Reluctant Storm

by P. A. Warren

  Chapter 36

  Claire

  Once I distract Riley by sending him out of the room on the excuse that we need blood, I look at Mikail. He’s tying up Anya, and I almost feel sorry for her, almost. He glances up at me and gives me a small smile before looking down at Anya. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It’s all up to you. I've got all day, and I haven't tortured anybody in a few years," he says, glancing up at me with a smirk.

  I move toward Jason, where he lies on the floor with a stake in a chest in a strange wonder. Something tells me to walk towards it, and when I get to the body, I stare into his unseeing eyes, unable to look away. Moving towards the bed, I notice the handcuffs still hanging from the bed frame. Disgusted, I shudder at the thought of tying a person up and then killing someone while they watch, as if it was some sort of game. Lifting my head, I find Mikail following me with his dark eyes as if he knows what I’m thinking. He lifts Anya’s head up and faces it toward Jason.

  “Watch this,” he whispers to Anya loud enough for me to hear, as if he knows something I don’t know. Disregarding them, I continue surveying Jason’s body as a strange humming fills my body. I kneel next to him; I don’t even recall walking toward him. My hands reach for the stake and grip it tightly; it’s as if I’m having an out of body experience right now. I am a mere observer in my own body. With a swift yank, I try to pull it out and it fails to move. Gripping it with two hands, I yank it up and it slides out with a loud sucking noise that breaks the silence. Staring at the bloody stake, I feel my stomach start to rebel, and I throw the stake away from me. Leaning forward, energy still thrumming through my body, I close my eyes. There are so many forces at work that I feel as though I’m just a puppet. My hands press down on Jason’s chest. I inhale deeply several times as I try to gain control over my body. Failing to do so, I lean back on my heels and suddenly know exactly what needs to happen.

  Lifting my hand towards Jason’s face, I gently close his eyes before I set my hands on his chest. I repeat words that are foreign to me: Érintse meg a lélek szabad és ezt a feneketlen sötétség és vissza. Just as I lean over him, to check to see if there is a change in him, I’m grabbed. I fly through the air and hit the wall. No sooner do I land than I’m picked up and thrown on the bed with my arms forced above my head in a very tight grip and another hand at my throat. Struggling to breathe, I feel myself fading and everything going black. I hear Mikail in the background yelling at whoever is attacking me to release me, and suddenly they are pulled off me. Taking a deep breath, I stare wide-eyed at Jason, alive and breathing. Holy mother of—

  Riley, of course, chooses that moment to burst in the door. “Hey, guys, I’ve got the humans for blood locked in the garage.” His eyes widen as he freezes. He studies the blood covering me and the fact that Jason’s standing and Mikail is holding him back from me.

  “Jason.” He looks at him, stunned. “How are you alive?” He looks Jason up and down and then glances at me with a questioning look on his face. I’m still on the bed, trying to wrap my brain around what just happened as Mikail walks toward me, holding his hand out to me.

  “Did I bring him back to life?” I ask in a whisper, grabbing his hand and looking straight into his knowing eyes.

  Nodding, he grins. “So it seems you have more of your grandma’s magic in you than I had previously thought. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  “What did those words that I said mean? I had no control over myself as I said them,” I say to him, shocked.

  He looks me over and stares deeply into my eyes. “You said ‘Touch the soul free and this darkness and bring back the light’. It’s a resuscitation spell, a powerful one to bring someone back from hell.”

  “He went to hell? How do you know that?” I ask curiously, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “Well, I’m just assuming,” he says with a smirk, and then I remember how much they hate each other.

  Staring at Mikail, I let what he said digest, and while I’m doing that I hear something I shouldn’t here. Its musical beat calls to me as I walk over to a growling Jason. Riley is struggling to hold him back, I can feel the fear in Jason as if it were my own. I ignore how he is trying to get away from Riley and walk determinedly up to him. I place my hands against his chest and feel something that I shouldn’t feel; a heartbeat. Not only did I bring him back, but I somehow made him human.

