“Is it safe?” Blair asked.

  Clary looked at Brody sideways. He shrugged and said, “Safer than most places.” Again, Clary pinched him.

  “Why would you want to do that? To bring us back if that’s the case?” Blair asked them.

  “Well, for one thing, I know that the team would like Legend to work for us, but we don’t want to pressure him into it.”

  Legend snorted. “I’m not sure Terk even knows what I can and cannot do.”

  “Do you even know what you can and cannot do?” Clary asked. “I’ve seen an awful lot of energy emanating from you. For example, that much crazier drive when Brody was at the wheel than when you were driving because you were cloaking the car, weren’t you?”

  He frowned. “Did you notice that?”

  “I didn’t notice it until Brody was driving and realized that he couldn’t cloak the vehicle. Yet, because you weren’t driving, you weren’t looking after it. What’s the connection to when and how you can cloak?”

  “It’s just easier for me if I’m an extension of the vehicle.”

  “But you were in the vehicle anyway,” she noted, “so …”

  He shrugged. “I’m never a passenger. It just wasn’t the same thing.”

  She nodded. “I wondered if it was something like that. Anyway, I don’t know that Brody himself figured it out, but maybe you should do the driving from now on.” Brody frowned at her, opening his mouth, but she went to pinch him again, and he held up both hands in mock surrender.

  Legend gave her a half smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Also,” she added, looking over at Blair, “you can’t protect Larry from everything.”

  “I know that.” Blair gave her a lopsided grin. “You’re also the one protecting him.”

  “I was keeping him asleep, trying to divert some of this nightmare away from him, but we can’t keep it all away from him. Right about now he probably knows more than any child of that age should. But the fact of the matter is, you are still protecting him, and he needs to develop some of that protective spirit himself.”

  “Fine, but do you really think he needs it reduced now, with all this going on?”

  At that, Clary gave her a warm caring smile. “It’s one of the reasons I was wondering about bringing the whole lot of you my way. I need to ask the others about it.”

  “The last thing you need is to have me and Larry there,” Blair noted. “It’s one thing if Larry and I have a home someplace, where he can get back to school and his studies and slowly heal. However, it’s another thing entirely to throw us into the mix because they want Legend.”

  “I think it’s very important that Legend is still in Larry’s life,” Clary stated.

  “Sure,” Blair agreed. “So maybe Larry needs to go with Legend and without me.”

  Legend immediately protested. “I’m not sure just what Clary’s suggesting here, other than that you come for a visit.”

  “I would be your brother’s caregiver,” Blair stated, “and I don’t think that they have the room, time, or energy for me to come in that capacity.”

  At that, Clary laughed. “Oh, there’s definitely the energy,” she quipped, “but it’s probably scattered all to hell and gone by now,” she muttered. “Anyway, let’s all get some sleep, and we’ll talk in the morning.”

  *

  Legend, after the two gunmen had been picked up and removed, sat outside in the darkness. Hearing a sound beside him, he shifted his senses and realized it was Brody. “One of us needs to get some sleep,” Legend murmured.

  “I was thinking you would stand watch,” Brody said, “but I wanted to double-check.”

  “I’m not feeling quite comfortable enough to ignore the fact that there could be other attackers,” Legend admitted.

  “No, me neither,” Brody agreed, “and I heard the women talking earlier about a similar possibility.”

  “Of course,” Legend grumbled. “As much as we want to think that this is over, my father commanded many millions of dollars, and there will be a lot of people who think they deserve a piece of the pie, now that he’s a prisoner.”

  “Not a prisoner anymore.”

  “Damn, I forgot,” he muttered under his breath. “Now that he’s deceased.”

  “I’m sorry, man. Despite how it went, he was your father.”

  “He was, but he wasn’t someone I could ever agree with, and we could never come to any kind of a meeting of the minds. You have no idea how hard I tried to convince him to stop this foolishness, but he was adamant that victory was his.”

