Shine: Season One (Shine Season Book 1)

by William Bernhardt

  She shrugged her shoulders, never sure how to respond when people complimented her. "The Brits are probably wondering where we are."

  Elizabeth, Jon, and Susan, the British Interns, lived in an apartment building just down the street. They were all planning to take the train to the Canadian's flat together. Karen and V, who'd chosen to skip the festivities and hang out in their own flat for the evening, sat at the dining room table, UNO cards in their hands and full glasses of wine at their elbows.

  Camille paused before following the other four Shines out the front door. "You two sure you don't want to join us?"

  "Neither of us cares too much for crowds and that flat is going to be crammed with all of you," Karen said. "You guys have fun and be careful."

  "Call if you need anything," Camille said before closing the door behind her.

  They quickly left their building and joined the British interns on the street.

  Jon, who towered over the group of women at six foot three, gave them each appraising looks, his gaze lingering on Rachel. "You ladies are cracking tonight."

  Elizabeth and Susan, both dressed in black form hugging mini dresses and stiletto heels, rolled their eyes.

  "Let's go," Elizabeth said. "Smarmy git."

  Jon slung an arm around each of the British women's necks and started toward the Metro entrance. "Now don't be narked. You know I fancy you two above all others."

  "Fancy?" Rachel muttered. "Who says that?"

  Jon glanced over his shoulder. "Stuff it, dimwit American."

  "Don't be so stuffy, asshat."

  Elizabeth and Susan slipped from under his arms and slowed to let him and Rachel pull ahead. Those two would spend the rest of the commute trading British and American insults in their odd version of flirting.

  Camille met Elizabeth's amused gaze. "I hope she's not stepping on anybody's toes."

  "He's too cheeky for me," Elizabeth assured her. "And Susan prefers her partners to be knob free."

  Pretty sure she understood the British lingo, Camille just nodded.

  The group arrived at the Canadian's large top floor flat and were welcomed by Janice. She led them through the high end apartment, pointing out the powder room along the way. The partially covered terrace, elegantly furnished to match the house, held a fully stocked bar, hot tub, and plush lounge chairs surrounding a fire pit. Large pots held lush plants and trees giving the entire space the feel of an oasis in the middle of Moscow. Soft music played from hidden speakers and cars were racing on a television that hung over the bar.

  "Clearly the Canadians either know someone or were given the uber rich sponsor," Brenna said.

  "The owner is a business associate of my mother's," Janice said. "He's allowing us to use it for our entire stay in Moscow." She gestured to her two fellow Canadians who were sitting around near the fire pit with two of the Russian born male GEIV students. "You all remember my fiancé, Marc and my brother, Peter."

  Camille nodded. "Thank you for inviting us."

  “And, of course, you remember Nikolai, Vasily, and Kirill from class.”

  Kirill, a tall, black haired Russian nodded his head. “Let’s get acquainted.”

  Camille met the Russian’s hard gaze and lifted an eyebrow at his formal address, unsure why he made her so uncomfortable. “Let’s.”

  The Canadian woman turned and slipped behind the bar. "Drinks? I have red, white, and blush wines from dry to sweet. There are also various hard liquors and their mixers, or I could pull out the blender and make something frozen." She looked up at them with a smile. "And various kinds of beer from Russia, Germany, Canada, and the U.S."

  Camille broke eye contact with the enigmatic Russian and sat the bag she carried on the bar. "We brought wine."

  "And sweets," Sophia added, setting the large platter of baked goods on the end of the bar beside a platter holding some type of dip and fresh vegetables.

  Susan sat a platter heaped with cheese, crackers, and fruit on the counter beside the sweets. "Here's our contribution."

  "Thank you all so much," Janice said. "Drinks?"

  "I'll take a beer," Rachel said. "One of the Russian choices. I've tried beer from all the other countries you mentioned."

  "They classify them by the color here so do you want a lighter option that is closer to a Lager or would you prefer one of the darker options that are closer to Ale?"

  "What are the lighter options?"

  "Rifey, Stary Melnik, or Klinskoye Svetloe."

