Page 25 of War Games (Jacky Leon #11)

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“ L ook at what you’ve done this time,” a deep voice said, smooth and annoyed.

I opened my eyes, not wanting to see the one speaking, but knowing I couldn’t run from him.

“Hello, Hasan,” I said, seeing him across the room, leaning on the wall, his gold eyes showing every single ounce of annoyance I had just heard in his voice. His natural eye color was some shade of brown, but I saw it so rarely now. Every time we had to speak, I had gotten into some sort of trouble and that made him feel certain ways. I always saw the gold in recent days, the same that I had, thanks to the curse. There were other shades of gold if someone was lazy with describing the colors, though most were too yellow or too orange to match Hasan’s particular pure gold. Except mine. Hasan and I matched perfectly.

“That’s all you have to say? Hello? Once again, I’ve wondered if you were going to survive another fight you shouldn’t have been in, and all you have to say is hello ?” His anger filled the room and left me sinking in the bed, unable to maintain eye contact with him.

“What else am I supposed to say?” I asked, crossing my arms. Everything hurt. My back and legs were the worst of the pain. Whatever fight I had gotten into had left me messed up.

“I want you to stop this nonsense before you die!” Hasan roared. “Before you break our family with that level of pain. We can’t lose you like Liza!”

“You won’t.” I tried to believe that myself. I had to repeat it to myself every day, hoping and praying it wasn’t going to be the day I didn’t make it home.

“Are you sure? Because from where I’m standing, it seems like you have a death wish.” Hasan snapped, coming closer to the bed. In an effort to avoid his glare, I looked around the room, realizing I was on his island, in his mansion, and particularly, the room he had specifically designed for me.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been here…

“Do you have a death wish, Jacky?” he asked, sitting at the edge of the bed. His voice was gentler now, but I still was scared to look at him.

“No,” I answered, glad I still could answer it honestly. Sometimes, I wondered if I was trying to get myself killed. Everyone made me feel like that was what I must be doing.

“Then I’ll tell the staff you’re here to stay.” He sounded pleased, but I felt a well of terror fill me, knowing that wasn’t the right outcome of this conversation. “It’ll be good to have you home.”

“No. This isn’t my home, Hasan. My home is in Texas with?—”

“Don’t say?—”

“With Heath and Carey. With Landon. Dirk. Niko. My home is?—”

“That place is going to kill you!” he snarled. “When are you going to realize that? When are you going to figure out how dangerous that place is? Your fascination with the werewolves is going to get you killed. You know it.”

“I don’t believe that,” I said, wishing I had more strength in the argument. It was true, but it was weak.

“Heath is being targeted by his own kind for being a rogue. You are being targeted by other werecats. Both of you have pissed off witches around the world. You don’t have the skills, resources, or manpower to handle that level of threat, Jacqueline. You need to accept that.”

“We’ll figure it out,” I said, trying to get out of bed. My legs screamed in pain, and I started to fall, only for Hasan to catch me. He lifted me with ease and put me back in the blasted bed.

“You can’t be moving around yet,” he whispered gently, pushing hair from my face. “You have a broken leg, and the other calf muscle is torn to shreds. You were someone’s chew toy.”

“I don’t want to stay here forever, Hasan. This isn’t my home.”

“It can be while you heal,” he said, pulling the blankets over my legs again. “At least give me that. We can talk about the rest later.”

“I’ll heal faster in my own bed?—”

“This is your bed,” he said, smiling. “This is your room. I keep a room for all of you when you need a place to hide and recover. Stay, Jacky. Just until you’ve healed. We’ll talk about the rest later.”

Catch flies with honey…

Hasan was a master of it at that moment. I wanted to fight, but I couldn’t get up and leave. I could rest, heal, and continue the fight to go home later. It was nice, really, having someone who was willing to take me in like this. To just care for and love me as a daughter. His expression was gentle, his eyes brown, the natural color I saw so rarely. My biological father had never given me such a loving look, but Hasan had loved me as a daughter from the first day. Even his flaws and the fights we had were rooted in that promise he made as a father to a woman he saw as his daughter.

“Okay. We’ll talk about it later… once I can walk,” I said, patting his hand and trying to shoo him from tucking me in further. “I can handle this. You can go get to work. Please. Stop babying me. It’s getting embarrassing.”

“All of you are the same. You grow up and stop letting me dote.” He let me take the blankets, and I made sure my feet wouldn’t get cold without his help. He looked back once, a loving smile on his face, before he walked out and closed my bedroom door.

And locked it.

He didn’t…

I should have seen that coming.

Fuck you, Hasan.

With a growl, I knew that the door was reinforced. Hasan had his house built to handle as much as possible from his werecat family. It couldn’t stop him or Jabari, Zuri, the other of the eldest members in the family, but it was very good at stopping me .

