Taken By Storm (11 page)

Tal sat on the bathroom floor, cradling Charlotte’s trembling body against his chest. He stroked her back and rocked her gently. She clung to him, dragging air into her lungs in long, ragged gasps.

Not again! Never again would a Joon harm an Aune. Not while Tal lived and breathed. His body shook with determination and he buried his face in her hair. He had to get her to Vee. Vee would know how to unlock the hidden spaces within her mind.

Vee had access to knowledge even Tal didn’t understand.

He shifted restlessly, trying to ease her away from him, but her arms clutched his back. He held her for a long time, waiting for her fear to recede and his anger to cool.

“You’re safe,” he murmured. Her warm body clung to him and Tal groaned. His hair uncoiled and desire sizzled through his blood. “There’s nothing to fear.”

Her muffled laugh vibrated her breasts against his chest, torturing Tal with their softness. She had apparently forgotten she was warm and naked, fresh from her bath.

“Nothing to fear,” she whispered. “If he can strangle me without even touching me, how will I ever be safe?”

Tal knew she was still frightened and he wanted to comfort her, but her heated skin played havoc with his good intentions. She sat up, still on his lap, and spread her fingers against his chest. His heart thumped against her palm and Tal couldn’t suppress his need to touch her. He cupped her cheek with his palm and traced her full, lower lip with his thumb.

“I will not leave your side,” he promised. “I will link my mind to yours so that—”

“No.” She pushed his hand away, her eyes flashing. “I will not be a prisoner in my own life. I don’t want anyone in my mind, even to protect me.

We have to find him before he tries again.” Tal knew it wasn’t that simple but he didn’t argue with her. He rested his hand lightly on her shoulder and stubbornly kept his gaze on her flushed face. “We will find him. But I will link with you as well.” A shuddering breath escaped her, drawing his attention to her quivering breasts. Didn’t she realize what she was doing to him?

Charlotte noticed the direction of his gaze and the sudden tension in his expression. She scrambled from his lap and snatched up the folded bathrobe.

Jamming her arms into the sleeves, she quickly covered her nudity.

“I don’t want you in my mind,” she said in a hushed, urgent voice. She glanced over her shoulder and found him directly behind her. “I don’t want anyone invading…”

He reached for her but she twisted away.

“He cannot hurt you now. You understand what he was doing. That will render him powerless.”

“Powerless?” She yanked the belt tight and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m the one who’s powerless.”

“But I am not. I can protect you but you must let me.”

She bit back a sarcastic retort. It was her willingness to let him do all sorts of things that had allowed Joon into her mind.

“Why didn’t you warn me?” she asked, her voice shaky and hoarse.

“You have been so resistant to mind links of any sort that it didn’t occur to me that you would let him in.”

His words stung like a slap, echoing her self-recrimination. Clutching the front of her robe, she fought back tears. “Let him in? I
allowed
this to happen?”

He approached her slowly. “I’m not saying you’re to blame. I’m simply confused about how he constructed the illusion.”

She turned away and snatched a towel from the rack. Dropping it to the floor, she used her foot to move it about, soaking up the water.

“Tell me what happened. I need to understand how he did this.”

She didn’t want to admit she had been entertaining lustful thoughts about him. He had made his feelings about “Earthlings” all too clear. She was beneath him, a necessary nuisance.

His warm hand touched her arm and she started, stubbornly keeping her face averted.

“Why will you not look at me?”

Charlotte took a deep breath and raised her gaze to his face. “He tricked me,” she admitted. He continued to stare at her curiously so she rushed on. “I thought he was you. All right? By the time I realized that it was Joon, he had taken control and I couldn’t fight him.”

She glanced away but his fingers gently curved around her chin, tilting her head until her gaze returned to his. “Why did you allow my image into your mind? Each time I have tried to touch you in that way, you have fought me.”

Swallowing past the awkward lump in her throat, she said, “I thought it was a daydream, a…fantasy.” Realization dawned in his expression and she wanted the floor to swallow her whole. Heat spread up her neck to blossom across her cheeks.

“Don’t worry. It won’t happen again.” She shrugged off his touch and rushed from the bathroom.

