Black Orchid (Svatura)

by Abigail Owen

  Adelaide remained rooted to the spot where she stood, her mouth hanging open, her heart pounding a mile a minute. As she watched, her savior crouched down beside his victim’s still form and checked for a pulse.

  After a minute he lifted his eyes and pinned her with a searching gaze. Very slowly, he stood up and then took a step forward. But he stopped when Adelaide skidded back a few feet. Her mind was a jumble of everything that’d happened in the last few minutes. But despite the fact that he’d helped her, this man was still a stranger. Her gut was already telling her to trust him, but she didn’t know if she could rely on her instincts at the moment.

  He held up his hands in a gesture of peace and made no move to come any closer. “My name is Nate.”

  Adelaide licked her lips and glanced at the body at his feet. “What…?” She took a deep, calming breath. “What was that all about?”

  Nate followed her gaze, his lips pressed tight. “I’ve been tracking this guy for almost a week. He’s been trying to find you for a while, I gather. And, apparently, he had orders to kill.”

  Adelaide looked down at her hands, which were balled into fists at her sides as she struggled to process everything and control the beast inside her at the same time.

  She glanced back up at Nate and gasped.

  Before her eyes, glittering, almost electrical, strands of light in different colors crisscrossed the space between them. But what did it mean?

  One strand in particular caught her attention. It started from her heart and reached out toward him but didn’t quite make it all the way. It was a color she’d never seen before… a deep purple, and the ends were black and jagged, almost as if it was dying. But that wasn’t all. A similar strand of light came from his heart, reaching toward her. Only this line was shorter, and more of it had turned black.

  Adelaide walked toward him as though pulled by gravity. She had to see what happened when their lines crossed. She stopped a few feet away from him and watched, fascinated, as the strands of light danced around each other. It looked as though hers would reach for his, and his would push away. Like two magnets repelling one another.

  She reached out to touch them. Maybe she could put them together. Just inches away from his end, she felt warmth start to tingle up her hand. Adelaide yanked back with another gasp. She felt the trembling start inside her and stumbled back a few steps. Then she looked up to see his astonished frown.

  What have I done? she thought wildly.

  “You’re Svatura, aren’t you?” he asked abruptly.

  Chapter 11

  Adelaide stumbled back from Nate as though the impact of his words had physically pushed her.

  When she didn’t say anything, he repeated the question. “Are you Svatura?”

  She nodded abruptly. “Yes.”

  Nate held his breath. She couldn’t have given him a better opening. This was it. The key moment when he had to gain her trust.

  The staged fight with Dave had gotten him in the door, so to speak. He glanced over at Dave’s unconscious form. He hadn’t actually killed Dave. Just knocked him out cold, as had been the plan. As soon as he could, he planned to pretend to bury the guy. But it would be in a very shallow grave and with plenty of air to breathe. A bit of a risk, but Nate doubted Adelaide would actually go check. Then later, under the cover of night, Dave would return to Maddox.

  Hopefully he’d manage to bury Dave soon. He didn’t want Adelaide to look closely enough to see him breathing or notice the guy twitching as he woke up. The entire scene had one purpose: to get Nate in with Adelaide.

  Now it was up to him to win her over completely.

  “You have some kind of power, right? That’s why he was after you?” he asked.

  Adelaide looked down at the ground, scrunching her hands into fists so tightly her knuckles turned white. She was taking this better than he’d expected. At least, she appeared to be so far. He’d assumed there’d be screaming, that she might even attack him. But so far she’d been fairly rational.

  “You can’t be here,” she said in a low, raspy voice.

  “Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you…. I just saved you!”

  She raised her gaze to his, and Nate was stunned to see that her green eyes were now glowing bright yellow.

  “You don’t understand,” she whispered. “I could really hurt you. You need to leave. Now.”

  Nate took a step closer to her. He could see that her slender body was quaking from head to toe.

