Destiny of Three (7 page)

Star lay as still as she could and listened to Jansen breathe, taking the opportunity to watch the giant as he slept.  The man drove her insane with his domineering ways, telling her how to do things.  He was insanely jealous of anyone she spoke with.   Yes, he told her that she was his mate, but why would he want her?  She was too damaged for anyone. 

Banks was no different in how he treated her.  If she had to, she’d say he had more of a possessive attitude then Jansen did, and that was saying a lot.  Both of these men loved to lead her around, and expected her to do exactly what they said.  When she left the orphanage, she swore she’d never allow another person to tell her what to do unless she wanted to do it.  And that included Jansen and Banks.

As she listened to him snore, she wondered if she could get used to this.  She knew if anyone laid a finger on either of them she’d kill them; the big brutes had grown on her.  Right now, as she lay on top of Jansen she could feel something getting bigger and immediately knew he was awake. 

“I know you’re awake,” she muttered.

“I was waiting for the hitting to begin, so I’m staying quiet until the coast is clear.”  Jansen smiled, his eyes still closed. 

“You do realize I’m naked, right?”  Star couldn’t help smiling.

“Of course I realize it.  All night long I’ve rubbed all over your round bottom, and if you stay here just a few minutes longer I know something’s going to be inside you,” Jansen growled, rolling her over onto her back. 

Star could feel how strong he was as she grabbed ahold of his arms and looked up into his green eyes.  It was simple; the man was handsome and had the most perfect lips.  Before she could tell him to stop, Jansen leaned down and captured her lips with his. 

The moment was magical as his lips sucked and taunted hers.  Instantly, she could feel his hardness as it slid against her belly.  She moaned at how wonderful it felt, and opened her legs wider, allowing him more room.

“If I keep this up, I won’t be able to stop, and you’re not ready for that.  Are you, little one?”  Jansen raised a brow. 

She knew he was right, but he was challenging her.  Even now, he continued rubbing up against her.  She could see on his face that he was about to burst, but still he had to continue his endless game of making her want him.

“Then get off of me.”  Star’s expression remained stoic as she narrowed her eyes at him.  She pushed against him, even though she didn’t want it to end. 

“As you wish, my love.”  Jansen pushed up and rolled off of her. She blushed as he stood up in all his hardened glory.  She licked her lips as she took her last look before moving her gaze to his face.  “Never be embarrassed to look at your mate, baby.” 

Anger sparked in her eyes at his comment.  Who did he think he was?  She wasn’t scared of him or how she felt.  Without warning, Star got up and stalked toward him.  She reached up, pulled his head down and kissed him.  Then, as quickly as it started she pulled away and whispered, “Who said I was embarrassed?”  She rolled her eyes and sashayed into her bathroom like she didn’t have a care in the world.  She heard Jansen chuckle as she closed the door.

You take that
, she cheered in her head.  Then she cringed, knowing that she’d just made a huge mistake playing this kind of game with Jansen and Banks.  They’d both look at this as a challenge — but she’d do her best to try and win. 

Nope, not this time boys.  If you want to play, then I’m going to play too
.  She figured this was only a game to see if they could get her in bed, and they’d already won this round.   She’d practically had sex with Jansen, and the problem was that she’d wanted to. 

Star Johnson, if you want to have sex with them then go ahead,
she told herself.  She burned deep down with so much hunger that it almost took her breath as she rubbed her body with soap.  Dammit, she wanted both of them with a fierce passion, and she knew if they got in bed with her again, she’d be the one taking advantage of them. 

“Star, I’m going to see Ash today. Do you want to ride with me?” her sister yelled through the bathroom door.

“Yes, I do.  Can you wait on me?” Star asked her.

“Yep.  The boys already left to go to the lodge.  They said they had some work to do,” River added. 

The memory of last night and her nightmare hit Star full force, and she gasped, bending over.  She’d forgotten about the dream and what the vampire had said to her.  She needed to tell River about her nightmare.  What if this wasn’t just a dream?  What if it was something that was going to happen in the future?  She quickly washed her hair and got out of the shower. 

