A Flare Of Sorrow - Book#3
Sneak-Peek into Chapter 1
Note: This is an unedited and not proofread excerpt
A dull thump and something that sounded like glass breaking startled me awake. I blinked, confused for a moment. Had I imagined that noise?
For a moment, I didn’t dare to move or breathe, straining my ears to make out any sound, but other than the soft humming of the indirect lighting behind the headboard and a few distinct battle cries from the training halls, everything remained silent. Maybe the noise had just been conjured by the remnants of a dream already sinking into oblivion.
I let my head fall back against the cushions, regretting it the instant pain shot through my skull. My fight with Cole a few hours ago had left a few nasty bruises and cuts. The reminder made my mind immediately drift off to Haylie, and how she’d tended to me in the bathroom later. So caring, so determined, so gentle.
Usually, I felt uncomfortable with someone else taking care of me, but with Haylie it was different. It had been my excuse to be near her. Her face so close to mine, her eyes focused on each of my body parts, her hands traveling over my skin like a lover’s caress.
And then she’d touched my abs, and I got a glimpse of the longing in her eyes while her hands traced the ripples of my muscles. In that moment, I’d wanted nothing more than to lock the door from the inside, back her up against the wall, and take her like I wanted to for what felt like a small forever. My resistance had crumbled enough so that I’d had to touch her, had to caress the radiant skin up to her face until resting against these alluring lips of hers.
And that kiss... I swear, I’d never tasted lips so soft, lips so sweet. I could have kissed her for hours if it hadn’t been for her phone interrupting us abruptly before I’d even had the chance to devour her fully. I briefly wondered when she’d had sex the last time, but just thinking about another man touching her like this made me want to tear my bedsheets into pieces.
Seriously, my control whenever she was around was next to nonexisting. For some reason, we kept getting caught in steamy moments, and it was so damn excruciating. Next time, there would be no stopping the beast inside me that craved nothing more than to be unleashed and get a taste of her.
It would change everything, of course, but I knew with all my heart that I wasn’t strong enough to keep pretending I wasn’t yearning for more. I was a Fighter, one of the strongest of my race, but whenever it came to Haylie Bryceland—the only Natural that didn’t die under my protection—I was stripped of all my strength, leaving me weak, powerless, and completely at her mercy.
Frustrated, I yanked the blankets away. As soon as I was up, my hand shot forward with the sudden need to steady myself.
Whoa.
My head was spinning so awfully, I fell back onto the bed like a dead weight. What the hell? Probably a concussion caused by the clout I’d received from Cole.
With effort, I tried to get up again, but somehow, the task was harder than usual. Strangely, I felt twice as heavy, as if elastic bands were tying me to the bedposts, immobilizing me.
Stumbling into the bathroom in a slightly drunken state, I splashed cold water onto my face in an attempt to clear my head. It wasn’t working. Maybe an energy drink or two might give me the caffeine boost I needed. On my way to the main quarters, the dizzying feeling slowly vanished until it evaporated completely. Weird.
Just as I was about to open the door to the control room, distinct laughter and familiar voices reached my ears. Hand hovering over the door handle, I slightly angled around the corner to see Cassie chatting idly with Phil. From the looks of it, they appeared to laugh at a joke.
The scene displaying in front of me caused my eyebrows to shoot to my hairline. What the hell was that about? Most of the time, Cassie dismissed Phil with nothing more than a glare or an annoyed scoff, which was also why I’d been quite surprised that night at Hell’s Trial Cassie had accepted Phil’s invitation to dance. However, seeing them now, they looked like best friends, with Cassie even clapping on Phil’s shoulder. When had I missed that? And when…
No fucking way.
Cassie was pregnant—a fact I still couldn’t wrap my head around. Could Phil be the one who’d knocked her up? No, it was too surreal to even consider this a possibility. Why would she sleep with Phil who was barely an adult and, to be honest, in no way a match for her? It would go completely against Cassie’s nature. No pun intended… I’d need to check the recordings again later to see if there was something going on between them.
I entered the control room with a frown on my face, not surprised to see Jimmy sitting behind his office desk, typing idly on a calculator. I decided to have a chat with him.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute in private?” Jimmy nodded, rising from his chair, and we went to the next Catcher-proof room. “Did you talk to Cassie lately?” I asked him when he closed the door behind us.
