Jack crept into the room and was greeted with a low grump.
“Hmpf.”
Nainai sat near Thane, her expression unimpressed, her gaze fixed on thin, colored shapes on the small rolling table that sat nestled between her and Thane. She moved the shapes around and then with a moment’s pause, began to put them together.
“Sorry,” he murmured, almost instinctively, feeling chastened by whatever dereliction the older woman had, with one sound, pinned him with. Already, he sensed the weight of this woman’s influence and expectation. He moved slowly towards the bed, heartened that while his brother still looked drained, he was no longer belted down and was now sitting up, alert and calm.
“How you feeling?” he asked and Thane offered a lopsided, ghost of a smile. “Better.”
Vague, but encouraging. Jack watched as Nainai pushed the small table to Thane and mixed up the shapes once more. A small pile of cards sat near the colored shapes, the top one of a larger silhouette and Jack’s eyes lit up. He knew this game.
“Tangram,” he said quietly as he watched Thane connect a red square with a small green triangle and then joined both with a large orange triangle. He was taken by a vivid memory, of all three brothers playing the game on the floor together. While Graeme chortled loudly when he won, Thane’s eyes had flicked back and forth between his two new big brothers, seemingly content to just be with them. Jack smiled slowly as he remembered the glow of happiness as a younger Thane had shyly pushed the shapes to Jack for his turn.
“You remember?” Thane asked. Jack nodded.
Thane’s fingers shook as he moved the pieces in silence until all of them completed the shape to match the silhouetted one on the card.
Jack’s eyes softened at the result. Despite the sharp angles, the shape was clearly that of a man, looking up, holding out his hands.
Forgiveness.
Thane pulled his hands back. “I’m sorry Jack.”
Jack swallowed hard as tears pricked his eyes. He placed a hand on Thane’s shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “All I want is for you to get better.”
Nainai said a few quick words and Thane nodded quickly as she began to clean up the shapes and cards.
“Nainai wants to take me home,” Thane began carefully as Jack’s spine tingled. Again, he had the sensation that all was not as it appeared.
“I’m working on that.” Jack addressed both but his eyes were on Nainai as she pulled out a new game from her bag and began dividing up the pieces. “But it’s not easy. You did a lot of damage, Thane. There are things that can’t be smoothed out without serving time.”
“Jack,” Thane jumped in and shook his head. “We’re leaving in the morning. We have a private flight to LaGuardia and then on to Hong Kong. It’s already been arranged.” Jack’s mouth dropped. He did not like surprises. More importantly, he was not used to surprises like this, even after marrying into a family like the Cassadines. He rounded the bed in a few quick steps and flicked an angry look to the other two.
“What are you talking about?” he demanded in a low hiss. “You tell me everything. NOW.”
Nainai spoke and again Thane translated. “She would like for you to sit down.”
Jack narrowed his gaze on Nainai, the seemingly ancient and devoted grandmother. She was clearly more spry and calculating than he originally perceived. She was probably used to that, being a woman, being so small and seemingly invisible. She was no doubt well versed with men stomping around and growling out orders while she chose a more quiet touch to dealings. Swallowing his annoyance, he perched at the edge of Thane’s bed as Nainai offered a nod and rolled the table between the three of them.
Thane began to divide up the colored pieces. Blue for Nainai, green for Thane and red for Jack.
“This game is called Three Kingdoms. It’s a bit like Chinese chess, but tougher,” Thane explained as he arranged the pieces on his side as well as Jack’s. Jack watched this, eyes flat, temper barely contained.
“It’s like regular chess; it’s about strategy and control.” Nainai frowned and said a few words and Thane nodded to her, as though he were apologizing. “Nainai believes that there’s something attached to me. A darker spirit that won’t let go of me. She’s going to take care of it and get my luck up. Sort out my feng shui.”
Jack blinked. “What?”
Thane looked at Jack, his dark eyes serious. “It’s important Jack.” He paused, taking a breath as he sorted his thoughts. “I was vulnerable for a long, long time and when Nakia died.” He stilled, swallowing as his fists clenched briefly. “Darkness attached itself to me, probably right in the room where she died.” He spoke methodically, as though what plagued him was now clear, in a way it had never been to him before.
He was sick. Nainai could heal him.
Sensing Jack’s disbelief, Thane regarded him solemnly. “I know this sounds sketchy to you, I know faith and spirits and Chi is not your area of expertise, but it’s been in existence for thousands of years. It’s what we believe.”
