Wicked Wind (Solsti Prophecy #1)

by Sharon Kay

  “They just took a little blood instead of draining the victims?” Gunnar asked. “What could they do with a few drops of blood?”

  “That’s the big question.” Kai shook his head. “That, and whatever species your female is.”

  Gunnar was about to tell them that Nicole wasn’t his female, but decided to let them think it for the time being. Whatever she was to him, he wanted to figure it out with her on their own, preferably very soon and preferably very naked. And there was the other matter of determining her species. Rilan should be finishing up soon.

  As if on cue, Nicole walked out of the kitchen and into the great room. They all turned to look at her. “Am I interrupting something?”

  “No,” was the only word Gunnar could manage as he drank her in. All sunshine and sweet peaches, her presence assaulted his senses in a sultry overload. Damp hair, radiant skin, and those tight jeans again. Blood rushed to his groin. She looked sexy as hell and didn’t seem intimidated to be in the presence of three Lash demons. Maybe a bit wary, but he didn’t sense any fear. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen. She presented herself without hubris, just a calm confidence.

  She raised her eyebrows, taking in his lingering stare. A smile tugged at the corner of her lush mouth. Gunnar cleared his throat, noticing Rhys and Kai exchanging eye rolls. He shot a glare over his shoulder at them, then nodded at Nicole. “Let’s go check on Rilan.”

  He led her to the stairway in the foyer and up to the second floor of the house. They went into the first door, which opened to a large study crammed with books and other odd objects. There were two overstuffed armchairs and a couch arranged near some small tables, all piled with more books. Rilan sat at a huge desk, his back to them, hunched over an ancient tome. “Good timing, Gunnar,” he grunted without turning around. “I’ve just finished.”

  Despite his years, the Elder didn’t look a day over forty. He was short for a Lash demon, only about five and a half feet tall, with brown eyes and thick wavy brown hair that he never seemed to comb. He closed his book, rolled his shoulders, and drew a breath. He paused, then turned to face them. “You brought a friend.” His eyes locked onto Nicole, his expression unreadable.

  “This is Nicole. I thought you could answer some questions for her.” A tinge of unease warred with his protective instincts as Rilan scrutinized the willowy woman before him. He honestly didn’t know how the Elder would respond to her. Would he find her to be truly dangerous and a threat to their world, even if she didn’t realize it herself? Or would he be able to identify her species at all? “Nicole was raised as a human, but she isn’t one.”

  “No, she’s not.” Rilan stared intently at her. “You must have many questions.” He reached for her hand and she hesitantly took it. Rilan could pick up clues about some people and objects with a simple touch, and Gunnar hoped it would work with Nicole.

  “Until last night I thought I was just a regular human who happened to have a weird talent.”

  “My dear girl. Let’s sit down and talk about it, shall we?” The Elder muttered something under his breath, and the books cluttering the chairs and couch piled themselves in an orderly fashion on the floor. Releasing her hand, he gestured to the newly straightened seating area. “Please, tell me everything.”

  If Rilan asked her to explain, then either his touch hadn’t shed any light on Nicole’s species, or the Elder knew exactly what she was and wanted to see if she lied to them. Gunnar fervently hoped it wasn’t the latter, because she was already under his skin. He listened as Nicole told Rilan the same things she had revealed to him last night, and used her talent to ruffle the Elder’s hair, just as she had with him and the others. Rilan went completely motionless at the release of her power.

  A stillness enveloped the room. An old mantle clock, which never told the correct time, ticked in the silence. The Elder closed his eyes, turned his hands palm up, and quietly recited something in a dialect of Demonish so ancient that Gunnar didn’t recognize it. The air in the room swirled along the ceiling, as if a wind was trying to take hold. It wasn’t Nicole’s doing, though. She looked at him, uncertainty in her emerald eyes. Gunnar managed a tight smile which was probably not reassuring at all, and said quietly, “Just wait.”

