Steam

by Lynn Tyler

Chapter 4

  Sunny tried looking through the peephole, but for some reason, it had completely clouded over. She made a mental note to speak to the motel management about fixing it as she slid the chain lock into place and opened the door wide enough to look outside.

  Two men stood there, staring back at her. They were both blond, but that’s where the resemblance ended. The guy on the right was of average height but had an absolutely fabulous body. His white dress shirt clung to him like a second skin and his gray slacks molded to his thighs perfectly. He had a friendly smile and pretty blue eyes.

  The man next to him scared the bejeezus out of her. He was huge. Mountain like, even. His white blond hair was tied back in a ponytail that hung nearly to his waist and his shoulders were nearly as wide as the doorframe. But his eyes frightened her the most. They were gunmetal gray and seemed bottomless. She had a fleeting thought that if she stared at his eyes long enough, she would get lost in them. And not in the good, romantic kind of way, either.

  Faced with such an intimidation, Sunny did the same thing she always did when she felt backed into a corner. She got lippy. “What do you want?”

  The words sounded rather flippant, even to her.

  The shorter man smiled again and shuffled over so he was directly in her view. “Hi. My name is Matthew Samuels and this is Leith MacAlister. Can we come in and speak with you for a few minutes?”

  The soft, Australian accent probably had the girls falling at the guy’s feet. Not her though. As attractive as this Matthew was, Sunny had always been drawn to the more tall, dark and handsome type. “No, I’m fine. Good-bye.”

  Her attempt to close the door was thwarted when the big guy slapped his hand against it and used brute strength to keep it open. “Actually, that it is not a request, Ms. Kerrigan.”

  “And my answer isn’t negotiable. Good-bye,” she said. Somehow, it didn’t surprise her that they knew her name.

  Leith tried to force the door open. Luckily, the chain held but the doorframe creaked under the pressure. “We have information you might find helpful, Ms. Kerrigan. About what’s happening to you. And about your parents.”

  The mention of her parents gave her a second’s pause. Her parents had been killed when she was a baby. She’d read the police report on her eighteenth birthday. The lead detective had stated he suspected her parents had been victims of a drive by shooting. But the medical examiner hadn’t found an exit wound or bullets on either of her parents.

  Despite her desire to know more about her parents, she wasn’t stupid. She realized she only had a few seconds to act when she saw Leith’s fingers wrap around the edge of the door and head up toward the chain. She gave the door a mighty push, slamming it against the questing fingers.

  The fingers were immediately pulled away and the door shut with a satisfying click. She flipped the deadlock into place and smiled grimly when she heard the big man swearing through the wood. “Fuck, lass. Are ye tryin’ to break me fingers?”

  Ooh. This one had a Scottish accent. And apparently Leith’s accent got thicker when he was in pain.

  “The two of you need to get lost before I call the police,” she called through the door.

  “Och, we don’t have time for this,” Leith shouted.

  Seconds later, the blond giant materialized in front of her.

  Shrieking, Sunny stumbled back until she was flat against the wall. Why did she have to leave her phone all the way on the other side of the room?

  Muttering under his breath, Leith flipped the deadlock off and slid the chain off, letting Matthew into the room.

  The shorter man closed the door quickly and took a quick step toward her, holding his hands up as if to show her he wasn’t going to hurt her. “Relax, Sunny. We’re here to tell you about what’s happening, that’s all. If you’re parents had lived, you would have already known all about this. In fact, you would have been transported to the MacAlister castle at the first sign of your magic.”

  Were these people insane? “Magic? Magic? Don’t come any closer,” she warned when Leith took a few steps toward her.

  Matthew reached out and made a beckoning motion to her. “We’re not joking,” he said. “We’ll tell you everything you need to know once we’re on the plane. But we should really get moving. It’s not safe to stay here, especially now.”

  A hysterical giggle escaped her. “You think I’m going with you? Do I look stupid to you?”

