by Jaime Rush
Darius’s body rose to the surface, and she stumbled and fell back. Scrambling onto land on hands and knees, she twisted and readied herself for whatever he might do to her. His body, however, floated, only moving with the currents she was creating. With a gasp and cry, she turned and crawled to Greer.
“Greer!”
“Shea,” he whispered, moving his fingers.
She gripped his hand, leaning down, dripping water all over him. “Darius is . . . he’s dead.” She glanced again at the water, just to make sure. His body still floated. He would have come to the surface gasping if he’d been alive. She turned back to Greer. “You helped me, didn’t you?”
“All . . . I could do. Can’t Become.”
“Tuck said they couldn’t Become for a while after they’d been hit with the Force. But you could still use it.”
He nodded. That was good. Except . . . he wasn’t trying to get up.
She cradled his face. “Greer.”
“Feel like my brain’s fried,” he managed to say, so low she had to lean down next to his mouth.
“No, it’s not, because you’re talking to me. I’m going to call Tuck, have him come get us. I’ll be right back.” She searched for the phone, patting the ground until she felt the smooth plastic. She had to press a button to get it to light up. Not her phone. She pressed Tuck’s number while returning to Greer’s side.
Tuck’s voice sent welcome relief through her. “It’s Shea. Please come get us. Greer’s in bad shape. I’m going to heal him, but then I’ll be out.” She looked up at the hotel’s lighted sign across the expanse of land and gave him the name and location. “Bring the others. We’ll need to get our cars back, too. And bring blankets and clothing.” She disconnected and placed her hands over Greer’s head.
He reached up and gripped her wrist, though his grip was weak. “No, don’t . . . hurt yourself.”
Same old Greer. Which made her smile through her tears. “A little. Let me heal you just a little.” She focused her power as she moved her hands over his body. Pain rocked through her, like a vise squeezing her head. Her body shook with it. The cold somehow seemed to help, to numb it.
She pulled back after a minute, dropping down next to him. “So c-cold,” she said, molding her body to his. “T-Tuck and the others w-will be here s-soon.”
He pulled her close, tucking her head against his shoulder. She closed her eyes and waited.
SOMEONE CALLING HER name pulled her from the abyss. She sat up, seeing lights moving across the ground in the near distance.
Tuck!
“Over here,” she said, her voice weak.
Greer mumbled something and struggled to get up. His body stiffened, and she felt the heat that usually preceded his Becoming.
“It’s okay,” she said, gripping his arm. “It’s Tuck and the others.”
Three figures approached. Tuck dropped to his knees beside them, leaving the flashlight nearby to cast light on them. Del and Cody crouched down beside him, both shoving clothing and blankets at them.
“We’re all right,” she said, turning to Greer. “You’re all right, aren’t you?”
He looked dazed but nodded.
“You’re bleeding.” Tuck gestured to his ear.
Greer touched the side of his face, looking at the crusty blood he’d taken away. “He hit me with the Force.”
“The bastards from the other dimension?” Tuck asked.
“No, Darius!” Shea heard the emotion in her voice. “He went crazy. He tried to kill Greer.” She gave them an encapsulated version of recent events.
“Hell. I knew there was something off with that guy.” Tuck looked at Greer. “You couldn’t stand him from the beginning.”
Del tugged on Shea’s arm. “I’ll hold up the towel while you change. You’ve got to be freezing.”
“Thanks.”
Leave it to a woman to understand, even in a moment like this. Shea dried off with the other towel, then changed into clothing she didn’t recognize. Had to be Del’s, as they were large on her. By the time she emerged from the privacy screen, Greer had already changed into jeans and a sweater.
He pulled Shea against him. “She saved my life. I could feel myself slipping away. All I could think about was that Darius had Shea with him. That he would hurt her.”
She heard his emotion, too, and tucked herself closer against him. Tuck’s eyes widened at the sight but he didn’t say anything. Thank God. His slight smile told her everything.
Greer said, “Frost said that if something happened to him, there’d be more of them coming.” He turned to Shea. “I heard him tell Darius that they know about you and him. Which means they don’t know about me.”
“Unfortunately, they know who I am,” she said. “As a person of interest.”
Greer got shakily to his feet, helping her up. She supported him when he swayed.
“So all they know,” he said, “is that there are two of us.” He nodded toward the lake. “And one is dead.”
Shea shivered, but an idea hit her. “Frost’s phone is here somewhere. What if he calls his boss . . . what was his name? Like one of the Zodiac signs. Torus. So he calls his boss and says that he killed the guy, but he’s dying, too.”
Greer pulled her closer. “And he gives him the location so they can come here and take care of the bodies. They’ll have proof.”
“Brilliant,” Tucker said. “Except—”
“They still know about Shea,” Greer finished.
Del said, “What if there’s someone staying at Shea’s house who looks like her but doesn’t have the vibration? This guy doesn’t know for sure that she’s one of us. We have to figure he hasn’t put his eyeballs on her. So assume he’ll go to the house and check her out. No vibe, no need to kill her.”
Tucker pulled Del against his side and planted a kiss to her temple. “I’m surrounded by brilliant women.” He slid a glance to Greer, then Cody. “And men.”
