Wicked Wind (Solsti Prophecy #1) (8 page)

“My stars,” the Elder breathed, gazing at her. “Many have stopped believing that the Solsti ever walked the realms.” He stood and walked over to her, taking her hand. “My child, you will always have the protection of the Lash demons. But you need to bring the others to us. You are vulnerable while your powers are growing.”

Nicole looked from Rilan to Gunnar, uncertainty written across her face. Gunnar’s thoughts swept back to the earlier part of the morning, standing in her sunny condo, looking at her family photos…

“It’s your sisters, isn’t it?” he surmised.

Her eyes grew huge. “Please don’t hurt them,” she whispered.

Gunnar’s simmering unease pricked his skin, unmitigated by her revelation. “Last night you told me that you were the only one. All you said about your sisters was that they knew about you.”

She looked at the floor. “Technically, those are true statements.”

His blood boiled. He wasn’t a patient demon, and her little white lie pushed him toward a snapping point. “But not the whole truth,” he growled.

“Gunnar.” The Elder’s voice sounded pleasant, but Gunnar recognized the warning in it. He dropped Nicole’s arm and stepped away from her, knowing his eyes had to be flashing blue flames.

“But…you’re wrong,” Nicole said to Rilan. “I only have two living sisters. The youngest one died when we were small. If there are supposed to be four, how can we be these…Solsti?”

Two living sisters
. The weight of her words sank in. They were all the family she had left.
Brooke, Gin, and I–we stick together
. He stared at her, seeing a mix of confusion and fear along with a dose of that stubborn resolve. She protected them. And gods alive, if he still had his sister, he would do the same. How could he fault her for that?

Rilan frowned. “I did not sense an incomplete circle.” He walked back to his desk. “These two sisters, they have a talent like yours, but with other elements?”

She nodded.

The older demon gazed solemnly back at her. “Child, you and your sisters possess a very real and dangerous power. It is of the utmost importance for each of you to learn how to better control it, for we don’t know why you were brought back to our world.”

Her brow furrowed. “Brought back?”

“The myth of the Solsti also tells us that the four will return, when the time is right. When the world needs them.”

Gunnar’s head jerked away from the moody glare he had fixed on Nicole, and swiveled to Rilan in surprise. He had never heard that last detail before.
Good gods
. If she was one of the Solsti, then she was supposed to fight an enemy more powerful than he had ever seen. And she had just learned that she wasn’t human. All of her beliefs about myths and reality, good and evil, had most likely been scattered like dust.

She exhaled sharply. “Okaaay, so I’m not human. And I’m supposed to somehow help the world. And the world contains a bunch of creatures that I thought were only stories until last night.” She whirled and marched for the door. “I need some air.”

C
HAPTER
5

N
ICOLE
’
S
HEAD
SPUN
as she hurried down the stairs, through the gleaming kitchen, and out the back door of the house. She felt Kai’s and Rhys’s curious eyes on her as she swept past the great room, but she didn’t stop.

Bursting into the warm fall sun in the huge back yard, she tried to wrap her head around Rilan’s words. Her veins buzzed like a thousand tiny vibrating needles were pricking them.

I’m not human
.

The questions she had harbored long ago about her birth parents roared back to life. Who were they? Had they known that their daughters would be gifted like this? To play a role in balancing good and evil in the world? Had their death truly been an accident? She felt sick with fear that she had put her family–the only family she had left–into danger, despite her efforts to protect them.

I’m not human. Brooke and Gin aren’t either

She had always known she was different. But
this
?

The old demon had
known
, instantly and without a doubt, what she was. Knew that there were more like her, linked by blood. There was no possibility of keeping it from him. Not that she had thought about hiding her own skills, because she had come here for answers. Sharp dread and confusion caged her, a stomach-twisting contrast to the serenity of the lush green yard.

Heavy footfalls thudded behind her in the grass. She turned.
Gunnar
. The azure fury in his eyes a few minutes earlier had banked a bit, but she still took an instinctive step back. Not that it would do much good.

He stopped a mere foot away from her, glaring. “Why didn’t you tell me about them last night?”

