by Susan Reid
“That’s a good idea.”
“In the meantime, all you really need to get started is plastic tubing and a few jugs. I’ll pop back over to my place get those for you. It won’t take me more than a few minutes and I’d rather you wait for me inside your bar.” Gage offered and then pointed at me for emphasis.
“Yes, sir.” I smiled flirtatiously, suddenly more attracted to him than I’ve ever been before. He definitely possessed an admirable leader quality.
Once Gage faded out of sight and was gone, I turned to the direction of the dock where our boats and jet-skis were parked. I didn’t mention it to him at the time because I wanted to be the one to find this girl. Either way, if I were on some unknown island and the only way off was to swim or boat, I know where I’d be heading towards if I were her.
Returning to the body of the Nocturna who tried to shoot me earlier, I confiscated his gun and ventured off to find this mysterious Nocturna before she found me.
Chapter 27
The moon was full and low, which resulted in actively high waves and ripples out on the inky black ocean. The surf was loud the closer I got to the shore. All of that, along with the rough bouncing of the boats, jet-skis, and the normal night animals were like a melodic mayhem of disruption.
I could see everything but hearing it was proving to be difficult. There was no one here and the only heat signatures in my periphery and beyond were from the small island creatures.
Nothing appeared cold.
The creaking of tree limbs behind me made my ears twitch and I cocked my head to pause and listen.
With my katana in hand, I stepped slow and silently through the sandy terrain and salt grass, panning the entire shoreline. If she wasn’t here now, she would be eventually. All I had to do was wait her out.
In the distance, I could hear the rumbling of an approaching speedboat and a several jet-skis. The others would be here shortly but Isis and Sage would probably beat them all, arriving in a rushing cloud of air.
Then suddenly, a scent hit me like a tap on the shoulder. It wasn’t strong or potently sinister but it was familiar and definitely Nocturna, laced with a bit of rose oil. I whirled around just in time to collapse to my knees in a near back bend to avoid the rushing feet that were aimed at my head.
Quickly turning and whipping back onto my feet, I gripped my katana, ready to strike. I really didn’t need it, just like Gage had mentioned before, it was more like a sense of security and a quick means to ending a fight for me. If all else failed, I still had one of their dart pistols on me too.
The petite figure didn’t stop to continue with any further confrontation. She ran straight for the docked boats— wait, more like towards my favorite custom Quadski.
I raised the gun and shot the dart but it was as if she knew or heard it coming because she managed to dodge it.
Cursing, I dropped it and took off after her. She was nearly on my Quadski by the time I sloshed through the frothing, cold water at full-speed, both soaked and pissed with a firm determination to stop her. I sprung forward with my arms out to grab and tackle her.
She squealed, not something I’d expect to hear from a Nocturna, and then she turned to grab me around my waist when I wouldn’t let her go of her.
“No!” She shouted, fighting against my strength and hold, maybe even thinking that I’d bite and kill her in the same way as the others. I could have but I don’t think it was necessary in this instance. For some strange reason, it didn’t seem like she was trying to really fight me. She was hoping to escape but I couldn’t let her. She’s seen both me and Gage, so there was no way that I was going to allow her to leave now.
I realized that my fangs weren’t elongated anymore though. I supposed it was because I was already satisfied and full but they were still considered an excellent weapon. Did this mean I could control them?
“Just let me leave! I won’t come back, I promise!” She screamed. Then, she placed a palm to my chest and a powerful shock rippled through my body with an excruciating burn and tingle that sent me flying backwards.
I landed hard and rolled when I hit the sand.
Hand clutching my chest and my eyes pinched shut, I felt as if all the air had been sapped out of me and my heart was slowing down. I was literally gasping for each single breath.
What the hell had she done? Did Nocturna have that ability?
I heard my Quadski rumble and come to life. She had no keys but I could guess how she managed to hot-wire it.
My mind was forcing my body to move and get up but my body was still in shock, electricity still coursing through me like a burning hot snake.
I could only look on helplessly as she backed my Quadski up and then made a three-point turn, taking off into the darkness of the ocean.
Clenching my teeth against the sharp pain, I waited for the pseudo- heart attack to slowly subside. I couldn’t believe that she had nearly electrocuted me with her touch.
The sound of the surf suddenly began to grow louder and a misty spray of salty ocean water began to pepper my skin and my face like cold, wet pins.
Suddenly, a huge tidal wave— a controlled tidal wave at that, began to form and rise up like a leviathan in the darkness. I heard her faintly scream as the nearly twenty-foot high wave pulled her into it and completely engulfed her, thrusting her back towards the shore where she was cushioned and encapsulated in a huge, water bubble.
Her face was panicked, eyes bulging as she held her breath, trying to figure out what was happening and where the water had come from.
I’ve never been so thankful that he didn’t listen to me and stay behind after all.
Too bad my Quadski was a lost cause.
The water bubble held her securely, finally dumping her onto the sandy ground in a huge splash that left her soaked and hacking up water.
I quickly got to my feet, ready to take her on once again…maybe. If she got me again with that touch of electricity then I was screwed.
