Curses, Fates & Soul Mates

by et al Kristie Cook

  “Are there any more like you?” I asked. “Like us?”

  His labored breathing echoed off the surrounding trees. A gust of wind announced Jasmine’s arrival. She held Georgia in her arms.

  “Are there any more houses like this? Any more Centers?” I increased the pressure on my grip. He flinched, hissing a breath through clenched teeth.

  I stepped toward Georgia, but stayed close enough to still hold Andrey’s hand. Somehow what I had to do flowed into my mind. Like Jasmine said, it was instinct.

  “Set her down, Jas.”

  She obeyed without a word. Still keeping a tight hold on Andrey, I squatted down and touched Georgia’s shoulder. The coolness flowed from my fingers, and in a matter of seconds, ice encased her.

  I faced Sidorov. “Answer me before I freeze you back to the Ice Age. Are there any more Centers around?”

  He glared at me, nostrils flaring. “They ver right. You are stronger than the mother.”

  My frozen fist crashed into his cheek. The bones caved with a sickening crunch. “That’s right, you jackass. Answer me! Are there more Centers? Where? How many?”

  Andrey laughed, crinkling the deep scar on his left cheek. His army-buzzed hair glistened with frost. “She vas a very beautiful voman.”

  I cooled my grip. All my anger and rage focused on crushing his hand.

  His scream ricocheted off the trees shrouding us.

  Ice crackled next to me. Flames erupted like a volcano from the cocoon encasing Georgia. She burst through, her skin flaming orange.

  Andrey turned his head to the side, most likely from the heat radiating from my sister.

  “Ready, sis?” she asked.

  I released my death grip around Andrey’s hand. I’d give him some time to think about not answering me again.

  “You okay, G?”

  “Feel great.” Damp hair clung to her forehead. “Let’s do this.”

  We stepped toward the hotel-from-hell, and I braced myself for the mother of all blasts. I slammed the side of the brick wall with a stream of frozen water. A basketball-sized blast of fire shot out from Georgia’s palm. It shattered through my patch of ice like a rocket and into the building.

  Less than five seconds later, the ground shook beneath my feet like an earthquake. Rumbling. Groaning metal.

  An explosion ripped through the structure, sending a percussion over us as a cloud of debris and smoke mushroomed into the night.

  I threw up a shield of ice to deflect rubble raining over us. We backed toward the tree where Andrey was tied, but he was gone.

  “Shit. Jasmine,” I screamed above the mini-explosions projecting from the house. “Find him.”

  The house caved in on itself, sending another plume of ash and soot into the air.

  Georgia and I stood straight. She touched her forefinger to the corner of my ice shield, and it crumbled to slush.

  “Whoa, you are strong, girl,” I said.

  I looked at the decimated building, walls still caving in, crumbling. Crackling and groaning were like music to my ears.

  Flames danced against the dark night. I coated the surrounding trees with water and ice, hoping to contain the massive fire to the house. That was the only thing we needed to disappear.

  Along with everything in it.

  Jasmine arrived by my side in a gust of wind. “He’s gone. I can’t find him.”

  “Shit.”

  “Anyone else hanging around?” Georgia asked.

  “Nope. Didn’t see any astronaut suits either.” Jasmine planted her hands on her hips as she watched the fire burn. “Dang. Remind me to never ever get you guys pissed at me.”

  I welcomed Jasmine’s humor right now. It kept me distracted from the bombshell Andrey had dropped about Mom and my ultimate failure.

  I’d come face-to-face with her killer, and I let him get away.

  CHAPTER 40

  Jasmine steered the car into a parking space in the side lot of the hotel. I cranked the handle and shoved the door open. Zach bolted to me. Jasmine’s speed would have come in handy right about then, but I settled for a slow, human sprint.

  My reward was a tight embrace. There was no safer place.

  Another set of arms wove around me. Scott joined in, and I caught a glimpse of his tear-dampened face.

  No doubt he’d heard what Andrey had said about Mom.

  That was when I lost it.

