by JoAnna Grace
Ashton stared at her but she didn’t give in, she didn’t look away. He snickered and put his hands on his hips. “All right, it’s only your first day with us. You’re going to take time to convince. Why don’t we just leave you and your pal here and the Prophet can deal with you tomorrow? I have to go play the weeping son.” With a smirk, he wiped a pretend tear from his eye with his knuckle. He turned to the man who tortured Cain. “Let her watch him die tonight. That should change her mind. Well done, by the way. It’s not everyone who can kill a Thracian.”
“Thank you, my prince.” The man bowed low.
Piper was left in the dark room handcuffed to the wall, one harsh light shining on Cain’s broken body. “Cain, dear Zeus, I’m so sorry.”
“My life for yours, milady.” His words were muffled, his mouth steadily bleeding from the teeth they’d ripped from his gums.
“I might not be Keona, but I have some tricks up my sleeve.” Piper popped her thumb out of socket and bit down on her bottom lip to keep from making a sound. Her wrist slid from the handcuff and she reached down to pull the safety pin from her sweater.
“No, Piper. Do not do anything to let them see you’re a healer. And for the love of the gods, do not risk your life for mine.”
“You’ve done more than that for me. I know you let yourself get captured, Cain. I’ll be mad about that later. Right now,” she wiggled the pin around until she heard a click. “I’m going to heal you as best I can.”
Men were easily fooled by the sweet little girl routine. They hadn’t put her cuffs on tight enough, they didn’t even use decent handcuffs. It was almost insulting. But all she had to do was bat her pretty eyelashes at them and they automatically assumed she couldn’t defend herself.
“Save your strength. Please, Piper, do not waste your efforts on me.”
Once her hands were free, she could crawl over to him. Her right leg was in an older steel cuff. She wasn’t going to get that one free with a pin. But if she stretched…just a little more…a bit farther… Got it!
Piper touched Cain’s foot, the one that wasn’t nailed to the floor.
“Piper, no. I command you to stop.” He tried to pull away.
“Hush. I’m not going to blast you all at once. That would tip them off. I can stream it to you slowly, softly.”
Now, Cain wept. “Do not do this, I beg you. Spare yourself. Do not risk your life for mine. I am a Thracian, you… Piper, your destiny is greater than mine.”
“Cain,” Piper whispered. “I’m going to ask you to please hush now. Receive what I freely give, and don’t waste your strength trying to convince me otherwise.”
At first, she wasn’t sure, but then she knew he was laughing at her. “If any man should think you are the weaker sister, he shall have quite the surprise. I will live for you, my princess, if for no other reason than to warn your dream man about the strong woman he is mated to.”
“Good, I’ll hold you to that oath. Now close your eyes and gather your strength. If we are going to get out of here, you’ll need it. Keona will come for me. I know she will.”
Piper closed her eyes and tried to will herself to sleep. If only she could reach the man in her dreams. She’d tried to send out messages to Keona, but Ashton blocked her telepathy. He’d sensed her mental call to Keona and shut down the part of their brains that connect to one another. His ability to control the body without touch was frightening. Did anyone know what a threat he was? How much power he wielded?
With every muscle in her body, she concentrated on healing Cain’s life-threatening injuries. She sent her aura through his veins, his muscle tissues, his capillaries, and even into his brain. The healing energy caused him to relax and she sent extra comfort to where he hung by his wrists. With her power, she directed blood flow to his hands, so they would not lose circulation. She closed down the sensors in his brain that registered pain, allowing him to sleep. In his foot, she diverted blood from around the spike and kept any infection from spreading into his tissues.
If it took every ounce of her powers, she would keep him alive. Keona would come. Piper only had to wait and be as strong as Cain. She would see her sister again, and she would get to hold her dream man in her arms in the sunlight.
Piper held those hopes close to her heart and prayed that her sister searched for her. She prayed like Cain did, thanking the gods for his strength, for her ability to heal and she asked Ares to give them both the endurance needed to get through this trial.
Keona would come, and her dream man searched for her already.
Please Zeus, let them find me.
To Be Continued…
The Roles We Play by JoAnna Grace
Kelly rolled over in bed and picked up her cell phone. Mark’s face smiled back at her as his Bon Jovi ringtone blared. What could he possibly want at three in the morning? Was he insane?
“You’d better be bleeding, jackass,” she mumbled.
His deep chuckle filled the silence of her studio. “Damn, you’re grumpy in the morning.”
“It’s not morning yet. It’s that time of day even Jesus hates. What do you want? Where are you?”
“I had to work the late shift, remember?”
Kelly vaguely recalled that the night guy at the airport had quit and Mark had to fill in for him for a couple weeks. “I’m really sorry for your luck. Again, what do you want?”
“I need a favor.”
