by Anna Hackett
“Cara.” He collapsed beside her, pressing a kiss to her hair. “You are a treasure I never expected.”
Skye smiled. She drifted off to sleep nestled in Soren’s arms.
She dreamed of a playful wind teasing her hair and of Soren’s kisses. Then something jostled her awake.
Soren was sitting up, his body stiff. A chill skated over her. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s in the house.”
She shook off the last remnants of sleep and snatched at the sheet. “Apeliotus?”
“I don’t know.” Soren stood and yanked on his trousers. “Get dressed.” He pointed to a nearby chair. “I brought some clothes in for you.”
Skye hurried to pull on the capri pants and a blue shirt. There was murky light outside, so she guessed it was very early in the morning. When she turned around, Soren was there, fastening the last few buttons for her.
“I knew this color would bring out your eyes.” He brushed a finger across her cheek. “It makes them a brilliant blue. Like gemstones.” His hand dropped away. “I need you to stay behind me. Don’t try to help. If I go down, you run.”
She swallowed. She wasn’t going to promise to leave him. She’d come here to help him.
“Skye?” He drew out her name.
“I promise not to take any unnecessary risks.” She lifted her chin. “That’s the best I can do.”
He scowled. “What happened to my rabbit?”
“I guess you’ve been a bad influence on me.”
He tapped her nose then leaned down for a kiss. As soon as his delicious lips touched hers, she wrapped her arms around his waist and went up on her toes.
He nipped her lips before reluctantly pulling back. “Let’s see who our visitor is.”
They moved down the corridor together, keeping as quiet as possible. Soren moved with a lethal grace that Skye had no chance of matching. They paused at the entrance to the living room. The murmur of deep voices came from within.
“Stay here,” Soren whispered.
Yeah, right. She watched him enter, waited a beat, then peeked around the doorframe. Soren stood, legs spread and palms held out, facing four dark-haired men. Aggression pumped through the room.
“Leave now or I will make you leave,” Soren demanded.
Skye rushed inside. “Stop! Soren, stop.”
He grabbed her and yanked her to his side. The four men all stiffened.
“It’s okay.” She held out a hand, not sure if she was trying to calm Soren, the men, or all of them. “Soren, these are your brothers.”
He went very still, his gaze swiveling to study them. Skye glanced between them. Soren was a little taller and leaner than his siblings, but the resemblance between them all was striking. Lorenzo was the most rugged, his denim shirt clinging to broad shoulders. Antonio was the most handsome and refined, a faint smile on his face. Dante’s hair was windblown against his tanned skin. And Luca radiated authority and power from his muscled body that warned he was used to giving orders and being obeyed.
Luca took a step forward. “How are you feeling, mio fratello?”
Soren was silent for a moment. “Better. But I still have no memory of you.” He looked at the others. “Any of you.”
“It will come. In time.” Luca’s deep, commanding tone made Skye believe it. The oldest Venti set his gaze on Skye. “It looks like everyone underestimated you.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I think I just had a better understanding of what Soren was going through.”
Luca’s gaze moved over Soren’s arm pinning her to his side. “Something tells me it’s a lot more than that.”
“I am battling my vice. I will not join with Apeliotus,” Soren said.
Luca nodded. “I wish we could give you more time, but we need your help.”
It was Dante who spoke next. “The Southeast wind has infected an entire village near here. Greed is rampaging through the town. We need to help them.”
Skye’s gut cramped. Oh, no.
Soren tensed. “You want me to walk into a town saturated in greed?”
She gripped his hand and squeezed.
“I know it’s asking a lot.” Luca spread his hands. “But it’s too much for just the four of us. We need the combined power of the Warriors of the Wind to save the people in Bellagio.”
“And I’m the only one who can defeat Apeliotus.” Soren stared at the floor.
Skye’s stomach was tight. “It’s too big of a risk. So much greed…it could—” She didn’t want to put it into words. She didn’t want to lose Soren.
His arm tightened on her and then he straightened. “I’ll do it. But I want Skye protected. Apeliotus has already come after her once.”
