When he turned his attention back to Garret’s description of the route they’d take north, Laila could not do the same. Seemingly of its own accord, her interest lingered on the hulking, intimidating man across the table. This mountain’s job was to keep her alive. He was an Emerald, like her.
She rubbed the newly tattooed emerald green band around her wrist. Garret had revealed Rock grew up in Amber, like she had. Rock didn’t look like the type of person raised in the accepting Amber environment. But, what a person presented to the world was not necessarily what lay beneath the surface.
When Laila tuned into a person’s energy, she was able to get a sense of the person and their feelings. She closed her eyes and blocked out the drone of Garret’s voice. Relaxing, she exhaled, reached out with her senses and collided with an impervious barrier. He was totally closed off.
Opening herself a little more, she tried to sense the man behind the leave-me-alone-façade. At first, she got nothing. With some concentrated effort, her energy brushed past his defenses and mingled with his.
Her empathic gift was sensitive, and with so many people in the small room, the likelihood she’d feel only him if she opened herself up more was iffy at best. In a room full of people, there was never a guarantee she sensed the person she thought she was. She pretended to read the compad on the table in front of her, took in another deep breath, and opened herself a bit more.
An initial sensation of being under immense pressure morphed into a storm of torment and anger. His hell felt deep and tragic. It overwhelmed her.
She opened her eyes, and their gazes clashed. His eyes blazed as if he’d sensed her attempt to feel him. But that was impossible.
She tried to break the connection, but couldn’t fend off the unbearable tsunami of his pent-up emotions. They pelted her, embedded in her soul like buckshot in soft flesh.
Despite repeatedly trying to push the emotions away, they only disappeared when he returned his attention to Garret’s presentation.
By the time she’d rid herself of his feelings completely, she was shaken and nauseated. The connection had been less than a minute, but the vast, nuclear bomb-like intensity of what lay inside him had her heartbeat racing and adrenaline pumping. It was the first time her empathic connection had been so intense she’d had trouble breaking it.
Her chair scraped loudly against the floor as she excused herself. She hurried down the main corridor, into the mercifully unoccupied ladies room.
Breathing hard and assessing whether she was going to vomit, she steadied herself with a hand on the wall next to the sink. Her hands shook as she cupped them under the faucet. She gulped in several mouthfuls of water before cutting it off.
“Are you okay?”
Laila jumped and swung around.
Rock stood behind her in the doorway.
Not wanting anyone to see her like this, especially him, she turned away quickly. She took a couple more hitching breaths and lifted her gaze to his reflection in the mirror, nodded. “Yeah. I’m…good.”
Gazes locked, they stood in silence, forming a personal connection. For the next few months, they were a duo in a team of four. She was sure those seconds were an allowance of time and attention Rock didn’t give just anyone.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe. You’ll be prepared to defend yourself if you need to.” The tone of his deep voice was gentler than she’d heard him use with other people, making it easier to school her expression into some semblance of composure.
“Okay.” Her voice quavered. She was completely unraveled. Too many strong energies in such an enclosed space.
“Come on. They’re waiting for us.”
She gave her stomach a few more seconds to settle, and then preceded him out the door. They walked side by side down the hall, the quick snap of her heels on the tile in sync with his combat boots.
Impulsively, she slipped her hand into his, and he didn’t blink at the touch. Almost to the door of the meeting room, his steps faltered. He slowed, looked down at their joined hands, and up until their gazes connected for an endless second. His expression revealed he’d not known she’d grown up Amber.
Laila crooked a finger, a request for him to come closer. He brought his head near hers.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Simply because of his nearness, she sensed his mood again, and the change was absolute. The siege of anger, hatred and pain had lessened.
“Come on.” He freed his hand, and stepped aside so she could enter the room.
Everyone looked at her when she re-entered. “I’m sorry, gentlemen. I’m feeling a bit under the weather today.”
General Morgan’s expression conveyed concern. “Well let’s wrap this up, then.”
Laila nodded her thanks to the General, sat, and avoided eye contact with everyone in the room.
When the meeting adjourned, she remained at the table to avoid getting pulled into a conversation. The problem was Sydney Parr remained, too.
She didn’t need to look up to know Sydney’s striking, light green eyes bore down on her. She could no longer pretend she hadn’t noticed Sydney wasn’t leaving. With her caramel skin and dark hair, the exotic-looking woman’s bitchy glare made Laila feel like shrinking away. Sydney scanned her face, then the new emerald tattoo circling her wrist, and malevolence marred the woman’s beautiful features.
The prejudice and slurs would come next. She might have an emerald band around her wrist, but to most, it didn’t matter. She would always be an Amber—stupid, diseased, inferior.
“You’re Emerald now?”
“Yes.” Laila smiled and looked pointedly at Sydney’s Sapphire tattoo. “And you’re not.”
“Don’t let that green around your wrist make you think you’re better than everyone else. You’re still spawned from inferior stock.”
“I earned my designation. I wasn’t born into it like you were. Looks like you were a mere eye color away from growing up in Amber with me.” Laila knew better than to bait the woman like that, but she couldn’t help herself.
“He’s not into you.”
“Who?”
“Morgan. It was pretty obvious he was touching you to irritate Rock.”
“I agree.”
Sydney nodded. “As long as you know your place.”
Rock walked back into the conference room. His gaze ping-ponged between them, finally landing on Laila. He stared at her, as if he inspected her insides. Peered directly into her soul.
She fought the urge to squirm. He did an excellent job of making her feel as if he knew her better than she knew herself.
He frowned and gestured toward the door. “Sydney, may I speak with you?”
“Of course. Excuse me.” As she rose from the table, she gave Laila a sugary-sweet smile. “It was nice chatting with you.”
Rock followed Sydney out.
Laila berated herself for standing up to Sydney and pissing her off. She’d handled those kinds of comments better. Ultimately, she didn’t regret what she’d said.
Taking a jab at Sydney was not the only situation she could have handled better that morning. She couldn’t lose it as she had in the meeting. Letting emotions, hers or another’s, draw unwanted attention to her could be a fatal mistake. One she couldn’t afford if she was going to complete the mission—both missions.
Chapter