Page 4 of Cruel Revenge (Jacky Leon #12)

CHAPTER FOUR

T he next morning, there was still evidence of the takeout from the night before scattered about the dining table and kitchen.

Once everyone had eaten, Heath and I were too tired to care about cleaning up.

Landon and Dirk snuck off before doing so.

Carey had worked so hard on dinner that we didn’t eat, so no one could bring themselves to ask her if she would clean up.

Heath was making coffee, staring at the mess as I walked in.

“The boys could have handled this,” he said, frowning at it. “They keep their home quite clean and yet leave yours like this.”

“They come here to act like boys, meaning they’re going to sometimes leave the mess for us to deal with.” It was a simple fact.

“I’ve got coffee going,” he said, sighing. “Want to hand me a trash bag, and I’ll get to work?”

I grabbed two, and we made quick work of the trash from takeout. We drank our coffee as I did the dishes and he wiped down all the surfaces, making sure nothing was left behind. We were on our second cups when we finally sat down at the freshly cleaned dining table.

“Now what are we going to do for breakfast?” I asked. “I just did all the dishes from last night. Don’t particularly want to get them dirty right now.”

Heath got back up and started making breakfast anyway, but he was smart.

He used only two pans to make bacon and scrambled eggs, placing two large plates in the middle of the dining table for anyone to serve themselves from.

He washed those pans before he sat back down, as I waited for him to join me before eating.

“Landon and Dirk are going to be on dishes duty for thirty days,” he said simply as he made himself a plate.

“Fair enough,” I said, shrugging. So long as the dishes got done and the trash was taken out, I didn’t particularly care who did it.

We sat together for an hour before Carey stumbled into the dining area, bleary eyed from sleep, and sat down with us. Without a word, she got a plate and dished herself some food.

“Good morning,” she finally said, rubbing her eyes.

“Did you not sleep well?” Heath asked, concern for Carey overriding his frustration with Landon. I was a little concerned as well, wondering how she was possibly so tired when we all went to bed fairly early the night before.

“I was up last night reading, wanting to finish a book for class. I really liked it and couldn’t stop until I finished it.” She yawned, waving a hand to dismiss us. “It’s my own fault.”

“Ah…” I chuckled. “It happens.”

“Uh-huh,” she said, nodding as she started eating her breakfast.

Once breakfast was settled, it was time for Heath to leave. I kissed him goodbye at the door, knowing he wasn’t going far, but he was going to be hard to reach.

“Are Landon and Teagan meeting you at the packhouse to use your office there?”

“Yeah. You know I want to use my office there more, just for safety. You don’t need everything Tribunal going through your house or stomping all over your property by using the security building,” he said, touching my cheek gently. “Be safe today outside your territory.”

“I will be,” I promised, kissing him one more time. “Go on. Don’t be late.”

He nodded, then waved at Carey.

“Stay out of trouble!” he told her loudly.

“I will, Dad!” she called back. “Have a good day! Love you!”

“Love you, too!” He was grinning, then looked at me. “And I love you, too,” he said to me, kissing me back this time.

Then he left me and her at home. I looked back at her, studying the sleepy young woman.

“What are your plans for today?” I asked.

“I was going to see what Zuri was already planning for your bachelorette party if I can get a hold of her. If not, I’ll just keep getting further ahead on my schoolwork. No classes today, so…” Carey shrugged.

“You can go out with the others. I’m sure the wolves wouldn’t mind hanging out.”

Carey shrugged.

“They’re always willing to go paintballing or something, but I really enjoy studying. I know it’s weird, but I like learning more than paintballing.”

“Whatever you want,” I said, shrugging. “I’ll be with Olivia and Dirk today. Call if anything happens.”

“I will,” she said, smiling as she picked up our breakfast plates from the table.

She’d been the last to sit down, so clean-up was hers if she had nowhere pressing to be.

As I walked out of the house, my phone buzzed.

Checking it, I chuckled to see that Olivia had ridden with Teagan to the packhouse.

I knew Dirk had ridden with Landon. It was pretty well planned.

They were about to start walking over, and I quickly texted back to tell them to wait; I would pick them up.

I didn’t get out, seeing only Dirk and Olivia waiting outside. As they got into my car, I felt Heath, Landon, and Teagan disappear from my territory in Heath’s office.