Jack took a piece from the board and examined it thoughtfully. “So you were just going to up and leave?” His voice was softer than he intended. He didn’t want his brother to go. Not just when he felt there had been a real turning point for the better. “There’s a lot of red tape, Thane. You can’t just flee, no matter what Nainai wants.”
Nainai turned, her lined face studying him carefully as her hands, surprisingly soft, reached out and cupped his hand in hers. He watched as she pushed up his sleeve, revealing the faint outlines of a tattoo he’d gotten years earlier for assignment. The faint trails of the design still lingered, even a year after laser removal. Nainai made a soft appraising sound, as though the flesh spoke to her, revealing truths about Jack. She ran her fingers along the blue lines, the blood lines, from his wrist to the crook of his elbow and back again. She looked up at Jack, a hint of sadness in her gaze as she said a few whispered words.
“Bad blood. Dark blood.” Thane leaned forward. “There’s something else.”
The words unsettled Jack. Perhaps it was no surprise that Nainai gave the impression that when she looked at Jack, she was seeing his father and brother and their ugliness. Perhaps she was seeing some of his darkness. The years of intelligence work and dangerous missions to all four corners of the globe, doing the hard, dirty, soul damaging work that operatives engaged in.
“What else?” he asked; suddenly tired and weary.
Thane flicked his gaze to Nainai, who nodded.
“Nainai says this is darkness in the bloodline. She says that you will come with us.”
*~*
Michelle Dessler clutched the folder in her hand, her knuckles white as she strode down the corridor, not caring who saw her normally unflappable demeanor, whittled to a very clearly pissed off version.
Bursting into the office, she bypassed a startled secretary and plowed through the double doors to the inner office.
“What. Is. This?” Her normally flawless complexion was now shadowed in reds as she fumed, her dark eyes locked onto the man who’d green lit the most recent developments.
James Heller rose from his seat behind his desk as Michelle opened the folder. “Charges dismissed? Full release? Cleared for return to Hong Kong?” She lifted her eyes from the words on the page. “With our fucking APOLOGY?!”
“I can understand your anger.” Heller lifted his glasses, perching them on the bridge of his nose. “Especially considering you had close friends and your husband in the takedown at the cabin.”
Michelle shook her head. “Do NOT make this about Tony. Was this Jack? Did he pull the strings on this one?” She didn’t want to believe that he’d gone this far for his brother, but she also knew that Jack was married to an extremely wealthy and powerful family.
And his family was everything to him. He would cash in all his markers if he had to.
Heller rounded his desk, picking up another folder and took a seat in a reading chair nearby. He inclined his head to her to sit in the other one. “This was not Jack’s doing. He can do plenty and he has a lot of contacts, but even he would not be able to squirrel his brother from these charges.”
Michelle sat. Despite the clear friction between the Heller and Jack, she’d come to admire the way James Heller conducted himself. She believed him. “Go on.”
Heller nodded to the still open doors. “Thank you Dolores,” he said warmly as the longtime secretary dipped her head before closing the door, giving them their privacy.
“It’s not the Bauer side that arranged this release,” he said plainly. Michelle furrowed her brow in confusion as Heller continued. “Although the release was initiated and arranged via official government officials, it comes at the behest of a single citizen.”
He opened the folder and produced a small, black and white photograph. The picture was grainy and old, but was clearly of an Asian woman, her face half turned, as though the picture had been snapped when she was unaware.
Michelle looked closely at the stranger. “Who is she?”
“Thane Bauer’s grandmother.”
*~*
The text had come only moments earlier.
I am home.
Stefan pressed a relieved kiss to Faith’s cheek as they descended the stairs together, reassured their Prince had returned.
They entered the grand family room to find Alazne and the children had arrived only moments earlier as the main doors opened and a tired, but happy Nikolas stepped through them. Despite Matvei’s speed and Verasha’s closeness, it was shy Apollo that reached their father first, flinging himself into Nikolas’ open arms.
“Papa! Papa!” the children shrieked excitedly, Verasha’s hound letting out a flurry of elated barks, causing Stefan to wince at the piercing noise.
Nikolas’ eyes twinkled as he basked in the sights and sounds of the family he loved and missed. “We missed you!” Matvei declared as his mother wound her arms round the boy’s shoulders. Verasha bounced up and down until Andresj swept her into his arms as she danced precariously close to a nearby vase filled to the brim with colorful flowers.
Nikolas laughed and squeezed Apollo tightly as the boy refused to let go. His gaze centered on Stefan and upon seeing his father, his expression shifted.
It was an expression Stefan knew, as he knew all the myriad of expressions his sons carried with them.
This one sang loud and clear.
All was not well.
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