by Khloe Wren
I scoffed. He’d turned Brianna against him all on his own before I’d taken over her body. I hadn’t needed to do a damn thing on that score. The sniveling human came into view, looking rather worse for wear. I’d been chasing him for three weeks now, and he certainly looked like he hadn’t gotten much sleep for some time, or had the opportunity to attend to basic personal hygiene. I grinned at him and crossed my arms over my chest.
“No, that’s not enough. Brianna was never your daughter. You were but her guardian and you did a very poor job of it. You did not hold up your side of our bargain. You have mis-used the powers you were gifted with.” I held out my arms, showing the weak body I was forced to work with. “Just look at this! Brianna should be stronger than this by now. She should have been able to easily hold my spirit for days at a time, but she can barely contain me for a few hours. You failed me and her. Your incompetence could affect everything I’ve planned for so long to create.”
He tried to back away, to fight my control over him but I threw out a hand and increased the power I was using to hold him completely immobile. I wouldn’t be able to hold it for long before I’d be forced from her body, but I was done with this man’s insolence and wanted him dealt with.
This was the first time I’d managed to teleport close enough to him to be able to catch him before Brianna’s body became too weak to continue, so I intended to make the most of it. As I gathered the energy to me, Brianna’s long hair floated in the air, strands crossing my vision as I continued to stare at the frozen Martin. His eyes portrayed his terror and it fed my soul. I raised my hand over my head to call down the bolt of lightning that would end his miserable life when I was interrupted.
“Hey! Lady, stop right there.”
With a growl, I flicked my gaze over at the one who’d dared to arrive much earlier than I’d have liked him to. Something deep inside Brianna rose up against my possession of her, fighting against me. With a frown and an internal curse, I was left with no other option but accept defeat for the moment. I forced her to look back to Martin.
“You and I are not done.”
Then I called the lightning to me and rose from Brianna’s body to ride the electricity away from this world. As I traveled, I looked on with frustration as Martin slipped away, fleeing the scene yet again. I used the last of my energy to project a thought toward the retreating man.
“I will find and destroy you. There is no escape.”
Chapter Three
Near Myrtleford, Victoria
Spark
In the near hundred years since my rebirth, I’d never seen anything like what had just happened right in front of us. Lightning had streaked across the sky close to the woman’s head and some kind of mist rose from her into the bolt.
The light from the bright lightning faded, revealing the beautiful woman lying unconscious on the dirt, looking painfully fragile. Before I could think through my actions, I’d rushed forward, reaching for her when Aaron’s hand wrapped around my shoulder and held me back.
“Stop and think, brother. We need to assess this before we rush in. I don’t want you to get electrocuted. She somehow controlled that lightning.”
Forcing my brain to override my instincts I stopped trying to break out of Aaron’s hold. While being hit by the lightning wouldn’t kill me, it would hurt like a motherfucker and take time to heal from, so was best avoided.
“Aaron, I have to go to her. There’s something about her that’s calling to me. I’ve never felt anything like it.”
He sighed. “Your timing sucks, brother. And dammit, the man has escaped.”
Before he could say more, the woman stirred. I knew the man she’d been about to do something to was important, but I couldn’t look away from her, couldn’t focus on locating him before I tended to her.
With a groan, she pushed herself up and slowly stood before she shoved her mess of curly hair from her face. When she looked up and our gazes clashed, she gasped and stumbled back, nearly falling down. I raised my hands, palms out.
“I’m not going to hurt you. You’re safe with me.”
I ignored Aaron’s growl from behind me as I took a step closer. She was a pretty little thing. I’d guess her height at around five feet, maybe five one. Her bright green eyes were wide open, making them look almost too big for her pale face as she continued to back away from me.
“Who are you and what do you want from me?”
She might be scared, but she was no pushover. I couldn’t help but be proud of her attitude.
“My name is Raymond, but my friends call me Spark. And all I want to do is help you. What’s your name? Are you from around here?”
If she was the one lighting the fires with the lightning rings, she didn’t live anywhere near here, but I didn’t want to spook her into running. Aaron was right. Until we knew if she could jolt us with a bolt of lightning, we couldn’t risk trying to touch her.
“I’m Brianna, and since I have no clue where I am, I have no idea if I’m anywhere near where I live.”
She had no idea where she was? How was that even possible? I clenched my teeth for a moment, trying to work out how she’d not know. Aaron stepped up beside me.
“How’d you get here? Did someone drive you?”
Her gaze flicked between the two of us as she chewed her lower lip, but she didn’t say a word, so Aaron asked another question.
“Did that man you were arguing with earlier bring you here and abandon you?”
Her entire body stilled. Even her breath stopped for a few moments as her gaze zeroed in on Aaron.
“There was a man here with me?”
I nodded, taking over from Aaron because something inside me rebelled at her focusing on anyone who wasn’t me. “Yes, you were arguing with him when we got here. You don’t remember?”
She shook her head and started to look around. I assumed she was searching for the man.
“He’s gone. He ran when the lightning flashed and you fell unconscious. We chose to stay with you rather than run him down. Brianna, who is he to you? What did he do?”