“So, how is everyone this morning?” I asked, mostly looking at Olivia beside me in the passenger’s seat.

“Oh, lovely. It’s a nice morning. A bit cold, of course, but the sun is out. Good day to check on home.”

“And you?” I asked, my smile turning toothy as I looked at Dirk.

“Heath yelled at me already. Sorry about the mess,” he said.

“Forgiven.” I nodded, dropping the topic, glad that Heath had taken care of it. While the boys came to my house to be boys, there was a line to be drawn about leaving my kitchen destroyed when Heath and I had been otherwise preoccupied for several days.

As I started driving, I turned my attention to the road, but also to Olivia.

“So, how have you been? Have you and Teagan settled in to living together yet?”

“Oh, um, yeah,” Olivia answered with a pink blush covering her cheeks. “He’s really easy to live with.”

“I bet,” I said, chuckling. “Has my mother reached out to you recently?”

“Yeah! Well… she showed up in my dreams and told me it was really her, but it was also a dream, and I could have been making it up, but I remember it was so clear that I think it really was her. We talked about how my magic was still changing and how I need to keep being careful with spells I’ve been able to do for years.

She thinks I’ve got a pretty good handle on it, but things could still happen. ”

“Wow. I’m sorry this happened to you because of me,” I said, frowning.

“This is the eleventh time you’ve apologized for something you didn’t do,” Olivia said with a bright, clear laugh.

“It’s not your fault. Subira and I already discussed how she didn’t know this would happen, either.

She never gave her blood to someone outside of the family before.

It never changed Zuri or Jabari. It hasn’t done anything to Makalo…

or Aisha, either. We think Aisha is free from the impact because she’s technically using Jabari’s magic, thanks to how their mate bond works.

The magic still comes from Subira’s line, her children.

She explained that to me when she told me she had done some testing about what happened.

I’m the only person this has happened to, and there was no way any of us could have known. ”

“Still…”

“I’m more powerful than I could have ever imagined.

It just makes spells need a little attention and care.

I can cast more, heal for longer… none of it’s bad.

It just is what it is.” Olivia continued to smile.

“And I have one of the best teachers of magic that humanity has ever produced. She’s a genius, your mother. Absolutely incredible.”

“She’s incredibly special,” I said, almost in a whisper, knowing that Subira was probably one of the strongest witches to walk the earth and had been since the day she was born, over five thousand years ago.

“She’s actually excited I can still heal. She explained her power was always so big, so immense, that the intricacies of healing were impossible for her. Plus, her knowledge of human anatomy was limited as she was learning magic and still undeveloped enough to attempt healing.”

“Undeveloped?” I asked, frowning at the word choice.

“Magic… grows with an individual. It’s different for everyone, but like all things, as you go from child to teen to adult, it matures with you.

When she was younger, she probably could have attempted healing before her magic matured to its full strength in her adulthood,” Olivia excitedly explained.

I never gave her a chance to talk too much about this with me.

We all knew she talked Teagan’s ear off about it, but we also knew he liked it.

I was unconscious for it, but apparently, he was immediately protective of the witch Dirk brought to help me while I was poisoned.

She healed my physical body, boosted by Subira’s blood, while Subira entered my mind to help guide me through the trial the poison forced me to face.

A warped version of my own reality, torturing me into giving up and dying or forcing me to find courage to face the reality it was based on and wake up.

The injuries I had gotten in my head had appeared on my physical body, scaring everyone.

Dirk had made the best call, going to find help.

Subira approved of Olivia immediately. If she hadn’t, Olivia wouldn’t be in my car, smiling brightly as she talked about the magic she and Subira were now working on together.

She certainly wouldn’t be living with Teagan.

“That’s interesting. I never considered that she was ever weaker than she is now. I thought she was born the way she is.”

“Yeah, it’s not well known, because to everyone else, it just looks like young witches and warlocks are training and that they’re getting better, but the power does change, even without the training.

It’s why we start training young witches and warlocks the moment their magic presents itself.

It only gets harder as someone gets older.

” She chuckled. “Unless it’s Subira doing the training.

Makalo is lucky to have her as his grandmother and can help him as a late bloomer. ”