by Lynn Hagen
Logan sat there stunned. “But I don’t want this pack. I don’t want to control anyone.”
“Then why did you do it?” Rave asked.
Logan pushed his sandwich away, dropping the pretense that he was eating it. “How in the hell am I supposed to learn how to use my powers, Rave?”
“I told you. Get the person’s permission first.”
Logan made a low snorting noise in the back of his throat. “Then how would I know if it was my powers, or if the person was just doing what I wanted because I asked?”
Rave stood, grabbing Logan by his arm. “Let’s go.”
Logan pulled, but Rave had a tight hold on his arm. “Let me go, Rave.”
Tony stood, placing his hand on Rave’s. “Let him go, Rave.”
“No,” Rave growled. “I’ve been used, and I know what that feels like. I won’t have our mate thinking he can use people just to experiment on how to use his powers. I won’t have him treating others—”
“Like Jackson treated you?” Tony finished. Logan winced. Damn, that was a low blow. Rave snarled, releasing Logan and slamming his hands into Tony’s chest.
“Don’t you ever throw that in my face again!”
Tony staggered back a step and then caught his footing, glaring at Rave. “Then stop trying to rule Logan with an iron fist. I don’t agree with his methods of learning what he can do, but you aren’t helping the situation.”
“At least I can—” Rave snapped his mouth shut and turned, walking out of the deli. Logan could see the pain etched on Tony’s face as he watched Rave go.
“He’s just worried,” Logan said, trying to lessen the blow. “He didn’t mean any harm.”
“Too late for that,” Tony said as he walked toward the exit.
“Please come with me.” The request was low, anger simmering around Tony as Logan hurried to the door. Having one mate ready to hammer him was enough for Logan. He didn’t want Tony mad at him as well.
They walked back over to the hardware store where Tony had parked his car. Rave was nowhere in sight. Logan slipped into the passenger’s seat, wondering if what the three of them had was falling apart. And he wondered if it was all because of him. Logan was the one who had Aba hot on his heels. He was the one testing out what capabilities he had and how strong they were. The fight in the deli had been about him, only Rave and Tony had turned on each other.
Tony drove, talking on his cell phone to his partner Dorm as Logan stared out of the window at the businesses they passed by. He hadn’t wanted a three-way relationship to begin with, but now that he had tasted both men, he knew he couldn’t give them up. After that moment in the hospital when he saw Tony, and then Rave, bare their souls to one another, he knew he couldn’t just walk away.
But damn if they weren’t hurting each other. Tony and Rave were being downright cruel to one another. But what was Logan supposed to do, wait until Aba trapped him somewhere and hope like hell he knew what to do? He needed someone he could use to test his powers on, but who? Who in the hell was going to let Logan unleash what he had on them? No sane man would volunteer to have his brains possibly scrambled.
For a fleeting second, Logan understood Aba. Not the murders, never the murders, but how the man felt being unrestricted. Being a styre mente was empowering, and made Logan want to toss aside niceties, getting down to the nitty-gritty of what he could do. He wanted to push without limits, feel the edges of what he was capable of.
“Drop me off at Rave’s.”
Tony glanced over at him, his brows furrowed. “Why?”
“I’m tired,” he lied. “I just want to rest.”
“I won’t be long, and then I can take you back. I could use some sleep myself,” Tony said as he turned onto Route 22.
Logan didn’t want to take a nap with Tony. Anger consumed him, pulling him under into a violent sea of crashing waves and dark waters as he pushed into Tony’s mind, making the agent pull the car over.
Jumping out, Logan slammed the car door closed and walked away.
* * * *
Quinn was standing in the back of his mate’s hardware store, assessing the damage and jotting down the materials he and Dino would need to make the repairs. He heard the front door open. Setting the pad and pencil aside, Quinn walked up front to see who it was.
Logan was standing there at the door, his fingers curled in at his sides, his shoulders tense.
“Something wrong, Logan?”