  “He’s human,” I say bluntly.

  “What? No, you can’t do that.” Mikail comes toward me, tilting his head, his brow furrowed. His eyes go wide when he tunes into the heartbeat.

  “Well, apparently I can,” I say, nodding to him.

  “She can,” Anya’s voice pipes up shakily from the corner. “My dad tried to force our grandmother to give him the spell, but she said it was inherited, and she took much delight in knowing that he or I never received the powers. We haven’t seen her since that day and she passed away. It’s been years.”

  Stunned, I turn to look at them and words are failing me right now. I don’t know myself anymore. Who goes from being human to vampire to necromancer? Sitting on the bed in a daze, I blot out all their talking and zone into the fact that maybe I am evil. Maybe they are right in wanting to kill me. I just messed with fate by bringing Jason back.

  “Maybe they are right to want me dead.” I turn to them with a look of fear in my eyes.

  “What the hell? Why would you say that?” Riley says.

  “Hell no!” Mikail says adamantly. “Don’t ever say something like that again.”

  “Look, let me wrap my head around everything, and we set the plan in motion tomorrow, whatever the plan is,” I say, holding my hands up in front of me, backing away from them and leaving the room. I just need to get away from everyone for a few minutes. I need to breathe without having someone down my back right now.

  “Riley, maybe you could figure out the plan and watch Jason and Anya? I wouldn’t let them out of sight though.” My smile is faltering as I look his way, trying to figure a way to get out of the room without Riley following me. Fumbling as he gives me an odd look, I leave without looking back.

  I turn around and head silently out the door toward my room so I can finally have some space and gather my thoughts. All I wanted was to be normal, and now I’m like a hybrid twice over. Lying on the bed and putting my arm over my eyes, I think about all the stuff that’s happened to me since being kidnapped. Vampires are a pain in the ass.

  “Why would you say that?” Mikail asks barging into the room and ruining the silence.

  “Say what?” I turn my head, looking at him, wondering why he followed me in here.

  “That you should be dead.” I roll my eyes and stand up so I’m level with his chest and look up to him. “I’m not normal. What normal girl lives half her life as a half vampire/half human and possesses powers and doesn’t know it? Who brings people back from the dead? Me, that’s who. How messed up is that?” I say, poking him in the chest and backing him against the wall.

  “It’s not messed up. It’s actually pretty damn cool, and well, it’s extraordinary, and I’ve never actually met someone that can do that.” His eyes are filled with reverence and something else that I can’t place. Looking into his dark eyes, I’m filled with longing and lust. I just want him to make all my mixed emotions feel okay. I’m tired of constantly having sex dreams about Mikail and waking up to wanting him. I thought when I bonded with someone I wouldn’t want anyone else, but Mikail has been at the center of my thoughts constantly. What kind of screwed up person does that?

  “Take it all away, Mikail. Make me forget everything that’s going on in my mind from earlier.” I whisper, leaning closer towards him.

  “Is this what you really want? What about Riley?” he asks, leaning toward me

  “What about him?”

  “You’re bonded to him; you shouldn’t want sex with other people.”

  Hanging my head, I look at the floor. “I must be broken. When I was in the cell with R
iley and on the way here he was everything I wanted, until I started having dreams about you constantly. It’s like my body knows you and expects you, only I don’t know why.”

  Inching closer to Mikail, I gaze up at him, biting my lip. “Why is that, Mikail? What is going on with us?” I whisper softly, moving in front of the door and blocking his way out. I get some satisfaction as I watch his Adam's apple bob up and decide to just go with it.

  I pull his head down to mine and blow on his lips. “Give me all you’ve got. Make me forget.” Pressing my lips against his, I run my tongue along the seam of his lips about to put my hands through his hair when my hands are lifted above my head.

