by Elodie Colt
“Are the guards in position?” Jimmy asked Cole, referring to our new security team Serena had sent us.
“Yes, sir!” Cole called out with a mock salute, making me roll my eyes. Bet on Cole to put on a show whenever he got the chance. “Ian and Xanders are guarding the northern exit to the cemetery, Patricia and Tamara are positioned at the southern entrance, and Harvey and Kim are preparing for their next shift.”
“Excellent, thanks.”
I turned back to my monitors. New cameras were already installed, recording the exit to the cemetery to cover up any blank spots. After Haylie had been lured out by that Racer bitch Aitana and her minions of Hunters, we’d agreed on investing in more security, especially as the compound’s location was no secret any longer. If the Hunters intended to sneak in through the any of the two exits, we would be prepared.
As Cole had said, two guards were positioned next to the entrance, one of them being Xanders. I squinted my eyes to get a better look. The other man was unfamiliar. He was nearly seven feet tall and as bulky as a bodybuilder. I was certain I’d never seen this guy before.
“Who the hell is this?” I asked sharply, addressing no one in particular.
“This, my friend, is Arnie,” Cole answered from behind me when seeing what I was frowning at. “It’s his nickname, and I think it fits. I told you he had skills.”
I threw Cole a puzzled look. “What are you talking about?”
“This is Ian, our Freshman. His shifting abilities are quite unique. Most Shifter can only play with their superficial appearance like eye color or hair length, but Ian can modify his height and muscle mass.”
My eyes flicked back to the screen. On closer inspection, the face was familiar. “This is your Freshman? The little guy with the bald head?” I asked in disbelief, remembering Ian—one of the seven Roes Serena had sent us as back up, including Cole as their team leader. I’d been quite pissed Serena found it useful to help us out with a Shifter who was also a Freshman on top.
“Yep. His ability is very convenient when it comes to guarding duties.” I couldn’t disagree. The guy looked really scary. Few people would be as stupid as to take him on.
“And what if it comes to a fight? What use is his appearance if he can’t fight back?” As far as I remembered Ian from our brief introduction, he was small and chubby. He wouldn’t stand a chance against a trained Roe, least of all Fighters or Racers.
“Oh, he can, just not in the usual way. He can multiply the density of his muscles and skin. If you punch him, it feels like connecting with concrete. You could as well fight a steel wall. He’s quite robust, to say the least.”
“How long can he keep it up for?” Chris wanted to know, leaning in closer to the screen.
“One shift, easily. Not that long in battle because it drains his energy quickly, but in general, he can keep the façade as long as needed.”
“Impressive,” Jimmy muttered, stopping by my side. “How is he able to achieve that before the Awakening?” My thoughts exactly. Every Roe was able to tap into their abilities before their Awakening, but their full power only came through afterward. Which brought me back to the fact that Haylie had yet to undergo the process, although she still had nearly two years left until then, much to my relief.
It was said that the Awakening was much more intense for Naturals—not just more painful in phase one, the Inferno, and phase two, the Glaciation, but also more arousing in phase three, the Revival. Lisa, our unseeing Watcher, who had the gift to feel a person’s vibes, had suggested I stay with Haylie during the Awakening, but even thinking about being present when she hit the Revival, all hot and needy, made my cock go wild.
“The reason he came to us in the first place,” Cole continued to explain, bringing me back to reality, “was that his parents—both Fighters—forced him to use his ability on a very high level since he was a child. We assume this caused his ability to grow fast, similar to a bodybuilder injecting anabolic steroids.”
“Both his parents were Fighters?” Chris repeated in surprise. “A strange combination.”
In that moment, Cassie stepped in, followed by Phil. I threw him a suspicious look, trying to find any clue there was something going on between the two, but his face gave nothing away.
Cole squared his shoulders when he followed my gaze, eyes raking over Cassie with keen interest. I didn’t mind as long as he kept his hungry gaze away from Haylie. Oh, Cassie would love this. Nothing better to make little Cass happy than male attention.
“Now, this is a new face,” Cole announced loudly, back to his playful self. Gathering from where his eyes trailed over her super tight jeans, Cassie’s face was secondary to him at the moment.
“I think we haven’t been introduced, yet.” A huff of wind, and Cole was in front of Cassie’s face in the blink of an eye, as usual showing off the Racer in him.
Cassie’s eyebrows rose, her expression bored. “And you are…?” she asked as if Cole was stealing her valuable time. Chris threw me a look as if to say What’s going on with her?, but I was just as clueless and shrugged in response.
