by Bonnie Vanak
“I never treated you like that, Kelly.”
“But you are now.”
Sam’s jaw ground hard as he stared into the distance.
Silence confirmed it. So, that was it. Gods, it felt as if she’d extended her hand in trust and he’d sliced it off with his combat knife. It hurt badly, but more so, she hurt for him. The Sam she’d known was gone for good, replaced by this efficient, chilling...
Elemental.
Kelly removed the pendant and unfolded his palm, placing the silver triskele inside. “Here. You need this more than I do.”
He pushed it back. “You’re an Arcane and don’t have enough power to protect yourself. It’s to keep you safe.”
Too late, she thought dully. They were back to Arcane and Elemental, and she was just another score. “You have the bigger disadvantage. You’re dying inside, Sam. You just don’t realize it.”
Kelly turned for the village square.
“Where the hell are you going?” he demanded.
“I need to be alone. Besides, you should take another shower. Rinse off the Arcane stink left from last night.”
Sam called after her, but she ignored him, jamming her hands into her jeans pockets. As she walked, people sidestepped as if she were something to scrape off their shoes. You’re welcome, Kelly silently told the Mages. It was a pleasure using Arcane magick to free you from the spell, hmm, a spell you fell under despite your almighty powers.
Feeling even more alienated, she hunched her shoulders and kept her gaze down.
In the town square, elephant’s ear trees stretched out their shady branches, providing relief from the constant heat. Violet-, crimson- and pumpkin-colored flowers bloomed among thatches of grass. A mother sat on a stone bench, watching a young boy kick a soccer ball on the walkway. She glanced at Kelly and gave a small smile.
This makes it all worth it. They have their lives back.
It was the reason why she’d started Sight Finders. She wanted to reunite families who’d been torn apart.
Because you couldn’t reunite Sam’s, a voice mocked in her head. All these years, you’ve tried to atone for your father’s actions. He’s alive, while Sam’s family is cold in their graves.
Emotion clogged her throat as she watched the little boy chase the ball. He was about Pete’s age. Sam adored his little brother. Promised to always take care of him.
I’m a reminder of everything he’s lost, she realized. Everyone he loved.
Turning her back, she walked away from the little boy. Straight toward...
The Elemental college student who’d called her a bitch. Was anyplace safe from these damn Mages? The girl spotted her, grimaced and whispered to her companion.
Enough. Better to take Sam’s cruel coldness than a stranger’s insults.
A flicker of movement from the bushes caught her eye. The slither of a forked tongue testing the air. Kelly’s heart went still as she glimpsed fangs bigger than steak knives. The searing stench of blood and death tangled in her nostrils.
Sam’s warding hadn’t killed all the monsters.
“Oh, dear gods.” Panic rose in her throat as the girl and her friend drew closer, seemingly oblivious of the danger.
Kelly murmured a quiet chant and sent power streaming into the bushes.
The snake opened its mouth and swallowed the streaming current like a tasty morsel.
She settled for a verbal warning. “Get out of here, move it!”
The girl scoffed and continued advancing. The snake slithered out of the bushes, aiming for the Elemental’s ankle. As the reptile rose up to attack, Kelly launched herself and grabbed the snake, yanking it away.
Hissing, it turned and bit Kelly’s shoulder. Fiery pain licked down her arm, but she grabbed the snake around the neck, struggling to contain it. Screams and gasps from onlookers. Magick words escaped her, spells lost in a red haze of pain. She needed powerful magick, Elemental magick...she laughed, a sob of white-hot agony as she remembered the triskele in Sam’s hand.
You picked a lousy time to make a statement.
White electromagnetic energy crackled. As precise as a bolt of lightning, the energy struck the snake and killed it.
She looked up at the girl, who held out her glowing palms.
“Good shot,” she rasped. “Thanks.”
Respect shone in the girl’s face. “Thank you, for saving my life.”
Gritting her teeth, she managed to pull into a sitting position, the agony in her shoulder feeling like muscle pulled off bone.
