Psychic Storm: Ten Dangerously Sexy Tales of Psychic Witches, Vampires, Mediums, Empaths and Seers

by Deanna Chase

Roy appeared above me, peering in.

  I lifted my eyebrows and watched him. It was nice not having to feel his foulness. Maybe after my friends freed me from this hellish box, my new connection with Kane would help me keep other people’s emotions out of my awareness.

  Roy’s face contorted into a scowl as his mouth worked overtime. He was yelling at me, but I couldn’t hear him.

  My indifference seemed to fuel his hostility. Fascinated, I studied the increasing animation of his face as he ranted. His scowl deepened, and his eyes bugged as he did an excellent impression of a demon possession. Suddenly, he launched himself and ended up lying flat, facedown on top of my box.

  I narrowed my eyes. “You have nothing on me, you sick, demented bastard.”

  His face turned beet red, and he roared. The case shook, but I still couldn’t hear it. It was weird how a ghost’s skin tone could change with anger. Although, this was an alternate reality, so I guess anything was possible.

  I don’t know how much time went by as Roy continued his temper tantrum. Periodically I’d say some snide, colorful remark just to satisfy my own perverse need to get under his skin. It probably wasn’t wise, but I had nothing else to do to entertain myself.

  Eventually Roy moved from my sight. Bored out of my mind, I closed my eyes and faded in and out of a semi-conscious state for what seemed like eternity. In my weakened state, my barriers started to collapse as someone pushed at my walls. I imagined armor forming around me, determined to not let Roy push his way into my emotional field.

  No! A chorus of voices rang in my mind.

  My eyes popped open wide, and I turned my head back and forth, searching for my friends. A faint outline hovered above me, and I smiled in relief at the sight of Kane. I let the armor fall but still kept my emotional barriers in place.

  There you are, I said, again with my mind.

  And I’m not leaving without you. Kane turned his head toward the center of the club where Bea sat in an old tattered chair, surrounded by Ian, Holly, Charlie, Lailah and Kat.

  Where’s Pyper? I asked.

  Sitting at the hospital with you. She wanted to come help, but I refused.

  I nodded. Good call. Roy’s fixation on her is too dangerous.

  Exactly.

  I turned my attention to the others. Although I still couldn’t hear, they appeared to be chanting. As they did, Roy got even more agitated (if that were possible) and flew around the room. His image moved so fast I had trouble following him.

  Kane hovered closer. Be ready, Jade.

  For what? I couldn’t get over the weirdness of communicating in our heads. Though I suppose it wasn’t any weirder than being held prisoner in another dimension by a ghost.

  To leave that case. It’s almost time.

  I waited with growing impatience. Testing my restraints, I tried to lift my arms. Pain jabbed at my wrists.

  Not yet. I’ll tell you.

  Okay, so Roy couldn’t get in my mind, but the barbs still stung. And I wasn’t asleep, at least not in this reality, and Kane was talking to me in my head. Color me confused.

  I shook my head to clear the thoughts and tried to focus. All of the people who normally worked at Wicked were absent. Either it was daytime, or Kane had closed the place down for this event. To me, it didn’t matter much. They couldn’t see this anyway. Too bad. It would have been a show-stopper.

  As Bea chanted, the bright white light surrounding her started to dissipate, fading into a foggy mist. She stood out, vibrant and full of life. For the first time, I realized the other five people appeared to be slightly translucent, and so did Kane. They had to be in their dream states. But what about Bea? Was this a witch thing?

  Kane, did you dreamwalk all of them here?

  Everyone but Bea. She came on her own.

  Is she dreamwalking me?

  No. She’s awake.

  Impressive. In all of my dreams when Kane dreamwalked me, had we been translucent? I couldn’t remember, but I supposed I’d been too preoccupied to care.

  He floated over my case, smiling down at me. You haven’t seen anything yet.

  Since I couldn’t do anything else, I laid there staring up at my boyfriend. Yep, that’s right. My boyfriend. My smile widened as I explored every inch of his body with my eyes. What I wouldn’t give to have another night wrapped in his arms, leisurely kissing every inch of his tender flesh. My mind wandered to the events that took place in his shower, just before I’d replaced Pyper in the box. In spite of my current situation, my body started to tingle.