  Rachel shrugged. "Let's start with Rifey."

  "I'll take one of those as well," Jon said, earning an annoyed glance from Rachel. "It sounds as though we have all we need for a grand piss up."

  "Piss up?" Rachel rolled her eyes. "I'd just as soon leave the pissing contest to you men."

  Camille nudged the other Shine aside before her and the male Brit could get going again. "I'll have coconut rum and cranberry juice if you have it."

  The rest of the group chose various types of wine and they were soon lounging around the fire pit. Camille leaned against a wall as Jon attempted to impress Rachel by singing to a Russian pop song. The group rolled with laughter.

  The black haired Russian leaned a shoulder against the wall next to her. “You may return to the U.S. minus one member of your group, no?”

  Camille shook her head. “No, she’s just having fun. Though I wouldn’t put it past her to challenge him to come visit her in Las Vegas.”

  “You live in the sin city?”

  Camille glanced at the Russian. “Something like that.”

  Kirill lifted an eyebrow. “You do or do not live in Las Vegas?” His piercing gaze challenged her to answer the question, sending a shiver of unease down her back.

  She rolled her eyes, refusing to be intimidated. “Something like that.”

  “You do not like to answer questions about yourself.”

  “You’re quick,” she replied, pushing away from the wall.

  She dumped her half full drink into the sink and pulled a bottle of water from the mini fridge under the bar. She glanced over at the big Russian as she twisted the cap off the bottle. She gave him a fixed smile, unwilling to allow him to see that his dark look and probing questions had rattled her.

  She made her way to Sophia’s side. “It’s time to go.”

  Sophia nodded, stifling a yawn behind her hand. “Agreed.”

  Camille met the gazes of each member of her team, who nodded in turn. Rachel slung an arm around Jon’s neck and pulled him down for a wild kiss that had the rest of the group whistling and applauding.

  Stepping back from the dazed Brit, Rachel grinned and sauntered toward the door. “It’s been fun, folks, but I’m beat.”

  "You all are welcome to stay the night here," Janice offered.

  Elizabeth nodded. "I'll take you up on the offer. I've had too much wine to attempt to navigate back to my own flat on these heels."

  Susan and Jon agreed that they'd prefer to stay.

  Camille shook her head. "Our other two friends are expecting us. I think we'll head back."

  Jon, serious for the first time that evening, pushed from his seat. "Are you sure you want to brave the streets of Moscow so late at night?"

  "You don't think us little women can handle the big, bad dark streets by our lonesome?" Rachel said, enunciating her Oklahoma accent.

  The other members of the group, tired of the show, moved from the terrace into the flat. Camille hung back, ready to interrupt if the two started arguing again.

  Jon crowded into Rachel's space and stared down into her eyes. "The streets of Moscow are no joke, darling Rachelle.

  Camille quickly turned and headed for the door back into the flat, letting the two have their privacy.

  Kirill stepped into the doorway, blocking her way. “You intrigue me.”

  “I’m sorry. Was I not clear?” Suppressing a shiver of unease, she crossed her arms, making sure the hand displaying her wedding ring rested on top of her arm. “I’m not interes
ted.”

  His eyes dipped to her wedding ring, then back to her face. “Why would a married woman leave her husband to go work a job in another country unless she wasn’t as happy in her marriage as she’d like?”

  “I have my reasons,” she replied sarcastically.

  He stepped into her personal space, forcing her to tilt her head back to meet his cold gaze. “Or you’re looking for something.”

  Camille pushed past him, forcing herself not to let her discomfort at his singled minded pursuit show. “I’m just here to teach English.”

  His hand clamped around her arm, halting her in her tracks. “I can help you find what you’re looking for.”

  She looked at his hand in silence until he squeezed then released her. “I doubt that very much.”

  Refusing to look at him again, she pulled her bag onto her shoulder and moved toward the flat's door, ready to get back to her own flat. One by one the members of her team followed.

  "Where's the ninja princess?" Brenna asked.