Cool air washed over her body and she welcomed the violent shiver. Not bothering with the light, she passed through the bedroom and stepped out into the main room of the house.

A striking, red-haired man stood near the recliner and two in dark-blue uniforms flanked the front door.

She spun on the ball of her foot, meaning to run back into the bedroom. She collided with Tal.

His arm slipped around her waist and he said,

“Apparently, Al was unable to cancel the alert. Come, I will introduce you.”

Charlotte stiffened against him, clutching his vest with both hands. She didn’t want to be introduced to more aliens. She didn’t want to be stalked by a killer.

She wanted to close her eyes and make it all go away.

She wanted to move to Seattle and study for the bar exam. She wanted…

“Make them leave,” she whispered, refusing to turn around.

“They won’t hurt you. This is my brother Trey and two of his men.”

“Make them leave.”

He stroked her hair and pressed her face into the warm hollow where his shoulder met his neck. She made no protest when he swept her up in his arms and carried her back into the bedroom. She was utterly drained.

Tal laid her on the bed and covered her with a quilt. She turned onto her side, facing away from him.

“Trey brought you clothing from the ship,” he said softly. “Just in case you change your mind. If not, I will return when the others have departed.” She waited until she heard the door click before she gave in to her tears.

Tal paused on the other side of the closed door and wove a web of protection, dense and dangerous. If Dez dar Joon came anywhere near her, physically or mentally, Tal would know.

“I can feel her turmoil and my Mystic levels are pathetic,” Al Varellien said, concern clear in his tense tone.

Tal turned and joined the others. “In the short time since we arrived, Charlotte has learned she may not be an Earthling, she’s been exposed to beings from another planet and Joon has attempted to take her life.”

“That’s bound to upset anyone,” Trey agreed.

“How’s Vee?” Tal asked.

“We’re sustaining him but he’s basically bedridden. None of us can provide energy in a form concentrated enough to do more than prevent further damage,” Trey explained. “The Symposium contacted me when his link blinked out. Needless to say, they’re concerned. Dear old Dad has
strongly suggested
we return to Ontariese immediately.”

“And abandon Charlotte to Dez dar Joon?” Tal snapped. “I’ll not hear of it.”

“That’s not what he meant.” Trey interrupted. “He thinks we should bring her with us. Joon will have no choice but to follow, which alleviates the risk to Earth.

Once we’re back on Ontariese, the TSC and the Mystics can assist you.”

“Their assistance has been so valuable up to this point,” Tal said. “Curse the ghosts of the night moon.

It will start all over again. Once Dez is ensconced in Fortress Joon, we will have no hope of drawing him out.”

“Not true.” Trey nodded toward the bedroom door. “You’ve got something he wants. Do you really think he’ll rest while you’ve got the upper hand?”

“She will not want to go,” Tal said thoughtfully.

“She has yet to accept much of what I’ve told her and I’m far from earning her trust.”

“It’s always easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission,” Trey said with a rakish grin.

Closing his eyes, Tal rubbed them with his fingertips. Trey’s reckless attitude had led them into trouble more times than Tal cared to remember. He opened his eyes and asked, “Have you been able to track Joon at all?”

“Not a flicker, not a flash. He’s invisible to us.” Trey moved to the loveseat and sat. Al and the other two crewmembers were nowhere in sight. Too anxious to sit, Tal paced the room, hands clasped behind his back.

“Do you guys have any idea how he’s scrambling his signal?” Trey asked.

“He’s shifting the shape of his energy just as he manipulates his physical form. How he acquired this level of control, we don’t know. Such a thing has never been done before.” Tal shook his head, needing to
do
something. “His power is growing. The illusion he constructed around Charlotte was unbelievably strong.”

“What he did was that unusual?” Trey asked. “I’ve heard of illusionists before.”

“This was different. His image resonated with something tainted, something evil.”

Trey crossed his legs, tapping the air rhythmically with his foot. “Why do you sound surprised? You’ve known for years that Joon is evil.”

“He has always been ambitious and ruthless, but what I felt in the illusion was darker, somehow twisted.”

