The Lost Connection

by Jen Talty

Willow gasped. Tears filled her dark orbs.

  He reached out and cupped her cheek. “What is it, babe?”

  “Those children you showed me being shot in your vision? If we fail tomorrow, Roger will have the Raven Spirits and our families’ powers forever.”

  Gabe nodded. “Along with the ability to strip all psychic energy from paranormals and psychics, disrupting the balance for eternity.”

  “We have to stop him. We have to call your brothers and my sisters now and put our heads together.” She waved her hands in the air. An image of an hourglass appeared. “We’re running out of time.”

  “I know. And I agree.” He held her by the chin. “We will all be gathered together soon, and I’m making sure Brett gets all the information. He has full access to everything and is sharing it with everyone else. Trust me.”

  “I do,” she said softly.

  He arched a brow. “Do you? Really?”

  “I should have trusted you three years ago when you told me that there were reasons for your betrayal.”

  His lungs deflated. His heart came to screeching halt before kicking into high gear. He’d been dreaming for years to hear those words. He never believed she’d ever say them, much less that he’d ever believe them. He took her hands and kissed her sweet, tender palms. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

  “We hurt each other,” she said.

  “You did nothing to me. But I knew what I was doing when I told you half-truths, and I could have avoided some of the pain I caused you.”

  She pressed her hot lips on his temple, sending heat across his body. “I no longer believe that.”

  “Why?” He hadn’t been with a lot of women over the course of his thirty-two years, mostly because he hadn’t had much interest, except in Willow. Ever since they’d first gotten together seven years ago, she’d been all he could think about. She filled his nights with wondrous dreams and occupied his thoughts with devious distractions and a wild hope for a future that he refused to let go of.

  “Because I loved you. If you had told me the truth about Mallard and what you knew, you would have put me between a rock and a hard place because I wouldn’t have been able to tell my sisters. I would have turned my back on them for three years. I would have resented you even more for that.”

  His heart swelled before dropping to the pit of his stomach. He let out a heavy sigh. “Loved? You don’t love me anymore? Because I’ve never stopped loving you.”

  The corners of her mouth tipped up into a slight smile. Her dark orbs twinkled. She tilted her head, leaning closer, her lips only a few millimeters from his, sending his system into shock.

  “You don’t say,” she whispered, licking her lips.

  He cupped the back of her neck. “You’re the only woman for me. I can’t imagine being with anyone else. I’d rather die a lonely old man.”

  “If I ever catch you with another woman, you will die a slow and painful death, trust me on this.”

  He let out a slight chuckle. “Does this mean you still love me?”

  “What do you think?”

  “I’m a guy. I need to be hit over the head a million times before I get it.”

  She ran her hand down his chest, scraping against his nipples.

  He hissed. “What are you doing?” He glanced down as her deft little fingers toyed with the button on his jeans, slipping her hand inside his pants. A guttural moan vibrated in his throat. He tried to fill his lungs, but he couldn’t take in a deep enough breath.

  “Expressing my love.”

  He traced her lips with his tongue, tasting her sweet nectar. “How about you say the words and then show me with all the devilish and dirty little sex acts you’ll only ever be enjoying with me for the rest of your life.”

  “You’re being awfully possessive.” She curled her fingers around his length.

  His eyelids lowered and the room spun. “I think you’re the one with the death grip.”

  “Too hard?”

  “I’m really not complaining,” he managed between ragged breaths.

  She yanked his pants down to his ankles and tossed them to the floor before going back to stroking and torturing him with her soft, firm hands.

  He really wouldn’t last very long if he let her keep this up much longer.

  Pulling his shirt over his head, he leaned against the headboard and ran his hands through her thick, dark hair. He watched as she lapped at his hard cock as if it were her last meal. No woman had ever loved him like Willow had. She gave herself fully and without reservation.

  “You haven’t said the words. I need the words.”

  She slipped her mouth off him. “It’s a little hard to talk when I’m doing this.”

  He traced his thumb over her lower lip. “I needed you to take a break and get naked anyway.”

  A wicked smile appeared across her angelic face. Her pink tongue darted out from between her lips and lapped at him a couple more times.

  He tossed his head back, digging his heels into the sheets, nearly losing control. “You don’t play fair.”

  “Neither do you,” she said as she kissed her way up his stomach. Straddling his body, she lifted her shirt over her head.

  He reached up and unhooked her bra and managed to remove her pants before flipping her onto her back. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”

  “If you say so.” She cupped her breasts, pinching and twisting at her nipples.

  “I say so.” He ran his index finger along the inside of her thigh.

  She lifted her hips, twisting her body.

  He smiled. “Say the words.” He sucked on his finger and gently wiggled it over her hard nub, barely touching it at all, but a hot spark flew from her body.

  She grabbed his hand and guided his fingers to her opening.

  “No. Not until you say the words.”

  “I’m begging.”

  He leaned over and stroked her with his tongue for a quick tease. “Tell me.”

  “You’re being mean.”

