Heat (The Grizzly Brothers Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  “No, I guess it doesn’t.” I pulled into the parking lot outside of Lonny’s. I never went into the place unless I had to, and this time I had absolutely no choice.

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen in there.”

  “I have your back.” Tyler put a hand on his door handle.

  “Thanks.” I opened my door and hopped out. It was time to get some answers.

  5

  Mara

  After my shower it was time to return to reality. I had no idea where I was or what was going to happen to me. But my headache and body ache was fading away. At least the shower had done something for me.

  I pulled on my same dirty clothes. Some things couldn’t be helped. I unlocked the bathroom door and headed out into the room.

  I glanced around the room, surprised to find it empty. The double bed with the rumpled sheets was exactly the way I’d left it. I walked over to the door and tried the knob. It turned easily in my hand.

  After expecting to find it locked, I wasn’t entirely sure how to react. I knew it wasn’t left unlocked on accident. Bryant had done it purposely. Did that mean I should walk out or not? He’d expect me to come, so maybe staying in the room was the better attempt at resistance. Everything with Bryant was a game of some sort. He thrived on it, and I knew getting out of this mess would require beating him at one.

  I tried. I really did. I stayed there staring at the door for a whole two minutes before I wrenched it open. Being confined didn’t work for me. Whatever Bryant had planned I was going to face it.

  The hallway was empty. Dark and empty. There was some faint light coming from the far end of the hallway, so I ignored my better judgment to not walk into darkness and headed down the hall.

  I strained my ears and thought I heard some faint talking. I took small steps, edging my way closer to the light.

  “She’s awake.” The sound of Bryant’s voice had me frozen.“Don’t forget what I told you. You want me to uphold my end of the agreement, you uphold yours.”

  “I know the agreement.” Another voice answered. “But I can’t promise I can do anything. If she isn’t meant to be a Séancer, she won’t be.”

  “She’s meant to be one. She’s from a powerful line.”

  “And sometimes the power skips generations, especially if it isn’t fostered.”

  I processed what the man was saying. I was right. I had no power. Bryant had kidnapped me for nothing, and if I was useless to him he wasn’t going to just let me go. He’d kill me. I let that new understanding dawn on me.

  “I feel power coming from her.” Bryant sounded confident.

  “I wasn’t aware you had that gift,” the other man replied.

  “I have many gifts.” Bryant’s voice sounded louder. “Mara, I can hear you breathing. You might as well come down here.”

  I said nothing but started back down the hall. I had no interest in facing him.

  “Do you want me to carry you down? I missed out on helping you in the shower.”

  I groaned. Why did he have to be such a colossal jerk?

  “Come on down. The sooner we start, the sooner you finish. Besides, I have breakfast waiting. You haven’t eaten in hours.” His voice was even louder this time which meant he was heading for the stairs.

  And I wasn’t planning to eat.

  “How are you going to escape me without energy? You need food for that.”

  The guy was unbelievable.

  “Miss, I promise you will not be hurt in my presence. “ The other voice called. “I can assure you protection.”

  “You can’t promise me protection from him.” No one could. Bryant was unhinged. His eyes and mannerisms said as much.

  “Yes I can.” A chair grazed against the floor, and I assumed he was getting up to approach the stairs as well. “I will not be part of hurting one of my own.”

  “You just said I might not be one.” I wasn’t falling for anyone’s lines. I wasn’t safe.

  “You might not be able to harness the power, but it is still what you are. I promise I will help, and maybe he’s right. Maybe I can help you find the ability.”

  “I want to go home.” Wishful thinking. Home wasn’t even an option anymore. Getting away from Bryant and this Séancer was the new goal.

  “You can’t now.” At least the Séancer was kind of honest. “But maybe you can once we finish.”

  “He’s going to use me or kill me.” I had no doubt about that.

  “I already told you I won’t let you get hurt.” There was annoyance in the Séancer’s voice now. Annoyance I didn’t care about.

  “And you can control what he does?” It wasn’t a question.

  “I’m not going to kill you.” Bryant’s voice was closer. “It’s your bear that will be killed—if you don’t cooperate.”

  “Ian is strong.”

  “Not strong enough to protect you.” Bryant’s voice was even closer.

  I froze, waiting for him to inevitably find me. “Please, let me go.”

  Bryant appeared right before me. He reached out and wrapped a hand around my wrist. “You need to find a new line. That one is getting old.”

  “I hate you.”

  “You’ve used that one a lot too.”

  I sighed. “I have no choice, do I? I have to go down there.”

  “Yes.” He pulled on my wrist and started down the hall.

  I winced. “You’re hurting me.”

  He loosened his hold. “I wouldn’t have to if you’d come when I called you. I don’t understand your aversion to that normal practice.”

  “My aversion isn’t to the practice. It’s to you.” Even minor acts of resistance made me feel as if I was doing something.

  “Your humor would be endearing if you used it toward someone else.”

  “I like most people.”

