Knight, Jayden - Lust in the Wind [Dark Horse 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)

Dark Horse 6

Lust in the Wind

When Dark Horse Agent Nick "Gust" Vermont is sent on

assignment, he comes face-to-face with his destiny—Seattle

Homicide Captain Chris Taylor. Despite the undeniable chemistry

sparking between them, Nick and Chris aren't allowed to act on

their attraction due to their positions. In a playful comparing of

battle scars, Chris and Nick take it a step too far and end up

wrapped in each other's arms.

The case takes a turn for the worse when the victims are identified

as previous clients of Dark Horse and now the agents are all under

suspicion. Chris must put his job first and set aside his feelings for

Nick. The agents are all suspects, including the man he's fallen in

love with.

When the killer is revealed, it sends a shockwave through the

elemental world and may be the one thing that keeps Nick and

Chris apart—permanently.

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary, Paranormal
Length: 45,446 words

LUST IN THE WIND

Dark Horse 6

Jayden Knight

EVERLASTING CLASSIC

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove

LUST IN THE WIND
Copyright © 2012 by Jayden Knight
E-book ISBN: 978-1-61926-874-6

First E-book Publication: July 2012

Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without
express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance
to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of Lust in the Wind by Jayden Knight
from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also,
thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or
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The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying
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This is Jayden Knight’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect
Ms. Knight’s right to earn a living from her work.

Amanda Hilton, Publisher

www.SirenPublishing.com

www.BookStrand.com

LUST IN THE WIND

Dark Horse 6

JAYDEN KNIGHT

Chapter 1

“Because it’s a stupid idea, that’s why.” Burns, fire caller

extraordinaire and head of Dark Horse, rested his hazel glare on the
caller fighting with him. He folded his large arms in front of him,
bulging his muscles and making him appear even bigger than his
stocky frame allowed.

Pipe, a senior water caller that channeled his inner beach bum in

everything from his appearance to his laid-back attitude, rolled his
blazing green eyes. “You only hate the idea because I came up with
it.”

“No, I hate the idea because it’s stupid.”
Nick “Gust” Vermont leaned back in his chair and waited for the

two frenemies to finish their first fight of the day. Nick kept count.
The two rarely had a day where they didn’t have fights into the double
digits.

“Have you two ever thought about just whipping them out and

measuring?” Nick grinned as he received a glare from them both in
response to his comment. At least it ended the fight.

“Moving on,” Torch, another fire caller with an even demeanor

more like an air or earth caller, spoke up. Recently married, he took
his husband’s hand in his and let out a sigh, clearly agitated. Flame

Lust in the Wind

grinned and nudged him, and brought a smile to Torch’s lips.

Good for them.
Nick loved seeing them so happy. A year ago no one knew

whether they’d see Flame again. Now, as he sat next to his husband
Torch, grinning from ear to ear, Flame had never looked happier.

It made Nick smile, seeing them like this. Torch was miserable for

the three months Flame went missing. Now that they’d found each
other again, Nick hadn’t seen them a day apart.

“That’s it for jobs,” Burns said. The agents all looked at each

other.

“But you only had one,” Flame pointed out. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Shit. We keep this up and we’ll all be sleeping in cardboard

boxes.”

Burns glared at him, a constant look of disdain on his face

whenever he looked at Flame—or just about anyone else except his
partner, Lee. “You let me worry about the bills, Flame. You and
Torch just work on, well, whatever you need to work on. I don’t want
the burn room off limits anymore, got it?”

“That was just that one time,” Flame defended. Torch looked at

him, and Flame conceded. “Okay, two. Hey, that third time didn’t
count since we were in there on purpose. What? We had a lot of
frustration to get out and didn’t want to set our cabin on fire.”

“Stop,” Nick moaned lightly. “We don’t need the details of your

love life.”

“Why not?” Flame asked as he wiggled his dark brows. “Maybe

with a little detail, you just might go out and find a love life of your
own.”

“I’m good flying solo.”
And he was. He didn’t want a partner. It complicated things.

Being an air caller, his life was complicated enough. He didn’t need a
partner to add unneeded stress.

Flush, a water caller with bright blue eyes and pale blond hair,

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raised his hand.

Burns looked at him, clearly agitated. The fire caller had no

tolerance for opposite callers. “What is it, Flush?”

“Can I get a new code name?”
Nick laughed and lowered his gaze before he received another

blistering glare from Burns.

“No.”
“But Flush? Seriously?”
“You’ve had it for almost two years now. It’s too late to change

it.”

“Spoken like a true dictator,” Pipe quipped and grinned when

Burns gave him the finger.

Great. They were already on to fight number two, and it wasn’t

even nine in the morning.

“You know, I like you better when you’re on assignment,” Burns

snarled at Pipe.

“That’s because you always give me those long-ass assignments.

Sorry to disappoint,

Burnsy. I’m sticking around.”

“Don’t call me that.”
“Got a problem with your code name?”
“That isn’t my code name.”
Pipe put his hands behind his head and laced his fingers together.

“Maybe it should be.”

“Maybe you need another assignment, one overseas this time.”
“Can’t,” Pipe declared. “I promised Boulder and Wind I’d keep an

eye on you while they were on their honeymoon.”

“Swell,” he snapped. “Now I need a babysitter?”
“You said it, not me.”
“Pipe, if we weren’t inside…”
“So let’s take it outside.”
And fight number three had started.
Nick stood and stretched his hands high over his head. “This has

been fun and all, but if there aren’t any jobs, I’m out of here.” He

Lust in the Wind

hadn’t seen his dad in almost a week and had promised him he’d
swing by before the weekend.

“Keep your phone on,” Burns ordered. “If anything comes in I

want an immediate response. We have to start getting some jobs. If
we don’t, we’ll have to start looking at the alternative.”

“And that is?”
“A job amongst the weeples.”
Weeples. Nick hated that name. Without Extraordinary Elemental

Powers, or WEEP, humans that didn’t possess the ability to call an
element were labeled a weeple.

Talk about a stupid code name.
“Gust?” He turned to Torch as he called him by his code name.

With brown eyes and short dark hair, Torch didn’t look as much as a
fire caller as Burns. Even his husband looked more like a fire caller
with longer dark hair and smoky gray eyes.

“What’s up?”
“Are you worried?”
“About what?”
Torch and Flame exchanged a worried look. Flame went on.

Those two could always finish each other’s thoughts. “You don’t
think the reason there are no jobs out there is due to us, do you?”

“Why?”
This time Torch spoke up. “We screwed up the last job.”
“Our first screwup,” Flame added.
It was like a tennis match having a conversation with these two.

Back and forth. Back and forth. “Did you forget about setting that
guy’s office on fire last October?”

Flame rolled his gray eyes. “Okay, this was our first major

screwup.”

“We’ve never screwed up, not like this.”
Nick bounced his attention to whomever talked. He couldn’t keep

up with these two. “It wasn’t that bad. So you missed your target. So
you almost got our client killed. It worked out in the end.”

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“Because of you,” Torch said. “If you hadn’t saved our ass on that

job…”

Nick shrugged. “We’re still considered the junior callers. We need

to stick together.”

“Junior callers.” Flame’s tone dripped with disdain as he shook

his head and stole a burning glare at Burns. “What right does he have
holding us back? We’re all agents. We all fight for the underdog. Just
because some of them have been around longer doesn’t automatically
make them senior.”

Nick darted a quick look at Torch, who nodded in return and took

Flame’s hand. Ever since an ex-Dark Horse agent declared war
against her old agency, kidnapping and ultimately brainwashing
Flame into working for her, the rest of the agents watched him
closely. For the most part he’d returned to his normal, short-tempered
self. But there were times, like right now, when Flame seemed to
revert back to the man he was when Gaia had control over him.

“Maybe we just haven’t earned the title, yet.” Torch, always the

diplomat, offered.

Flame kept his smoky glare on Burns. “Or maybe Burns really is

driving his agency apart.”

“That’s not it.”
“Come on, GJ.” Flame looked at his husband. “He hates Pipe even

more than he hates me and is always giving him shit assignments.
You know it’s to try and drive him away. Hell, Pipe doesn’t even live
at the Farm anymore because of Burns.”

“Wrong,” Torch corrected. “Pipe lives in the city now with his

partner, Skye. That’s why he doesn’t live here anymore.”

“Believe what you want. Flood doesn’t come around anymore.

Boulder and Wind live on their own and have a successful restaurant.
They don’t have time to take assignments anymore. And if it weren’t
for you, he would have never let me back in. He’s destroying this
agency.”

“Shane, please.” Torch pleaded at his husband with wide eyes.

Lust in the Wind

“Baby, just calm down. I don’t like it when you get this upset.”

Flame drew in a deep breath and then let it out. He then held up

his fingers and counted them off, one by one. “I’m fine. But listen to
what I’m saying. That’s Flood, Pipe, Wind, Boulder, and Burns.
That’s it for the senior agents. How many of them still live here at the
Farm?”

Torch and Nick exchanged looks. Flame made a good point.
The office phone rang, and the agents all fell silent as Burns

answered.

“Dark Horse. Hey, Taylor. Yeah. Yeah? You got it. No, Wind is

out. I’ve got a backup. I’ll send him out.” He hung up the phone and
rested that intense hazel gaze on Nick. “Got a job for you.”

He slumped his shoulders. Dad would have to wait. “I was

looking forward to a day off. Can’t you give it to the twins here?” He
nodded at Torch and Flame, who looked eager to accept the
assignment.

“Sorry, he specifically asked for an air caller.”
That gave Nick pause. “Wait. They know about our powers?”
“This is a job

because of our powers.”

“Don’t tell me the authorities are now telling weeples about us.”

Did he just call them weeples? Ugh, he should wash his mouth out.

“It

is the authorities.” Burns wrote something down on a piece of

paper and then handed it to Nick. “Get to this address and ask for the
captain. Don’t screw this up, Gust. We need this. If you pull this off,
they could send a hell of a lot of work out way.”

Oh, sure. No pressure.
He took the paper and gave Burns a nod. “You got it, boss.”
The warmth of the June day called to him, and he jumped on his

motorbike, happy to open up the four-stroke, V-twin engine. After
strapping on his helmet and leather, he took off and loved the feel of
the brisk wind whipping around him. Even with his protective
clothing, the air whispered against his skin and gave him welcoming
chills.

Jayden Knight

It didn’t take him long to reach the neighborhood, not with the

way he drove the motorbike. He turned on the street of the address
and slowed. Cop cars scattered the road, all the lights strobing red and
blue, practically blinding him even in broad daylight. He pulled up to
the address and parked the bike before removing the helmet.

“Can I help you?” An older man in blue approached.
“I’m from Dark Horse. I’m supposed to meet the captain here.”
“Never heard of Dark Horse,” the cop countered. “Push off. This

here’s a crime scene.”

“No shit. I would have never got that from the plethora of cop cars

lining the street.” He stepped off the bike, and the cop visibly
swallowed as he craned his neck to look up into Nick’s eyes.

“I, uh…”
“I’ll take it from here, Monroe.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Nick glanced up to the house as a man walked out, a badge on his

belt. As he approached, Nick got a good look at him.

real good look.

No way was this guy a captain. He couldn’t be a day from thirty.

And since when did captains have ponytails? He sported dark-blond
hair pulled away from high cheekbones that accented the most
incredible blue eyes Nick had ever seen. He had a rugged, square jaw
with a hint of a five-o’clock shadow—at ten in the morning.

His tall, trim body held Nick’s attention. The closer he got, the

more Nick noticed how well he filled out his slacks, especially the
bulge between his legs that drove Nick’s imagination wild. He licked
his lips and held the man’s gaze.

