“That bastard Styx is screwing with your mind, screwing with us. I know who he is now. His name is John River Branch. I’ll find him. I won’t let him do this to you.”
A tremor of rage moved through his entire body beneath her hand. Carla stroked her fingers over the majestic eagle soaring across Sutton’s back, and she felt both man and bird calming from her touch. To have that kind of power stunned her. She wanted so much to believe that Sutton was hers. She was falling in love with the man and the bird. The man who was so shocked that she would heal him. She wanted to be the one who healed Sutton, who comforted him, who stroked his eagle as she was now, calming his fury. But Keri’s voice had felt so real. “You really don’t think it was her? Staking her claim?”
He turned around, facing her while on his knees in the water, and laid his hands on her cheeks. “If it was her claim to make, the eagle wouldn’t keep her out.”
She looked into his eyes, so dark with emotion. Her powers began the bubbling rush, popping and sparking, causing goose bumps on her skin. She tried to focus. “I don’t know. I want you so badly, what if I’m blocking her out? Letting her soul die?”
He studied her face, then began to massage her temples. “Trust in my eagle, our eagle. He wouldn’t block Keri out. He’s helping us hold on to her, not destroy her. Keri knows that, she told you to find the eagle. And she told you to bring me here to heal me.”
It made sense. She remembered Keri’s soft laughter when Carla’d said Sutton told her not to heal him. She seemed to want Carla with Sutton, not apart from him. She squeezed her eyes shut, tying to sort out what was Keri and what were Styx’s mind games.
He kept up the gentle circles on her temples. “Your head hurts?”
“It’s better now. Too much power racing through me, then Keri—”
His face darkened. “Not Keri. It was Styx, attacking you psychically.”
She was trying to get this to make sense. “You heard the first two words, but not the rest?”
He smiled. “I was touching you, and your power was touching me. I could hear very clearly. But once I let go, I didn’t hear any more.” He leaned forward and brushed his mouth over hers.
She shivered at the feel of his lips on her. The power ached, the need for release surged. She tensed, the ache turning to pain. Oh, God, what if she couldn’t control her powers and lost Sutton on the astral plane like she’d lost Pam? “We have to go back. I can’t … we …”
Still holding her face, he said, “What is it?”
“My powers, I can’t control them.” She felt a wave a panic claw through her roiling emotions.
His eyes narrowed and his jaw hardened. “This is bullshit. That bastard Styx forced us to stop before you had release and now you’re suffering.” His hands hardened on her face. “I felt your powers rising and swelling, but now they are backing up inside you. And I can’t do a goddamned thing now to help you. Not without risking another psychic attack on you.”
She understood that when he touched her, all her powers opened wide and maybe that gave Styx access. And, she reminded herself, it would be wrong to have an orgasm with the eagle that might not belong to her, or touch him as if he belonged to her. Her twin bond with Keri could be confusing the eagle, making him think she was his soul mirror when it really was Keri. She had to close her eyes to keep hot tears from leaking out. She wanted to make love to him, wanted to touch and taste all of him. The longing twisted inside of her, but she tried to reassure Sutton by saying, “It’s okay.”
“The hell it is! You need my touch and I can’t touch you.”
Pain spiked through her head, making her wince. Even her skin hurt.
His hands on her face gentled. “All right, baby. Look at me.”
She opened her eyes, seeing that his face was tight with worry.
“Breathe with me, now.” He took a breath in.
She followed.
He breathed out, his breath warm and velvety on her face.
She did the same. Her respiration fell into sync with his, and then she felt the gentle whisper of feathers rubbing up and down her arms, soft and slow. Her panic eased back and her powers began to settle.
“Better?”
“Yes. I can take us back.”
“I never doubted it. Before we go, you have to know one thing.”
Feeling more in control, she asked, “What?”
“You’re my golden witch. I will do anything for you.” His eyes glittered with diamond-hard meaning. “I’m going to find and free your sister and kill Styx so he can’t hurt you ever again.”
