There are many types of kisses in the world.

While I was in no way an expert, I knew they held the power to sweep you off your feet, lifting you high into the air, before gently cascading you back like a feather on a breeze. True, it was an extremely romantic ideal that each press of the lips could elicit such pleasure, but for as long as I could remember, I’d hoped against hope that such kisses existed.

I’d read my fair share of books. I lived vicariously through both classic and modern literature—swooning over knights and their princesses. I knew that kisses could reveal an extraordinary range of intimacy, but I also knew that the kiss with the right person held enough force to decimate them all.

All the legends.

All the myths.

Each and every kiss that had gone before it.

They paled in comparison to the feeling bubbling inside me as Micah cupped my face so carefully, his thumbs brushing back and forth across my skin, his fingers in the hair at the back of my head.

He owned that kiss.

He sealed that kiss.

It held a promise that it wouldn’t be the last and that while we had more to discuss, we would face whatever came together.

Micah feathered his mouth over mine again before he pulled away. Slowly, the sounds around us filtered back, and the chill from the air reddened my cheeks.

I could taste him in my mouth—his emotions, so raw and delicious against my tongue. It was a perk of being an empath. I didn’t just feel what others felt—I could also taste it.

Forgiveness. Openness. A willingness to try again.

The kiss held more than I’d hoped for.

“Let’s get Holly and head home,” Micah said, his lips against my temple, his breath grazing across my skin.

“You don’t want to get your palm read by Callie? Perhaps she’ll give you the winning lottery numbers or something?” I couldn’t help the lighthearted teasing or the huge grin on my face. It didn’t matter that the town was still covered with snow and that winter was having a hard time relinquishing its control to spring. I was warm all over.

He rolled his eyes as he turned about, looking for Holly, his arm slipping around my shoulder. “I’m feeling pretty lucky.” His voice grew faraway, and Micah dropped his arm as fast as he had embraced me. “Why would I . . .” His voice trailed off.

His worry provoked my own. I started looking about, not knowing what was happening. “What is it?”

“Where’s Holly?”

Two words, and the happiness that had just been brimming over inside me vanished.

“She was just here. Maybe—” I whipped about and raised onto my tiptoes. “Maybe we embarrassed her with the public display of affection and she’s over by one of the stalls, giving us some privacy?”

“She knows not to wander without saying something.” Micah didn’t bother to hide the concern in his voice. “She wouldn’t leave without telling me.”

I trailed beside him, trying to convince him that he was worried for nothing. “She’s a teenage girl, Micah. She’s going to defy your rules and do what she wants. Just take a deep breath. I promise you she’s okay. You’re going to scare her if you don’t calm down.”

The look he threw at me spoke volumes. In the time it took for me to give my little spiel, his anxiety had ratcheted up a few notches from worry to full-on warrior mode.

“Micah?” I grabbed his hand to pull him up short. “What aren’t you telling me?” When he brushed my question aside and craned his neck to peer over me, I was tempted to punch him in the gut or stomp on his foot. “Hello?”

He must’ve snapped out of whatever thought had locked him in because he shook his head, and finally answered me.

“You’re right,” he replied feebly. “She’s probably gotten distracted.” His nods looked more like he was trying to convince himself than me.

“You know—” I had his complete attention now. “Maybe she headed over to the store to see if Austin was there? He was meant to come tonight after locking up at the end of the day. I haven’t seen him yet, so maybe they’re together?”

His nodding slowed as sense penetrated his dark thoughts. “How about you head over there now, and I’ll check a few places we stopped by tonight? There was a crystal necklace she fancied. Maybe she went there?”

It was good to hear him breathe. The warrior guy he’d briefly morphed into was a little scary. It made me wonder again what kind of supe he was.

I pulled out my phone and glimpsed at the screen. “We’ll meet there in fifteen minutes. If either of us runs into any problems, call. Okay?”

I turned up the volume on my phone before pocketing it again. I also had it on the vibration setting, just in case.

His kiss lacked the intensity from earlier as he absentmindedly pecked my cheek.

He was worrying for nothing. Holly was a teenage girl prone to distraction and due a few moments of defiance. He’d find her and scowl, and all would be okay.