  Rachel glided into the flat from the balcony, a dreamy smile on her face. The normally scowling Shine patted Brenna on the cheek as she breezed past and grabbed her own shoulder bag. Camille bit back a smile as the rest of her team watched with various expressions of shock and surprise on their faces.

  Rachel, noticing their astonishment, lifted her eyebrows. "What?"

  Camille opened the door, eager to get out from under the creepy, cold gaze of the black haired Russian. "Thanks again, Janice, for inviting us over."

  The group waved goodbye and they were soon out on the dark streets, headed for the Metro.

  Brenna gently elbowed Rachel. "Someone has met their sarcastic match in a certain handsome Brit."

  "From the look on your face when you came in from the balcony, I'd say you traded more than sarcasm," Sophia added with a wide smile.

  "I have no idea what you're talking about," Rachel huffed. "That man is the most exasperating and egotistical male I've ever met." She sighed and continued softly. "He's also gorgeous, so tall even I have to look up, and makes my toes curl when he looks at me with those pale green eyes." Rachel flushed at the stunned looks aimed at her and shrugged her shoulders. "Which means nothing because he'd probably pull back in fear or report me if he knew what I could do."

  Each of the team withdrew into their own thoughts, unable to dispute the truth of Rachel's statement, as they found seats on their train. Camille signaled at their stop and they filed out. She thought about Jenni and Michael back in that States. Michael hadn't known anything about Shines aside from what horror stories he'd heard on the news, yet he'd still been able to see past their abilities to the people they were inside.

  "If Michael and Jeremy can see us as real people, then so too might your Brit. Don't sell yourself short because you're afraid, Rach." Camille met the other woman's skeptical gaze. "And if he can't accept you for who you are, then he wasn't what you thought he was anyway."

  They exited the Metro near their neighborhood's grocery store and followed the main boulevard, traveled by only the occasional vehicle at this time of night. Camille's feet were crying for relief by the time they turned onto their street. Reaching down, she pulled her heels off with a sigh.

  "Guys, we've got a problem," Daisy whispered, pulling on Camille's shoulder.

  "What's wrong?"

  "There are five men watching us up ahead."

  Camille could see the group standing in a loose circle on the sidewalk in their path. They were laughing and pushing each other as they passed a paper wrapped bottle around. They didn't seem to see Camille and her group of women yet, but they definitely made her uneasy.

  "Let's cross and pass on the other side of the street," Brenna suggested.

  Daisy shook her head, her eyes unfocused as she used her Shine to pick up on the group's thoughts. "They’re surprised that we're so beautiful. One of them is hoping we don't prove to be ved'm so those waiting to take us will go away and he and his boys can load us into the van they have hidden in the alley and take us with them."

  "What's a ved'm?" Brenna asked as she leaned down to slip her own heels off her feet.

  "It means witches." Sophia said through clenched teeth. "It's what many Russians think Shines are."

  "So if we use our Shine to protect ourselves, whoever’s watching will try to take us and even if we beat them someone else will come for us, but if we don't Shine, these men will try to take us and probably rape us," Rachel said in a dry voice. "I just love options."

  Camille's mind raced to think of a solution. "There’s only five of them. We don’t know what those watching are capable of.” She met each Shines' gaze. "We've been taking hand to hand combat lessons for months at Ohm, Rachel is a flickin' black belt, so we'll fight without using our Shines.”

  "Three more coming up behind us," Daisy gasped. “The three Russians that were at the party with us. Kirill is their leader and wants you for himself regardless of whether you turn out to be Shine. They’re starting to wonder why we stopped.”

  "You do realize that they plan to rape us," Sophia gasped, leaning down to remove her heels.

  Camille nodded grimly. "If these men manage to overwhelm our fighting abilities, we'll let them put us in the van and hope whoever is watching will write us off as mere humans and leave us to the thugs they hired. Once they get us into the van, we'll use whatever means necessary to get away." She pulled her Google glasses from her bag. "I'm going to let V and Karen know what's going on. We'll need their help if this group overwhelms us.

  Rachel smiled evilly. "Just when I think you can't possibly impress me anymore, you come up with something like this, Cam."

