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FOR THE FIRST time since Brea had arrived, she was enjoying herself. Eve’s candid stories about Jax had temporarily assisted Brea’s mind into forgetting the displeasure of her circumstances. She hadn’t fought her smiles as Eve continued exposing a side of Jax Brea had never considered: Jax’s non-Gatekeeper side. Brea now began to wonder if she’d given him a fair chance.
Brea now stretched out on a deep green-colored fainting sofa in the Victorian study, reading.
She waved at the maid watering the plants...again. Getting caught spying, the maid scattered away beyond the square pillars and grand arches. Brea tilted her head, waiting for the butler to arrive and offer her a drink. The older man’s tall, lanky body and drawn-in white face gave him the appearance of a skeleton. Right on target.
She met his thin lips and wrinkled eyes with a friendly smile. She couldn’t be angry at these servants for doing their jobs.
“Ms. Brea, would you care for a beverage?” he asked.
Brea shook her head. “No thank you, Donald. But, if you would like to join me, have a seat and read while you keep an eye on me, I won’t tell Jax,” she whispered, but loud enough to carry across the large room.
Donald turned beat red and declined, scurrying away.
Who would be next?
Brea looked at the aged leather-bound book she’d been reading while playing hide and seek with the staff. She’d been excited earlier, finding a library which contained an intense selection of books, both new and old. But disappointed soon after, when she hadn’t found a single book about gate-keeping or Lexcon.
There was less in the Winters’ library, a Gatekeepers home, than in the school libraries. It made Brea curious as to where such information would be kept...or more likely hidden. An office maybe, or...a dungeon. After hours spent exploring the home, Brea was certain of the exact location of such confidential rooms. She hadn’t even touched the handle of the gigantic double doors on the east wing, when a staff member had immediately escorted her away, explaining the east wing was off limits to her.
Not suspicious at all, and it only amplified her desire to find a way to sneak into that wing. She had her whole life to come up with creative ways to get beyond the doors that held the secrets she longed to discover.
But, Brea was under house arrest and all eyes were focused on her, so, for today, she chose to work at befriending the staff in order to loosen their reins.
As Brea continued to concentrate on the book in her hands, she heard a loud commotion coming from down the hall. After hearing a string of incoherent sentences, Victor appeared in the foyer, his glare falling on her.
Did he find out about the east wing?
Annalieese stood by Victor’s side, attempting to calm him. Even from the distance, Brea could see his face had turned redder than the butler’s had been, and she detected it had something to do with her.
Brea stood, not afraid of this man’s warning looks. These Winters were going to quickly learn that Brea wasn’t easily spooked.
She met her in-laws in the foyer and heard Annalieese say, “The council has been known to visit couples after vows.” Brea detected the concern in her voice.
The council? Visiting? Here?
Even Brea knew that wasn’t good and likely had to do with her and Jax not bonding.
Victor glowered at his wife, then at Brea.
“We all know that’s not true and we all know why they’re coming. When Jax gets back this better be resolved before council shows up on my doorstep,” he roared. “Is that understood Brea?”
It wasn’t really a question, more of an intimidating warning, meant to scare her. But it only infuriated her.
Give council a reason to come. Face-to-face was exactly what she wanted. Their rules were wrong and their order a mess. She didn’t care how far it dated back, they needed an upgrade and she was just the woman to tell them.
“I think you’re mistaking me for the employees on your payroll. I do not bow down to any man.” She lowered the tone of her voice. “Is that understood, Mr. Winters?”
***
JAX CHOKED BACK THE urge to vomit. The smell burning his nostrils could only be described as worse than driving passed a liquid manure spreader as it soaked the soil beneath it.
Skin wiggled. Burps sounded.
What had he stepped into?
“It’s a diaper,” the nurse barked from the far side of the room. “Take it off and change it. What’s with you today? You’ve done it a thousand times before.”
Jax certainly hadn’t done this, not even once.
He felt sorry for the poor sucker required to perform this duty as his daily routine.
“Are you too distracted after sneaking out with Amy this afternoon?” Jax heard the condemnation in the nurse’s tone, reminding him of his dad.
Jax’s reluctant, unsure fingers pulled one tab off. He couldn’t imagine how this small baby, only days old, smelled so...deadly. He would have rather dealt with a few punches−a dozen punches would be better than this.
“When’s Amy leaving?” he asked casually, trying not to gag.
Fail.
The nurse, again, glanced over her shoulder at him, this time shooting him a warning about his interest in Amy.
I’m a married man...although at this point my wife dislikes me more than you do.
Then the nurse frowned at his uncontrollable choking reflexes.
Jax grabbed the next tab, hoping for an approving smile from her. Instead, she slanted a bewildered look, shook her head and turned back to her duties.
“Don’t forget who you work for. Amy might be a pleasure to have around, but she is off-limits for you. If you want to start something with Janet, fall in love, have children, you go right ahead, but not Amy.”
Not Amy? Why not Amy?
“Janet may be a little bubblier than Amy, which is surprising, but it’s nice to have girls who smile instead of cry all day. Obviously, they’re both saddened at the predicament they’ve gotten themselves into, but it’s more common than they are led to believe.”
Jax finally opened the diaper and realized it had gotten worse. He heaved, again...and again.
How? How did this baby make such a mess?
Jax was having a difficult time concentrating as the nurse continued.
