Chasing the Storm (3 page)

“Those two are new. I’ve not seen them before, so from them? Yes. Much longer from my cousins.”

“And you settle in Seattle, in this place.”

“A while ago, I wouldn’t have set foot in a place like this. I figure now, it’s the best for me to be.”

“Your grandmother was wealthy?” He sat forward and rested his arms upon his quads.

“Extremely. Which is why I don’t understand why they want this so much. They got so much more in the will than I did. But I got this and they got pissed.”

His palms itched and he fought the need to rub them on his thighs. “Can I see it?”

She rose and moved to sit on the coffee table before him, where she drew the pendant from her shirt. The gold shone against her mocha skin and he took a breath before touching it. Sparks exploded out, showering the room in a rainbow of colour.

She fell back and scrambled from him. Eyes wide with fear and awe. “What the hell just happened?”

The lights danced around the room before choosing to land on her head and shoulders. As quickly as they’d arrived, they faded. His heart pounded out of control and from the way she had her hand on her chest, hers was acting the same way.

He knew what had just happened. She was his. The one made for him. Lian had told them all about it.

“One day you will find the one who is your other half. I can’t tell you how you will know, just trust that you will. Embrace them. Cherish them. Protect them at all costs. For when the time comes, you will need their love to survive the tests you will face.”

He was barely the legal drinking age and now he had a mate to protect. Need moved through him, but he ignored it, focusing on her face instead. Her brown eyes watched him as she struggled to sit up. He moved over her and offered a hand.

“No thanks. I’ll get myself up.”

“Are you injured?”

“Surprisingly, no. That was one hell of a shock.” She pushed back up onto the chair she’d first occupied.

He wanted to touch the pendant again but had a feeling she wouldn’t go for it. Not given what had just happened. “Let me check your neck. Make sure there’s no marks.”

Her laugh was a mix of humour and uncertainty. “No thanks. I’ll look in the mirror.”

Cale had to try. “I’d still like to see that pendant.”

Her gaze narrowed slightly, but she leant forward and drew it off, over her head. With obvious care, she placed it on the table before him. Quarter-sized, it lay there against a glossy magazine. He stared at the symbol and racked his brain, trying to remember where he’d seen it before. With care, he lifted it and turned it to the back. It was a labyrinth, he knew that, but where he’d seen one exactly like this, he couldn’t quite recall.

Currents ran through his fingers and up his arm as he touched it. Taylor never took her gaze from his hand. As if she thought he might try to run off with the necklace. He didn’t relinquish it when she reached for the chain. He wanted to see what would happen.

She hesitated but then she took the chain in her fingers. That rainbow of colour surrounded her like an aura, pulsing with life. The pulses moving through him increased as well. If she noticed it, she didn’t say a word, just took the necklace back and slipped it over her head, tucking the pendant once again behind her shirt.

“Do you know what the symbol is?” He picked up his drink to give him something to do with his hands.

“I remember my grandmother saying something about angels.” A furrow appeared on her brow. “Seraphim, perhaps.”

This time he knew she was lying. She knew exactly what it meant, she merely wasn’t going to inform him. Not that he blamed her. She didn’t trust him yet. That would change.

He nodded and sat back, ignoring every beat of his heart that told him to go to her. She was his now. And it was his right to claim her. Power shifted within him and he rolled his shoulders to calm down. It didn’t do much, but he wasn’t about to take her like an animal.

“Your cousins, then.” He brought the conversation back to something he felt she would be more open to discussing. “Do you know where they are now?”

“Probably back at the mansion. Partying and having my grandmother turning over in her grave.”

“Where’s the mansion at?”

“South Carolina.”

“You don’t have a southern accent.”

“I do, just tends to stick out, especially in a place like this. I work hard to hide it.” A small shrug and she curled her feet beneath her and touched the chain.

It calmed her—the way she relaxed made it obvious. He didn’t know what would calm him—his heart still hadn’t slowed since that powerful shock between them. At times he could still see the rainbow of colours around her and it revved him up again. His tattoo shifted along his skin as his power answered his heightened stress.