“What?” Luca demanded. “What happened?”
“I’m fine. Just a little impromptu swim in the lake.” She looked up at the man at her side. “Soren saved me.”
He gave her a small smile.
“Rayne is going to kill me,” Luca grumbled.
Now Skye smiled. “I think she loves you too much to kill you.”
“We’ll see,” the Warrior of the North Wind muttered.
But Skye thought she saw a brief flash of amusement in Luca’s eyes, mixed with something deeper. Something Skye now knew she wanted to see in Soren’s gaze when he looked at her.
“We should move.” Antonio opened the door. “People in Bellagio could be hurt or worse.”
Soren nodded. “Skye will stay here.”
“No.” She straightened. “You might need me.”
“Skye—”
“She’s right,” Luca said. “Besides, it could be a trap. Apeliotus might be trying to lure you away from her.”
Soren’s mouth tightened, but he nodded. He looked down at her. “Have you ever traveled as the wind?”
Excitement leaped inside her. “Never.”
He held out a hand. “Trust me?”
“Yes.” She set her hand in his.
She saw him start to dissolve, his body flowing away as the wind. Oh. Then she felt her own body dropping away. As they swept out the doors and high into the morning air, brushing the clouds, Skye had never felt as free, or more alive than she did in this man’s arms.
As soon as Soren rematerialized in Bellagio’s central piazza, he breathed shallowly. The greed smothering the village had a very distinct stench and every breath worked it deeper inside him.
He steadied Skye as she found her balance. She’d laughed with joy as they’d ridden the wind. He couldn’t wait to take her flying again. Right now, he’d give his fortune for it to just be the two them up in the clouds, soaring free and far away from this place.
He swept his gaze over the picturesque town. Narrow, cobbled streets wove between beautiful buildings painted in pastel shades. Sloping alleyways led down to the lake. But the town was eerily silent and a deep, pervading feeling of evil sank under his skin and into his bones. Even as the driving greed disgusted him, it excited him. It made his blood quicken and his own needs roar up.
A small brush of warm skin on his arm had him looking down into wide blue eyes. His system steadied.
“Where is everyone?” a feminine voice asked.
Soren glanced over at the redhead. He would never have guessed this tall, athletic woman was Skye’s sister. Rayne was a trained Aurae warrior, confident, assured. He watched Luca reach out and press a hand to her toned arm. She shot him a quick smile.
Love. It shone from them like a burst of morning sun through the clouds. Soren felt a punch of something in his chest and automatically moved closer to Skye.
“Look, there’s movement in that restaurant down there.” The slender, dark-haired Samia Hassan pointed down one narrow alley. She stood beside Dante, her body appearing relaxed, but there was an air of coiled readiness to the assassin.
“They’re fighting,” said another woman. The curvaceous Sophia Crane wasn’t a fighter, but she held Antonio’s hand, her chin lifted and face composed.
“
So, what’s the plan?” the final woman asked, pushing her long, brown ponytail over her shoulder.
Soren eyed Riley Donovan. Lorenzo’s mate was a horse trainer who’d worked for Venti Enterprises for several years. Soren tried to remember her, but only got a hazy sense of familiarity. He spied a flicker of color and saw that on one of her palms, flames were sparking. In addition to being an Aurae descendant, Riley had her own powers.
“Let’s move.” Luca flicked a look at Rayne. “Riley, you’re with us. Sophia and Skye, stay here with Rayne and Samia.” He held up a palm to his mate. “And no, you can’t come. You need to protect your sister.”
Rayne’s jaw tightened. “So bossy,” she muttered.
“This is my duty,” Luca said.
“I know.” Rayne nodded. “Don’t get hurt, Venti.”
Skye clutched Soren’s hand. “Be careful.”
He brushed a strand of hair off her face. “I will. You stay here and stay safe.” He leaned closer, and didn’t care that they had an avid audience. He pressed a light kiss to her lips. “Don’t get hurt or I might lose the last of my control.”
He released her and straightened. He cast a quick glance at Rayne. “Protect her.”