Oh, it’s childproof. That’s what it is. It’s good enough to stop young werecats from breaking the house while we learn to control our strength.

Because he still thinks of me as a child.

Knowing I couldn’t walk, all I could do was wait. It was better to let some healing happen before I tried to find my way out of here. It wasn’t going to make him unlock the door faster. I had a window I could use, but that didn’t matter if my legs didn’t work.

Days passed. I slept and ate food when he brought it, not allowing anyone else to bring me anything. He read me books, leaving some for me to read in my own time. I could hear my siblings laughing as they ran around his mansion, all of them on their own family vacations, but no one visited me. They went to the beach together, drank, and did karaoke. It was lovely, but I couldn’t join in. As for Hasan, I kept my guard up with him, always reminding him of the same thing when he came to check on me.

“I’m really grateful for this, but I will go back home when I’m done healing, Hasan,” I said over and over.

“We’ll talk about it when you’ve healed,” he would reply, smile lines forming around his eyes as he patted my thigh, shoulder, or head before he left.

The days ticked by. I checked on the healing progress every day. When he wasn’t around, I would test my strength on my feet, the early days being a huge struggle. Eventually, I could hold my own weight. I was shaky, but it was enough. I didn’t go for the window, not immediately. Hasan deserved a chance to see me off.

He walked in, a tray of food in his hands, and saw me standing next to the bed, a fresh set of clothing on. He kicked the door closed behind him without saying anything.

“I’m ready to head out now,” I said with a smile. “Isn’t this great? My legs healed. Everything is healed, actually, but the legs were the real problem.”

“I’m glad to see you moving around,” he said carefully, putting the tray down. “But are you certain you don’t want to stay? Hasn’t it been nice here, away from all the problems off the island? No werewolves in your space, no witches looking to take over the continent, no werecats wanting to berate you for making the wrong choices about ruling them…”

“It’s been nice, but I miss the home I built. I miss my land, my territory…” I rubbed my hands together, wanting to say the last piece. “I miss Heath and the family I have with him.”

“And what family is that?” Hasan asked coolly. “Single father with two children, one who hates practically everything and is an active danger to you, and the other is a mortal who might get killed by everything going on around you and him? That family?”

“Landon doesn’t… hate everyone and everything like that. He doesn’t,” I whispered, shaking my head.

“No response about Carey?”

“I won’t let anything happen to her,” I said, swallowing the overwhelming fear at even the idea. A world without her was a world I couldn’t begin to fathom, a world I didn’t want to consider. The concept brought the telltale signs of potential tears.

“I’m sure Heath has been trying to tell himself that since the day she was born. Look at how far it’s gotten him.”

“Stop this, Hasan. It’s mean,” I said, rubbing my eyes to try to stop even the slightest hint of tears. “We can make this work. We have been for a few years now. We can do this.”

“You will get killed or get one of them killed. I wouldn’t miss the werewolves, but Carey deserves a safer existence.”

“I know,” I murmured but shook my head at the same time. I needed to go home. I couldn’t stay here. I couldn’t let myself be wrapped in bubble wrap and kept on the shelf as the perfect, safe daughter who didn’t have a life, who left behind her love, and gave up on what she believed in.

I couldn’t live that existence. If I could, I would have picked it while I was still human.

“Then why are you fighting with me?”

“Because it’s not me! This isn’t me!” I cried out, pointing at my chest, hoping he would understand. “And it never will be.”

His eyes were hard as he approached.

“You don’t know that until you try,” he growled.

“I don’t need to try. The idea is just that unappealing. I know it won’t make me happy,” I said, continuing to shake my head as I stepped back from him. “Hasan, let me leave.”

“No,” he growled.

“Then I’ll reach out to the rest of the family to get me out of here,” I said, accepting that it was the only way. Zuri and Jabari would get me out. Niko could try. Subira… she definitely would.

“You wouldn’t dare ,” Hasan snarled.

I went to the window and pushed it open. They would make him understand.

“You would betray me, the only loving father you’ve ever had, for those fucking werewolves?”

That hit the mark. I knew I was going to give up something I wanted for my entire life if I finished climbing out the window.

I went out and fell into the courtyard. Subira was there and saw me, her eyes wide. My siblings ran out, some on Hasan’s side as he landed behind me and some with her.

“What on earth is happening?” Subira asked, her voice not carrying the power it normally had.

“She’s trying to run off to those werewolves to get herself killed! Subira, make her realize she’s going to break this family! Look at this. Now, she has us fighting against each other!”

I didn’t hear any responses. Battle lines were drawn, and I was in the middle, but the fight never broke out. The ground shook, and a crack appeared underneath me. Before I could get away from it, the world split in half, and I fell into the darkness.

Those words echoed in my mind — she’s going to break this family .

I’m always breaking families, aren’t I?

Every single family I’ve ever been in.