by Marie Harte
Her gaze unwillingly sought Marcus and her entire body throbbed at the challenge in his turbulent gaze.
She cleared her throat, determined to focus, and stepped away from him. “I think it goes without saying I want some answers. This has been the strangest weekend of my life. And trust me, I know strange.”
“Explain strange,” Marcus said. “What was that vague explanation you made in my office? How is your ability to move things with your mind my fault?”
Aware of the intense watchfulness in the room, Tessa began pacing, struck with a sudden burst of nerves. No one outside her family knew of her abilities. She’d never trusted anyone enough to share her secret. Yet as she studied Marcus and his brothers, she knew they had more to hide than she did.
“My family has been steeped in the paranormal since the early 1800s, when my great-great-great-grandmother was run out of town for practicing ‘the dark arts’.”
Marcus and Cadmus looked confused before Aerolus murmured, “Sorcery.”
She nodded. “Sorcery, witchcraft, it all boils down to magic of the mind if you ask me. In any case, my entire family has flashes of insight and mental abilities that would make most people uncomfortable if they knew. We keep it quiet and live our lives as best we can. Unfortunately, we don’t always see what’s right in front of us.” Her thoughts strayed to the untimely death of her parents ten years ago.
“We’re not supposed to,” Cadmus said. “Some things are meant to happen without our interference.”
She blinked and stared at Cadmus, surprised at his insightful observation. “That’s what I told my brother Tom. He’s the one in the family with a gift for precognition.”
“Cadmus also possesses the ability to foretell the future,” Marcus said.
“And what about you?” she asked. “What exactly can you do besides move things with your mind and drown people in the middle of a dry room?”
Silence settled over the room until Aerolus sighed. “You might as well tell her all, Marcus. It’s not as if she hasn’t seen you use your elemental powers.”
“Elemental powers?”
“I, we,” Marcus corrected, nodding to his brothers, “are the last remaining Storm Lords, along with our brother Darius. We are the Royal Four, identical princes with the powers of the elements.”
Storm Lords? Princes? That explained the arrogance, she thought as she stared at him, dying to know more.
“We come from a parallel world called Tanselm, a land that, as we speak, is under siege from evil, from the creatures you met last night, and worse.”
“Of course you are. Good versus evil, magic powers, royal princes, this just keeps getting better.” She couldn’t help but laugh. Despite the absurdity of his story, she believed him. She’d seen evil up close, had witnessed Marcus’ awesome victory over the creatures. And her gift for telepathy not withstanding—
“Ow! Dammit, where did that come from?” Cadmus scowled at the coffee cup that had smacked him in the side of the head. “Watch it, Marcus.”
Marcus’ lips curled. “That wasn’t me.”
Three pair of eyes trained on her.
She shrugged defensively, embarrassed. “It’s not my fault. It’s his.” At Marcus’ impatient sigh, she explained. “I call it my ability to siphon. Since as far back as I can remember, people with strong extrasensory gifts affect me. Without knowing how I do it, I, well, I siphon their abilities.
“Friday night I scared myself silly by moving a bottle of water with my mind. I didn’t think about it. I was thirsty, and the bottle flew towards my hand. I knew someone I’d come into contact with had to be gifted with telekinesis. I just never thought it would be Marcus Storm,” she ended wryly.
“Why not?” Aerolus asked, interest glittering in his eyes.
“Because he’s so, I don’t know, Lord of the Manner-ish. He seems too proper to do anything out of the ordinary. I mean, at work everybody loves him. The men think he’s in line to become the next head executive, the women all want to bear his young,” she said sarcastically, aware she now had to add herself to this category, though she’d die before admitting it to him. “He just seems incapable of doing anything wrong.” She stared at Marcus, amusement lacing her frustration when he arched a brow at her. “See? Even when he’s annoyed he goes about it elegantly.”
Aerolus’ lips curled slightly and Cadmus laughed. “Yeah, Marcus, I told you you had a stick up your ass. Even Tessa noticed it.”