Her phone rang, causing her to jump. “Excuse me.”

Cale did his best not to eavesdrop while she spoke, but his hearing was just too good. Work had called her in—apparently someone last minute had reported as being sick.

“I’m sorry. I have to get ready for work. Also sorry about the misunderstanding before.” She walked to the door.

Every fibre of his being told him not to leave her. She was in danger, even more than she could begin to fathom.

“I could wait and walk you to work,” he offered.

“Give me five.” She vanished down the hall and he heard the decisive closing of a door.

Whatever he’d activated by touching the pendant—the artefact he’d been tasked with finding—had only amplified the signal she would have put out naturally the closer the time came for him to find her. Problem was, not only he could see it. So he’d bet anything those two men were part of The New Order.

“I found my mate.”
He sent the message to his siblings. And the congratulations rolled in.

“When do we get to meet her?”
Aminta Tran asked.

“Soon. Members of The New Order are after her. And that’s not all. She has my artefact.”

Tension could be felt through their connection. He was the first to have seen his, which meant the prophecy had begun to reach its zenith. Prior to his finding Taylor and the artefact, they had existed in a haze of almost ignorance, believing that so long as none of them had discovered it, they could train and pretend that perhaps the prophecy wasn’t falling on them.

“Bring her to the vineyard, Cale,”
Lian issued the order.

“As soon as we can be there, we will.”

“Be safe, brother,”
Billy Kwan sent the sentiment.

“I’m ready if you are.”

Taylor’s voice pulled him roughly from contact. Wincing from the unexpected slivers of pain, he turned.

Jeans and a T-shirt, which told him whatever her job was, it didn’t require business dress. She carried a black purse over one shoulder, nothing fancy, just plain and unadorned.

“Okay.”

They walked down together and he tried to angle her towards his vehicle, but she shook her head.

“I walk. It’s not far.”

Senses alert, he fell into step with her. She was right—barely two blocks farther and she paused outside a restaurant.

“You work here?”

“I do. Thanks for the escort.” She walked inside and disappeared without a look back.

Cale stood there for a moment before realising he’d look foolish just staring into the building after her. So he went to a nearby bench and sat where he could see those entering and leaving. She may have thought that was the end of their association, but she was wrong. When she finished her shift, he would explain it all on the way to the vineyard.

* * * *

Taylor hefted the last bin of dishes into the sink to spray them off. As she worked, her mind drifted back to the handsome Cale Mattox.

That was some shock I got from touching him.
Her entire body had lit up like a Christmas tree and she’d almost orgasmed right then. It had been hard not to let him touch her again, but she didn’t think she’d be able to control herself a second time. So she’d opted to put herself back on the chair. Not have his assistance.

Even now, her body thrummed with mere anticipation of the next time he touched her.
Oh, grow up!
she reprimanded herself.
I left him outside this place. I’m not seeing him again.
Not that it wouldn’t be nice, but she truly needed to be logical about this kind of thing. She had enough trouble with men in her life right now.

If he wants to kill me though, maybe he could do it through sex.
She grinned at the thought.
Little death, hell. I’d want a big one.

“Hey, Taylor.”

“Gene. This is the last bit.” She shut off the sprayer and moved the dishes to the rack where they would be sterilised.

“Thanks so much for coming in. I’m so glad you were available.”

“No problem. Can always use the extra money.”

“There’s a guy out there waiting for you. Says he’s a friend of yours.”

Fear lanced through her, but she swiftly got it under control. “What’s he look like?”

“Tall, muscled. White. Wearing a Grateful Dead shirt.”

Her knees wobbled. Cale.
What is he doing here?
“Tell him I’ll be out in a few.”

“Never seen you bring a friend by.”

She loved the concern she heard in Gene’s voice. “He’s from out of town.” Glancing at her boss, she gave him a smile. “Thanks for looking out, Gene.”

