LogansEmpath (5 page)

Sabine. Can’t be this easy but I’m looking at Sabine.

He glanced at the waitress’s nametag.
Bree
.

The woman’s brow creased as his silence dragged on a little
too long. She tapped her pen against her order pad. “If you need a suggestion,
my brother makes a mean meatloaf. That’s tonight’s special.”

Logan shook himself from his trance.
Order something. You
gotta stay here long enough to figure out what to say, what to do. And you
can’t look like a complete idiot in the process.
“That sounds good. And
some iced tea.”

She gave him another long look. “You’re not from around
here, not with that accent. So, word of warning, iced tea is sweet tea around
here. Is that okay?”

He nodded. “That’s fine. I could use the pick-me-up.”

“I can bring you some coffee if you’re still driving.” Bree
tilted her head and gave him a warm, reassuring smile. “Wouldn’t want you
falling asleep at the wheel.”

“Thanks, but I’m staying at the motel for a while.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Visiting folks?”

“Just touring. Motorcycle ride, cross-country.” Logan could
feel something nibbling at the edges of his mind. She wasn’t that strong, not
without a connection to him or to their Catalyst, but she was definitely trying
to get a read on his emotions. The fact that she was conscious enough of her
powers to do so boded well. They needed all the strength and experience they
could get.

“Sounds like fun.” Bree tapped her pen against her notepad
again. “Well, I’ll put your order right in.”

“Thanks.”

Watching the gentle sway of her small hips as she walked
away, Logan tried to gather his scattered wits. He’d found her. He’d finally
found her. But what did he do now? She knew about her powers. That was a plus.
He’d have a starting point when he tried to explain things to her. But he
wasn’t ready yet. He hadn’t expected to find her so quickly. How should he
approach her?

He needed a plan.

He looked over at the counter again. The other woman,
Crystal, stared at him, jealousy easily read even from this distance. He
couldn’t make a scene here, with all these people. But he had to leave Sabine
with something to think about, something to consider.

He wanted her thinking about him when he left.

It didn’t take her long to return with his drink and food.
“That was quick.” The smell of well-seasoned meat set him salivating.

“That’s the advantage of ordering the special. You don’t
have as long to wait with the prep time.”

Smiling, he gave her his best trust-me-I’m-harmless look.
“It looks wonderful. You’ll have to compliment the chef.”

She laughed, the musical sound warming cold places deep in
his heart. “Oh, I have to tell my brother that. I don’t think anyone’s ever
actually called him a chef before.”

He shrugged but nodded toward Crystal. “The same brother she
broke up with? ‘Cause I gotta tell you, it takes guts to eat food cooked by
your ex.”

“Nope, my younger brother.”

“Two brothers huh?”

“Try five.” At his surprised look, she smirked a little and
tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. She gave him a quick, conspiratorial
wink. “So don’t go thinking that you can get fresh with the local waitress just
cause you’re an out-of-towner.”

“That’s some family. I’ll keep that in mind.” He noticed a
bandage across her wrist peeking out from under her sleeve. Looking at it with
a bit of his Visionary sight, he saw a sickly green glow around the wound.
Demon or imp inflicted.
How did she get that? Is she seriously hunting
demons like Ryuu saw in his vision?
He reached up and took her hand.
“You’re hurt.”

“Can’t work around food without getting the occasional
scratch or burn.” She tried to pull away but Logan wouldn’t let go.

“You didn’t get this here, or at least I hope you didn’t.
And these kinds of wounds always heal more slowly than natural ones.” He rubbed
his thumb over the bandage, pushing with a touch of his mage magic. It was a
small scratch. It didn’t take much to clean and heal.

She twisted her wrist out of his grip. “I don’t know what
you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you?” Logan reached for his knife and fork and began
cutting his meatloaf, savoring the rich scent. “Like calls to like.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean by that?”

“I’ve had quite a few scratches like that myself. They can
be nasty, savage creatures, especially if they’re working as a nest. But you
probably already know that.”

