BirthStone Page 21

  Ecstatic over the prospect of going to a store, she grabbed his face between her palms and kissed him. “Thanks baby.”

  “Hey, he beat me to saying it, but I should get a kiss too, I thought the same thing. Mama got skills and nobody better brush up against her,” Tyrone said as he stooped in front of her. Laughing, she hugged him before placing a kiss on his forehead as well.

  “I love you.” She glanced at each of her sons. They were smart, handsome men who made her proud.

  “We know. That’s why Silas used us to bring you out. Smart man,” Tyrone said as he stood.

  “Yeah, even in anger, you did a three-sixty at the idea we were in danger. That’s just one of the reasons we love you, Ma,” Tyrese said as he stood.

  Heat rushed to her cheek at the praise. She met Silas' gaze and melted at the love she read in them.

  “Jacques says there are fake goddesses, but ours is the one true Goddess.” Silas walked over to her, pulled her up, and then sat her on his lap.

  “Everyone feels that way about the God they serve,” Tyrone said.

  “I know and that creates a problem,” Jasmine said.

  Chapter 25

  They agreed to put the Goddess issue on the back burner and deal with the more pressing issue of who had touched their children with poison. After leaving the lab, they visited the nursery, where Silas accepted her apology for her role in their children’s dilemma.

  “I am so sorry, Silas. Honestly I had no idea.” She opened herself wide open for him to search her motives if he chose.

  Instead he sent waves of love and warmth, filling her to the brim. Her legs buckled beneath the onslaught. He caught her and together they sat in one of the rocking chairs in companionable silence.

  <<<<>>>>

  Jasmine and Silas joined her mother, Jacques, and Mark for dinner. The twins were assigned clean up for Griggs and her son. After Silas pulled Tomas’ wolf, Dr. Passen had been horrified at the condition of the animal. Tomas’s wolf was immediately hooked up to medication to reverse the effect of the drugs he had been on since birth. Froggy would take on the job of strengthening the wolf once Tomas was strong enough. The nurses had returned to the nursery and security remained in place to keep everyone else out.

  “Hello, sweetheart,” Jasmine’s mother said, reaching out for a hug.

  Jasmine didn’t hesitate as she took her mother in her arms and inhaled. “Hi mom. Sorry I’ve been busy the last few days. The kids had a really bad cold, but they are much better now.” Which was a lie, their temperatures were still high, but she and Silas agreed that it would serve their purpose better if everyone believed otherwise.

  “I’m so glad. I told Mark just this morning that they were doing better, didn’t I, Mark?”

  He came up behind Victoria and placed a kiss on her neck. “Yes sweetheart, you did.” He gazed at Jasmine and then Silas with a warm smile. “I’m glad to hear they are well. I don’t have any children…yet.” He winked at Victoria, whose face lit up. “But I can only imagine how difficult it must be.”

  Jasmine liked Mark for her mom. He seemed a likable guy but he was a suspect, along with Jacques and Renee. She cringed with embarrassment over the conversation Silas'd had with her former pastor an hour ago. Although her mate stopped short of accusing the man of wrongdoing, she was certain her pastor never wanted to hear from either of them again. Silas had instructed Rose to send the church a large donation.

  “Thanks, Mark.”

  She moved to Jacques, who had his back turned to everyone in the room. “Hey.”

  He glanced at her over his shoulder with a forced smile. “Hello.” Her heart dropped. Jacques was one of her favorite people, and he was hurting. Worse, there was nothing she could do about it. Instead of speaking, she wrapped her arms around him from the back.

  He held her arms on his chest a moment before releasing them. Turning, he looked over her shoulder. Certain he would ask a question about her mother, she waited. He frowned and then glanced down at her.

  “Your mother just washed her hands and then lotioned them with a small bottle from her purse. Could you ask where she got the lotion? And perhaps have Matt take a look at it?”