Jimmy sighed as if I’d started a topic he wasn’t keen on talking about. Well, that made two of us. “Yes.”
“Did she tell you about… what’s going on with her?” I tested carefully in case Cassie hadn’t told Jimmy. I’d promised to keep her secret for now, but I felt it was time for Jimmy to know at least.
“You mean that she’s pregnant?”
I exhaled audibly, relieved I didn’t need to be the messager. “So, she told you.”
“Yeah, she did.”
“What do you think of it?”
Jimmy laughed, rubbing a hand over his black, curly hair. “Don’t know what you want me to say. I couldn’t believe my own ears when she told me.”
“Did she tell you who the father was?”
“No. She sidestepped that question very professionally.” No surprise. “Did she tell you?”
“No, but I suspect it was someone from the inside. I went through the recordings and couldn’t find any proof that Cassie left the compound for the last few months.”
Jimmy chuckled—a reaction I hadn’t expected. “Man, I’m glad. I already wanted to ask if you were the one who—”
“Seriously?” I exclaimed, my ego clearly hurt. “You thought I got her pregnant?”
“You two had a thing for a long time.”
“I told you I ended things with her. I would never be so stupid as to—”
“Okay, okay!” Jimmy held up his hands in surrender. “Message received. Well, I suppose we’ll need to wait until she tells us. I think we can be assured now that she’s not the traitor in our circle.” I agreed. Her alibi was bulletproof. So, who was the one working with the Hunters behind our backs, I wondered? “Is there anything else? I’ve got an urgent call in a few.”
I shook my head. “No, go ahead.”
Following Jimmy back to the control room, I plopped down in my office chair, snorting when I saw Jimmy had loaded my desk with stacks of paper of the newest guidelines of Pedagogical Education For Students. Really, they could stick this shit up their asses. Grabbing the stack, I crammed it into the next garbage can without a second glance.
“What are you doing here? You were supposed to take the day off,” Chris complained in my direction upon entering.
“I have a few bruises, not the flu,” I retorted.
Chris chuckled. “I offered to take over your surveillance duty, and you decline? Who are you and what did you do to Dylan Dwight?”
“Very funny,” I muttered and updated the camera status on the screens. I let my eyes swerve over the screens monitoring the training halls, as usual hoping to spot Haylie, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Ah, I know exactly what this is about,” Chris drawled, bending over my table. “You’re stalking a certain dark-haired beauty.”
“Am not.”
“Sure.”
Before I could come up with a lie on my part, Cole walked in. He sported a split lip and a set of nasty bruises peeked through from under the hem of his shirt. One eye was slightly swollen. I smirked. Yes, the view satisfied me greatly, knowing I was the one who’d beaten him blue and purple.
“Are the guards in position?” Jimmy asked Cole, referring to our new security team Serena had sent us.
“Yes, sir!” Cole called out with a mock salute, making me roll my eyes. Bet on Cole to put on a show whenever he got the chance. “Ian and Xanders are guarding the northern exit to the cemetery, Patricia and Tamara are positioned at the southern entrance, and Harvey and Kim are preparing for their next shift.”
“Excellent, thanks.”
I turned back to my monitors. New cameras were already installed, recording the exit to the cemetery to cover up any blank spots. After Haylie had been lured out by that Racer bitch Aitana and her minions of Hunters, we’d agreed on investing in more security, especially as the compound’s location was no secret any longer. If the Hunters intended to sneak in through the any of the two exits, we would be prepared.
As Cole had said, two guards were positioned next to the entrance, one of them being Xanders. I squinted my eyes to get a better look. The other man was unfamiliar. He was nearly seven feet tall and as bulky as a bodybuilder. I was certain I’d never seen this guy before.
“Who the hell is this?” I asked sharply, addressing no one in particular.
“This, my friend, is Arnie,” Cole answered from behind me when seeing what I was frowning at. “It’s his nickname, and I think it fits. I told you he had skills.”
I threw Cole a puzzled look. “What are you talking about?”
“This is Ian, our Freshman. His shifting abilities are quite unique. Most Shifter can only play with their superficial appearance like eye color or hair length, but Ian can modify his height and muscle mass.”
My eyes flicked back to the screen. On closer inspection, the face was familiar. “This is your Freshman? The little guy with the bald head?” I asked in disbelief, remembering Ian—one of the seven Roes Serena had sent us as back up, including Cole as their team leader. I’d been quite pissed Serena found it useful to help us out with a Shifter who was also a Freshman on top.
