Storm Bear Read online

  She was disappointed but also touched. He was such a good man. She wondered how many other guys would have put her safety before their own pleasure. Not many, she was sure.

  They rode for another two hours then made another pit stop. They were just mounting up, again, when Ace’s phone rang. He took the call, his expression growing concerned before a frown spread over his face. He hung up with a terse word of thanks and turned to her.

  “We’d better get moving.”

  “What’s wrong? Who was that on the phone?” she asked, unable to keep her curiosity to herself.

  “That was my friend, Ezra. Apparently, he and some buddies decided to ride out to meet us. They’re not too far away, but not too close, either, and they’ve noted an increase in surveillance along the highway. They smell like blood magic, too. Bad stuff.” Ace shook his head. “I think your weather working alerted the enemy, and they’re somehow homing in on us. Ezra thinks they know we’re on this road, and they’re actively searching along here, now.”

  She wanted to rail against the unfairness. Why in the world was anybody searching that hard for her? She was nothing special. Sure, her gift had changed a bit—make that a lot—over the past few weeks, but she still only had the one ability. She wasn’t mage material. She was just a weather witch.

  Wasn’t she?

  They got underway, again, and this time, she was keeping her eyes peeled for anything that might look suspicious. She felt fear rise and, along with it, her power. She did her best to tamp it down, but at some point in the next few hours, she was very much afraid it would let loose. Chaotic emotions like fear seemed to make it even more unstable.

  They crested the last pass out of the mountains, and Sabrina wanted to breathe easier—until she noticed a car crashing through the divider from the other side of the road behind them. It made a highly illegal U-turn, and though she lost sight of it as they went down the other side of the pass, she knew it was following them.

  They’d been found.

  Ace saw the car break all kinds of laws to turn around and follow them, and he knew that, sooner or later, people in that car would alert any of their allies in the area, and the chase would well and truly be on. As it was, they were being followed at high speed. They had gravity to work with as the road took a steep downhill pitch coming down out of the last of the mountains, but speed wasn’t the only answer in this situation.

  Ezra and some of the guys from Grizzly Cove were on their way. Ezra had detailed a plan they’d come up with to set up a roadblock, of sorts—the magical kind that wouldn’t interfere with ordinary humans who happened to be driving along the road with them. It was more like a temporary ward, with a bunch of bears watching over it. All Ace had to do was get Sabrina there in one piece, and they’d have a formidable escort all the way to Grizzly Cove.

  He wasn’t as familiar with this road as he could be, but he thought maybe the spot Ezra had talked about was nearby. He’d said it was after the last pass, near a runaway truck ramp. They had these gravel-filled ramps that led off the side of the road specifically for trucks that were going way too fast and couldn’t slow down the normal way. Ace had seen them in only a few places around the country, but he’d heard stories from truckers about how well they functioned when necessary.

  Today, if all went as planned, that runaway truck ramp would mark the spot of a totally different kind of save—this one magical in nature. Ace kept an eye on his rearview mirrors. He was acutely aware of the car jockeying for position among the others behind them. He could’ve wished there were no innocent people driving on the highway with them, but then again, the other cars made it more difficult for the bad guys to move up on them quickly.

  Ace dropped back to keep Sabrina slightly in front of him. He waved her on, hoping she understood that he wanted her to go as fast as she felt comfortable with on the steep downhill. She took off, easily breaking the posted limit, but he didn’t care. A few dozen cop cars, right about now, would be a good thing.

  Of course, when you needed a police presence, there was none to be found. No matter. Ace had something better up his sleeve…if they could just get to them.

  The road switched back, long curves attempting to smooth out the downhill run, and then, Ace saw it. The runaway truck ramp he’d been promised. And sitting at the entrance was his friend, Ezra, astride his old Harley. They had just enough time to slow down and pull off to the side.