“Are you the captain?”
“Why do you sound surprised?” When he smiled, flashing a

blinding mouthful of pearly whites, Nick suppressed a groan at how
striking this man was.

“You seem young.”
“I get that a lot. I bet we aren’t too far off in age.”

Lust in the Wind

“I’m twenty-nine,” Nick offered, though he didn’t know why.
The captain’s smile widened, which sent his beautiful eyes into a

wicked glimmer. “Aren’t we all?”

Nick really was but couldn’t think of a better retort than that, so

he simply chuckled and let it go.

“Come on. What I need you for is inside.”
Nick followed him and tried not to be too obvious as he checked

out the guy’s seriously fine ass. He definitely filled out his slacks
quite nicely.

“He’s with me,” the captain announced, and for some reason

Nick’s gut clenched. Once the uniform let them through the tape, the
captain handed Nick paper booties and latex gloves. “Cover your
shoes and slip these on.”

Nick looked at them and swallowed thickly. What did Burns get

him into?

“I trust you know what to put where.”
Tossing the captain a look and holding it, Nick pulled the paper

booties over his boots and then shoved his hands into the gloves. To
demonstrate, he forced a smile as he lifted his hand and wiggled his
fingers.

The captain put a new set of covers on before pointing out

everything Nick needed to step around. “It’s a zoo in here right now.
CSU is everywhere and will have your ass if you dirty up the scene.
Watch your step.”

Nick didn’t know what to do, so he followed the captain’s

instructions. He’d never been at a fresh crime scene before. It was a
circus, with camera flashes and people shouting at each other, barking
orders. Two men in dark clothes, both with little tablets in their hands
and scribbling furiously, nodded at the captain as he walked by them.

“Anything?”
“Dispatch said the 9-1-1 call came from this address,” the taller of

the two spoke up after giving Nick a quick assessment. “The only
phone is in the kitchen, which is weird. Who only has one phone, and

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a corded one on the wall at that? It’s like a throwback to the
seventies.”

“Is our vic the homeowner?”
“Yes, sir.” This time the shorter one spoke, again, only after

giving Nick a once-over. These two clearly didn’t want to answer the
captain’s questions in front of him, but must have enough respect for
the captain to trust him.

“And the second vic?”
“Still working on that, sir.” The short one shot a look at Nick

again.

“Dark Horse.” The captain nodded at Nick. “Special assignment.

It’s okay.”

“Wait,” the taller one said as he pointed his pen at Nick. “Isn’t

Dark Horse where we send—”

“It’s this way,” the captain cut him off and gave him a look. Both

men nodded once and went back to their scribbling. “Follow me.”

He stopped at the entrance to what Nick assumed to be a bedroom.

So far he hadn’t seen anything that made this house a crime scene.

And then he stepped into hell.
Nick dropped his jaw and had to swallow down the contents of his

stomach as he traced the scene as shock plunged through his body.
Blood was spattered all over all four walls. Way too much blood. A
pool of it sat dead center in the middle of the sheetless bed. The smell,
bitter copper and so pungent Nick had to breathe through his mouth,
threatened to consume him. His stomach twisted in protest.

He felt it. The unstable air, upset and volatile, being held prisoner

by someone’s call. It didn’t want anything to do with this scene any
more than Nick did.

“If you throw up, you’ll never hear the end of it.”
“You’re all heart.” Nick swallowed thickly as he stared at the pool

of blood he’d spotted on the floor next to the bed. “What the hell
happened in here?”

“We were hoping you could tell us.”

Lust in the Wind

“Me? How would I know?” A distinctive dripping noise caught

his attention, and he glanced back at the bed just as a drop of blood
joined the growing pool. Slowly, despite every fiber in his body
wanting to turn away, Nick lifted his gaze to the ceiling.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered as he shook his head.
Two men, or at least what was left of them, were spread eagle and

plastered to the ceiling. They both had deep gashes right down the
center of their entire body, from their chins to their groins. Way too
many things hung out of their open wounds, and Nick stepped back
from the gruesome sight.

“Now you see why I asked for an air caller?”

Jayden Knight

Chapter 2

“How did they get up there?”
“Strike that. How are they staying up there?” Chris Taylor

couldn’t take his attention away from the gorgeous man in leather
since he’d pulled up on the bike. When he removed his helmet, Chris
practically ran out the door to greet him.

The man’s hazel eyes had flecks of green in them unlike anything

Chris had ever seen. He ran his fingers through his short, dark hair as
he continued to stare at the vics somehow stuck to the ceiling.

Chris had to hand it to the guy. He didn’t lose it. Hell, he didn’t

even pale as he stared at the crime scene. Not too many people could
do that, especially at their first one.

Standing next to the man, Chris had to look up to meet his eyes,

which said something. Chris stood a few inches over six feet, so this
guy had to be six four at least. His height added to the mountains of
rippling muscles on his well-toned frame. He demanded a hell of a lot
of attention.

He certainly had Chris’s.
“What do you think?”
He shook his head and finally blinked away. “I think I’m in over

my head.”

“Then why did Dark Horse send you? I’m used to working with

Wind.”

“Wind is out” was all he offered. “I’m N—” he stopped and

cleared his throat. “Gust.”

He looked like it left a bad taste in his mouth to say his code

name. Usually Chris only wanted to know the agents by their code

Lust in the Wind

name, but not this time. This time he wanted to know Gust’s real
name. He wanted to know his likes and dislikes. He wanted to know if
his lips tasted as good as they looked.

“And what’s your real name?”
“Nick Vermont.”
Chris nodded at the gruesome scene. “Could you lift me up there,

Nick?”

“Why not just get a ladder?”
“Until we know how they’re staying up there, we can’t

contaminate the scene by introducing anything foreign. I need an air
caller to get me up there without disturbing anything.”

He rubbed the back of his massive neck and offered Chris a

nervous grin. “What about the rest of them around here?”

“None of them can call.”
“No, I mean, what if they see me?”
Chris poked his head out, nodded at the two detectives he had

keeping watch, and they barked out the orders.

“All right. Everyone out. Let’s give the captain a little privacy.

Let’s go. Now, people.”

Chris waited until Jones stepped back into the house and waved

the all clear before turning to the man. “There. Alone at last. I’m
Chris, by the way. Captain Chris Taylor. Since I now know your
name, I figured this was the next step in our budding romance.”

He wiggled his brow as he grinned. It usually put new agents at

ease when Chris used humor. God only knew they needed something
to smile about when surrounded by such brutality.

“Not much for a first date, Chris.” They shook hands.
“I guess I’ll have to wait until our second date before I try to kiss

you.”

Nick chuckled and it warmed his incredible, rugged features. “I

follow the strict third date rule.”

Chris looked at him. “So noted. Now that we have that out of the

way, will you take me up there?”

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Nick blew out a breath as he stole a quick glance up at the bodies

and then jerked his gaze back down. He clearly didn’t want to be any
closer to them than where he stood. “Are you sure you can’t get a
ladder in here?”

What a gorgeous, albeit uneasy, smile. Chris wished they could

have met under better circumstances. “Sorry, Nick. You’re it.”

“Awesome.” Nick wrapped his large arms around Chris.
As much as Chris wanted to feel this man’s touch, now wasn’t the

time to explore the obvious chemistry building between them. He
pushed back. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you up there.”
“Wind just, you know.” He made a motion with this hands.
Nick colored beautifully and curled the corners of those sultry lips

into a grin. “Sorry. This is my first time doing anything like this. I
guess I’m not thinking.”

“How about a lift?”
He nodded and raised his hands. Closing his eyes, he then released

a breath.

Chris felt the minute the atmosphere in the room changed. It

thickened, and the hairs on his arms stood up. When his feet came off
the floor, it shocked him. He’d never get used to levitating.

Nick lifted him to the ceiling and Chris brought up his hand.

“That’s it. Hold it there.”

He pushed the sight of the sexy caller from his mind as he focused

on the horrific scene in front of him. It looked like they’d been torn
wide open. No weapon could have done this except maybe a
chainsaw. Considering the damage, he hadn’t ruled it out.

But a chainsaw wouldn’t do this kind of damage. The direction of

the wound was all wrong as well. It looked almost as if the two vics
were sliced open from the inside.

Using his pen, he pushed down on the closest vic’s shoulder,

expecting to see clamps or Velcro or something holding him up
against the ceiling. Instead, he saw nothing.

Lust in the Wind

“I can’t tell how they are being held up here.”
“Air,” Nick answered.
Chris turned and glanced down at him. “Excuse me?”
“It’s air. I feel it. It’s being forced to hold them there.”
Chris looked at the vics. “Are you sure?”
“Like I said, I feel it. The air is upset.”
He talked about the element as if it had feelings. Interesting. Wind

never said anything like that. “Can you call it and calm it down?”

“Not with you still up there. If I relax the air, stabilize it, it could

drop you.”

“Let me down.” After he settled to the floor, Chris stood next to

Nick and gave him a nod. “Do it.”

“You may want to stand back.” Nick let out a deep sigh and

brought up his hands as he closed his eyes.

That offended Chris. He’d been around other callers, from Dark

Horse and other agencies, and could handle himself. Just as he took a
breath to remind Nick that this wasn’t Chris’s first rodeo, both bodies
dropped like dead weight and landed with a splat, one on the puddle
of blood on the bed, the other in the pool of blood on the floor.

Blood splattered out from the impact and peppered Chris. He

closed his eyes and stiffened as the thick liquid then oozed down his
clothes. Thank God none got on his face or hands. He really didn’t
have the time to go through decontamination right now.

He had a double homicide to solve.
Turning to Nick, he spread his arms as he looked at his dark-

cream suit, now riddled with dark red blood.

“I told you to stand back.” Nick bit his lips, no doubt to hold in a

snicker. Damn if he didn’t look downright edible with that smirk on
his handsome face.

Chris wanted to be pissed at Nick, but he did warn him. With his

arms still spread out to not contaminate the blood on his clothes, he
leaned out of the room. “Jones!”

Jones came running down the hall. “What the hell happened to

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you?”

Chris ignored the question as he glanced at the blood splatter on

his favorite suit. “Get the CSU crew in here. Once they process the
scene, the ME can have the bodies.”

“Are they down?”
Chris looked back over his shoulder at Nick, who shrugged his

apology as if that helped. “They’re down.”

“What held them up there?”
“That’s what CSU gets to figure out. Get Rogers in here to clear

me.”

He knew protocol. Since he now had the vics’ blood on him, he

was part of the crime scene and not allowed to leave until CSU gave
him the okay.

Jones nodded and left, only to return moments later with the CSU

supervisor. Jeremy Rogers, the best damn CSU investigator on the
force, approached Chris and frowned. As tall as he was thin, with
glasses permanently perched on the end of this crooked nose, Rogers
always reminded Chris of

Ichabod Crane

from

The

Legend of Sleepy

Hollow—the Disney cartoon version, not the dark movie version.

Rogers took one look at him and shook his head. “How did you

get blood splatter on you? Did they finally fall?”

“Something like that.” He tossed Nick another look.
“I’m going to need your clothes, Captain.”
Chris stilled as heat burned into his cheeks. “Excuse me?”
“You know the rules. You’ve got the vics on you. I need

everything. Your blazer, shirt, and pants.”

“Would you like a pint of blood as well?”
Rogers bent his neck to study Chris over his glasses, resting his

dark gaze on him. “We’ve got plenty of that to process already. The
clothes will be fine. I’ve got scrubs in my bag for you to change into.
It’s either that or we cover you and take you back to the lab with us.
Your choice, Captain.”