Before anything else happened she needed to tell her sister, so they could prepare for what might be coming.  Nobody was going to take her family.  If that vampire wanted to see what she could do, then she was going to do her best to shove his plans down his throat. 

****

Star thought about how she was going to bring up the fact that she was having nightmares and what happened in them.  They were on the way to the lodge, listening to music as River hummed to the song that was playing on the radio.

Star cleared her throat, glancing over at her sister.  “River, I need to tell you about something.  It may just be a nightmare, but I don’t think so.” 

Star watched as River turned the radio off and looked over at her with a concerned expression.  “You can tell me anything, Star.  I hope you know that.”  River took her right hand off the steering wheel and patted Star’s hands, which were balled up in her lap.

“For the past two months I’ve been having these nightmares, and they’ve been about the three of us.  There’s this vampire who wants…”  Star watched as the color left River’s face.  She could tell that she was trying to control her fear, but it wasn’t working.  She’d seen this same look before, when she waited for her mates to come back to her after they went to kill Paddock Reed.

Leaning forward, Star put her hand on River’s shoulder.  “Something’s wrong.  What is it?  You’re white as a sheet, River.”  Her sister didn’t say anything, but continued to grip the steering wheel so hard her knuckles had already turned white. 

“I didn’t want to worry you or anyone, but I’ve been having those nightmares too.  Except he’s trying to make you do something with your hands — he says you can strike his guard down with your powers.  He’s cutting into Sky’s face until you tell him you’ll try.  What does this mean?”  River was shaking so badly that she had to pull over to the side of the road.  The guards that were assigned to her pulled over, too.  One of them jumped out of his car and ran up to her vehicle. 

“River, are you okay?”  The guard pounded on the window until she rolled it down.

“I’m fine, Jerry.  I was laughing so hard I had to pull over.  I’m sorry I scared you,” River lied to her guard.  She had to avoid his gaze for fear of giving herself away.  When Star looked back at Jerry he was eyeing both of them suspiciously.  He nodded, then slowly walked back to his vehicle.  She noticed that as soon as he got back inside of his vehicle he picked up his phone and called someone.

“Shit, I bet he’s calling Jonas and Reece.  Remember, if they ask you what was wrong just say you told me a joke and I laughed so hard I had to pull over for fear of running off the road.” She understood why River wanted her to lie; Reece and Jonas would go nuts if they thought another vampire was after her.

“Okay, but I hate to tell you but I kinda already told Jansen and Banks.  They woke me up and asked what I was dreaming.  I’m sorry, but you know how demanding those two can be,” Star admitted reluctantly.

“You know what that means, then?  They already know, and once we get to the lodge they’re going into protection mode like they always do when they feel something bad’s going to happen.”  River put her vehicle in drive and pulled back onto the road.  “But now that I think of it, maybe we should take our dreams seriously.  I mean, things do happen when we’re connected, like at the party when we hugged each other.  They said we lit up like the sun on a summer day.” 

“I know; but maybe it’s just a warning for us that these things are in our future.  Maybe the vampire knows something we don’t.  Maybe we really can do those things.  That’s what Jansen said his Ne-ma told him.  He said that we would each have our own powers, but that when we were together we could do some really special stuff.  Shit, River, what if we could fly like Superman?”  Star cackled as she watched River’s expression. 

“Girl.”  River broke out in giggles.  “Now that would be something to see! But I think if we got together in private, just the three of us, maybe we could work on some things.  Let’s break it down.  What did the vampire want me to do?” 

“Well, he said that you could read his guard’s mind and he was cutting Sky’s face until you agreed to do it.”  Star explained.  Her voice caught as she talked about Sky.

“That’s the same as mine, except he said that you could do stuff with your hands.  He said you could strike his guard down with your hands,” River explained, glancing over at her.  “I mean, I know you can hit, because I saw you knock the crap out of Banks the other day, but I don’t think that’s what he meant.  He was moving away from the guard as he demanded that you strike him down.” 

