LogansEmpath (6 page)

Logan released her, wiping his sword’s blade with a black
cloth before sliding it back in its sheath. He knelt down and checked the man’s
pulse. “He’ll be okay. But we’d best move him before he regains consciousness,
put him somewhere he’ll be found that won’t be connected to us.”

“You can’t just leave him on the side of the road.” Bree
gave the man on the ground a sympathetic look. She rarely saw those who’d been
possessed but they filled her with pity and revulsion. She both wondered what
they did to make their possession possible while wishing she could do more for
the victims once they were freed. “He won’t have any memories or personality
when he regains consciousness.”

“Yes, he will.” Logan grabbed the man and slung him over his
shoulder with a grunt. “I don’t know how you’ve been freeing the possessed but
when my magic separates them the host isn’t damaged like that. At least, not if
they haven’t been possessed for too long.”

“How did you do that?” This time it was Matt who spoke,
stepping forward to help Logan position the man so he wouldn’t fall. “We’ve
only seen possessed separate when the creature voluntarily leaves or the person
dies.”

“I am a mage trained to fight these creatures. I’ve been a
mage for many lives, on top of being a Visionary. That means I can manipulate
energy, use what looks like pure magic.” He glanced at Bree. “But I admit that
your sister gave me a shot of extra power. Otherwise I’d be out for at least a
day, day and a half after pulling that.”

“At the cafe you said we were the same. What did you mean by
that?” Bree kept a close eye on Logan, positioning herself between him and her
brothers. She still couldn’t get a good, clear read on the man. Even if he had
the other man on his back, who knew what kind of damage Logan was capable of?

He stared at her in silence, then looked over her shoulder
at her brothers gathering around her. “This much I’ll tell you. Just as you are
an Empath, I am a Visionary, able to see through space and time.” He grimaced
at the obvious disbelief on all their faces. “It’s a very long story. The kind of
tale best told in private, maybe over a meal. I might have borrowed energy from
Bree, so I’m not exhausted, but I’m still starving.”

“I tell my brothers everything.” She gave him a pointed
look. “And I don’t go out on a dinner date with just anyone.”

His lips slid up in a quick smile. “I’ll be certain to keep
that in mind. But I was talking about telling the story out in the open. We
could go back to my motel room. Not to mention this guy’s getting heavy. I need
to dump him off, remember?”

“Come to our house when you’re done.” Bree almost jumped out
of her skin at the sound of Aaron’s voice. It wasn’t like her eldest brother to
trust anyone. He raised a single brow in her direction. He’d noticed how she’d
put herself between them and she knew he’d have something to say to her about
it later. “We need to hear what the man says. Best to keep him close in the
meantime. Mage or not, it is six against one. I imagine he’ll stay in line in
our home. He doesn’t appear to be the type of man to abuse our hospitality.”

Logan bowed his head at Aaron. “I would be honored if you
trust me in your home. We’ll sit down, have some coffee, and I’ll tell you all
about demon gates, negative emotional build-ups, tears, leaks and the first
Three.”

“One question now.” Jordan stepped around Bree, practically
vibrating with pent-up emotions. His usual joking after a battle was decidedly
absent. Frankly, his hot-headedness made Bree worry. “Will your story help us
kill demons?”

“Yes. It starts and ends with killing demons. You aren’t alone
in this fight. Far from it.” Logan stepped forward, ignoring the unconscious
man’s weight on his shoulders as he offered Jordan his hand. “There are many of
us across the country and around the world holding the line. Some of us have
succeeded better than others. I can help you contact them. We try to learn from
our failures and our successes.”

Jordan stared at the offered hand. Bree could feel the hope
in him and prayed that it was well-founded. They could all use a little hope.
“If Aaron says you can come with us, I’ll stand by his judgment. You can come
back to our place tonight, get some rest and tell us everything in the morning.
I’m not up to coffee and incredible stories tonight.” Jordan looked back at
Bree and his brothers.

She gave him a nod. “I think we could all use a rest.”

The two shook and that seemed to ease down the clamoring of
emotions.