  Leith growled and made a slashing motion. “Lass, ’tis past time we left. Doona make this harder than it has to be.”

  It seemed irritation also made the Scot’s accent thicker. Maybe it was best not to annoy the crazy men. “Look, if you leave, I won’t call the police. We’ll just forget this ever happened.”

  Leith laughed harshly. Reasoning with him was obviously not going to work.

  Matthew patted the bigger man on the arm. “Relax, Leith. Let’s explain some of it to her immediately, okay? I would be freaked out too if I was in her position.”

  Shoving his hands through his long hair, causing some of the blond locks escaped the ponytail, Leith sighed and nodded. “Do it quickly, lad. I’m getting the twitchy sensation that says someone’s on our tail.”

  “Okay, Sunny—can I call you Sunny?—it’s pretty simple actually. You’re a witch. A fire handler, to be specific. Anyway, there’s only one handler for each element at a time. When a handler dies, another one is born sometime in the same year. They don’t come into their powers until they turn twenty-five, which is why you haven’t been able to summon or create fire until recently.”

  Sunny held up her hand. “You guys are wacko.” Still, how did they know about the fires that had been happening since her twenty-fifth birthday?

  “We weren’t aware that your parents had a child,” Leith said suddenly. “Had we been aware of you when we learned about their deaths, you would have been raised at MacAlister castle. When certain signs appeared as a child, you would have been watched very carefully. None of this would have been necessary.”

  Matthew nodded and looked over his shoulder toward the door. “The ADHD, the problems controlling your temper, the delusions and hallucinations you had as a child are all signs of a handler.”

  It was eerie, really, how accurate Matthew was about her childhood. Still, she wasn’t impressed. “All it takes is one good hacker to break into my medical records to find out the same stuff.”

  “God’s blood, child. Why would we break into your medical files if our intention was to simply hurt ya?”

  Geez, this Leith guy was sounding older and older by the second. If she hadn’t been so concerned for her life, she would have been fascinated. He stood there, looking all modern and sophisticated and then broke out in sayings like God’s blood. It was almost as if he belonged in a different time.

  “You’re right,” Matthew agreed, pulling her attention back to the situation at hand. “But what about lately? You’ve had the feeling like there’s something growing in you, right? Like your skin will split if you don’t release some of the buildup. And when you experience a strong emotion, fires tend to spring up. After the fires, you don’t feel like you’re going to explode for a little while, right?”

  Sunny’s jaw just about hit the ground. She definitely hadn’t told anyone about those feelings.

  “’Tis your magic, lass. When ye were a wee girl, the magic had no way out, but it was muted somewhat. It would have manifested in physical symptoms, diagnosed as ADHD. Now ye’ve come into yer magic, and it’s too big to contain. Ye need to release it, and if ye don’ know how, it will find a way to release on its own. Ye need to be trained on how to use it properly, or ye’ll keep having accidents.”

  “And you can train me?” she scoffed. “Look, I’ve always figured things out by myself. I’ll figure this out myself too.”

  Matthew shook his head and pointed to the curtain. “Are you going to be able to figure out how to put the fire out before it burns down the motel?”

  Sunny
risked a glance in the direction Matthew pointed and gasped. Flames were licking up the cheap motel curtain, steadily crawling toward the ceiling. Crap. There wasn’t even a fire extinguisher in the damn room and by the time she ran to the office to get one, the fire would be too big for the extinguisher to handle.

  The two men stared at her as if they were waiting for her to do something. “Well?” Leith said with a sneer. “Figure out how to call it back.”

  Call it back? What the hell was he talking about? Panic started to settle over her. Her heart began pounding against her sternum, and she panted as if she was running a marathon.

  Immediately, the fire roared, shooting higher and spreading wider. It seemed to be responding to her reactions, and not in a good way.

  “Leith,” Matthew implored. He sounded nervous for the first time since he’d strolled into her room. “You can put it out, right?”

  The bigger man frowned but nodded. “She doesn’t have enough strength to prevent me from putting it out.” He narrowed his eyes and muttered something under his breath.

