Wicked Wind (Solsti Prophecy #1) (2 page)

The weather swings in the Chicago area provided a visceral reminder that everything changed. She was constantly aware of the wind and different patterns in the air, and it made her uneasy because it somehow
responded
to her. With only a thought, she could summon a gentle breeze or a forceful gale. No one knew about her mysterious ability except her sisters, who had similar gifts.

“Are you even listening to me, Nic?” Julie’s voice broke through Nicole’s reflections. “Really, when was the last time you went out?”

“I know, it’s been awhile,” Nicole acknowledged.

“Remember all the crazy times we had at China Club?”

“Yeah.” Nicole couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across her face.

“You danced on that bar so many times I thought they’d name the place after you. Remember staying out so late on weekdays–”

“That we didn’t have time to go home before work?”

“Sleeping under our desks sucked.”

“Yeah.” Nicole laughed. “That’s one thing I can cross off the bucket list. Don’t need to do that again. Look, how about I try to meet you later? I need to work out when I get home.”

“All right, but I’m going to keep checking on you until you show up. I’ll text you the address.” Julie turned in the direction of her condo. “See ya.”

Nicole waved, knowing her friend would hold her to her words, walked the few blocks to the L station, and caught the next Red Line train. Julie could text her all night long, but Nicole’s phone would be set to silent mode. Stealth and the element of surprise would be on her agenda tonight.

After a short ride she arrived at the Lincoln Park condo that she shared with Brooke. Dropping her bag in the living room, she went to her bedroom and changed into yoga pants and a tank top. She pulled her long blond hair into a ponytail and grabbed a water bottle. She hadn’t been kidding about the workout, and Friday nights were her favorite times to go. The gym in her building would be deserted at this hour.

Nicole grinned as she pulled open the heavy glass door to the fitness center. A bright pink sign announcing a new aerobic dance class reminded her of her youngest sister Ginny. Gin, as she preferred to be called, was wrapping up a graduate program at the University of Illinois downstate, and taught aerobics in her spare time. The three sisters had spoken last night via video chat. Always the funny one, Gin had them doubled over laughing in front of the computer monitor. She happened to be great at doing impressions, and last night’s antics had Gin in full
Golden Girls
mode.

“You know this will be us someday, all of us with white hair and living together,” Nicole said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

“Whatever!” Gin hooted. “You’ll be the one with all the gentleman friends coming over.”

The three of them were the only family they had, and no matter what life had thrown at them, their tight knot of support endured. Nicole hoped that Gin would find work in the city when her studies were done. It would be nice to have those laugh-until-we-cry chats in person.

She began a set of walking lunges to warm up her legs. Nicole credited martial arts with helping her cope with the losses in her life. The workouts kept her body strong, while the focus and meditation eased her mind. She and her sisters had loved the karate lessons they’d taken as kids. Then later, she and Brooke eagerly pursued the different disciplines of judo and Tae Kwan Do. They still made martial arts their main workout, sometimes sparring with each other, and sometimes refining techniques alone. Their skills and fierce loyalty were what grounded them. She visualized their bond as a strong knot of three ropes, and the more stress put upon it, the tighter it got. The strength of their sisterhood flowed into her muscles as she moved with practiced ease.

Two hours later, she had showered and was devouring leftover Chinese food when Brooke came home. “Remind me not to complain about having to work late,” Nicole murmured as her sister grabbed her own leftovers and put them in the microwave.

“I was almost finished with my project. You know I can’t leave any loose ends.” Brooke’s work as a graphic designer occasionally involved some crazy hours. “And I am more than ready to hit the streets tonight.”

“Me, too. Where do you want to start?”

“Englewood.” Brooke’s eyes gleamed as she named one of the city’s toughest areas.

Nicole nodded. “Never a dull night over there.”

The microwave beeped. With a grin, Brooke took out her food. “Thank goodness we found a Chinese place that can make decent egg rolls. They usually have way too much ginger.”

When she was done they dressed in black T-shirts, black jeans, and Doc Martens with knives concealed, in case things got ugly. They headed to the parking garage to retrieve their plain gray Honda sedan. Brooke slid behind the wheel and they pulled out, turning south on Damen Avenue. “I got an email from Ray yesterday,” she drawled. “He wonders where we’ve been. He misses you.”