Her powers pushed out at him, flooding around him even
though they were too weak to get a good hold. His own magic protected him from
invasion.

“Who are you?”

He took a bite of meatloaf to stall as he thought about the
best way to answer the question. It melted in his mouth. He rarely ate red meat
anymore, something about it reminding him too much of blood. But damn, it
tasted good. “Name’s Logan Walker. I’m a night manager at a hotel named Zen, in
San Francisco. But I have a nighttime hobby similar to yours.”

Her lips pursed and she looked over her shoulder before
whispering, “How did you find me?”

“Wasn’t easy, let me tell you.” He paused to relish another
juicy bite. “But where you read emotions, I see events—past, present and
future. Though to find you, I had help from someone else like me.”

“Like you?”

Logan wasn’t sure if she looked stricken or hopeful. He
prayed for hopeful. “You didn’t think you were alone, did you? This fight’s
been going on for centuries. No way could one person ever be effective alone.”

Bree glanced over at a large man who’d stepped out of the
kitchen and behind the counter. “And just what kind of hobby do you think I
have?”

Logan locked eyes with the man who must be one of her
brothers and gave a friendly smile and nod. “Demon hunting, what else?” He held
up a hand as she started to respond. “Don’t bother denying it, won’t do any
good. Just think about it, talk it over with your brothers and look me up when
you’re ready to discuss things. I’m just going to finish my dinner, pay my bill
and head back to my hotel.”

He stared deeply in her eyes, trying to imprint this moment
in his memory. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

She blinked, taking a step back and shaking herself. She
tore the bill off her pad and laid it on the table. “Don’t expect any refills
and you better leave a damn good tip.”

He grinned at her retreating shoulders.

Sabine always did have a temper.

* * * * *

Who the hell was that guy?
Bree couldn’t help but
stare at him as he finished eating. He was attractive, in a dangerous sort of
way. He didn’t feel like one of the possessed but she couldn’t get a good read
on him either. And how did he know about that anyway? Only her brothers knew
about her ability to feel out emotions. No one else should even suspect such a
thing was possible.

“Do you trust him?” Ty whispered as he leaned over her
shoulder to look at their mysterious customer. He hadn’t liked what she told
him the man had said any more than she did.

“Don’t know.” Bree pursed her lips and for once wished her
powers were stronger. She needed to feel this new guy out. “I don’t think he’s
possessed but that doesn’t mean he’s one of the good guys.”

“I’ll call Matt and Wes and have them run a check on him.
Logan Walker, right?”

“Yeah, from San Francisco.” She continued staring as Ty
walked back to the phone in the kitchen. By that evening, between Matt’s
connections, Wes’ journalistic tricks, and Jordan’s hacking skills, they’d know
everything there was to know about Mr. Walker.

Logan
.

The name sounded right and wrong at the same time. Something
deep inside her expected it to sound more familiar and in a way it still did,
just not exactly
right
.

What was going on?

“He’s hot.”

Bree rolled back her automatic retort as the cute, petite
annoyance with blonde hair leaned in on her. Why did Crystal always want to
talk to her like they were friends? What did the woman expect from her?
The
way she treated Jordan, you’d think she’d realize that I don’t like her, that
I’m not fooled and can see her for the grade-A bitch she is.

But for once Bree had to admit that the other woman was
right. Logan might be a mystery right now but he was hot.

He definitely had the look of a rebel, with his black
leather pants and jacket. But the clothes made sense if he rode a motorcycle
all the way here from San Francisco. Also, the leather would provide protection
during a demon fight. So he was tough but that didn’t mean he was a bastard.

He kept his hair short around the sides and long on top, a
vibrant red almost the color of blood. He had a look about him, a way of
carrying himself, that spoke of confidence born in battle. It was a look Bree
was used to seeing in her brothers and herself. This Logan guy wasn’t above
getting dirty. But his calm blue eyes were anything but vicious. Kind, they
looked clear and kind.

Still she shouldn’t be ogling the man. Bree grabbed a damp
rag and started wiping down the counter. She’d have to see what her brothers
said. Her instincts might say that this man meant no harm to her but he also wasn’t
someone to take lightly.