  Laughing, he repeated the motion, going a little deeper and a little harder, adding the tip of his index finger. “I’ll take you right to the edge and abruptly stop. You know I can.”

  She waved her hand in a small circle, creating a fog that snaked around his body. The hot particles danced across his skin, tingling his body in ways that curled his toes.

  “What the hell are you…oh, my, God,” he managed to croak out as the fog gripped his shaft, squeezing as if it were her soft skin stroking him. “I bet two can play at this game.” Keeping his tongue firmly pressed against her clit, he created his own cosmic energy, letting it linger at her opening. A fire filled his veins as psychic powers twisted and tangled with her body.

  He lifted his gaze, watching in awe as their auras mixed together like fireflies igniting the sky. His colors overpowered hers, pinning her to the bed. He smiled as she wiggled, raising her hips.

  Her soft moans filled his ears. “As good as this feels, I want the real thing.”

  “Do you love me?”

  “You know I do.”

  He used his psychic energy to coat her body. He lowered his head, kissing her intimately, stroking her insides, bringing her so close she thrashed about the bed.

  “Gabe, please. I love you. I need you. Now.”

  He growled, rolling to his back, pulling her down on him as he thrust up into her, hard.

  She leaned over him, gripping his shoulders, rocking back and forth as her body convulsed, her cosmic energy squeezing his body tight. “Yes. Yes. Yes.” She dug her nails into his skin, riding him harder and faster.

  It took all his focus to maintain control while another orgasm tore through her body, igniting his system, sending him into overdrive.

  He planted his hands firmly on her hips, taking over the pace of her motions. He held her gaze. “I love you more,” he managed as he swelled.

  Her hair cascaded over his chest, and she collapsed on top of him as he slammed inside her one last
time, his climax spilling out. He took her mouth in a hot, frenzied kiss which matched the frantic last moments of their lovemaking. He rolled his hips, keeping the movement slow and methodical.

  She wrapped her arms and legs around him, hooking her ankles at the small of his back. She kissed his cheek, his temple, and then his neck, letting out a long sigh. “I’ve missed you.”

  “Not as much as I’ve missed you.” He lifted his head. Reaching out, he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “We’re going to free the Raven Spirits and all the souls of our children. And we’re going to have the future we deserve.”

  She shivered.

  “Cold?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he pulled the blankets over their bodies and snuggled in behind her, nuzzling his knees up behind her legs. He closed his eyes and tried not to tense as a vision appeared in his mind’s eye.

  Roger stood in the middle of a clearing. His body levitated off the ground and spun while a mixture of auras that didn’t belong to him swirled around his body.

  Caleb was hunched over a tree trunk, lifeless, bleeding out onto the green grass. His aura, which looked like nothing Gabe had ever seen, between the sparkles in the colors and thickness of the fog, lifted from his body and rose toward Roger.

  “No. No. No. It can’t be,” she whispered.

  “You see it too,” he said. Of all the people in this world that could possibly be a werewolf protector and it had to be Caleb Snow.

  “Did you have any idea?”

  “Not a fucking clue. Makes me wonder if he had any idea or was just really good at being a traitor and a dick, because trust me, it hardens your soul and changes you fundamentally. If I had to continue much longer, I might not have come back the same man. I told that to Mallard a few times, and he kept telling me the cosmos knew what was best and I kept telling him the cosmos were a bunch of trickster fairies.”

  “He might be one of the souls we need to save.”

  “After I kick his ass for all the shit he put all of us through, but especially Hunter. I know that Hunter had Alexis to heal him, and I understand how powerful that is, but still, the fucker put my brothers through some shit.”

  “We’ve all been put through the ringer, but tomorrow, we will right the world, and then you will rent this cottage for a few weeks so you can spend all that time making it up to me for being such a jerk for the last few years.”

  “I plan on doing that for the rest of my life.”

  Chapter 8

  Willow set the AK-15 on the kitchen table, next to all the other weapons. They had more than enough firepower. She believed that to be true simply because everything would be happening on the psychic plane. And what didn’t, she wasn’t sure she wanted anyone dead, except maybe Roger.

  She checked her watch.

  Her sisters should be arriving any second. She was glad everyone would be in one place at one time.

  All four brothers reunited for the first time since birth.

  That was something.

  And Gabe was a nervous wreck.

  He’d met every single one of his brothers at one point or another.

  They all had crossed paths because of their jobs, but they had never been in the same space, much less known they were brothers.

  Gabe sat on the lounge chair out on the porch with his computer on his lap as he banged on the keyboard.

  She feared he might break it with how hard he pressed the keys.

  He hadn’t slept very well, tossing and turning most of the night. She tried to help ease his restless soul with massive amounts of sex, and while it helped some, it didn’t ease his growing frustration.

  And perhaps fear of the impending battle.

  To which they had no idea what form it would take.

  Or to what plane it would play out on.

  She could certainly understand his apprehension. The last couple of weeks had proved to be a lesson in patience, and every time they found another brother, they also found more secrets and new powers.

  This time they found witchcraft.

  But they hadn’t a clue how to use it.

  If they needed spells and what those entailed.