She returned the icy stare. “Why should I?”

“Because I asked you.”

She made a feminine sound of disgust. “You’re crazy if you think I’d instantly spill their secrets to a stranger.” Her last word hung between them like a smoky cloud.

He shot a dark look at the branches above her, then raked a hand through his thick hair. “Nicole, you heard Rilan. You’re all vulnerable while you’re growing into your power.”

“I would never put them in jeopardy.”

“Neither would I. But telling half truths isn’t going to cut it. Neither is staying in that building of yours, with its sorry-ass excuse for a security system.”

“It’s my home.”

“Well, welcome to your new one.” He jerked his head toward the house.

“Brooke and I have lived there for two years, and nothing has ever happened to us or anyone else in the building!”

“But you just recently started working on developing and controlling your powers.”

“So?”

“So, that was before you two started running around the worst areas of the city, zinging power left and right, playing Thelma and Louise.”

Her mouth dropped open. She narrowed her eyes at him. Her voice dipped to arctic depths. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me. And you should thank the stars that I found you before something else did.”

“You
followed
me last night?” A tiny part of her acknowledged that maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that she met him at the club—but hearing him say it so matter-of-factly stoked her anger.

He folded his muscular arms over his chest, still glaring at her. “I was patrolling Englewood last night, looking for Skells. Instead, I found you.”

A rush of recognition hit her. “You…you were the one standing in the shadows, when we got into the car.”

He nodded. “The energy signature you leave is unique; if any other demons had seen–”

“You were stalking me and Brooke! It was no accident that you were at the club, was it? You followed me there, too. And then you found me on the dance floor.” She looked away as a new wave of sickness rolled over her, the puzzle pieces of the last night clicking into place. God, she was so naïve. She was just some kind of pawn in his bizarre world, and he had played her expertly. “I’m leaving.”

“I want you to stay.”

“I don’t think so.” She brushed past him, knowing he’d allow it, and marched inside to grab her bag.

He followed her and started to speak, his voice softer. “Nicole, you caught me by surprise. You’re not safe running around like that–”

“I said I’m leaving.” She headed for the front door, opened it and stepped through, then slammed it with a resounding thud. She didn’t care if it was childish.

She stomped down the driveway, little breezes dancing around her. Good thing the Central Street station was close. She mentally thanked the Chicago Public Transportation system that she had a way to get home other than with Gunnar. He hadn’t followed her, although she couldn’t take much comfort in that fact since he knew where she lived. He’d let her walk away.
Smart decision
. She was ready to rip the trees right out of that big yard of his.

As she stood on the platform, seething and waiting for the next train, her phone chimed with a text message from Julie.
Hey, girl
.
How’s that guy?

Nicole grimaced as several choice responses ran through her head. She finally settled on a simple one:
Total jerk
. Her emotions were a mess, and she didn’t want to say anything more or even think about Gunnar at this point. A mix of anger at him and disappointment in herself roiled her stomach.

Sorry. Want 2 talk?
Julie texted back.

No
. Nicole typed rapidly.
4get him. Staying home w B 2nite
. As she pressed send, a silver CTA train pulled into the station. Nicole stepped through the automatic doors and settled into one of the worn blue seats. A huge sigh escaped her. She couldn’t recall when she had ever been in such a big mess. And now, heaven help her, she had to go home and tell Brooke all about it.

Nicole winced as a coffee mug flew out of Brooke’s hand to shatter against their stainless steel fridge. This was worse than she expected.

“What is
wrong
with you?” her sister shrieked. “You meet some guy who’s tall and ripped, and you lose all sense of caution? What were you thinking? Oh, wait–you weren’t thinking. You were acting like a guy who thinks with his dick!”

“Brooke, I am so sorry–”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it! Did you even think about Gin and me?”

“Yes, like I said–”

“Oh, sure. Was it when you were grinding on him? Or when you let him into. Our.
Home
?”

“Brooke, stop! Gunnar might be a jerk, but Rilan understands what we are.”