  Stunned by his remark, she looked over her shoulder and watched her mom talk to Mark while rubbing the cream into her skin. Prickles of unease assaulted her. Please God, not my mama, she offered in silent prayer. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Victoria Channing would be the perfect Trojan horse. A gift of lotions and perfumes from a colleague or friend, and voila, it would be a done deal.

  “I can and I will.” She headed toward the table as the head server entered the room. Dinner was about to be served. Silas' brow rose as she approached.

  “I see the light of battle in your eyes, what happened?”

  “I know you scanned Mark again, anything?”

  “No, his mind is clean. No more secrets, tell me what happened?”

  “Mom washed her hands and then lotioned them. I’m going to ask her about it after dinner in private and then have Matt look examine the lotion.”

  Silas whistled. “That would … definitely be hard to digest if she’s been using the poison. On the other hand it might explain the memory lapses.”

  She hadn’t thought of that. “Let’s get through dinner so I can get her alone.”

  After dinner, Jasmine and her mom walked hand in hand through the gardens next to the patio. “It’s so beautiful and restful here, Jasmine. Thanks for inviting us. We’re going to leave day after tomorrow. Mark’s family invited us to some type of gathering. I’m kind of nervous meeting them, but he assured me they will love me like he does.”

  Jasmine squeezed her mom tight as she sent the information to Silas. “You smell good. I noticed you put some lotion on before dinner, is that what that is?”

  Victoria tittered and Jasmine bit back a groan at the sound. “It was an engagement gift from Elsie and John, we met them on one of our dates and we all became good friends.” Victoria lifted her hand and inhaled. “It smells better when I first put it on, that’s one of the reasons I go through my supply so quickly and have to order another bottle.”

  Jasmine took the bottle her mom handed her. “Order? You get this online?”

  “Yes, it’s from a perfume maker in Italy. A real classy place, it’s expensive. You can have that one. I have more in my room. If you want I’ll give you the internet address, they have other products. Use my code so you can get a discount, they don’t have to know it’s not me.” She giggled and this time Jasmine kissed her mom on the cheek.

  “Thanks, mom.” She stuck the small bottle into her pants pocket.

  “You’re not going to try some now?” her mom asked, frowning.

  Jasmine thought quickly. “I need to wash my hands first.”

  “Oh…okay. That’s a good idea, it’s a part of the instructions actually, your hands should be clean when you put it on.” She took Jasmine’s arm and they continued their stroll. Jasmine half listened as her mother talked about her love and relationship with Mark. The urge to have the lotion tested increased with each step. Knowing someone gave her mom a gift that had harmed her and the babies renewed her anger.

  “Silas,” she called. “I need to get away.”

  “I feel your heat. Breathe, listen to my voice. Follow the cadence, let it ease you.”

  “Someone got to my mother.”

  “I know, Jasmine. We’ll take care of it, just breathe, allow the anger to flow through your nose. Don’t allow your mother to see your fury, it will upset her.”

  Jasmine watched as Jacques approached them. His smile didn’t reach his eyes as he offered his arm to her mother. “There are some beautiful flowers I’d love to show you, Madam.”

  Her mother glanced at her before hesitantly placing her arm in his.

  “Silas, you’re making things worse. She loves Mark, this is going to get messy.” She turned to take a shortcut that would take her to another corridor, which woul
d lead downstairs. Jasmine reveled in the freedom she now had without Jarcee's constant shadowing. If she had known Silas would have relaxed his restrictions, she would have told him months ago about her energy surges.

  “Jacques is her mate, in the end he will have her.”

  Jasmine refused to debate what she suspected was true. If nothing else, Jacques would outlive Mark and could claim her mom then. “I’m headed to the lab.”

  “Matt is eagerly waiting.” He paused. “So am I.” His voice deepened and sent a shockwave of lust through her. She stumbled at the throbbing between her legs.

  “Stop that,” she hissed.

  “It’s been three days.”