  The Elder’s eyes suddenly flew open, and instead of their usual chocolate brown, they had turned a solid, milky white. Gunnar had only seen Rilan’s eyes this way a handful of times, and each time it was downright eerie. The elder had gone into a state that allowed him to see more and sense more than usual. He tapped into a deep, mystic, demonic energy that Gunnar couldn’t even begin to explain.

  Nicole jumped off the couch to stand by Gunnar as Rilan pinned her with that pale stare and slowly intoned one word. “Solsti.”

  Nicole turned confused eyes on Gunnar, as Rilan repeated louder, “Solsti.”

  Gunnar’s mind filled with a mix of confusion tinged with relief. Solsti? Had the Elder discerned that Nicole was one of the four mythical beings? “Rilan, the Solsti aren’t real.”

  A chill crawled down his spine as the Elder ignored him and continued staring at Nicole. “You, Solsti. Where are the others?”

  “What others?” Nicole whispered. “I’m the only one like me.”

  “There are three others. You are linked to them.”

  “No.”

  “Do not hide them, child. Their bond with you pulses strong in your blood.”

  “I don’t understand,” she protested.

  Gunnar heard the slightest change in her voice, her confusion suddenly tinged with determination. Questions circled his mind as he looked at her and placed a hand at her elbow.

  “You will bring them here, young one.”

  “No! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She turned to leave, but Gunnar gripped her arm firmly. Cool resolve masked her face as she looked up at him. “I told you, there’s no one else like me. What is he talking about?”

  “His discernment is a gift, Nicole. He sees many things, especially in this state.” Gunnar didn’t want to scare her, but he needed to get rid of the niggling doubt that had crept into his mind. “Think hard about all the people you know. Do you remember anything unusual about anyone?”

  Deflecting his question, she asked, “What’s a Solsti?”

  Gunnar didn’t see how she could be a part of the ancient myth. “It’s a well-known story among immortals,” he said. “The Solsti were four females linked by blood. Each possessed an affinity to one of the four elements: air, water, fire, and earth. Each one individually was very powerful, but together the four could potentially bring about the destruction of the world. And they could also save the world.

  “Several millennia ago, when the Solsti were alive, they maintained a balance between the good and evil forces. They united to defeat Saykon, a monster who had forcibly taken control of the underworld, the earth, and several different dimensions. After the Solsti had sent him to an excruciating death–one which involved his various body parts being taken to the different areas he controlled, and then burned to ash–they lived out their lives and then simply ceased to exist.”

  Nicole’s ivory skin turned white as he relayed the legend. She swallowed hard. “I need to leave.”

  Gunnar’s heart sank with disappointment, only to be replaced with anger. She had used the same words last night in the park, tried to run, and then ended up sharing one of her deepest secrets. But not all of them. He grasped her upper arms and turned her to face him. “What are you not telling us?”

  Green, fear-filled eyes gazed up at him. So much for not scaring her. He needed to check the fury building inside him. With a monumental effort, he softened his voice. “Nicole, you’re safe here. You can tell us.”

  She let out a shaky breath and looked at him as if she was gauging how much to trust him. Good, let her guess. He wasn’t sure how much he trusted her either. She glanced back at Rilan, whose eyes had returned to their regular brown hue.

  “My stars,” the
Elder breathed, gazing at her. “Many have stopped believing that the Solsti ever walked the realms.” He stood and walked over to her, taking her hand. “My child, you will always have the protection of the Lash demons. But you need to bring the others to us. You are vulnerable while your powers are growing.”

  Nicole looked from Rilan to Gunnar, uncertainty written across her face. Gunnar’s thoughts swept back to the earlier part of the morning, standing in her sunny condo, looking at her family photos…

  “It’s your sisters, isn’t it?” he surmised.

  Her eyes grew huge. “Please don’t hurt them,” she whispered.

  Gunnar’s simmering unease pricked his skin, unmitigated by her revelation. “Last night you told me that you were the only one. All you said about your sisters was that they knew about you.”