Great. He’d never see this suit again. He knew what happened

Lust in the Wind

when CSU got ahold of evidence.

Chris darted a quick look at Nick as heat slapped his cheeks. As

much as he’d love to strip down in front of the gorgeous Dark Horse
agent, he knew if he did, Nick would see just how much his presence
affected Chris. His semi-hard cock would pitch a tent in his boxers
and embarrass the shit out of him.

Nick Vermont had rugged good looks and was built like a young

Schwarzenegger—after his Mr. Universe title but before he turned
into “The

overnator”

—but right now Chris needed to focus on his

job, not on the eye candy. He had no choice but to send Nick away if
Chris planned to get anything done.

“Can we have the scene?”
Chris pulled his attention to Rogers. “It’s yours. We’re done

here.”

“What about me?” Nick asked.
“Your services are no longer required. Have Burns send me an

invoice for payment.” Chris marched out of the house and into a
media shit storm. A flurry of flashes erupted, and he turned so the
fucking vultures didn’t capture the blood on his front.

Shit. He hated the press. “Monroe! Get them back behind the

tape.”

“Sorry, Captain. Let’s go, folks.”
“Captain Taylor, can we get a statement?”
“Isn’t this the house of the prominent researcher, Richard

Edwards?”

“Can you tell us what happened?”
“Let me help. I know a thing or two about how to respond to a

question without giving an answer.” Nick appeared and pulled Chris
behind him. As he straightened to his full height, the frenzy of
questions died down. “Ladies and gentlemen, I know how much you
all want to help uncover the truth of what happened here, and we
can’t tell you how much we appreciate your willingness to help.
However, in light of this tragedy and out of respect, we ask that you

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hold your questions until we can give you accurate statements.”

“What are you doing?” Chris rasped.
“Covering your ass. Go get out of those clothes before they catch

you with all that blood on you and think you did it.”

Chris didn’t need to be told twice and met up with Rogers to

change. After he handed his clothes over to the CSU team and had on
loose-fitting scrubs, he approached the front door, where Nick stood
taking up the entire frame with his own.

“As I said before,” Nick went on. “Until we can positively

identify and then notify next of kin, we aren’t going to tell you.”

“So by denying it, you are admitting as much. This is the house of

Richard Edwards. We’ve been unable to reach him by phone. It
doesn’t take a genius to put it together.”

Chris recognized the voice as a bitchy reporter from one of the

newspapers.

“But does take someone with a heart to know when to print it,”

Nick countered. “Tell me, if something happened to you, would you
want your loved ones reading about it in the paper instead of knowing
about it before the rest of the world?”

“It’s my job to report the truth.”
“Isn’t it also your job to use common sense?”
Ouch

Chris grinned.

Way to go, Nick.

“We have a right to know.”
“Not before the next of kin. Thank you for your understanding.”
Monroe blocked the mob of hungry reporters and pushed them

back. “Come on, folks. You know the rules. Behind the tape. You,
too, Victoria.”

“Thanks,” Chris said after Nick walked back inside. He felt bad

snapping at Nick and practically kicking him off the scene. It wasn’t
his fault he had such devastating good looks and had the power to
incapacitate Chris with nothing more than a flash of that sexy smile.

Nick gave him a slow and steady once-over, and damn if that

didn’t drive up his heart rate. With those sexy hazel eyes, Nick had

Lust in the Wind

him in every sense of the word.

“You look like a doctor.”
“I wish I had the bank account of a doctor,” Chris countered.

“You want to get a cup of coffee? My treat.”

Chris held his breath and waited. It was an innocent enough

invitation. Cops drank coffee all the time. They invited the
consultants out to have coffee all the time as well. It had nothing to do
with the way Nick’s full lower lip accented the curve of his upper lip,
or the fact he had the cutest cleft in his chin.

Nick glanced around the room, at how the rest of the people all

seemed oblivious to the undeniable attraction tightening the tension
between them. At least Chris hoped so. He didn’t need his personal
choices bleeding into his life as the captain of a Seattle Homicide
Unit.

“While I’d love a cup of coffee, after seeing what I just saw, I

don’t think I could hold anything down.”

A few snickers erupted at the expense of Nick’s honesty. Chris

froze his expression as he glared at those that found it amusing,
knowing they were once in his shoes as the greenhorn and were too
chickenshit to admit it.

“Besides,” Nick added as he narrowed his gaze on Chris, “I need

to get back so I can have Burns get you that invoice.”

“About that,” Chris muttered and grinned as he scratched at his

ponytail. “I was a bit pissed. That’s my favorite suit. I’ll never get it
back now.”

“Why would you wear your favorite suit to a crime scene?”
Chris rolled his eyes. “Come on, Dark Horse. If you won’t let me

buy you coffee, at least let me walk you out. We need to get out of
here so CSU can process the scene and then the ME can get the
bodies to the morgue. Based on the mess made by the killer and then
by you, they’ll be here a while.”

Nick handed the booties and gloves over to a CSU officer,

thanking him for accepting the items into a bag. After Nick walked

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out, Chris followed and stole glances at Nick’s ass. The Levi’s fit him
snug and cupped a very nice ass. Just like everything else he’d seen of
Nick Vermont so far, he liked what he saw.

They stopped at Nick’s bike, and he turned to Chris. “Actually,

there is something I need to talk to you about.”

Chris ignored the hop in his pulse. “That is?”
Nick darted a quick glance toward the media circus behind the

yellow tape and turned his back to them. Chris did the same so they
both faced the house of horrors and hid their mouths from any
directional mikes or lip readers.

“Did you say the vic was Richard Edwards?”
Pulling out his tablet, he read the name and nodded. “It’s his

house and his ID matches. We need someone who knew him to
provide positive ID, but that’s just a formality. It’s him. We think the
guy with him is Newman Sygowitz, the business partner, but we are
still waiting for a positive match on both.”

“Son of a bitch.”
“What is it?” Chris didn’t like the look on Nick’s face or how he’d

paled. After the scene he’d just witnessed, seeing him lose his color
over the name of the vic didn’t give Chris a good feeling. “Did you
know them?”

“No, but I know someone who did. This is going to tear the shit

out of him.” He rested that troubled gaze on Chris. “It’s Lee.”

Shock flew through him in warp drive, sending him physically

reeling back. “Spencer? As in…”

“Burns’s partner.” He released a shaky breath. “Maybe I will take

that coffee. I’m not ready to tell him anything like this.”

“And you’re not authorized to, either.”
Nick blinked at him. “But he has a right to know.”
“Not until we notify next of kin. You said so yourself.”
Dropping his gaze, Nick nodded.
“Come on. You’re riding with me.”
Nick narrowed his cautious gaze at Chris. “Where?”
“To the Farm. I’m sure a caller did this and I’m hiring Dark Horse

to find out who.”

Lust in the Wind

Chapter 3

“Lee’s had too many coincidental run-ins with your kind, and now

he not only lives with one, he and Burns adopted that little female
caller. Burns tells me her powers grow every day.” Chris weaved in
and out of traffic as they made their way to the ranch house the agents
at Dark Horse called the Farm. The junior agents also called it home.

“You seem to know a lot about our agency,” Nick pointed out, not

sure whether he liked that or not. Although he wanted to know more
about what made Chris Taylor tick, the captain didn’t seem all that
interested in Nick. No, he seemed way too concerned about Lee and
Burns.

“I know a lot about all the agencies we have dealings with.”
“What do you know about me?” He couldn’t resist.
Chris tossed him a sideways glance, and the corners of his lips

twitched. “Until today, I didn’t know Dark Horse had another air
caller other than Wind. So we have Wind and Gust. Any other air
callers?”

For the first time, Nick hesitated as Chris used his code name. He

usually liked it, but for some reason, right now, he’d rather Chris call
him by his real name.

Nick shook his head. “There aren’t too many of us.”
“Considering how powerful you are, that’s probably a good

thing.” He took the exit to the Farm. “Did you notice how there
weren’t any footprints at the scene?”

Nick had already tried to wipe that horrific image from his mind

but knew it’d be pointless. That scene would be forever burned into
his brain.

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“How do you suppose the killer did that? How did he slice them

open and attach them to the ceiling without leaving a single trace?”

Nick knew the direction Chris was headed with this line of

questioning. He’d admitted as much before they took off for the Farm.
“It was an air caller, but you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“I had my suspicions.”
“Is that why you asked specifically for an air caller?” That just

pissed him off. Who the hell was this guy to accuse Nick or any other
air caller of such a violent crime? “Trust us so little, do you?”

“If I didn’t trust Dark Horse, I wouldn’t have called you to the

scene. Don’t do that puffy-chest, macho bullshit with me, Nick. Until
I can figure out what in the hell happened at that house and to those
men, every caller is a suspect.”

“Every

air caller,” he corrected.

Chris looked at him.
It made sense. Nick didn’t like it, and he didn’t have to. It wasn’t

his decision. He sat there fuming as Chris drove them down the long
driveway flanked by trees. The ranch house came into view, and Chris
pulled the car up to the front.

Nick didn’t wait for Chris to get out of the car. Storming off

toward the house, he bumped shoulders with Burns as he walked out
the front door.

“What’s got you ready to call, Gust?”
“Ask your friend back there.”
Burns swept his gaze out and lifted his chin as he folded his arms

in front of him. “Captain Taylor? What brings you out to the Farm? It
isn’t like you to make house calls, and since I already have this caller,
I know you aren’t bringing me a new recruit.”

“I wish it were a social visit, Burns.”
Nick clenched his jaw until it ached. “No, he’s here to interrogate

us.”

Burns looked at Nick as he spoke, then whipped his attention back

to Chris. “What’s this about?”

Lust in the Wind

“Two men were killed today, right in broad daylight. Gust said

you know them.”

Gust

Damn, that hurt. He didn’t want to admit how much it

bothered him that Chris suddenly decided to call him by his code
name. It sounded so impersonal.

“That’s not why he’s here,” Nick clarified and clenched his jaw.
“This isn’t personal.” Nick faced him as he doubled up his fists.

“That’s where you’re wrong. You’re damn right it’s personal. You
can’t accuse me of murder and then toss out a bullshit disclaimer like
that makes it okay.”

“What?” Burns dropped his hands to his side as he jerked his gaze

back and forth between Nick and Chris. “What the hell happened?”

“Can we take this inside?” Chris asked.
Burns looked him up and down. “Why are you dressed like you

just got out of surgery?”

Chris rested those intense blue eyes on Nick. “Gust dropped the

bodies into pools of their own blood and I was in the line of fire of the
splatter.”

“I warned you and even told you to step back. At least you

shielded me from it.”

Burns shuddered. “That’s just gross. Come on. I know how much

you cops love your coffee. I’ll put on a fresh pot.”

Chris slowed as he approached Nick and stopped as he stood in

front of him. Nick refused to meet his eyes.

“This really isn’t personal, Nick.”
“You’ll forgive me if I wait out here, Captain Taylor.”
“Why are you pissed at me? I’m just doing my job.”
“By harassing my family,” Nick bit off and finally looked at him.

Those blazing blue eyes burned into him. “I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to, but don’t stand there and make this about

you. Two men are dead, Nick. It’s my job to find their killer. I can’t
make this personal and neither can you.”

As much as Nick wanted to stay angry at the good-looking

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captain, he made a hell of a lot of sense. With a single nod, Nick
walked into the house and through the living room into the kitchen—
the hub of just about everything they did at the Farm outside of their
morning meetings.

