Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

of the cliff. Water pounded below, sending giant sprays of white foam high up into the air, the water murky and dark, roiling like a witch’s cauldron. The wind whipped across his face, lashing him with stinging droplets of seawater. Jackson tasted the salt along with his fear. This house would be his when he claimed El e. Her legacy would be his.
    El e was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. She carried al the powers of the Drake family in her slender body, and with it, the ability to continue the line. Which meant birth control didn’t work wel on her.
    She was to be the mother of the next generation of Drakes. He would marry her, but they would keep her name. Their seven daughters would possess the power of the Drake family. He had waited, letting El e run, making her run, because he had been afraid. Not of the children he had no idea how to be a father to—he’d learn that—but of his own violent legacy. And how could he explain it to her without putting her in danger?
    He wasn’t a man able to relinquish too much control, and El e defied him at every turn—more than defied him, she chal enged him. He hadn’t trusted himself enough not to lose her when they both were such strong personalities and in hesitating, she’d turned away from him—and eventual y, she’d even given up on him.
    Elle. Damn it. Where are you? Answer me. He put every ounce of command, of iron wil —a wil honed and shaped by violence—into the demand.
    Answer me now.
    He rubbed his shadowed jaw and looked up as lightning lit up the darkening sky, lacing the brooding clouds with white-hot lances, spears that felt as if they pierced his eyes and went through his skul right to the back of his head. He dropped to his knees and pressed his fingers hard to his temples, his stomach churning, the pain in his head so intense he was sick to his stomach.
    Everything receded into the background, Ilya’s and Jonas’s anxious voices fading away. The world around him curved and trembled. The ground shifted, became soft and giving beneath him. He heard a voice whispering and at first he couldn’t make out words, but he reached and the voice became stronger. Sheena. Look at me. Talk to me. Who are you? What are you doing here? Who sent you? Talk to me, Sheena, and the pain will go away. Male. Persuasive. He’d heard voices like that before, molding their victim, holding hope just out of reach.
    Jackson went stil , afraid to move, afraid to hope. He’d touched her. He’d connected and if someone was questioning her as Sheena, her cover was stil intact. He tried to breathe through the pain—her pain—and let his mind expand, reach out strongly to hers. Elle. Baby? Can you hear me? I’m coming for you. We’re coming. Stay alive for me, honey.
    He felt the faint far-off touch, just a slight stirring in his mind. Fragile. Tenuous, as if she was afraid to believe. Jackson?

    Her voice sent a vise gripping his heart, squeezing until there was actual pain. For a moment he thought he might be having a heart attack. I’m here. I’m with you. Tell me where you are, Elle.
    I don’t know. I can’t think straight. My head . . . She trailed off, and the connection between them wavered.
    Don’t! His voice was sharp. Stay with me, baby. I need you to look around you. What do you see? Who’s with you?
    There was a moment of hesitation. Lightning lit up the sky and thunder crashed close, the sound louder than the booming of the sea. White light burned behind his eyes and he had to close his lids tightly against the shattering pain.
    A hand fel on his shoulder. “Jackson?â€
    Jackson shrugged off the distraction. “I’ve got her. I’ve got her,†he snapped. It was difficult being in two places and he needed to be with her. She was slipping away, even as he reached for her. Elle, no!
    She was gone, out of his reach and he stayed on his knees, breathing deeply, dropping his forehead to the ground and staying stil until he got himself under control.
    â€œShe’s alive,†Ilya said. “We’l find her.â€
    Jonas held out his hand and Jackson took it, al owing his friend to pul him to his feet. “Why didn’t you connect with us and strengthen the bond?†he demanded of Ilya without looking at him, that cold coil inside of him that was dark and