Her heart trembled. “Sutton …”
He shook his head to silence her. “Listen to me. I see the love and guilt over your sister hurting you. Tearing you apart. I want you to know that if something happens to me, whatever happens to me, it’s okay. I am doing this because I want to. Because you have given me a reason to fight. I want you to live and be happy.” He leaned down, kissing her, then he added, “And if it ever comes down to a choice, let me go.”
“No. I won’t …”
He pulled her off the edge of the marble and into his arms. “Yes, you’ll let me go with a free heart. You don’t have to ever choose, just let me go.”
With her cheek pressed up against his strong chest, she could feel the beat of his heart. Hear how her heart fell into sync with his. She couldn’t face a choice like that, how did she pick between her twin sister or the man who might be the other half of her soul?
Sutton’s hand caressed her back. “Now take us back. I’m going to do what I was born to do—hunt and kill the rogue who dares to threaten my witch.”
“He’s a leech,” Jerome said. “Mortal psychics vary from low levels—really just very sensitive, perceptive people—to the higher-functioning psychic ability that goes beyond perception to actually picking up and reading brain waves. We can see that they have extra activity on their brain scans, but we’ve never been able to isolate what causes it.”
Carla looked over her dad’s shoulder at the computer where he had a brain-mapping example that he had pulled from his files. “I see that. But what do you mean by leech?” She had told her dad about Keri yelling at her, and that Sutton didn’t believe it was Keri.
He looked up at her face. “Generally, a mortal psychic pulls information from people physically close to them by reading their brain waves. Think of it like the pebble in the pond and the resulting ripples. Our brain waves send out ripples into the atmosphere. The ripples are strongest near our brains, then they fade the farther they travel.” Her dad’s eyes got that keen, curious light he always had when researching. “Now theoretically, a very strong psychic can project his brain waves into another person’s brain waves and alter their thoughts.”
In spite of a few hours sleep, she still had a low-level headache. Rubbing her forehead, she said, “Okay. They aren’t using chakras like witches, right?”
He shook his head. “No, they don’t have magical powers like an earth witch, like Keri, who pulled on her chakras to connect with you telepathically. It’s more like they have advanced brain waves that can actually read and interpret another person’s brain waves. Now, if you’re right and Styx was using Keri’s voice and projecting it to you on the astral plane, that would be virtually impossible for a mortal psychic. In most cases he couldn’t reach across an average city, let alone to another plane of existence. His brain waves just wouldn’t be that strong.”
She began to understand. “That’s why you called him a leech. He’s leeching from Keri. She has a connection to me and that creates a magical trail between us. He’s using that trail to send his psychic attack. That’s how he’s getting to me.”
“Right. I don’t know how he used her voice, probably some kind of memory trick, shuffling Keri’s words that are stored in your brain.”
Unless it was Keri. Stop it, she told herself. She was letting him win by allowing the doubts he was seeding to take hold. She remembered the anger that had come through i
n the attack. “He’s mad, Dad. I could feel the rage in Keri’s screaming. It wasn’t Keri’s rage. She was quick to anger, and even quicker to get over it. Remember? Her anger always felt like a huge puff of hot air that dissipated quickly.”
Jerome took a drink of his coffee, set the cup down, and said, “What did it feel like?”
Carla moved to the side to sit on the edge of her desk. “Like being stabbed repeatedly.” She found herself rubbing her head again, trying to get rid of the residual ache.
“That’s not Keri.” He frowned at her. “Keri would never hurt you, Carla. Never. She always cried when you got hurt. It’s the psychic, he is trying to hurt you. We have to find a way to safeguard you.”
She couldn’t believe it: Her dad was defending Keri. “But we can’t cut Keri off. Her connection to me is keeping her soul alive so she can go to Summerland and reincarnate. Sutton knows Styx’s real name, maybe he’ll be able to track him down and we can get Keri away from him.”
Her dad’s back straightened in the chair. “What’s his name?”
Carla had to think. “It was an odd name … John River Branch.”