Burns already had the coffee brewing and turned to watch Chris

and Nick take a seat at the island. When they sat next to each other,
Nick didn’t miss the way Burns narrowed his eyes.

“So what’s with you doing the interrogating, Taylor? You have

detectives for that sort of grunt work, don’t you?”

Chris grinned at Burns’s jab, and Nick had to look away. Damn,

how he loved the way his eyes danced when he smiled.

“Considering the details of this case, I thought it best if I handled

it myself.”

“Alone?”
“It’s just a hunch I’m running on.”
“Uh-huh.” Burns clearly didn’t believe him but didn’t say

anything more until the coffeepot silenced the gurgling and he had
three cups of the steaming liquid in his hands. He set a cup down in
front of each of them before taking a seat at the island.

“So tell me about this hunch,” Burns started.
“We have a double murder committed by a caller, at least that’s

my hunch.”

Burns stared at him for several seconds. “That’s quite a hunch.”
“Not just any caller,” Nick added. “He thinks it’s an air caller.”
Burns stiffened. “Is that why you wanted me to send out an air

caller? You wanted to see if he did it?”

“No,” Chris defended and shook his head, way too casually. “Not

at all. I needed his help to retrieve the victims without disturbing the
scene. That’s all, Burns. I swear.” He took a sip off his coffee. “But
then Gust said something that got me thinking.”

Gust again?
“And what was that?” Burns asked.
“He said he felt the air. It was upset. Why do you suppose that

Lust in the Wind

is?”

“Why not ask the air caller?”
Chris turned his attention to Nick, and when their gazes collided,

neither looked away. “Tell him what you told me.”

Nick blinked away. He couldn’t concentrate when he lost himself

in those deep blue eyes. “The air was being forced.”

“Forced? How?”
“I can’t explain it. I just felt it. My element was upset for having

any part in what happened in that house.” Nick involuntarily
shuddered as the image of that scene flashed in his mind.

“A forced element?” Burns gulped the coffee and let out a sigh as

it no doubt scorched the whole way down.

F ire callers

“It’s going to rain.” Nick looked behind him to see Char, the

youngest and smallest caller at Dark Horse, walk into the kitchen. She
had large brown eyes and long brown waves always curtaining her
face. As she padded into the kitchen with her tiny bare feet, she
moved over to Burns and slipped her hand into his, her watchful eyes
on Chris.

With a beautiful, simple mind, Char was by far the most powerful

caller at Dark Horse. It was because of the strength of her call that her
mind hadn’t developed beyond the capacity of a child. No one really
knew her age, and they didn’t care. All the callers at Dark Horse
loved her like a baby sister and would protect her to the death.

“Who are you?”
“This is Captain Taylor,” Burns said, and he brushed her hair

away from her face. “You remember him, don’t you?”

She hid behind Burns and then peeked out. “He’s not a caller.”
“No, but he is our friend.”
Blinking those enormous eyes, she looked up at Burns. “Is he

nice?”

“Yes,” Burns answered quickly, and Nick knew why. Char had

two things she wouldn’t tolerate—mean people and liars. If she
sensed the person to be either one, he should look out.

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“I can’t tell.”
“I promise you,” Chris said with a warm smile. “I really am.”
“She can’t read your thoughts,” Nick explained. “That’s what she

means.”

Chris looked at him as his mouth fell open. “She can do that?”
Burns’s audible growl pulled Nick’s attention to him. He glared

his disapproval, and the heat from his look singed Nick.

“Sweetheart, why don’t you go work on one of your blankets?”
“But you said if I finished my math that I could watch TV.”
“One hour.”
She shrugged her tiny shoulder. “I can’t tell time.”
“This from someone who gets up at six in the morning every

morning.” Burns nudged her with his elbow. “Nice try, squirt.”

Smiling, she forgot all about Chris as she skipped out of the

kitchen and into the living room. She flipped the TV on and turned it
to her favorite station—Discovery.

“So,” Chris started and then hesitated as he pulled out his little

tablet and clicked it on with his stylus before resting his gaze on
Burns. “How many other callers can read minds?”

“That’s not why you’re here,” Burns countered.
“That’s not an answer.”
“That’s the only one you’re going to get.”
Chris sighed. “Burns, we are on the same side.”
“Are we?” Burns narrowed his glare.
Usually Nick thought Burns went way off the deep end with his

suspicious nature over weeples and their agendas. He didn’t know
what had happened to Burns in the past to make him so bitter, but it
had to have been a doozy.

This time Nick agreed with Burns all the way.
Chris turned to Nick and rested those cobalt eyes on him. “Will

you talk to me?”

Nick opened his mouth to spill his guts, but Burns cut him off.

“You know the rules, Taylor. You talk to me. Period.”

Lust in the Wind

“Then talk to me,” Chris countered. “I’m trying to find who killed

Newman Sygowitz and Richard Edwards.”

“Who?” Burns stiffened.
Chris shot a glance at Nick before nodding at Burns. “Do you

know either of them?”

Burns already had his cell phone out of his shirt pocket and started

to dial. As he brought it to his ear, he answered Chris. “I hate
Edwards for one reason and one reason only.”

“And that is?”
“Lee.” Burns spoke into the phone as he not only answered

Chris’s question but addressed the man he’d just called. “You’d better
come home. No, Char is fine. No, Lee. I’m fine, too. It’s, uh, just
come home.”

“Where’s Lee?” Chris asked.
Burns hung up the phone. “He went into the office today. He’s got

a new launch in less than a month.” He dropped the phone back into
his pocket and kept his gaze down. “Was Newman with him?”

“Yes,” Chris answered.
“Shit.

Shit

” Burns jumped up from his stool and thrust his fingers

through his hair. “Shit.”

“Care to share?” Chris asked.
Burns rested his narrowed gaze on Chris. “I know who did this.”

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Chapter 4

“She stole me from under GJ,” Flame explained.
“Literally,” Torch added with a nod. “Shane and I were

celebrating another successful mission when she swept in.”

“And snatched me,” Flame finished. “I ended up with her for three

months before I finally came to my senses.”

“Because she beat you senseless and dropped you here without

any memory of me.” Torch looked at him.

“Let’s not dabble in the details.”
Chris had a hard time following the one talking. Not only did

these two fire callers look alike, they finished each other’s sentences
and made it almost impossible to read either one of them.

He prided himself on being able to read a person. With Burns, he

saw pain and regret, but he also recognized a sense of pride when he
protected the other agents at Dark Horse. When he and Lee were
together, Burns had a different demeanor entirely. Lee definitely
soothed the savage beast.

With Boulder and Wind, two of the biggest, leanest men he’d ever

met, he felt more than saw the connection between the earth and air
caller. Boulder had told Chris how the two opposite callers had to
literally battle their own elements to be together. They both had even
demeanors and were very easy to work with.

He’d only had to work with Pipe once, but that was enough. The

beach bum’s arrogance drove Chris crazy, and he couldn’t wait for
the case to be over. He never did get the chance to work with Flood
before the only other senior water caller got married and chose
another life away from Dark Horse.

Lust in the Wind

These two fire callers, Flame and Torch—aka the twins, as he’d

heard Nick refer to them when he called them to the main house—
held Chris’s attention. Flame seemed more like Burns with his easy-
to-ignite temper and suspicious nature. Torch, on the other hand,
smiled more and definitely had the cooler disposition.

Nick had him guessing at every assumption, and that bothered the

hell out of Chris. He had to stay focused and not give in to those
handsome hazel eyes. His feelings for Nick confused and irritated
him. He’d never been attracted to any of the agents of Dark Horse,
despite the fact that they could all start an underwear modeling
agency.

Especially the delicious air caller sitting next to him at the island.
“So let’s fast forward to the job she sent you on,” Chris instructed

as he scrolled through his notes. He’d already heard the story once but
always asked at least twice to pick up any inconsistencies. He
addressed Flame. “You said you had no control over your call when
you attacked Newman?”

“I never attacked him,” Flame defended. “I burned up all the work

in the office.”

“But you would have if I hadn’t stopped you,” Torch pointed out.
“I had no control,” he said as he looked at Torch. He then turned

his smoky gaze to Chris. “It was weird, like I was a puppet and Gaia
controlled the strings. I’ve never been so scared.”

Torch grabbed Flame’s hand and leaned closer to him. Flame

seemed to settle down and rested his head on Torch’s shoulder.

Chris scribbled everything they said into his tablet PC and didn’t

even bother to differentiate who talked. It didn’t matter. They were
both fire callers and would have done too much damage with their
element. He just needed more information about Gaia.

“You brought Newman back to the Farm,” he prodded.
Both Flame and Torch nodded in unison.
“In our defense,” Torch spoke up, “we thought it was Richard

Edwards.”

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Chris bounced his gaze to Burns as he audibly growled. He knew

that sound. Burns’s disapproval echoed through the room, and it
clicked. “You didn’t send them on the job, did you?”

Burns gave him a curt nod. “I told them no.”
“Then why’d they go?”
The fire callers all looked at each other but said nothing.
“Because I asked them to.”
Chris turned to see Lee walk into the kitchen. A tall, broad, bald

man with kind brown eyes, Lee Spencer was the opposite of Burns.
Where Burns barely hit 5’10” with shoes on and had a built, stocky
frame, Lee stood well over six feet. Burns had shaggy burnt copper
hair and Lee had no hair at all.

But none of that mattered between the two. Burns had a quick-to-

blow temper and seemed to hate pretty much everything. Lee, on the
other hand, had the patience of a saint and didn’t seem to hold any
prejudice. They completed each other perfectly.

“How’d you get here so fast?” Burns asked.
“I was actually taking the exit to the Farm when you called. I

forgot one of my flash drives and had to come back for it.”

“Welcome home,” Chris offered.
Lee slowed at the number of people in the kitchen. He finally

rested his attention on Chris. “What’s going on? Why are you here?”

“Lee.” Chris stood and approached. He placed his hand on Lee’s

shoulder as he held his gaze. “Richard Edwards was found dead this
morning in his home. Newman was with him. They were both
murdered.”

“Ricky?” Lee’s expressed wilted in disbelief as the shock of the

news hit him. Then every muscle in this face tensed as his eyes
flooded.

“He’s gone,” Burns said, and Lee turned to him.
“No, that can’t be. I just talked to him.”
Chris shot a look at Burns to gauge his reaction. He tensed and

clenched his jaw, clearly not happy that Lee had talked to the vic.

Lust in the Wind

When Chris questioned Lee, he’d need to do it away from Burns.

“I’m so sorry, Lee.”
“Jake,” Lee whispered and reached for his partner. Burns pulled

him into his arms just as Lee collapsed, his emotions taking over. He
sobbed against Burns’s shoulder, and the sound ripped through Chris.
He’d never be impervious to the grief that overwhelmed a person
when they heard the horrific news of losing a loved one.

“Let’s save the questions for later.” Chris put his tablet away and

nodded at the rest of them. “Lee, I’m very sorry for your loss.”

Lee held Burns as he gave in to the anguish and didn’t look up.
Chris stood and walked out of the room. Based on Lee’s reaction,

Chris knew there and then that he had nothing to do with Richard
Edwards’s or Newman Sygowitz’s murders. He’d still have to
question him but only as a formality.

“Chris, hold up.”
He turned and waited for Nick to join him in the living room. That

blazing look of purpose burned in his eyes. Chris knew that look all
too well. Hell, he’d almost given in to that look as it flashed across
the families of the plethora of victims he’d fought for and brought
their killers to justice.

“I want to get the bastard that did this.”
“That’s a bad word,” Char scolded and turned up the volume.
“Char, sweetheart, can you finish watching TV later?” Nick

asked.

