by Khloe Wren
I didn’t want to break their concentration, so I stayed silent as I continued to run my palms over her hair and down her back, wrapping heat around her in an attempt to curb her shivering as I did.
After about five minutes, both Croc and Aaron exhaled deeply and rocked back to sit on the ground. Brianna had stopped shivering and with a final cough, she wrapped her arms around her waist as she blinked open her eyes.
Her voice was rough and whisper-quiet, but it had never sounded so good.
“Spark? Aaron? What happened? Where am I?” Her gaze rested on Croc. “Who are you?”
Croc smiled gently. “Name’s Croc, sweetheart. Perhaps Spark’s mentioned me?”
She nodded. “You’re his brother. I thought you were in the US. What’s going on?”
I gathered her up in my arms and held her tightly against me as I buried my face in against her hair. My heat had dried her off, but she still smelled of the muddy water of the dam.
“You drowned, rohi. Fuck, I thought I’d lost you.”
I couldn’t say more, too overwhelmed with relief to have her alive and with me. Aaron took over explaining in a soft voice that revealed how drained he was from saving her.
“I went and got Croc so he could help us save you. Croc pulled the water from your lungs, and Falcon kept the air moving through them while I kept your heart beating and healed what I could. But we couldn’t have done any of that if Spark hadn’t found you as quickly as he had. If he and Falcon didn’t start CPR while I was retrieving Croc.
She tried to move, and I forced myself to loosen my hold on her, thinking she must want to get up to go thank the others for saving her. But instead of any of that, she turned to wrap her arms around my neck. As she buried her face in against my neck, I tightened my arms around her, never wanting to let her go, ever again.
“Brianna, my sweet love, you took a century off my life today, I swear.”
Her body shook with sobs and I looked up to check on how Aaron and Croc were fairing. Stone and Falcon had helped them both to their feet and they were looking better already. Aaron caught me looking his way.
“Let’s get back to my place. I’m hoping the fires haven’t destroyed it.”
I winced. “Shit, Aaron. I’m sorry, we should have—”
He held his hand up to silence me. “Human life always comes before possessions. There is no need to apologize, brother.”
I stood with Brianna in my arms as he opened a portal and we all filed through, coming out in the living room of his home. Heavy smoke hung outside the window and the crackle of flames filled the air.
“Fuck. Spark, we need you out there. Stone, take Brianna to the cage. The fire pump is connected to the tank on the western side of that shed. I’ll help you get it going so you can keep yourself and Brianna safe before I go help the others.”
With a growl, I closed my eyes tightly. I hated this. Hated that I had to leave her in someone else’s care so soon after her drowning. Hated that she needed to be locked in a fucking cage in case the lightning came for her again. Her soft hand on my face had me looking down into her big green eyes.
“It’s okay, Spark. Stone will take care of me and you can go use your powers to stop this fire from destroying us all.”
Stone was there, ready to take her from me. “C’mon, brother. We don’t have time to argue this. You know I’ll protect her with my very life if need be.”
I pressed a quick kiss to her lips, handed her to my brother, then followed Croc and Falcon outside, toward the approaching flames. The air burned my lungs with each breath and red-hot embers floated through the smoke. This was an extremely dangerous situation, one that might just be more than we could handle.
“Let’s do this. I’ll contain the embers. Spark, get as much heat out of this thing as you can. Croc, is there another source of water other than the tank Stone is using?”
Falcon hadn’t been here for long before all hell had broken loose, so he hadn’t had a chance to walk around and become familiar with the surrounding land, nor had Croc. But Falcon was always calm, with a cool head. He wouldn’t panic and I had no problem with taking direction from him.
Brianna
Stone set me on the edge of the bench.
“Let me just wet something for you put over your nose and mouth to breathe through.”
He raced to the kitchen, grabbed a towel and quickly wet it in the sink before handing it to me. Then he lifted me once more and headed out of the door and over to the Faraday cage, where he gently deposited me in the center. As much as I hated being caged in any way, I was more than happy to spend time in this one at the moment. I couldn’t survive another trip with the lightning, and Spark needed to not be distracted as he fought the fire.
“I’m sorry you have to be locked away, Brianna. I know I’d hate it in your shoes, but we can’t risk the lightning taking you while we’re all distracted fighting this fire.”
I lowered the towel to smile at him. “I understand, and honestly, I’m still feeling pretty weak after the whole drowning thing. It’s safer for all of us that I be in here.”
I shifted to lay on my side, holding the wet towel over my nose and mouth to filter out the smoke in the air. Ignoring Aaron showing Stone how work the fire pump, I looked out toward the direction of the fire and could make out the shadowy outlines of the three men moving in that direction. One raised his hands and the embers and smoke began to spin, forming a tight, cyclone-type funnel. That must be Falcon. Spark and Croc raised their hands next, and as the bright red embers began to dim, a mist of water came rushing up from the south, hitting the wind funnel and dousing the flames. Again and again, they did the same thing, catching the flying embers and putting them out before they could start new fires. Croc was also sending mists heavy with water into the flames on the ground, and I guessed Spark was pulling the heat from the area. It was a thing of beauty, watching the men work together like a fine-tuned machine to push back the fire that wanted to claim everything in its path.