  Adelaide held up both her hands. “I can’t hold it in much longer. You really need to go.” The anguish in her voice concerned him. He could tell she was terrified. But it seemed to be for him, not because of him. She bent over and put her hands on her knees, sucking air into her lungs as fast as she could.

  Nate took a step closer and then hesitated. She’s a con artist, don’t forget.

  But he also wasn’t exactly sure what was happening to her. As far as he knew, none of her powers were actually dangerous.

  Suddenly Adelaide fell to her hands and knees. He could see her chest heaving as she struggled for control. Nate acted on pure instinct. Tapping into his speed, he was at her side in less than a blink. He wrapped his strong arms around her from behind, sat down on the ground, and pulled her in tightly to his body. Leaving one armed wrapped around her midriff, he started running his other hand through her hair in a soothing gesture.

  Now that he was touching her, Nate was amazed that her shaking wasn’t rattling her very bones. It was that violent. Definitely not faking it.

  “Breathe.” Come on.

  “I… can’t,” she choked out. He knew that if he could see her face, there would be tears streaming down her cheeks. And he didn’t like it. It reminded him way too much of his dreams. But he couldn’t think about that right now.

  “Focus on me. Feel my chest against your back as I inhale. Breathe with me. In and out. In and out…” He sucked in a loud breath and blew it out his mouth.

  He kept that up, and after a few heartbeats of time, she started to try it with him. “That’s it. In and out. You’re okay.”

  Even after her body had stopped shivering and started to unclench, Nate kept it up. He stroked her hair, took deep breaths, and spoke in a soothing voice. He didn’t really think about what he said. He just knew that it seemed to be helping her.

  After a while, her breathing was no longer labored, and her body had relaxed. Nate was just starting to wonder if she’d fallen asleep on him when she suddenly stirred.

  “You can let me go now.”

  He released her and watched closely as she sat up and moved away, refusing to look at him. But her expressive face showed a host of emotions: confusion… fear… curiosity… doubt.

  “How’d you do that?” she mumbled.

  Nate cocked his head. “What?”

  “Calm me down. You said you’re Svatura, like me. Is that your power?”

  “Oh. No. It just seemed like…” Come to think of it, how had he known what to do? She’d panicked, and he’d reacted instinctively.

  “Like what?” she prompted, still not looking at him.

  He dragged his thoughts back to her and feigned a casual shrug. “Like the thing to do.”

  Adelaide finally looked up at him with a confused frown. “Well… thank you.”

  “Any time.”

  She raised her eyebrows, and he grinned. “I guess a “you’re welcome” would make more sense in this situation.”

  Adelaide’s lips twitched and then clamped tight. “I think you should start explaining.”

  He pointed at himself with a comically incredulous expression. “Me? How about you and what just happened? Or almost happened?”

  Adelaide didn’t laugh though. After a moment she said, “This is my house. You first.”

  “Fair point.” She’s got spunk, he thought grudgingly. Which was interesting since what vague memories he had of her showed him that she was a little on the shy side, although she could’ve been faking that t
oo. Then she suddenly looked down, unable to maintain eye contact, and started tracing a pattern in the red dirt with her finger. He wasn’t sure what to believe. Adelaide Jenner was a riddle.

  He decided, in the interest of gaining her trust, to answer her questions. At least, he’d answer the ones he’d prepared for. The ones she was most likely to ask. “Like I said, my name is Nate, and I am Svatura, like you. And I’ll be happy to answer all the questions you want. But look… I think I should at least bury the guy first.”

  *****

  Adelaide blinked, and she glanced over to the dead body in her yard. How had she forgotten? Even for a second?

  “Do you have a shovel?” he asked.

  Swallowing, she gave a jerky nod. “You… just stay where you are. I’ll go get it and put it outside the door. Knock when you’re done.”

  Nate nodded.

