“I stormed out of the meeting. Lee-Roy turned up at my home that night. He tried to convince me to change my mind. We had a huge row. I reminded him that it was his job to protect our son, not to allow someone to exploit him. He marched out, furious that I wouldn’t ‘see reason.’”
Well then, wasn’t he a miserable piece of shit.
“Gavril called me the next morning,” Thea went on. “He asked how Lane was doing; said it must be so hard for me to be a single parent; said he could see how stressed I was, and that maybe I’d find it easier if Lane went to live with Lee-Roy. It was a threat, plain and simple—if I didn’t come around to his way of thinking, he’d take Lane from me.”
Thea looked at Keenan. “That was when I first tried contacting you. I knew that, because of your past and how protective you are of children, you’d see a boy when you looked at Lane, not a thing to be used. I knew you wouldn’t ignore that he needed help. But you wouldn’t return my calls.”
“I won’t be made to feel guilty for that,” Keenan told her. “You could have explained to Knox why you wanted to speak with me; you could have at least mentioned that you wanted help for your son. You didn’t.”
“Because I didn’t feel I could trust anyone but you with the information. Now I have no choice but to take a chance.”
“What happened next?” asked Harper.
Thea turned back to the Primes. “Lee-Roy came to me the night he was killed. He said that I was right; that he was a bastard for even thinking of trying to profit from our son’s gift. Said he intended to tell Gavril that he’d have to wait until Lane was eighteen. I was so relieved.
“He called Gavril and invited him to my house. Gavril fumed at Lee-Roy for ‘switching sides’ and threatened to take Lane from us if we didn’t cooperate. I don’t know which of them attacked first, but the living room turned into a battleground. Lee-Roy screamed at me to get out of there.
“I teleported upstairs, grabbed my getaway bag, headed to Lane’s room, and then teleported us both as far away from the house as I could—which, sad to say, wasn’t much further than a few blocks. My teleportation gift isn’t very strong, and it weakens me fast. I stole a car and drove us out of the neighborhood before Gavril could send his goons after us. We’ve been dodging them ever since, but I don’t know how much longer we can manage it.”
Unless she left the country, Gavril would probably find her soon enough. She could use glamor to disguise her appearance, but it was a lot harder to disguise a person’s scent. That meant hellhounds would have a good chance of tracking her.
“He’s telling people I killed Lee-Roy so that no one will harbor me, and so that he has an excuse to kill me … at which point Lane will be left without parents to protect him, and Gavril can do whatever he wants with him.”
Knox tilted his head. “What is it that Lane can do?”
Thea hesitated. “It’s nothing bad. It’s just … substantial.”
“What can he do?” Knox persisted.
She licked her lips. “He … he can steal people’s abilities. But only temporarily,” she hurried to add. “It only lasts a few hours, and it knocks him unconscious every time—he’s too young to control any of the abilities he absorbs.”
Shock struck Keenan hard. It was an extremely rare gift, and people tended to be wary of those who possessed it. They also tended to exploit them in much the same way that Gavril wished to exploit Lane. After all, people would indeed pay a chunk of money to have someone weaken their enemies for them—even if the effect only lasted a short time.
“Can he pass the gifts on to others?” Harper asked.
“No,” replied Thea. “He just touches someone, pulls in their ability, and then collapses.”
Knox pursed his lips. “Does he have adequate control of the gift?”
“No. But he doesn’t go around doing it all the time—it’s very hard for him to do it; he has to really concentrate. If he’s weak, tired, or in some way distracted, he can’t do it.” Thea clasped her hands. “Please help my son. Please. I can’t protect him by myself. I’m literally begging for your help.”
Knox exchanged a brief look with his mate and then cut his gaze back to Thea. “I’d like you to wait outside my office with Lane and Larkin. I’ll call you back in after I’ve spoken with Harper.”
Thea blinked. “O-okay.” She awkwardly rose from her seat and, offering Keenan a weak, trembly smile, crossed to the door.
Once she’d left the room, Levi asked, “Well, do we believe her?”