  She looked at the floor. “Technically, those are true statements.”

  His blood boiled. He wasn’t a patient demon, and her little white lie pushed him toward a snapping point. “But not the whole truth,” he growled.

  “Gunnar.” The Elder’s voice sounded pleasant, but Gunnar recognized the warning in it. He dropped Nicole’s arm and stepped away from her, knowing his eyes had to be flashing blue flames.

  “But…you’re wrong,” Nicole said to Rilan. “I only have two living sisters. The youngest one died when we were small. If there are supposed to be four, how can we be these…Solsti?”

  Two living sisters. The weight of her words sank in. They were all the family she had left. Brooke, Gin, and I–we stick together. He stared at her, seeing a mix of confusion and fear along with a dose of that stubborn resolve. She protected them. And gods alive, if he still had his sister, he would do the same. How could he fault her for that?

  Rilan frowned. “I did not sense an incomplete circle.” He walked back to his desk. “These two sisters, they have a talent like yours, but with other elements?”

  She nodded.

  The older demon gazed solemnly back at her. “Child, you and your sisters possess a very real and dangerous power. It is of the utmost importance for each of you to learn how to better control it, for we don’t know why you were brought back to our world.”

  Her brow furrowed. “Brought back?”

  “The myth of the Solsti also tells us that the four will return, when the time is right. When the world needs them.”

  Gunnar’s head jerked away from the moody glare he had fixed on Nicole, and swiveled to Rilan in surprise. He had never heard that last detail before. Good gods. If she was one of the Solsti, then she was supposed to fight an enemy more powerful than he had ever seen. And she had just learned that she wasn’t human. All of her beliefs about myths and reality, good and evil, had most likely been scattered like dust.

  She exhaled sharply. “Okaaay, so I’m not human. And I’m supposed to somehow help the world. And the world contains a bunch of creatures that I thought were only stories until last night.” She whirled and marched for the door. “I need some air.”

  CHAPTER 5

  NICOLE’S HEAD SPUN as she hurried down the stairs, through the gleaming kitchen, and out the back door of the house. She felt Kai’s and Rhys’s curious eyes on her as she swept past the great room, but she didn’t stop.

  Bursting into the warm fall sun in the huge back yard, she tried to wrap her head around Rilan’s words. Her veins buzzed like a thousand tiny vibrating needles were pricking them.

  I’m not human.

  The questions she had harbored long ago about her birth parents roared back to life. Who were they? Had they known that their daughters would be gifted like this? To play a role in balancing good and evil in the world? Had their death truly been an accident? She felt sick with fear that she had put her family–the only family she had left–into danger, despite her efforts to protect them.

  I’m not human. Brooke and Gin aren’t either

  She had always known she was different. But this?

  The old demon had known, instantly and without a doubt, what she was. Knew that there were more like her, linked by blood. There was no possibility of keeping it from him. Not that she had thought about hiding her own skills, because she had come here for answers. Sharp dread and confusion caged her, a stomach-twisting contrast to the serenity of the lush green yard.

  Heavy footfalls thudded behind her in the grass. She turned. Gunnar. The azure fury in his eyes a few minutes earlier had banked a bit, but she still took an instinctive step back. Not that it would do much good.

  He stopped a mere foot away from her, glaring. “Why didn’t you tell me about them last night?”

  She returned the icy stare. “Why should I?”

  “Because I asked you.”

  She made a feminine sound of disgust. “You’re crazy if you think I’d instantly spill their secrets to a stranger.” Her last word hung between them like a smoky cloud.

  He shot a dark look at the branches above her, then raked a hand through his thick hair. “Nicole, you heard Rilan. You’re all vulnerable while you’re growing into your power.”

  “I would never put them in jeopardy.”

  “Neither would I. But telling half truths isn’t going to cut it. Neither is staying in that building of yours, with its sorry-ass excuse for a security system.”

