Untamed Hawaiian Heat (Rift Hunters)

by MacLean, Shay

  “An energy field,” Tiaki finally said.

  “A what?” Kiana and Mateo both asked.

  “I’ll create an energy field around the three of us, and Mateo and I will help you jump away from the blast.” Tiaki moved toward Kiana but only made it a couple of steps before he stumbled. He caught himself, braced his hands on his knees, and took several deep breaths before looking up at Kiana and Mateo. “I’m going to need both of your assistance. For me to channel your powers or call to the core magic, we’ll need to be physically linked.” He reached out his hands to them.

  Kiana grasped it without hesitation. Warmth spread along the nerve endings in her hand at the contact.

  Mateo frowned, glancing at the outstretched hand, then back at Tiaki. “Why can’t you just do what you did to disable the other mines?”

  Tiaki met his eyes. “If my energy levels weren’t almost depleted from disarming the other mines and healing you, I might be able to, but I don’t trust that I’d be able to maintain a shield even while pulling from the core. If I do it on my own, I can’t guarantee the outcome. If I help the two of you to focus your energy, even as untried as it is, we’ll have a better chance for all of us to come out of this with minimal injuries.”

  Mateo turned his gaze to Kiana.

  “I can feel your inner turmoil, Mateo. I don’t understand it, but I feel it. Put it aside until we aren’t in a life-or-death situation,” she said, the slight quiver in her voice betraying the fear grasping her heart.

  Mateo continued to look at Kiana. “Are you sure this will work?” he asked Tiaki.

  “It’s the best chance we have,” Tiaki replied.

  Mateo grasped Tiaki’s proffered hand. Kiana felt a burst of energy rise up from the ground. It transferred savagely through the ring they created.

  Kiana gasped at the tingle the loop their combined hands created. Something clicked inside her soul as though a broken link was finally connected, even if just tenuously. She glanced up to find the men staring at each other, though she couldn’t read the emotions in their eyes.

  Tiaki took a shuddering breath. “Close your eyes and reach inside yourself. Find the center where your magic resides. Now call the energy to you. When it responds to your request, direct it with your thoughts to where your hands intertwine with mine. From there, I’ll guide it to the form we want it to take; then I’ll call to Earth’s core magic and use it to help enlarge the shield until it surrounds us. Once the shield is strong enough, I’ll count to three, and we’ll jump in the opposite direction of where the blast is likely to go. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” Kiana replied; Mateo’s voice echoed the same.

  Kiana closed her eyes and called to the energy inside her. It came forth faster than she expected, threatening to overwhelm her.

  “Easy. Send it to me, Kiana. You can already feel how my magic is calling to yours. All you have to do is nudge it in that direction, and it will do the rest.”

  Kiana’s heart pounded at the sound of Tiaki’s voice in her mind. She shuddered at the way it caressed her senses. At the same time, she felt a wave of anger burst through her link with Mateo. Taking a deep breath, she ignored Mateo’s fury and focused on sending her magic toward Tiaki. It didn’t escape her notice that Mateo’s energy didn’t seem to need as much direction as hers. It rushed straight to Tiaki’s and hers as though it knew exactly where it belonged.

  Kiana inhaled sharply when she felt the three separate threads of energy coil around each other before they merged within Tiaki. The power became an almost tangible force when they called to Earth’s core magic.

  Kiana opened her eyes and had to stifle the cry of awe threatening to escape, for fear of breaking Tiaki’s concentration. His eyes were full black, swirls of gold, silver, and sapphire dancing wildly in their fathomless depths.

  She watched as a wall of their combined magic shot through the circle created by their clasped hands and arced over their heads, then down into the ground at their feet until the gentle vibration of the energy shield hummed protectively around them.

  “On my count of three, Mateo, you and I will pull Kiana toward us as she jumps away from the mine.” Tiaki’s command pressed into her mind even though he addressed Mateo.

  Kiana didn’t have to look at Mateo to see the irritation she knew would be written all over his face. It coursed through her like a shock wave.