“Here’s the million-dollar question: how do we practice when we don’t even know how to do these things?  We still have no clue what we’re capable of.”  Star hesitated.  “And I’m betting all the money I have that Sky can do something too.  I bet he’s been having the same dreams.  Instead of going to the lodge first, call the guards and tell them that we’re going to the furniture store.  We need to talk to Sky; then we can meet at lunch and practice.” 

“Do you think Jansen’s Ne-ma would have any information on the Powerful Three?  He seemed to get all his information from her,” River wondered.

“It’s worth a try.  She usually calls him early in the day when I’m not around.   He says she can’t wait to meet me, but he hasn’t made any plans to take me to visit,” Star answered.  “Do you think he’s told her that I’m his mate?”

River swerved across the road.  “What did you just say?”

Star sighed. “That’s what he said at Sky’s party, that he and Banks were my mates.  What do I say to that?  We fight constantly, and most of the time they act like all they want   is to tell me what to do.  I can’t stand that.  I made a promise to myself that if I got out of that place, no one would tell me what to do again.” 

“I knew it.  I knew they were your mates.  In fact, little sister, we all did.  We were just waiting for you to figure it out.  I’m so happy for you,” River congratulated her before she noticed the frown on her face.  “You’re not happy about this, are you?” she asked, concerned.

“No. I don’t know what to believe!  Why is it that they fight with me all the time?  Why can’t I have mates who love on me and do nice things for me all the time, like yours do for you?”  Star stared out the window, mad at Banks and Jansen.

“Have you told them that yet?  You’re already calling them your mates.  Maybe you three need to sit down and talk this out.  You need to tell them how you feel.  It wasn’t always like this for me.  In the beginning Reece wanted to tell me what to do, too, and Jonas… Well, he wasn’t as bad, but he was bad enough.  It wasn’t until after the incident that we came together and actually explained what we needed from each other.”

“I can’t see Banks or Jansen sitting down with me and listening to how I want to be treated.  They’re both too Alpha; they believe it’s either their way or no way,” Star complained.

“You have to at least try.  How else will you know?”  River put her hand on top of her sister’s.  “Can’t you at least give them a chance?”

Star sighed, thinking about Banks and Jansen and wondering if she could give them a chance.

“The women are already buzzing around them.  Doesn’t that bother you?”  River asked.  Star could feel her chest tightened at her sister’s words.  She couldn’t think about that. If they really cared about her, they wouldn’t even flirt. 

“You do care about them, don’t you?”  River asked.

Star thought about it for a minute.  She knew she did; but even so, could they love her as much?  Would they listen to her sometimes instead of always making all the decisions? 

“I do, but you know how those two are.  They’ll always be in charge, and I won’t even have a voice in the relationship.  Who wants to live like that?” Star said.  She waited for some type of response from River, but nothing came.  Apparently her sister agreed with her.

They pulled up at the furniture store and waited for the guards to get out first.  Star blew out her breath as she got out and walked inside the furniture store, where the storeowner, Rod Tracy, greeted them.

“I was telling your brother the other day that I miss seeing you, Star, and look, here you are! And you brought River too.”  Rod hugged both of them.  “What are you two needing today?”

“Nothing today, Mr. Tracy.  We just need to speak to Sky,” Star answered with a smile.

“Sure, sure, come back here to his office. He’s drawing out a new piece.”  Rod started leading them away, but the front door opened and new customers came in.  She loved it here; it felt like her second home.  Every section of the store was a different part of a house.  If you went left, you’d be in the living room section, where Mr. Tracy had made up living rooms with different types of furniture.  It was fabulous how he had it laid out.  If you liked a couch from this section and a chair from another, he would have the workers move it to the showroom where they’d put it together for you so you could see how it would look in your house.  He was famous for his excellent taste, but what made him special to her was how he took her and Sky in off the street and gave them a chance.    