“Anyway,” she cut in hurriedly when Marcus’ eyes darkened to a dangerous blue-black, “imagine my surprise to find that Marcus was the source of my newfound power. I even controlled a bit of it against those creatures we fought.”
“Yes, you did,” Marcus replied tightly. “I was reluctantly impressed that you had the gall to fight the Netharat, considering how strange and frightening they must have seemed.” She opened her mouth to refute him, but he held up a hand to ward her off. “Frightening is not an insult, Tessa. Grown spellcasters fear the wraiths.”
“He’s right,” Cadmus agreed. “That you two survived a surprise attack is a blessing. How many were there?”
Marcus described the attack, and Tessa relived it along with him. Once he finished, several pending questions she’d had swam to mind.
“Explain to me how you drowned those wraiths. You said you were a Storm Lord?” The more she heard about him, the more she needed to know. Fascinating didn’t begin to describe Marcus. The hot sex was incredible, but finding someone with an odder past than her own was worth its weight in gold.
“Storm Lords possess elemental magic, an ability to command the elements. For example, I control water.” Marcus cupped his hand and held it out to her. She dipped her finger in and felt a tingle race through her where water lapped the digit. “Water responds to my call, from a well inside of me. I command it whenever the need arises.”
“I control the earth,” Cadmus added, his mood quiet, clearly indicating his respect for the discussion. He held out a hand and she felt a ripple of, well, something, nearing her. “Normally I cause shocks in the earth, in rock, anything to do with the land. But lately I’ve been experimenting with the gravitational forces intrinsic to the earth. Did you know how much potential energy is just waiting to be tapped? If I curl my mind around it just so, I can—”
“Cadmus, we get the picture,” Marcus drawled. “We don’t need a science lesson.” He continued. “Darius, our absent brother, controls fire. And as you can see, Aerolus summons the winds.”
She watched in awe as Aerolus channelled air, waving it past her and around her in lapping touches of wind as he flexed his hand.
“Amazing,” she said, thrilled at their gifts. While hers hadn’t been an easy life, she’d never taken her talents for granted, or failed to appreciate her extraordinary abilities. She could truly value what the Storm Lords could do. “So does that tie into your telepathy?” she asked Marcus.
“Actually, that’s something else entirely. A gift from my mother’s people,” Marcus said.
“Since arriving in your world, we are each discovering the fulfilment of our latent abilities,” Aerolus added.
Your world. Her euphoria at finding kindred spirits, people who would understand what it meant to be different, faded. Though Marcus could equate with her abilities, he was completely out of her league. She could deal with the whole royalty angle—hell, she considered herself the queen of weird—but she couldn’t compete with another world. She ignored the wrenching emptiness that suddenly yawned before her.
“Then you all have different abilities?” Tessa clutched at the new thought, anything to distract her from an unwelcome attachment to Marcus. As if he sensed her withdrawal, he narrowed his gaze on her and she hurriedly continued. “I’m just wondering if I’ll be able to pick up on them, like I did Marcus.”
“Can you focus on an individual and deliberately pull his or her powers?” Aerolus seemed to ponder something. “Try me.”
“And what is it you do, exac
tly?” she hedged, not as comfortable with Aerolus as she was with the others. Despite the fact he’d seen her half naked, which she was still coming to grips with, Aerolus seemed more intent, somehow set apart from his brothers.
“Just try it, Tessa,” he said, his calm soothing.
“I’m not sure—” Marcus began, when Tessa interrupted.
“Okay, but control has never worked for me in the past.”
She closed her eyes and looked inward, focusing on her inner self. As she did, she sent out a piece of her being, a tendril of thought to grasp at Aerolus. Something clicked and she felt heavy, as if a sudden weight pulled her down.
“Now think hard about Marcus’ bed, envision it in your mind. Don’t question it, just do it,” Aerolus said, as if from a great distance.
The minute she did, her body and mind snapped free of Aerolus. She felt a large pressure squeezing, making it hard to breathe. Everything grew dark, a flash of light caused her to blink, and then…whamo. She stared in astonishment at Marcus’ bedroom.