It took me a while to realize the air was clearer now, with less smoke. I couldn’t see Spark or the others anymore, but they’d already successfully extinguished the flames near the house and had also pulled out a lot of the smoke. I turned to see what Stone and Aaron were doing. Aaron was nowhere in sight, but Stone was standing beside the cage with the hose from the fire pump lying beside him. I could hear the pump was on and ready to go and Stone’s gaze was constantly moving, assessing every direction for any possible threat.
Lowering the towel, I discovered I could breathe easily enough without it. The movement drew Stone’s attention and he shifted to open the door.
“Pass me the towel and I’ll wet it again for you. You still need to breathe through it. Your lungs have taken enough of a beating today already, no need to add smoke to it.”
With a nod I passed him the towel and stayed silent as he wet it then returned it to me. I felt like I should say something, but didn’t have a clue what. Stone had seemed so cold and distant previously, and I couldn’t forget the fact he’d wanted to kill me when we’d first met. Yet he’d promised Spark he would guard me with his life if necessary. He’d also carried me out here with the greatest of care.
“I can see the questions in your eyes. I don’t hate you. I’m happy my brother has found you. It gives the rest of us some hope. Being immortal isn’t so easy. Knowing you have endless days ahead of you with nothing of meaning to fill them can make a man grow resentful, shorten his temper. When I first saw you, you looked familiar somehow. Despite knowing that I’d never met you before, it felt as though I had. It was disconcerting. And with how I’ve spent the last several years, my first response to things that unsettle me is to lash out and destroy them. I am truly sorry for what I said that first day. I assure you, you are completely safe with me.”
His words made me curious about how he’d lived. I was sure knowing more about Stone would also allow me to know Spark better.
“You’re in the same cl
ub as Spark, right? Do you both do the same type of work?”
He shook his head as he continued to scan the area, seemingly unable to keep his eyes focused on any one thing as he spoke. I was sure there was no longer any danger from the fire, but he remained on full alert.
“Spark’s part of a chapter, where I’m a nomad. No way would I lock myself into a chapter that deals in what the Tampa chapter does.”
I could just about see the anger radiating off him as he curled his lip as though the words “Tampa chapter” left a bad taste in his mouth.
“What do they do? I would have thought every chapter would do the same types of things.”
“A lot do work at doing the same shit. Club business ain't shit I can talk to you about, but I will never see eye to eye with Nycto for what he’s done to earn money these past years.”
I knew enough from reading about MCs that Stone wouldn’t admit to what they did, so I didn’t bother asking more about it. Clearly it wasn’t something pleasant, and honestly, I’d had enough of that lately so was completely happy to not have Stone add more.
“What does a nomad do for money then?”
He rolled his shoulders and glanced at me for a moment before he looked away again.
“Like Spark, I’ve had plenty of time to earn and invest my money. I don’t need to worry about bringing in a regular income to live on. But to answer your question, the clubs pays me to do jobs.”
“Jobs?”
He shook his head. “Can’t tell you, darlin’. Club business ain't anything you need to worry about.”
With a sigh, I shifted to sit with my knees up so I could rest my cheek against them. Naturally now that the immediate danger of the fire was over, and Stone had gone silent, I started to think over the strange dream I’d had while I’d apparently been drowning earlier. Had I really glimpsed my past? Did I have two sisters out there somewhere?
I couldn’t wait for this fire to be extinguished and the men to return. I wanted to curl up in Spark’s lap and tell him everything I’d seen. To ask him what he thought about it all. Would he help me look for my sisters? Because I needed to go looking for them. Needed to know for sure if they were real or not.
Chapter Fourteen
Spark
We kept up our routine, Falcon gathering the embers in the air, me pulling the heat from them and the surrounding area then Croc sending mists heavy with water over the embers and flames on the ground. We were making good headway when we heard the fire trucks approaching. We couldn’t allow the human firefighters to see us. Even if they didn’t witness us using our abilities, there’d be questions asked as to why we were here. Most likely we’d be accused of lighting this blaze.
A portal appeared behind us and Aaron stepped through and beaconed us into it. Stepping out of the portal had me in his living room once more. I was so damn tired I wanted nothing more than to go curl up in bed, but I couldn’t leave Brianna alone out in that damn cage. Rounding up some bedding so I could sleep with her out there was the first order of business.
“Go bring her inside, Spark. I believe I’ve found a way to make the house safe for her now. I’ll be staying awake tonight to monitor both the fire and the skies. I’ll make sure you two can sleep peacefully all night.”
I didn’t question him. If he said he’d found a way to make it safe, he had. I gave him a nod in gratitude. “Thank you.” I turned to lock gazes with Croc and Falcon. “I can’t thank you all enough for what you did today. Brianna is my—” I paused, unsure of how to explain what she was to me. Saying to my brothers that she was my heart and soul crossed some sort of line I wasn’t prepared yet to cross. “Everything. She’s my world now. You saved my life when you saved hers.”