“But it’s MythBusters. They bust myths.”
“And it will be on again.”
“Gust,” she whined.
“Please?”
“Fine.” She clicked off the TV and pouted as she shuffled out of

the room.

Nick waited until Char had disappeared before turning his

attention to Chris. “I want to help.”

As much as Chris wanted—and

needed—an agent’s help right

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now, he couldn’t afford to partner up with a man whose vision would
be skewed with revenge. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Don’t shut me out.”
Chris looked over Nick’s shoulder to see Flame and Torch

standing there, staring at them, that same look of payback in their
eyes. If he didn’t do something to make them feel like they were
helping, Chris had no doubt they’d all go off and take care of this on
their own. The killer would never be brought to justice.

Then again, if this Gaia was the killer, he might not have a choice.

He couldn’t lock a caller up in a prison. The authorities had already
found out the hard way that callers didn’t do well behind bars, which
was why they started these agencies in the first place. They served as
sort of a halfway house for callers.

Dark Horse chose to rehabilitate the callers and get them working

for the right side. Other agencies were nothing more than a breeding
ground for chaos and mayhem. Those were the agencies Chris needed
to find. For that he’d need help.

He turned to face Nick. “Are you up to paying this Gaia a visit?”
Nick lost all expression and darted a look to Flame.
“What?” Chris asked, recognizing the scent of fear as it wafted up

into the room.

Flame answered, “You don’t just pay Gaia a visit. She finds you,

not the other way around.”

“But she runs an agency now, right? All agencies must register

their agents and their location.”

“She really doesn’t follow that rule.”
Chris looked at Flame. “You know, when you transferred

agencies, I never received word of that. Why is that?”

Flame looked at Torch. “Because we never lost hope that Shane

would come home. He was never a part of Gaia’s agency, not really.”

“Regardless, he was part of another agency. It should have been

reported.”

Nick rested his hand on Chris’s shoulder. “It’s too late to dwell on

Lust in the Wind

that now. Let’s see if we can track Gaia down.”

Chris nodded and let out a deep breath, redirecting his attention to

the gorgeous air caller with captivating hazel eyes. “Do you have any
ideas where we should start?”

With a nod, Nick curled the corners of his lips into a hint of a grin.

“We ask. Have a seat. I’ll be right back.”

Frowning, he sank down into a chair as he watched Nick

disappear, only to return moments later with Char. He held her hand
and motioned for Torch to do the same.

“You need to make up your mind.” Char furrowed her tiny brow

into a frown. She took Torch’s hand.

“We really need Boulder for this,” Torch pointed out. “He’s due

back today.”

“Maybe we should wait.” Flame stayed back. “Boulder can help

her center her control in case you push her too far.”

Chris waited for Flame to finish before sweeping his gaze to Nick.

“Boulder can read minds, too?”

Nick gave him a curt nod, clearly not pleased in having to do so.
Interesting. Just how many other secrets did the agents at Dark

Horse have? What other powers did he not know about? Chris made a
mental note to start paying more visits to the agencies. If Dark Horse
hid this from him, what were the other agencies hiding?

He’d have to take that up later. For now, he had to find a lead in

the Edwards murder.

“Char,” Nick started and knelt down to be eye level with her.

“Can you still talk to Gaia?”

“Boulder told me to ignore her.”
“If I gave you permission to talk to her, just this once, would you

do that for me?”

“Why is Lee crying?” She tilted her tiny head and looked at Nick

with those enormous eyes.

Chris saw how much she struggled to understand. He couldn’t

even begin to imagine the fear and confusion that she must live with

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every day. The agents of Dark Horse obviously loved her, or they
wouldn’t protect her so vehemently.

“That’s why we need to talk to Gaia.”
“Did she do something bad?”
Nick nodded. “We think so.”
Char blinked at him. “Will I see it?”
“Don’t look for it. See if you can tell where she is. You don’t even

have to talk to her.”

“It doesn’t work like that. I hear her.” Char tapped at her temple.

“She doesn’t tell me where she is unless she wants to.”

“Will you at least try?”
“I don’t want to. When I hear her, it’s bad. I don’t like her

anymore. She’s mean.”

Nick sighed and stood as he shook his head. “I’m not going to

force you, sweetheart.”

She looked up at him. “You’re not?”
He’ s not?
“I really need to find Gaia,” Chris pushed.
Nick turned to him and shot him with a stern look. “Not at the

expense of a child.”

Chris pinched his lips together but didn’t fight it. He was in the

middle of nowhere at a property filled with callers. He already had
three fire callers and one air caller inside the house. He’d have to
check the database to see how many callers actually lived here and
really didn’t want to find out by pushing Char and pissing them off.

“I’ll do it,” Char offered.
“No.” Nick shook his head. “Flame is right. We need to wait for

Boulder.”

“I don’t need him all the time.”
“Char, we aren’t going to risk it.”
She pinched her little face into a pout. “But I can do it.”
“No, Char.”
Closing her eyes, Char pulled in a breath and held it. She then

Lust in the Wind

squeezed her eyes as they remained closed, no doubt in concentration.

Without warning, a vase with flowers sitting on the table by the

front door shattered, sending shards of glass in every direction. Chris
covered his face, expecting to be pelted by the razor-sharp pieces.
When nothing happened, he lowered his arms.

And dropped his jaw.
The glass remnants hovered in midair, like he’d taken a picture of

them, freezing them in time. He whipped his gaze to Nick, who had
his hand up as he stared at the glass. He made a fist and the glass all
came together in the air, then slowly descended to the floor into a
nice, neat pile.

“I’m sorry!” Char weaved her fingers through her hair and made

fists as she grit her teeth. “I’m so stupid.”

“Don’t you dare say that,” Nick scolded. “You are not stupid at

all.”

“I couldn’t even do it.”
“You tried.”
“I hate my brain!” She covered her mouth and sobbed as she ran

out of the room.

Nick let out a long breath. “Well, that was an epic failure.”
“I can talk to her,” Torch offered.
“No. Let her be for now. Let’s wait for Boulder.” Nick turned to

Chris. “Now what?”

“I guess we get to do this the old-fashioned way. Come on, Gust.

Let’s go pay a visit to Mr. Edwards’s office. Maybe we’ll find
something there.”

Nick stiffened, and Chris knew why. In front of others, he had to

play down his interest in the gorgeous air caller so not to raise
suspicion. Not only would it cause way too many questions he
couldn’t answer, if the other agencies caught wind, they’d accuse him
of favoritism, and then he’d have an elemental battle on his hands.

“What about us?” Flame asked.
Chris wanted as little involvement from the other callers as

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possible. There were those that knew about the callers that would
rather see them exposed than to accept their extraordinary help. He
didn’t want the two fire callers going anywhere near anything to do
with this case.

He’d have to give them something, or they’d end up screwing it

up. He had notes on what they did the last time they had anything to
do with Richard Edwards.

“Stay here and protect Lee.” Chris moved to the door and

motioned for Nick to follow. “If it was a caller that did this, chances
are he or she already knows about the Farm and may come after him
next.”

Torch shook his head. “But what if it wasn’t a caller?”
“It is,” Chris admitted as his instincts kicked in. His subconscious

usually put the pieces together long before the rest of his mind did. He
knew it was already there. He just had to find enough of the clues to
make everything fit. “I’m sure of it.”

Lust in the Wind

Chapter 5

“No one at the Farm had anything to do with this,” Nick said for

the third time as they drove back to Seattle. He didn’t like all of the
insinuations Chris made about his Dark Horse family.

“Nick, I have to explore all possibilities.”
“Back to Nick, are we?” He thinned his lips and glanced out the

window. This sucked. He prided himself at being the one with the
level head amidst all the hotheaded fire callers and arrogant water
callers. Even Wind commended Nick on how well he kept an even
keel.

But something about Chris Taylor had his emotions in turmoil. It

could be those piercing blue eyes that seemed to peer right into his
soul. It could be that glimmer of interest Nick saw shining in them. It
could even be the sound of Chris’s voice that strummed across his
senses.

Hell, he didn’t know. He just didn’t like it.
“You know, Wind isn’t this touchy.”
“Maybe you should wait until he gets back and work with him.”
“I don’t want to work with him.”
Nick gave him a sideways glance. “Why not? He’s the senior

agent.”

“He’s not the one I want.”
His heart jumped at Chris’s admission. Judging by that heated

look in those deep blue eyes, Chris meant it for more than just this
case. How much more was the question.

“So why Gust? Why not call me Nick in front of everyone else?”
“I’m gay.”

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Nick almost bit his tongue at the sudden turn in the conversation.

His heart skipped once again, this time accompanied by a clench in
his midsection. “Okay.”

“And so are you.”
“Yep.” He’d never been ashamed to admit it.
Chris glanced at him. “And I like you.”
Nick pulled one side of his mouth into a grin. “Is that so?”
With a shy, irresistible smile, Chris nodded.
“So why tell me now?”
“Because this isn’t a TV show, Nick. We don’t need that sexual

tension between us for five seasons before we act on it, just to keep
the viewers happy. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about this job, it’s
to never wait until the right moment to do something. Let me tell you,
there’s no such thing as the right moment, and if you wait and wait
and wait, you lose out.”

Nick swallowed thickly and thought of what to say to Chris. He’d

never had a guy come on to him with such honesty before. Usually
they tossed a couple of cheesy one-liners out and then tossed back a
couple drinks before finding someplace to fuck each other senseless
until the next morning. Then they each left without much more than a
thank-you.

But Chris was different. He actually met Nick’s eyes when he

talked. He didn’t use lines on him, which Nick found refreshing.

Their moment back at the crime scene still confused the hell out

of him, though. Was Chris just trying to break the tension? Or was he
really planning to kiss Nick on their second date?

He really wanted to know. “And what are we losing out on?”
“There’s obviously something between us. I feel it. I know you

feel it, too.”

Did he ever feel it. Nick nodded at him as his gaze bounced down

to Chris’s groin and back. He licked his lips and grinned.

“Don’t you do that,” Chris said as he took the exit off the freeway.
“Do what?”

Lust in the Wind

“That thing with your eyes.”
Nick feigned innocence. “What am I doing with my eyes?”
Chris looked at him. “I’ve only known you for a couple hours and

I can already read you like a book.”

“Is that so? Tell me what I’m thinking now.” He wiggled his

brow.

Laughing, Chris shook his head. “Oh, sure. Mock me. I should

have never said anything.”

“I’m just having a bit of fun.”
“At my expense.”
“Call it foreplay.”
“And can this be considered our second date?” Chris pulled into a

covered garage and parked the car.

“I think this counts.” Nick grinned as he stepped out of the vehicle

and looked around.

“This way,” Chris instructed, his playful demeanor gone. He’d

slipped back into his role as homicide captain.

Nick nodded and followed him into the elevator. They kept

stealing glances at each other, but neither one did anything more than
smirk, like they each had a secret and couldn’t wait to tell the other.

The doors opened to an empty floor, and they both froze,

frowning.

“Are you sure this is it?” Nick asked.
Chris glanced down at his tablet PC. “That’s what it says.” He

followed Chris out and off to the left. “According to the old police
report, it’s this last office here.”

Nick already knew the story. Torch and Flame went on and on

about it for weeks after it happened. The two fire callers paid Richard
Edwards a visit to his office on a Sunday as a favor to Lee. Ricky, as
Lee referred to him, had somehow learned how to not only harness an
element, but render a caller powerless, all with a little phaser gun. It
seemed way too sci-fi for Nick. But, then again, he had the power to
call air with his mind, so who was he to judge?