  “Stop rushing me,” he says sternly, suddenly taking control. He pulls my shirt off, throwing it carelessly to the floor. Quickly disrobing himself, he looks at me with such a look of lust that I feel butterflies in my stomach. I shouldn’t want this, but I do, more than anything. He puts his hands on my waist before lifting me against the wall. “Let’s make you forget,” he says, looking right into my eyes in a way that makes me feel like he wants to devour me completely.

  Pressing his naked body against mine, he takes my lower lip into his mouth and gently bites down on it. His tongue glides into my mouth and my tongue is met with a surprise. He has a tongue ring that makes me moan in pleasure. As he kisses a path down my throat, I shiver as I feel him licking the place that makes me even wetter. Staring at him with half closed eyes, he pulls back and I can’t help but get excited when I see that his fangs are out. He leans back, staring at me with those dark hooded eyes, and I have the urgent need to touch him, so I do. I lift my hands to his head and run my fingers through his short dark hair, pulling his head toward mine. Feelings of intoxication fill my head, and I let the waves of pleasure flow through me as he licks my neck, closing the wound. Picking me up, he walks me over to the bed and tells me to get on my knees.

  “Don’t move until I say so,” he says firmly as he gives my backside a smack. Resting my knees on the bed, I’m nervous not knowing what he’s about to do, but wanting it desperately. I feel him behind me now, grasping my waist as he gently tilts my neck and runs his tongue slowly up it until he reaches my ear, nipping it. Quivering in excitement, I feel his hardness pressed against me as I arch my back against him. He reaches his hands around, covering my breasts and pulling at the nipples.

  “Did I say you could move?”

  Shaking my head no, I moan.

  “Then why exactly are you moving if I said not to?”

  “Can’t help it,” I gasp out as he tweaks my nipples again.

  “Try harder.”

  Disappointment fills me as he lets go of my breasts, and before I can voice anything his hands reach down, caressing me, and then his hands leave me again.

  “Stop teasing me, Mikail,” I say over my shoulder. “Either fuck me, or don’t, but I can’t take much more of this.” Where is this girl coming from? This isn’t the normal me, and totally unladylike. This is me with no inhibitions, and I kind of like her.

  Smirking, he replies, “I thought you could handle this?”

  “I can,” I moan again, pressing into him and feeling his hardness against my back.

  He caresses my back, tracing his fingers down to my core. Dipping one finger in, he brings it to his mouth for a taste, groaning. The next thing I know, I feel his tongue lapping at me and plunging into my heat. His moaning almost makes me have an orgasm right there. He moves so he’s under me, licking and circling the bundle of nerves, and then he pulls it into his mouth, sucking on it. I fall apart right there in his mouth.

  Before I can take another breath, he flips me to my back, smiling down at me as he moves over me, pushing into me. He stops only so I can adjust to his width. He pulls back and slams into me again. He adjusts us so that I’m sitting on his thighs so I can ride him. Feeling him slide in and out of me is like heaven, and its indescribable how my body knows and reacts to his, and his knows to mine. Instead of kissing him, I let my tongue touch his fangs, licking each one before pressing his head into my neck.

  Sliding down his hard length, I lean toward his neck, the light catching my fangs, and bite down on his shoulder. I let the sweet blood invade my senses, taking me higher and higher. He starts moving faster, pressing his hands against my waist and pulling me away from his neck. I let go with a pout and let his blood drip down my chin. I watch with desire as he licks it off, pressing me down deeper, making me ride him faster and faster until we fall apart in each other’s arms. He pulls me down, breathing heavily, and moves my hair out of the way and sinks his fangs into my neck. He starts groaning as he drinks, and I feel him hardening again. I guess being a vampire has some good points, I think as I rest my head on his shoulder.

  Chapter 37

  Mikail

  Showering this morning, I let the warm water run down my body. I don’t feel an ounce of guilt about what happened last night, if anything, I want more of it. Grinning, I let my mind wander back to the wildcat Claire became last night, it was unexpected. She’s mine, always has been and always will be, whether she knows it or not.

