Page 42 of Seducing Jenny
“Credo’s island is here on Halla,” I explained to Mal. “Not Orhon. But there’s more. A lot more. And from the sound of things, she’s okay with you knowing—”
Jade whirled on Mal. “I’m a conduit,” she snapped. “But I shouldn’t be the only one who can see Credo’s ghost because we are on Halla. Are you caught up yet? We have to help him! He’s in so much pain!”
I took her wrist to get her attention and calm her down. “One problem at a time, remember? We will come back to help him, but we need to go—now!”
She wiped away the tears from her face with her hand. “God, there are so many people to help…yeah, okay, let’s go.”
We moved fast, silent as shadows, looping around the building and dropping intoCheesecake’supper hatch. Once inside, Mal examined the ship and all its amenities and let out a low whistle.
“You were not kidding when you said a lot has changed since I’ve been gone,” he said, trying to keep his voice casual. “This is a hell of a nice vessel. Tell me you did not pay full price.”
I laughed and shoved him against the wall, kissing him so hard he forgot his smartass comment. “That’s better,” I said, biting his bottom lip and relishing his deep groan. “Jade, you want in on this?”
She smiled at us both, then framed Mal’s face in her hands and kissed him for much longer than I had. “It’s good to have you back.”
“So,” he said, studying her tentatively. “You’re a conduit?”
“I would love to get into it,” Jade said, wincing as she pressed her fingers to her temples. “But I’ve got a splitting headache at the moment. Tiger, can you get us out of here, before someone finds us and locks us away for springing our criminal boyfriend?”
“Say no more.”
I led the way to the cockpit, giving Mal the grand tour as we headed in that direction. Within moments,Cheesecakeshotthrough the water and back into orbit. I locked us on course, switched to auto, and turned back to check on my passengers.
“Feeling any better, Jade?”
“It seems to come and go.” She shook her head and shrugged. “Right now isn’t so bad. Does mogging usually cause a headache? Should I turn back to human?”
“No. If anything, mogging usually repairs minor damage,” I said. “I’ve never heard of it causing headaches, or any other negative side effects.”
The three of us sat in a triangle in the cockpit, silent for a beat before Mal glanced at Jade. “Are you well enough to talk about everything?”
She absently rubbed her forehead. “Yeah, I think so.”
“So,” he said once again, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re a conduit?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“How long have you known?”
She shrugged. “Since I was a kid.”
Mal’s lips pursed. “And you didn’t think to tell me? Or you didn’ttrust meenough to tell me?” He sounded hurt by the latter.
She bit her bottom lip, contrition in her eyes. “You have no idea what it was like not to tell you. But I want to tell you everything now, okay?”
“Go ahead,” he said, gentler now.
She started carefully. “Growing up, my mom told me the ghosts I saw weren’t real. That they were imaginary friends and I shouldn’t talk about them. I didn’t understand why until I was older, when I saw how much trouble my sister Sarah got in for talking about the ghosts she saw.”
“Longshot mentioned you said something about a sister.”
“I have two, actually,” she said softly. “Both older. Sarah and Elizabeth.”
He blinked, and the lines between his brows deepened. “Sarah? Your sister wouldn’t happen to be the new Queen of Faithless, would she?”
Jade swallowed hard before answering. “Yes.”
He stared at her, stunned and speechless.