  “Was he just delusional?”

  “I don’t know.” Legend gave a wave of his hand. “At some point in time, he had some psychic tell him that he would rule the world, and I think that may have gone to his head.”

  “Yeah,” Brody agreed. “That is the kind of thing some psychic would say but not necessarily what anybody needs to hear.”

  “Particularly somebody who is already power hungry,” Legend murmured. He glanced back inside. “Is everybody asleep?”

  “They are. That brother of yours is sure something, and, according to the women, he’s even more special because of how ill he’d been.”

  “I guess whatever methods were used to keep him alive … maybe changed him somehow.”

  “Yes, I understand from Clary that he’s picked up quite a bit of that same healing energy, and he’s connected to her in many ways.”

  Legend didn’t say anything. What could he say? It made sense, and it was a hazard of the kind of work the woman did.

  “She also seems to think that you’re extremely powerful as well.”

  Legend snorted at that. “Now that just gives me shudders and memories of my father’s words.”

  “Right. Sorry, I didn’t quite mean it that way.”

  “Good thing,” he declared, his tone turning hard, “because I am definitely not like my father.”

  “Neither is your brother.”

  “Absolutely not, and it about killed me when Larry admitted to feeling guilty for being relieved to be free to just be himself. Relief from all that pressure to be someone he is not. I totally get it and honestly feel the same way.”

  “Nothing quite like parents to mess us up.”

  “I think a huge part of our whole experience in this lifetime has to do with learning from all the screwups that happened while we were children,” Legend shared.

  “I hadn’t considered that.” Brody stepped forward, sniffed the air, and muttered, “It seems calm.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t trust it.”

  “I know. I’ll go catch four, and I’ll come back and relieve you then.” Without waiting for an acknowledgment, Brody turned and headed back inside.

  It was a matter of trust, as in realizing that, if Brody were needed, Legend would call him. So, since Brody wasn’t needed at the moment, he would let Legend take first watch, and Brody would relieve Legend on the next one. It was a system that each of them had always used, but Legend had never worked with Brody before. Yet it had been natural for Legend to step out and to take first watch. Some things you just didn’t let go of. Besides, Larry was his brother, and that was not something Legend would forget easily.

  He got up and wandered toward the lake a few feet, his own senses highly upturned, as he listened for any intruders or for anything else that would disrupt the peace and quiet of the night. The conversation and questions from the cops had been kept to a minimum, once they realized who the kidnappers had been, and the gunmen were quickly bundled up and taken away.

  Everything was on a hush-hush basis, so that the current government could minimize the political fallout from people finding out that there’d actually been a coup attempt. Legend had listened in on the news, and there was definitely some coverage, more so now that it had been apparently squashed, but Legend wished he could get the actual truth.

  It wouldn’t happen, and he knew that, but it still pissed him off to see that, no matter what government it was out there, there was still corruption, still coverups, or anything else you wanted to call it. He headed back toward the trees, taking a moment to examine the area around them, then surveyed the cabin and the surrounding areas.

  There was a disquiet, just a whisper of unease rifling through his system, yet he couldn’t see any reason for it, couldn’t see a direction. He wondered just what value his brother would be to somebody else and whether this would be an ongoing concern. Would there actually be an end in sight for all this? What the hell was Legend supposed to do as a guardian?

  He was glad Blair had agreed to stay on at least for a time, but, already in the back of his mind, he knew how badly he needed her to maintain some consistency with his brother. That Legend didn’t have a place or a job anymore was a whole different story. After he had skipped out without a word or a note for his former team to rescue his brother, Legend knew full well that he was no longer welcome back there. For all he knew, they may have thought he was captured or even helping his father with his coup. Legend sighed.