Logan didn’t answer him. The man just stood there staring down at the floor. A shiver crawled down Quinn’s back as he watched the man for a moment, noticing how a stray tear ran down Logan’s face.
“Talk to me.”
Logan’s head moved slightly, a small nod. “I can’t.” The response was filled with anguish. Quinn took a step closer.
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t control it,” Logan said as his head slowly turned toward Quinn. Logan’s blue eyes were almost swallowed whole by the pupils. They were large, dominating his irises.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Quinn said as he took a cautious step to his right.
“I—” Logan shook his head, smashing his eyes closed as he pulled in a long breath of air. “I can’t make it stop. It has to go somewhere.”
“Your mind control? What’s wrong with it?”
Logan threw his head back and laughed, but the laughter was chilling. “Does everyone know that I’m a freak?”
“Not a freak,” Quinn countered, “just different.”
“Very polite,” Logan said as Quinn felt something crawl across his skin until it reached his mind, pushing at his brain. He was starting to understand what Logan was fighting.
“I wasn’t going for polite,” Quinn said. “But if you need someone to use to disperse your raging power, use me.”
Logan’s angry expression wavered for a moment. “How? You’re human.”
“Not fully. Come out back with me where no one can get hurt.”
Quinn waited, wondering if Logan would follow.
“You’re tricking me,” Logan accused. “Why would anyone volunteer to have their mind fucked with?” The anger was back, tenfold this time.
Quinn felt his own powers stirring. He was half human, half demon. He prayed his demon counterpart could withstand Logan’s ability. “I won’t have Hunter’s store burnt to the ground. Come outside.”
“How would it burn?” Logan asked as he turned fully toward Quinn, his lip pulled back into a snarl. This was not good. Quinn had been told—as well as the rest of the pack—that Logan was teetering on the sides of good and evil. The man could fall either way. From the expression on Logan’s face and the rigid body stance, the man was slipping over to the dark side of who he was.
Quinn knocked Logan away from him as he raced from the store, praying no human was out in the open to witness what was about to happen. He stood in the middle of the street, letting his demon free.
Logan slammed the door open wide, glaring at Quinn murderously as Quinn’s body burst into flames. The fire licked along his skin, bathing him in a warm red and blue glow, the fire growing stronger, licking up toward the sky as Logan walked toward him.
“Do you think fire will help you?” Logan asked as his head slowly tilted to the side. “Do you think I can’t get to your mind past your flames?”
“Give me your best shot, jackass,” Quinn taunted. The buildup had gotten out of control, and Quinn could see the slight hesitation on Logan’s face, as if he really didn’t want to do this. Quinn remembered that rage he had felt when he first discovered what he was. The power was riding Logan, controlling the man, consuming him from the inside out.
Logan lifted his arm, twisting his hand sideways. Quinn felt pressure in his skull, pressing down on him like a heavy wet blanket.
He wasn’t sure what he should do, but if he wasn’t the one who helped Logan get himself back under control, some unsuspecting human may end up a vegetable…or worse.
Quinn’
s feet began to move, taking him closer to Logan. He dug his heels in, keeping his distance as Logan’s veins began to appear at his temples. The man’s neck strained with muscles as if the pressure was becoming too much.
Quinn cried out, dropping to his knees as he pushed back against Logan. He wasn’t a styre mente, but he had to fight, he had to help Logan. Tension built in Quinn’s muscles. A flowing and ebbing pulled at his mind, something dark reaching out to grab him and pull him under. He screamed and sucked in a lungful of ice-cold air, feeling something coming off of Logan as if it were lashing out, beating against Quinn’s mind, trying to get in. Quinn slammed his hands to his temples, fighting back, fighting to keep whatever it was from getting in.
A feeling of power and ancient strength filled Quinn, making him gasp as Logan dropped to all fours, rolling to his back and reaching out for Quinn. “It’s going to kill me,” Logan sobbed as he writhed around on the ground.
Quinn’s eyes shot up when he saw a slight outline of Panahasi standing behind Logan. Panahasi was the demon leader, unable to be seen in broad daylight. His corporal form shimmered as he nodded at Quinn. “He won’t hurt you. Be his cushion. Absorb his excess powers into your body.”