If those worries hadn’t been so high, Bree might not have
missed the feeling of something alien watching. Perhaps the imp who scampered
away would’ve been captured and killed. Instead, little mind reeling with the
words
the Three
, the imp hurried back to its leader with the news.

Chapter Six

The petite blonde stared out the living room window of her
average little home, waiting. She’d had her “parents” turn in early, tucked
away in one of the smaller second-floor bedrooms. She didn’t need any
distractions as she planned her next move. Room—more space was essential if she
wanted to build a sizable army. This cute little human house sitting on a
single acre wasn’t nearly enough space to collect and mature her creatures. She
needed more for her minions to grow in peace. Her relationship with Jordan
Collier was not working out as she thought it would. And even if she did manage
to get him, his damn kin showed no signs of leaving home, effectively tying up
all those acres of mountain. Killing the parents was supposed to send them to
the four winds, not make the siblings shack up in the homestead like some damn
backwoods clan.

And to top it off, she still hadn’t found out who was
butchering what minions she managed to muster. How was she expected to create a
stronghold for her growing demons as they leaked through the tears if her imps
kept getting slaughtered?

Crystal Briggs was one pissed-off would-be demon lord.

She heard the flap on the dog door swish at the back of the
house. She didn’t keep dogs. The only thing canines were good for was food as
far as she was concerned. No, she kept the dog door for her youngest imps, as
they needed more shelter than their older brethren and stayed in the basement,
not the woods. So she wasn’t surprised when a small imp scampered up to her,
though she was impressed with its impudence.

The imp fell to its face at her feet, groveling, as was its
place in her presence.

When it stayed at her feet, not moving to one of the dark
corners of her house as it should, she glared down at it with narrowed eyes.
“You have something to tell me?”

“Yes, mistress. I have news,” it whispered without raising
its scaly, horned head.

“It had best be good news. I’m not in the mood to deal with
more problems.”

The creature trembled but didn’t move from its spot on the
floor. “It is both good and bad.”

Crystal’s delicate face twisted into a snarl, the demon
inside her almost visible through her pale skin. “Tell me.”

“The hunting party has been destroyed, the possessed human
freed.”

Her eyes widened at the imp’s daring. She leaned forward on
the couch. “And you dare come back to me alive?”

The imp squirmed, trying to sink deeper down on the hardwood
floor. “I thought it best to bring you the information than stay and let myself
be destroyed.”

Right, a cowardly imp. Just what I need.
“What
information could you possibly have that will keep me from ending your
miserable existence?”

“The name of those who hunt down our kind.”

That caught her attention. Of all the things the creature
could say, that information was probably the only thing that could save its
life. She shoved the imp off her feet and scooted forward. “You know who is
killing my minions?”

“Yes.” The creature peeked up at her, its slitted eyes
blinking convulsively. “I’ve seen one of them here before so I recognized the
family.”

“Seen one?” How was that possible? The imp shouldn’t have
been near any human before that still lived now.

“Yes, Mistress.” The imp finally dared to sit back on its
haunches and face her. “It was the Collier family. Five brothers and one
sister. I recognized Jordan Collier.”

“Are you certain?” Crystal whispered. How could she have
missed something that important? How could she have dated and slept with the
human who killed her minions and not realized it? The very idea shook her to
the core, her confidence and ego at stake.

“Yes, Mistress.” The creature, sensing her dismay, looked
down at the floor again, claws picking at the area rug. “There is more.”

Crystal’s mind already raced with possible plans of attack.
She couldn’t let this affront to her judgment and authority go unchallenged.
She knew her enemy, knew many of their strengths and weaknesses. As long as
they didn’t suspect her, she could easily take her time and eliminate the
Colliers one by one.

“There is a new man with them. A redhead who knows well how
to fight.”

Her lips twisted as she thought of the man from the cafe,
the one who seemed more interested in Sabrina Collier than in herself. His
rejection stung, yet another affront. She’d picked this body as a child,
molding it into perfection. No one should be able to ignore its appeal. The
very idea was insulting. “I think I know who you’re referring to. What of him?”