Cody said, “Unfortunately, Del can’t stand in, since she’s got the vibe. I work with a girl who kind of looks like you, Shea. Maybe she wouldn’t mind staying at your place for a couple of days, because you’re . . . going out of town and need someone to take care of the plants. I’ll stay close just in case there’s trouble.”
Shea found the phone she’d used to call Tuck. After fiddling with it for a minute, she erased the call log entry with his phone number on it. “I guess if they look at the records they’d find a call. You might want to cancel your account, Tuck.”
“Done.”
Greer took the phone and searched for an entry with Torus’s name. He pressed the button. “Torus,” he said on a faint, pained voice. “It’s Frost. I . . . killed the guy. He’s the one who . . . mauled the man.”
“You don’t sound well, Frost. Where are you?”
“He got me pretty good. Not . . . sure I’ll make it.” He gave the man their location. “Get here fast.” Then he disconnected and tossed the phone to the ground.
Tuck and Cody pulled Frost’s body to land, where he could feasibly have made the call. They looked at Darius’s body, floating some yards out. Then they all headed quickly across the expanse to the motel.
“I can drive,” Greer said.
“Forget about it,” Tuck said. “You both look like you’re going to drop. I’ll take Shea’s truck. I’ve got a spare set of keys.”
Greer dug his keys out of his wet jeans pocket and handed them to Cody. He shadowed Shea as she ran into her motel room and grabbed her things. Then he took hold of her hand and led her into his room while he did the same. He didn’t want her out of his sight, she thought with an inner sigh.
Shea and Greer got into the back of his Jeep as Cody got into the driver’s seat. Her energy was flagging fast. Once they were in the truck, Greer opened his mouth to say something to her but closed it again. He simply pulled her against him and rested his cheek against the top of her head. She closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness.
Chapter El
even
SHEA WOKE IN Greer’s arms. Mid-morning sunlight streamed in through the crack in the closed curtains of his bedroom. Tuck had insisted they stay at his house so he and Del could take care of them. Just like a big brother, and she couldn’t fault him for that. It was nice being cared about.
She still wore the sweatshirt Del had loaned her, though Greer had thrown off his sweater sometime during the night. She remembered how cold he’d been, how she thought he was dead. Then she’d worried that he would be brain-damaged. She stopped those thoughts and reveled in the heat coming off his body now.
He had told her that he wanted her to feel safe, cherished. Eventually aroused. Well, he’d done all of those.
His eyes opened and he smiled. “You’re still here.”
No, she hadn’t run away yet.
He brushed his fingers through her hair. “I like your hair loose like this. No ponytail or cap.” He let his fingers rest against her cheek. “You saved my life.”
“And you saved mine.”
“You can’t take a compliment, can you? Can’t accept that you’re strong and beautiful and everything wonderful.”
Her voice came out thick when she said, “That’s you, not me.”
“That’s you. Maybe it’ll take some time to convince you.” He gave her a serious look. “And I’m very dedicated when I set my mind on something that means a lot to me.” He drew his finger down to her mouth. “Or someone. Think about this: you ran out into the night to find me. You fought Darius, who had not one but two deadly skills. And you won.”
“With your help.”
“And I was only able to help because you’d given me some of that healing energy. So you see, you can’t get out of it.”
She drew in a long breath, feeling the weight of his words. She had done all those things. She’d been strong.
The fear that she’d screw this up, lose his friendship, loomed like a dark cloud on the horizon. “Tell me again how much I matter to you.”
He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip. “When I was dying, I was going crazy that I couldn’t protect you. But the worst part was that I wouldn’t be able to spend the next weeks, months, years, being with you.”
She brushed her fingertips across his chest. “And how I’m not as damaged as I think.”
“You needed to believe that to keep yourself safe. Letting someone see you, your body, your inner scars, that scared you. Not letting anyone see them was your shield. But you’re safe with me.”
She was remembering what he’d said to her after they made love. “You’re in love with me?”
His mouth quirked. “Terribly.”
She had to smile at that. She let it fade, though, and got out of bed.
“Shea,” he said, admonishment in his voice.
She didn’t look at him, only left the room. She heard his exhalation of frustration right before she closed the door. The baggy sweats felt comfortable . . . and not. Now they seemed heavy, like a suit of armor. She crept to her old room, changed, and slipped back into Greer’s room. He was sitting at the edge of the bed, facing the door. His expression went from dour to a huge grin.
“Like it?” She spun around, letting the skirt of the light purple dress flare out around her. “A good friend bought it for me a while back. Said it brought out the color of my eyes. What do you think?”
He came to his feet, taking her in with a heated gaze. “I think he has very good taste.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “It’s just too bad it won’t be on you for long.”
Want more? Read on for an excerpt from the latest full-length novel in Jaime Rush’s Offspring series
Darkness Becomes Her
Available now wherever books are sold
Prologue
Fifteen years earlier
“WAKE UP, ALLY!”
Her daddy’s voice, hands shaking her. Not a dream. Her eyes snapped open, finding his face, scared and desperate, hovering in front of her.
“You’ve got to hide now.”
