Tegan's Power (The Ultimate Power Series #4) (9 page)

“Yes, yes, go, please,”
I urge him.

He leans in and kisses
me quickly on the lips. “Just out of curiosity, what are we going to do with
the girl when we have her?”

“I’m going to return her
to her mother like I said.”

“Ah, okay. For a moment
there I thought you wanted to keep her.” He grins.

“No way!” I exclaim. “I
don’t have a clue how to raise a kid.”

Ethan only continues to
grin and gets out of the car. I watch as he climbs swiftly up the side of the
building and lands on the roof. He drops down onto a balcony and slips inside
the glass sliding doors. Seconds later he’s leaving with Rebecca struggling in
his arms. I’m suddenly aware that she must remember Ethan from her first
abduction by Whitfield.

He slides into the car
with a crying Rebecca. As soon as she sees me she stops.

“Tegan?” she whispers
in disbelief.

“Hey honey, come sit on
my lap.”

“You came for me again,”
she exclaims as she crawls over to me.

“I did.”

Her momentary happy
expression falters. “Miss Emilia said my daddy is dead. Is it true?”

God, what a bitch. I
can’t believe she told Rebecca about Pamphrock’s death already. For a second I
feel like lying to her and telling her it’s not true, but I can’t do that.

“Yeah, honey, it’s
true. I’m so sorry.”

Tears begin to fill her
eyes as she clutches onto me tightly. Ethan starts the car and drives towards
the gates which open for him as he nears. Just as we pass them and get out onto
the road I hear a sharp wail emanate from the house.

“You better put your
foot on it,” I say to Ethan. “It sounds like Emilia’s already discovered
Rebecca’s gone.”

The little girl holds
my hand tight. “I don’t like her.”

I laugh. “Who would?
She’s crazy.”

My gaze is drawn to a
dark vehicle that has suddenly sped up behind us. At the wheel is Emilia’s
butler and Emilia sits in the passenger seat, a wild expression on her face.

“Don’t let her take me
again,” Rebecca pleads, tears spilling from her eyes as her lower lip trembles.
“She said I had to change my name to Darya. I don’t want to be called Darya. My
name is Rebecca.”

Jesus, she’s even
crazier than I originally thought.

“I won’t let her,” I
tell her firmly and squeeze her hand.

Ethan’s car swerves as
a stream of Emilia’s sparks lashes against the side of the vehicle.

“I don’t think she’ll
come across the river, not into vampire territory. How far are we from a
bridge?”

“Two minutes,” Ethan
answers before stomping his foot down on the gas pedal.

We’re out of reach of
Emilia’s sparks now and I see her yards behind us, half her body sticking out
of the top of her car through the sun roof. She throws her hands in front of
herself, streams of magic flowing from her fingertips. I almost regret having
taken Rebecca and making a true enemy of my grandmother when I see the insane
look in her eyes.

We get onto one of the
more populated city streets where there are lots of people looting goods out of
abandoned shops. Emilia is so crazed that she’s not even bothering to be
careful. She’s not disguising her magic with a glamour either. I know because
some people are standing stock still on the streets to stare at her.

She begins to weave
fire through her sparks, and as it descends on Ethan’s car it burns through
several men and women who had been unfortunate enough to be crossing the road.
Their singed and blackened bodies lie instantly dead in a trail along the
ground.

Fuck.

Panic erupts and those
left on the street flee.

I had remembered her
describing the sparks as ‘electrical fire’ but I have never been able to do anything
like that with mine. And Jesus, she just killed a shitload of people simply
because they were in her way.

“She’s F-U-C-K-ing
nuts,” I shout at Ethan, trying not to swear in front of Rebecca, despite this
being such a swear-worthy occasion right now.

“Isn’t that the truth,”
he agrees swerving around a corner.

I spot a bridge coming
up ahead, looking like salvation in worn steel. My heart rate slows as we near
it. Then suddenly something bangs loudly against the side of the car. The next
thing I know Ethan is curling his body around both mine and Rebecca’s to shield
us from the impending impact. Emilia’s magic flips the car completely over.

All I can feel is his
muscle protecting me and the banging in my head. All I can hear is Rebecca
crying.

“Are you okay?” Ethan
asks staring down at me when we’re no longer moving.

“I think so. We need to
get out of here and over that bridge.”

“I know, hold still.”

He reaches out and
pushes at the door beside me. It groans under his strength and seconds later
falls off, meeting the ground with a loud clang. Whoa. I have a feeling that’s
something he couldn’t do before he drank my blood. Ethan takes Rebecca from me
and I crawl out as he follows behind. A crowd has gathered to ogle the
wreckage. I ready myself for Emilia’s next attack, but it never comes.

I look around in
bewilderment. The car she and her butler had been in has disappeared and
Emilia’s nowhere to be seen. That’s when my attention is drawn to the freakish
giggling coming from overhead. My eyes travel up the building in front of me
until I see two figures standing on the roof all dressed in black. No, that’s
not right, there are three figures. One of them is Emilia, but she’s unconscious
as Theodore holds her in his arms. Beside him is Rita gazing down at me
expressionlessly.

A swirl of purple smoke
surrounds them and when it dissolves they’ve disappeared.

“What the hell?” I
whisper.

What does Theodore want
with Emilia?

When I feel Ethan step
up beside me still carrying Rebecca, I ask, “Did you see what I just saw?”

“Yes, it was Theodore,”
he confirms.

“He took Emilia.”

“He probably wants to
use her for something. Perhaps he thinks she’ll join his side.”

“Wonderful,” I sigh.

He grabs my hand. “Come.
We must get into vampire territory before they come back.”