  I melted to my knees with Zach and Scott. An earthquake-sized tremor vibrated through my tired body.

  Even though the weight of The Center had been lifted from my shoulders, I still felt heavy.

  I’d let Mom’s killer escape.

  “Let’s get inside.” Scott slid the back of his hand beneath his gushing eyes, then helped me to my feet. Georgia and Jasmine came up behind, and we herded into the hotel.

  The overnight desk clerk, keeping guard over the deserted lobby, eyed us as we sauntered in, huddled together. The floor squeaked under my Skechers as I dragged my heels toward the elevators.

  “I’ll have some food sent to your room, Amanda. Let’s meet there.” Jasmine strode to the front desk.

  My stomach bottomed out as the elevator rose to the top floor. I was starving, tired, angry and scared. All of that lay in a big knot in the middle of my gut. Zach stood on one side of me, my big brother on the other, and my twin sister in front of me. We’d survived the hotel-from-hell. Destroyed it so it could never hurt us again.

  But Andrey had gotten away. Was he hired muscle to shut me and my family up? Or was he more involved?

  He’d killed Mom and Dad.

  The dam cracked, leaking tears down my cheeks, but I swiped them away.

  Scott fumbled with the card and finally opened the door to my suite. I followed Georgia into the room, and we both sagged onto the bed.

  I slouched forward and leaned my head into my hands. The mattress on the other side of me sunk, then a deliciously warm set of fingers massaged the base of my knotted neck. I peeked through my fingers and saw Zach.

  “Hey, you,” I whispered.

  He pulled me to him and kissed the top of my head. “I heard what Sidorov said about your mom.”

  “What?” Georgia sat up.

  It dawned on me that she didn’t know. She’d been unconscious. No wonder she hadn’t said anything about it.

  Scott tapped his ear.

  I plucked out the earpiece and molar contraption, then tossed them on the floor. I was so not built to be a commando-chick like Jasmine.

  “Our mom or my mom?” Georgia shook her head.

  “Ours, girl.” I faced her. “I’m going to do the band-aid thing.”

  Her eyes widened, and she nodded.

  “Andrey killed our mom. He told me while he kicked my ass all over the place.”

  Zach flinched. He’d probably heard the smacking around I took. A loud, clunky, rock-solid metal tended to have that sound against solid ice.

  Well, sometimes even bare flesh, too. I rubbed my cheek.

  Scott knelt before us and rested one hand on my knee and the other on Georgia’s. Tears streamed down his cheeks. Even a lip quiver.

  That was all it took.

  A four-year-old wound ripped open again. Fresh and stinging. And Andrey poured salt on it with his escape.

  “But—but.” Georgia sniffed and drew in a hiccupped breath. “He got away.”

  I swallowed hard.

  “You got him good, though, didn’t you?” Georgia asked.

  “I froze his hand into the Ice Age. Not sure it’s going to work well any time soon.” I wiped my watery eyes and snotty nose with the hem of my dark shirt.

  “It’s not fair. I never got to know Mom and Dad. I find out who my real parents are and that they were killed.” Georgia shook her head. “Then, we find out who killed them, and he gets away.”

  “I’m sorry, G. I tried to—”

  “It’s not your fault, Mandy,” Zach said.

  “No. It wasn’t. I’m just sayin’ I’m pissed
. It’s not fair! I want them here. To know them. To have the memories you have.” Georgia’s voice rattled.

  “But you saw the video. She said we might have to destroy The Center.” I rubbed Georgia’s back. “And we did. We did that for her. And for Dad.”

  “Yeah. Now it’s gone and we can get back to our lives again,” Scott said. “I never thought I’d say that.”

  “What about Andrey?” I asked, scared to hear the answer.

  “We’ll have Jas and Jess stay on that and—”

  A violent pounding at the door sent a shockwave through my gut. My hands froze. Georgia’s flamed. We both jumped to our feet in front of Zach and Scott.

  “Open up, guys,” Jasmine’s muffled voice trickled in from the hallway.

  “Are you kidding me?” I backed off the cold.