  “One, two, three… NOW!” Tiaki’s voice sounded in her mind again as he squeezed her hand tight.

  She pushed off with the foot not resting above the mine and launched herself as far forward as she could while Mateo and Tiaki jerked her toward them.

  She landed with a soft thud on top of the men as the mine exploded behind them, sending a wall of heat washing over them. It seared Kiana’s skin briefly before she felt the sharp sting of shrapnel piercing her leg. Pain sliced through the momentary relief she’d experienced mere seconds ago.

  Dirt, rocks, and sticks forced up from the blast rained down, pelting them like little missiles. It was several long, tense moments before everything finally stilled.

  Kiana cautiously opened her eyes. She was lying on top of Tiaki, with Mateo next to her covering him on the other side. She pushed away, trying to sit up. A stinging sensation pierced her leg. She cried out.

  Mateo released her hand and sat up. “What’s wrong, Kiana?”

  She sucked in a breath. “My leg.” It was all she could manage to say through the pain slowly spreading through her limb. Her skin was on fire from the inside. She tried to scan with her sensors only to find them offline. Probably because of the blast. It would be a little while before they would reboot. She tried to sit up to see what had happened to her leg, but Mateo’s dark head blocked the wound from her sight.

  She wished she could see it even though doing so would probably make it worse. She gasped for breath. It fucking hurt like hell. Her panic rose to fever pitch when her leg started to go numb.

  Chapter Eight

  “What do you mean, you ran into a Rift Hunter?”

  Thanos flinched at the calculated fury he heard in Mordred’s voice. “During the battle, the Resistance team called for reinforcements. I was shocked to come face-to-face with my brother, Tiaki.”

  Mordred cursed.

  Thanos turned at the sound of throaty feminine laughter erupting from the doorway behind him. He inhaled sharply at the sight of the two women, who were as different as night and day, entering the room. “You honestly thought they wouldn’t make it here eventually, Mordred?” the blonde one asked.

  “Mother warned you, dearest,” the black-haired one replied.

  “Proioxis. Palioxis.” Mordred nodded to each of them in turn. “To what do I owe this honor?”

  Thanos backed away as the two women approached Mordred where he sat and observed them silently.

  The dark-haired one sat down on Mordred’s lap. “Now is that any way to greet Proioxis and me? You’ll hurt my sister’s feelings, love.” She traced her fingertip down the side of his cheek.

  Proioxis had hair as golden as the sun, eyes as green as new-sprung grass on the mountains of Mākutu, and lips red and ripe for the taking. There was a black coldness in the depths of her eyes. Thanos feared no amount of time spent in the sun could ever warm someone who spent any time looking into them.

  Palioxis was as dark as Proioxis was light. Pitch-black hair so dark it gleamed blue in the dim light of what Mordred called his throne room. Her eyes were gunmetal gray, the color only adding to the ice Thanos could feel emanating from within her. Her lips, as dark a red as her sister’s, made him shiver at the thought of attempting to taste them. No doubt she would freeze a man with the barest touch.

  “Mother told Atê she sensed something wrong here. So she sent us to assess and report back.” Palioxis wrapped her arms around Mordred’s neck, leaned in, and nibbled his ear.

  Mordred reached up and unwound her arms from his neck. He clenched his jaw. “Yes, well, you can go report to your sister t
hat I have everything under control.”

  Proioxis glided over to Thanos.

  Thanos fought hard not to show how much her presence affected him. He shuddered with both desire and revulsion as she slid her hand up his chest.

  “Now, now. We know that’s not going to happen, don’t we, Proioxis?” Palioxis purred.

  Proioxis leaned in and whispered against his ear, “Of course we do. Now be a good little boy, Thanos, and tell us what you saw and heard tonight.”

  * * * *

  Mateo gritted his teeth as he led the prisoner into the interrogation room. It had taken his team an entire day to finally track down the stragglers from the party who’d laid the mines and another half day to make it back to camp.