  The entire concept of being part witch seemed so foreign to her that she put it out of her mind until a vision would come to her, reminding her that she had skills that she didn’t have any understanding of how to use properly.

  “Mom? Dad? If you’re out there, please help us understand the next step.” She figured her pleas were falling on deaf ears. Even if her parents could hear her, they probably wouldn’t respond in fear of Roger intercepting the connection.

  And then there was the matter of Caleb and what side he was really on and did he even know.

  If she based her conclusion on her vision, Caleb absolutely knew who he was and what he stood for, and he did whatever he had to do, even if that meant throwing his own under the bus. To her, that meant Caleb was dangerous because he was shortsighted.

  But being hyperfocused had its good points as well and perhaps they could use Caleb’s attention to his mission, if that’s what he was doing, to their advantage.

  Of course, she could have read Caleb all wrong and he could have turned and be working for Roger.

  Or he could have his own agenda.

  But she was going to work with the concept that he was on their side, but he’d been undercover for so long, he was a little lost and he needed a little help getting back on the right track. Something she and her family could help him with once they got the Raven Spirits back to where they belonged so they could populate the correct bodies.

  She picked a small handgun and tucked it in a holster on her ankle and rolled her pant leg down. She pushed open the door to the front porch. “Any news?”

  Gabe set his computer on the table next to his chair and took her by the hand, tugging her to his lap. “We have a slight change in plans.”

  “You are not allowed to change direction without my permission.”

  He chuckled. “I didn’t, so you’ll have to take it up with Caleb.”

  “You heard from him?” She wrapped her arms around Gabe’s shoulders. Why she’d fought loving him so hard had become a mystery. No matter what happened, he would always be the only one that made her world go round.

  “He reached out to me while you were in the shower. He wants to meet with us in a half hour. Right here.”

  “What about Roger?”

  “He’s coming too.”

  “I don’t like this. What about Brett and Hazel? Chad and Savanah? Hunter and Alexis? They need to be here.”

  “Relax. I just spoke with Brett. They are just down the street setting up. They have us covered.”

  “I hate not being able to talk with my sisters.”

  He kissed her nose. “In less than an hour, this will be over, and you and your sisters can have all the time in the world.”

  “What about the paintings? We need those.”

  Gabe pointed to two large boxes sitting by the door. Propped up next to them were the picture frames from her father’s home office.

  “When did they get here?” she asked. “And why didn’t you tell me?”

  “About twenty minutes ago and Savanah told me if I went up and got you, she’d castrate me. I believed her.”

  “You were always afraid of blonds.”

  “No. Just your two blond sisters.” He patted her bottom and pointed to the cup of coffee on the end table.

  “I could use a hit of caffeine, thanks.” She planted her ass on the rocker across from him and inhaled the rich bitter aroma laced with a hint of sweet cinnamon.

  “Savanah found this taped to the back of the pictures.” He held up a white envelope. “I haven’t opened it. But she said it’s important and will explain what’s in the boxes.”

  “Please. Go right ahead.” Ever since she and Gabe had declared their love, their energy had intensified, but she hadn’t quite expected the interesting change in Gabe’s color scheme.

  Or how his
aura practically twinkled and danced.

  “What are you smirking about?” he asked as he flattened out a piece of paper.

  “You look like a glittery rainbow.”

  “Huh?”

  “I’ve never seen an aura change like that before. Must be all the great sex.”

  “I think we can do better.”

  She narrowed her eyes and focused on the outer ring of his aura. Slowly, she mentally tugged toward the most inner section of the aura. Heat filled her muscles, making them tingle with anticipation of the most fabulous massage.

  “Willow? What the fuck is going on?”

  “Can you feel that?” She flicked her finger, wrapping part of his aura around his body.

  “Jesus. Make it stop. I can’t breathe. I can’t even move.”

  She studied him for a second and realized he was actually frozen. She released his aura, but it didn’t go back to its normal shape. “How are you doing? Try to move.”

  She moved closer, putting her fingers into his aura, forcing the energy that moved from his body back as she continued to rearrange his aura, thankful that he was able to wiggle his toes.

  “Still crushing my chest, but a little better.”

  Taking a step back, she pushed out her hands and his aura snapped into his body.

  He slumped over, gasping for air. “That was highly unpleasant. What the hell did you do?”

  “I got pissed and played with your aura.”

  “That’s one way to keep your man in line,” he said with a chuckle. “That might come in handy when collecting the spirits as long as auras don’t mix.”

  “Can I try something?”

  “You want to do that again, don’t you?” He rubbed his chest.

  “I just need to know how to control it since you said you couldn’t breathe, and I don’t necessarily want to kill anyone.”

  “Good point.” He braced himself and nodded.

  She lifted her hand and flicked his aura in two rings. “How ya doing?”

  “Not so bad. Chest is tight. But I can’t move. Not at all. I can see and hear, but can’t move… Oh fuck, that hurts.”

  “Okay. It seems like each part of your aura allows me to do something different.”

  “Well, this one feels like my bones are snapping in half, literally.”