This was the beginning of our happily ever after . . . or at least the possibility of one.

Life was perfect-ish.

Damn pesky feeling.

* * *

“Holly?” I called out, dumping my unused keys to the store on the counter. The door being open with lights still blazing was a good sign. She’d probably come searching for Austin, seizing a quick moment to touch base with her friend.

Reaching for my phone so I could call Micah, I chuckled softly to myself. He was such a worrywart. Maybe this would finally convince him to relax the death grip he had over her.

“Austin?” I hollered, wondering if they were in the back storeroom or something. Each step I took, however, felt like I was wading through quicksand with concrete slippers. I shook my head—once, twice, three times sharply. Something was wrong . . . very, very wrong.

Emotions hit me like a ton of bricks and stripped away every defense I’d ever erected. The sensations obliterated all reason until all that was left was fear.

Blinding.

Bile-inducing.

Nauseating.

Fear so powerful that it took me a few seconds to ground myself the best I could as I ran toward the pulsating source. Holly.

“Holly!” I screamed as I entered the storeroom to find her whimpering in the corner, her legs and arms bound, a strip of duct tape stuck over her mouth. Angry tears streamed down her reddened face, and she struggled to break free from her restraints.

A million thoughts flickered through my mind, one being that Micah had been right all along. He had warned me of danger, told me there was a reason he was so guarded. I stumbled to grab hold of my phone, my fingers shaking, barely keeping the device from falling to the ground.

Muffled cries filled my ears.

“Give me a second, Holly,” I muttered, abandoning the phone so I could work on the tape cutting into her skin. “Who did this to you?” I stammered, rambling with a slew of questions part of me knew she couldn’t possibly answer yet.

Adrenaline coursed through my body as I shook my head once more. Emotions were jumbling over and over in my head, distorting my vision momentarily. The tape failed to give way no matter how gently I tried tugging at it. The last thing I wanted was to rip away her soft skin, but the greater her panic swelled, the more deafening it sounded in my ears.

“I need you to calm down, honey. You’re safe now. I promise. Micah’s going to be here. I’m trying to get this off you, but I need you to stop fighting me, okay?”

With trembling hands, I cradled Holly’s tear-streaked face and looked deeply into her eyes. I pushed out every soothing thought and feeling I could muster, pushing down and past my own terror.

When that didn’t work, I reached back around to the chain clasp behind my neck and released the black tourmaline pendant I was wearing. I didn’t even think. I simply reattached it back around hers.

Grounding her would ground me.

Placing my palm over it, pressing it against her sweat-drenched skin, I closed my eyes and said a quick spell to help unravel the tape so it wouldn’t rip too much of her flesh with it. My heartbeat slowed with hers, and with it, the room became easier to breathe in.

The tape at the corner of her mouth finally gave way, and with a quickly fired apology, I yanked it off. “Better?”

Holly nodded. “I didn’t know,” she sobbed, her words broken up.

“Where’s Austin, Holly? Is he hurt? Did he go get someone?” One more tug, and I had her hands free. Her skin was a mottled red—blotchy, hot, and angry. “I need to call the police . . . Micah . . . I need to make sure whoever did this doesn’t come back.”

I was rambling, my body still shaking as I pressed the back of my hand against my forehead. I was way out of my league. I’d never been in a situation like this before. Hell, I’d never even had to deal with shoplifters. I’d been blessedly kept from harm’s reach my entire life, and nothing had prepared me for the intensity of the adrenaline and shock.

Dragging in a deep breath, I focused on the air filling my lungs. I focused on the feel of the clothes on my body. I focused on the sensation of my heart thudding in my chest. It was a technique I employed whenever I was overstimulated and was a surefire way of finding the balance I needed to act.

I may have been only a fact-wielding bookworm and not some lethal warrior badass, but I wasn’t some fainting damsel in distress either. Micah needed me to keep my head about me until he got here.

I stood, moving toward the door. Holly was busy working on the tape around her ankles.

“Hopefully whoever did this was scared off.” I was being optimistic, a trait that hadn’t failed me in the past.

Austin blasted into the room, knocking me over. “Sedona! You’re here! Quick, you need to get down and hide . . . they’re back!” A frenetic energy bounced off him, plowing into me.

