Kayla walked back into the Rath’Varein family quarters with Alec and Seara. Carl had gone off to retrieve the rest of the crew.

“I’m going to go make sure the rooms are set up for our guests. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Please make yourself at home.”

After Seara disappeared, Alec walked over to the bar area and poured himself a drink. He turned to Kayla. “Would you like something?”

“Sure, I guess.”

He poured her a glass and brought it over to her. Taking a sip, she said, “So I didn’t get a chance to ask you about that girl.”

“Who?”

Kayla made another bad attempt at fluttering her eyelashes. “You know, the tall, leggy blonde hanging all over you earlier?”

Alec chuckled. “You must mean Celeste.”

“Right. Her.” She swirled the drink around her glass. It probably wasn’t any of her business, but she couldn’t help being curious. “Who is she anyway? Do you two go to dinner together a lot?”

Alec considered the question for a moment before responding. “Yes, we go to dinner together every now and then.”

Kayla nodded. “It seemed like you two are pretty close.”

Alec raised an eyebrow. “We’ve spent time together and enjoyed one another’s company.”

She bit her lip and peered up at him. “You can connect with her the same way you do with me?”

“She’s part of the Inner Circle,” he said with a chuckle. “Everyone with our backgrounds has the ability to link with someone. Some people are more desirable based on the amount of energy they can channel. We’re naturally drawn to those who are either close to or exceed our same level of power.”

“Have you done that? With her, I mean?”

Alec stepped closer and said disapprovingly, “I don’t ask you what goes on between you and Carl.”

“Point taken,” Kayla muttered and looked away. She deserved the verbal slap. It wasn’t logical, but she didn’t like the thought of Celeste sharing the same sort of connection she’d had with Alec. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to examine the reasons though.

“When you’re ready to get rid of your distractions, I’ll get rid of mine,” he challenged.

She gave him a sharp look, putting her glass down a little harder than she intended. “Carl is not a distraction. I was just curious about how this works.”

“So you say,” he replied, calling her bluff. He took another sip of his drink. “Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

Damn him. He’s got that whole mysterious and sexy thing going on.

Alec chuckled. “Thank you.”

Kayla scowled. “Get out of my head.”

“You still have a small connection with me. You never removed it.”

She sat on the couch with a sigh. Sure, she could remove the connection, but the thought of separating herself from him was upsetting. Alec walked over and sat next to her. Draping his arm over the back of the couch, he said, “I don’t mind. I rather enjoy it. But then again, I don’t have any problem admitting I’m incredibly attracted to you.”

Kayla frowned. “You make my life confusing.”

He leaned closer to her. “I know you’re attracted to Carl and have feelings for him, but I also know you’re attracted to me and have feelings for me.” He reached up and lightly caressed her face, sending chills through her. “The difference is,” he said softly, running his thumb over her bottom lip, “I can touch you in ways he never can.”

Kayla closed her eyes when he sent a trickle of energy through her. She shook her head and jumped up. “Okay, you need to keep your distance. You’re confusing as hell. I don’t need any more confusion in my life.”

“Very well.” He chuckled. “Would you like to learn how to defend yourself?”

Her eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, I could handle kicking your ass right now.”

Alec smiled and stood, his eyes twinkling in amusement. “Go ahead and try it, dear.”

Kayla concentrated and threw a large amount of energy at him. She felt him grab it and twist it back around toward her almost immediately. He wrapped her in it, and her eyes narrowed.

“Break my hold if you can,” he taunted her.

She pushed more energy toward him, and he wrapped that around her too. She felt stifled but could also feel his exertion as he continued to suppress her.

“You have two choices,” Alec instructed. “You can either keep pushing more energy toward me until it possibly breaks, or you can study your prison and look for a weakness.”

Kayla paused, realizing the wisdom of his words. She took a moment to study the way he wrapped energy around her. He had somehow used his own threads to create a tight barrier around her. It was her own energy imprisoning her and not the other way around.

“It’s a reverse shielding technique,” he explained when he felt her examining the energy threads. “It’s purely defensive. Pull back your energy and you’ll see what I mean.”

Kayla withdrew her assault and frowned. She wasn’t truly imprisoned. She sent out a tiny burst of energy, and it bounced off the shield before wrapping back around her.

Alec nodded encouragingly. “Do you want to try it?”

“Wait. I want to try something.”

He kept his shield in place while she took her time exploring it. Some areas appeared weaker than others, but for the most part, it appeared extremely well-crafted.

“If I sent a hard burst toward one of your weaker areas, would that break through your wall?”

“Yes, if it was strong enough and precise enough. But if someone senses your exploration of their shield, they can reinforce the areas you’ve discovered.”

She nodded and said aloud, “Okay. I want to build my own shield now.”

