JUMP (The Senses) (23 page)

Anstice continued, “Balen had been tortured for weeks and required healing. Ryszard knew
this so he . . .” She paused. “He made a bargain—Balen had to consume Ryszard’s blood, which would make him into a vampire and then lead him to me. If he did this, he’d let you go. Balen made the deal and you were released and Jedrik took you to the hospital. Of course, Waleron—he is our Taldeburu, our leader—erased your memory of all that happened.

“
Balen came back to us with tainted blood, but it had yet to take effect, and none of us knew until it was too late. I healed him and . . .”

That explained Balen’s mangled leg healing. God, could Anstice really heal? She was beginning to realize that making all this up was not viable.

“I was taken to Trinity’s—”

“Trinity?” Danielle asked.

“Umm yeah, Trinity is a . . . well, a witch. I know this is a lot.”

“No shit,” Danielle muttered. Vampires, Witches and her best friend was a Healer for a group known as the Senses. What next? Zombies and werewolves?

“Trinity has an impenetrable safe house with . . . well, no one can enter without an invitation. When Balen came to the house, Trinity thought he had come to protect me and invited him inside. In turn, Balen invited Ryszard.”

Oh God, this was so surreal. Anstice’s words was like a mythical story of hell. Could it get any worse? Probably
. Anstice had yet to tell her what exactly the Senses were. What Balen was.

“Trinity sent Waleron a warning.” Anstice sighed. “But Ryszard knew I wouldn’t go with him willingly, so he was prepared. He had one of his underlings take you from the hospital and . . .”

Danielle finished the sentence as the memory came hurtling into her. “He held a knife to my throat. You were there and so was Balen. Balen attacked the guy with the knife and . . .” Oh shit, she’d been terrified. Balen had stabbed the guy in the neck and taken her into the basement. She looked at Anstice. “I fought him. I fought your brother. I tried to get away. I saw you struggling to escape Ryszard. Then, there was all this noise and . . . I don’t remember anything else.” She rubbed her temples as the nagging memories assaulted her.

“Violet is a witch from the coven. She took you back to
the hospital.” Anstice lowered her head and her voice softened. “Balen . . . he . . . he vanished. The vampire blood he drank had to have been taking hold of him. He had to run or he might have turned on you . . . and us. He knew the effects, the consequence, of the poison in his veins.” Anstice closed her eyes for a few seconds. “God, he must have been in so much agony, trying to fight it. Leaving was the only thing he could do. The warriors would’ve had to kill him if he’d stayed.”

The mere thought of Balen dead sent a wave of panic through her body. She felt
vulnerable when it came to Balen and she disliked it. Her father had been that way and look where it led him. She drew her hand from Anstice and stood, needing to move her limbs. “Balen left you there. He left you to Ryszard.” That so didn’t sound good.

Anstice nodded. “Yes. But he knew
Keir and the others had come to aid me. I believe if they hadn’t, Balen would never have left me to Ryszard.”

“But you don’t know,” Danielle said, not wanting to play the part of pessimist, but needing to hear the answers.

“I believe in my brother, Danielle. He thought of nothing but you when he consumed Ryszard’s blood. He knew he would turn, knew he’d be hunted and killed by the other warriors, yet he saw an opportunity to set you free and took it. Yes, I do know.”

And Danielle knew too. There was no question Balen would’ve protected both of them. She saw it every time she looked at his painting, the agony at what he’d
done, the turmoil over leaving and the guilt that sat like a cement block on his shoulders. “But why keep this from me? Why couldn’t you just explain like you are now? Okay, I admit the vampire part is still mind-boggling, and the Healing. But, Anstice, I would’ve believed you . . . eventually.”

“There is a code among us. A draconian law. No human may discover we walk this earth. If it happens
, like in your case, Waleron erases your memories of us.”

“He wiped my mind clean? Really? That’s possible?” Whoa, that guy had way too much power.

Anstice sighed. “There’s more.”

“Great, exactly what I want to hear. Just don’t tell me that Grim is really a werewolf. Cause I love that dog.”

Anstice tensed and her eyes shot to the window. She grabbed Danielle’s hand and pulled her towards the door. “Get out of here. Go to the basement. Now.”

Danielle stiffened. “Why? What’s the—”

Balen charged into the room, the door slamming up against the wall from the force and then tilting as the top hinge gave way. “Danielle,” he shouted. “Get back.”

Keir was right behind him. He grabbed Anstice, pulling her back against his chest. Balen shoved Danielle behind
him. Every muscle contracted as he faced the window.

“I can’t feel it. A witch?” Anstice asked with confusion.

“No,” Balen said. “Different. It smells like . . . oh, Christ. Wraiths.” He should know after dodging them for so long.

“Balen, take Danielle and get her to the Tomb,” Keir ordered.

“Too late for that,” Balen said.

A dampness came seeping into the room with the smell of rain mixed with wild roses. It was like a small tornado of blue mist swirling for seconds before a slight figure appeared in front of them. A cloaked woman
materialized, wearing a pale blue gown that left nothing to the imagination. Her golden tendrils swept across and down both shoulders to settle on her breasts. The woman’s blue haze faded and her form became solid as she stood facing the four of them.

Balen whispered to Danielle, “Back out of the room nice and slow. Whatever you
do, don’t stop and get the hell out of here. Now.”

“Holy begeebers
with crap all over it,” Danielle said in utter awe and disbelief. She blinked to see if what she was seeing would disappear. It didn’t. Maybe vampires were real and Anstice could heal with her hands. Or Keir had slipped her some drugs while she was sleeping. Whichever, the beautiful woman in front of her was staring right at her as if she could read every single ridiculous thought that was steamrolling through her mind. If she was ever one to faint, this was the time.

