15. Jax

15

Jax

Once Makayla was fed and Saul busy, I steered Anna back to our rooms. "I'm going to make us some sandwiches for lunch. Why don't you take a few moments to rest? You can review the information that London gave you, if you want."

Anna frowned. "I told you I wasn't sure if I was ready to look into that."

"Okay, then rest. I'll be up in a few minutes."

Rubbing her chest, her eyes glazed over for a few seconds and she nodded. On the way to the kitchen, I knocked on Janelle's door. It did not surprise me to see Cindy there, glaring at her. Janelle looked as if she needed to sleep for days. "Walk with me."

Cindy's eyes widened, and she stood, but I held up my hand. "I just need a witch."

"That witch in particular?" she accused.

"No. She just happens to be the closest witch." I was done explaining to her that I was not going to use Janelle to take control of my wolves. Janelle stepped out, and I closed the door between us. After a moment, I opened it back up again. "I'm going to the kitchen. Do you want any food?"

Cindy's eyes blinked in surprise. "Um, maybe? I haven't had lunch."

"I'll make you a sandwich." I shut the door again and looked down at Janelle. "That finding spell really took it out of you, huh?"

"Ironic that the simplest of magics for some witches are energy draining for others. Are you hoping that I'm going to make lunch for you, Jax?"

"Frankly, I wouldn't trust you with a spork right now. I have some questions, and this seems to be the most opportune time to ask them," I said cheerfully as we headed down the steps. "What would it take for magic to affect a null?"

"You mean Anna?"

"Yes, since she's the current null, but I mean any null. Have you ever heard if it's possible?"

Janelle titled her head. Letting her think, I guided us back to the kitchen and began making us a couple of plates. While I was building the sandwiches, Janelle finally spoke. "I didn't know much about nulls until Emerson had me do some research. In truth, there isn't much written about them. They were very secretive. Some reflected a larger area while others could only reflect from themselves. I tested Anna a little, without her knowing or maybe she did know, while she was in Emerson's pack, and concluded that her null magic is spreading a little more every day."

"To answer your question, I think it might be possible for Anna to be affected by magic if she chooses to be. The mating bond is evidence of that. That's wolf magic, although I know she can reject your pack bond whenever she wants, so she can deflect wolf magic, yet she lets the mating bond stand. Nulls who were witches could still create magic, so I'm inclined to say that nulls could be affected by internal magic, but Anna isn't a witch, so she doesn't have any internal magic. I'd need to do more research, or at least, Irene would."

"What makes you say that?"

Janelle frowned at me, but when I didn't say anything, she sighed. "You're really going to make me point out the obvious? Cindy is sleeping in my room because she fears what I might do when I'm alone."

"And you let her because you feel guilty, which tells me that you're not likely to misuse your magic any time soon," I said mildly. "But I will also point out that the safest place for you is in my pack where I can keep an eye on you. Like it or not, Black Diamond is going to have two resident witches. You'll work with Irene for the betterment of the pack. That's how you'll make things up to Anna and to yourself."

"And to Cindy?" she asked softly.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Cindy is going to have to learn to make her own way. I'd like her to stay, just so I don't have to worry about your little secret getting out, but if she stays, it will need to be because she's forgiven you. I won't let her stay if her hatred and bitterness are just going to spread."

"Why are you asking about null magic anyway?" Alarm appeared in her eyes. "I won't spell her. I won't. You cannot make me."

Hardening at her assumption, I glared at her. "I am not Emerson. I love Anna, and I have no need to control her with magic or otherwise. I'm just trying to understand what makes her tick. I understand wolves, but I don't understand magic. She's both."

Finished with the lunches, I held out two plates for her to take back to her room. "You might not want to stay in your room until you're summoned, you know. We might be here a little longer while Saul tries to help Makayla. Get some fresh air. Spend some time with Ava."

"Ava doesn't like me very much," she said softly. "She blames me for Cam Ye's death."

"Cam died because another witch attacked her, and that witch was not you. You are not to blame for every horrible thing that happened during those weeks. Only in providing the road that forced Anna to leave with Emerson. And you're making up for that. Start to forgive yourself, Janelle, or you won't be any good to me or anyone else."

With a small nod of her head, she grabbed the two plates and hurried away. I was slow to make my way back to the room. When I returned, Anna was at the window. The file lay untouched where I'd left it.

"Lunch," I said as I sat on the floor. "What have you been thinking about?"

"What no one has been talking about today. Where that drug came from."

"I have no doubt that it's on the forefront of London's mind while he also tries to take care of Makayla. I've already called Jenson to make certain that we haven't received any shipments. I told London to contact Maeve, but it must just be that Makayla ordered the shipments herself. Saul hasn't had a chance to make sure that all the vials are the same."

"Or someone is using London as a guinea pig," Anna pointed out as she took a bite of her sandwich. "I'm assuming we're staying here a little bit longer while we figure things out?"

"Is that all right with you?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I'm anxious to get back and get settled, but London did us a favor, so I'd like to help him out. Plus, not knowing where this drug comes from makes me super uneasy. I don't like thinking of werewolves as experiments."

"You and me both."

"You've been giving me strange looks all day. Everything okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this morning and again when we were out looking for Makayla. Weird looks." She blew her breath out in frustration. "I don't know how else to explain it. It's like I've done something that you don't understand. Grown a second head or told you I wanted to move to the Bahamas. Just weird looks!"

My heart skipped a beat. "Have I said anything strange to you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh my God, please don't tell me that you drank the Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde formula too. Now there are gaps in your memory? Maybe you should take a nap."

"I'm being serious, Anna. I want to know why you think I'm giving you strange looks. Were we talking about anything?"

"No. Not really. You were just looking at me strangely."

Her voice went up an octave like she was stressed, so I gave her a reassuring look. "Maybe I was just looking at you with love and you don't know what that looks like."

"Shut up," she muttered.

"I'm serious."

"Are you going to be lovey-dovey all the time? I'll need to adjust."

"You will definitely have to adjust." I tried to smile at her and hoped that it didn't convey the stress I was feeling.

I'd asked Anna a simple question about her past three times now, and each time, she seemed to have no recollection of me asking her prior.

There was something wrong with Anna's memories, and I didn't have the faintest clue what the hell was going on.