Ah hell. The last time Mark needed a favor, Kelly ended up watching three little girls—scratch that, three little terrorists—all under the age of six so he could go bang their mom. “If this involves you getting laid, I’m not interested. Try that website for nanny services.”
“Don’t be bitter. It doesn’t suit you.”
“Point, Mark. Let’s get to the point.” She rubbed a hand over her messy hair and down her face. People should not be awake at three a.m., especially people like her.
“Remember that actor that had his plane serviced a couple months ago?”
Kelly answered with a grunt. She had to admit, it was pretty sweet that Mark had spent an entire afternoon chauffeuring around a big time celebrity while his plane was checked out. They went to lunch and spent the afternoon driving around and chatting like old friends. That was just Mark, though. He had the best luck of any person she’d ever met.
“We were having lunch and he starts telling me that he likes to hide out, right. No cameras, no interviews, just shootin’ the shit. We got along, so I offered for him to stay around here when he needed to.”
Kelly cursed. She knew exactly what Mark had offered. “What did you promise and how screwed am I?”
“Let me finish.” Mark sighed, his nerves clearly shot. “So I might have led him to believe that I knew someone with a private bed and breakfast type place that is way off in the hills.”
“Damn it, Mark. You know Pops doesn’t like strangers.”
“Well, here’s the thing. He might have told his girlfriend about this little hidey-hole.”
Kelly groaned. “Might have? God, you make me want to hold your head under water until the bubbles quit.”
“Plane lands in an hour, private runway H.”
Kelly was already pulling on her jeans because this was Mark. Even though Mark was a pain in the ass, he would give his left nut for her. “Do you mean to tell me that now I have to play hostess to some stuck up actress in hiding because she’s in trouble and needs her publicist to smooth things over?”
“You know I love you, right?”
“Ha! This is why I don’t do the whole love thing. Men are pigs.”
“All but me, babe. You’re a freaking angel. Private run—”
“Runway H, got it, got it. Bye.”
Kelly stood in the hangar at four in the morning. She was freezing. The November winds cut through her hoodie down to her bones. The private runways on this side of the small airport were lifeless. If this was another one of Mark’s jokes, she would hang him and beat him like a dirty rug.
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Mark enjoyed playing jokes, particularly on her.
As unfair as it was, he had to be the luckiest guy on the planet. God only knew how many pictures he had with famous people who flew into the airport and happened to land in the private hangar where he worked. The photos lined his wall. Movie stars, rock stars, even a porn star. Kelly didn’t ask how he knew who she was. Some things needed to remain a mystery between friends.
The likelihood of this being real was high. As a small plane came in for a landing, Kelly took out her phone to see exactly who she was hosting.
“Mark?”
“That’s his plane.”
“His plane. It’s a guy? You said your friend told his girlfriend.”
Mark chuckled mischievously. “And she turned around and told her friend—an actor.”
“Why won’t you tell me who he is? Is this one of your pranks?” Kelly looked around, expecting to find Mark watching and laughing. “I will have your testicles.”
“No pranks. This is honest to God the luckiest day of your life.”
“Come on, Mark. Seriously, will I even recognize this guy? Have I seen any of his movies? What is he, extra number one hundred and fifty—” She stopped mid-sentence when her eyes locked on to the man stepping out of the private jet. “Holy. Shit. Please tell me that is not…”
“Your very own guilty pleasure, Trevor Jacobs. Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy Birthday for the next twenty years.”
“If you ever need a kidney, I’m your girl. Gotta go.” She hung up to Mark laughing and saying, “You’re welcome.”
Kelly watched her ultimate celebrity crush shoulder a duffle bag and head in her direction.
Get The Roles We Play.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JoAnna Grace lives in a world of alpha males and strong females where true love conquers all—at least in her writing! A proud indie, she has published The Divine Chronicles, the Blake Pride Series, and more. Joanna loves paranormal and urban fantasy romance novels. She’s a romantic at heart.
From the time she started holding a crayon she began to create magical worlds. Living in the real world was never an option. JoAnna’s tales are spun at her home in East Texas where she lives with her Prince Charming, three kids, and a couple dogs. When not hiding behind the computer screen chugging coffee, you can find her shopping. singing with the radio, or speaking on behalf of Y&R, a public relations and publishing company.
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BOOKS BY JOANNA GRACE
Divine Chronicle Series:
Divine Awakening
Divine Destiny
Divine Judgment
The Divine Chronicles Box Set #1
Divine Encounter
Divine Pursuit (Coming Soon)
The Roles We Play
Blake Pride Series:
Pride Before The Fall
Break Her Fall
The Harder They Fall
Divided We Fall (Coming Soon)
Omega Office Romance Series: (Coming Soon)
Crossing The Lines
Blurring The Lines
Erasing The Lines
FIND JOANNA ONLINE
Find JoAnna’s Books online: authorjoannagrace.com or yandrpublishing.com
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