“Don’t doubt it, Warrior.”
He fell into step beside his brothers. A part of him felt a strange sensation, like this was familiar. To walk beside these men and know they had his back. But when he tried to focus on that sense of déjà vu, the memory flittered away.
Frustrated, he focused instead on the building ahead. The ristorante had round tables sitting outside on the footpath to lure in hungry tourists. But there were no diners today. No one was out on the street.
But Apeliotus was here. Very close.
Suddenly, there was the smash of glass. One of the ristorante’s windows exploded as a table and a body came flying out.
The man got back up, his face bleeding and contorted, and then he charged back into the ristorante, bellowing.
“We need to hurry.” Luca strode forward.
Soren followed his brothers inside.
Chaos.
Greed slammed into Soren and he staggered back a step. It was a hundred times worse than outside. It looked like many of the village’s residents had descended on this place. People wrestled, scratched, punched, and pulled each other’s hair.
“Soren?” Luca gripped Soren’s shoulder.
He felt Dante, Lorenzo, and Antonio move up to flank him.
Soren gave a brisk nod. “I’m fine.” And he was. Just. He thought of Skye and instantly he felt better.
Some people were rifling through handbags, one stood on a table clutching a wad of money. In one corner, a family—tourists by the look of their T-shirts and cameras—were shoveling pasta and pizza into their mouths, like a rabid hunger consumed them.
There was no sign of Apeliotus.
“We need to dissipate the greed,” Soren said. Now. Before I give into it. He wished for Skye’s gentle presence, but he didn’t want her anywhere near this.
“Riley, help the injured people.”
The woman stood, flames flickering on her palm. “I’d prefer to hurt the asshole responsible for this.”
“Soon. Summon your winds.” Luca swept out an arm. “With our combined power we can clear the stench of greed out of here.”
Soren called on the East Wind. As its humid power tore in and rushed around him, he also felt his brothers’ winds. The icy chill of Luca’s North Wind. The warm, dry rush of Dante’s South Wind and the Spring-laden promise of Antonio’s West Wind. Lorenzo stood with his arms raised, amplifying the effects of the combined winds.
As the cardinal winds combined into a fierce force, energy filled Soren. Memories pushed at the barriers in his mind. He remembered this. He remembered standing with his brothers, setting the power of their winds free.
He saw the force of the winds hit the people closest to them. They stopped, like clockwork automatons who’d run out of power. They looked around, touching wounds, puzzlement and shock on their faces. Riley was there, helping some injured people down onto the floor.
The winds pushed the greed out, diluting it to nothing.
Then Soren spied a face at the back of the restaurant, behind the bar.
Apeliotus.
The Tempest Wind watched the chaos with a slight smile. Didn’t seem to care that the brothers were driving the greed away.
Then he mouthed one word.
Soren’s gut cramped. His wind faltered as fear rushed in.
And the greed followed.
It slammed into him, driving Soren down onto one knee. Whispers filled his head until he wanted to scream. Take it. Take what you want. Take it all.
“Soren.” Antonio kneeled beside him. “Fight it. I know how hard it is, but you can do it.”
There was a flare of light as Riley tossed a fireball at the Tempest Wind.
Soren shook his head. He looked behind the bar again. Flames licked the wood and he could see that Apeliotus was gone. Fear burned like acid through him.
“Skye.” That’s what the Tempest Wind had whispered. “We have to get to Skye.”
Chapter Seven
Skye fiddled with the hem of her shirt and kept her gaze trained on the restaurant. They’d been in there forever.
“They’ll be fine.”
She glanced at Samia. With her short dark hair, sun-kissed skin and lithe assassin’s body, Skye could see why Dante had fallen for her. Skye wondered what it was about herself that drew Soren.
And was it enough to keep him interested…once this was all over.
“Soren’s still in the grip of greed,” Skye said. “He’s doing better, but…” Worry sank sharp claws into her belly.
“Hey, listen to me.” Rayne pressed a hand to Skye’s arm. “Lorenzo, Luca, Dante, and Antonio beat their vices. Soren will too.”
