Jacob's Ladder (String of Fate) Read Free Page A

rooftop. She had only stared out the window at the roiling seas far below.
    Jake kicked himself mentally. She had probably lost friends in that warehouse. She was very close with those who guarded her day-to-day. They were not only her colleagues, but her friends. And it was possible at least one of them had died for her tonight. The others…well…Jake wasn’t really sure of the health of the rest of her Royal Guard team. No doubt, several of them were badly injured, but there was one thing he could give her…
    “Your Guard escaped,” he said quietly over the headsets they both wore.
    Ria’s head swiveled so she could meet his gaze.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean that none of your Guard is being held prisoner by the people who tried to kill you tonight.”
    “How can you be so sure?” Her dark gaze was almost accusatory, but he was used to people being suspicious of his words.
    He took a moment to tap his temple. “I saw it. Didn’t Ellie tell you about me?”
    “Tell me what about you?” Her gorgeous eyes narrowed.
    Jake couldn’t quite believe it. The one time he had counted on his little sister’s blabbing mouth, she hadn’t spilled the beans.
    “I see the future, Ria,” he said quietly, wondering how she was going to take his news.
    She held his gaze for a beat before a smile broke over her face. She laughed and if the situation hadn’t been so dire, he might have been enchanted by the tinkling sound of her amusement. As it was, he wasn’t sure how to respond.
    “Seriously? Is that the best you can come up with?” She laughed once more before subsiding. “You nearly sweep me off my feet at Mitch and Gina’s wedding and then disappear, only to storm in—with a helicopter , no less—to save my life tonight, and that’s how you’re going to play it? You can see the future. Yeah, right. And I’m the queen of England.”
    “No, you’re a queen of a much rarer kind. You’re the Nyx, Ria. You control one of the gateways between realms.”
    The smile disappeared from her face. “Did Ellie tell you that? I should warn you, humans don’t usually grasp all the nuances of shifter culture. She must’ve misunderstood something Cade told her.”
    Jake could see the anger in her eyes. Man, she was pretty when her eyes sparked like that, even if it meant someone was in trouble. She was probably wondering what her cousin had told his new mate, but Jake couldn’t reassure Ria that her secret was still as safe as it had ever been until she believed him. He wasn’t sure how he would convince her, but he had to keep trying.
    “Ellie didn’t tell me anything. I saw it. Starting over a year ago. Every month right around the new moon I saw the same thing, though it took me a few months to figure out the pattern. Every month I see you speaking for those in realms beyond. They come to the doorway and you listen and speak for them, but you always seem to miss the most important message of all. You’ve been ignoring the warning, Ria, and your spirit guardians have apparently decided it’s time for some intervention. That would be me, I think.”
    “You can’t be serious. You’re speaking nonsense, like some New Age nutjob.” She turned her face away, returning to staring out the window at the ocean below. Hmm. Well, Jake was nothing if not persistent. He had to get her to listen to him somehow.
    “There’s an older woman,” he said after a moment’s consideration. “She looks a heck of a lot like you. Why have you been ignoring her? She’s been waiting at the portal, but you always take others before her.”
    Silence greeted his words and for a minute he thought he’d lost her, but then, slowly, she turned to look at him again, her eyes wide. “How do you know these things?”
    “I told you. I’m clairvoyant. Always have been. I’ve gotten better at interpreting the things I see as I’ve grown older, but I’ve seen glimpses of the future pretty much all my life. Ask Ellie if you don’t