Footsteps sounded and the door burst open. Marcus and his brothers entered quickly.
“Excellent, Tessa,” Aerolus said with a wide grin. Caught off guard by his enthusiasm, she smiled, trying to catch her breath. Her heart was still racing from the odd experience of being ‘squeezed’ between places, and she was sure she had more questions if she only knew where to start asking.
“Nice going.” Cadmus gave her a thumbs up.
When she turned to Marcus, however, he wasn’t smiling. In fact, his eyes were downright icy. The look made her blood hum, her nervous excitement churning into anger.
“That was foolish,” he said coolly. “I’m surprised you didn’t land on the other side of the state.”
“Oh really, prince charming?” she asked sarcastically, still unnerved by what she’d done. She didn’t need his help wondering what might have gone wrong. “Want to show me how to do it better?”
“I don’t teleport.” He enunciated each word and closed the distance between them. “And neither do you. You’re merely borrowing Aerolus’ talent. Don’t forget it.”
Gone was the lover who’d sensually fulfilled her every desire. Marcus Storm, Cool Blue, had returned with a vengeance—the golden boy from the office trying to remind her of her ‘place’. It shouldn’t have surprised her, but it hurt to feel betrayed by the return of his distant personality.
Did the smug bastard have to sound so degrading? At least if they’d been alone she might have handled it better. But he’d insulted her in front of his stunned brothers, and she could feel her temper spiking exponentially. Mess with a redhead, feel the burn.
“You know, Marcus, you might be hot shit at the office, but having met your brothers, I can see you’re not as special as you like to think. To me, you’re just a…” she paused as energy slithered over her.
“Pray continue.” Marcus folded his arms over his chest and watched her with icy rage. “I’m dying to know what you really think.”
She grappled with the foreign sensations running through her. “Don’t you feel it?”
“Feel what? Foolish for allowing this trite conversation? I shouldn’t have allowed this to go as far as it has,” he murmured as if to himself.
He rambled something else but the energy surrounding her made it hard to hear.
“Tessa.” She saw Cadmus mouth her name. “Don’t worry, it’s only—”
“Get down,” she yelled at Tomanna’s golden boy, her once-in-a-lifetime lover. Mentally shoving him to the floor, she teleported instantaneously to the dark plane coalescing to solid form and psychically attacked with all her will.
Chapter Six
“By the Light’s own heart,” Aerolus said in awe. “She’s attacking Arim.”
Marcus pushed himself to his feet in time to see Tessa attacking Arim’s still-materializing shape. And she was doing a decent job of it. The wily sorcerer couldn’t fight as effectively between states, for which Marcus was at this moment eternally grateful. He had no doubt were Arim at his best, Tessa would now be dead.
As it was, Marcus raced between Tessa and Arim, shielding her with his body and forcing her to back away with his mind.
“It’s okay, Tessa,” he repeated. “Arim’s a friend.”
Her efforts slowed Arim’s materialization but did not hinder his eventual shift. Willing it to be enough, Marcus threw up a wall of water between them and Arim and enforced the shield with his mind. The blow, when it landed, shook him enough that his focus faltered and water drenched his entire room.
Fortunately, he had Tessa protected in his arms when he wavered and therefore intercepted Arim’s second strike with his body. Pain, the likes of which he hadn’t felt in years, fingered up his spine. Yet he refused to release Tessa until the danger had passed.
“Enough,” roared Arim in the wake of his brothers’ hasty explanations. “What’s going on? Marcus?”
The pain in Marcus’ back faded, replaced with a glowing warmth, and he finally felt free to ease his hold on Tessa, who by this time had gone strangely still.
“Arim, meet Tessa Sheridan,” Aerolus said calmly. “Marcus’ friend.”
Tessa squirmed suddenly, and Marcus reluctantly gave her some space, though he kept a protective arm around her waist.
Arim cocked his head, his dark eyes blazing with barely fettered power. “Have I you to thank for my welcome?” he asked dryly.