“But they found their Aurae.” Skye wrung her hands. “I help Soren, but the greed hasn’t left. I’m not his match.” Voicing the words sent a shot of pain under her heart.
Rayne shared a look with Samia and Sophia.
Sophia cleared her throat. “Skye, the guy is gone over you, sweetie.”
Skye blinked. “We barely know each other—”
“That’s how it is when a Warrior finds his Aurae,” Rayne said. “Believe me, we all know.”
Power filled the air, lifting the hairs on Skye’s arms. She felt the faintest hint of the East Wind, and felt something else itch under her skin. It had to be nerves. “They’re using their winds.”
“Yeah.” Rayne watched the restaurant, bouncing on her heels.
Suddenly, a huge gust of wind raced at the women, knocking them all to the ground. Skye thought she screamed, or it might have been Sophia.
Skye stayed on the ground, trying to find her breath. Ahead, she saw Rayne on her hands and knees, struggling against the gale and calling on her own breeze.
Then suddenly it felt like the wind had hands, and they were grabbing at Skye. Dragging her along the ground.
“Rayne!” Skye tried to catch hold of the shallow edges of the cobbles, scrambling to stop the inexorable force.
“No, damn you!” Rayne struggled and twisted in an attempt to reach Skye, but she was held in place. The other women were held immobile too.
A harsh laugh echoed in Skye’s ears. Apeliotus.
The Southeast wind dragged Skye backward down the street. She struggled and kicked, but it didn’t help. She felt the skin on her palms and knees scrape and tear.
She tumbled around a corner and lost sight of her sister and the others. She rolled down some steps and landed in a heap.
Skye’s chest rose and fell harshly as she tried to catch her breath. Deep, masculine laughter reached her ears and grated along her nerves.
She looked up and saw Apeliotus.
While she was windblown, battered, and bleeding, the Tempest Wind was dressed in slacks and a white shirt. He looked like he was ready for a party, not a battle.
>
Apeliotus shook his head. “What does the Warrior see in you?”
Skye’s chest went tight. The Tempest Wind was voicing her deepest fear. Screw him. She pushed herself up, her hands clenched at her sides.
Apeliotus strode closer and she tensed. He circled her, his gaze running over her.
“His interest in you won’t last. He could have any woman he wants. Women far more beautiful, poised, and elegant than you.”
She tossed her head back. “And yet, he wants me.” She felt the truth of that deep inside. Soren wanted her.
Apeliotus stopped in front of her, a big, looming presence. “Si. You are the only thing stopping him from taking the last step.” The Tempest Wind leaned in, his breath fanning over her face.
Black, oily memories stirred. Her stepfather crowding her, forcing her, taking what he had no right to take. Her heart pounded like a wild stampede.
“Do you know what happens after the Warrior finally gives into the greed?” Apeliotus curled his fingers around a lock of her hair. “Greed will race across the world. Together, we will be unstoppable. And I will have the power I need to resurrect the fallen Tempest Winds and we will let the other vices loose as well. Envy, anger…lust.” Apeliotus leaned in and nipped at her ear.
Skye’s stomach did a vicious turn. She stepped back, but he clenched his hand in her hair, tugging her forward.
“Lust is not my vice, sweet Skye, but greed is not so dissimilar. I like to take, I live to take, and I think taking what the Warrior values will drive him over the edge.”
Apeliotus’ hand tore at her clothes. Skye tried to scream, but in that moment, she was once again a young girl, trapped by shame and fear. The Tempest Wind slashed a hand at the front of her shirt and buttons bounced on the cobblestones.
She felt cool air on her skin, saw the ugliness distorting his face, felt his rough hands on her, hard and bruising.
Not again. Memories of those precious, stolen moments with Soren rushed in. That’s what she wanted. More desire, more pleasure, more love.
This time she wouldn’t suffer in silence and wait to be rescued.
As Apeliotus pawed at her breasts, she drew in a breath. She forced herself to grip his arms even though touching him made her sick. Then she slammed her knee up between his legs.