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Chris opened the door to a room just as empty as the rest of the

office space. He walked in and ran his finger across the surface of the
table in the center of the room. It left a clean streak.

“No one has used this place in a while,” Chris pointed out.
“Maybe he moved his office to his house. Skye, Pipe’s partner,

has an office in his basement to protect the intellectual rights of his
inventions. Maybe Edwards did the same.”

Chris nodded. “It makes sense, if he had a basement. His house is

a single-story rambler in the middle of a densely populated
neighborhood. If he had a lab, it wouldn’t be in his house.”

“What about Sygowitz’s place?”
“The assistant?”
“Why not? It would throw off the competition.”
“That doesn’t explain why we found the vics at Edwards’s place.”

Chris left the room and walked the perimeter of the entire floor. Nick
knew he wouldn’t find anything so didn’t bother to follow him.

When Chris returned, he motioned to the elevator. “Let’s go. This

was a dead end.” They stepped into the elevator, and Chris stabbed at
the button down to the parking garage. Something had him agitated.

“What’s up?”
“Something already doesn’t add up. Did you feel anything in that

office?”

“A slight chill, maybe. Whoever owns that space hasn’t been

keeping it heated.”

Chris muttered a cuss. The elevator opened, and he stormed out.

Nick followed, still unsure what he’d seen or hadn’t seen that had him
so on edge.

“Nothing elemental?”
Nick folded himself into the car and waited for Chris to leave the

garage before answering. “What were you expecting back there?”

“A clue. Something to give me even a hint at why those two were

killed. You find the why, it always leads to the who.”

“Lee said Edwards found a way to call an element with a device.

Lust in the Wind

Could that be it?”

Chris slammed on his brakes in the middle of the street. The tires

squealed as the car behind them skidded to a halt. The driver honked
and screamed obscenities at them. Chris ignored it as he rested those
intense blue eyes on Nick. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Nick had no idea what he said that the police didn’t already know.
Or did they?
And then it clicked. The authorities didn’t know about Richard

Edwards’s research. If they had, being a captain and inside the fold of
the authority all agencies answered to, Chris would have known about
it.

How much should Nick share with him? If the authorities didn’t

know, there had to be a reason why. Until he could talk to Burns, he
decided to keep the rest of the details to himself.

For the first time, he started to understand the difference between

a senior and junior caller. He made mistake after mistake as he
admitted things to Chris that he knew he should have never had.
Being a senior caller had more to it than just a title.

Chris stepped on the gas and they started moving. “What’s this

device?”

Nick chewed on the inside of his lip to stop himself from saying

anything. He wanted to help, he really did, but since he’d already said
enough to get Dark Horse into trouble with his slipup about being
able to read minds, he knew better than to volunteer anything else.

Being a junior member of Dark Horse was both a blessing and a

curse. He realized that now. He didn’t have to deal with the politics of
being a senior member. Burns simply assigned him a job and he did it.
He didn’t have to do anything other than follow direction.

But that also meant he didn’t have all the details of every job. He

had to trust that Burns sent him on assignment to fight for the
underdog, as was the way of Dark Horse. The powerful took what
they wanted. Dark Horse simply leveled the playing field to get it
back.

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What if Burns didn’t tell Nick everything about the Edwards job?
“You should probably ask Burns.”
“I’m asking you.”
“I don’t know. I never did see it.”
“Why?”
Nick shrugged as he recalled Torch and Flame’s story. “Flame

melted it.”

“He what?” Chris didn’t seem all that thrilled with the news and

gripped the steering wheel. “Was it a prototype? Or were there
others?”

“A prototype.”
“Convenient.”
“What are you getting at?” Heat prickled Nick’s neck as he

labored his breathing to control his temper.

Chris darted a quick glance his way before rested his gaze on the

road. “The only device to control an element, aside from a caller, and
it’s destroyed by the very power it threatens.”

“You really should talk to Burns,” Nick said, hoping Chris would

take the hint and stop asking him about the job he had nothing to do
with.

“What aren’t you telling me, Nick?”
Nick decided to stop there. He knew better than to walk into a

trap. With Chris, he didn’t have his head screwed on straight. He
couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes, or Burns would never
make him a senior caller.

“It isn’t my place to talk to you about this.”
“You are an agent of Dark Horse, are you not?”
“Yes, but—”
“And you are on assignment.”
“Sure, but—”
“Isn’t it a requirement as a registered agent to share your findings

with the authorities?”

“Well, of course, but—”

Lust in the Wind

“So I’m no longer asking,” Chris interrupted for the third time.

“Tell me what I need to know, Nick.”

He looked at Chris as shock plunged through his body. “Are you

pulling rank?”

“I guess I am.”
“Then I guess I have the right to remain silent.”
“Not this time, you don’t.”
Nick debated opening the door and floating out of the car but

knew it’d draw too much attention. He could pull his phone out and
try to dial Dark Horse without Chris noticing, but the damned-
perceptive son of a bitch had already picked up too much.

“What’s this device?”
“I don’t know,” Nick answered in truth.
“What did it look like?” Chris pulled onto the street where they’d

met this morning.

“I told you, I never did see it.” Nick looked out the window and

frowned.

The neighborhood looked freakishly sane now. Houses with

perfectly groomed front yards flanked both sides of the street. If he
hadn’t seen the horrors from this morning, he would have actually
thought about buying a place and settling down in a neighborhood
like this.

A man pushed a mower diagonal along his lawn and waved as

they drove by. Chris waved and smiled. A woman with a large straw
hat knelt in front of a row of rose bushes. She looked up and smiled.

“This is weird,” Nick muttered.
“Life goes on.”
“Tell that to Richard Edwards and Newman Sygowitz.”
Chris parked in the driveway of the house of horrors. “These

people are just going through the motions to try and get back to the
norm. It’s human nature. When things are too much to deal with, we
go back to what we know. It’s how we cope.”

Nick wanted to find the person responsible and bring him or her to

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justice. That’d be how he would cope with this. “Is it also human
nature to kill another, to gut him like a fish?”

“No. That’s just a psychopath carrying out some twisted fantasy.

Don’t try to make sense of it, Nick, or you’ll end up questioning your
own sanity. Trust me on that.”

Nick had no doubt.
He followed Chris up the path to the front door and slowed. Even

before they stepped any closer, Nick felt it. The nervous instability
thickened the air and lifted the hairs on his neck. After he’d called
earlier and calmed the air, he thought it would have remained at
peace.

Something definitely had the air upset again.
“What is it?” Chris glanced over his shoulder. When he saw Nick

backing away from the house, he turned around to face him. “Nick?”

“Something’s wrong.” He couldn’t explain it, yet he knew with

every fiber of his being that something wasn’t right. “My element is
trying to keep me from entering.”

“It can do that?”
Nick nodded and swept a nervous glance at the house. “This isn’t

over. We need to get out of here.”

“Nick, this is my crime scene. I can’t just—”
The large front window crashed and caught them both by surprise.

Chris covered his head as shards of glass rained down on him.

Nick saw the shadow out of the corner of his eye and instinctively

raced for Chris. He hooked his arm around Chris’s midsection and
pulled him to the ground just as something straight out of a science-
fiction movie jumped up on the ledge of the opening left by the
window.

It looked human—sort of.
It had two legs and two arms, and even a torso, but the

resemblance to anything human ended there. It had some sort of
deformity to its face, like a bird’s beak, and when it stretched its arms,
Nick dropped his jaw.

Lust in the Wind

It had wings.
It looked at Chris and cocked its head.
“What the fuck is that?”
“I have no idea,” Nick whispered. He scrambled to pull his phone

from his pocket and hit the button to take a picture, not knowing if he
got it or not.

The bird

thing darted its attention to Nick. It swelled its chest as it

pulled in a breath. When it released a soul-piercing screech, Nick’s
blood cooled to ice as chills raced up his spine.

And then, as if Nick didn’t already have a hard enough time

believing his eyes, the thing jumped off the ledge and flapped its
arms, and flew off so fast Nick wondered if he’d really seen it at all.

“Holy shit,” Nick muttered and pushed himself up off the front

lawn.

Chris did the same and brushed grass off his scrubs. He reached

up and wiped at blood on his forehead. “Great. That’s twice I’ve
gotten blood on me today.”

“At least this time it’s yours.”
“Yeah, that’s comforting.”
Nick glanced at the screen on his phone. Although his focus

sucked, he could make out the bird thing. He dialed Dark Horse and
brought the phone to his ear. “Burns, we got an issue.”

“We got more than one,” he countered. “Can yours wait?”
Nick lifted his gaze to the sky in the direction the thing

disappeared to. He doubted it would be coming back anytime soon.
“You go first.”

“I just got a call from the fire department. Something set fire to a

house in West Seattle.”

“Some

thing?”

“The chief said the damn thing looked like a cross between a man

and a dragon.”

“A what?” Nick had to have heard him wrong.
“He had scales and everything. When it opened its mouth, it

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breathed fire. Can you believe that shit?”

“Check this out.” Chris held up what looked like a greenish-blue,

foot-long feather.

Nick walked over and took it from Chris, holding it up to study it

as he talked to Burns. “I can believe it.”

“Why are you so calm about this?”
“You won’t believe what I’m holding in my hand.”

Lust in the Wind

Chapter 6

“Make yourself at home.” Chris threw his keys on the table by the

front door and kicked off his shoes. “It isn’t the most glamorous
apartment, but it’s close to the precinct, and since it’s just me, I don’t
need much. I’m never home anyway.”

Nick glanced around before resting those entrancing hazel-green

eyes on Chris. He shrugged a massive shoulder, and Chris let out a
sigh. Nick had the most incredible shoulders.

“It’s definitely bigger than my place.”
“Let me just change. If I get one more comment about me just

getting out of surgery, I’m pulling my gun.” He brushed his fingers
over the slice on his forehead and winced. “I think there’s still some
glass in there.”

“Do you want me to take a look?”
“I’ve got a mirror.” Besides, he wouldn’t be able to handle being

that close to Nick and not acting on it.

“I can get a better look at it. Come here.”
Something in Nick’s tone had Chris obeying without a second

breath. Nick’s height gave him the perfect angle to stare at those
sultry lips. Chris licked his in return.

Nick touched him, gently brushing his thumb over the cut. Chris

sucked in a breath and cringed.

“Ouch,” he barked.
“Oh quit, you big baby.” He made a jerking motion with his hand,

and Chris jumped back.

“Ouch!”
Nick grinned as he held up the offending piece of glass. “You’re

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welcome.”

“Did you get it all?” He reached up to the cut, but Nick slapped

his hand away and stepped in to make him even closer than before.

Oh, dear Jesus, did he smell good. Intoxicating. Arousing. Chris’s

mouth watered as he breathed in Nick’s heady scent. He was losing
his battle to not touch him and knew it.

“I don’t see any more.”
Chris wanted to feel for himself, but every time he did, Nick

smacked him away. “Hey, it’s my head.”

“If you play with it, you’ll go blind.”
Chris looked up into Nick’s eyes. “I’m pretty sure that is in

reference to another head.”

Nick chuckled, and it did hypnotic things to his eyes. Chris bit the

inside of his lip to stop himself from audibly moaning in response.

“It’s a nice cut,” Nick said as he pulled his attention to Chris’s

forehead. “Should give you a scar for a conversation starter, but not
bragging rights.”

“And I suppose you have a scar worthy of bragging rights?”
Grinning at the challenge, Nick stepped back and pointed at his

neck right behind his left ear. “Tree branch.”

“A tree branch did that?” Chris ran his fingers over the scar.
“I pissed off an earth caller and he sicced a tree on me. Since earth

is my opposite, it doesn’t take much to hurt me when you use that call
against me.”

