by Tate, Sennah
Desmond’s meaty fist connected with another man’s temple and the man crumpled to the ground. His eyes fell to the baby monitor in Aaron’s hand.
“We came here to save her. She needs help, Aaron!”
Aaron shook his head, “It was a trap you dope! Don’t you get it?”
Dez shook his head, “She’s out there.”
Aaron didn’t have time to fight with him; he had to get Carson out of there. Preston Waters may have given up for the moment, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to come back with a vengeance. He didn’t exactly know how he was going to transport Carson, but his main concern was getting the hell out of dodge.
Chapter 17
Carson awoke in his own body with Gemma on top of him. For a moment, he was content to soak in her warmth and pretend that everything that had happened was just a dream.
Only for a moment though.
After that initial moment, the foggy bliss that clouded his thoughts cleared and he was thrust into the middle of the chaos around him.
“What the hell happened to him?”
“Why are you asking me? I wasn’t allowed to go with you!”
“You know that was for your own protection.”
“Because staying here did so muchfor his protection,” Izzy yelled back.
The back and forth bickering between her and Aaron gave Carson a splitting headache.
He opened his eyes to find an ashen Gemma resting on his chest.
His heart leapt to his throat and he sat up, cradling her in his arms. She seemed so still and quiet. So cold.She couldn’t be… not after everything.
“I tried to stop her,” Izzy said to him, her eyes watery.
“She wouldn’t stop healing you… I don’t know…”
Carson pulled Gemma close and felt the faint murmur of her heart beat in response to his. With each thumpthump of his heart, Gemma’s answered with a feeble thump of its own.
He wanted to be angry with Isabel for letting Gemma get to this point. She looked so frail and fragile in his arms. He hated himself for putting her in this position but he was so grateful for her sacrifice.
Izzy and Aaron resumed their bickering, but all Carson cared about was the delicate flower in his arms. The color started to return to her face the longer he held her and soon, her eyes fluttered open.
“Hello, beautiful,” Carson whispered, brushing a kiss against her lips.
A weak smile turned her mouth.
“You made it back.”
“I told you I would,” he said.
It was then that Trick burst through the front door, out of breath.
“Hey asshole, way to leave me behind,” he called to Aaron before walking into Gemma’s bedroom where everyone crowded together.
“I was kind of worried about more important things than you having tired tootsies.”
Trick elbowed Aaron and then turned his attention to Carson.
“How yafeeling buddy?”
“Where are Ty and Dez?” Carson asked.
“They’re not back?” Trick answered with a look of confusion.
Aaron shuffled from one foot to the other.
“Dezsaid he wasn’t going to leave without that girl.”
“Well, I’m glad someoneremembered why they were there,” Izzy spat at Aaron.
“Look, I’m sorry about your friend, but we were vastly out-numbered. It was a suicide mission from the get-go,” Aaron said.
“Yeah, well, I used to know someone that thought helping innocent people was worth that sacrifice,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her.
Gemma watched the exchange but didn’t have enough energy to add anything. She barely had the energy to keep her eyes open anymore.
“Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but that guy is long gone.”
Izzy bristled at the endearment and took a step towards Aaron, her finger pointing into his chest.
“Don’t you everthink you can get away with calling me that,” she hissed.
“Enough!” Carson commanded, his voice attracting everyone’s attention.
“We’re still missing two of our friends;we don’t have time for this shit.”
Aaron looked ashamed of himself, but he gave Isabel a look that clearly said they weren’t through yet.
She met his glare with a challenge of her own.
A shrill whistle from Gemma’s front lawn caught their attention.
“Make that one friend we’re missing,” Trick amended recognizing the call. He and Aaron bolted out of the house to greet Dez.
Carson patted Gemma on the arm and she groaned.
“But I don’t wanna go to school today,” she muttered.
Carson grinned and gave her a kiss on the forehead,“Come on, let’ssee if anyone else needs your super powers.”
She yawned and snuggled into him once more before finally convincing herself to get up.
By the time she reached her living room, Dez, Trick and Aaron were all gingerly hoisting a young woman onto her couch.
“Alina!” Izzycried, rushing to the girl’s side.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe you got her out of there,” she gushed.
“Nice job,” Carson praised.
Desmond didn’t like having all eyes turned on him, so he was thankful when Alina groaned and winced.