She tumbled out of bed, heart squeezing her chest. “What’s happening, Daddy?”
“The man I told you might hurt me, he’s here, Allybean.”
She swiped up her penguin, the one with the special coin sewn inside it. She couldn’t breathe all of a sudden. “Where’s Mommy?”
“She’s all right. He won’t hurt her.”
“But he’ll hurt me?” The words squeaked out of her mouth.
“I don’t know what he’ll do. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
He tugged her down the hall to the closet and shoved aside the coats.
“How will I know when it’s safe to come out?” Fear made her voice a whisper.
“Either your mother or I will come get you. You’ll be okay.”
He didn’t look as though he felt that way, and that made her even more scared.
“I love you, Allybean.” And he closed the door, shutting her in the dark.
Daddy had always seemed overprotective and kind of worried. When she turned nine a year ago, he told her there was a man who wanted to hurt him: his own brother, Russell. Daddy had shown her a picture, trained her to be on the lookout for him. He had something called the Darkness inside him. Daddy had promised to tell her more when she was old enough to understand.
Now Russell was here, and she didn’t understand, not at all. Minutes dragged by, each one so long, so painful. She squeezed her penguin and felt the coin her father had put inside. Through the fur, she could barely make out the raised cross on it. The symbol was supposed to protect her, to hide her presence from the man who was hunting Daddy.
A thump froze her. Like someone being thrown against the wall. Loud, harsh voices, two men . . . and Mommy. They were screaming all at once, their words crashing on top of each other. Another thump. Tears filled her eyes. Please, don’t die, Daddy.
She tried to peer through the slats in the bifold door but could only see the hallway. What if she crawled out but kept the penguin with her? It would only be for a few seconds.
Her mom cried out, the same way she did when she dropped a heavy pan on her foot last year.
Mommy!
The men’s voices got even louder, but nothing from her mommy. Her ears were buzzing, making it hard to hear more than angry voices. Have to look.
She stretched through the opening. What she saw froze her heart. There was blood everywhere, splattered on the walls and puddling on the floor. And her mommy, she was lying on the floor. Not moving. Ally stifled a cry.
“I can heal her,” one of the men said in a voice so thick it was impossible to tell who was talking. “I can use Darkness to heal her, but then she’ll have it, too.”
“Don’t touch her.”
Those words, raw and hoarse.
The men moved into view, like two boxers, squaring off, punching, lunging like in the movies Daddy watched. She was in the dark, and she was pretty sure they couldn’t see her. They fought, growling and shoving, moving in and out of her view.
The bad man said, “Does the child have Darkness, too?”
“No, she’s normal. Leave her out of this.”
The child? Her.
“My son inherited it,” Russell said. “Your daughter probably did, too. If she holds Darkness, she’ll have to be . . . contained. Trained.”
“The hell she does!” A loud sound, and a chair slid across the floor.
She’d stretched farther out into the hallway without even realizing it, and now saw Russell, his back to her, his foot on her father’s chest. She wanted to burst out and save him but stopped herself. Anger and fear, it froze her, closing in her vision. No, not her vision. She saw blackness. Her father, turning into . . . she blinked. Couldn’t be. He was now a black blob of smoke.
Russell stepped back, facing the dark mist. “You’ve been trying to suppress Darkness, just like before. But I’ve been working with it, mastering it.”
He became the same smoke. The blobs took shape, changing to someth
ing solid again, to huge, mean wolves. Her daddy’s wolf was gray, Russell’s was black. The wolves fought, snarling, and then the black wolf spun like the Tasmanian Devil in the cartoons and wrapped itself around her father’s wolf. Terror gripped her, making her eyes water and her throat dry. Was she really seeing this?
Go back in!
The shadows became men again, and one of them fell to the floor. The bad man! Her daddy was okay!
She got to her feet. Her legs felt so wobbly, and she hardly had breath. She took a staggering step toward the kitchen, her fingers clutching the penguin. Her daddy knelt by her mommy’s body on the floor. “No. You can’t be gone.” Such pain in his words. Smoke snaked out of his hands as he leaned over her, sending . . . sending the smoke into her mommy.
“No!” The word roared out of her throat.
He turned to her and . . . his eyes were gray, not the green she knew. He wasn’t her daddy. He looked like him, but she knew, knew in her heart, that he wasn’t. Russell had gone into her daddy’s body.
“There you are.” He jumped up and grabbed for her.
Chapter One
“WHAT ARE YOU on to, checking up on me?” Lachlan narrowed his eyes as his brother sauntered into the kitchen.
Magnus managed to find a reason to come to the family’s remote estate, dubbed Sanctuary, every few days for some lame reason or another. As usual, he surveyed the house, checking to see, perhaps, if garbage was piling up or if Lachlan had painted any of the walls black.
Magnus poured himself a cup of tea from the pot sitting on the counter, then opened the fridge to pull out milk and frowned. “If I were checking up on you, I’d point out the lack of quality food in the fridge.” He closed the door and tugged on Lachlan’s hair. “Or that you haven’t cut your hair in months; it’s as long as a girl’s.” Magnus pinched Lachlan’s chin. “At least you shave, but next time use a mirror. You missed some spots.”