“Branch,” her dad said slowly, and shut down his brain-mapping files to do a search.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ve interviewed several psychics, and that last name is familiar.”
She didn’t see how that would help. “Styx is a rogue. If he’d been anywhere near Keri, Mom, or me, he’d have smelled us.”
“Here, found it. A woman named Acacia Branch. She lived in Colorado, but she came to consult with me after seeing me on TV, let’s see”—he squinted at the date on his files—“thirteen years ago.”
“She was psychic?”
Jerome said, “The real deal. She could read brain waves … everyone’s but her husband’s and son’s. I tested her and she was the highest level I’d ever seen. That’s why I remember her name.”
“What did she want from you?”
He looked up at her. “To know why she couldn’t read her husband and son.”
“Did you know why?”
He shook his head. “Some people have natural filters that dilute their brain waves as they go out into the environment, making them too weak to read. That might be it.”
Carla thought about that. She’d run into various forms of mental blocks in her work, but she could always get around them with witchcraft. “Why did she want to know about her husband and son?”
“It was her son. He was fourteen, I remember her saying that, and he would just disappear. She didn’t know where he was going or what he was doing. The fact that she couldn’t read him made her more suspicious.” He looked up at her. “What if her husband and son were witch hunters?”
“That would explain why she couldn’t read them. Do you think she knew that?”
“At the time, I didn’t think to ask. I was more interested in her ability. But looking back, yeah, I think she did. I know she was very worried about her son. She wanted to know if her ability was hereditary.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Carla answered, as if he’d asked her the question. “We can’t be sure until we isolate the gene or markers. But it probably is hereditary to some extent. Do you think we could talk to her?”
Jerome switched to the Internet to look up the Branch family. “I can try. Let me see if they are still at the same address. They had a bed-and-breakfast up in the mountains.”
Carla was thinking hard. “It might be better if I talk to her. I could go there …” She broke off, and reined in her excitement. “Nix that. Her husband and son might very well be witch hunters. It would be stupid of me to show up there. And it’s not a good idea for me to be that far away from Pam.”
“They still own the Branch Bed and Breakfast. So yeah, she’s still there. I can fly up and talk to her.”
Carla shook her head. “Thanks, Dad. But you’re too recognizable.” And she didn’t want him in danger either. “I’ll tell Sutton about this, or better yet, I can e-mail him all the information you have. We’ll let the Wing Slayer Hunters check it out. Hunting rogues is what they do.”
Pulling his mouth tight, her dad stood up. “Looks like you don’t need me.” He picked up his coffee and walked out.
“I fucking hate flying,” Phoenix groused as he unfolded his long body from the black SUV they’d rented. “And this altitude is interfering with my iPod.”
Sutton glanced over at Key. “Told you to tranq him.”
Key shrugged. “I wasn’t sure Carla wouldn’t pull you out of your body while you were flying the plane. If I had to fly the Cessna, I wanted him to suffer along with me.”
Phoenix froze midstride, turning his death-eating stare on them both. “What the fuck! Your witch could have … that’s it, I’m driving back.” He turned away. “Key can’t fly worth shit. Men aren’t supposed to fly.”
“Axel flies. He has wings,” Key pointed out with a wicked grin. “Hey, Phoenix, maybe you’ll get wings.”
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” Phoenix put his earbuds in and cranked up the volume.
“Going to have to tranq him to get him back.” Sutton shook his head. Key and Phoenix fought with each other all the time. But when it came time to fight rogues, they normally fought back-to-back and decimated the enemy. They were best friends.
Key looked around. “So this is Colorado?”
“Crested Butte,” Sutton answered, still impressed as hell by Carla. She had contacted him with all the information. He saw the vivid curiosity about the psychic Acacia Branch in the image she magically projected on his monitor. Between her psychology degrees and her hypnosis work, Carla was professionally fascinated.
But she’d trusted him to handle this. His eagle liked that. If he could have, he’d have been strutting across Sutton’s back while he and Carla talked via the computer.
