when his mother died, leaving him to run wild in the bayou. He’d fended for himself until his father returned and Jackson was forced to accompany him to live in the biker camps, traveling with them as they moved. His father had died in a knife fight, taking four rival gang members with him just before Jackson’s nineteenth birthday, and Jackson had joined the army. Jonas knew Jackson had a brush with that same biker club during his time with the DEA, but he never talked about it.
    â€œWe’l find her this time,†Jonas said.
    The black eyes flicked to him. “Yes, we wil . I’m bringing her home. And she’s done, Jonas. Be prepared for that. I know how you are about the girls, but El e’s mine. And she’s done.â€
    â€œJackson . . .†For the first time that he could remember in their long friendship, Jonas felt a stab of unease. Jackson could be quite ruthless and once he made up his mind, there was no turning him from his objective.
    Jackson shook his head. “Let’s just get a starting point. The storm’s coming in fast. Are the girls gathered?â€
    That was like Jackson. He was done talking. Jonas sighed as they wound their way through the back garden. He’d never understood Jackson and El e’s relationship—or lack of one. El e kept to herself, in the same way Jackson did. They were both strong-wil ed individuals and aside from El e’s bad temper, and Jackson’s lack of one, they were very much alike—stubborn.
    â€œIlya’s here. He has some information for us,†Jonas said. “He prefers to tel us before we go inside.â€
    Jackson glanced at him, his gaze sharp. Whatever Ilya Prakenskii had to say, he didn’t want his fiancée, Joley Drake, or any of her sisters to know. And that meant it couldn’t be good.
    Jackson let out his breath, refusing to give in to the secret part of him that was fil ed with terror. He’d been a prisoner of war to one of the worst sadists in the business and he hadn’t felt fear like this.
    Elle. Baby. Stay alive for me. Any way you have to, stay alive for me. I’m coming for you.
    The storm was the perfect conduit they needed to boost their energy. Wherever El e was, she would be waiting, knowing they would never stop looking for her.
    He walked around to the side of the Drake house where Ilya waited in the shadows for them. Ilya nodded to Jackson and glanced toward the towering house. “Let’s walk.â€
    â€œThey’l know,†Jonas cautioned.
    The Drakes always knew. They’d been trying for a month to find El e, uniting over and over to find their lost sister, and because they couldn’t, they knew she was a great distance away and under extreme