Cole didn’t let himself get agitated by her, though, stretching out his hand for her to shake. “Cole Thompson, and more than pleased to meet you.”
Chris snorted, and I nearly did the same. I couldn’t believe women were actually falling for Cole’s shit.
Reluctantly, Cassie took Cole’s outstretched hand. She didn’t seem to be in the least bit taken with him, much to my surprise. Either Cole was losing his charms, or Cassie was really not the same anymore.
“Cassie Steward and frankly, not interested in ass-kissers like you. If you excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”
My eyebrows nearly connected with my hairline for the second time that day, and Chris’ mouth popped open as we both stared after her. She plopped down in her office seat, not gracing Cole with another glance. My eyes trailed to him. His composure wavered for a second before he caught himself, strolling back to us.
“Hot,” he muttered in awe, eyes glued to Cassie’s backside.
“I’d be careful if I were you. That means if you value your balls hanging where they are now,” Chris cautioned, inclining his head to Cole’s pants.
“A challenge. I like that,” Cole retorted, unfazed by Chris’ comment.
The door banged open again, and Scott and Josh tumbled in, both of them laughing their asses off for some unknown reason. Scott was howling with laughter, tears already streaming down his face. He clapped Josh on the shoulder in a dude-like gesture, keeping his hand there to steady him.
“Man, that was hilarious!” Josh snickered, causing me to groan. I’d bet my Fighter blood that they were stoned. Count on Scott to be high every time of the day.
“What the hell is going on with you?” Chris asked, eyeing them dubiously.
“Oh, man.” Scott snickered with a shake of his head. “Josh and I were just walking down the hallway and suddenly, we both tripped over our own feet and made a simultaneous face-plant. I’m glad no one saw us.”
“A pity I missed that.”
“No idea what happened. Josh even checked the ground for a rope or something in case someone wanted to set a snare for us, but there was nothing.”
“Yeah, it was really crazy,” Josh continued. “We both felt dizzy all of a sudden and fell like sacks at the same time.”
“Seriously guys, I’m not a Tracer but even I can smell the weed pouring from your pores,” Cole commented drily, and I smacked his shin with my foot. Why couldn’t the dumbass keep his stupid mouth shut?
“Guys,” came Jimmy’s warning voice from behind. I groaned. Too late. “I’d rather you don’t lose another word about that. I don’t want to know any of the shit you’re smoking, swallowing, injecting, or sticking up your asses. Understood?”
Scott’s grin vanished as if just realizing our compound leader was present. He cleared his throat and nodded in embarrassment.
“Hey, what’s going on with that camera?” Chr
is asked, and I turned around to see where he was pointing at.
The camera monitoring the corridor of my room flickered. The image switched on and off, interrupted by gray and white streaks, like a television missing a signal. Typing on my keyboard, I checked the connection.
“Strange. The system tells me everything’s fine.”
“I can have a look at it,” Cole offered and, with a low whoosh, was out of the room before I could reply, appearing on the screen a few seconds later.
While Cole was fumbling with the device, I scanned the other screens. There were recordings of the corridors, the training rooms, and the main hall, but Haylie was nowhere in sight. As usual, my stomach made an uncomfortable flip.
“Hey, Chris. Did you see Haylie before you came here?”
“No. Why?”
“Just wondering because she wanted to train in the afternoon.” And she’s not in any of the training halls.
“She said at lunch she wanted to meditate.”
“But she’s not in the cemetery where she usually meditates. That only leaves Jenna’s old training room.” And I hadn’t seen her going there.
Chris shook his head. “Just came from there because I borrowed a mattress for my class. The room was empty.”
I inhaled on a tremble as a horrible déjà-vu struck me, recalling the day Lauren had been kidnapped by the Hunters, and Haylie took off after her. I forced myself to dismiss the thought quickly. Cole’s team of guards was here now to prevent exactly that.
“Dylan, you need to stop this,” Chris pleaded in a low voice so no one could overhear us. “You’re getting overprotective. Just because you can’t see her on the screen, doesn’t mean she’s not here. She’s probably in Lauren’s room or Sarah’s.”
I sighed in frustration but nodded. Chris was right. My obsession with Haylie was getting out of control. She was smart and a grown-up with a powerful ability on her side. I couldn’t babysit her all the time.
“Sorry, but I couldn’t fix the camera,” Cole’s voice came from behind when he returned. “And you won’t believe me when I’m telling you that I just had a similar accident than Scott and Josh.”
On hearing this, Scott cracked up again, Josh joining in quickly. I raised an eyebrow in question. I knew Scott was permanently stoned, and it was no secret Josh enjoyed a smoke or two from time to time, but Cole? Didn’t seem very likely.