  Abruptly, she jumped to her feet and hustled inside, surreptitiously keeping tabs on him as she went. As soon as she was in the house, she locked the door and checked all the windows. When she glanced outside, he was standing in the same place where she’d left him. Seeing her peeking out, he gave a friendly wave.

  Adelaide ducked back inside and put her hands over her cheeks. Why the heck was she blushing? After she’d secured the cabin, she grabbed the shovel from a utility closet behind the kitchen. She stuck it outside the door before shutting and locking it again.

  Then she went up to her window and sat down in her seat. But her little haven wasn’t as peaceful as it had been yesterday. Now she felt as though the eyes had walls. She didn’t feel safe here anymore. Maybe safety had always been an illusion.

  Nate ambled into her field of vision, shovel in hand. He was a good distance from the house but still visible from her window. He dropped the tool and proceeded to strip off his shirt.

  Adelaide’s jaw dropped and then she swallowed. Whoa. She’d have to be dead not to appreciate that mouthwatering piece of masculine beauty. Even from all the way over here, she could see there wasn’t an ounce of fat on his body. Lean muscles rippled under taut skin with every tiny movement. And he was hard everywhere. His arms, his back, his abs, his tight tush and strong legs. Not that she could see them, but she had an imagination.

  Oh my God, Adelaide. What are you thinking, ogling his body when he just killed someone sent to murder you? He’s out there digging a grave!

  Adelaide felt a blush of embarrassment rising in her cheeks. Only now it spread over her in a full body flush. And then he picked up the shovel and put those toned muscles to work with an efficient swing.

  “Oh my,” she murmured.

  Deliberately, she turned away from the sight and from her completely ridiculous thoughts. Briefly, she thought about sending Griffin a mental S.O.S. but put that idea on hold for now. She’d wait and hear what Nate had to say first and then decide what to do. With iron will Adelaide kept her back to the window and waited for Nate’s knock.

  Chapter 12

  By the time his knock came, Adelaide had a plan in place for what steps she needed to take. She opened the door and stepped outside onto the veranda. Nate had his shirt back on. Adelaide quelled a small moment of disappointment, determined to keep to the business at hand. He backed up a bit to give her some space. She handed him one of the glasses of water she’d brought out with her, and then she took a seat in one of the wicker chairs.

  Nate raised his eyebrows and moved to stand in front of her. He didn’t take a seat but leaned back against the railing and crossed his ankles.

  “You said you’d been tracking him?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “Why?”

  Nate grimaced. “It’s a bit difficult to explain.”

  “Did someone assign you to follow him?” she asked.

  Nate shook his head. “No. Tracking’s something I learned young. I don’t do it much anymore. But I happened to overhear that guy on the phone receiving his kill orders.” He pinned her with a curious glance. “For you, apparently.” He shrugged. “I put those old skills to use and followed him.”

  Adelaide narrowed her eyes. She stretched out with her telepathy, trying to remember everything Ellie had worked on with her. Her ability to hear someone’s thoughts on purpose was still glitchy at best.

  “… not going to hurt her … just didn’t like the look of that guy or his orders … don’t worry …”

  Adelaide relaxed infinitesimally. Hearing those thoughts helped. But what was more compelling was the lack of a hive mind present. From what she understood, Maddox’s forces were all wolf morphers like the Vyusher. Like the greasy dead kid. While she’d been at the castle, Adelaide had discovered what the wolves sounded like telepathically, and she couldn’t feel anything like that with this guy. So he couldn’t be with Maddox. That didn’t make him safe exactly, but at least it made him not an obvious enemy.

  More than that, she wasn’t shaking. Fear should’ve had her on the verge of shifting again by now. But she was fine. She’d have to figure out what that meant later. But for now, she didn’t feel as if this man were an immediate threat.

  Adelaide took in his appearance. He had sandy blond hair and brown eyes. The lines around his eyes indicated that he was someone who laughed a lot. Adelaide sort of liked that idea. He wore strange- looking clothes that she wasn’t familiar with. And he obviously hadn’t showered in a long time.