  Unfortunately, that meant the car—make that cars, plural—behind them also had enough time to slow. The only good thing about this whole scenario was that the innocent humans driving with them on the road could just keep going, and thanks to the angle of the runaway truck ramp, whatever was going to happen would be mostly out of sight of any passersby.

  Ezra was revving his motor when they met up with him. “We’ve got a strong ward across the road and a truck full of bears just itching for a fight behind me. We can keep going and let the showdown happen while we get your lady to safety.”

  Sabrina hated the sound of their plan. She was supposed to run for her life while people she didn’t even know risked theirs to keep her safe? No way. That’s not how she was made. She wouldn’t allow these good men—bears—to risk their lives for her and not even participate in her own rescue.

  “No.” Sabrina made herself heard, getting off her bike and rolling it to a safe spot while she peeked around the side of the truck ramp to see a passel of huge men lying in wait for whatever might come their way. She waved to them then turned back to see Ace heading toward her, his face set in a grim line. His friend was right behind him.

  “What are you doing?” He was shouting, but she understood. Tensions were high, and time was short.

  “I’m ending this. I don’t want any of your friends hurt because of me. Just let me do my thing and stand back.” She braced her feet apart and watched the oncoming cars. There were at least half a dozen of them with more than one person visible in each. Too many for the handful of bear shifters hidden behind the embankment. “Tell your men to stay where they are. This could get messy,” she warned before she tapped into the power that had been building right along with her fear. No way could she hold back the tempest this time.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Sabrina lifted her hand, and the wind started to whip up around them. No, scratch that. Not around them. In front of them. In a very tight pattern that left the normal traffic on the road alone but affected the half dozen cars that had pulled off to the side by the runaway truck ramp.

  When the wind brought their scent to him, Ace had a hard time controlling his recoil. Blood magic…and death. Lots and lots of death. These people didn’t deserve mercy, and he hoped, in that moment, that Sabrina’s power was enough to stop them. Because, if it wasn’t, the small group of shifters that had made the trip from Grizzly Cove to help out were going to have a tough time taking them all on.

  “We seriously underestimated the amount of firepower we’d need here.” Ezra shouted to be heard above the wind. He was at Ace’s side, just behind Sabrina.

  “So did I,” Ace admitted. “But I think Sabrina’s powers have grown in just a few hours, so maybe our miscalculations will cancel each other out.”

  “What do you mean?” Ezra strained to be heard above the escalating wind.

  “Just watch!” Ace shouted back.

  Then, the cars started to move—backward. A few of the men jumped out, but the wind swept them off their feet and into the trees. A few hugged whatever trees they landed in, trying to stop the unplanned motion, but the wind ratcheted up another notch as Sabrina crooked her finger. And then, she used her whole hand, and the cars started to flip, end over end, smashing their way through the trees behind the runaway truck ramp and down the steep mountainside, out of sight.

  The heaviest of the vehicles—a military surplus Humvee—resisted. Sabrina narrowed her eyes and twirled one little finger. The next thing he knew, that massive vehicle was caught in a tiny whirlwind created just for it, and the me
n inside were bailing out, taking their chances with the winds and the distance to the ground.

  A few were armed, but they couldn’t get their bearings after being whirled around inside their vehicle and then tumbling to the ground. There were a few obvious broken bones, but it wasn’t stopping them. They kept trying to run toward Sabrina until she finally flicked their vehicle over the tops of the trees to crash down the mountainside. Then, she turned her full attention on the men.

  She took one step forward and screamed at them. “Leave me alone!”

  The force of her voice seemed to carry its own power. The men flew backwards, their guns torn from their hands to land on the ground while the men flew into the trees.

  And then, it was over. Sabrina slumped as she released the winds she had called to her aid. Ace was there to catch her, and he hugged her to his side, even as he marveled at what she had done.

  “I didn’t know you could do that,” he said, stunned and proud of her abilities. “I didn’t know you’d perfected such control.”

  “Neither did I,” she admitted.

  “Well, hell,” Ezra said, coming up beside Sabrina. “I’m glad you’re on our side.”