Sutton had cracked into the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Vital Records and found the birth certificate for River Branch—his parents were Acacia and Drake Branch. Then he’d verified that they still owned the Branch Bed and Breakfast.
This was their first solid break. He had to find Keri before Styx got further into Carla’s head. He didn’t know how much of the mind shit Styx was doing she could take before something in her broke. It seemed to be getting worse; now he was using Keri against her.
It was tearing Carla up.
The bastard was going to die for that alone.
“Easy, dude,” Key said.
The witch hunter’s voice drew him back. They were at the Branch Bed and Breakfast to verify the facts and gain whatever insight they could to find out where Styx was.
The house was a sprawling, two-story home, all white and trimmed in red. There was a large redwood balcony with a matching redwood deck below it. The three of them walked up to the door and knocked.
Key elbowed Phoenix. “Turn off your iPod.”
Phoenix pulled out the earbuds, shoved them into his pants, and frowned. “What is that noise?”
“What noise?” It was late afternoon, and Sutton could hear kids playing down the street. Someone was using a power tool inside, like a cordless screwdriver, and he heard the steady hum of a motor … maybe a spa? Sounded like a hot tub bubbling.
“That … singing.” Phoenix twisted his mouth. “Some chick singing in the shower, I guess. Christ, you’d think she’d pick something better than that mournful tune.”
Sutton looked at Key. “You hear it?”
“Nope. Dude’s taken too many hits to the head.”
Phoenix snorted. “You two are losing your hearing. I have excellent hearing. Like right now, I can hear someone walking inside the house.”
The front door opened and a young woman, about twenty-five, with chemically dark streaks in her blond hair answered. “Hello, do you have reservations?”
Sutton said, “We’re looking for Acacia Branch.”
“I’m Trinity. Mrs. Branch is out, but I can take care of you.”
&nb
sp; “Can you now?” Phoenix shouldered Key out of his way to look down at Trinity.
Her fair skin colored. “Uh, well sure. Do you want to book a room? We’re full up right now for the wedding this weekend, but if you’d like to book for a future date, I’m sure I can help you.” She flashed a set of dimples and bounced a bit on her toes.
Phoenix softened his hard face with a small grin. “How about a tour? Is that a hot tub I hear?”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “There are two of them on the back porch.”
He held out his hand. “Care to show me?”
She shifted her gaze to Sutton and Key, a fleeting sense of caution slipping into her eyes.
Sutton eased back slightly so that she didn’t feel like the three of them were looming over her. “When do you expect Mrs. Branch back? Is Mr. Branch around?”
Her right hand twitched like she wanted to take Phoenix’s outstretched fingers. “Mrs. Branch is over helping with the bridal tea. She should be back anytime. Mr. Branch—” Her cheeks grew redder and her gaze fell to the ground. “He’s around. Somewhere.”
Sutton had the feeling Mr. Branch had sampled the help, then shifted her memory. She probably didn’t know why she felt a sense of unease or shame when she thought of him. Disgust brewed in his gut. The witch hunters had a huge sex drive from the curse, and sex helped control the compulsion for witch blood, but it didn’t excuse that kind of behavior. And why the hell had he married if he was going to screw around?
In a slow, seductive voice, Phoenix said, “Trinity, take me around back to the hot tubs. My friends will find Mr. Branch.”
At the name Mr. Branch, she moved closer to Phoenix.
Sutton had seen it over and over. Women trusted Phoenix. Some deep feminine instinct told them he wouldn’t hurt them. True enough, but he would most definitely hurt the men who dared to hurt a woman. Mr. Branch was not going to want to meet up with Phoenix.
Key stepped through the opened door. “We’d better find the witch hunter before Phoenix does.”
“He’ll be busy for a while.” He’d caught the scent of desire from Trinity as soon as she touched Phoenix. The difference was that Phoenix wasn’t married, he’d make sure she wanted sex with him, and leave her feeling happy about herself. Not screw with her body and mind. God, Drake Branch was beginning to piss him off.
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