  He hadn’t wanted to trust the Hunter to take Kiana back to the medical center, but she’d been unconscious after he’d helped Tiaki eject the poison from her system. The shrapnel from the mine she’d triggered had been laced with it. Apparently, the poison had been a neurotoxin from the Hunter’s planet. He hadn’t been too happy about that. Tiaki had been too drained of his magic to be able to go with Mateo and the others after the OS soldiers who hadn’t escaped through the portals that had opened up around the battlefield.

  He’d fought the urge to turn around and follow Tiaki and Kiana as soon as they’d gotten out of sight. The impulse had increased tenfold a few hours later when he’d felt Tiaki snuggle close to Kiana and fall asleep. How he knew they’d gone to sleep, he couldn’t say.

  The only thing that had kept him from rushing back was the knowledge of Kiana’s anger if any of the OS forces managed to gain access to the base because of his jealousy. It hadn’t helped when their link had come back online full force with her exploring this magic stuff and hearing it growl mine in regard to Tiaki. The implication of that single word had almost made him falter as he’d captured this jerk.

  As much as he’d like to hand this asshole over to Monte and Elias for questioning so he could rush to Kiana’s side, he needed to find out what the hell the OS was after. He hoped like hell the man—and he used the term lightly because of all the cybernetic parts covering him—would be able to shed some light on that mystery. Then he would let Ash take care of disabling his cybernetics before locking him in the holding cells. He just hoped maintenance had reinforced them. The last thing they needed was for an OS prisoner to escape as easily as Tiaki had.

  He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Niki had told him both Kiana and Tiaki had been out ever since they’d reached his and Kiana’s hale noho. Why Tiaki hadn’t taken her to the Med Center as he’d been instructed, he didn’t want to think about. What he really wanted…no, needed…to do was go to Kiana. He needed to see with his own eyes that she was okay. It didn’t matter that his sensors told him she was.

  And what about your other mate? He heard the words whisper through his blood unheeded.

  Mateo shoved the prisoner through the door of the detention center just as he felt Kiana beginning to stir through their link. He stumbled forward a couple of steps when he felt her snuggle deeper into Tiaki’s arms. Lust assailed his senses when she subconsciously sent it through the complex nexus linking them. He could feel the ridge of Tiaki’s cock harden against his ass as though it was him being held. He swallowed hard and attempted to stifle the raging desire exploding in his blood. Shaking off those disturbing thoughts, he entered the interrogation room behind Monte and the prisoner and closed the door.

  Monte shoved the man into a chair.

  When he started to resist, Mateo slammed his fist into the metal table to intimidate the prisoner. Instead, he was the one stunned to find his hand engulfed in sapphire flames. His eyes widened further when he realized the magical fire was melting the smooth steel of the table. He pulled his hand back and shook out the fire.

  The flames died immediately.

  He stared at his hand for a long moment before looking up to find Monte and the prisoner gaping at him. The expression in Monte’s eyes was stunned while the prisoner’s held nothing but fear.

  “You’re one of them,” the man stammered, and cringed back in his chair as much as he could. “She said there weren’t any of you on this planet. And the commander confirmed it as soon as we arrived.”

  Mateo narrowed his eyes. Them… She… What the hell is this idiot talking about? He opened his mouth to ask, but Monte beat him to it.

  “One of them? Them who?”

  The man’s gaze flickered back and forth between him and Monte as though he was trying to figure out how much they knew. He finally clamped his mouth shut and leaned back, seeming to have decided they didn’t know what he was talking about.

  Mateo sat down on the edge of the table, causing the man to shrink back in his chair even more. “Okay, we’ll start with something simpler, then. What’s your name?”

  Monte circled around behind the man.

  The man tried to look behind him but thought better of it. He must have decided Mateo was the more lethal threat in the room and stayed where he was.

  Mateo stood and leaned across the table, putting his hands on either side of the caved-in middle. “Look, asshole, you have one of two choices here. Either you can cooperate with us, or we’ll make you.”

  The man glanced down at the half-melted metal of the table. A look of fear passed through his eyes. “Ferran.”

  “What did you mean by them, Ferran? Who are they?” Monte asked, pacing back and forth behind Ferran.