****

Balen tightened his grip on Danielle’s arm. “Genevieve?” he asked Keir without taking his eyes off the woman.

“Yes,” the woman answered
, her gaze moving to Balen. “I am Genevieve, Wraith of Water, and I am here to help you.” She gave a slight nod towards the window. “The others are coming. I suggest you leave here. And take the woman with you.”

Balen grunted. He
might stand a chance alone, but with Danielle . . . no way in hell. “Where to? Because my options are pretty slim right now.”

The Wraith
’s eyes began to change from blue to green. “To your homeland. The cave. It is your only choice if you wish Danielle to live.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Balen said
, half laughing at the absurd suggestion. No way in hell he was listening to a blasted Wraith when they were the ones after him.

The ground quivered
, and the window shattered, shards of glass crashing to the floor as the wind gusted into the house.

“They are close,” Genevieve said. “She will die if
they take you. Only as a Senses can she survive the Bonding. Waleron knows this. Go now. I shall delay them.” She raised both hands into the air and entwined them. A mist of swirling water circled around her. It rushed and groaned, growing with power, driving everything in the room back from her vanishing figure “Go,” she shouted. “Go.”

Balen
grasped Danielle’s hand and pulled her from the room. Her skin was cold and trembling, and he knew she was in shock. Seeing the beautiful Wraith and her power was enough to make any human reel in shock. Christ, this was bad.

He felt Waleron in his mind.
“Tomb. Now. I will meet you there.”

He was angry with himself for putting Danielle in danger . . . God
, if anything happened to her . . . he couldn’t think about it.

Balen half dragged Danielle down the stairs into the Tomb
, Keir and Anstice steps behind. Jedrik stood outside his room in his black boxer shorts and no shirt.

“Hey, what’s all the hullabaloo
? Trying to sleep here,” he said, running his hand through his hair. His bedroom door had a large sign on it saying Hot Women Enter.

A white cloud appeared next to the pool table and Waleron appeared. Danielle gasped. Balen wrapped his arm tight around her waist and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Waleron eyes glowed red for several seconds and then went back to the usually brilliant ice blue. His stance was tense, ready for an attack. The power he exuded was tremendous and filled with rage; this was the Waleron no one dared to encounter as an enemy.

“Do not use your
powers, or they will sense them and be able to track you. You will travel by car to Newfoundland. By air, Urtzi can easily track you.” He passed him keys. “I will arrange for the jet to pick you up when it is safe. You will stay with the Senses on the east coast. I trust them implicitly. The plane will take you to Spain. I will meet you in Zugarramurdi for her transition.”

“For real?” Balen asked.

Waleron scowled. “Have I ever not been ‘for real’?”

“Right.” Balen urged Danielle down the hall to the garage at the back of the Tomb, but she was shoving at his arm. “Chris
t, woman, we have to get the hell out of here.”

A loud crash sounded upstairs and Waleron instantly vanished. Why his Taldeburu was intent on sticking his own ass on the line, he didn’t know.

“Will you let go of me, for Christ sake, and tell me what is going on?” Danielle asked. Her face was as white as the Wraith of Water and he could smell her fear radiating off her skin. He didn’t have time for this.

“I will explain on the way. We must leave. Now!” Balen said.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Danielle said, backing away. “What the hell was that woman? The water. I mean . . . okay, that isn’t possible, right? Water swirling around and . . .” She put her hand to her head.

Another loud crash and then what sounded like a howl.

Jedrik came back out of his room dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. He headed for the stairs. “Good luck, man,” he said to Balen and winked at Danielle. “Welcome to our world. It’s so much fun.” With that he took off up stairs to wherever the loud noises were coming from.

“Little one.” He deepened
his voice and grabbed her arm in a vise-like grip. “Do you want to die? Because that water shit you just saw is nothing compared to what is happening as we speak. If we stay here, they will take me away from you.” His eyes were fierce, determined, willing her to listen to his words. “Separate us.”

Her eyes widened. “But that would . . .” She looked to Keir and Anstice a
nd they both nodded. “Okay. But you have some serious explaining to do. And if you try to hide shit, I’ll . . . I’ll . . . well, I don’t know yet what I’ll do, but something you won’t like. You can bet on it.”

Balen hid his grin by turning his head away fro
m her. He loved that about her—honest, blunt, and even when her world was crashing around her, she still had common sense. Yeah, he sure as shit liked this woman. And good thing too, since they were Bonded for God knows how much longer.

“Hey
, Keir, get your ass up here. Galen’s getting the shit kicked out of him,” Jedrik shouted from the main floor.

The house began to shake
, and the balls on the pool table danced around on the green felt. Glass shattered upstairs onto the hardwood floors. “Fuck.” Keir looked at Balen and Danielle. “We will try to calm them, but . . .” He shrugged. “We will hold them off long enough to get you out of here. Be well.”

“And you,” Balen replied. He wanted to say thank
you, but the words were lodged in his throat. They were risking retaliation for Danielle, not him. He had to remember that. The warriors no longer trusted him and they were right. He deserved nothing from any of them.

Balen smelled fire
, which meant Edan was near and he was one hell of a pissed-off Wraith.

Balen propelled Danielle in front of him and they ran down the
hall.

****

Danielle needed no further urging as she jumped into the Audi and fastened her seat belt. Balen punched a code in a box next to the garage door and a cabinet opened. His body hid what he was doing, but he was putting something in his pockets. He slammed the door closed and then jumped in the car.

Okay, remain calm. Wait until we
’re at least a mile away before asking what the hell is going on. No, can’t wait.
Hell, this was more than she bargained for when she’d painted Balen’s portrait.

He raced
the car down the driveway and gunned it towards the gates.