“You think that little thing is worthy of bragging rights? Check

this out.” He pulled the scrub top up to display the scar from his
gunshot wound he’d gotten after only three months on the force. The
bullet narrowly missed his spleen. “I was working traffic at the time.
This little punk-ass son of a bitch shot me to get out of a forty-three-
dollar speeding ticket. Instead of simply paying a fine, he’s now
serving ten to twenty-five for attempted murder.”

“Impressive story, but your scar sucks.”
“You’ve got a better one?”

Lust in the Wind

Nick removed his jacket and then pulled his shirt up over his head.

Chris sucked in a breath at the sight of all those hard abs. Nick then
turned his back to Chris and looked over his shoulder at him. “See all
those?

Chris reached up and ran his hand over Nick’s back. He had to

touch him, if only to pretend to give a shit about his scars. He actually
did want to see his scars, but only if that meant getting to see the rest
of him. Brushing Nick’s golden skin, Chris felt the little patch of
divots.

“Fire,” Nick answered Chris’s unasked question. “I was trying to

help one of the new recruits control his call and it got out of hand.”

“Still not better than mine.” Chris threw off his shirt and pointed

at his shoulder. “Knife.”

“Oh, please. That’s nothing.” Nick undid his belt, and Chris’s

heart skipped a beat. He shot out a well-defined, narrow hip housing a
long, skinny scar. “Ice. Pipe was pissed at me for taking the last bottle
of water and attacked.”

“Over a bottle of water?”
Nick laughed and it warmed the room. “It was all in fun. Anyway,

I think my scars win.”

The hell they did. Chris would not lose this battle. He had so

many more scars to show off. Without thinking, Chris dropped the
scrub drawers and ran his palm over the scar that took up part of his
thigh. “How about this bad boy? Again, working traffic, this guy,
drunk off his ass, tried to run me over with his car to get out of the
DUI.”

Nick touched the scar, and Chris’s pulse spiked. “Looks like he

succeeded. Still, I have the mother of all scars, the end all, be all of
bragging rights.”

“No way is yours better than mine.”
“Hmm,” Nick hummed and wiggled his dark brow. “You tell me.”
He then dropped his pants.
A surge of blood immediately flooded to Chris’s groin and

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engorged his cock. With only his boxer briefs to cover him, no way
would he be able to hide his arousal. He spun from Nick, embarrassed
and so fucking turned on that he didn’t know what to do.

Nick walked up behind him and rested his hands on Chris’s

shoulders. When he felt the warmth of Nick’s body melt into his, he
leaned back until they were skin to skin. The hardness of Nick’s
erection pressed against Chris and he shuddered.

“Would this be considered our third date?”
Chris closed his eyes and swallowed thickly. He knew better than

to get involved with the consultants. He’d never had sex with a caller
and didn’t even know if it was possible. From the feel of Nick’s
enormous cock pushing against his backside, he had all the right
equipment. Besides, Burns and Lee seemed awfully happy together,
so a human and a caller could live happily ever after.

“You’re shaking, Chris.” Squeezing his shoulders, Nick then

rested his lips against Chris’s ear and whispered, “I don’t want to fuck
you.”

Chris turned in Nick’s arms and looked up into his eyes. Judging

by both of their hard-ons, that was exactly what they wanted. “Excuse
me?”

Nick ran his hands up and down Chris’s bare arms, delivering an

assault of chills rushing across his skin. “You’re gorgeous, Chris, and
I could easily take you to your bedroom and fuck you until we both
pass out.”

That sounded like a great idea. “So why don’t you?”
“Because we have to work together. You and I both know it’s not

a good idea to get involved, even for a one-night stand.”

“Is that what this would be?”
Nick rested those darkening hazel eyes on him. “I don’t want it to

be. I like you, Chris. I

really like you. If we rush into anything, we’ll

regret it.”

Chris nodded, disappointed but glad at least one of them thought

with the right head at the moment. He stepped out of Nick’s arms and

Lust in the Wind

grabbed the scrubs off his floor. The burn of humiliation heated his
cheeks.

“I’m going to grab a shower.”
Nick grinned. “A cold one?”
Thanks. Way to rub it in

“Be out in a bit. Make yourself

comfortable.”

“Chris, wait.”
He couldn’t face him, not right now. Chris hurried toward his

bedroom to grab clothes before locking himself into the bathroom.
Only then did he let out a breath.

A knock on the bathroom door caused him to jump.
“Chris?”
In an effort to drown out that melodic baritone voice, Chris turned

the shower on. The loud spray hissed, and he quickly removed his
boxer briefs to step into the shower before he changed his mind and
opened that door.

A noise caught his attention, and he turned to see the lock on his

door turning on its own. His mouth fell open as he stared at it. Once it
rested in the unlock position, the doorknob turned and the door swung
open.

Nick stood there, his gaze glimmering wickedly as he slowly

traced Chris with it. That look destroyed what little control he’d
regained, and his cock sprang up, now hard as a goddamn rock.

“I can take care of that.”
“I thought you said you didn’t want sex?”
“Turn the shower off, Chris.”
“Are you going to answer me?”
Nick offered him a sexy grin. “No, I said I didn’t want to fuck

you.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Not in the least.” Nick then turned and walked away from the

bathroom. “I’ll be in the first room I find with a bed. Join me and I’ll
show you exactly what I mean.”

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Dear Jesus

Chris reached in and turned off the water, then bit

down on his lower lip as he contemplated his decision. Even fooling
around to relieve the ache in his balls that Nick surely felt as well
would be a mistake. Once they crossed that intimacy threshold, they’d
never be able to go back.

If they didn’t do this now, would they ever get the chance again?

What if they fit together perfectly and this started something huge
between them? By not acting on it, they could be missing out on the
best thing that ever happened to them.

As a cop, he knew the true meaning of seizing the opportunity

when presented with it. Life was too damn short to put off the great
things. He couldn’t believe he had to even think about it. He wanted
Nick. Nick clearly wanted him. They were adults.

Chris practically sprinted out of the bathroom and into the only

room with a bed. There, stretched out on the bed with nothing on but
a striking smile, lay the man that had Chris harder than he’d ever been
in his life. Nick slowly stroked his cock, pulling a drop of glistening
pre-cum to the head.

“Come here, baby.”
“Are you sure?”
“Third date rules apply here.”
“A kiss?”
Nick grinned. “For starters.”
Crashing down on the bed, Chris found Nick’s lips, and their

mouths melted together. Nick thrust his tongue against Chris’s, and
they both moaned. It wasn’t an easy kiss. It wasn’t a gentle kiss. Chris
tasted the hunger and desperation. It drove him wild and made him
nip at Nick’s lower lip.

“Oh, yeah.” Nick buried his face into Chris’s neck and feasted.

“You’re a great kisser.”

“I’m a man of many talents.”
“Is that so? How about we put that theory to the test?” Nick slid

down Chris’s body, trailing kisses and playful little bites, until he

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hovered his lips over the head of Chris’s erection. He swiped his
tongue and lapped up the pre-cum.

Chris hissed in a breath. Sweet Jesus, that felt good. “Turn around.

Let me see if I can get that saxophone to play a note.”

Nick laughed and shook his head. After flipping around, he laid

on his side and scooted to Chris.

Perfect

Chris pulled Nick’s cock into his mouth and sank his lips down on

the tasty flesh. Nick groaned and mimicked his move. Chris’s cock
jerked and spasmed at the vibration of the noises escaping from
Nick’s hot mouth.

When Nick played with the highly sensitive spot right below the

crest, Chris rocked his hips, fucking Nick’s mouth. He moved in time
with his own thrusts, swallowing Nick’s cock over and over as he
devoured his flesh.

He squeezed the base of Nick’s large, rigid shaft and drew another

moan from his lover. The sound vibrated against Chris and burrowed
into his soul. Surges of erotic shocks pulsed through his entire body,
tightening his balls as the cum started to bubble. Shit, he wouldn’t
even last long enough to boil water if they kept up this pace.

“Oh, Chris. Yeah, suck me. Jesus, you

are a man of many talents.

Yeah. Oh, fuck yeah.” Nick moved his hips faster as his lips once
again stretched around Chris’s cock. He rocked, driving his dick
deeper into Chris’s mouth. He sucked harder on Nick’s flesh as his
own orgasm climbed ever closer.

“Nick,” Chris whimpered, not wanting this to be over so fast. “If

we don’t slow down, I’m going to come in record time.”

Nick thrust his hips as he sucked on Chris. Without hesitation

Chris took Nick back into his mouth. They were too close to slow
down now. He couldn’t resist the need now squeezing his body like a
vise. He pumped his hips in time to Nick’s, and they both fucked the
other with their mouths.

Chris’s climax pulsated inside him as the first of his orgasm

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hovered just at the surface. When Nick took his cock deep, pushing
the tip clear to the back of his throat, Chris shattered.

“Nick!” Chris arched his hips as his release burst from the tip of

his cock and into Nick’s mouth. It seemed to go on forever, tearing
through him, sucking the energy from his entire body.

He consumed Nick’s flesh with fervor. Nick made a growling

noise in the back of his throat right before he exploded. Chris drank
up every last drop and worked his cock to milk him dry.

“Jesus!” Nick stiffened as the last of his release spurted out. Using

his tongue, Chris cleaned the release off his sweet lover. Nick
convulsed as Chris swiped his tongue over the sensitive head. “Sweet
Jesus.”

They both rolled back and landed on their backs. Chris stared at

the ceiling as he waited for his soul to drift back to his body.

“So that wasn’t fucking?” Chris asked as he panted to catch his

breath.

“It was fucking amazing,” he answered, and Chris could tell he

had a grin on his handsome face. He heard it in his voice, in the
warmth of his tone. “But no, it wasn’t fucking.”

“I think you need to invest in a new dictionary.”
Nick sat up and looked down at him. “If I had my cock buried

inside your sweet ass, that would be fucking.”

“But burying your cock in my mouth isn’t? I love that you and I

talk a lot alike, seem to think a lot alike, and obviously really like the
same things.” Chris wiggled his brow as he licked his lips. “But I’m
going to have to disagree with you on this one, Nick. What we did
was pure, unadulterated, flesh-to-flesh, fucking. And you know what?
I fucking loved it.”

He opened his mouth, then frowned and snapped it shut. Then,

with a shake of his head, he lay back down.

Chris put his hands behind his head and laced his fingers, keeping

his attention on the ceiling as he smiled. It didn’t matter what words
they used to describe it.

Chris called it perfect.

Lust in the Wind

Chapter 7

Nick parked his bike and walked into his small cabin back at the

Farm. He pulled the evidence bag with the giant feather out of his
inside pocket before removing and hanging up his leather. He
understood why Chris wanted him to hang on to it. How in the hell
would the captain be able to explain a foot-long, greenish-blue
feather?

He took a sniff at his pit and pinched his face. He needed a

shower. Not only did he smell like he’d run a marathon without any
deodorant, Chris’s scent covered him. One whiff and everyone would
know he’d just spent the last several hours in bed with the sexy
homicide captain.

After cleaning up and with a fresh set of clothes on, Nick grabbed

the evidence bag and headed up to the main house. He walked in
through the back door that led to the kitchen.

“You missed dinner,” Char declared as she sat at the island,

drawing in her sketch pad.

No, he didn’t. Nick smiled inwardly as he thought of how many

times he devoured Chris’s flesh.

“I’m not hungry.”