  Ace introduced his friend, Ezra, and then, they were no longer alone. The group of men who’d been behind the elevated runaway truck ramp came out and gave her varying looks. Some seemed impressed. Some were blasé. None were scared, which was a relief to her tense feelings. A big man in the center of the action whistled sharply and gestured toward the trees, at which point, most of the guys peeled off with big grins on their faces.

  “Where are they all going?” Sabrina asked, knowing her voice sounded a bit groggy.

  “Hunting,” the big man answered with a smile. “You did a great job, ma’am, but we’re just going to make sure any stragglers are dealt with. We don’t want that kind of evil near our homes.”

  Sabrina’s jaw dropped. These guys were actually going looking for trouble. She was just glad the bad guys were gone. It would never have occurred to her to go after them. Nor would she have sent anyone to collect the weapons that had been dropped by that last group of paramilitary guys in the big Hummer. Yet, that’s what one of the bear shifters was doing. He’d already collected an armful of gear and was heading back with a look of joy on his face.

  “Some great equipment here,” he called out to them as he passed on his way back to where the good guys had parked their vehicles out of sight—and out of the wind, thank goodness. “Fancy stuff, worth a lot, even if we can’t use it ourselves. Nice work, ma’am, getting them to drop it all.”

  He nodded his thanks at Sabrina, and she wanted to explain that she hadn’t really been thinking that far ahead at the time, but he seemed too happy. She didn’t want to spoil his fun. Plus, it was too much effort to have a long conversation, right now. All she really wanted to do was sleep.

  She lost track of what happened next, but at some point, Ace picked her up and was carrying her. She saw someone rolling her bike onto a trailer that had been positioned behind the earthworks of the runaway truck ramp. Her bike was strapped in place next to Ace’s Harley, which was already on the trailer. Then, she saw the inside of a big SUV as Ace put her into the backseat.

  Sabrina must have dozed because she was vaguely aware of Ace outside the open door of the SUV, talking with some of the men as they came and went. There was a bustle of activity that she only saw in a peripheral way. Then, at some later time, she felt Ace get into the SUV next to her and take her in his arms.

  They started moving, and she snuggled into Ace’s embrace and knew no more until she woke up an hour or two later. They were just pulling into a picturesque coastal town. Grizzly Cove. Had to be.

  The SUV was being driven by the man who’d been scooping up the bad guys’ discarded guns with such joy. Her eyes met his in the rearview mirror, and he smiled.

  “Welcome to Grizzly Cove, ma’am. I’m Zak. Former deputy sheriff and current owner of the best restaurant in town.” He tipped a non-existent hat to her and smiled. Oh, this guy was a charmer, all right, with those flashing dark eyes and lazy drawl.

  But his mention of a restaurant seemed to bring her empty stomach to life. It growled loud enough for her to hear, and she was certain the shifters in the vehicle heard it, too. She felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment.

  “Don’t talk about food unless you’re prepared to feed us, Zak,” Ace joked easily with the other man.

  “You know I called ahead,” Zak replied. “There’ll be something waiting for you in your rooms at the hotel. The ladies know what it means when someone exerts that much magical energy.”

  “Does it mean I could eat a buffalo? On the hoof?” Sabrina quipped, sitting up a little straighter but remaining close to Ace. “Or a horse. Or a cow. Anything! I’d settle for cold pizza and chips, right now. I’m starving.”

  Both men laughed. “Yeah, that sounds about right,” Zak told her. “We have a few magic users in town, now, and they all get sleepy and ravenous after exerting their magical muscles like you did today. By the way, in case I don’t get to talk to you later, what you did was damned impressive. We didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t what you did. Thanks for the weapons and the show.” His grin was contagious, and she smiled back at him.

  “Will it disappoint you if I say I didn’t intentionally make them drop their weapons?” she asked. “I just didn’t want them to point the muzzles at anyone, and when I had that thought, suddenly, they fell to the ground. I’m not sure how that happened.”