He walked her through the steps of weaving a tightly-knit group of energy threads together and then showed her how to surround him. When Kayla finally had the shield in place, she let him know she was ready.

Alec sent out a strong pulse of energy, and she felt it bounce off her shield. She could see it wrap around him, and he quickly withdrew his energy. Her eyes danced in excitement when she realized it worked. “This is awesome!”

He chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Do you want me to try it again?”

“Yeah. Send more.” She gave an eager nod.

Alec sent out a larger and more powerful burst of energy. Kayla felt her shield ripple slightly, but it remained intact.

“Good,” he encouraged. “But you need to concentrate to maintain your shield. If someone is truly attacking you, they won’t hold back. It takes years of training to be able to craft a strong shield. This will require a great deal of concentration on your part until you’ve mastered it.”

Seara came back into the room and looked back and forth between them. “You’re teaching her how to shield?”

“As a precaution, yes.”

“That’s probably wise,” Seara admitted. “It can’t hurt anyway.”

Kayla looked at Seara. “From what I’ve seen, everyone seems to have specific talents. What’s yours?”

Seara smiled and walked across the room to stand next to one of the plants. She held out her hand toward the plant. Nothing happened right away. After a moment, the plant began to grow and blossom. “I can connect with plant energy. It’s one of my passions. We have a garden room, if you’d like to see it sometime.”

Kayla’s jaw dropped. The implications of such an ability were extraordinary. No wonder they were able to grow their own food to feed all of OmniLab. “That’s freaking amazing. How did you do that?”

“I’ll show you,” Seara offered and took Kayla’s hand. “You’ll need to go ahead and create a small connection with me.”

Kayla used one of her threads to create a small connection with Seara and was surprised at the feeling. The connection between Seara felt distinctly different than the one she shared with Alec. A flash of a memory crept into Kayla’s mind and she gasped, remembering a large room filled with plants and Seara’s smiling face.

Seara looked hopeful. “You remembered something, didn’t you?”

“I think so,” Kayla whispered. “The garden room, I think. Did you take me there when I was little?”

Seara nodded. “You used to play in there while I was gardening.”

More memories and faces flooded Kayla’s mind. The suddenness of the images was disorienting. She dropped Seara’s hand and stepped back. “Are you doing that?”

Seara shook her head. “No. It might be the connection.”

Kayla frowned. Alec walked over to her, a look of concern on his face. “Are you all right?”

She was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, I think I started remembering little flashes.” She looked up at him and cocked her head. “Did I… push you into a fountain?”

Seara burst into laughter. Alec gave a wry smile and nodded. “Yes. You were a rather precocious nuisance even at five years old.”

“Actually, it was well-deserved if I recall correctly,” Seara added. “You were teasing her.”

Alec chuckled. “Yes, well, I was apparently a rather precocious nuisance too.”

The door beeped, and Seara headed to the door. Alec looked down at Kayla. “I expect those are your friends. I doubt they’ll appreciate my presence. I should probably take my leave, but I’ll be back in the morning.”

He took Kayla’s hand and kissed the top of it gently. She felt him send a slight trickle of energy over her. She raised an eyebrow. “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

“So when you’re with Carl, you’ll remember what I can offer you,” he said in a low voice.

Oh crap. He’s doing it again. He’s too damn sexy for his own good.

Alec smiled at her knowingly and Kayla muttered, “I don’t know why I even bother thinking anymore. Go. Get out of here. You’re nothing but trouble.”

Seara led Veridian and Carl into the room, followed by Cruncher and Xantham. Cruncher let out a low whistle. “Damn, Kayla, you’ve got a nice place here.”

Alec turned to look at the newcomers. “You’ll be expected to take your leave the day after tomorrow. Your entrance to this area will only be authorized until then.” He turned to Kayla and said more warmly, “If you need me for anything, please call. I’m right down the hall.”

With a brief nod at Carl’s crew, Alec bowed to Seara and left their quarters.

Crossing his arms, Carl was glad to see him go. It hadn’t escaped his attention that Alec seemed to take every opportunity to touch Kayla in some way. He didn’t consider himself to be a jealous man, but there were limits. He just wished he could get a read on Kayla’s feelings.

Xantham leaned toward Carl. “I don’t like that guy.”

Carl nodded and muttered, “You’re not the only one.”

“Let me show you to your rooms,” Seara offered.

They followed her down the hallway, and she showed them to each of the prepared rooms. After putting their things down, Seara opened up the safe room for them. “I know you have things you want to do so I’ll get out of your way. I’ll have some food out in the living area whenever you get hungry.”

Kayla set up one of the computer terminals and glanced over at them. “How far did you guys get with the program?”

Cruncher linked his terminal connection with hers and said, “We were able to get into the system easily enough with Alec’s access codes, but their monitoring system is pretty complex. There are a few loopholes we discovered, though, and I started coding a few things. We could definitely use your help in exploiting them.”

