car in the driveway and he had been able to sense her turbulent emotions even through the space separating them. It had taken almost all he had to try to spread his abilities with enough force across the distance to calm her.
He hadn’t slept all night. He had stood watch over her home until morning, which was why he was bleary-eyed and ill-tempered the next morning.
Carla ran into the kitchen just as he was finishing a cup of coffee, and she accepted her glass of warm milk from his outstretched hand as though it were her due; which, when one thought about it, it was.
“So I’ve made my decision,” she announced.
He quirked an eyebrow, “Decision? I didn’t know there was something to decide. Do tell.”
She sank onto the seat with an air of importance and cupped her glass of milk contemplatively with both hands with a very adult attitude.
It was such a funny and cute sight that it was all Theodore could do to hold in his shout of laughter.
“What’s funny?” she demanded as though she had read his mind.
Belatedly, he realized that he had been grinning at her. He schooled his features into one of appropriate sobriety.
“Nothing. Carry on.”
“I’ve decided that I’m old enough to have a mother now, and I know who I want it to be.”
“Who?” he asked, his throat tight.
She beamed at him, “Ms. Harris. Ari and Kal don’t have a daddy. Kal said he just up and left, so he doesn’t count. And Ms. Harris likes you. And me…?” she added with heart-wrenching uncertainty.
Theodore promptly grabbed her into a bear hug, kissing her cheeks and announcing, “Of course, she likes you, naughty girl. She would be crazy not to,” he added.
Carla’s beam was fit for a queen.
“Fine. So, Daddy, now you know what to do.”
She jumped off her stool and raced off, having said her piece and leaving him staring after her.
He liked Jessica, and his kid seemed to like her, he thought. But was that really reason enough?
The office was a beehive of activities when Theodore arrived. He was buried in work practically from the door, but through it all, he couldn’t get Carla and her latest announcement out of his mind.
More interestingly, his mind hadn’t rejected the idea the moment he heard it.
What was wrong with him?
The door opened just then and Maria poked her head in. “Wards in five.”
He nodded and stood to begin his rounds. One glance at his wristwatch showed Jessica had not shown up, and he sighed. She was never late, which meant, if she wasn’t here, then she didn’t want to be. He turned to Maria, “No Jessica?”
Maria shrugged, “Your girl is pissed and doesn’t want to see your face. She cited Freedom of Association when I tried to force her to work with you.”
“Of course, she did. Where is she assigned today?” he asked, affecting a lack of concern he was far from feeling.
“The caves,” Maria said nonchalantly before striding off.
Theodore felt the blood drain from his face. The caves? The caves was code for a secret pathway that led off to the secret location of the Tailan Mineral. True, only he and his brothers knew what lay behind the caves, but why had Jessica asked to work there, specifically, and away from him?
Besides knowing her, she was probably dressed in one of those impractical flowery sundresses she loved so much and those flat fancy sandals that wouldn’t survive the first sign of mud. The roads to the caves were torturous and could be dangerous for a woman alone. What if she slipped and fell and hit her head and had no one to help her?
With a muttered oath, he slammed shut his drawer and jerked his tie off. He flung it into a corner and yanked off his jacket. He changed his shoes into boots and dashed from the room, wearing just his shirt with the sleeves rolled up and his pants tucked into cowboy boots.
The sound of Tailan called to him as he walked up the rocky, windy path that led to the caves. He could already feel the power of the mineral in his blood. Tailan was so powerful that it could be felt by any shifter who came so much as a few miles within its orbit. That was the power of Tailan. It could heal a shifter so completely and quickly. Last night, when he had fainted, a tiny drop of the gold liquid in his ear had woken him up immediately.
Now,