All through the week, Storm only concentrated on the books Kaden had given her, or rather on the first book she had collected from the pile. Jutul had done the same, concentrating on the second book he had picked. Both had only taken breaks when they wanted to eat or when they wanted to train with Casper for an hour. To assuage Kaden’s caveman jealousy, all the reading had been in the dining downstairs, and yet they weren’t close enough to whatever the books were on about. They weren’t close to the end either, and the transcribers were doing a poor job, despite Jiraq’s input sometimes. It was then that Storm had learnt that Jiraq wasn’t done with the book either. ‘What are you doing with one of the hardest books in the pile?” had been his first question when she had solicited for his help. He had gone ahead to pick up a smaller book, written in English, for her and Jutul to start with, but she had declined—she had grown attached to the old book. And she had vowed to bring it to a fi
Storm’s mind kept conjuring up provocative images, as she and Kaden walked hand in hand around the clan. The kiss they had shared in her room still tingled on her lips, still kept heat in her blood, still made her hunger for more. She inhaled sharply when Kaden turned and stared at her, his eyes brimming with the emotions that she was sure was playing out in her own mind. For a second, she feared that he might have peeked into her dirty mind, but then she remembered that they were not bonded yet, not in that sense. It brought her swift relief which came with a coating of abashed-ness seen in the coloring of her cheeks and necks, something that wasn’t lost on Kaden who was battling to hold on to his honor. He cussed at himself for closing her lips with his earlier, knowing what could happen from there. But she had been speaking, and her luscious mouth had been like water in a desert land; he had been parched so much that he couldn’t have been able to help himself. And now, the stirr
A girl walks into a bar, dressed in a black crop top and ripped blue jeans. A black chunky boot which has seen better years adorned her foot.The bar was empty, not yet open to customers. It looked normal-windowless walls painted black, rows of glass bottles, the smell of beer and stale air. But it wasn't normal, standing on the edge of Shappy Town as it did. She wasn’t surprised though. It was still late afternoon. This place gets filled and going only at night.“Storm? What are you doing here?" A man washing glasses asked her. He looked cool, at least he was still sober. There was no air of aggression, no air of menace. Well, relatively no air of menace. This was a crappy part of town, and menace was its stock-in-trade.Storm told herself she had nothing to be afraid of; at least for now. So, she shrugged her shoulders to the man’s question. He was familiar a bit, but she was surely not going to ask him how he had known her name. She wasn’t interested in knowing that. She just want
The strange man sat back down, returned his motorcycle boots to the top of the desk, and laced his hands behind his head. “He will be here in a minute. Why are you looking for him though?” He asked.The lilt in his voice was unmistakable. Storm put that with his black hair, impossibly blue eyes, and exotic name. "You're Irish." She muttered, before she could stop herself.He smiled a smile that could melt a woman at ten paces. "And who else would be running a pub?" He asked."But you don't own it." She stated, remembering that Mr. Tim was.“Perhaps.” He said with a shrug. “But I doubt that is the answer to my earlier question.”“I’m here to collect my pay. He had eaten at my step mum’s restaurant without paying up. She sent me to do the needful.” Storm replied, meeting the man’s gaze steadily.“I see. How much is that?” The man asked.His voice went frosty, the crinkles at the corners of his eyes smoothing out. “Four hundred dolls.” Storm replied, and the man’s eyes narrowed, pupils
From this angle, staring at the man’s face as he ran his eyes through the bar, Storm thought that he looked like the legendary Zofan hated the thought of using the guardian sword. His primary job was to be called in when there was no longer any hope, and that fact put a dark edge to his entire life. Not many people saw this, but she had noticed, as she had gone through the book.Storm was close enough now to the man to sense his muscles relax as people assured him, they were all right. The people climbed slowly to their feet, shaken, but there was no one dead or wounded. They'd been lucky.The floor was littered with glass and splintered wood, the smell of spilled alcohol was sharp, and bullet holes riddled the dark walls. Half the bottles and glasses behind the bar had been destroyed, and the one of the bartenders crawled shakily out from under a table.A man zoomed in through the front door and stopped by a clump of people not yet brave enough to get up. Storm didn’t know who he was
Lent dropped obediently, and the flimsy chair creaked under his weight. Lent was large and hard-muscled, his short but shaggy black hair looked uncombed. He didn't have an ounce of fat on him. Storm wasn't used to seeing as men as hot as this, having never really met one on her side of the town, except for her ex, who had left her to pursue his basketball career at a university, thousands of miles away from her.Curtis had been her high school sweetheart whom she could do anything, totally anything, even if included her right kidney. He had been a home of comfort to her whenever her step mother and step sister decided to turn on their devilish mode and wreak havoc on both her physical and mental state. Curtis had been her lifeline. He had transferred to their school in their eleventh grade, and they had hit off immediately. An act which was obvious to everyone since Curtis was the new hot male student and she was the most beautiful girl in their class, had been voted that way since
Storm pressed her thumb and index finger to the middle of her forehead, stepping back one bit, feeling a headache coming already. She wished she could unsee what she had just seen.“Storm, are you okay?” She heard Kaden ask, and shook her head.“What are you people?” She asked, wondering whether the likes of this people were why this part of the town was not deemed fitted for normal people. Does this mean that she should be staying here?“We...are...” Lent was saying when Kaden cut in sharply.“We are people with special abilities. If that pisses you off, you should leave, and of course don’t mention it to any one.” He said, meeting Storm’s stare.Storm, seeing his accessing gaze, shrugged.“You don’t have to send me away. Mr. Kaden. I also have some special abilities, and I think I can help Lent.” She stated, batting the surprised Kaden's hands aside and pressing her palm directly to the wound. Folding herself against Lent, she held her hand flat to his chest.“What are you doing, St
"The gift isn't that strong. It's not like I can cure terminal diseases or anything. I can boost the immune system, heal wounds and abrasions, and speed up the healing of broken bones. I couldn't have magicked the bullet out of Lent, for instance, but I could relieve his pain and jump-start his recovery." Storm replied, relieved that she was a bit far from his reach."And you don't think this is something we should know about?" Kaden asked, his eyes still stuck on her.Storm shrugged in reply.When she looked at Kaden again, his eyes had returned to that sinful, summer-lake blue, but his stance still said he could turn on her anytime he wanted. If Storm hadn't been intrigued by Kaden the moment she'd laid eyes on him for the first time in a bus station, the man would have terrified her. Yes. Their meeting today in Mr. Tim’s office had actually been the second time she had seen him. She remembered now. She hadn’t been able to recognise him when she had waltzed into the office earlier