I loved her name, how it felt rolling off my tongue. It was as though she’d cast some sort of spell over me. All we were doing was talking, I hadn’t even touched her, yet my body was alive with arousal. Pushing me to wrap her in my arms and take her with me to the nearest bed to claim every inch of her. Mark her as mine.
Which was simply ludicrous. I mean, I was no virgin, but I’d never been a slave to my baser needs. And I refused to start now, regardless of my body’s demands.
She shook her head. “I don’t know either of you well enough to be telling you anything. Thank you for checking on me but I’m fine.”
She turned and strode away, leaving and Aaron and me slack-jawed as we watched her go.
“What the fuck?”
Aaron was rubbing the back of his neck. “You can say that again. We need to stop her. She’s the one who is creating the circles. Well, from her lack of memory, I’d say whatever is taking possession of her is actually the one doing the damage, but that doesn’t change the fact we need to contain her.”
Shaking myself out of shock, I took off to follow her. She was being ridiculous. She had nothing with her, not even a handbag. Her clothes looked dirty and rumpled, like she’d been wearing them for days or longer. There were also singe marks on them. She clearly needed a protector, someone to stop whatever it was that was happening to her.
“Hey! Brianna! Stop. Let us help you.”
We’d come to Myrtleford because the Bushland Reserve to the north of the town was burning and we’d found another circle of lightning strikes there. I wasn’t sure how Aaron had tracked Brianna from there, but he’d created a portal and brought us to her. Now it was up to us to keep her safe.
Stone stepped into her path and wrapped his big arms around her, pinning her against him, heedless of the danger. My breath caught at the thought of my brother getting fried, then my heart pounded in fear of what he’d do to her.
I knew Stone would consider the simplest solution first, which would be to kill the woman causing the lightning and fires.
“Don’t you dare hurt her, Stone. She’s mine.”
My growled words caught everyone’s attention. Stone and Brianna turned to face me, Brianna looking shocked while Stone was clearly pissed off.
“What the fuck do you mean, she’s yours? How? You wanna fuck her or kill her? You had your chance to kill her and I watched you waste it. Aaron confirmed she’s the one starting the fires. If she’s dead, no more fires and we can all go back to our lives. Simple.”
With clenched fists I stepped toward my brother. I was going to pound the fool into the ground for threatening what was mine.
“Whoa. Time out on both of you. Public place. There might not be people watching at the moment, but that doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way. Stone, we are not going to be killing her. Brianna is an innocent. She’s being possessed. If you kill her, the spirit will most likely simply move onto a new host and continue lighting fires. And we’ll be back to square one with no idea who the new host is.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. My instincts were saying this woman was special to more than just me, but if Aaron could get Stone to release her before my phoenix broke out in a public place, I was happy to run with it.
“Nobody is going to kill me! I haven’t done a damn thing to any of you!”
Stone chuckled darkly and tightened his arm that banded around her upper chest.
“You haven’t? That little lightning trick you do starts fires every fucking time you use it. Thanks to that little stunt, me and my brothers have been hauled over here from the States to deal with your ass. If I snap your pretty little neck right now, I can solve this whole mess and go back home. If I’m real lucky, big bro over there will give me a portal and I won’t even have to fly.”
“Stone, shut the fuck up and stop revealing shit you shouldn’t be.”
He lifted a shoulder at Aaron’s growled words. “If Spark’s gonna claim her for his old lady, she’s gonna work shit out soon enough. Best to find out early what she’s made of. If we do decide to go the other route, well, it doesn’t matter what the fuck she knows.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. Why in the hell did we think bringing Stone in would be helpful?
Brianna
These three men might be pretty to look at, but they were all clearly certifiable. Portals? Snap my neck? And I knew the lightning cage that entrapped me started fires, but it wasn’t like I did it on purpose or had any control over it! Although, right now I was kind of wishing I could do it on command. Put the lightning to good use and free myself of this man’s unbreakable grip.
Not that I was focused on him. Despite his tight hold, I hadn’t been able to look away from the first guy who’d spoken to me. Raymond. He was a stunning man. All dark golden skin and muscles. His head and face were clean shaven and I kinda wanted to run my palm over his skin to see if it was as soft as it looked. But it was his deep, soulful brown eyes that held me ensnared. No matter how many times I told myself to look away, I couldn’t.
The brute holding me made some comment about me being an old lady but before I could think of something to do that’d actually hurt the bastard, Raymond looked down. The moment he broke eye contact and I could breathe on my own again, I made my move. I looked up at the sky, desperate to get away from these men. I called to the lightning for the first time. Mentally begging it to come and take me away. The clouds roiled at my pleading and with a grin, I realized it was actually going to work. I was totally able to control the lightning and could get myself out of this mess.
“Stone! Let her go. Right now.”
I ignored the rush around me, I was focused on the brewing storm above me.
“Spark, stop her!”
“I can’t!”