She heard the screech of car tires. Sam jumped out and left the door to El Milagro open, the engine running. He crouched down, took a knife from his boot and tore open her shirt.
The wound had turned an ugly grayish mass. Blood seeped from two puncture holes.
“Ilthus,” she managed to say. “Don’t know how it evaded your magick.”
Sam glared at the crowd. “Goddammit, get back, give her air. This isn’t a damn sideshow.”
The crowd quickly dispersed, except for the girl she’d saved and her male friend.
“I’m Nancy,” the girl said, kneeling down beside Sam. “How can I help?”
“Got hand sanitizer?” At her nod, Sam handed her his knife. “Sterilize this.”
When she’d handed it back, he turned to Kelly. “Hang on. This isn’t going to be fun. I’ll try to go easy.”
“Don’t,” she grated out. “Just take care of the poison.”
Sunlight flashed on the blade he raised to her skin. Burning pain laced her shoulder, the agony making her stomach clench as warm blood flowed down her arm. Oh, gods, that hurt.
“I’ve lanced the wound, but the venom already invaded your central nervous system.” He sounded calm and cool. “I’m going to have to send my powers streaming into your body.”
“Ah.” Kelly bit her lip so hard she drew blood. The pain made it hard to see, to breathe. She inched away from him, shaking her head. “You’re going to fry my insides.”
“No, I’ll hold back. Trust me.”
Shuddering in agony, she drew away. The hurtful words he’d flung at her still stung. After he’d shattered her fragile hopes, how could she believe him?
“Not when the trust isn’t mutually exclusive.”
He sighed. “I know I acted like an asshole. I’m sorry I said those things. But please, let me help you.”
Hand on her chin, Sam tilted her face upward to meet the regret in his gaze. “Please, Kel? I fucked up royally and insulted you badly. But don’t let that stand in the way of me doing my job.”
Now the pain felt as if she’d thrust her arm into a roaring furnace. Tears leaked out of her eyes. “Duty and honor. Doing your job. You want to save me because you’re under orders and you’ll obey, good SEAL that you are.”
“No,” he said quietly. “Screw the order. I want to heal you because I care about you and if I lose you, part of me will die, as well.”
At this glimpse of the real Sam, the tightness in her chest eased. Kelly nodded. “Okay. Fry my organs, but have someone serve them with fava beans and a nice Chianti. Very yummy. Or so says the good Dr. Lecter.”
He gave a soft smile. “That’s my girl.”
Sam stretched out his hands, warming them in the sun. Power pulsed through him, wreathing his muscular body. His expression intense, like a predator’s, the green in his eyes a blaze of emerald, he went very still.
Cold knots twisted her stomach. He was going to throw that current at her, inside her, and she’d seen living things vaporize beneath the force of that violent power.
“Stay as still as possible.”
Kelly closed her eyes. She felt Sam’s hands on her shoulder, strong and yet gentle. Warmth spilled into her body, shooting down from the wound into her shoulder. She felt it snaking through her core, chasing away the hot agony with cooling relief. Strength returned to her weakened muscles.
“Oh, wow, sweet,” Nancy murmured. “I’ve never seen that before.”
“Curing through energy manipulation,” her companion stated in a smug voice. “Basic electromagnetic light therapy, commonly used in healing ceremonies. Although I’ve never seen it demonstrated on an Arcane, because that kind of power is wasted on them.”
“Stop it, Mark,” Nancy snapped. “I’m sick of your attitude. She saved my life.”
The last of the venom vanished beneath the humming current of Sam’s power. Kelly felt refreshed and energized.
“You okay?” he asked, searching her face.
“I could run a marathon. But I’d need a few power bars first, because I’m really hungry.”
“I’ll be damned,” he said softly, gazing at his still-glowing hands. “I still have power.”
“But you healed me.”
“I held back. Didn’t want to risk burning you.” Sam glanced around.
“Thank you,” she told him. “This is the second time you gave my life back to me.”