They’d have to keep an eye on him.

Chapter Five

The mountains at night were the definition of spooky to the
uninitiated. Sounds echoed strangely against the hollows, eerie thuds in the
distance. Wildlife scurried in the underbrush just outside of her peripheral
vision. Worse, it wasn’t uncommon to stumble across ancient grave sites and
markers that had been attached to homesteads long since reclaimed by the woods.
At least the full moon shone down through the trees, lighting their way down
the twisting path. Bree had pinpointed one of the smaller branches of the main
nest of demons they hunted. The nest being larger than the last, this hunt
called for all her brothers’ help. But at least the hunt kept her mind clear,
leaving her little time to think about anything or anyone.

Even Logan.

The Colliers slipped silently through the trees and brush.
In a carefully choreographed maneuver, they stalked their prey. But as they
approached the nest they discovered something unexpected. There were at least
ten imps in the clearing surrounding a single human.

Bree thought it was an attack and braced herself for the
rescue attempt Aaron would surely coordinate. But first she reached out for the
human’s emotions, prepared to endure an onslaught of terror. Instead slick
alien emotions, like so much slime, coated the air.

Possessed.

Signaling her brothers to start circling the group, Bree
crept forward. Aaron would be on the farthest side with his whistle as the
signal for attack. The waiting for everyone to get to their places was its own
torture, every nerve tingling with the urge to fight.

At Aaron’s sharp signal, Bree leapt forward. The next few
minutes blurred into a sequence of scratching, grabbing, clawing and swiping.
She smelled the noxious odor of flaming imp as the creatures started falling.
She received a few shallow scratches and retaliated with swift precision that
sent two more imps up in ash. But something was wrong.

There were too many.

The ten imps they’d seen before starting their attack were
only the beginning. Ten more, then twenty scampered through the trees. The
possessed human, a man Bree had never seen before, stood back and laughed as
the numbers increased.

Seeing that individual skirmishes would be impossible to
survive against those numbers, Bree and her brothers gathered back-to-back,
facing their enemies. She didn’t have time for the fear to set in nor did she
have the luxury of imagining her defeat. She crouched, her knife held in front
of her, as she prepared for the imps’ attack. She trusted her brothers to
protect her back and would do the same.

Suddenly movement at the tree line caught her attention. A
large, shadowy figure slipped through the brush. But it wasn’t demonic
reinforcements. Logan, still in his black leathers, stepped out, a picture of
confidence as he faced the onslaught. He reached over his shoulder, whipping
out a long sword. He grinned as he held it in front of him and widened his
stance.

Three imps peeled off from the group surrounding the
Colliers to converge on him. Spinning and slicing, he dealt with them with a
frightening efficiency.

Other imps joined the fray to meet a similar fate in
frightening, ferocious speed. The air was thick with the stench of their blood
and ash. Bree tore her eyes away from Logan and started dealing with her own
adversaries. She lost track of time again as she dispatched one after another
until someone bigger grabbed hold of her arm and dragged her away from her
brothers. A gun pressed against her temple.

“Hold or the woman dies.”

Her brothers froze. Their terror leaked into her mind,
threatening to break her from the icy calm that had descended on her during the
battle. Even Logan paused, lowering his sword. But he raised his free hand
slightly, palm out toward her. It looked like a perfectly innocent gesture but
Bree could feel something reaching out for her, pulling energy from her. Just
as she noticed his hand begin to glow, he swung his arm as if throwing
something.

The man holding her gasped, his hands dropping. Bree spun to
stab at him, pulling back her knife at the last second as she watched a haze of
smoke slide out of him. Her eyes widened as the man collapsed and the mist
coalesced into a humanoid shape. While she stood frozen, it oozed toward her.

Suddenly Logan was there beside her. Wrapping his sword arm
around her waist, he twisted her to the side. His glowing hand rose again,
strange words falling from his lips.

With a bright flash, the smoke creature vanished.