  Georgia stifled her flames. Hopefully the smoke detector wouldn’t go off. A two a.m. hotel evacuation was not anything I wanted to deal with, let alone be responsible for.

  Scott hustled to the door and whipped it open. “Jas, you about made Georgia burn down this five-star hotel.” He yanked her in.

  “What?” she asked wide-eyed as she strode in. “I heard you talking about Andrey. You know the saying about cutting off the snakes head…well, that just might apply here to Andrey.” She grinned. “I’ll see if Jess can help me get to monitoring him. See if he pops up.”

  “He was the muscle behind The Center. If they’re gone…” Georgia whispered.

  I grabbed her hand. “Then he should be gone.”

  “Back to life in Trifle,” Scott said as he smiled at Jasmine.

  “Yeah, back to our lives.” I snickered. “Smoothies for me and Scott. College for you two.” I looked at Georgia, then to Zach. My gaze hung on him.

  It would suck without them with me. But maybe I could try the college thing now. Like I’d always wanted to.

  The left side of Zach’s mouth twitched into a wicked smile.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I’m going to the community college in Aspers. With you.”

  “Aspers? With me?” I looked at Scott. “Paradise Community?”

  He nodded.

  “You mean I can go to college? Didn’t we miss all the registration and stuff?”

  “There’s late registration. Probably not many classes left to choose from, but we can get in a couple.” Zach smiled.

  “Really?” I glanced at him, Scott, then back to Zach. “Wait, but you’re already going to run at State? When did—”

  “The week you were gone, I decided.”

  “We decided.” Georgia stepped in beside Zach.

  “We?”

  “No way I’m leaving my twin after I just found you.” She threaded her hand with mine. “It’s you and me.”

  “And me.” Zach pulled me closer. “I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”

  Boy, I liked the sound of that.

  CHAPTER 41

  “So, it’s been a few weeks. No sign of Andrey or any other Centers,” I whispered to Zach.

  He hugged me closer to him. The meadow had been declared our spot since we’d returned from California. He lay on his back, me on my side, resting my head on his bicep. My other arm draped around his midsection.

  “Jas and Jess will keep their eyes and ears open, we’ll be fine.”

  The sun beamed its July heat, but I kept us cool with a light mist. What I liked most was how it made Zach’s bare chest glisten. I trailed my finger around his pec, then his belly button.

  He let out a little rumble that vibrated through his chest, directly into me. That sure triggered some vibrations through my body.

  Zach gently shook me, but kept his eyes closed and head back. “You okay?”

  “Four years of running. That’s hard to shut off. We’ve never come back to a town we’d been found in.”

  “But you guys destroyed The Center. Jess scoured the net to find any bit of information. Any mention of a fire, The Center, or Andrey. You guys must have annihilated every shred of evidence at that place, because other than reports of a fire—which they say was started by kids messing around in a vacant house—there’s nothing.”

  That’s what worried me. It reeked of cover up. But I kept that part to myself. I kind of liked this bit of normal I’d had these past three weeks. And the fact that I had a boyfriend was the best part.

  Zach shifted his weight, much to my dismay. He turned on his side so we faced each other, each resting our heads on our palms, elbows firmly planted on the blanket.

  I could look at his eyes forever. The yellow flowers perfumed the air with a fresh scent and danced in the breeze.

  Zach grazed his fingers down the side of my face and smiled. I brought my free hand up close to him and formed a little block of ice, shaped like a heart.

  A brush of crimson painted his cheeks, and he nodded at the piece of shimmering ice. “I can’t believe how powerful you are.”

  “It’s getting so much easier to control. And Georgia. You should have seen that nuclear bomb blast that came from her at The Center. It was amazing. That whole incident really leap frogged us up the power charts for sure.”

  “So, what now? Is she going to talk to her mom about being adopted?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. We’re going to let the dust settle for a few more weeks and watch her to see if we notice anything out of the ordinary.”

  “It must be hard living with them as their daughter, knowing she’s not.”