“He fought with mage magic.” The creature started trembling
again. “He mentioned the Three.”

For the first time in years Crystal felt true fear.
The
Three?
That would explain her apparent failure. If there was one thing that
could destroy everything she’d managed to carve out for herself in the past
decades living as a girl child and then woman in this miserable mountain
hideout it was one of the Three.

She fought the urge to rip to pieces the little imp who
brought her such news. But it did right by telling her and she couldn’t afford
to waste any potential soldier—not when an epic battle loomed on the horizon.

Instead of taking out her frustration on its flesh, she
gestured toward the basement door. “Rest with the others. You’ve given me much
to think about.”

The creature bowed again and scurried for the door.

A
Three
in Browningsville. The redheaded man must be
a Visionary, to have learned the use of mage powers in the present time. He’d
also have to be extra strong and gifted, a talented fighter. With the attention
he paid to Bree, she must be one of his Three, Empath or Catalyst.

Hopefully there were only the two of them. An incomplete
Three was a weakened Three. Crystal had a chance at taking them out as long as
it was just the two of them.

But while this needed to be dealt with quickly, a direct
assault on the Collier home was out of the question. The situation was too
dangerous to take lightly.

She needed a plan.

Chapter Seven

Even as exhausted as he was, Logan tossed and turned that
night, struggling to get some rest. But it wasn’t because of the strange place
or even because he’d finally found Sabine and was in her home. No, the visions
came hard and fast, some of wonderful futures, some filled with sorrow.

Logan’s first clear and lengthy vision revealed the possible
achievement of his greatest desire for the future.

~He stood in an unfamiliar room, not entirely certain what
led him to arrive there. But he didn’t waste his time looking at the decor. The
thing that drew his gaze was a queen-sized bed with a quilt covering it. And
that called to him only because Bree stretched naked across it. Her eyes spoke
of nerves yet she reached out for him with welcoming arms.

Heart pounding, Logan stepped forward only to realize that
he too was naked. But the discovery didn’t stop him from going to her side. He
sat on the bed, savoring the feeling of Bree’s hands running across his skin in
greeting. He wasn’t ashamed of the fact that his body trembled under her
caress. The feeling was so very precious, this first time together. He didn’t
care why she was there. He didn’t care if he acted like a nervous teen making
out with his first girlfriend. He just knew this moment was important.

Bree
was important.

Turning so that he sat facing her on the bed, Logan reached
out one hand for her, almost afraid to touch her and discover that she was just
an illusion. He slid his fingers through her hair, watching as she turned into
the caress. He eased his hands down to trace her cheek and neck. Bree purred
with his touch, closing her eyes. He moved his touch down her curves, enjoying
every twitch of her body and gasp from her lips. He paid close attention to the
spots that drew her sighs and moans and to the places that caused her to jerk
and giggle.

He leaned forward and took the very tip of her nipple
between his teeth, nipping, testing her reaction to that slight edge of pain.
She cried out and arched forward. She ran her fingers through his hair and gave
a slight tug. That echoing touch of pain rolled his eyes back in his head and
went straight to his cock.

There was nothing he loved more than that taste of pain
putting all his senses on red alert.

Covering her body with his own, Logan worked his mouth down,
tasting and teasing her skin as he went. He smiled at the incoherent babble
falling from Bree’s lips, enjoying the quick stab of satisfaction at the
thought that he’d done this to this proud woman. Knowing he was the one pushing
her over the edge fed into his own desire. When his mouth closed over her cunt,
tongue flicking at her clit at the end of a long lick, she lost control of her
Empathic abilities.

His eyes rolled back in his heard as he was flooded with her
arousal. Feeling Bree’s lust brought him to the very edge of his control.

She yanked at his hair, demanding and not so seductive this
time. He followed her direction, releasing her hips and giving her cunt a quick
kiss. He moved up to slice his mouth across hers. Her tongue plunged into his
mouth, lapping and tangling with his own as she fought for control.