  Lord knows her body knew exactly how long it had been since she had ridden him. “I know and I’m hungry for you. But let’s save the kingdom and all that jazz first.” She smirked as she placed her hand on a secure door. It opened and welcomed her to the lower level.

  Warmth flowed over her like honey on it’s comb. “I love you, sweet bitch”

  His words touched off a firestorm of need in her. Her breath shortened and her muscles loosened, she swore if he kept it up she’d turn into a puddle of goo.

  “Love you too, wolfie.”

  She exited the elevator. Silas and Matt stood near the entry to the labs. Her mate’s eyes blazed royal blue. Tassels of heat danced across her skin as she walked toward him. Their gazes met, the temperature in the corridor went up a notch.

  “I’ll take this so the two of you can… um, do whatever you need to cool off.” Matt held out his hand.

  Jasmine tore away her gaze. “I can’t give you the container, mom might want it back. I’ll pour you some.”

  “Okay, we’ll have to go inside then.” Matt waited as she gazed at Silas.

  He smiled and took her hand. “Let’s save the kingdom,” she said.

  “Huh?” Matt said with a confused look.

  “Nothing. Just check this for the chemicals you mentioned earlier. Also, expand the side effects search. Something is off with her memory and she might not have a clear grasp on what’s real.”

  Silas glanced at her but remained silent.

  “Yes, Ma’am. I’ll get on that.” He took the bottle and poured a liberal amount into three test tubes before returning it to her. “I’d like that email address and her account number as well. One of my men will trace the company. La Patron wants to know if they handled her orders differently. He also wants to know who else is getting this special treatment. Who else are they singling out?”

  She gazed at Silas. “Good point. That way you can pinpoint the purpose of some of this.”

  He nodded and squeezed her hand. “Right now I want to know what exactly they hoped to accomplish by giving a breeder, your mother, poison.” His tone turned sarcastic. “I wonder if she is the only breeder receiving this gift.”

  “Gift?” She snorted. Probably not, but she kept that to herself. “How long before you know something?” she asked Matt as he headed to another section of the lab.

  “I’ll know within ten to thirty minutes if one of the two poisons I identified earlier are in the lotion. The time it takes depends on how well they’ve masked them. It’ll take longer to identify all the ingredients.”

  Hearing Matt discuss the poisonous lotion hit her hard. Her mom had brought the weapon that hurt her babies into their home. That reality slammed into her. Sweat broke out on her forehead as dizziness hit her hard, she rocked on the balls of her feet before Silas secured her to him.

  “If the two poisons are in the cream, which means…” she whispered and turned into Silas’ chest. All along she had been hoping that it had been someone else, even though she'd suspected something was off with her mom. Renee simply did not do subterfuge. She came at you where you could see her. But her mom’s memory loss and confusion made her a likely target.

  “Which means she has been used without her knowledge.” Silas stroked her hair easing her distress. “If what Matt says about the poison is true, we learned another thing about breeders.”

  Jasmine glanced up at him and waited.

  “You women are damned hard to kill.”

  Chapter 26

  Jasmine closed the door to their suite and dropped onto the sofa. Silas sat next to her and placed her feet on his lap. He removed her shoes and massaged her sore feet.

  She dropped her head back, allowing it to rest on the arm of the sofa. “Ummm, that feels good.” Struggling to understand everything she learned that day, she peeked at him. “So…someone gave my mother lotion that has been poisoning her for the past four months. The poison is so toxic it transferred to my babies when she held them, which is why they are still sick.” She released a long sigh as his hands reached her calves. “It’s been too long. Work your… 'I am La Patron' magic and make them well. I miss their energy, their fights and their laughter.”

  “I have given them all that I have, sweetness. But their temperatures had fallen a bit tonight, which is progress. It will take time, but they are on the mend.” His kiss to the top of her foot sent tingles of awareness through her.

  “Ummmm, do that again,” she murmured. He complied with her request. “The thing that bothers me is how mercenary all of this is. I mean, think about the long-term planning involved in this. For what? I don’t think the goal was to poison the children. You?”