  Consistency meant having a home, a place where Larry felt safe, where they wouldn’t be looking at everybody else possibly attacking them. But to find that, and to set it up, wouldn’t be easy. It would be a whole different story. With Legend being footloose and fancy-free, none of that had mattered to him, … until now. He kept a small apartment in London as a base, but it wasn’t big enough for two of them, no matter three of them. Yet Legend could see that, with a ten-year-old, it would be a whole different ball game.

  He continued to walk around the cabin area, looking to find what had disturbed him, but again, it was just a whisper, just that brush of a hand across the nape of his neck, making the hair stand up, telling him something was going on, something he didn’t like one bit. Just on the off chance, he put his phone on Silent, so nobody would disturb him or give away his position. Then he shifted and came around to the front of the property.

  Other cabins were here, other people, yet they seemed to be on holiday or the hard-partying crowd. So far, Legend and the others here hadn’t had any communication with those outside of their group, other than the odd hand in the air from a distance. They seemed all right, but they weren’t anybody Legend was interested in getting too friendly with, not given their current situation. Not that he was the overly friendly type anyway.

  He’d always been more of a loner, but then, when you had a father hell-bent on taking over the world, regardless of the governments in play, it tended to put a damper on relationships in Legend’s life. Not that he’d had a whole lot to do with his father either. That was the other part.

  There wasn’t anything to legally compel him to look after his brother, but Legend couldn’t not do it. He was close to his brother, and this could be his one chance to actually connect and continue to build their relationship and to hopefully give Larry a chance for a much better life than Legend had had. It didn’t seem that Legend was destined to have a family himself, so maybe forming a little family with Larry would be a good thing for both of them.

  Frowning at the wayward thoughts rambling through his head, he took one more step forward, right when a branch crackled off to the side. He froze and waited, letting his gaze shift in the darkness. His senses were wide open, yet he couldn’t see anything, and that was bothersome. Either somebody was using a methodology to hide their own tracks, in which case Legend had bigger problems than trying to find a place where his brother could stay, or his own senses were being dulled by something. Also not something he wanted to consider. His mind raced, searching for any clue.

  Just as he was about to relax and put it down to wildlife or Mother Nature, he heard another crackle, this time a very defined footfall. He shifted his vision through the darkness to his right, where the sound had come from, then barely made out a shadow moving toward the cabin. He sent out an alert, hoping that somebody would be there to receive it. Otherwise he would grab his phone. But, with so many people out here talking energy, surely somebody would be aware. It was too early for Brody to come in for his shift change, though that was actually a good thing because he needed as much sleep as he could get too.

  When a voice slammed into his brain, he shuddered in place, nearly giving away his position with the movement. It was Terkel.

  I’ve alerted Brody, Terk stated, his tone calm.

  Instinctively Legend slammed back with Turn down the volume.

  With almost a note of laughter, Terk replied, That’s controlled on your side, and with that, he disappeared.

  Swearing under his breath, Legend quickly modulated the volume in his head, wondering at Terkel’s ability to just step into somebody’s mind and step back out again. They would have a serious talk when this was over, and they would also have some ground rules, if Legend decided to work for him.

  You’re already working for me, Terkel noted, his tone now much softer inside Legend’s brain. You just don’t know it yet.

  Have to survive this first, he snapped.

  One or two?

  I only see one, but that means nothing.

  No, it sure doesn’t. You know that your brother will be one hell of a man.

  If he lives that long.

  I hear you there, Terk agreed in a contemplative mood. I don’t know if you know it, but Clary brought up bringing you guys here earlier today.

  I’m sure that went over well.

  Nobody wants to see a child hurt, but we can’t be an orphanage either.

  Considering Legend was busy following the predator in front of him, he added, Can we talk about his later? I’m on the move to the cabin.

  Got it, Terk replied. As I mentioned, I already told Brody, so there is a welcome wagon waiting for your intruder.

  Yeah, well, he’s got at least one gun, if not a second, and he’s carrying a knife in his boot pocket, Legend pointed out. I can just see the metal because it’s sitting at the top.

  I’ll pass that on, but you can talk to Brody this way too, and, with that, Terkel was gone.