  The flames got smaller but didn’t go out completely.

  Leith growled and stared at the flames, his face the picture of extreme concentration. This time, the muttered words were accompanied by a waving motion. The fire went out reluctantly, if you could describe fire as reluctant. It certainly took its time dying out.

  The bigger man waved his hands again and the room was instantly back the way it was before she fried it. No damage to the curtains, no smoke stains, nothing to even suggest the place had been on fire just seconds ago.

  Matthew wasn’t staring around the room like Sunny. He was staring at Leith. “I’ve never seen you have trouble with anything before,” he said.

  “Well, I’m not able to control either Anna’s or Sloan’s magic. I could only manipulate Ms. Kerrigan’s because she’s so untrained, but she’s very strong. Once her magic is firmly under her command, it will be impossible for anyone to stop her,” Leith said, his accent fading a little now that the immediate danger had passed.

  Sunny said the only thing that came to mind. “Holy shit.”

  Matthew scurried over to the curtains and peeked outside. “Leith, there’s someone watching. I’m pretty sure he was there when we first came.”

  Oh man, apparently things could get worse. “There have been people following me for a couple of weeks. I thought it was just my imagination.”

  Was telling these two strangers about her stalkers really such a good idea? Then again, this whole situation was completely unbelievable.

  Leith’s eyes widened. “We have less time than I thought. Matthew, do you recognize the watcher as a Takahashi or Keita?”

  Before Sunny could ask what a Takahashi or Keita was, Matthew backed away from the window with another slightly panicked look on his face. “No one I know. But Leith, he’s wearing a turtleneck. In July.”

  Leith rubbed his palms over his face. “Hunter.”

  “What’s a hunter?” Sunny asked, completely spooked by the petrified expression on Matthew’s face.

  This time, the knock on the door did more than annoy her. It scared the crap out of her. “Is everyone okay?” the red head in the sweater asked as he opened the door and poked his head in.

  “Yes,” Leith said shortly, attempting to push the door closed, but the stranger was already more than halfway in.

  “But I saw smoke,” the guy insisted, stepping inside and locking the door.

  “You’re mistaken,” Matthew said, edging closer to Sunny.

  Why the hell hadn’t she locked the door after Leith and Matthew had entered? Oh yeah, they were crazy and she’d been trying to get away from them. Suddenly, Leith and Matthew didn’t seem so bad.

  Especially when the young man pulled out two guns, pointing one straight at Sunny’s head and the other at Leith’s chest. “I don’t think so. Seems you found your new fire handler.”

  “Matthew,” Leith barked as he lunged for the red head.

  As if he was responding to a command, Matthew flew at Sunny, flattening her against the wall and tucking her head under his chin.

  Matthew’s body blocked her view but nothing muffled the noises. Fear flooded through her, nearly suffocating her. A shriek split the air and Sunny gripped Matthew’s shirt. Her heart pounded even harder than it had before, and she actually wondered if she was about to pass out.

  A low, soothing voice started muttering in her ear. “It’s all right, Sunny. You’re safe,” Matthew crooned. Matthew sounded completely calm, which was entirely at odds with his previous demeanor.

  Sunny pulled away and peeked around his shoulder. The hunter was on the ground, writhing in pain, both hands clutched to his chest. “What did you do to him?” she asked Leith, horrified.

  “Nothing. You melted the guns.”

  Sunny looked at the twisted mess of metal on the floor and shuddered. It seemed this was more than she could handle on her own.

  “Oh, stop whimpering like a wee lass and get off the floor,” Leith said as he hauled the guy to his feet. “Ye’re snotting down your face, lad.”

  The guy really was sobbing, tears streaming down his cheeks. Looking at him this way, Sunny could see the guy was maybe eighteen years old. When Leith pried his hands away from his chest, they were charred nearly beyond recognition.

  Sunny gagged at the sight but managed to keep the chocolate bar in her stomach.

