I didn't have time to explain the rules! It was my first thought landing in the spiritual landscape of Asher's body. Unlike the colors of the rainbow that I'd experienced in Ransom's, Asher's were predominantly browns, greens, and golds. It reminded me of the forest that sat just beyond the perimeter of the cabin. While I didn't really understand what was happening in his body from a medical perspective, I could see the pieces of his spirit that were at war. The gray and the earth tones were fighting in a swirl of chaos. The pulsating fiber of black was threaded through each earth tone. Almost as if it were the origin of the colors. I grabbed one piece of the black fiber and willed my spirit to find the beginning of it. The black thread threw me off. I felt like I was kicked in the guts and then run over with a semi truck. I bounced off the edges of Asher's body. I can make the pain stop, I whispered. The war of colors stilled almost as if his spirit could hear and under

All eyes turned to me. I could feel my protective shell coming around me, but I was unable to stop it. My spine straightened; my hands folded at my waist. I even tried to tuck the sheet around me more firmly. "I'm going to go put some clothes on. Excuse me." I stood and strode to my rooms, head held high. My stomach twisted itself into knots. As soon as I closed the door behind myself, I dropped the sheet and raced to my closet. I threw on stretchy pants, an oversized sweatshirt, and some socks. I didn't bother with any undergarments. The heavy silence as I returned to the living room let me know that I'd been the topic of discussion. Asher had moved from the mattress to a chair. The guys were sitting in the chairs in a loose circle around the mattress."I feel like I'm about to be chastised by a tribunal," I called from the door of my rooms. "Is there another chair for me?"Six butts rocketed into the air; six men offered their chairs. I sighed. "You're all too sweet. I d

The pain is what woke me up. My whole body was one giant bruise. Shit, shit, shit."She's awake," an unfamiliar female voice said."Excellent. Ms. Feuer, please open your eyes," a new person demanded. I wanted to keep my eyes closed on principle, but I needed to assess my surroundings. Prying my lids open made me feel like I'd run a marathon; I was so exhausted by the time they opened I needed a freaking nap.I was on the floor of a moving vehicle, staring up at five unfamiliar faces. Two women, three men. None of them looked very friendly. "Good. You'll want to continue to follow my orders, Kiema. It keeps him from doing bad things," the older of the two women said, a snarky smile on her face, as she pointed at a shaved-headed man with so many facial piercings, I struggled to distinguish his features. I almost screamed when he opened his eyes. He had exact replicas of his hazel irises tattooed on his lids. Never before had I ever felt like prey so much as in this momen

"What's on your mind?" Ransom asked as I shut the door to my level of the warehouse. I had no idea how to say what I needed to say. To put it out there. I just prayed Ransom wasn't going to kill me for it. Needing more time to gather my thoughts, I walked to the kitchen/dining area of my home. Pulled open the fridge, grabbed two beers. I held up one for him, one eyebrow raised. "Sure."I tossed it to him. We opened them, toasted each other, tipped back the first drink. "Come on, Saint. You're fucking killing me, man." Ransom grabbed a chair from the table, pulled it back, sat down. I winced. "If we all have magic, and we're all shifters, how do you think it's going to impact not only our business, but our...sharing tendencies?"Ransom just stared at me. "We don't know yet that Kiema can touch anyone but me."I felt my hackles rise. I tamped them back down. "I know. Gaia, do I know that.""Then what the fuck, bro?"I scratched my thumb nail over the label on my

I plunged through the air, tossing and turning every which way but up. The ground was rapidly reaching up to greet me. "Shit, shit, shit," I screamed it to absolutely no one. No one else had been stupid enough to get kicked off a flying helicopter by a psychopath. "Calm your mind." The words whispered through my brain.Great, now I get to go actual crazy. This has been the best worst day ever!A laugh sounded. "You are not crazy. You are, however, about to die, so I suggest you follow my instructions," the voice called again. Whoever my strange voice belonged to, he had one of the sexiest accents I'd ever heard.Something about the voice itself was familiar, but I had no idea what or why. Pushing that all from my mind, I tried to do my deep breathing exercises. Failed. I tried to just breathe like a normal human. Failed at that, too.The cold wind blasted my face, making it almost impossible to breathe. It ripped tears from my eyes, and made my nose feel li