Stone finally released me, and I flung myself forward, just as a bolt of lightning streaked through the sky and caged me within it. But this time I didn’t black out like previously. This time I was fully aware as I rose up into the sky and headed south, away from the smoke rising up in the north. I still had no idea where I was but before I could worry about where I wanted to direct the lightning to take me, I dropped down and landed heavily on the ground. I tried to push myself up, but my arms wouldn’t work. I was suddenly incredibly tired, as though I’d just run a marathon and needed to sleep for at least a couple of hours to recover.
It was a pity I couldn’t give into that urge. I knew I hadn’t managed to travel very far before I’d grown too weak to maintain control. I was now completely surrounded by bush, but at least it wasn’t heavy with smoke, so I could breathe. But I needed to get moving, get away from here before those men came searching and found me.
With a quiet groan, I managed to force my limbs to work and got to my hands and knees. I started crawling but didn’t make it far before I crashed back down. Panting out breaths like I was, I didn’t hear him approach. When his large hand rested on my upper back, I screamed. Not only had he startled me because I didn’t know he was there, but the flare of heat that rushed through me at his touch had my whole body buzzing.
“Shh, sweetheart. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
I was helpless to stop him as he scooped me up in his arms. Knowing I’d need to wait for my strength to build back up before I tried to use the lightning again, I accepted defeat and snuggled in against his hard chest, where I inhaled his scent. Strangely, as the smell of sage filled my senses, it calmed me, soothing my nerves until I gave over to my lethargy. Allowing my eyelids to close, I quickly fell asleep as Raymond carried me somewhere.
I knew I shouldn’t give in and sleep right now. I needed to stay aware to keep myself protected, but I just couldn’t muster up any more energy. I’d used every little bit I had.
Chapter Four
Spark
The moment I had her in my arms, a sense of rightness flowed through me, filling up an empty place within me I hadn’t been aware of having. After a moment of holding herself rigid, she relaxed in my hold. With a hiss, I stood still as Brianna snuggled in against me and passed out. Arousal had my body buzzing and it was the last thing I needed to be dealing with right now.
Aaron moved to stand in front of me, Stone following him while he continued to glare at me.
“Let’s take this back to my place. Hopefully once she wakes, she’ll be more willing to answer our questions.”
“Or she’ll burn down your fucking house when she calls her lightning to her. You both that keen to test exactly how immortal we are?”
“Shut the fuck up, Stone.”
Aaron sighed as he opened a portal. “You’d think after nearly a hundred years, you two would have learned to get along.”
Before either of us could respond, he strode through it with complete confidence we’d both follow him. I let Stone go first, then slipped through with Brianna before it closed. Once back in Aaron’s house, I took Brianna through to my room and settled her on my bed. Instead of trying to get the covers out from under her, I just grabbed another blanket and put it over her. Before I moved away, I stroked my fingers down her soft cheek, loving the feel of her smooth skin. I wanted to press a kiss to her temple but didn’t want to wake her or freak her out, so I forced myself to rise and step away. But I couldn’t leave the room yet. I ended up just standing over her, watching her every intake of breath.
She really was pretty. Even covered in soot and her hair a tangled mess, I could see her beauty. In the ninety-eight years since my rebirth, I’d never once been this affected by a woman. And as amazing as it felt to feel such intense emotions after so long, it also raised some pretty big red flags. This shit was not normal. With a low growl I strode from the room, intent on finding some paper to leave a note for her beside the bed before I left her to sleep in peace.
Once that was done, I went looking for Aaron, hoping he’d have some answers for me. I found him sitting in the living room. He gave me a nod as I entered and sat on the
couch opposite him.
“She’s okay?”
“Still sleeping. Left her a note to say she should clean up and come out here when she’s ready for some food.”
He gave me another nod. “You put her in your room.”
I raised an eyebrow at him stating the obvious. “Where else, exactly, would I have put her? In Stone’s room?”
Just the thought of my brother being there when she woke had my skin prickling with anger. “I think we made a mistake bringing him in. Did you get hold of Falcon?”
Aaron took a deep breath before he responded.
“He’ll be here in the next day or two. He had something he needed to finish up before he could come. And Stone will be fine staying here.” He shook his head with a small frown. “I’ve left him alone too long, and he’s gotten too used to being an island. He needs us in order to feel connected to the world before we lose him.”
With a huff, I let the subject drop. I didn’t have the time or energy to try to sort out what the hell was going on with Stone right now. Like me, he was also in the Royal Bastards MC but he was a nomad, a loner who traveled around the US from club to club helping to serve justice on those who deserved it. He’d been getting more and more reclusive over the past decade and I wasn’t sure the life of violence he currently led was helping things, but he was a worry for another day.
“Brianna and I are connected somehow. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. What do you know about what could be happening?”
Aaron clenched his jaw as he thought for a few moments before he responded.
“You are the first of us to have this happen, as far as I’m aware. So, it’s uncharted territory.”
In a rush, I stood and started pacing. “But you have to have some idea.”
I prayed he had some idea. If Aaron was clueless, I was fucked.
“Every soul has another half. Its mate. At a guess I’d say she’s your other half. You felt the connection from the moment you saw her, correct?”