  “I call your bluff on that.” He started down a set of steep stairs. There was more light coming from downstairs meaning I could actually see. I felt a whole lot better about my odds of making it downstairs alive.

  We crossed the landing and started down the final set of steps. An older man with gray hair that fell to his shoulders waited at the bottom. He smiled when he saw me. “You look just like your great-grandmother.”

  I’d never known either of my grandmothers, let alone great-grandmothers, so I wasn’t sure what to say about this.

  “Your grandfather’s mother. She was a lovely woman.”

  “Never met her.” I hesitated on the bottom step long after Bryant had released my wrist and walked away.

  “I know. She died before you were born.”

  “Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to say. I hadn’t even known her name.

  “She’d have loved to have met you. She always wanted a daughter.”

  “She only had sons?”

  He nodded. “Yes. Had the opposite problem my wife and I had.” He grinned. “Well, not a problem. I love my daughters, but a son would have been nice.”

  “Is that normal?” I asked. “That Séancer families seem to have children all of the same gender?”

  “Not any more than other families.”

  I nodded. “Ok.” I was reading too much into things.

  “But you take after her.” He studied me “Your Great-Grandmother.”

  “You don’t know me, so how would you know that?”

  “In appearance at least. And her powers came in late as well.” His eyes were full of such intensity as they stared into mine.

  “How late?” I fought the resistance to look away. This man might have answers for me and a way out.

  “Late.” He smiled. “She’d nearly given up hope.”

  “And how did she get them?” I cared more than I should have. I didn’t actually want the abilities. It was bad enough I already went to strangers’ funerals. I didn’t need any other connections to the dead.

  “She was in an accident. She became as close to death as any living being can be.”

  “I’m not going to that
extreme. Forget it.” Although I knew deep inside I was already in enough danger that death was a real possibility.

  “I don’t believe you’ll have to face your own death, but you will have to face death.” The Séancer’s stare intensified. “Of that I can nearly promise.”

  “And the difference between those things is?”

  “One involves your death. The second involves the deaths of others.”

  “I am not causing the death of others.” That was just as bad as my own death.

  “I know. I was not suggesting that.” His face tensed, and he momentarily broke eye contact. “Let me start over. My name is Lochlan.”

  I waited for him to say more. “That doesn’t explain anything.”

  “I thought if you knew my name you might feel more comfortable.”

  “I’m not going to feel comfortable until I am allowed my freedom.” Although admittedly it was nice to have a name to go with the face.

  “Well then, as comfortable as you can be.”

  “Please explain what you meant. How are we getting close to the deaths of others?” It was like watching an accident. I didn’t want to know, yet I had to know.

  “We need to go where death is.”

  “I just brought her here,” Bryant grumbled.

  “I realize that, and we will not leave immediately. First there is a lot we need to talk about.”

  “What do we need to talk about?” I asked a very loaded question.

  Lochlan’s intense stare returned. “Who you are.”

  “What if I don’t want to know about that?” I wasn’t sure whether I did or not.

  “You have no choice.” He took a step toward me. “It’s impossible to get anywhere unless you understand that.”

  “I liked my life before I knew anything about this.” Especially the part when I’d met Ian. I really liked that part.

  “But it wasn’t really living. You were hiding, even if you didn’t realize it.”

  “Did you know my grandfather well?” I did want to know the truth about him. I wanted to know if anything I thought about the man who raised me was true.

  He nodded. “I hadn’t seen him in years though. I knew of you, but we’ve never met. He wouldn’t let anyone near you.”

  “I miss him.” The honest words slipped out. “I miss him, and I need him.”

  “You could communicate with him…” Lochlan suggested.

  “No.” I shook my head. “No. He’s dead. Not happening.”

  “There is no reason to fear this part of your nature. Maybe that’s part of why it hasn’t appropriately developed. Fear can be incredibly powerful.”

  I grabbed hold of the banister. “Please, let me go. This is crazy.”

  “It’s not crazy.” Bryant frowned. “You’re afraid to accept it. Just as I thought.”

  “This has nothing to do with fear.”

  “It has everything to do with fear.” Bryant’s expression darkened.

  “I’m not afraid.”

  “Let’s sit and chat.” Lochlan held out a hand. “Nothing will be accomplished standing here.”

  I nodded but ignored his outstretched hand. “Fine. I guess that can’t hurt.”

  “Famous last words,” Bryant mumbled under his breath.

  My stomach dropped.

  6

  Ian

  The bar was packed. It was always packed, which considering the small population of Green Acres was the dead giveaway of who the clientele was. It was the kind of people who frequented bars more than restaurants—more than nearly any other place. They liked the grittiness, the easy flow of alcohol, and the dark corners that gave the semblance of privacy whether it was there or not. And this particular group of people weren’t the type who were counted on any census.

  “Don’t do anything too stupid,” Tyler reminded me as we neared the front door. The back door of this bar was likely used more frequently than the front.

  “I’m going to do whatever I have to do.” I was desperate. I wouldn’t get killed. That was about all I could promise.