  Jade!

  Huh?

  Stop it. You’re distracting me.

  Oops. I guess in this state you’re a mind reader.

  Kane put his hand up, signaling for me to be quiet, while he watched our group of friends. I couldn’t really tell what was happening. After a moment he turned back to me. I can’t read your mind unless you direct your thoughts to me. What I can do is sense your emotions. I can’t believe you’re getting turned on right now.

  I was staring at you, I replied in defense.

  A hint of humor mixed with satisfaction escaped from him into my awareness, and I chuckled.

  Get a hold of yourself. Bea is chanting now. In a moment it will be time for you to join me, Kane said.

  Okay. I waited, suddenly tense and feeling totally unprepared. They obviously had a plan. Unfortunately, I had no idea what it was.

  Out of nowhere, Roy appeared right above me, his eyes bloodshot and a crazed expression on his face. We stared each other down, neither one of us willing to look away.

  “You can’t keep me, you bastard,” I said with venom.

  He raised a fist and opened his mouth but before he could speak, some invisible force flung him backward.

  Now, Kane said with a fierce nod.

  With my heart racing and fear curling in my belly, I stared into Kane’s eyes and gathered as much courage as I could. Come on Jade, I told myself. Get on with it.

  It’s all right. I’m here, Kane said.

  At the sound of his voice, I lowered my guards. Roy’s fury reached me like a flash of lightning, and I struggled to keep my defenses down.

  “Stay with me.” This time, Kane wasn’t speaking in my head. The sound jolted me. I lurched forward. My hands and feet came free, and my body rose to float next to Kane.

  “Thank God it worked.” Kane pulled me to him, his solid arms wrapping around me.

  “This is just weird,” I whispered into his ear.

  Kane pulled away, holding me at arm’s length. “You’re just now coming to that conclusion?”

  I shook my head. “No. Not this.” I waved toward our friends standing in a circle in the middle of the club. “This—” I pointed at him, and then back to me, “—you and me, hugging in shadow form.”

  Kane shook his head, looking exasperated. What can I say? I’d gone so far past my fear threshold, I’d completely given up on being afraid.

  “What now?” I asked.

  He started to answer but was drowned out by a sudden howling wind. Hot air swirled through the club, scattering advertisements and a few chairs. I pushed the hair out of my face. Lailah stood outside of the circle, arms raised. She appeared to be chanting, but I couldn’t hear over the roar.

  Roy twisted as if in agony, suspended directly above Bea. She sat still as a statue, staring up at him, her eyes never wavering. The other four, Kat, Charlie, Ian and Holly, stood circled around Bea, their hands clasped.

  I couldn’t help but be worried for Lailah. She wasn’t part of the circle anymore. Who was protecting her? If anything went wrong with whatever piece of magic she was wielding, there could be serious consequences. It dawned on me Kane and I were outside of the circle as well, but for some reason I had no fear for my safety anymore. I had to help.

  I forced my way through the roaring wind down toward Lailah and pressed my senses toward her. Determination, mixed with a thread of frustration, met my inquiry. Frustration. Maybe the spell wasn’t working
properly. I glanced back at Bea, still rigid in the chair. No help there.

  Kane flew to my side and gripped my arm. “Keep your energy with me.”

  “I can’t. I have to do this!” I shouted. We’d never be free of Roy if we didn’t finish it now.

  “No! You will not merge with him again. I won’t let you.” Kane’s fear penetrated my mind.

  “Not him. Lailah.”

  Kane’s face relaxed, but I knew it was a conscious effort. Tension radiated from him like a beacon. He held his hands up as if to say wait. “Can you take me with you?”

  Could I? I had no idea. Usually I focus on one person and can tune everyone else out. I didn’t know if it would work with two. “I’ll try.”

  Standing together, next to the struggling Lailah, I took turns focusing on each person in the room and systematically shutting them out. Everyone except Roy. Then I turned to Kane. Connecting with him took no effort. I sensed his relief at being merged with me. I sent him a small smile and turned my focus toward Lailah.