Sam stroked a single finger down her cheek, his gaze tender. Nancy looked at her with newfound respect, while her companion snorted in derision.
“She’s just another Arcane. No big loss. If you’re that hot for them, you can always find another bitch to spread her legs,” Mark said.
Kelly winced. Nancy gasped, shoving her friend. “Mark, I wish you’d just shut up!”
Sam flicked his hands, sending an energy current at Mark, knocking him unconscious to the pavement. “Wish granted,” he told Nancy.
Then he stood, pulling Kelly with him. Nancy glanced at her. “I never thought an Arcane would risk her life for me. I was wrong.” She glanced at the unconscious Mark with disgust. “About a lot of things.”
“I’m sure he has some redeeming qualities,” Kelly offered.
“Like drooling on the sidewalk,” Sam muttered. With a nod to Nancy, he guided Kelly to El Milagro. Inside the car, he draped the triskele over her neck.
“You scared me to death. Don’t ever take the pendant off again.” He hesitated and added, “Please.”
Silence lay between them, intense and heavy, as they drove out of town. After a few miles, she turned in the seat, avoiding a spring sticking up through the cracked leather.
“Do you know what happened back there? I thought your powers healed me, but if you still had them, they didn’t.”
“I sent only enough energy into your body to find the venom and neutralize it, not repair the damaged muscle.” Bone strained against flesh as he tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “You healed yourself.”
“That’s impossible. I don’t have enough power and certainly not any healing abilities without the triskele.” Unless they’d formed a new, unique connection. Arcane magick and Elemental.
“I don’t understand it, either.” He gestured to the back. “I packed a cooler with snacks and water. We have a long way to go.”
Chapter 18
Enormous stands of pine, maple and hemlock ringed Sam’s isolated log cabin in the remote Tennessee mountains. A vista of rolling green hillside, punctuated by a weathered barn, stretched before the back porch. Wisps of gray fog drifted up from the pine trees, smoking the chilly air as Kelly braced her hands on the porch railing.
After the flight from Miami to Atlanta, where he had a car waiting, she had no memory of the long drive or Sam carrying her inside and tucking her into the big bed downstairs. He’d taken her to the place she’d least expected—his private retreat, where they’d first made love.
The cabin felt much smaller. Or maybe it was the rugged, virile man who took up all the space.
Rain now splattered on the porch roof as she stood under it.
Sam stepped onto the porch and handed her a cup of steaming coffee.
They sipped in silence a few moments. Sam set down his cup on a side table. “I called Curt, my CO.”
Kelly tensed.
“I told him I had you secured in a hidden location in the United States. He said it was a matter for Mage authorities now and insisted I give you up.”
Jaw tightening, he stared at the rolling hillside. “I insisted otherwise.”
Her heart skipped a beat.
Sam kept a white-knuckle grip on the railing. “Curt wasn’t clear on what protection you’d have. In fact, he was very evasive. And then he launched into a rambling, confusing speech about the chain of command and how much trouble I face.”
“You think he’s been replaced by a duplicate?”
Anger and frustration snapped in his gaze. “Yeah. Curt never talks that much. Or wastes words.”
Sam flexed his hands. “I said you were in my custody and I’ll hand you over to the council myself.” A grim smile touched his face. “The entire damn council. At ST 21’s base, because you felt safer there.”
She saw the logic. “It’ll take them days to assemble. Doesn’t one live in Thailand?”
“Right. And my uncle is on his annual retreat in the Azores. No phone, no communication.”
“That buys time, but what if someone comes here looking for you?”
“Legally, the cabin belongs to a dummy corporation I formed long ago. No one knows I come here.”
“No one else?”
Sam glanced at her. “I haven’t returned since the fire. The corporation hires a cleaning crew to maintain the place. You’re the only other person who’s ever been here.”
Unease filled her, a burning question she hadn’t dared to ask all those years ago. “Sam, back then, did you bring me here so no one could see us together?”