“Yep. His ability is very convenient when it comes to guarding duties.” I couldn’t disagree. The guy looked really scary. Few people would be as stupid as to take him on.
“And what if it comes to a fight? What use is his appearance if he can’t fight back?” As far as I remembered Ian from our brief introduction, he was small and chubby. He wouldn’t stand a chance against a trained Roe, least of all Fighters or Racers.
“Oh, he can, just not in the usual way. He can multiply the density of his muscles and skin. If you punch him, it feels like connecting with concrete. You could as well fight a steel wall. He’s quite robust, to say the least.”
“How long can he keep it up for?” Chris wanted to know, leaning in closer to the screen.
“One shift, easily. Not that long in battle because it drains his energy quickly, but in general, he can keep the façade as long as needed.”
“Impressive,” Jimmy muttered, stopping by my side. “How is he able to achieve that before the Awakening?” My thoughts exactly. Every Roe was able to tap into their abilities before their Awakening, but their full power only came through afterward. Which brought me back to the fact that Haylie had yet to undergo the process, although she still had nearly two years left until then, much to my relief.
It was said that the Awakening was much more intense for Naturals—not just more painful in phase one, the Inferno, and phase two, the Glaciation, but also more arousing in phase three, the Revival. Lisa, our unseeing Watcher, who had the gift to feel a person’s vibes, had suggested I stay with Haylie during the Awakening, but even thinking about being present when she hit the Revival, all hot and needy, made my cock go wild.
“The reason he came to us in the first place,” Cole continued to explain, bringing me back to reality, “was that his parents—both Fighters—forced him to use his ability on a very high level since he was a child. We assume this caused his ability to grow fast, similar to a bodybuilder injecting anabolic steroids.”
“Both his parents were Fighters?” Chris repeated in surprise. “A strange combination.”
In that moment, Cassie stepped in, followed by Phil. I threw him a suspicious look, trying to find any clue there was something going on between the two, but his face gave nothing away.
Cole squared his shoulders when he followed my gaze, eyes raking over Cassie with keen interest. I didn’t mind as long as he kept his hungry gaze away from Haylie. Oh, Cassie would love this. Nothing better to make little Cass happy than male attention.
“Now, this is a new face,” Cole announced loudly, back to his playful self. Gathering from where his eyes trailed over her super tight jeans, Cassie’s face was secondary to him at the moment.
“I think we haven’t been introduced, yet.” A huff of wind, and Cole was in front of Cassie’s face in the blink of an eye, as usual showing off the Racer in him.
Cassie’s eyebrows rose, her expression bored. “And you are…?” she asked as if Cole was stealing her valuable time. Chris threw me a look as if to say What’s going on with her?, but I was just as clueless and shrugged in response.
Cole didn’t let himself get agitated by her, though, stretching out his hand for her to shake. “Cole Thompson, and more than pleased to meet you.”
Chris snorted, and I nearly did the same. I couldn’t believe women were actually falling for Cole’s shit.
Reluctantly, Cassie took Cole’s outstretched hand. She didn’t seem to be in the least bit taken with him, much to my surprise. Either Cole was losing his charms, or Cassie was really not the same anymore.
“Cassie Steward and frankly, not interested in ass-kissers like you. If you excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”
My eyebrows nearly connected with my hairline for the second time that day, and Chris’ mouth popped open as we both stared after her. She plopped down in her office seat, not gracing Cole with another glance. My eyes trailed to him. His composure wavered for a second before he caught himself, strolling back to us.
“Hot,” he muttered in awe, eyes glued to Cassie’s backside.
“I’d be careful if I were you. That means if you value your balls hanging where they are now,” Chris cautioned, inclining his head to Cole’s pants.
“A challenge. I like that,” Cole retorted, unfazed by Chris’ comment.
The door banged open again, and Scott and Josh tumbled in, both of them laughing their asses off for some unknown reason. Scott was howling with laughter, tears already streaming down his face. He clapped Josh on the shoulder in a dude-like gesture, keeping his hand there to steady him.
“Man, that was hilarious!” Josh snickered, causing me to groan. I’d bet my Fighter blood that they were stoned. Count on Scott to be high every time of the day.
“What the hell is going on with you?” Chris asked, eyeing them dubiously.