“Hey, you’re one of my best workers.” A shoulder shrug. “And I actually like you.”

She laughed, well aware of how Gene sometimes came across as a blowhard. The two of them got along just fine, which was how she liked it. He was someone she could count as a friend.

Once the dishes had been pulled out to dry overnight, she finished wiping down the final counter, surveyed her job then grabbed her things. Pushing through the kitchen door, she spied him immediately. He sat by the door, leaning against the wall and appearing relaxed.

She wasn’t buying it for a moment. In the low light, she swore she saw multi-coloured sparks coming off him. It was as if she could see his restlessness.

Gene worked on his till and looked up at her when Cale rose. “All good, darlin’?”

“Set for the next shift, Gene.”

“You two have a good night.”

Cale walked to her side and smiled down at her. “We will,” he stated confidently.

Outside, she turned to him and crossed her arms. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“We need to talk.”

“Funny, that’s basically what you said when you showed up at my door.” She suddenly wasn’t feeling so confident. It was dark and her body was telling her it was time to get out of there.

“That’s because we’re not done.”

“Look, I’ve had a long day. Can we talk tomorrow? I can meet you somewhere for breakfast.”

“I’m not leaving you alone.” That statement was made with such finality she did a double take.

“Excuse me?”

His head shot up and he scanned the skies. “You heard me. We have to get you out of here. Come on.” He set off and when she didn’t immediately follow, he reached back and dragged her along with him.

It took her a few steps to get her feet back under her. Her skin tingled beneath his callused palm. “What’s the rush?”

“Something wants you dead.”

She jerked to a stop. He pivoted to glare down at her, displeasure evident. “Are you kidding me? I told you about my cousins and now you’re trying to pull something like that?”

“I said some
thing
not some
one
.”

She paused. So he had. That itch between her shoulder blades increased and she wanted to run home, lock her door and hide in the dark.

“Who wants me dead other than my cousins?”

“It doesn’t have a name other than evil.” Another glance up. “We need to go, they’re gaining.”

“You don’t know who but you know it’s a they?”

“Demons usually travel together. Move.” He began again at a jog and she stumbled along with him.

Demons. That was a new one. But since her senses screamed for her to get out of there and not necessarily away from him, she didn’t fight or argue anymore. In fact, she picked up the pace. They thundered through the shadows to her apartment building where they went up the stairs to her place.

The instant they were there, Cale set about lowering and shutting all the shades and curtains. She locked all five locks on her door then went to help him. The bedroom as well was soon shrouded in darkness.

The glow of a single candle met her when she returned to the living room area. Cale’s expression was serious and he fidgeted.

“What the hell is going on?”

He put a finger to his lips then beckoned her to his side. She went without argument, grateful when he draped an arm around her.

“Listen,” he murmured in her ear.

It was hard to concentrate when her lust for him and his very touch raged out of control, but she did. She heard a soft flapping. “Like leathery wings.”

“Demons.”

She scoffed but swallowed her laughter when he covered her mouth with his hand. Surely he wasn’t one who believed in that sort of lore. The flapping got louder, then came the scratching on glass. Her shivers increased one hundred times. She lived on the third storey and there was something outside her windows. Trying to get in.

Mutterings floated along the air and she got cold. Clammy and even more scared. Cale blew out the candle and took her in his arms, lifting her and carrying her to the bathroom.

After the door clicked, he set her back on the floor but kept her close in his embrace.

“Why are we in here?” she whispered.

“Sometimes they can sense us through the windows. This room doesn’t have any.”

Not really a good job in cheering her up with that explanation. “Do you really…” She let it go, it wasn’t the time to ask questions. Instead she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face into his shirt. Lord, he smelt good.

They stayed in there for at least five minutes before he backed them out of there. Only then, he put her back in the room and started to shut her in alone.

“Stay here. I have to check to make sure they aren’t inside waiting.”

She gripped his shirt tighter. “No. I’m not waiting in here alone.”