  “Like you don’t know. I saw the other one fighting Thanos.”

  Mateo glanced up to find Monte staring at him, his eyes wide. “And what exactly do you think that man is, Ferran?” Mateo asked. His sensors buzzed to life, telling him Kiana was waking up. His eyes widened when he realized he could faintly feel Tiaki coming to as well. Kiana pushed back against Tiaki like she always did when Mateo held her that way. He gripped the edges of the table until his knuckles turned white. Lust ripped through him when he discerned the way Tiaki’s cock hardened in response to Kiana’s subtle invitation.

  Monte laid a hand on Ferran’s shoulder and grasped the bolt securing the cybernetic implant to it.

  Ferran fidgeted in his seat. “A-a R-R-Rift Hu-Hunter.”

  Monte released his hold on Ferran’s shoulder. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

  “And what were you hoping to accomplish by setting mines at the entrance to this valley?” Mateo flicked his gaze up briefly when Monte began to circle back to stand beside him.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute, Mateo?”

  Mateo stepped to the side of the room and waited for Monte to establish the silent com link through their cybernetics.

  “Look, I’m not even going to pretend to understand what happened with your fist when you hit the table. Or what I witnessed Tiaki and Ash do the other night. It’s obvious you possess whatever power he was wielding. If we’re going to make this guy crack, maybe we should use that to our advantage.”

  Mateo turned sharply and went back to the table, intent on getting this over with. He took a deep breath and leaned forward until he was mere inches from Ferran. The sensation of being kissed and caressed trickled through his link with Kiana, throwing him off his game. He clenched his jaw and growled, “Why were you setting the mines, Ferran?”

  “To take out as many of you as possible before she arrives.”

  Mateo narrowed his eyes. “Who is she?” He gripped the edge of the table, the power rushing through his blood, hot with anger and lust, burning to be set free. He didn’t have to look at his hand to know sapphire flames were licking at it.

  Ferran shifted his eyes back and forth between his hand and his face. “Ask your friend. If you don’t know, I’m sure he does.”

  Mateo gritted his teeth. His patience was wearing thin, and not just with this asshole. He desperately wanted to close off his link with Kiana so he wouldn’t have to experience what she was feeling. It was bad enough dealing with what Tiaki stirred within him. He tried to close off thei
r link, only to find it impossible to do so. Something was keeping it open.

  Even worse, he sensed another presence. He prodded it and was stunned to recognize it was Tiaki.

  Mateo almost groaned aloud when a ripple of Tiaki’s and Kiana’s combined magic filtered through his link, causing the energy in his blood to pulse, sending another wave of lust straight to his groin. “Who is she?” he roared. Dark sapphire flames engulfed his hand as he fought the urge to rush to his hale noho to… His entire body shook with a hunger that grew by the second. He refused to reflect on whether the hunger was to join them or to drag Tiaki off her.

  Ferran cowered as far back from him as possible. “Eris.”

  Chapter Nine

  Kiana slowly opened her eyes. Her body ached all over, although not as much as she’d expected when the memory of what had happened flashed through her mind. She started to move and became acutely aware of the very male body curled around her from behind. She glanced down at the arm curved possessively beneath her breasts.

  Tiaki.

  Just saying his name in her mind stirred something in her soul…something inevitable. His presence in her life felt natural. It had from the moment he’d fallen at her feet. She hadn’t even needed the explanation he’d given Pearce and everyone else about where he was from.

  He belonged with her and Mateo.

  She still wasn’t sure what to make of that. She aimed to find out, though. Tiaki must have had an idea of what was brewing between them. Whatever it was, this magic they were able to wield had something to do with it if the reaction she and Mateo had had when they’d connected with him was any indication.

  Right now, she needed to find out what had happened after she’d lost consciousness. She started to move Tiaki’s arm, but he tightened his hold and pulled her more firmly against his body. She went still, his hard cock pressed intimately against her ass.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, his voice a husky whisper at her ear. From sleep or desire, she wasn’t sure.