“Oh, man.” Scott snickered with a shake of his head. “Josh and I were just walking down the hallway and suddenly, we both tripped over our own feet and made a simultaneous face-plant. I’m glad no one saw us.”
“A pity I missed that.”
“No idea what happened. Josh even checked the ground for a rope or something in case someone wanted to set a snare for us, but there was nothing.”
“Yeah, it was really crazy,” Josh continued. “We both felt dizzy all of a sudden and fell like sacks at the same time.”
“Seriously guys, I’m not a Tracer but even I can smell the weed pouring from your pores,” Cole commented drily, and I smacked his shin with my foot. Why couldn’t the dumbass keep his stupid mouth shut?
“Guys,” came Jimmy’s warning voice from behind. I groaned. Too late. “I’d rather you don’t lose another word about that. I don’t want to know any of the shit you’re smoking, swallowing, injecting, or sticking up your asses. Understood?”
Scott’s grin vanished as if just realizing our compound leader was present. He cleared his throat and nodded in embarrassment.
“Hey, what’s going on with that camera?” Chris asked, and I turned around to see where he was pointing at.
The camera monitoring the corridor of my room flickered. The image switched on and off, interrupted by gray and white streaks, like a television missing a signal. Typing on my keyboard, I checked the connection.
“Strange. The system tells me everything’s fine.”
“I can have a look at it,” Cole offered and, with a low whoosh, was out of the room before I could reply, appearing on the screen a few seconds later.
While Cole was fumbling with the device, I scanned the other screens. There were recordings of the corridors, the training rooms, and the main hall, but Haylie was nowhere in sight. As usual, my stomach made an uncomfortable flip.
“Hey, Chris. Did you see Haylie before you came here?”
“No. Why?”
“Just wondering because she wanted to train in the afternoon.” And she’s not in any of the training halls.
“She said at lunch she wanted to meditate.”
“But she’s not in the cemetery where she usually meditates. That only leaves Jenna’s old training room.” And I hadn’t seen her going there.
Chris shook his head. “Just came from there because I borrowed a mattress for my class. The room was empty.”
I inhaled on a tremble as a horrible déjà-vu struck me, recalling the day Lauren had been kidnapped by the Hunters, and Haylie took off after her. I forced myself to dismiss the thought quickly. Cole’s team of guards was here now to prevent exactly that.
“Dylan, you need to stop this,” Chris pleaded in a low voice so no one could overhear us. “You’re getting overprotective. Just because you can’t see her on the screen, doesn’t mean she’s not here. She’s probably in Lauren’s room or Sarah’s.”
I sighed in frustration but nodded. Chris was right. My obsession with Haylie was getting out of control. She was smart and a grown-up with a powerful ability on her side. I couldn’t babysit her all the time.
“Sorry, but I couldn’t fix the camera,” Cole’s voice came from behind when he returned. “And you won’t believe me when I’m telling you that I just had a similar accident than Scott and Josh.”
On hearing this, Scott cracked up again, Josh joining in quickly. I raised an eyebrow in question. I knew Scott was permanently stoned, and it was no secret Josh enjoyed a smoke or two from time to time, but Cole? Didn’t seem very likely.
“What happened?” Chris asked.
“I got awfully dizzy when I got there and nearly tripped over my own feet, but I caught myself at the last second. I tried to—”
“Don’t you think it’s one hell of a coincidence?” We all turned around at hearing Cassie speaking. Ever since her return, she only spoke when getting addressed—another strange behavior of hers lately, as Cassie always spoke her mind.
“What do you mean?” Cole asked.
“Think about it. Scott and Josh are falling over their own feet at the same time. Then, the same thing happens to you. I bet all of you fell in the same spot, right?”
Scott threw Josh a puzzled look and answered for both of them. “It happened exactly here.” Scott pointed to my screen. “In front of the camera.”
“Yeah, right,” Cole agreed in a thoughtful tone.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Chris interrupted with raised hands, head shaking. “Could somebody please tell me what Cassie’s talking about? What is so special about the spot? There’s nothing in that aisle except for a few rooms.”
“Just saying.” A mischievous grin formed on her face, and she clicked her tongue before adding, “Sounds very much like someone is playing with… gravity.”
Stay tuned for A Flare Of Sorrow, Book #3 in the Jaylior series - to be released 2018!