Marq had already taken human form and he was deliciously naked.
“Thanks.” I said to him quickly. “Be careful, she has some sort of an electrical power.” I warned him.
“I know but it doesn’t affect me. I absorbed it.”
That’s right. Water is an excellent conductor of electricity.
She wiped her face, grumbling as she scrambled to her feet after looking at Marq and then at me.
I got a good look at her face this time. She looked young, like around maybe eighteen or twenty. Her short, hair was molded wetly in spikes along her heart-shaped face. She had pretty eyes. They were slightly slanted and the magenta color began to emanate a bit when she scowled. To my surprise, she took on a stance of challenge with her hands up in front of her, martial arts style. Younger than me or not, we were still about the same size, so I’d consider this a fair enough fight.
I raised my brows, suppressing a cocky laugh.
“Oh…you wanna dance?”
Marq chuckled and winked. “Yeah, this should end pretty quickly. I’ll just stay out of the way.”
Though I was nervous as hell and not excited about being zapped by her again, I was pumped and ready to take her down for having done it once already and trying to steal my Quadski. I was going to have to be on my toes to keep her from landing any kind of direct hit. I had no idea to what extent she could manipulate and use electricity.
Spying two pieces of medium-sized driftwood, I grabbed them to use as fighting sticks and to keep her from touching me.
“I thought you were a hunter! I don’t know exactly what your kind is and I don’t want to have to fight you, but I’m not going to be taken down like that!” She called out to me.
“Sorry. You’re either gonna be taken down or taken in but you’re not leaving this island.”
She grimaced. There was an almost frightened look in her eyes and I could clearly hear a soft whimper come from her before she finally made the decision to confidently charge me first.
She was defin
itely an energetic and worthy adversary. For every swing, punch, kick, and fake out, she countered with a block and dodge. I spent most of the time dodging her strikes so she wouldn’t make contact but I had to end this soon. One bite would be all I needed.
She definitely had some really good training, I’ll give her that but she was still no match for me. I would have felt sorry for her and eased up a bit but she tried to shock me again, twice, so I had to do what I had to do.
With a series of rapid punches that completely confused, hurt, and scared the crap out of her, and then a powerful kick to the face, I had finally knocked her out cold.
She lay crumpled and still but she was breathing.
“Bout time. You should have taken her out a long time ago.” Cole kidded.
When I whirled around, everyone was standing around us simply staying clear and watching the fight. I hadn’t even heard or seen any of the speedboats and jet-skis pull up to the dock, much less Isis and Sage hovering up above for that matter. Marq had disappeared but I was sure it was because he didn’t want to hear it from Jax, Cole, Pierce, and Phillip about being naked and dangling in front of them.
I was hoping to see Gage somewhere but he wasn’t among them…or maybe he was and he was remaining hidden.
“She has some kind of a shocking power by touch.”
“Really?” Cole was intrigued.
“And hurts like a bitch too.” I added.
“Should we tie her up or do you wanna finish her off now?” Jax offered.
“Tie her up and do it now before she comes to. This time I’m gonna do the interrogation.”
“Looks like you didn’t need us for much after all.” Cole commented.
“I wasn’t sure. I guess I overestimated but I didn’t do it all alone. Gage was here and he should be back. He’s gonna burn the bodies and get rid of the boat too.” I told him.
Cole raised a brow. “Gage was here?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes.”
Riza had just pulled up and was tying up her jet-ski.
“Gage? Who’s Gage?” Isis eagerly wanted to know as she landed softly on the ground.
“What bodies were you talking about?” Sage asked once she touched down next to Isis.
“The Nocturna bodies that he must have apparently already taken care of.” I replied.
That meant that he did return and he knew I wasn’t where he told me to be. Oh well.
“Oh. There were still traces of blood but daylight will take care of that. Want us to do another check?” Sage offered, referring to herself and Isis.
I’m guessing he also went ahead and collected the blood for me after all. How sweet. Although I wondered why he didn’t come down this way, I assumed it was because the others had arrived.
“She’s young. Such a waste. Was she the last one?” Isis asked.
“I know. Yeah, I think so. I’ll explain everything once we all get back to the bar.” I wiped the saltwater from my face and rubbed my eyes, taking a moment to catch my breath.
The adrenaline was still high but it was ebbing slowly and I was getting tired.
“Allow me.” Jax grinned, pulling a roll of thick twine from his belt.
“Right now would be a really good time. We’re all here.” Cole whispered to me as he moved past me to examine the female Nocturna. I knew what he was talking about but I wished that Gage was here with me to make that announcement. Where the hell had he gone?
Once Jax secured her, I watched as he hitched her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Something glinted around her neck and it caught my eye.
“Wait.” I jogged over and stopped him.
I pulled down her soaking wet shirt collar and lifted the delicate, solid gold necklace to examine the charms.
This was peculiar. With a raised brow, I fingered the gold cross and Lullaby dove charms dangling from her chain.
Chapter 28
Everyonehad responded my distress signal. Those that hadn’t been outside, were already at the bar waiting on the rest of us. The emergency crew consisted of two from each element and we were beyond lucky to have them all as part of our family.