With my eyes stinging, I turned and strode outside, unable to stay and see their reactions to my previously out-of-character emotional outburst. I paused on the porch for a few minutes, taking some deep breaths and calming down before I had to go face Stone, who was still guarding Brianna.
I wasn’t used to feeling much of anything. After living so long, I’d fallen into a routine of doing my job, watching my club brothers’ backs, and going through the motions of life without worrying much about anyone, myself included. But since meeting Brianna, that had changed. It was like she’d injected color back into my world. She’d sure as fuck woken my heart up and it was taking some getting used to. Nearly losing her today was easily the scariest thing to ever happen to me. All the times I’d hunted rogue supernaturals, all the times I’d been injured… nothing compared to the thought of losing Brianna from my life.
With a final, deep breath, I stepped off the porch and headed for the Faraday cage, where my woman had been forced to spend the last few hours. When she came into view, my heart nearly broke at how sad a sight she made, curled up in the center, lying on the dirt, fast asleep. Stone stepped out of the shadows and came over to stand near me.
“There’s been no more lightning, brother. Aaron said it’s safe to take her inside. She’s had a hard enough day without having to sleep in a fucking cage like an animal.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “So you’re good with her now? Not wanting to kill her to end all this shit anymore?”
His jaw clenched and his fists tightened but he didn’t take the swing I thought he might. I knew I should have let it be, but I wanted to know where Stone stood. And hell, if we got into a fist fight, it might knock out some of this emotional shit that’s clogging up my head.
“I’m sorry I said what I did.” He shook his head. “Something about Brianna threw me that day. Can’t explain it. But she’s a good, solid woman, and she’ll make a good old lady.”
With that, he walked away before I could respond. I watched him for a few moments, wondering what it all meant that my woman had woken up something inside my brother. But, with a shake of my head, I pushed the thoughts away to worry about another day and turned back to focus on freeing Brianna from that fucking cage.
After opening the door, I bent down and gathered her up in my arms before she could wake and try to stand on her own.
“Shh, rohi, go back to sleep. I’ve got you.”
With a little groan she turned in against me, nuzzling her face against my chest. Smiling down at her, I pressed a light kiss to her temple before I took us back to the house. It was quiet as I entered. At a guess, Aaron had gone to take Croc home and Falcon had headed to his room, while Stone had stayed on guard outside, waiting until Aaron returned to take over.
By the time I got to my room, I was struggling to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Not caring that we both could use a shower, I set Brianna on the bed and gently stripped her bare. I didn’t pull the covers over her when I stood back to take my own clothes off. Instead, I ran my gaze over every inch of my woman. Over the small marks I’d left on her body when I’d taken her so many times. Unaware of my lack of energy, my cock jerked to life, throbbing for attention. Once I finished getting naked, I gave it a few strokes to take the edge off as I took in the sight of my woman for another few moments, then when I couldn’t stay standing a moment longer, I climbed into the bed to curl my larger body around her smaller one. My cock could wait. For now I wanted to rest, sleeping with the knowledge that my woman was safe in my arms doing the same thing.
Brianna
With a moan and stretch I woke to find myself back in Spark’s bed. It was starting to be a theme, not that I minded. Smiling, I took a deep breath of his soothing sage scent before I blinked clear my vision and looked for him, only to discover I was alone in the bed. I wasn’t worried. I knew he wouldn’t be far away.
Eying the bathroom door, I decided I’d make the most of my alone time and take a quick shower before I went to find him. I needed to tell him about what’d I’d seen yesterday. He’d said he worked for some super-secret military unit, and he might be able to look up the names I’d seen. Find out if I really did have sisters. Although, their names could be different now. Mine was. I wasn’t Brianna Doe but Brian
na King.
It was beyond frustrating to have so many questions with so few answers. Desperate to try to get to the bottom of it all, I rushed through my shower and got dressed quickly so I could go looking for Spark. It sounded like he was banging around in the kitchen, so trailing my hand along the wall, I quietly made my way in that direction, pausing at the doorway to watch him work. He was once more wearing what must be the only items of clothing the man owned—clearly in bulk—loose fitting cargo pants and a tight black tee. Each flex of muscle held my complete attention as he moved around the kitchen.
I’d thought he’d not noticed my presence until he looked over his shoulder at me with a raised eyebrow and smirk, making my cheeks heat at being busted perving on him.
“You done ogling my ass?”
I shrugged, not moving. “As fine as your ass is, I was actually watching your shoulders and arms just now. The flex of your muscles just makes me—”
I mock shivered while closing my eyes and humming. When I lifted my eyelids, I jerked and stumbled against the wall. Spark had silently moved to stand right in front of me.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
With a laugh he boxed me in, pressing a palm against the wall on either side of my head before he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine to silence me.
“Morning, sweetheart. I was planning to bring breakfast in to you. You should be resting.”
I reached up and stroked his face, loving how his smooth skin felt beneath my touch.
“I feel fine, and I needed to get up and move. I also need to talk to you.”
He pulled away and looked into my eyes. “That sounds ominous. What do we need to talk about?”
The sound of bacon grease spitting and crackling had him turning back to the stove while I moved to sit at the table, a little light-headed from his kiss. Would I always react this way to his kiss? His touch? I hoped so.