She blushed and looked from Arim to Marcus and his brothers. “I’m sorry, it’s just that the last time I saw something appear like that we were attacked by wraiths.”
Immediately, Arim’s eyes softened and he held out a hand to Tessa. “My apologies, then, Tessa Sheridan. I am Arim, and I mean you no harm.”
“Yeah, I get that, now.” She shook his hand and released it quickly to turn to Marcus. “I didn’t realise what you were doing when you came at me.” She stopped when he rid his bedroom of water and began picking up pieces of a shattered sculpture from the floor. “Marcus! Your back!”
Marcus had no idea what was bothering her now, so he wasn’t prepared when she yanked him to her, violently. Scowling, he tried to turn but she held him in a mental grip so strong he knew she was unaware of her psychic thrall.
“Your clothes are shredded and your back is bright red. Are you alright? What happened? What can I do?” she asked in rapid succession.
“I’m fine,” he said, and pushed through her will to face her. He couldn’t help feeling gratified at her concern. She really had no idea how strong she grew when emotionally charged, but he could see the worry lining her beautiful blue eyes. “The minute Arim knew it was me, he eased the pain of the fire blast.”
Her eyes widened and he cursed himself for his poor choice of words. She grabbed him by the shirt and tugged him around so that she could see his back again. The touch of her warm palm on his skin sent a shiver of sensual delight through him. He only hoped it didn’t show.
When he glanced up at Arim and his brothers’ knowing looks, he cursed.
“What? Did I hurt you?” Tessa asked innocently, stopping her stroking fingers mid-touch.
“No, I’m fine,” he said through clenched teeth. He reached around and pulled Tessa to his side. “Now why don’t we sit on the bed and catch up with Arim like normal people?”
Cadmus snorted. “Don’t you mean, people pretending to be normal?” He whistled when Marcus and Tessa moved past him to the bed. “No wonder you were worried, Tessa. Now that I can see it, Marcus, your back looks like hell.”
Aerolus reproved Cadmus, and while they argued, Marcus reassured Tessa he was indeed fine. Seeing how disturbed she was by his back, he decided to cover it up. Damn, all his clean clothes were downstairs in the laundry. Once again, Cadmus had slacked on his portion of the housework.
“I’ll just be a minute while I change,” he told her, sparing a scowl for Cadmus. “Don’t move, and don’t let anyone intimidate you.” He glared at Arim warningly. Despite the sorcerer’s pow
ers, Marcus wouldn’t tolerate any more threats in her direction, from anyone.
Arim arched a brow in question but said nothing.
“I’ll be right back,” Marcus promised and hurried out the door down a flight of stairs to the laundry.
As he tossed off the ruined shirt and grabbed a plain, grey sweater from atop the dryer, he couldn’t help feeling absolutely useless. Once again he was late detecting a threat. Tessa had responded instinctively to a shift in the energy fields. Yet Marcus, who knew better, casually accepted the disturbance assuming it was Arim.
What if Arim hadn’t been the intruding source? What if instead ‘Sin Garu had managed to find them and sent both the Netharat and the Djinn to counter the safety spells surrounding the house?
Marcus threw on the sweater, feeling like a total failure. How could he hope to protect a kingdom when he couldn’t even protect a single woman? Twice now she’d come to his aid, instead of the other way around. Dejection settled heavily on his shoulders and he gazed bitterly at his reflection in the paned glass of the room’s only window.
Royal Four, ha. More like Royal Three and a Mistake.
Lifting his chin, as he’d often seen his father do before addressing the masses, he called to the Beyond. “Father, I deeply regret my shortcomings, yet know I pledge above all else my life for our world. In this I will not fail.”
He left before he could see an answering visage of the late King Faustus and the disappointment in his father’s silver gaze. But instead of the overking’s ghostly reflection, he missed the wavering image of sad frustration lingering over a once-great monarch and failing father.
* * * *
“Very impressive,” Arim murmured as he studied Tessa from the top of her head to her bare feet.