  “Yep. But she’s at our place most of the time anyway. Scott hired her, so that’ll keep her around the shop more.” I chuckled. “What a weird little family we have now, huh?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, me, Scott and Georgia, brother and sisters, yeah, that’s normal. But then we got Jasmine, Scott’s girlfriend, who’s super-speedy, super-strong, and has super-hearing, now that her ears are healed. Throw Dan, Georgia’s boyfriend who doesn’t know she’s fire, into it. Then Jess, also known as Gonzo, Mr. Computer-genius guy who knows almost everything and just hovers like a red-headed step child.”

  “So…where do I fit in with all of that?” He pressed a kiss to my lips and leaned into me.

  I readily accepted his delicious body weight. I needed to turn on the cold a little since I was starting to heat up at his touch.

  “Well, Mr. Landry,” I said as I skimmed my hands down, over his butt. “You’re stuck with me if you can handle me and my freaky family. But—”

  He pressed his lips against mine before I could say anything more.

  I pulled away but kept him close enough so our foreheads stayed connected. “I’m glad that’s your answer, Zach. Because there’s one more thing you don’t know about me yet.”

  “Oh, boy. Are you going to tell me that you’re half polar bear?” His fingers curled around the back of my thigh as he settled against me even more.

  I felt like I’d swapped powers with Georgia for a second there my body burned so hot.

  “No, I’m not half polar bear.” I glanced at his mouth, then back to his brilliant eyes. “I’m not sure you can handle it, though.”

  “Tell me.”

  “Okay. Here goes.” I drew in a deep breath. “Zach, I’m totally falling in love with you.”

  His shimmering lips curved into a killer smile. “Now that, I can handle.

  * * * * *

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  ABOUT LYNN RUSH

  Driven to write, Lynn Rush often sees her characters by closing her eyes, watching their story unfold in her mind. Lynn Rush is a pen name that is a combination of two sources – Lynn, the first name of her mother-in-law, who passed away and Rush – since the author is a former inline speed skater and mountain biker. All of Rush’s books are dedicated to Lynn, her namesake.

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  WANT MORE BY LYNN RUSH?

  — VIOLET NIGHT TRILOGY —

  Violet Midnight

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  Violet Storm

  — WASTELAND TRILOGY —

  Wasteland

  Awaited

  Tainted

  Prelude to Darkness: A Wasteland Story

  — TOUCH OF FROST SERIES —

  Frostbite

  CURSED

  The Thorne Trilogy

  Part One

  R.K. RYALS

  DEDICATION

  To my parents. Though you are no longer with me, I am proud to be your daughter.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  This book and every book I write would not be possible without some amazing people. To my husband who puts up with my crazy writing habits, strange hours, and coffee addiction. To my sister, Sabrina Williams, who answers her phone at midnight ready to read anything I send her way. To my personal assistant, Christina Silcox, for her friendship, and her remarkable ability to keep me organized and ready to write. To Eden Crane who did an amazing job on this cover. To Melissa Wright for patiently putting up with my incessant emails, for her criticism, her conversation, and her friendship. To Elise Marion, an amazing friend and author who gives criticism when needed and is willing to beta read at the drop of a hat. To my amazing fans, and to the spectacular Young Adult and Teen Readers group run by Derinda Love and Jodie O’Brien for the never ending support and friendship they give to every writer they know. To my wonderful “adopter” Shanna Roberson for everything she does. Her awesomeness is beyond words. To Amy McCool, Bree High, Nanette Del Valle Bradford, Katherine Pegg Eccleston, Tina Donnelly, Ruthi Knight, Jessica Johnson, Lisa Markson, Merisha Abbott, Amanda Engelkes, Katy Austin, Anne Nelson, Jessie De Schepper, Ashley Ubinger, Alexis O’Shell, and Julia Roop you have no idea what it means to me. To Audrey Welch, best friend extraordinaire, who takes me on coffee dates and hides me in book stores for a much needed respite. Life wouldn’t be the same without you. And last, but never least, to all of the bloggers, fans, and friends who follow me in life, on facebook, on twitter, and anywhere else I may be with amazing support and encouraging words. You mean the world to me.