  “Notice I said too stupid.”

  “We are not leaving without answers. We’ve wasted enough time already.”

  We walked through the crowd that was mostly male and trying to blend in with the locals. Trying was the key word. Most of these guys looked ridiculous wearing cowboy hats—it was like watching a bunch of grade-schoolers playing dress up.

  I glanced around for Claire. She usually had her own crowd around her so she should have been easy to find. She was a magnet. She drew in men like a flame drew in moths. I was embarrassed to admit I’d been a moth. But not anymore. It was out of my desperate need for any help I could get that made me even put up with her.

  She wasn’t there yet, which meant she was giving us lead-time. I didn’t want to mess with her plan in case it was a plan that might actually work. You never knew with Claire, but occasionally she managed to pull off things no one else could.

  “Monica’s working tonight.” Tyler nodded toward the bar. “She’s going to know something.”

  “Think she’s going to talk to us?” I followed his gaze to the tall blonde working behind the bar. She looked innocent and sweet, but that was all a façade. She was stronger than half the guys in there.

  Tyler shrugged. “It’s Jonovan she’s going to want to deck, not us.”

  “I’ve found I make a pretty good surrogate for him when he screws up.” I’d learned that the hard way years before. We didn’t look similar enough that anyone mistook us, but I was the easier one to find—and willing to clean up messes.

  “Well, that won’t be happening much anymore.” Tyler leaned in. “Unless Mara proves to be more powerful than we think.”

  I glared at him. “We will not be taking advantage of her abilities. She will use them only if she wants to.”

  “She’s a Séancer. It’s what she’s meant to do.”

  “I want her back because I want her, not her abilities. Got it?” I needed all of my brothers to understand that. My feelings and desires for her had nothing to do with the magic flowing through her veins. “And don’t mention that word again. You never know who can hear.”

  “Got it.” He started toward the bar.

  Monica noticed us before we reached her. Her scowl said it all. She wasn’t happy to see us.

  Still, I pressed on. I couldn’t let Jonovan’s stupidity get in the way of finding Mara.

  “What do you want?” Monica didn’t look up as I took a seat in the stool in front of where she worked.

  “Good to see you too.”

  “Where is the ass?” She barred her teeth.

  “By ‘ass’ I assume you mean our brother?” Tyler sat down next to me. For all the crowds, very few people were sitting. Sitting could put you in a weak position. Few people would mess with me. Our family name held weight in this town.

  “Yes. He epitomizes both connotations of that word.”

  “Meaning he’s also a donkey?” Tyler leaned forward on his elbows.

  “On second thought, he’s worse than that definition.”

  “I’m not sure what Jonovan did, but I’m sorry.” Sometimes cutting to the chase was the best way. I had a lot of experience in this arena. My brother had pissed off a lot of people.

  “How many times have you had to apologize for him?” Monica’s expression softened slightly. “Or have you lost count?”

  “He’s done his share of stupid things. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.”

  “You should have been the Alpha of your pack. You all would have been better for it.” Monica handed out a round of beers to some guys further down the bar.

  Tyler stilled beside me.

  Monica returned. “But I assume you aren’t here to talk about your brother.”

  “No.” I shook my head.

  “Give me a second.” She hurried off to serve a couple rounds of shots.

  She came back a few minutes later and set two beers in front of us. “You’re buy
ing these. I’m working.”

  “We can wait until you close.” I had no interest in waiting, but I could at least put on the pretense of patience.

  She scrunched up her nose. “No thanks. What do you need to know?”

  “Willem. You know the name?”

  Understanding crossed her face. “Yes. But not because I’ve met him.”

  “He’s never been in?” He was hiding or laying low. Otherwise he’d have been in there at least a few times. All business in Green Acres was done at Lonny’s.

  “Not once?” Tyler gave me a look. “I find that doubtful.”

  “Not when I’ve been working, and I’m always working.”

  “Have you seen anyone new?” I went with a hunch.

  “The new girl everyone is in up in arms about?”

  “You met her?” I struggled to maintain a neutral expression.

  “You interested too? I didn’t get a good look at her, but she can’t be that gorgeous.”

  “She is.” She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

  “But that’s not what all the fighting is about, is it?” Monica searched for information.

  “She’s also got a great sense of humor and smile.” Tyler grinned.

  “Come on, give me something if you want something.”

  “What would I want?” I straightened up.

  “Information on how to find Willem.”

  “I thought you haven’t met him.” I kept my face expressionless. It took real effort.

  “Not him, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help you find him.”

  I leaned over. “You don’t really want to know about the girl.”

  She smiled. “You’re smarter than your brother.” Then she looked at Tyler. “I don’t mean you.”

  “I know.” Tyler nodded.

  “What do you want?”

  “What your brother promised and never delivered on.”

  That was news. I assumed he’d slept with her. “What did he promise?”

  She glanced down the bar at some annoyed customers. “Let’s talk after I get off.”

  “I thought you didn’t want to do that.”

  “Things have changed.” She poured a round of shots.