Quinn nodded, letting his guard down and taking the full brunt of Logan’s assault. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, but he no longer felt like his skull was going to explode. “Push it out, Logan. Give it to me,” Quinn shouted above Logan’s sobbing and screaming.
Quinn saw Rave and Tony racing toward him, along with Hunter and Zeus. He waved them back as Logan screamed. The sound almost shattered Quinn’s eardrums as he felt a blast slam into his mind, making him stagger backward. Quinn had never felt such powers before, but only gained a slight headache from the absorption.
Logan lay on the ground, his skin covered in sweat as he shook uncontrollably. “Go to him,” Quinn said to Rave and Tony. “It’s gone.”
“Tell the alpha that I will send one of my demon warriors to show Logan how to channel his powers without the threat of Logan overloading again. Logan is very strong, the strongest styre mente that I have come across in a very long time,” Panahasi said before disappearing.
Quinn turned toward Zeus, relaying the message.
“Then get him home,” Zeus said. “He’s too dangerous even for himself right now.”
Rave picked Logan up, tossing him over his shoulder as he and Tony headed toward their car. Quinn blew out a long breath as the fires licking along his skin began to bank. Hunter was going to kick his ass for volunteering to be Logan’s outlet, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.
Logan owed him for this one.
Chapter Twelve
Rave sat in the backseat, holding Logan close as he ran his hand over his mate’s soft hair. Logan was staring at the backseat as if he was there, but wasn’t.
“Tony, I—”
“Let it go for now, Rave.”
Rave could see the inflexible way Tony’s shoulders were set and knew he had fucked up big-time. Tony was right about Rave trying to make Logan’s gift disappear. No, he wasn’t trying to make it disappear, more like sweeping it under the rug. Rave had chastised Logan every time his mate tried to use his gift. That wasn’t the right way to handle things. He should have been more supportive than stringent.
Instead of trying to find a way to help Logan, this was the result of Logan feeling trapped. Fuck. “I’m sorry,” Rave said as he bent closer to Logan. “I’m so sorry I wouldn’t listen to you.”
Logan kept staring off into space, unmoving. Rave was starting to fear something was wrong with Logan. Usually after his mate used his mind control, he got a headache, became tired, and was a little disoriented. That was one hell of a show back there by Hunter’s.
What side effect would Logan suffer after such a great buildup like that?
“Logan?”
Rave turned Logan’s head, seeing how large his mate’s pupils were. Logan wasn’t responding. “Tony, something’s wrong with Logan.” Rave wanted to smack his hands, yell, and shake Logan until the man looked up at him with focused eyes. It was scaring the shit out of him.
Tony pulled the car over on the soft shoulder of the road and then turned around, staring down at Logan. “What’s going on?”
Rave shook his head as he grabbed Logan’s jaw, jarring it gently back and forth, but Logan just lay there, unresponsive.
“Let’s get him home so Max can look at him.” Tony pulled back onto the road, going a little faster this time as they hurried Logan home. Rave carried their mate in as Tony searched for Max. Rave set Logan on their bed, making his mate comfortable as Max came into the room.
“He won’t say anything. His pupils are very large,” Rave said as he stepped back for Max to examine Logan. “He hasn’t said anything since fighting with Quinn.”
“What do you mean, fighting with Quinn?” Max asked.
Rave explained to the doctor what he had seen. Rave had been in shifter form, going for a run to cool off from the heated argument when he had stumbled and nearly passed out from Logan’s use of his powers. Rave wasn’t sure how he always knew when Logan used them, but it had felt like he was drowning in a raging river this time.
He even knew where to find Logan, which was impossible, but true.
“Close the curtains,” Zeus said as he walked into Rave’s bedroom.
“It has to be completely dark in here.”