  “Doesn’t matter how, really,” Zak said magnanimously. “Just that it did. Your actions saved us a whole lot of bother. Not that we don’t enjoy a good fight, now and then, but sometimes, the best fights are the ones you don’t have to engage in, if you know what I mean.” He winked at her in the rearview mirror as he drove through town. “I’m ashamed to admit, we woefully underestimated how many operatives they would send after you, but after seeing what you did, I guess they’re the ones who underestimated you, eh?”

  “I honestly didn’t know I had it in me until the power started to build, and then, I saw you all waiting, and I realized you intended to fight my battle for me and just let me ride away to safety.” The words were tumbling out as she held onto Ace’s hand. “I couldn’t let you do that. You didn’t even know me. I mean, it was such a noble gesture, but then, I felt all this power gathering, and I knew I had to let it loose. Then, there wasn’t any time to think, anymore. I just had to act. I had to protect you guys as you were prepared to protect me. A total stranger.” She felt tears gather in her eyes as her words tumbled to a halt. She didn’t want to start crying in front of the men.

  Zak stopped the big vehicle at the other end of town after pulling into a parking lot. He turned in his seat to look at her, his expression solemn. She got the impression he didn’t get solemn very often.

  “Not sure what Ace here has told you about us, but you should know the core group that set up this town—of which I am one—are all retired Special Forces soldiers. Protecting people we don’t know from evil bastards intent on screwing up the world is sort of our raison d’être. I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve had the tables turned on us as they were today, where we were the ones being protected rather than the other way around. It made a deep impression on every last one of us who witnessed what you did.” He paused a moment, then went on. “I haven’t had a chance to talk with the others yet, but for my part, I sensed a kindred warrior spirit in you. Our shaman, Gus, might be able to verify that.” Zak tilted his head, humor returning slightly. “Or not. I’ll go get you checked in.”

  Zak got out of the vehicle and went ahead, giving Ace and Sabrina a moment of privacy.

  “You okay?” Ace asked her in a tender tone.

  She looked up at him and felt the impact of his warm brown gaze. He was such a handsome man. So compassionate and sweet under that gruff exterior.

  “I’m good. Just really hungry. Sorry I conked ou
t on you. Not sure what that was about.” She sat up a little straighter. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

  “It’s my honor and privilege,” he said, his tone serious. She felt something… And then, the moment snapped as the back hatch of the giant SUV was opened from outside.

  “Sorry, folks. Gotta get these weapons secured ASAP,” Zak told them in too peppy a voice. “There are a lot of folk waiting out here to see you, ma’am. He winked at her again, as she met his gaze over the top of the backseat. “You too, Ace.”

  “You don’t have to call me ma’am. My name is Sabrina,” she told him, smiling at his lazy charm.

  “Yes, ma’am. Sabrina. Duly noted.” Zak grabbed two cases from the back of the SUV that looked really heavy. There were a few more like it. Somehow, they’d put the scavenged weapons in those cases, though she had no idea where they’d come from. Zak walked away before she could ask.

  “We didn’t leave right away from the truck ramp,” Ace told her, somehow intuiting her questions. “A few of the guys went furry and followed the paths of the vehicles through the trees just to see what became of them. They found the Hummer down the slope, and those cases were inside, strapped down to what was left of the truck. They build those things tough,” he commented, giving a low whistle as he opened the door and began the process of extricating his large form from the backseat of the SUV.

  Ace held out a hand for her, helping her down. She stumbled a bit when her feet hit the ground, her knees more wobbly than she had expected.

  “Sorry,” she whispered, her hands against his chest while his arms were around her, supporting her. “Just let me get my bearings.”

  “Take your time. We’re safe here, and I love having you in my arms. As you know.” He dipped his head and placed a little kiss on the tip of her nose. In public. In front of all the men who were piling out of vehicles or pulling up on bikes all around.