Sam sighed. “It was easier, and more private. Kel, you have to understand, my father put a lot of pressure on me to settle down with someone from my own class.”
Kelly’s stomach churned. “I get it. You were ashamed. Good for some things but not others. Like in Honduras. A good fuck.”
“Stop it,” he snapped. “Don’t cheapen yourself like that.”
“I didn’t say it, Sam. I’m only repeating what was said to me.”
Two strong arms encircled her waist, tugging her against him. Resisting, she stiffened as he sighed deeply into her ear.
“I’m sorry I left you all those years ago. And I’m sorry I said those cruel things back in Honduras. I insulted you, badly. If I could take it back, I would.”
“Why did you say it?” she whispered. “I was so humiliated. You made me feel like I’m... What did your father call it? An easy lay.”
“Gods, Kel, never. I was scared of what happened between us.”
“Like you were scared of telling your family about me?”
Gently, he turned her around and stroked a finger down her cheek. “I was going to bring you to formally meet my father, remember? The night of the fire. I wasn’t ashamed of you. Never.”
She rested her palms against his broad chest, feeling the strong, steady beat of his heart. “I know. Everything came between us back then. We forgot who we were and fell back to what we were, Arcane and Elemental. And somewhere along the line, we lost faith in each other.”
“I should have stayed.” His warm palms cupped her chilled cheeks. “I need to tell you something. My letter said I left because it was over between us.”
A tiny muscle jumped in his jaw. “I left because I couldn’t bear that I’d lost my family and you. I headed west, shifted into a wolf to forget the grief. I went feral. Almost killed a rancher who shot at me when I was on a sneak-and-peek, eyeing his cattle. Called me a rangy, violent pest. I ran off, but got...crazy.”
He drew a deep breath. “The shotgun was no match for a wolf who could run faster than an express train and catch a man when his back is turned.”
Sam, cheerful and carefree, gentle and tender. She shivered, imagining him with sharp fangs, a vicious snarl and claws.
Darkness shadowed his gaze. Sam’s mouth tightened. “I let the wolf take over until grief and rage turned me into a beast. You stopped me. I thought of you, Kel, and the human part of me returned.”
Horrified, she stared at him. “Did the rancher die?”
; “Was in the hospital a few weeks. The council sent authorities after me when they’d heard. They made me pay the rancher’s medical bills, which I would have done anyway. The council feared I’d turn vicious again and eventually someone would find out it was no ordinary wolf. They wanted to execute me.”
Shock made her heart go still a moment. His eyes closed, as if reliving the moment proved too unbearable.
“How did you convince the council you weren’t dangerous?”
It must have been good, because Sam was dangerous.
He looked away, a flash of guilt on his expression. “My uncle argued I’d acted out of grief. Because I was Elemental, they released me, on the condition to never turn into a feral wolf again. If they caught me, they’d turn me into dust.”
The difference between his people and hers. Sam went free, while she stood falsely accused and no one believed her.
Except Sam.
Silence danced in the air, broken by leaves rustling in the wind.
“Sometimes I miss them so much, I can’t bear it,” he said finally.
Kelly’s throat squeezed tight. “Me, either,” she whispered.
She ducked out of his embrace, picked up her cup and headed inside to take a shower. The downstairs shower was big enough to host a dance party. Twin jets sprayed her with soothing hot water. Kelly picked up the soap with trembling hands.
I miss them so much.
Sam was right. Rescuing abducted Mage children and reuniting them with their overjoyed families assuaged her guilt and grief.
Tears rose in her throat. Splaying her hands against the cold tile wall, she surrendered to them. She’d failed those she’d promised to keep safe. Failed saving Sam’s family. So much failure, too many lives lost.
The shower door opened. Naked, Sam stepped inside. He reached for her, but she pulled away, scrubbing her cheeks. Pretending everything was normal.
With gentle persistence, he pulled her against his broad chest, his hands tunneling through her soaked hair. Saying nothing, only letting her cry, loaning his strength and support as she wept.