  Leith said something in a strange language and the mangled hands started to heal. Soft, new skin replaced burned flesh and the kid looked up at the blond with a confused look. “Why would you fix my hands if you’re going to kill me?”

  The bigger man snorted and shook his head. “I’m not a monster, lad. There was a time when your people and mine worked together.”

  “It must have been a long time ago,” the kid said, flexing his hands experimentally.

  Sunny watched Leith’s face carefully, surprised to see a flash of sadness pass over his rugged features. “Aye. A verra long time ago.” The accent was back, thicker than ever.

  “I’m almost sorry I have to report you to the head of the hunters,” the kid said quietly.

  “You won’t,” Matthew said from beside Sunny.

  Leith said something else and a blank expression settled on the young man’s face. Gently, Matthew led him to the door and sent him on his way.

  “We won’t have much time, Sunny,” he said softly. “Leith erased the hunter’s memory for the last couple of hours. He’ll figure out something happened when he realizes he’s missing some time. Not to mention the fact that seekers from the other clans will be searching for you as well. Now they know you’re alive. They’ll never stop looking for you.”

  She experienced a single moment of hesitation but the knowledge that she would be leaving the room alive with these men, as opposed to ending up on the coroner’s metal table with a bullet in her brain, convinced her to take a chance.

  Tossing her suitcase on the bed, she started emptying the closet and drawers, dumping the contents into the bag. “Do you have to call the airport or something?” She wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. Once she was safe from the immediate danger of stalkers with guns, she could figure out what to do about these two wackos.

  “No need. We’ve a private plane at our disposal.” Matthew said the words private plane as if it was the most normal phrase ever.

  Chapter 5

  Sunny tried to control her excitement as she settled down in the plush seat. She’d never been on a plane before, let alone a private one. The last thing she wanted was for these two guys, who acted like riding around in a private plane was an everyday occurrence, to look at her like she was some kind of naive little girl.

  Matthew pulled out a sheaf of papers and started looking through them, glancing up every once in a while. “We’ll be taking off soon. Is there anything you need right away?”

  She shook her head. She was too busy trying not to stare around at the sumptuous surroun
dings to really care about anything else right then.

  Leith was talking to the pilot, his voice so low she couldn’t hear what he was saying. Whatever it was, it didn’t look he was saying particularly flattering about things about her, if the nervous looks the pilot kept shooting her were any indication.

  Not happy, Sunny stuck her tongue out at Leith’s back, earning a laugh from Matthew. “He’s a little intense, but he’s a good guy.” Matthew cocked his head and looked at Leith consideringly. “Okay, he’s a good guy if he’s on your side. If you get on his bad side, watch out.”

  Sighing, Sunny flopped back into her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. She was well aware she was pouting, but she figured she deserved it after the day she’d had. “I guess I got on his bad side when I wouldn’t let him into my motel room.”

  Matthew grinned and shook his head. “No. He likes you, I can tell. He actually talks to you. Do you know how long I had to work with him to get even a few words out of him at a time? Besides, he probably would have called you an idiot if you’d opened the door to two complete strangers.”

  “Put away that lower lip, little girl,” Leith said without even turning around.

  Little girl? “Hey. I know I haven’t exactly had the most mature attitude since you’ve come around, but give me a little credit. I’m twenty-five, not three.”

  The big man turned around and pinned her with a stare so intense, she squirmed in her seat. Wanting to make sure he knew she wasn’t about to be pushed around, she stuck her chin out and met his gaze steadily. His eyes softened and he strode over to her, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “You remind me so much of my Elizabeth. You’re going to be the death of me.”

  Stunned, Sunny simply sat there. What was with the sudden tenderness?

  Before she could say anything, Leith walked away again and pulled the plane’s phone off the wall. He waited a few moments until someone obviously picked up the other end. “Raven? Matthew and I are on our way back with the new fire handler. Have Anna and Sloan ready to train her right away. Her magic is too strong for either you or me to train her for very long.”