“More twisted than murder?” Trey challenged.

“There are things more evil than murder,” Tal said.

“And fates worse than death.”

“While we’re being morbid,” Trey began, flashing a challenging grin. “You do realize the only way we’re getting off this planet is if we kill Charlotte Layton?”

Tal started to warn Trey that he was in no mood for his twisted sense of humor but his brother’s amber gaze had never looked more serious.

* * * * *

Argumentative voices jarred Charlotte from sleep.

The past two days had been a blur of surreal activities, so waking up in a strange bed didn’t surprise her at all. Light streamed in under the door but the bedroom was dark.

She sat up and swung her legs to the floor. The spa robe bunched about her hips and a groan made it no farther than her dry, swollen throat. Why did she feel as if she’d wrestled an alligator when Joon had never actually touched her?

Where was Tal? Were the others still here?

What should she do now? What
could
she do?

The police had evidence connecting her with Rod Sanders’ murder and she would never be able to explain the truth. They would lock her up and throw away the key. What a mess.

One painful swallow quickly reminded her that she had bigger problems than the police. Dez dar Joon had been a step ahead of the other Ontarians all along and she was his target. Despite Tal’s gallant promises, Joon seemed to have the upper hand.

She flipped on the lamp and glanced around for the clothes Tal mentioned earlier. The design of the underpants was obvious, but the Ontarian equivalent of a bra made no sense so she retrieved her own from the bathroom. The outfit resembled pajamas or hospital scrubs, complete with slip-on, flexible shoes, but fashion was the farthest thing from her mind.

Creeping toward the door, she inched it open, trying to see who was still in the room. She recognized Dro Tar’s voice, but she couldn’t see anyone in her limited field of vision.

“There’s big trouble in Little China. We’re really in for a squall,” Dro Tar said urgently. “The jig is up.

We’re busted.”

“I know you’re enjoying your language infusion,” Tal responded impatiently. “But make yourself understood or I’ll stop indulging you.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Owner-of-this-house are en route even as we speak. We’ve got to vamoose, make a trail, hit the highway, pack up the Winnebago, take the money and—”

“I understand the concept.” Tal interrupted. “Trey isn’t finished yet.”

“It doesn’t matter, Master Aune,” she said more seriously. “We can’t stay here.”

“All right.” He was silent for a moment. “I’ll send you back to Trey and then I will take Charlotte to the ship. Tell my brother time is of the essence. We must finish up and be on our way.”

Finish up and be on our way?

The breath froze in Charlotte’s lungs. If they were leaving, did that mean Joon had been apprehended?

Was she out of danger? She released the breath in a slow, controlled hiss. Then why would Tal take her to the ship?

I’m not going to any spaceship. I’ve got plans for my life
and they don’t include alien abduction!

Even in her mind, the thoughts sounded hysterical.

Charlotte needed to think. No, she needed to act.

If Trey was still on Earth, that had to be better than going to his ship. She couldn’t figure out her options from outer space. She wasn’t without resources. If she lay low for a while, forensic evidence would prove she didn’t kill the fireman and she would have her life back.

She was
not
leaving this planet!

Tal opened some sort of portal and Dro Tar moved toward it.
Now or never
. Charlotte threw open the door, sprinted across the room and jumped into the spinning vortex.

Her previous experience should have prepared her for the deafening roar and the ever-changing colors but a scream tore from her throat. She flailed madly, helpless to suppress the instinct. There was no substance, no sense of direction—and no Tal to cling to.

The vortex spat her out onto the frozen earth, but she was too stunned to feel cold. She landed on her hands and knees. Smoke obscured her vision and burned her eyes.

A rock dug into her shin, tearing through the material of her pants and making her flesh bleed. The rough ground scraped her palms but she only glanced at the wounds, feeling nothing. She scrambled to her feet, numb and confused.

Her beloved cabin was on fire. As she looked on in horror, the Ontarians worked to escalate the flames.

Had they started this? Had they
intentionally
set her cabin on fire?

Black smoke curled into the twilight sky. Flames, alive and hungry, destroyed her sanctuary, her refuge—the only place she had ever felt truly at home.