Gemma hovered her hands over Alina’s body, looking for any signs of damage. Carson admired her dim purple shimmer and was happy to see that she looked free from shadows.
“I think she’s okay,” said Gemma.
“You on the other hand,” she turned to Dez who blew her off.
“I’m fine.”
Normally, she would have argued with him, but healing Carson through the fight had taken a lot out of her. She decided to let him be stubborn if that’s how he wanted it.
Alina’s eyes opened and landed on Izzy first.
“Isabel! Oh no! They got you again?”
Izzy smiled and stroked a lock of auburn hair from her face.
“No, sweetie.We’re free. My brother and his friends got you out.”
Alina’s gold-green eyes roamed over the other faces surrounding her, looking for affirmation. They finally settled on Dez and her lips parted on a silent gasp.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
Dez grunted and shrugged, stepping away from everyone else.
Alinafrowned, confused by the man’s reaction, but she was grateful to be free of Preston’s evil clutches at last.
“I told them that you know more about all of this than I do,” Izzy said.
Carson’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he excused himself to answer it.
“Hey, I need to talk to you,” Ty said.
“Holy shit!You’re okay! We’ve all been waiting for you to get back. Dezsaved the girl.”
“Really? Awesome.Anyway, I need to talk to you about something… in private.”
Carson didn’t like the sound of Ty’s tone, but he promised that he would be back to the clubhouse as soon as possible.
“Better yet, come to my place. I don’t want anyone listening.”
Carson agreed before rejoining everyone to let them know that Ty was safe.
“He needs my help with something, so is everyone good here?”
Gemma’s eyes said that all she wanted was a worry-free night to snuggle with him, but they both knew that wasn’t in the cards.
“Hopefully Alinawill be able to fill in some of the details for us and I’ll catch you up,” she said.
Carson gave her a quick kiss and a pat on the bottom before heading out.
The other guys excused themselves as well, leaving the women to chat and catch up on everything alone.
“You’re an Evoker?” Alina asked, her voice suddenly filled with life.
“A… what?”
“An Evoker?And that man, he’s your Traveler, yes? What’s his transport?”
Gemma glanced from Alina to Izzy, relieved to see that Izzy was just as confused as she was
.
“Is that… English?”
Alina’s eyes grew wider, the gold flecks within catching the faint light from a table lamp.
“You mean, you don’t know?”
Gemma shook her head.
“Wow. So, you guys learned how to do everything without guidance?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You mean the wolf thing and the healing?”
“A wolf?!That’s an exciting transport. And you can heal? Amazing.”
“What does all of this mean though?”
“An Evoker and a Traveler are bonded by their powers. The powers are dormant until the couple meet.”
“That explains why this all started after Carson and I met,” said Gemma.
“An emotional bond is tantamount to honing the abilities and making them stronger but… physical intimacy can accelerate the process.”
Gemma’s face reddened and Izzydidn’t even try to hold back her snicker.
“You dirty girl,” she teased.“Also, ew,” she added when she remembered who the guy in question was.
“And Izzysaid this magic is like a drug to normal people?” Gemma asked, trying to shift the focus away from her.
“Yes, and unbondedEvokers and Travelers are susceptible to the frenzy too…” she glanced at Izzy, but seemed wary of saying anything.
Gemma nodded, understanding her silent point.
“Okay, so how do you know all of this?”
Alina’s face fell; her eyes suddenly looked hollow and lifeless.
Izzy rested a hand on top of Alina’s.
“That guy—”
“Preston Waters,” Alina hissed.
“Right, Preston Waters was using Alinaas his Evoker.”
“I don’t know how, but he corrupted the bond and used it as a weapon against me.”
“So… he was your Traveler?”
Alinafrowned,“No, I don’t think so. I think my Traveler was frenzied a long time ago. I think I may be immune to it and that made me a good candidate for Preston’s nefarious plot.”
Gemma’s heart hurt with the pain in Alina’svoice. Her eyes look like they’d lost hope long ago, but somehow she still found the strength to soldier on.
“Without me, I’m not sure what he’ll do now. I don’t think he’ll take the loss of an easy power source well…” she said.
<<< >>>
“What was so important that you had to drag me away from everyone else?” Carson asked, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
Ty typed away on his keyboard, bringing up a number of different windows.