  “It’s my home.”

  “Well, welcome to your new one.” He jerked his head toward the house.

  “Brooke and I have lived there for two years, and nothing has ever happened to us or anyone else in the building!”

  “But you just recently started working on developing and controlling your powers.”

  “So?”

  “So, that was before you two started running around the worst areas of the city, zinging power left and right, playing Thelma and Louise.”

  Her mouth dropped open. She narrowed her eyes at him. Her voice dipped to arctic depths. “What did you just say?”

  “You heard me. And you should thank the stars that I found you before something else did.”

  “You followed me last night?” A tiny part of her acknowledged that maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that she met him at the club—but hearing him say it so matter-of-factly stoked her anger.

  He folded his muscular arms over his chest, still glaring at her. “I was patrolling Englewood last night, looking for Skells. Instead, I found you.”

  A rush of recognition hit her. “You…you were the one standing in the shadows, when we got into the car.”

  He nodded. “The energy signature you leave is unique; if any other demons had seen–”

  “You were stalking me and Brooke! It was no accident that you were at the club, was it? You followed me there, too. And then you found me on the dance floor.” She looked away as a new wave of sickness rolled over her, the puzzle pieces of the last night clicking into place. God, she was so naïve. She was just some kind of pawn in his bizarre world, and he had played her expertly. “I’m leaving.”

  “I want you to stay.”

  “I don’t think so.” She brushed past him, knowing he’d allow it, and marched inside to grab her bag.

  He followed her and started to speak, his voice softer. “Nicole, you caught me by surprise. You’re not safe running around like that–”

  “I said I’m leaving.” She headed for the front door, opened it and stepped through, then slammed it with a resounding thud. She didn’t care if it was childish.

  She stomped down the driveway, little breezes dancing around her. Good thing the Central Street station was close. She mentally thanked the Chicago Public Transportation system that she had a way to get home other than with Gunnar. He hadn’t followed her, although she couldn’t take much comfort in that fact since he knew where she lived. He’d let her walk away. Smart decision. She was ready to rip the trees right out of that big yard of his.

  As she stood on the platform, seething and waiting for the next train, her phone chimed with a text message from Julie. Hey, girl. How’s that guy?

  Nicole grima
ced as several choice responses ran through her head. She finally settled on a simple one: Total jerk. Her emotions were a mess, and she didn’t want to say anything more or even think about Gunnar at this point. A mix of anger at him and disappointment in herself roiled her stomach.

  Sorry. Want 2 talk? Julie texted back.

  No. Nicole typed rapidly. 4get him. Staying home w B 2nite. As she pressed send, a silver CTA train pulled into the station. Nicole stepped through the automatic doors and settled into one of the worn blue seats. A huge sigh escaped her. She couldn’t recall when she had ever been in such a big mess. And now, heaven help her, she had to go home and tell Brooke all about it.

  Nicole winced as a coffee mug flew out of Brooke’s hand to shatter against their stainless steel fridge. This was worse than she expected.

  “What is wrong with you?” her sister shrieked. “You meet some guy who’s tall and ripped, and you lose all sense of caution? What were you thinking? Oh, wait–you weren’t thinking. You were acting like a guy who thinks with his dick!”

  “Brooke, I am so sorry–”

  “Sorry doesn’t cut it! Did you even think about Gin and me?”

  “Yes, like I said–”

  “Oh, sure. Was it when you were grinding on him? Or when you let him into. Our. Home?”

  “Brooke, stop! Gunnar might be a jerk, but Rilan understands what we are.”

  “How do you know that anything they told you is even true? It sounds like the craziest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard. Goddamn it, Nicole!” Brooke’s gray eyes flared like a stormy sky, but Nicole didn’t miss the hurt that flickered beneath her sister’s anger.

  “They’re not human. There’s no way they can be. They’re different, like us. Except, they were raised with knowledge of their skills and limitations. They know about the other creatures out there.”