  She frantically strained to complete something. I didn’t know what she was doing exactly, but it was clear she was struggling. I gathered Kane’s spirit to me and sent everything we had in her direction. She straightened and stood taller. With a renewed air of confidence she tilted her head back, chanting words I didn’t understand.

  Kane and I stood next to her, our arms around each other, and waited. Everything turned pitch-black. My fingers tightened in his until triumph flowed from Lailah. Then a circle of light formed in front of us, radiating orange and red, and the wind stopped. The room took on an eerie glow.

  Curiosity lured me toward the light.

  Kane’s arms tightened around me. “No, Jade. It’s a portal.”

  “A what?”

  “It’s where we’re sending him.” Kane pointed toward Roy.

  My eyes went wide as I watched Bea stand. The other four broke away, giving her room to move. Even though they weren’t touching anymore, they stayed in a circle formation.

  Roy still floated above Bea, contorting as if in pain. She moved slowly, carefully, never taking her eyes off him. We stood transfixed, all of us, watching.

  The closer Bea and Roy got to the portal and to me, the harder it was to block Roy from my awareness. I took a few steps back and felt Lailah cling to our connection.

  “No, Jade. I need you close. You’re the one making me strong enough to hold the portal open,” Lailah said.

  I took a deep breath and moved closer to her, bringing Kane with me. We formed a barrier on the edge of the portal and waited for Bea to reach the other side.

  Even with Kane’s and Lailah’s strength, Roy slowly worked his vitriol into my being. Hatred and despair wedged its way into my soul, sending small stabs of pain through my body. I clenched my hands tighter around Kane’s and Lailah’s, trying to block it out. A trickle of her airy essence pressed on my skin, but Roy overpowered it. Then, in a gut-wrenching slash, Roy’s energy severed my connection to Kane. Struggling, I sent my own energy out in a panic, desperately trying to hold on to Kane’s strength, but nothing worked. Eventually the pain became sharp daggers.

  Roy started to seize me.

  My eyes blurred as I fought for control. If we could just get him in the portal. I looked up, barely making out the images of Bea, now at the far edge of the portal, and Roy, centered above it.

  “Do it now! I can’t take it anymore,” I screamed through the spasms of pain.

  “No!” Lailah yelled. “He’ll take her with him.”

  Kane wrapped his arms around me, as if to shield me from harm. “I’ve got you. I won’t let anyone take you.”

  I shook my head, with silent tears rolling down my cheeks. “He’ll never let me go.”

  “Yes, he will,” a translucent Pyper said from Bea’s side.

  “Pyper? How did you get here?” Kane’s voice rose with panic.

  “Not now,” she said and turned toward Roy. “Let her go, you sick fuck. It’s me you want.”

  “No!” I yelled and wrenched out of Kane’s arms before running around the portal to Pyper’s side.

  Roy’s energy vanished from my awareness just as Pyper’s eyes rolled up in the back of her head. I lunged and caught her just before she fell forward into the red light.

  “I won’t let you have her!” I yelled at Roy.

  He still floated above the light, trapped by Bea, but his sick satisfaction flowed straight to Pyper. It crawled over my arms, making me want to release her. I clutched her tighter, painfully aware she’d slipped back into the coma. If we sent him through, she’d be lost.

  “Damn it!” I reached a hand out to Kane, who now stood beside us. “Help me.”

  He took Pyper from my arms and held her propped up against his side.

  I focused on Lailah and with her energy mixed with mine, I sent it all into Pyper, determined to either free her or take her place. She didn’t have any defenses against him. I did.

  Pyper’s energy was not void, like it had been in the hospital. It was just hidden. I now understood what Lailah meant when she said she could see things other people couldn’t. Her ability helped me focus on the parts that were Pyper and the parts that weren’t. Specifically, the areas Roy was infecting.

  Her energy was thick, like mental sludge. No, not her energy. Roy’s. The realization hit me and I focused harder, mentally battling the sludge. I forced it all together. Roy fought back, but with Lailah’s strength merging with mine he didn’t have a chance.