Once their systems were up and running, Kayla set to work reading Cruncher’s code and making modifications. Carl watched as Cruncher began debating back and forth with her about possible changes. Her adeptness with technology continued to impress him, especially given her camp’s limited resources. Xantham occasionally threw in a few comments but primarily amused himself by reading through OmniLab’s sensitive data with Alec’s passcodes.

Once he was confident they were engrossed in their project, Carl headed back into the living room with Veridian. Seara looked up from placing a tray of food on a table and smiled at them. “Please help yourself. If Kayla’s anything like her father, she’ll end up immersed in whatever she’s doing and forget to eat.”

Veridian laughed and reached for a plate. “Yep, that’s her. Kayla forgets everything when she gets started on a project.”

Carl looked at the expanse of food. “I’ll take something to her.”

“Thank you, Carl,” Seara said, handing him an empty plate. She looked at him, her gaze hesitant. “I know it’s none of my business, but most people wouldn’t have gone to the lengths you have for my daughter. You jeopardized your entire future. You care about her, don’t you?”

Carl paused, assessing Seara carefully to gauge her reaction to his words. He was well aware that many Inner Circle members didn’t care much for outsiders. He wasn’t sure if she was one of those who harbored conventional views but decided it best to keep his answer conservative. “Your daughter is an incredible woman. I’ve never met anyone like her.”

Seemingly unaware of his concerns, Seara smiled happily. “She is, isn’t she? The more time I spend with her the more she reminds me of her father. I wish she’d been able to get to know him.”

Relaxing somewhat, Carl began making up a plate of food. “I can’t help but wonder how different her life would have been if she had grown up here instead. But I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to get to know her.”

Seara studied him thoughtfully for a long moment, but she didn’t say anything more. Instead, she handed Carl a fork and napkin to take to Kayla. Armed with a plate of food, Carl carried it to the safe room while Veridian stayed behind with Seara.

Xantham’s eyes widened when he saw the plate. “Real food? I’ll be back.” He jumped up and ran out of the room.

Carl chuckled and put the plate down next to Kayla. “You need to eat something.”

Kayla nodded absently and took a bite without bothering to look away from the screen. She continued working, and Carl waited patiently for her to resume eating. When she continued to ignore him, he cleared his throat to get her attention. “One bite isn’t going to cut it, Kayla. Have you eaten anything today?”

“Huh? What?” Kayla blinked at him, her confusion evident.

“You need to eat something,” he reminded her.

“Oh, right.” She glanced down at the plate as though seeing it for the first time. She dutifully took another bite before turning back to the computer.

Carl stopped her. “If I have to physically remove you from the computer, I will. Take a short break, Kayla.”

She scowled. “You’re a pain in the ass.”

“So you’ve said,” he agreed. “Repeatedly.”

Cruncher looked up, pretending to be affronted. “What? You didn’t bring me a plate?”

Carl raised an eyebrow. “Next time you’re locked up against your will, I’ll consider it. In the meantime, though, you can get off your ass and get yourself something.”

Cruncher chuckled, stood, and headed out of the room. Kayla ate a few more bites before pushing the plate away. She looked at Carl expectantly, and he sighed in resignation. He took her plate while she turned back to the computer. Within a few minutes, she was back to being totally engrossed in her computer.

He shook his head, heading back into the common area.

“Well, she ate a few bites,” Carl informed Seara. The woman took the plate from Carl and gestured to the table. “Why don’t you have a seat and fix yourself something?”

He obliged and sat with the rest of his crew. When they finished eating, Cruncher and Xantham headed back to the safe room while Carl, Veridian, and Seara remained behind, talking. After several hours, Veridian and Seara headed to their respective rooms to get some rest.

Carl walked back into the safe room. It appeared Cruncher and Xantham had already gone to bed. Kayla was still sitting at the computer, reading intently.

“Still working on it?”

Kayla jumped at the sound of his voice. She turned to look at him and relaxed slightly. “No, it’s finished. I wanted to take another look to make sure we didn’t miss anything. It looks like it’ll work.”

Carl walked up behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders. He started massaging her tired muscles, and she lowered her head, making a small noise of contentment.

“You have no idea how wonderful that feels.”

He continued rubbing her shoulders. Leaning down close to her ear, he said, “Everyone else has gone to bed. Why don’t you turn this off? You can finish looking at it in the morning.”

“Mmm,” she murmured and turned off the monitor. Standing up, she turned around to wrap her arms around his neck and purred, “Was that an invitation?”

“It could be, if you’re interested.”

Kayla ran her fingers lightly across his chest. “I’m definitely interested.”

He smiled at her and tilted her head back to kiss her. “Then let’s go to bed.”