I nod, but I don’t
think Theodore’s coming back just yet.

When we reach Ethan’s
house I put Rebecca to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms. She only has a small
bruise on her temple, which is lucky since Ethan’s car was practically
totalled. It’s a good thing he was there to shield us from most of the impact.

Once I leave her I go
and run a bath. Ethan is downstairs meeting with the last of the vampires from
yesterday. He told me I could sit this session out since I’ve had a rough day.
He’ll determine whether or not they are loyal on his own.

Everything seems to
move so quickly when I’m with him that I never get the chance to simply relax.
I unplug my phone from where it had been charging in Ethan’s room and bring it
into the bath with me. The moment I turn it on it starts beeping with messages
and missed calls.

Most of them are from
Finn, but he never left any voicemails; he just hung up when I didn’t answer. I
have some messages from Amanda. The first reads:

Oh fuck! Just saw my
neighbour get attacked right out on the street. WTF is happening?

And the second:

Jesus, Tegan. The city
is swarming with vamps gone nuts. I need you to call me ASAP.

The final one says:

All of my housemates
are missing and I’m hiding in the basement. Please call. I’m scared.

Upon finishing the
final message I dial her number immediately. It only rings once before she
picks up.

“Tegan! Oh, thank God.”

“Amanda, where are
you?”

“I’m still in my
basement. There’s no food here and I’m starving but I can’t leave. It’s too
crazy outside.”

“You can leave now.
Things have settled down. Listen, I need you to come to this address.” I rattle
off Ethan’s house number and street name before reassuring her again that she’ll
be okay, then I hang up. I seem to be gathering strays at record breaking speed
today.

I allow my body to sink
into the bubbles and close my eyes. I get at least twenty minutes uninterrupted
relaxation in before the door opens and I can sense Ethan’s just stepped inside.
Even with my eyes closed I can feel his nearness. He kneels by the large tub
and dips his hand into the foamy water.

“That’s a good look for
you,” he murmurs.

“Why thanks,” I say
smiling, but not opening my eyes yet.

I reach up with my foot
and turn the nob to let more hot water in. When I finally look at Ethan his
fangs are fully extended and his eyes have grown dark.

“I told Amanda to come
here. She’s frightened at what’s been happening and needs somewhere she’ll be
safe.”

Ethan frowns. “I’m not
sure how safe she’ll be here since Lucas is staying in one of the guest rooms.”

“Great. Will he keep away
from her?”

“He will if I tell him
to.”

I sigh, relieved.
“Good.”

Ethan’s fingertips
graze my nipple and I suck in a harsh breath. His dark answering grin is
wicked. A moment later he’s standing to undress. My muscles clench with
anticipation as I wait for him to join me. His top falls to the floor, followed
shortly by his trousers and boxers and before I know it he’s climbing into the tub.

His knee slides between
my legs, nudging at my sex and I moan. Then he bends his head and takes my
breast into his mouth, his fangs grazing my skin with just the right amount of
pressure in order to tantalize instead of cut.

“Jesus,” I rasp just as
his thick length slides smoothly into me and fills me up.

He lifts his head from
my breast and stares intensely into my eyes. His expression is serious, his
mouth hanging half open as he thrusts deliciously slow in and out. Then, by
contrast, he smiles.

“I hope you don’t have
any plans for tonight.”

“Oh yeah, why’s that?”

“Because tonight,
beautiful, you’re mine.”

For a moment my chest
seizes with a pang of anxiety, my body’s instinctual response to possessive
declarations from a dangerous creature. But a moment later Ethan speeds up the
pace of his thrusts, hammering into me with phenomenal speed, and I forget all
about my anxiety.

Cuddling My
Semi-Automatic, What a Very Fuzzy Feeling

Finn

It takes a half an hour for Allora to
regain consciousness. When she does she sits up and fixes her top back into
place like nothing even happened. She runs her hands through her hair and asks very
politely if she can have a glass of water.

I brought the others
into the house after she’d started having her vision, so Alvie runs to get the
water from the kitchen. I stare at her until he gets back, trying to decide
whether or not to ask her what she saw. She didn’t seem too keen on telling me
this morning, so I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon.

Alvie returns and hands
her the glass of water. She downs the whole thing in only a couple of swallows
and then sets the glass on the floor by her feet. Alvie sits beside her and
pats her on the back.

“That looked painful,
hon. You okay?” he says.

Allora clears her throat.
“I’ll be fine. I just have this God-awful headache and the past few times I’ve
had an episode I keep seeing the same thing.”

“You don’t normally see
the same thing?” I question.

She shakes her head.
“My visions are usually unique. No repetitions.”

“What did you see?”
asks Delilah from where she’s standing by the door.

“I see a little girl
with blonde hair,” Allora answers unexpectedly. “I see her being important in
bringing the first ever peace between supernaturals to the city. I see her
ruling. I guess that since it’s all I’ve been seeing these days that it’s
pretty important.”

A little blonde girl?
The person who most fits that description is Pamphrock’s kid, Rebecca. I suddenly
remember that she’s still being held captive by Emilia Petrovsky and remind
myself to do something to rectify that situation as soon as possible.

“Do you feel up to
leaving with us?” I say. “Your parents aren’t here and it doesn’t look like
they’re coming back any time soon. Wherever they are.”

Her eyes gets shiny
with moisture and her throat moves as she swallows hard. Seeing this makes me
feel kind of shitty for being so tactless.

“Yeah,” she finally whispers
and gets up from the couch. Alvie helps her but she seems to be steady enough
on her feet.

“Who do you think the
girl in her vision is?” Gabriel asks quietly by my side as we return to the
van.