Nicole rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. He’s such a flirt.”

Over the summer, they had spent a lot of time at the local shooting club Ray managed, making sure their firearm skills were top-notch. The guys they encountered on their searches weren’t always the best combatants, but they had a never-ending supply of guns. Nicole and Brooke needed to be prepared for anything. The best part of their routine was the element of surprise. No one expected two young white women to deliberately get involved in a street fight.

While Nicole refined her talent, Brooke worked just as hard on her affinity with water. The two of them regularly drove to rural areas, intent on exploring their abilities where they had space and privacy. If the weather forecast ever called for rain, Nicole knew what they’d be doing. More than once, she watched her sister derive a huge sense of satisfaction from seeing a gang member distracted by a puddle of dirty, oil-slicked rainwater strategically directed into his eyes. Their method was vigilante justice, but they both felt a gratifying sense of purpose in it.

This night would be no different. They parked on a side street near the expressway and exited the car, slipping down the cracked sidewalks with all senses on high alert. It didn’t take long to find trouble. As they rounded a corner, they heard the unmistakable sounds of a struggle drifting from an old brick building. There in the doorway was a young woman, looking like she was still in her teens, trying to fight off a barrel-chested man twice her size.

“Hey, why don’t you leave her alone?” Nicole shot a chilled breeze past the man’s head.

“What the–” He turned and saw Nicole and Brooke. Then his grimy face broke into a lewd grin that revealed a couple of missing teeth. “Hey, double the fun. This is my lucky day!”

“Actually, I’d say it’s her lucky day,” Brooke said. ”Step away from her.”

“You bitches be next, when I’m done with her,” he grunted, and started to turn back to the frightened teen.

“Wrong answer,” Nicole called out in a sweetly sarcastic voice, as she directed a breeze to swoop upward from the dirty street and into his face.

Brooke, already at a dead run, yanked his shoulder to pull him off the girl. He managed to stay on his feet as she delivered a kick right below his ribs, and when he swayed slightly, Brooke bent at the knees to shift her center of gravity. She side-stepped his punch, and then struck a hard punch to his solar plexus. Nicole heard him exhale sharply and double over as he reached for the gun that was in his waistband, but Brooke kicked him in the back of his head with her boot and he slumped on the ground.

“Wh-who are you?” the young woman asked, gaping, as Brooke straightened and dusted off her hands.

“No one. Just helping out a sister in trouble,” Nicole said. “Do you have somewhere you can go? Parents?”

“I live with friends.” She kicked a pebble and shifted her weight from one stiletto-heeled foot to the other.

“We should call the police,” Brooke said.

“No! No police. I’m fine.”

“At least take this. I know some of the people there. They’re cool.” Nicole handed her the business card for an organization that helped disadvantaged women and children.

The teenager eyed it skeptically but took it, and managed a small smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And it would be a good idea to go to your friend’s house now, before more assholes like him show up.”

Nicole and Brooke watched her walk up the block and start talking to another young woman, then the sisters walked in the opposite direction. Keeping to the shadows, they made their way to their little Honda. They were almost there when two men stumbled out of a rundown building and right into their path. “Hey baby, let’s party,” one of them drawled, strung out of his mind on whatever hit he had just taken. The other was in the same sad shape. Nicole shoved them against the building. As she turned, her skin tingled with awareness.
Someone’s watching
.

She looked farther down the length of the building, and spotted the figure of a man. He loomed large, well over six feet tall, and wide as a door. His body was draped in shadows except for a sliver of light from the streetlamp. The pale beam illuminated his right side, revealing a chiseled jaw and shoulder. His eyes glinted and locked on her.

She turned and jumped into the car that Brooke had already started. “Go,” she directed. “There’s someone watching us.”

As Brooke peeled out, tires screeching, Nicole looked back. A rat scurried along the base of the building. No one else was there.

She shook her head to clear it. “I really thought I saw someone.”

“Well, if anyone was hanging around, all he saw was those crack-heads falling down in front of us. That’s not much to talk about,” Brooke said. “Let’s find another loser to take down.”