  Camille smiled grimly. "Talk to me about the brilliance of my plan after this is all over."

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Camille slipped the glasses off her face. "Karen and V will wait, but they aren’t happy.”

  Shoving the glasses back into her bag, she slung it over her shoulder and led the way toward the group of men. One of them men spotted them and whistled. The other men turned toward Camille and her friends, lust-filled smiles spreading across their faces.

  "Hello, beautiful ladies," an overly muscled bald man with a hoop piercing his nose called out.

  His words acting like a signal, the group of men moved toward them. Camille stopped, her team arranged behind her.

  "Excuse us," she said in Russian. "We are on our way home."

  Kirill’s voice called out behind her. "But we want so very much for you to stay, little one."

  Her team gathered in a circle, backs to the center, as the men surrounded them.

  Camille turned and met his cold, dark eyes with a mocking smile, portraying a bravado she didn't feel. "You just can’t take being rejected.” She let her eyes drift across his muscled chest. "And as tempting as I'm sure you think you are, I'm tired. Maybe we'll play another night."

  His smile hardened, his dark eyes narrowed. "I want to play now," he said in a menacing voice. "And I always get what I want."

  Camille took another step back. "I think these little boys need a lesson in how to really treat a lady, girls.”

  "My daddy always said boys are like dogs, if I wanna let one do more than sniff my crotch, I better first get a pain collar and train him to treat me right," Rachel said in English.

  Her team giggled nervously. Kirill’s eyes narrowed.

  Sophia snorted and responded in Russian. "The more I'm around guys, the more I prefer dogs."

  The blond man in front of Sophia, his faced twisted in an angry scowl, lurched forward to backhand the Russian Shine. "I can show you how a dog treats his bitch."

  Sophia ducked and swept her foot out. The man hit the ground and everyone froze. Another man lunged toward them. Chaos ensued. Camille dodged the meaty fist of the bald man with the hoop piercing, then barely missed being hit by his returning elbow. She dove under his arm, kicking out at his knee. The bald man twisted out of her reach and grabbed her bare foot, jerking her towa
rd him. Camille's heart thundered in her chest as she swung her other foot up and hit the bald man in the chin making him release her.

  "Cam," Daisy cried.

  Scrambling away from the stronger man, Camille turned and dodged between battling Shines. Daisy, held from behind by a short man covered in tattoos, kicked out at a long haired, Asian man who had one foot in a tight grip and was reaching for the other. Camille ran up behind the tattooed man and kicked him between the legs. Daisy twisted out of the screaming tattooed man's loosened grip and fell to the ground, still kicking at the Asian man.

  Rachel, her first opponent sprawled unconscious on the ground, flew through the air and landed an elbow on the Asian man's back forcing him to release Daisy's foot. Daisy scrambled away, only to be tackled by the tattooed man. Camille, diving forward to help her friend, was pulled up short by her hair. She jerked her head around. The bald man's meaty fist swung toward her face. She tried to dodge. Stars exploded before her eyes as she fought to breathe through the pain. The bald man curled his sausage sized fingers around her throat and squeezed.

  Clawing for air, Camille fought the urge to Shine. She reached for the man's face, willing to scratch out his eyes to make him release her. Suddenly, the man screamed a high pitched wail and dropped her. He clutched at his face, blood dripping down his chin, the hoop that had been threaded through his nose and a chunk of said nose on the ground at his feet. Had she grabbed it and not been aware?

  "Cam, Brenna needs you," Rachel cried, and Camille realized who had pulled the man’s ring out.

  The Asian man took advantage of Rachel's distraction and hit her in the stomach. Camille stepped toward her friend, but the other Shine burst to her feet with a series of punches that the Asian man barely managed to deflect. Trusting Rachel to hold her own, Camille turned and ran up behind the man who held a struggling Brenna face down on the pavement, her skirt pushed up around her waist and his hand in her panties.

  "Get your hands off me," Brenna screamed.

  Camille grabbed his head. She rammed her knee into his temple. The man crumpled on top of Brenna who surged to her feet, and yanked her skirt back down with shaking hands.