“Mr. Tracy, I know where his office is; just go and handle business.  I’ll get us there, Star assured him. 

“Thank you, Star.”  Mr. Tracy smiled and went up front to help the people who’d just come in.

Star and River walked down the hallway to Sky’s office.  They looked in the window at him, hunched over his desk, drawing.  Star didn’t want to scare him, so she knocked lightly on the door.  He looked up and laughed when they both stuck their faces to the door making funny faces.  Since Star had left the furniture store and started helping River and her mates, Sky had done some rearranging in his office.  He did a great job moving the furniture around and making pieces that decorated his office.  His desk was a work of art.  It was big enough that he could mark out his designs for the furniture he was making and still have his computer at the other end.  He’d also added pictures of wildlife, and one of the lodge lit up at night.  It was beautiful and peaceful. 

“Hey, little brother,” River said as she pushed her sister further through the door.  They both ran over and tackled him to the couch.

Laughing, he reached around and started tickling them both.  “Stop, stop,” Star giggled, pulling away.

“I’m glad you both stopped by, but to what do I owe this visit?”  Sky asked, suspicious.

Star looked over at River before she spoke.  “Well, we were thinking…?” 

“That could be dangerous for you.”  Sky smiled and chuckled at his sisters.

“We were talking, and this may seem strange especially if you’re not but, both of us have been having nightmares about a vampire who takes all three of us and…” Star could already tell the answer to her unspoken question from the look on Sky’s face.  “You’re having them too?”

“Yes,” was all Sky said.

“Sky, we think these aren’t just nightmares, but premonitions of what’s going to happen.  Unless we change it.”  Star wanted to make sure she explained that.  Her brother worried enough about them; he didn’t need to worry more.

“Listen.”  River moved so she could see them better.  “Sky, what did he say you could do in your dream?”

Clearing his throat, Sky said, “He made Sullivan Grayson change into his wolf; then he told me that I could talk to him without saying anything out loud.  I told him that I wasn’t a shifter, but he said that if I closed my eyes I could control him and make him do whatever I wanted him to do.” 

“Did you do it, in your dream?” Star asked.

“Yes. I told him to attack the guards that were holding you down and kill them, and he did.”  Sky looked away from her.  She could see his grief over taking another’s life. 

“Do you think you can do that?” she asked Sky.

“I don’t know; I just thought it was a nightmare.”

“We need to try, because if this vampire is coming we need to be prepared for him.  He wants to control us, and he’ll try to harm one of us to get us to comply.  And I don’t know about you, but that bastard isn’t going to control any of us.  We need to keep this between ourselves, though — I’m not telling my mates because they’ll go into protection mode, and I can’t live like that.”  River shook her head.

He furrowed his brow.  “Are you sure, River?”

River nodded quickly.  “You know them Sky.  If they even think for one second that another vampire is after me, I want have a moment’s peace.  I have guards now.  Can you imagine?”  River shook her head.  “Nope, not going to happen.” 

“Ok, we’ll start today.  Now, we need to figure out how and where we’re going to do this without the guys finding out.”  Star got up and started pacing.  She needed to come up with a plan.

“So we
are
the Powerful Three, like Jansen said,” Sky said.

“Yes, I think we are,” River answered, “but together we’ll get through this.”

Star and Sky concurred. 

“I think we could go outside to the woods behind the house and practice some things.  Especially if you can throw something out of your hand, like electricity, Star,” River said quickly.  Sky gave her a searching gaze.

“You can do what with your hands?” he asked, waiting for an explanation.  She didn’t even know how to describe it. 
How do you explain that you might be able to shoot electricity or something like that out of your hands?

“Look, none of us know what we can and can’t do, so let’s stop guessing and find out so we can plan for this.  For some reason this nut wants to use us to do his bidding; it always seems to come back to power.  We apparently have it, and everyone else wants it.  I think we need to start getting serious about this and learn to deal with it.  I don’t want to be different, but you know what?  The fates have given us this, and we need to start using it to help people out.  The Unit needs our help sometimes, and if we can figure out what we can do then we need to use it.  The only question is, are you with me on this?  Because it’ll take all three of us.”  Star raised a brow in challenge.  