“What happened?” Chris asked.
“I got awfully dizzy when I got there and nearly tripped over my own feet, but I caught myself at the last second. I tried to—”
“Don’t you think it’s one hell of a coincidence?” We all turned around at hearing Cassie speaking. Ever since her return, she only spoke when getting addressed—another strange behavior of hers lately, as Cassie always spoke her mind.
“What do you mean?” Cole asked.
“Think about it. Scott and Josh are falling over their own feet at the same time. Then, the same thing happens to you. I bet all of you fell in the same spot, right?”
Scott threw Josh a puzzled look and answered for both of them. “It happened exactly here.” Scott pointed to my screen. “In front of the camera.”
“Yeah, right,” Cole agreed in a thoughtful tone.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Chris interrupted with raised hands, head shaking. “Could somebody please tell me what Cassie’s talking about? What is so special about the spot? There’s nothing in that aisle except for a few rooms.”
“Just saying.” A mischievous grin formed on her face, and she clicked her tongue before adding, “Sounds very much like someone is playing with… gravity.”
Stay tuned for A Flare Of Sorrow, Book #3 in the Jaylior series - to be released 2018!
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Acknowledgments
I’m blown away by how many people have supported me on my journey. So many lovely people have reached out to me, shared my posts, beta-read and given constructive feedback. You don’t know what that means to me. I also want to thank all members of my Street Team who went above and beyond to get my book out there. There aren’t enough words to express how thankful I am to have you by my side. Thank you a million times!
Special thanks go to all the amazing indie authors who supported me. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to take that leap of faith into publishing.
As usual, a big shout goes to Yvonne, my cover designer, who came up with the gorgeous covers of the Jaylior series. The result is amazing!
My love also goes out to my editors at Swish Design & Editing, and my proofreader Nicole Locker who has been a good friend since the beginning of my writing career. You were so forthcoming and didn’t just help with corrections, but with everything else needed to get my book out there. Thanks for your support and help to improve my writing. You’re gorgeous!
Last, but not least, thanks to everyone who bought my book. I hope you like it as much as I do.
Stay tuned – Cheers, Elodie
About the Author
First things first—I'm not an English native speaker. I live in a boring little town on the outskirts of Vienna, Austria, so probably very far away from you! I'm an avid reader and have been reading English books my entire life. When I write, I can't think in my mother tongue anymore. For a long time, this was the reason I refused to take that leap of faith into publishing, because I feared I could never compete with the others. A year later, I decided it was worth the risk, and now here I am... Crazy!
I’m a hybrid steamy/erotic romance author. Doesn’t matter if contemporary, paranormal, dystopian, or urban fantasy—I write & read them all!
Relationship status—living happily with my boyfriend, not married and no kids, yet. I have a fulltime job in marketing and wish to make a living as an author. Let's see how this will turn out in the future...
I'm too organized. Everything has its place, everything is planned. Also, I’m always busy and looking for work, which is pretty exhausting sometimes.
I'm a music hoarder. My playlist spreads over every genre and is organized very neatly. I play piano and guitar pretty well, but I’m just playing at home for fun. I love to sing in my car. Dancing is my secret hobby. If I could turn back time, I'd build a street dance crew, but this ship has sailed, lol.
I have an uncanny talent for remembering faces and names, but I’m shitty when it comes to directions. I'm not kidding you, I can get lost everywhere, especially on ski slopes!
I don't function without my morning cup of coffee—Café Latte to be precise. I love movies, my Kindle Reader, snowboarding, wakeboarding and sunbathing. I hate The Simpsons (I know, I’m probably the only person in the world, but I just can’t warm up to them), zombie movies, and fish (as in the food—got sick once and can't touch that stuff ever since).
My biggest idol is Stephanie Hudson, author of the Afterlife Saga. I've never read such mind-blowing books in my entire life. I dream of visiting her someday and just talk with her about how she invented such an epic story. So, Stephanie, if you read this, please let me know, and I'm on the next flight to the UK!
That's pretty much the short version of it. If you want to know more or have the feeling you need to stalk me, find me on the usual platforms.
Stalk me here: Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Goodreads ~ Website ~ Amazon
Other Books & Upcoming Releases
Standalone, In Blood We Trust
The HEED ME Novellas:
Book 1, Hire Me (FREE!)
Book 2, Hit Me
Book 3, Hunt Me, coming 2018
The JAYLIOR Series:
Book 1, A Flare of Hope
Book 2, A Flare of Power
Book 3, A Flare of Sorrow, coming 2018
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