  Running soap along the planes of my body, I think about all the things we did last night, and just remembering gets me worked up. I feel myself hardening and promptly turn the water all the way to cold. I left Claire sleeping and that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Killing is easy. Hurting people? A piece of cake. Leaving a beautiful woman naked in bed? Hardest thing ever.

  All I wanted was to crawl back into bed with her but can’t. We have to take care of business no matter what. Washing my hair, I can’t help but let the nervousness about what we’re going to do fill every pore of my body. I know firsthand what Griffin’s capable of, and if he were to get his hands on Claire, God help her and us. I can’t let that happen. I need to be the one to take him out.

  Wrapping the towel around my waist, I wipe the fog off the mirror and look into my reflection and see the man I’ve become, a hard man, but one that would willingly die for the ones I love. Claire makes everything okay. I have to keep her safe. Not keeping her safe isn’t an option. It’s out of the question. If she dies, I die, simple as that.

  ***

  Walking into the living room, I overhear Riley talking softly and zone in on who he’s talking to. I see Claire’s brown head next to his. “Griffin cannot know about this,” Riley says softly. “We need Anya to tell Griffin where to meet us.”

  “Griffin can’t know about what?” I question raising my eyebrows.

  “Jason. He can’t know that Claire made him human or even has that ability. He thinks she has some of her grandmothers’ powers, but he doesn’t know she’s actually used them before. Think about the mega compulsion and her turning a vampire human? If he or the wrong person gets a hold of Claire they will use her as a weapon, and we can’t let that happen.”

  Nodding at them, I stare at Riley as he walks over toward Anya, kneeling down and looking her over as she’s draped in silver chains. She glares over at Claire baring her teeth, before turning her head to face Riley, looking at him in disdain. A feeling I can’t even comprehend takes over me, and I struggle to stay where I’m at. Claire walks over to them and raises her hand and lifts Anya’s chin up as it if were a puppet. The impressive way she is commanding Anya to stare into her eyes, I feel power envelop the room. I stand, watching in amazement as she easily complies with Claire’s commands. The fact that Claire was never taught this is truly amazing. It’s as if someone has taken over her body.

  “You are going to call Griffin when we tell you to, and you’re going to tell him you have Claire and that you want to meet him at the abandoned warehouse off I40 at 1:00 AM tonight.”

  She nods, and she has her repeat what she’s going to do. In a monotone voice Anya replies, “I’m going to call Griffin and tell him to meet me at the warehouse off I40 at 1:00 AM.”

  “Good girl,” I murmur at Claire under my breath. The power that Claire has is amazing, and she hasn’t e
ven begun to tap into what she could and will be.

  “Are we ready to do this?” I ask, looking between the two of them. They look at me, nodding, and Riley turns toward Jason who is just walking into the room, oblivious to what just happened. “What about him?”

  “What about him?” I run my hands through my short hair. “He’s human. He actually shouldn’t have ever happened.”

  “You can’t just leave me here. I didn’t ask to be killed or brought back as a human,” Jason says, making a good point.

  Thinking quickly, I rack my brain for what he could do. “He could drive the car for us?”

  “Sounds good,” Riley says.

  Looking around for the phone, I send Jason in Anya’s room to search for her phone, only he comes up empty handed. “It must be on her, that or she’s hidden it really well.”

  Looking over at Anya leaning against the wall, I walk over to her and nudge her awake with my shoe.

  “Your phone, give it to me.”

  Defiantly, she looks up at me, directly in the eye, “Fuck off.”

  Kneeling down, I grab her hair and force her eyes to look directly in mine. “I can slit your throat before you have the chance to take another breath. Don’t test me. Do you have any idea what I’ve done in my life? I kill people, I torture people, and I make people wish they were never born. Do you want to experience that? Because I can make it happen. Tell me where the phone is and maybe I’ll let you live. I don’t technically need you alive, lots of people want my blood. Griffin probably wants my blood so all I have to do is call him personally, but I prefer to go through you. Tell me now. You have five…four...three—” I growl, pulling her neck to the side.