“I’m in.”  River placed her hand over Star’s.  They both looked over at their brother, waiting for his answer.  His face showed no emotions. 

“I’m in.  Whatever it takes to keep my family safe,” Sky assured them both, and placed his hand on top of theirs.

“Great.  Can you get off work early, Sky?” River asked, getting up.  “I know I can, and then we can beat the rest of them home and go outside and practice.”

Sky nodded.  They made plans to meet at the house after lunch to practice.  Star felt relieved as she followed River out to the car.  They needed to work hard and fast on a plan.  She had the feeling that whoever this vampire was, he’d be coming after them soon.

****

“Okay, let’s write on the board what we know already,” Pelton Miller said as he wrote on the white board. 

“Star said it was a vampire; one that made them use their powers,” Banks contributed.

“Did she say what her powers were?” Nash asked.  Jansen liked Nash.  He’d been a good friend to him since he arrived in Freedom. 

“She said that the vampire wanted River to read his guard’s mind.  He told her that the three of them each have their own separate powers, and together they can do something unbelievable.  She said they hurt Sky so that River and Star would do what he wanted.”  Jansen gripped the side of the table as he explained.  He wanted to get his hands on that vampire for putting that fear into her.  Nobody would ever take her away from him.  He looked over at Banks, who appeared to be having a hard time too.

“Do you realize how dangerous that vampire would be if he got his hands on them, especially if they knew what everyone was thinking?  They’d know what you were going to do as fast as you thought it,” Nash grunted.

“And Sky and Star — do we know what their abilities are?”  Powers Newman asked.  Everyone stared over at the wolf.  He hadn’t spoken two words since he arrived at the Unit.  Powers was a tracker, and nobody knew what else he could do.  He was always around, but never spoke to anyone much. 

Larken just laughed as he stared at Powers.  “Damn man, I never knew you could talk until now.”  Everyone laughed; even Powers smiled briefly. 

“No, she doesn’t know what they can do.  She only dreamed about what River can do; but I would bet money that River and Sky have these dreams, too.  Reece and Jonas said that River has been having nightmares, but she won’t talk about them,” Jansen said.

“Reece, who would fit this vampire’s description?  She said he was bigger than anyone she’d ever seen,” Nash asked.

Reece snorted.  “There are a lot of so-called big vampires, but this man would need to be exceptionally huge, and also, I would think, very smart and a collector.  The Powerful Three aren’t spoken about much even in our history, much less any other paranormal history.  This man would probably be very dignified and have a lot of money.  I’m not a profiler, but wouldn’t you agree, Pelton?”

“Yes, I agree with you one hundred percent, Reece.  Whoever this man is, he’d be very refined and likely part of the Vampire Council.  Even if we don’t know who he is, we know the type of person he is, so we can come up with a plan.”

“There’s someone here at the lodge who could probably tell us all about the Powerful Three.  He’s a tomb raider and historian,” Larsen informed them.  “I know you’re worried about him, Reece, but for some reason I don’t think Sullivan Grayson would betray us.  Actually, he may be able to help us.” 

“Sullivan Grayson — the one who located the tomb of Sindrid Abner?”  Nash asked.

“Yep, and he located The Book of Primal Elders.  Sky told me that he never found Sindrid’s body or remains, though.  He said they were gone.  Either someone moved him, or he’s still roaming the earth,” Reece said.

“Really?  You think the first vampire is still alive?  If that’s true then why doesn’t he make himself known?”  Pelton questioned.

Reece shrugged.  “Who knows?  Maybe he’s the big vampire Star saw in her dreams.  But for some reason I don’t think so.” 

Nobody said anything.  It was something to think about, Jansen thought.

“All right, so we’ll call this vampire ‘Joe Blow.’  Now let’s come up with a plan,” Pelton suggested.