“I just thought you should see this. I wanted to tell you about it earlier but there were more… pressing matters. My observations today have raised my alarms again though.”
“What on Earth are you talking about?”
“Do you remember that surveillance video you asked me to look at?”
“Yes? But it doesn’t matter anymore. We found Izzy.”
“Well, that’s what I thought at first, too. It didn’t seem to fit, but… well, you should take a look,” Ty said.
Carson rested his palms on the desk, leaning forward to examine the computer monitor.
“The man that was talking to Isabel, the one that Gemma was worried had something to do with your sister’s disappearance?”
He played the video and paused it on just the right frame.
Carson’s jaw dropped and his blood pressure erupted like Old Faithful.
“Aaron,” he growled.
Coming soon from Sennah Tate:
Isabel is ashamed of how the frenzy affected her. She has memories of lashing out at her friends, attacking innocent people and… sharing a kiss with Aaron. A kiss he swears never happened.
Preston Waters and his henchmen grow in strength and numbers every day, but Aaron and Izzy can’t stop arguing over their past long enough to discover the raw power of their connection.
Will they be able to overcome the pain they’ve inflicted on one another to fight the evil that endangers them all?
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Also by Sennah Tate:
All of my life I hungered for only one thing: revenge. I wanted to make my father pay for the terrible things he’d done to me and my mother that left her dead and me homeless as a child. That was my life’s only mission. Until I met Marcie. She saved my life in more ways than one and replaced my desire for vengeance with desires of another kind entirely.
My life was never all that great, but it was mine. Things were okay; I had a decent job, a boyfriend and a place to call home. That all changed one day when I lost my job, found out my boyfriend was cheating on me and wound up looking for a place to sleep on the cold city streets. When I heard someone in trouble, I sprang to action without thinking of the consequences. A few hours later I woke up in a hospital room with a grateful stranger at my bedside and a doctor telling me I was pregnant.
The moment I saw her, I knew I had to have her. I didn't know what it was about her; maybe it was those pouty red lips, her biting sense of humor or maybe it was the effortless way she handled my Jag that made me unbearably hard. What I expected to be a one-night stand became something so much bigger. All I wanted was every last bit of Aubrey, but she was intent on keeping her real life a secret from me. Add to that my long-lost delinquent sister moving in with me and my life just took a sudden turn to crazytown.
Everything in me told me that I needed Tanner. He was smart, witty, charming, incredibly sexy and able to do things to my body that I didn’t previously know possible. Hell, he even shared an interest in cars with me. If I had met him any other day, maybe things would have turned out differently. Unfortunately, I met him on the day that I was engaged to a man I’d never met, and that complicated things a bit.
All my life I dreamed of the perfect husband, the perfect wedding, and the perfect life. It's what I was born to do -- be a good wife and mother -- and all I ever wanted. My sister's eighteenth birthday meant that she, too, was on the look-out for a husband. How could a curvy girl like me compete with my model thin sister? There was no chance of anyone noticing me with Sharilyn around -- or so I thought.
I never thought that when the time came for me to walk down the altar I would be looking for an escape route. I never imagined that the man I would marry would be surrounded by dark rumors of a shady past.
All I wanted was a way out of this disaster. The only thing I have to do is resist my ridiculously sexy husband for three months. No problem.
For twenty years I've been an outcast -- a social pariah. Any invitations I received were solely for novelty's sake; no one wanted to know the truth, they just wanted the danger of being near Tristan Fulmore, the caged lion ready to pounce.
But that wasn't me at all. I didn't think anyone would ever be able to see past all of the lies and rumors. I didn't even want to fantasize about it when I knew it would never happen. That was, until I met Marilee.
Most men wouldn't be intrigued by a woman that slapped him in the face. But I wasn't most men. I had to have the firecracker blond if it was the last thing I did.
I got my ring on her finger and the ceremony went off without a hitch... Now I just had to find a way to get my delectable bride into my bed. Piece of cake.
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About the Author:
Sennah Tate is an up and coming Florida author in the world of romance. When she's not writing and drawing dinosaurs, she enjoys TV, cats, and Disney World. Her exuberant personality brings cheer to dark days and she firmly believes that redheads will inherit the earth.
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