They drove west to another dilapidated neighborhood. Stealing along the side streets next to Brooke, Nicole scrutinized every dark shape and whisper of noise. They passed a drunk sitting next to a dumpster. Empty cardboard fast food containers spilled over the edge, the scents of old food and dirty diapers thickening the warm air. An addict sat in a doorway, hugging her knees to her chest, staring blankly into the night. Angry words from a male voice carried on the breeze, growing louder as the sisters neared.

“Here we go,” Brooke murmured. They slowly rounded a corner and found a pissed-off drug dealer arguing with his client.

“You didn’t pay up for last week’s prime merchandise,” growled the thin, shaggy-haired dealer. He gripped the T-shirt of a young woman in one hand, and a gun in the other. “What makes you think you’re gonna get any more today?”

“Please, just a little more,” the woman begged. “I can get you the money tomorrow. I just need a little bit right now.”

“What are you gonna do to get it?” He tightened his hold, grabbing more thin fabric in his grimy fist.

“You don’t need anything he’s got.” Nicole crossed her arms over her chest.

“Who the fuck are you?” the dealer spat out. He turned toward the sisters but didn’t relinquish his hold on the woman.

“Doesn’t matter who we are. You just need to let her go.”

“Yeah, bitch? How ’bout you suck my dick?” he snarled.

“Save it for your boyfriend,” Nicole snorted as she blew a gust of icy wind into his eyes. She spotted an empty plastic bag blowing down the street, grabbed it with an air current, and pushed it around his face. It distracted him long enough for her to kick the gun from his hand. He cursed and let go of the frightened woman, who took off running down the street.

“Wait, we can help you!” Nicole chased after her, but stopped when the woman reached an intersection and darted into oncoming traffic. Tires screeched and horns blared, but the woman charged forward, emerging unharmed on the opposite sidewalk. She kept running without looking back.

“Damn,” Nicole muttered, and turned around and jogged to her sister.

Brooke stood behind the dealer, his neck snared in a choke hold. She leaned back, one arm around his throat, her gray eyes flashing as the blood flow to his head ceased. “Time to find another line of work, mister,” she gritted. He groaned something unintelligible as his eyes slid shut and he went limp.

“Let’s go.” Brooke stepped away from his prone form. “He won’t be out for very long.”

“Yeah,” Nicole agreed as they started back to the car. When they reached it and climbed inside, she remembered Julie’s club invitation and groaned. “Ah shoot, I told Julie I’d meet her and Bryce tonight.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and switched the ringtone back on.

Brooke grinned at her. “You have fun with that, chica. All I’ve got left on my agenda is a long soak in the tub.”

Nicole sighed. She’d rather soak in a bubble bath herself, but she had begged off several outings with friends lately, and couldn’t do it again tonight. As they parked in the garage of their building, her cell trilled with Julie’s number on the caller ID. “Hey,” she answered. “I’ll be there, I promise. Give me thirty minutes.”

C
HAPTER
2

G
UNNAR
BLEW
OUT
a breath. It seemed that tonight’s search would come up empty. Skell demons had been seen around humans, mostly junkies, but hell if he and his comrades knew why. No citizens had turned up dead, just wounded. And the wounds were made to bleed but not necessarily kill. It looked sloppy—well, Skells
were
sloppy by nature—but there were too many to brush it off as a coincidence.

No Skells had shown their ugly faces tonight, but his curiosity meter jumped all over the evening’s events. Looking for trouble in run-down neighborhoods, he’d found the unexpected. Astounding and impressive. And not much surprised him anymore.

As a Lash demon, he spent his life causing trouble, fighting trouble, or trying to get out of trouble. Tonight he had been prowling the city for the blasted Skells. The gray-skinned creatures usually tried to ally themselves with stronger demons in their quest for power. Happy to do someone else’s dirty work in exchange for protection, an uptick in their numbers was a cause for concern.

Gunnar had gotten word of an increase in the Skells’ activity in the run-down parts of the city. It was his responsibility to investigate the maggots. As he slipped like a ghost through alleys and past broken shells of buildings, he came upon a sight that stopped him in his tracks.