As it was, Jaxton merely touching her feet and wrists had brought back memories of one of the AMT researchers and what he’d done to her. Luckily, one of her coping techniques—deep breathing with her eyes closed—had allowed her to focus back on the present.
She watched as the tall man with dark skin and warm brown eyes moved aside to let in a small woman with barely restrained curly black hair and golden brown skin. The woman strutted into the room like she owned it, with a dark red duffel bag slung over her shoulder.
The woman stopped next to Jaxton and started to speak, her accent more singsong than Jaxton’s. “Jaxy, I’m a bit disappointed in your welcoming party.” She gave a fake pout. “No cakes, no balloons, not even any gifts? Poor Kiarra deserves all of that and more.”
Kiarra did a double take at the sound of her name and looked at the mirror above the dresser. It looked like a regular mirror, not like the two-way ones used in the AMT examination rooms. How does this woman know my name?
She wanted to ask, but hesitated. Jaxton hadn’t struck her when she’d refused to answer him earlier, so maybe this woman would allow her to ask questions too.
Gripping the inside of the blanket, she looked at the curly-haired woman and forced herself to ask, “How do you know my name? Were you listening in?”
The woman tossed the duffel bag at Jaxton without looking and turned with a warm smile on her face. “Do you really want to waste two of your three allotted questions on such silly things?”
Kiarra frowned, her curiosity stronger than her caution. “Three questions? I don’t understand.”
The woman winked. “I’ll give you a few freebies, since you’re new around here.” The woman took a step toward her and Kiarra gripped the blanket tighter, still uneasy but wanting to know what the hell the woman was talking about.
The woman continued, “I only grant three answers to a person at any given time. Because of my secret—and brilliant—abilities, too many people want to know trivial things, such as who will win a singing contest or what sports team will earn a championship title.” She waved a hand in dismissal. “The three-question limit saves my sanity.”
Jaxton muttered something in the corner, but the woman just blew him a kiss and said, “Jaxy loves me despite his attitude. He believes that my three question rule is childish.”
Kiarra glanced over at Jaxton. “Love” was the last word she would use to describe his expression.
She wondered at the relationship between the woman and Jaxton. The best she could tell, Jaxton was in charge of the men in black from the AMT. Yet Jaxton let this woman say and do as she pleased with barely a word in protest.
The woman took another step toward Kiarra, but just in case she really only had three questions, Kiarra looked in Jaxton’s direction and asked, “Why do people seek out this woman for answers?”
The woman laughed. “Clever girl.” She waved a hand at Jaxton, but never took her eyes from Kiarra’s. “I’ll handle this, Jaxy.”
Jaxton started tapping his fingers against his arm. Kiarra nearly smiled at his irritation, but caught herself just in time; she hadn’t felt the urge to smile in years.
As she met the woman’s brown-eyed gaze, Kiarra wished she could unsettle people like this woman, using nothing but her words and attitude. But for now, all she had going for her was the threat of elemental fire—at least until someone called her bluff.
The woman touched her arm, but rather than tensing or bolting at the touch, a sense of calm came over her. It made no sense. She looked up with a frown. “Who exactly are you?”
“I’m Neena.” The woman held out a hand. “And we need to have a little chat. How about we go downstairs, for some girl time?”
She eyed the hand, but didn’t take it. “Girl time” as a child had meant sleepovers and gossip. Kiarra wasn’t interested in either. She wanted to know what these people were going to do with her.
“Neena, leave her be,” Jaxton said. “She clearly isn’t ready for a one-on-one with you yet.”
Jaxton’s words prickled. People had assumed things about Kiarra for far too long. True, given the choice, she would like nothing more than to be alone in her room for a few hours and sort out her thoughts. But for no explicable reason, she wanted to prove the man who had kidnapped her wrong.
Besides, the woman’s presence had lessened her fear and uneasiness. Kiarra didn’t want that strange calmness to disappear just yet.
She gripped the blanket tight in her hands one more time before letting it drop to the bed. She reached out and took the woman’s hand, feeling even more relaxed at the contact, almost as if she didn’t have anything to fear from her. “Let’s go.”
Neena winked. “I knew you’d have a change of heart.”
Neena pulled her off the bed and the pounding inside Kiarra’s head, one of the aftereffects of the tranquilizer, intensified. She managed to stay upright despite the pain and allowed the woman to pull her out of the room and down the stairs.
Chapter Four
Neena didn’t release Kiarra’s hand until they reached the downstairs living room, where there was a couch, a bookshelf, some end tables, and a large painting of some mountains, which was hanging over a cold fireplace. Kiarra eyed the fireplace and rubbed her arms against the chill in the room, wishing she’d brought the blanket down with her, something she never would’ve been allowed to do inside the AMT.
As Neena walked over to a large black bag on the far side of the room and rifled inside it, Kiarra wondered if Neena had been the one to discover her secret and send Jaxton and his men to break her out of the AMT. Neena looked innocent enough in her tight-fitting jeans, gold flats, and silky green top, but Kiarra knew appearances could be deceiving.
No matter how much the woman’s presence calmed her, or how well they treated her, Kiarra needed to be careful. These people were nicer to her than the AMT staff—which, frankly, wasn’t hard to do—but she was a long way from trusting them.