Rave didn’t question the alpha. He closed the curtains, the daylight disappearing with only the bedside lamp glowing. He watched in amazement as a pair of burning eyes appeared. It wasn’t like the eyes were on fire, more like a fire was being reflected in the dark orbs, as if whoever owned those eyes was staring at a fire burning in a fireplace.
A large man walked out of the shadows, bowing like someone in a karate class. But Rave wasn’t fooled. He felt the power surging around the man.
“I am Einarr. Panahasi told me someone here needs training on his newfound powers.”
Rave stepped closer to the bed, growling softly as he blocked Logan from Einarr’s sight.
“Calm down, Rave. Panahasi said he would be sending someone to teach Logan how to harness his powers so he doesn’t overload again,” Zeus said from the doorway. “He’s not here to hurt Logan.”
“Do you know anything about his comatose state?” Max asked. “Because frankly, I’m a little clueless. The ancient scroll doesn’t cover anything like this for styre mentes.”
Einarr nodded. “I studied his kind for many years,” he answered.
“Logan is more or less rebooting. He expended a great deal of power today, and his body is exhausted, used up if you will. I am here to teach him how to channel his gift, to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” Einarr waved at Logan lying prone on the bed.
Rave didn’t like it. Logan was his responsibility, his and Tony’s.
But he had to admit that he was clueless on how to help his mate. “I won’t let you take Logan to the demon realm.”
Einarr nodded. “It will be a little more difficult with daylight in your realm, but I can manage.”
Rave glanced at Tony, but his mate was too busy gawking at Einarr.
“Did he just really walk out of the corner of the room?” Tony asked.
Rave hid his grin. “He is a demon warrior from the demon realm, Tony. I see we have a lot to talk about.”
Tony’s eyes snapped over to Rave, anger and hurt still boiling in his brown eyes. “Yeah, teach me.” His tone was dry and full of sarcasm. Rave had a lot of ass to kiss to get back into Tony’s good graces. Rubbing the fact that Tony couldn’t shift into his face was the cruelest thing Rave could have done, and he wanted to beat his own ass for letting his emotions rule how he treated his mate. It was uncalled for and something he never planned on repeating again.
That was if Tony ever forgave him.
“Let him rest for at least twenty-four hours, and he should be fine,” Einarr said. “I will be back to check on him. Just call my name
if you need me before then.”
“Just call your name?” Tony asked.
“Yep,” Einar said with a grin as he faded back into the shadows.
“He forgot to mention to make sure it’s dark when you call his name,” Zeus said. “Demons can’t hold their corporal form in daylight.”
Tony looked confused as hell, but nodded. Zeus left and Max walked toward the bedroom door. “I’m sorry there isn’t more I can do for your mate, but call me if anything changes so I can check him again.”
Rave wasn’t sure how much that would help considering Max was out of his depth, but he appreciated the sincere look on the lion shifter’s face. With Logan rebooting, Rave was left with Tony. He wasn’t sure what to say to make Tony see how truly sorry he was for being a rank bastard.
Tony solved that problem as he stretched out next to Logan and closed his eyes, leaving Rave to stand by himself in the room. Rave wondered if things were ever going to work out between them.
* * * *
Tony ran his knuckles over Logan’s jaw, worried for the man. It had been a little over twenty-four hours, and Logan still hadn’t opened his eyes. He was ready to call Einarr when Logan’s eyelids fluttered, revealing his pretty blue eyes. Tony held his breath, waiting for Logan to focus and fully wake up.
“Am I dead?” Logan asked as he ran his hand over his naked sternum. “Because if I’m not, Zeus is going to fry my ass.”
Tony grinned, happy to see Logan in such a teasing state after what the man had just been through. “Zeus isn’t the one who’s going to fry your ass, honey.”
Logan glanced over at Tony, worry in his eyes. “I guess not. Is Quinn okay?”
“He’s fine. Hunter and Tristan aren’t too happy about you almost melting their mate’s brain, but Quinn insisted that it was his idea. Was it?”
“I don’t know,” Logan replied. That was the honest truth. Things were a little blurry about what had happened. All Logan could really remember was the raw rage that had consumed him and taken over.