  Silas shrugged as he continued massaging her leg. “They knew she would eventually come in contact with the pups. Babies,” he corrected when she frowned. “But I agree with you, I don’t think poisoning the children was the original target.”

  She relaxed further as he started on her other leg. “None of this makes sense. Corrina started this vendetta against you because her childhood friend died in childbirth. She acted as if you were the only large black wolf with green eyes.”

  “For the most part, I am. I’ve never met a wolf with eyes the same color as mine.”

  She stared at him. “Either there was another wolf or she got her stories mixed up, Silas. Don’t try to convince me you had sex with a ten-year-old, I’m not buying it.”

  He snorted. “I can’t lie to you, remember? I had nothing to do with that child. My point is I don’t know of another black wolf with green eyes, that’s all.”

  “Have you sent notices to the alphas in the states she targeted?”

  “Yes. Most were already on stand-by and the raids started before we sat down for dinner. Most importantly, we confiscated the equipment and secured the building where the bombs and serum was manufactured. Tyrone is working on the list of half-breeds who have been taking the drug. Each alpha will send out letters explaining what happened and offer free shots to wean the breeds off the chemicals as well as work on strengthening the wolves of anyone who wants help.” He exhaled. “It’s a start.”

  She nodded. “Corrina Griggs was crazy. Is that what happens when you live a long time, you go crazy?”

  “I’m older than her.”

  “I meant breeders, Silas. Be serious.”

  He pulled her up and lay on the couch behind her. Cocooned in his warmth, she pushed back against his hardness and released a sigh. She hoped the hot connection would always be this way with them. She wiggled against him.

  “Behave, you wanted serious.”

  She chuckled. “Sorry, I’m serious.”

  His arm tightened around her. “I don’t think so... I believe there are many happy breeders living long productive lives with their mates. We don’t know about them yet because of the aggression against them. But I think once we get this war behind us, and we have our public joining, more will surface.”

  She snuggled against him. “So the secret to long, happy living is being mated, is that your answer?”

  “Um hmm, yes, of course.”

  “Corrina didn’t know how all of this got started,” she said into the silence.

  “No, not directly. There are a few things I have Jacques researching for me. There was a disturbance amongst the early settlers that
I had forgotten. Missing women and children, that type of thing. I had no idea this situation had started that far back.”

  Silas pulled her closer to him and nipped her on the ear. Mimicking her mother from earlier, she giggled.

  “You like that?”

  “Yeah,” she said breathily.

  His large palm brushed against her breast.

  Her breath hitched at the contact. He then rested his hand on her and pulled her nipple.

  “Mmmm… that feels so good. I love when you tease me with your hand.” She placed her hand over his and pulled it close. “Right there, right –”

  Boom, boom, boom. The building shook and then stopped.

  “Shit,” Jasmine said, jumping up.

  “Damn Merriweather.” Silas had jumped up and over the couch, his head tilted up. He had told her earlier he expected some sort of retribution for taking Griggs and raiding the house.

  She ran toward the door, yelling over her shoulder. “Babies, then mama.”

  “I’ll send Jacques for Victoria. I’ve placed a cover over the grounds to stop any more explosives from hitting the compound. I’ve got to assess the damage.” He paused. “Just get my pups below.”

  She nodded, forgetting to check him for calling her babies pups and unable to swallow around the lump of fear choking her. “This is crazy,” she muttered as she turned the corner. Jarcee nodded as she reached the door to the nursery.

  Rose was already inside the nursery. “I’ve got David and Renee ready to go,” she said. “We’re going to have to roll them to keep the IV’s intact.”

  Jasmine nodded and started to work on Jackie and then Adam. She looked at the nurses who were gathering their things to head for a separate underground tunnel. “Thank you ladies, be safe. La Patron has a security screen around the compound so no other hits will impact the buildings. But he wants everyone in the tunnels until he accesses the damages. I suspect he’ll give updates within the hour.”