  Together, Lailah and I mentally grabbed hold of Roy and ripped him from Pyper. He screamed in anger and lashed out, trying to invade me.

  “Now!” Lailah yelled.

  Roy spiraled toward the portal. Then something changed. My emotional radar was cut off, and I drifted into a hazy fog.

  Chapter 23

  A steady stream of beep, beep, beep entered my consciousness. It took me a moment to realize the sound wasn’t an alarm clock. It was the monitors in the hospital. All at once the scene at Wicked flashed through my mind. I jerked up but was stopped by something gripping my hand. Through blurry eyes I traced the source of my entrapment. Pyper sat next to me, both of her hands clasped over my right one.

  “Hey,” I said, my voice cracking from lack of use.

  “Hey yourself,” she said with a huge grin. “How are you doing?”

  “Water?”

  She held out a paper cup.

  I sipped the liquid through the straw and cleared my throat. “It’s over?”

  Pyper nodded.

  “It was all real, right?”

  “Yes.” Tears filled her eyes and she gripped my hand harder. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  My eyes filled, and I reached out to her. We held each other for a long moment.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked. Then panic flared. “They’re all okay, right?”

  “Everyone is fine. They’re at my apartment. That’s where they were meeting to sleep, so Kane could bring them to you. Except Bea. She was physically in the club.”

  Relief flooded through me. “I figured that last part out. Was that Roy’s chair?”

  “Yes.” Her fingers twitched, and a small spark of her surprise tickled my hand. “How did you know?”

  “I sat in it once while I was in the storage room. Some of his residual energy clung to it. It’s awful. I made the connection when I saw her in it. I assume that’s how she tapped into his energy.”

  “You’re good.” Pyper said, her eyes wide and eyebrows raised.

  I smiled and tried to sit up. “Oh, God. How long have I been here?”

  “A week.”

  “What?” No wonder I could barely move. “It didn’t seem that long.”

  “I know,” Pyper said quietly. “I suppose that’s a good thing, considering all the pain he put us through.”

  “Oh, Pyper. I’m so sorry we didn’t think of a way to get to you sooner.”

  “Huh? You got to me after two days. We took a week to get y
ou out.” She frowned, and shame seeped from her straight into my heart. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I wanted to come. I wanted to go right back, but Kane wouldn’t take me.”

  “Good!” I sat up straight and waited for my spinning head to clear. “I wasn’t in pain. I have the ability to block him out. Didn’t Kane tell you that?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. He might have tried, but I got angry and stopped speaking to him for a few days.”

  “Pyper…” I wanted so badly to take away her guilt and shame, but I knew I wasn’t strong enough. Instead, I gathered all my appreciation and pushed it toward her.

  The tension in her face eased. “I know that didn’t help, but I was the only one who knew how bad it really was. It drove me insane, knowing Roy had you.” Her eyes clouded. “I wanted to rip his eyes out.”

  I smiled at that. “Thank you. But I think sending him to hell was a better choice.”

  “Is that where Lailah sent him?”

  “I think so. If not, it was close to it. That portal had some seriously bad juju vibes coming from it.” I shivered. “Plus, she told me and Kat that she’s some sort of angel.”

  Pyper jerked back. “Angel? That seems sort of crazy, don’t you think?”

  “That’s what I said. But who knows? Look at what we just went through. It could be true.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  I shifted my body, trying to swing my legs out of the bed, and caused an alarm to go off.

  Pyper laughed.

  “Crap.”

  The door opened, and a nurse bustled in. “You’re awake!” She clapped her hands. “How are you feeling?”

  “Fine. I need to get up and move. My body aches.”

  “In due time. First the doctor needs to check on you.” She pushed me back down, and checked my temperature and blood pressure. After asking my name and other identifying questions she seemed satisfied and said, “Looking good. I’ll send the doctor right in.”

  The nurse left, and I returned my attention to Pyper. She held her phone out to me. “You have a message.”

  I read the text. Tell Jade I love her and not to move an inch. I’ll be right there. Kane.

  I laid back and closed my eyes, imagining the feel of his arms around me, and then sat straight up. I’d been lying here a week. “Give me a mirror!”