“How do you know that anything they told you is even true? It sounds like the craziest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard. Goddamn it, Nicole!” Brooke’s gray eyes flared like a stormy sky, but Nicole didn’t miss the hurt that flickered beneath her sister’s anger.

“They’re not human. There’s no way they can be. They’re different, like us. Except, they were raised with knowledge of their skills and limitations. They know about the other creatures out there.”

With a grunt, Brooke took the chef’s knife she twirled between her fingers and stabbed it into the wooden cutting board in front of her. “God
damn
it, Nicole,” she repeated softly.

“I’m sorry. I really am. I should have told you right away. It’s just that things happened so fast…”

“You don’t say!” Brooke muttered.

“I jumped at the chance to get more information, after all these years of being in the dark. When Gunnar made that…that demonfire appear in his hand, I knew he was different too. It seemed like he was kind of a kindred spirit.”

Brooke rolled her eyes and huffed out an angry breath. “I’m too pissed to talk to you. I’d love to wipe the gym floor with your ass. But instead, I’m going to take it out on some gang member. I’m leaving in five, whether you’re with me or not.”

“Yeah, I’ll go with you.” Nicole sighed with relief. If Brooke needed to hurt some criminals and was willing to do it with Nicole, they were going to be fine. They knew each other too well to sugar-coat anything. Brooke would accept that Nicole only wanted what they both did—to learn more about their talents.

Five minutes later the sisters walked out the door. There were several nearby neighborhoods that could use their special kind of help. Bad areas butted right up against nice ones; many gleaming new condo buildings loomed over dilapidated blocks in the name of “gentrification.” Tonight they took a short cab ride and then walked the last few blocks on foot. Weeds sprouted in the endless sidewalk cracks beneath their feet.

They slipped quietly along a garbage-strewn street. Paper bags drifted along the gutter next to plastic ones, and empty cardboard beer cases were tossed against a dumpster. In the fading autumn light, children unsuccessfully begged their grandmothers to stay outside in their front yard for a few more minutes.

Nicole and Brooke paused near an alley, low male voices drifting out to them. Without passing the alley entrance, they stopped to listen to two rival gangs snarl at each other over turf and drugs.

Brooke turned to meet her sister’s eyes. Arguments like this took place every day between one group and another, and as far as the women were concerned, they could fight it out themselves. They didn’t jump into gang fights when they were outnumbered, especially when no innocents were involved.

The voices grew louder. The sisters stepped further back into the shadows as one gang’s sentry walked out of the alley to stand in the middle of the broken sidewalk. Nicole glanced across the street at the children straggling slowly toward their front porch, willing them to walk faster.

She froze as the air erupted with the sounds of fighting in the alley.
Please don’t open fire
. The sentry hadn’t noticed her or Brooke, and he got distracted by another man tackling him to the ground. Two more men made their way out of the alley, circling each other with wary looks, knives in their hands.

Just then more gang members spilled into view. What had begun in the alley quickly turned into an all-out brawl, with shouts and the thuds of bodies slamming to the ground.

Brooke touched Nicole’s arm in a silent command to wait, but at that moment a gunshot ripped through the early evening air. The women across the street screamed and tried to drag the last two wide-eyed children inside. Nicole assessed them. Still standing. Unharmed.
Thank God.

“Shit. Here we go,” Brooke muttered.

Nicole didn’t hesitate as she sent a gale force wind tearing down the block and into the alley. Every last bit of garbage and debris lifted and swirled around the men. Some of them were distracted enough to stop fighting and look around in confusion as they staggered against the gust. Brooke’s eyes locked on the gunman as she pulled a water bottle from her pocket and jerked it upward, sending a spray of droplets into the air. As she gazed at the airborne liquid, the round drops shifted into tiny marquis shapes. Nicole chilled the air temperature in front of them and directed the icy points straight into the man’s eyes. He howled and clutched his face, dropping his weapon.

Some twenty men filled the street, many who fought with their rivals but, unfortunately, some had noticed the sisters. Nicole guessed that more of them had guns, and she and Brooke needed to get out fast. They started to back away, Nicole continuing to work the wind and the debris.