Tempted by Darkness (19 page)

Trev’s lips brushed over her temple before he
spoke, “No, baby, let Jameson run it off. He needs this. Running is
how he expends the negative energy that’s feeding his anger. He’ll
need you more when he returns.” Kit felt herself melt.
Damn it
all to dimwitted demons anyway.
She felt him laugh against her
and, try as she might, she couldn’t hold back her own laughter.
“The way your mind works fascinates me, baby. The sheer randomness
of it is awe-inspiring.”

“Says you—it drove my mother to distraction,
although I must admit, it amused the hell out of my grandfather.” A
wave of loneliness crashed over her so suddenly she felt as if it
had hit her like a coward’s bullet, piercing her from the back,
sending a crashing wall of cold water into her that threatened to
pull her out into the sea of despair she’d nearly drowned in when
her grandfather had first died. Her grandfather had been her rock,
the solid place she’d always been able to anchor herself to during
the turbulent storms that had come too frequently in their
household when she’d been a child. Again, something in the back of
her mind kindled with a spark of recognition, almost as if she was
missing something that was painfully obvious before it flickered
back to darkness.

Gripping her shoulders, Trev pushed her back
to arm’s length and studied her so closely she started to squirm
under the scrutiny. There were storm clouds in his eyes and she was
bewildered by the sudden change in him. Giving her a small shake,
he barked, “Tell me. What was that?”

“What was what? Trevlon, I have no idea what
you are talking about.”

“The thought you just had. I saw it. The
earth was shaking and boulders were tumbling all around you, but
you weren’t moving. It was if they were falling right through you.”
Kit could feel his rising panic and if she hadn’t been
concentrating on his emotions she might have wondered more at his
strange words.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I
had a fleeting thought of the loneliness I experienced on occasion
as a child and then storms but then nothing after that.” She felt
her brow wrinkle as she fought to pull back the moment, to find out
what kept dancing at the edge of her consciousness, but it was just
beyond her grasp.

“Kit, over the past few days you’ve thought
about rocks or something like that several times, often enough that
even I have noticed and wondered what it meant.” Braden’s voice
sounded concerned from beside her and she jerked her attention to
the young man who seemed like such a kid in one moment and then so
very wise beyond his years the next. He shrugged and started
recalling several instances and as soon as he began, Kit saw a
flash of the vision Trev had just described.

Clutching Brandon’s arm with one hand and
Trev’s with the other, she felt herself sway with the enormity of
what just flashed through her mind. The seal Damian was locked
behind had been across the cave from where she’d been standing.
Even though it hadn’t been that far away, to her it looked as if
she was looking through water. There were several witches and
wizards standing in a semi-circle around the seal chanting, but Kit
didn’t understand the words. She’d had the impression they were
younger and remembered having a fleeting thought wondering who’d
taught the young men and women standing before her Latin. The only
other time she’d heard it used was the day she and her mother had
stood back and listened to the members of the Council speaking to
her grandmother. But as she thought about it, the words didn’t have
the same sounds, so what were they speaking? Sanskrit? It was the
only other language Kit knew was used by magicals when they were
chanting from the most ancient texts.

She’d been able to hear Damian raging on the
other side for them to hurry and then as if he’d known she was
there he called out to her, pleading for her help. His voice
modulated and became almost hypnotizing, reminding her of the Bible
story about the serpent tempting Eve. His words whispered in her
mind—imploring her to help, assuring her that all she had to do was
concentrate and the seal would unlock. He’d told her others were
getting close, but she could show them who held the real power.
Even though she felt oddly disconnected from the scene, Kit felt
the temptation of dark magic seeping clear to the depths of her
soul. It would be so easy to show them how powerful she could
be—the power that she only played with when no one was watching.
The all-consuming power that seemed to call her more and more often
into the meadow when everyone else was busy.

Trev’s voice sounded so far away, but his
pleading words finally broke through and Kit blinked up at him.
She’d never seen such stark terror reflected in anyone’s eyes as
she did her mate’s. Kit simply blinked up at his for several
seconds wondering why he was so shaken.
It was just a daydream,
it didn’t mean anything—did it?
His voice once again broke
through, the tone sharp, “It wasn’t a dream, Kit. It was a fucking
vision.”

Trev felt as if his entire world had just
shifted on its axis. His mother had often predicted her magic would
flow through him one day, but he’d always assumed she was speaking
metaphorically. But she had insisted that their mate would pull
pieces of her magic from deep within him. Never one to back down,
their mom had sworn Jameson was destined to become the alpha the
prophets had been expecting for several hundred years. She had
insisted her first-born son would lead their pack into a future
that was sure to see their numbers increase exponentially and
expand their influence to the world stage. And she’d repeatedly
promised Trev he would find the magic that she’d blessed him with
at birth.