“Both women are due with their little bundle of joy any day now...”
He had to turn his head away for a breath of untainted air before continuing his mission. It was, by far, the worst mission of his life and he’d once been on the Titanic to make sure the ship went down after a Rogue tried to save it. He’d endured a severe case of sea sickness the entire time. It was nothing compared to this.
“Unfortunately...” The tone of the nurse’s voice dropped to sadness, at the exact time Jax’s stomach threatened to cause havoc. “...they won’t get to see their babies.” The nurse took a few moments to reflect on the girls’ loss. When she finally spoke to Jax, her condemnation toward him returned, too. “Amy is spoken for...all Gatekeepers are, but you are free to chase Janet all you like.”
Jax froze, and his stomach plummeted for a distinctly different reason.
Gatekeepers? How did this woman know about Gatekeepers?
“Between you and me though, do you want to get involved with a Second who’s about to have an Unborn?”
Unborn? How did this woman know about Unborns? And...Unborns were actually...born?
The diaper was not even remotely close to the problem Jax now faced.
What the hell was going on?
Holding his breath, Jax pulled the diaper off, cleaned the dirty little bottom and put a new one on...the wrong way, but he didn’t care. There were more pressing issues he needed to uncover.
Jax was about to leave the baby and establish exactly what was going on, when he noticed a mark on the baby’s upper side, right below its underarm.
A birthmark?
Before Jax moved its tiny body for a better look, he knew what he’d seen. There, branded on the side of the baby’s side was a distinct birthmark...a Second’s birthmark.
This was an Unborn? An Unborn with a Second’s birthmark? Why did an Unborn have a birthmark if they never survived? And why were there living Unborns if Unborns didn’t live?
Jax walked over to the nurse and grabbed her wrist, flipping her hand over, where married and bonded Seconds tattooed an “S” to their wrist. It was like wearing a wedding ring on the left finger to let the opposite sex know they were taken. “You’re a Second?” he said, finding the mark on her.
The nurse flipped his wrist over. “You’re a Second, too, so quit thinking you’ve got a chance with Amy and get back to work.”
Jax came to the conclusion that he was in an abortion clinic for Unborns born as Seconds. Jax needed to find Declan and Gabrielle...fast.
***
AN HOUR LATER, JAX finally snuck into the other part of the house. It had taken some pushing and sneaking, with no help from the nurse, as apparently he wasn’t allowed anywhere near the built-on part of the home. No one was allowed back there, except the Gatekeepers who were giving birth to...Unborns.
In a bedroom on the second story, Jax found Declan and Gabrielle sitting on chairs, facing the back window.
Jax glanced down the halls before he slipped inside the room and shut the door. He didn’t want to bring attention to Declan and Gabrielle.
It was a small room, with basic retro bedroom furniture. His brother and sister appeared relaxed, better than Jax expected. He’d anticipated finding Gabrielle distraught and Declan running around unsure how to calm her. Now he brought them bad news that he was sure would upset them both.
“This is not a regular abandon your baby type house,” Jax said. The smiles his siblings had been wearing dropped.
Gabrielle’s frown deepened. “That’s mean Jax, even for you.”
Jax sat on the edge of the bed, stretching his elbows onto his knees, leaning toward them. “This Amy you’re inside, is a Gatekeeper,” he whispered. Who knew if there were ears on the other side of the door.
Declan and Gabrielle sobered.
His sister spoke first. “What are you talking about? That’s impossible. Why haven’t I figured that out yet?” she asked. “If she’s a Gatekeeper, I should be able to relate to her signs...shouldn’t I?”
Declan rubbed her hand. “Maybe all the pregnancy hormones are muddling your thoughts,” he suggested.
“Why is a Gatekeeper here?” Gabrielle lowered her voice to a whisper. “And how is she pregnant and almost at full term? She looked about sixteen years old. She wouldn’t have bonded yet...”
Jax didn’t have all the answers, but he knew the one he was about to give them would open their eyes to more than they’d ever thought was possible. He felt the need to ease them into the truth about Unborns, but felt they lacked the time to sugar-coat the situation. Time was not generally on their side.
“This house is for Seconds and Gatekeepers to give birth to Unborns,” Jax said, watching as bewilderment stole the features of Declan and Gabrielle. “Amy is pregnant with an Unborn,” Jax clarified, and even as he said it, it sounded wrong. It went against everything they’d been taught. “I saw the nursery downstairs and there’s more.” He paused, finding it more difficult to get the words out then he’d been prepared for. Taking a deep breath, he continued, “The staff here are all Seconds. The Unborns have birthmarks on their sides...Second’s birthmarks.”
Declan abruptly stood up, skidding the upholstered chair on the floor. Jax could see his brother’s brain mentally going through his memorized library. Jax would rather hit himself over the head with a book than to actually read one, but even he knew there was nothing in the history of Gatekeepers about Unborns actually being born.
“Jax, you have to be mistaken. Unborns aren’t born,” Gabrielle said, slowly. “That’s why they call them ‘Unborns’.” Gabrielle rubbed her stomach. It must be a motherly instinct, because when she caught herself doing it, she retracted her hands and gripped the arms of the chair instead.
“I don’t know what’s going on. But there’s a whole nursery of Unborns with birthmarks,” Jax said.
“We don’t have time to understand,” Declan said. “We have to find the Rogue and get out of here.”