Wait, wait . . . wait, my inner voice screamed. Something wasn’t right.

“You?” I gasped, leaping to my feet in confusion. Instinctively, I stepped in front of Holly, protecting her. “Austin?” I croaked in disbelief.

My gaze dropped to his hands—in the left, Austin held a gun, and in the right, a roll of duct tape.

He raised the weapon to my head, a cynical smirk on his face. Damn, he didn’t even look like the high school student I’d taken under my wing and given a job to for the past year. He didn’t feel the same either. Austin felt bitter, the taste burning the top of my tongue with its acidity.

“I can’t stand another second living here, Sedona. If you knew who we were surrounded by . . . the monsters . . .” Austin’s eyes bulged a little in his head as he glanced about nervously, the gun in his hand dipping. “You would’ve done the same thing if you were looking at failure. I was promised scholarships. I played by all the rules, and then I get the brush-off. Ask me what happened, Sedona.” When I didn’t answer fast enough, Austin shook the gun at me angrily before swinging it to aim at Holly. “Ask. Me.”

I gestured for Austin to calm down with my hands, hoping to convince him to lower the gun or at least aim it back at me. “What happened, Austin? Tell me? Maybe I can help?”

He shook his head, and beads of sweat flicked from his damp hair. “How do I know you’re not one of them?”

The way he emphasized them made me wonder. Austin was human.

“Did something happen at school?” I took a tentative step away from Holly, forcing him to keep his attention on me. “Did you have a fight? Fail a class?”

I knew he’d been anxious over an exam he had, but I was so used to his normal adolescent neuroses that I tended to tune the overflowing emotions out.

“I was promised a theater scholarship to any university of my choice . . . wherever I wanted to attend around the country. I was told it was all but official, so I didn’t bother submitting for any other funding options. They said I didn’t have to worry about the financials, and to just focus on my academics and my extracurricular drama workshops. I did everything I was told, but I guess people lie.”

I took a bolder step. Austin’s face was like thunder, his brow twisted into furrows. My heart hurt for him, because he had talked about nothing else since his counselor had advised him at the beginning of the school year. I guess something had changed.

“Surely there was a mistake. Put the gun down.” I took a step toward him, my arm still outstretched. I had never worked so hard at layering my voice with calm, soothing tones. “How about we go in to the high school tomorrow and ask for a meeting?” I was closer now. “This isn’t how you solve the problem, however.”

“Let me go, Austin, please. Maybe my uncle could help too.” Holly’s sniffles snapped the distracting spell I’d been weaving.

“Actually, you are my ticket out of here. Imagine my surprise when a stranger pulled me aside, said he worked for someone he called the Collector, and offered me easy money. All I had to do was answer questions about people around town. The money was crazy good, so of course I jumped all over it. And then he started asking about your uncle and said if I ever saw you, to call him, and he’d make it worth my while.”

His laugh bordered on maniacal, his smirk turning into a snarl.

“I don’t care that they gave my scholarship to that freak anymore. I don’t need it. With the money I’ll make delivering you to this Collector guy, I can study anywhere I want in the world.”

I was a riot of contradicting emotions. My heart hurt that the young man I’d grown to love was nowhere to be seen in the angry and bitter diatribe Austin was delivering. I wanted to erase away the hurt and promise him I’d find a way to get him to college without reducing him to the gun-wielding attacker he was now.

But that was nothing compared to the word echoing in my head.

Freak.

Somehow, Austin had discovered that it wasn’t just humans who lived in Havenwood Falls, and based on his brief description, one obviously stole what he thought was rightfully his.

“You’ve underestimated my uncle if you think you’re going to leave this store!” Holly yelled, her courage kicking in.

“No, I believe that’s what I should be saying to you,” Austin spat. Desperation drenched his words. “Now get up. We need to go.”

Holly’s gasp sounded seconds before mine escaped through my lips.

Cocking back his fist, Micah slammed a punch so hard that it lifted Austin off his feet and threw him into the shelves before he crumpled to the ground. The gun skittered across the floor until it came to a stop.

“No. I believe my niece was right the first time.”