  The thought of telepathically talking to Brody wasn’t exactly at the top of Legend’s list, but, if it would keep him and Larry alive right now, Legend was game. Besides, it was a hell of a hidden weapon if they could make this work. He sent out an alert to Brody and gave him the details on the weapons.

  Brody’s voice came back calm and quiet. Got it.

  And, with that, Legend had to be satisfied. He was putting an awful lot of trust in these people and their skills, but then they were putting a lot of trust in him too. Basically that’s what teamwork was, It had been hard to walk away from his former team, friends he knew and trusted, but harder still to trust on a completely new level with people he didn’t know, yet who had abilities that were shocking. If they could do even half of what Legend suspected, he’d be a fool to not take Terkel up on his offer.

  Damn right, Terkel agreed. Keep that in mind. Clary’s on watch now too.

  Legend wasn’t even sure what that meant, but, as he stepped closer toward the cabin, he saw the predator coming around to the side door, his handgun out, shifting so he could look in the window. The window itself was open, which Legend didn’t remember from earlier, but, with the heat of the day, it made sense that somebody had opened it. As the guy peered around the corner, a fist caught him hard in the face, before Brody stepped out of the door to tackle him. Legend was on him within seconds. As they picked up the guy and carted him into the cabin, Legend quickly pocketed the guy’s knife, while Brody took care of the handgun.

  Legend looked at the guy, shook his head, and said, “I don’t even know who you are.”

  “You weren’t supposed to find out either,” he muttered. “Now I’ll be in deep shit.”

  “Yeah, well, anybody who comes to try and attack us won’t do any better,” Legend stated, his voice hard. “What the hell is going on?”

  He shrugged. “Let’s just say that everybody knows the kid’s father is dead, and now people want a piece of the pie.”

  “What’s that got to do with the kid? He doesn’t have any ability to take care of that,” Legend asked in bewilderment. “Why would anybody attack the kid?”

  “Because he is set to inherit a fortune, and whoever controls the kid controls the fortune.”

  Well hell. Legend hadn’t looked at it from that point of view.

  At that, Brody swore, then he looked over at Legend. “We need to get that paperwork taken care of.”

  Legend nodded, his face grim. “Yeah, let me make some phone calls, and I’ll get it started.”

  And, with that, he stepped outside, contacted both the lawyer and the house manager, plus made calls to the contact people at several banks. They hadn’t expected to do this so quickly, but Legend was the guardian, and that meant it came down to him. The problem was, if something happened to Legend, who could step in and take over again? They’d have to set up some system to keep Larry safe, which had suddenly started to look like a full-time job—and a hell of a job at that.

  Chapter 9

  Hearing the commotion, Blair woke up, then snuck out to the living room to see a stranger collapsed on the floor, with both Brody and Legend standing over him, glaring. “Another attacker?” she murmured, as she joined them.

  Legend nodded. “Yes, found him outside.”

  “So you did stay on watch, didn’t you?”

  “Of course.” He shrugged. “Instincts.”

  “Yeah, your instincts are pretty good,” she confirmed. “I was just so tired. I needed to sleep.”

  “Which is why we’re taking shifts.”

  She looked down at her cell phone and shuddered at the time but resolutely headed for the teakettle.

  “You might as well just go back to bed,” Brody suggested.

  She shook her head and sighed. “I’m awake now. Besides, something else is going on here. I don’t know how much of all this you guys have figured out, but I can’t say I’m terribly impressed.”

  “What do you mean?” Brody asked, looking confused.

  “There’s a reason why they’re coming after Larry, which I get. Money is involved,” she said, with a wave of her hand. “But he’s still a child, and sure it’s easy to assume that controlling the child means controlling the money, but that’s not even true. Plus, how did they find us quickly? They’ve been after us since before we really even left the mansion. This doesn’t seem like random opportunists to me. Surely someone is behind it.”