  The stranger quirked his lips. Or at least she thought he did. It was hard to tell through the beard. What was his name again? Nate? Well, whatever. He looked more like a shaggy dog than a serial killer.

  She clamped her own lips together to keep them from twitching. And then she frowned. My first moment of honest humor since I woke up in the castle and it’s with a random would-be knight in shining armor. Or really smart killer. The urge to giggle struck again, which seemed really inappropriate given the situation. Maybe I’m just cracking up and losing my mind completely.

  She pulled her mind back to questioning him. “Seems like an awfully big coincidence that you just happened to overhear him,” she said. “What were you doing this far into the Outback?”

  “I wasn’t when I came across him. That was in Darwin. I followed him here.”

  Adelaide frowned. She wasn’t entirely sure where she was in relation to Darwin. But she was positive it was quite a distance. “How’d you get here?”

  “He came in a Ute. It’s parked about ten miles that way.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder off to her left. “I followed on foot.”

  Adelaide stiffened. “On… foot?”

  He smiled at the skepticism in her voice. Adelaide noticed that the friendliness of his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. Although she wasn’t sure how she could tell through the scruff.

  Huh. So the smile is more for me than for him. Interesting.

  “Originally, I came to the Outback because I’m a bit of a loner.”

  She frowned. “Why a loner?”

  “Ah. There’s two parts to that. First is that I try to stay away from humans so that I don’t frighten them. My power is super strength and speed, and I find it difficult to control sometimes.”

  Adelaide’s frown didn’t change. “Uh-huh,” she said with a dubious look. “And your other reason?”

  Nate grimaced. “You may or may not know that there’s a bit of a war going on at the moment among our kind of people. I’m not into all that political stuff. So for now, I’m staying well out of it. Easiest way is to be on my own out where no one roams.”

  *****

  Nate held his breath as she stared at him intently. He kept his thoughts focused on what he’d just said. Before her memory issues, Adelaide was supposed to have been a decent telepath. So he used the techniques Maddox’s telepath had practiced with him to block anything she might be trying. Not guaranteed to work, but a risk worth taking.

  “And yet you tracked this guy down. That seems to be pretty much in the middle of it.”

  Nate had been expecting this reaction. Keeping his th
oughts focused he said, “I don’t like bullies.”

  She raised her eyebrows, clearly unimpressed. “You have no idea who I am. He could be saving the planet from a terrible monster.” Then she bit her lip, as if she’d said too much and wanted to eat those words.

  “That’s why I waited to step in. He watched you for quite a while. And I watched you both. But you tried to warn him. You didn’t want to hurt him. That was all I needed to know to decide who was good and bad in that situation.”

  Adelaide crossed her arms over her chest and regarded him for quite some time before she finally nodded. “All right, I believe you.”

  Nate let out a small breath of relief. The hardest part was done.

  In like Flynn, he thought to himself with a small feeling of satisfaction. This first meeting couldn’t be going better.

  “Is that all you can do?” she asked suddenly. “The strength and speed bit?”

  Was that teasing in her voice? Hard to tell since she was looking down.

  “Isn’t that enough?”

  She shrugged. “Of course. Just making sure.”

  Her question made sense given that Adelaide possessed many different abilities and so did most of her family. Didn’t she realize how unusual that was? And how perilous? No one should be allowed that much power. Nate’s heart gave a small jump as he caught the train of his thoughts. He gave her a worried glance. Had she heard him? He couldn’t tell.

  Don’t blow this, dude, he chastised himself.

  Then he put his full concentration back on the girl in front of him. He took another step closer, but this time she held her ground. You’re mine.

  He needed to remember that while she was beautiful, and seemingly shy and sweet, she was also possibly one of the most lethal people on the planet. She and her sisters Lila, Ellie, and Selene. And she had stolen years of his life, making him live something that wasn’t real.

  And for that she would pay.