As he’d held Kit’s shoulders, connecting to
what she was seeing and feeling, his mother’s words had whispered
through his mind. Was this the
gift
she’d promised? Seeing
into the mind of someone else? Or seeing the future when it
terrified him? What the hell kind of gift was that?
A gift I’d
happily give up—that’s for damned sure.
Why hadn’t she given
him something useful like the ability to see the numbers of the
next lottery draw, or the ability to convince his mate to take care
of herself? Yes, indeed, that would have been a gift worth having.
But seeing what the future held when it was so weird he hadn’t been
able to fully unravel the images was fucking terrifying.

Trev kept his hands over the outside of her
shoulders as he struggled to regain some semblance of control over
his racing heart. Hell, he was practically panting at the fear that
had stolen over his senses as he’d watched her tuck herself into
the dark recesses of the cave. She’d stood back watching as the men
and women surrounding some sort of symbol on the wall continued
chanting. He hadn’t understood their words, but when he’d seen the
edges of the large golden symbol start to shimmer, he’d felt her
torment. She’d been torn between helping and stopping them, but it
had been the shaking of the earth around them that had really
frightened him. When the boulders started falling all around them
he’d screamed at her to run, but she had acted as though she
couldn’t hear him.

And now, she stood in front of him trembling
and frightened at what she’d seen and he could feel her pulling
back from him, “Baby, stay right where you are. And keep that sharp
mind of yours here as well.” Before he’d taken his next breath,
Trev put out a distress call to his brother and felt Jameson’s
panic as he made a sharp U-turn and began racing back to the
mansion. Their mind link automatically snapped tightly closed
excluding all others from the conversation, just as it had their
entire lives. Anytime one of them was in danger or hurt, everything
intensified and narrowed—blocking out everything but the two of
them.

Anytime there had been a security threat to
their pack, Jameson and Trev purposely included anyone who needed
to be informed, but he’d always felt as if the connection was
diluted if others were a part of the conversation. Then when Kit
entered their lives, they’d made concerted efforts to include her
as often as possible, but that wasn’t an option now. The fact the
communication link only included the two of them was a testament to
the fact Jameson had understood the fear his twin was feeling.

Trev could almost feel the cracks forming in
Kit’s mind as it started to shatter, and this new vulnerability was
what terrified him. Their tiny mate had always been a force to be
reckoned with, she’d shunned even the faintest shadows of weakness.
But right now her mind was spinning wildly out of control,
reminding him of those little steel balls in the old pinball
machines he and his brother had played as kids. Seeing that small
silver ball bouncing wildly under the glass, lighting up the
features, dinging loudly as it racked up points had always
fascinated him. Scooping her up in his arms, he raced up the stairs
toward their suite hoping the security of her own space would help
bring her back from the edge. Knowing the woman he loved more than
life itself, was struggling to regain her equilibrium, her thoughts
mimicking that little bit of round steel—well, that just fucking
sucked.

Jameson turned so sharply his claws actually
dug into the turf throwing bits of sod and grass to the side from
the force. He hadn’t asked where his brother was because he would
have been able to find either his twin or their mate anywhere on
the planet just by following his heart. The same was true of their
children, which he didn’t doubt was going to cause the two little
hellions no end of grief. He’d been running long and hard trying to
expend the negative emotions that had nearly swamped him as he’d
watched the flippant attitude of the traitor who had sat across
from him in his office. Knowing he’d misplaced his trust in a woman
who had so blatantly endangered each and every member of his pack
had almost broken his control. Had she displayed any contrition at
all, he might have found a measure of compassion, but her blatant
disregard for anyone but herself was what almost cost her life.

He’d been nearing the edge of their property
when he’d heard Trev’s frantic message. It was his brother’s tone
that had really worried him. What he’d heard wasn’t fear in a way
that said his physical safety had been compromised, but a fear of
something he absolutely didn’t understand—and that was far more
terrifying. By the time he bounded over the deck railing he’d
already shifted and landed on two feet rather than four. Tristan
handed him a pair of pants and he hit the back door with enough
force to send it crashing into the wall. Tristan’s voice sounded
behind him, “The Council had assured us the woman they escorted out
of here will never return. My guess is she won’t live much past her
usefulness to them. And— ” Jameson stopped when he heard the
uncertainty in his friend’s voice. Tristan Michaels had been the
head of their security for years and his instincts were phenomenal.
If Tristan sensed trouble, you could bet your ass there was problem
that shouldn’t be discounted or ignored.