Gage was still MIA and I was beginning to get a little angry at being stood up. I didn’t really have anywhere to keep this firecracker of a Nocturna for the time being, so we converted the small cellar into a makeshift holding cell.
She probably would have awakened a long time ago in the time it took to get it all done if Elvie hadn’t put a sleep spell on her. That had allowed us time to prepare some sort of a cell.
Clee put a negation spell on the bars to keep her enclosed and then did the same to secure the walls surrounding the space around her. For extra security, we chained her feet and hands to the bars. If she tried to remove them then she was in for a painful, weakening blast, and I don’t think that even her own electric ability would allow her to absorb it well either.
I was even nice enough to set a cot with a pillow and blanket in there for her, being that her stay would be indefinite until the time came to dispose of her. That part bothered me but we had no choice.
I couldn’t let her go free. Not anymore.
As far as sustenance, she was going to be out of luck. Starvation was a pretty good war tactic in getting people to talk most of the time.
I took a moment to head upstairs to shower and change and by the time I had done all of it, there was still no Gage. Twinkie meowed loudly as if trying to gain my attention and for a moment I thought he was reacting to his arrival.
Strangely, yet thankfully, Twinkie was no longer grumbling at me. He seemed more at ease though leery.
Looking over at him crouched on the floor in the kitchen, he meowed again, stood up, stretched, and then began rubbing himself against the bottom of the refrigerator door.
Oh, I should have known. He wanted some milk.
I gasped in pleasant surprise when I opened the fridge.
Aligned on the top shelf were four gallon-sized, black glass jugs all filled with dark liquid to the brim.
Nocturna blood.
The smell alone made me salivate even though I was sure I wasn’t really hungry for it right now. I ran my tongue along my teeth just to make sure they weren’t growing before I headed back downstairs. Well, if they did it wouldn’t matter since I was going to reveal what my current state was to everyone anyway.
He left a short note pinned beneath a martini glass magnet on my freezer that read:
‘Be back shortly. I anticipated you not staying where I thought you’d be. If you need me, dial #K505 from any phone. That’s your personal code to the device on my watch.’
K505? My personal code? Like SOS, maybe? I assumed that the K was for my name. That makes me feel special but why couldn’t he just give me his cell phone number? Or did he even use one?
I then noticed that the sheaf of newspaper and magazine articles that I had gotten from Fin and left on my dining room table, were now neatly set apart. I hadn’t looked through them since bringing them home but I know that I didn’t leave them like that. Gage must have been skimming through them.
I wondered what he was looking for this time around that he didn’t see or read when he took the crest the first time. It had been lying on the table next to the papers. Despite what ended up happening, that incident and his destruction of it made me angry all over again when I thought about it.
I proceeded to pour some ice cold milk for Twinkie, giving him a few gentle strokes across his rounded back as he squatted low to lap it up. His purring response surprised me, making me wonder how he had reacted to Gage when he was here. Either way, I was glad to have my ornery yet adorable buddy back on my side.
Nearly everyone was gathered at the bar counter when I made it back downstairs. Riza was already serving some impromptu drinks, and an in-depth discussion about what happened and what I planned on doing with this girl was in full session.
I spied Marq, to my pleasant surprise, and he was with Syhenna. I didn’t expect him to come
back at all tonight but I was glad that he did.
“Hey Kai.” Syhenna beamed when she saw me, jumping up to greet me with a hug and a kiss on each of my cheeks.
“Hey, how is the mom to be?”
“I’m wonderful. You’re going to have to come to my shower, you know. I’ll be dropping off the invitation myself soon.”
“I hope so because I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” I assured her with a smile. I eyed Marq, fully dressed in a gray t-shirt and bright yellow board shorts.
“Thanks for your help again.” I whispered.
He nodded. “No sweat. I’ll always be there for you no matter what.”
I smiled and quickly turned away. I couldn’t maintain eye contact with him for long without some form of guilt, even if it wasn’t warranted.
“She’s still out cold. I plan on spending the night whether you like it or not, so whatever you plan to do with her I’m with you.” Cole assured me, fixing up a juice cocktail.
“No, I don’t need you to stay. Gage is coming back and he’ll be with me.” I told him point blank.
“Fine, then I’m not leaving until he gets here and I get a chance to meet and talk to him.”
I mumbled and shook my head at Cole’s parental insistence. I know he was just being Cole but the overbearing and protective attitude gets on my damned nerves.
I took the stage seeing Stone, Clee, Elvie, Maxwell, and Duncan returning through the kitchen from the cellar. It was more so that I could see everyone at once from this vantage point.
“She’ll be awake at any moment.” Clee announced as she took her place next to Cole and sat down while he handed her the drink.
“I’m waiting to hear who this Gage is.” Isis said. Apparently Noemi, Elvie, Sage, and Riza shared her same enthusiastic curiosity.
“I’ll get to all of that but first, there’s something that I need to tell everyone, so I’m really glad that you all came and stayed.”
That immediately got everyone’s attention and suddenly all eyes and ears were devoted to me and my next words.