Anymore

“You like that man, don’t you?”
“Stay out of my head, squirt.” He went to the fridge and peeked

inside for something but knew it wouldn’t be in the refrigerator. What
he wanted stayed back at the precinct to do some research for the
case.

“Burns told me why Lee is crying.”
Nick closed the door and leaned up against the island. “What did

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he say?”

“That a friend of Lee’s died today and that’s why he’s sad.” She

scribbled on her sketchpad. “And that everyone thinks Gaia did it.”

Nick wasn’t so sure about that. Not even Gaia had the power to

turn a man into a bird. Or apparently a dragon. No doubt Burns knew
that as well.

Burns walked into the kitchen, went straight to the fridge, and

grabbed a water. He then stormed back out and then returned minutes
later, his hands empty. He nodded at Nick in greeting. “How was your
first time?”

Nick nearly swallowed his tongue. How in the hell did Burns find

out? “Excuse me?”

“Your first case,” Burns clarified as his brow snapped into a

frown. “What did you think I meant?”

Nick dropped his gaze and said nothing.
“Are you shitting me?”
“That’s a bad word,” Char pointed out.
“Char, time to take a bath and get ready for bed.”
Nick didn’t have to look up to feel the heat from Burns’s glare on

the back of his neck.

“I hate baths.”
“Now, Char.”
“Fine, but I get to heat the water to what I want, and I get to use

bubbles.” With a petulant sigh, Char slid off the stool and took her
sketch pad with her as she shuffled out of the room.

Nick made the mistake of stealing a glance up from under his

lashes to see Burns did, indeed, have that heated glare resting on him.

Burns crossed his arms in front of him. “What the hell is the

matter with you?”

Shit. Shit

How was he going to get out of this? “I don’t know

what you’re talking about.”

“The fuck you don’t, Gust. What happened?”
No way would he share the details of his afternoon and then his

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evening. “This is none of your business.”

“When you get involved with an authority, it is.”
“We aren’t involved.”
“Did you have sex?”
Nick thought back to Chris’s definition and smiled. That led to a

challenge where they drove each other into orgasm after orgasm
without fucking. Of course, Nick called it sex. Chris, on the other
hand, kept trying to prove, over and over, that sex was the same thing
as fucking.

When Burns growled, Nick lost his smile and went back to hiding

his eyes by staring at his feet. “Gust, you know better.”

That just pissed him off. He snapped his glare to Burns. “Know

better than what? Not to get involved with a weeple? Lead by
example. You are practically married to one. So are Pipe and Flood.
Hell, the only ones following your arbitrary rule are Boulder and
Wind, and Flame and Torch.”

“I’m talking about fucking a cop. Gust, he’s part of the authorities

that force us into these agencies.”

“I thought you liked Dark Horse.”
“I do,” he defended quickly. “But I also don’t like having my

every move under a microscope.”

“So you want me to end things with Chris because he knows

about us?”

“No, I want you to end things with

Captain Taylor before you end

up fucking this up for all of us. What if something happens? What if it
doesn’t work out between you two? What then? Taylor will stop
calling us for jobs. Next thing you know, we’re busted up and sent to
other agencies. Is that what you want?”

The weight of what Burns just dropped on him made it hard to

breathe. “Are you saying that if Chris and I didn’t work out, he could
close Dark Horse?”

Burns looked at him with those intense hazel eyes. “Now you

understand why I’m pissed.”

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“That’s not going to happen.” Even as Nick said it, he had his

doubts. He wanted more than anything to explore where this might
lead with Chris. He already knew they were more than explosive in
bed together. Would they be able to make it outside of the bedroom?

“You know what you need to do.”
“This is so fucking unfair.” Nick clenched his teeth until his jaw

ached. Anger and disappointment twisted inside him and stiffened his
muscles. The pain of the realization that he had to make a choice
ripped through him. He wanted to be with Chris, period and the end.
God

damn his moral sense of obligation. “You are asking me to

choose between Chris and my family.”

“It shouldn’t even be a choice.”
“And if you were told that you have to choose between Lee and

Dark Horse, what would you do?”

“This is totally different.”
“Your double standards suck.”
“Then they suck,” Burns shot back, the edginess in his voice

echoing through the kitchen. “But goddamn it, Gust, think about this.”

“And what if it does work out?”
“That’s even worse. Once word got out that you were banging the

man that makes the decisions on which agency to go to for help,
we’re just as screwed. He wouldn’t be able to use us or the other
agencies would throw a fit, claiming favoritism or some other
bullshit. Face it, Gust. There’s no way to win with this.”

The slow, steady burn of his decision started to consume him.

Nick had never hated being a caller more than he did at that moment.
He looked at Burns in shock and pain as he made his decision.

“Is there any other option?”
“There’s always another option,” Burns answered. “You can leave

Dark Horse. He could resign. We could all wake up tomorrow without
any powers. Hell, the Mayan’s say we’ll all float into space come
December so none of this will matter. There’s lots of options out
there.”

Lust in the Wind

“I don’t know if I’ve ever hated you more than I do right now.”
Burns shrugged. “Your feelings toward me do not change your

options, Gust.”

How could he be so callous? Nick really hated being a caller and a

junior one at that. Apparently the same rules didn’t apply to the senior
callers.

Nick decided against sharing the contents of the evidence bag

with Burns. He wanted to show him the feather and learn more about
the dragon thing, but right now if he spent any more time in the same
room with the leader of Dark Horse, Nick would use his air element
against Burns and end up getting banned from Dark Horse forever.

He had to get away from the Farm before he did something

everyone would regret. Spinning on his booted heel, he turned away
to leave.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going, Gust? We aren’t

done!”

“If I don’t leave right now, I promise you, we will be.” He

slammed the door behind him.

* * * *

Chris couldn’t stop smiling. Finally, he’d found a man that got

him. He didn’t have to pretend to be anyone else. It felt so refreshing
to be able to have someone to talk through a case with, that
understood how there were callers out there that had the power to
harness elements with their minds.

He kept stealing glances at the elevator leading up to the fourth

floor of the SPD precinct that housed the homicide unit. Every ding
announcing the arrival of someone pulled his attention to the doors.
And, each time, frustration settled in when the person wasn’t Nick
Vermont.

The elevator dinged, and Chris stiffened when he spotted Wind

walk out. He smiled and nodded at those he passed until he made it to

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Chris’s office.

“Good morning, captain.”
“Wind?” He tried to hide the disappointment in his voice. “What

are you doing here?”

“Burns asked me to take over now that I’m back.”
“What happened to Nick—I mean Gust?”
Wind gave him a knowing look and entered the office, closing the

door behind him before taking a seat on the opposite side of the desk.
He rested those pale hazel eyes on him and set his hands on his lap. “I
think we both know why I’m here.”

Deep down he knew the minute he saw Wind, but he’d be damned

if he admitted as much. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“Gust is a junior agent. From what Burns has told me about this

case, you definitely need a senior on this. I’m here to take over the
case.”

Chris sat back and studied Wind. He’d let his raven-black hair

grow out, and with the dusting of dark whiskers across his rugged
chin, his pale hazel eyes really popped. He looked damn good.
Marriage definitely suited him.

“Didn’t you just get back?”
“Gabe and I flew in yesterday and went straight home to find

about a million messages from Burns. Gabe had to get back to the
restaurant, and as much as I didn’t want to take another job with Dark
Horse right after I get back from my honeymoon, Burns convinced
me.”

“And how did he do that?”
“He told me about you and Gust.”
Chris buried his emotions and put on his cop face—no expression,

a cool look in his eyes. He threw in an amused curl of his lips, just for
Wind. “What about us?”

“Do you really want me to spell it out?”
“I’m going to need more to go on than hearsay.”
Wind nodded and leaned forward. “We know something happened

Lust in the Wind

between you and Gust yesterday.”

“Is that so?” He had to be careful to stay in cop mode and not

admit to anything. He knew how to handle an interrogation. Hell, he’d
learned from the best over the years as he questioned suspect after
suspect in search of the truth. They dodged his questions, answered
with more questions, and that was exactly what he’d do now.

“What happened?”
Time for a diversion. “Before or after that birdman attacked?”
“This has nothing to do with that and you know it.”
Shit. That didn’t work. He tried a different approach. He’d tell

Wind the truth but deliberately leave out some of the more
incriminating details. “Gust came with me back to my place so I could
change into something other than the scrubs I had on.”

“And then?”
“We compared scars.”
“And?”
“And what, Wind? What are you expecting me to say? That we

got naked and spent hours thrashing around my apartment? Come on,
man. You know better than that.”

Wind rested those pale eyes on him. “So do you.”
Time to end this. “Listen, this is my department, and this is my

case. I say who works on it and who doesn’t. Pissing me off by
accusing me of sleeping with one of your junior agents isn’t a way to
get on my good side.”

“Are you saying that you and Gust didn’t sleep together?”
There wasn’t an ounce of sleep involved on what they did

yesterday. “Sorry to disappoint you, Wind. Gust and I didn’t sleep
together.”

Wind sat back and kept that watchful gaze on Chris. “Then why

wouldn’t Gust just say that?”

“Maybe because you pissed him off the way you’re pissing me

off. I know you air callers. You are typically the peacekeepers. He
was probably tired of arguing and just let everyone jump to

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conclusions.”

“Are you saying it’s the wrong conclusion?”
“I’m saying,” Chris countered in an even tone, “that instead of

everyone eagerly jumping to a conclusion that would crucify both
Gust and myself, that we focus on finding the sick son of a bitch that
murdered two men.”

“I’m sorry, Captain. Burns was all in a tizzy. It’s probably this

whole thing with Lee.”

Chris switched back from interrogat

ee to interrogator. “What

thing?”

“With Ricky being murdered. Burns said you were there to deliver

the news.”

“I was also there to see that Burns didn’t like it when Lee called

him Ricky.”

Wind nodded. “Ricky and Lee came to Seattle together right after

college.”

“

Together together?”

“Yep.”
“No wonder Burns didn’t like the guy. He doesn’t seem to

approve of many, so having the ex hanging around would definitely
be reason to not like him.”

Wind lost his expression as he narrowed his gaze. “Burns had

nothing to do with this.”

Interesting. Even at the slightest hint of Burns, Wind took defense.

It made Chris wonder if those two had shared something before Lee
had come along.

“I have to consider every possibility.”
“But Burns said you were sure it was an air caller.”
“I said I had a hunch,” Chris corrected and narrowed his gaze in

return, and he leaned forward and folded his hands in front of him on
his desk. “What time did you say you returned to Seattle yesterday?”

Wind shot to his feet. “Oh, hell no. You are not going there. I had

nothing to do with this and you know it.”

Lust in the Wind

“It sucks being accused of something without any basis, doesn’t

it?”

Shaking his head, Wind then ran his fingers through his black hair

and shrugged his large shoulders. “Yeah, it sure as shit does.”

“I like you, Wind. You’re a great agent and usually the first one I

want working with me on a case.”

“But this time you want Gust, don’t you?”
Chris gave him a nod. “He started the case with me. He saw the

crime scene before CSU even processed it. He has that raw
knowledge of what happened before the cops came in. I really need
him to remain on this case.”

“Is there anything I can do?”
“Gust took a picture of that birdman thing with his phone. See if

you or any of the other agents can make heads or tails of it.”

“I saw Gust with a feather this morning. Is that from the

birdman?”

Chris nodded again. Why hadn’t Nick given the feather to Burns

like they’d both agreed to do? What happened from when Nick left
Chris’s apartment to this morning when Wind came to pay him a
visit?

“Are you willing to pay for my time?”
“Why, is Dark Horse hurting for money? You guys used to be the

most powerful agency in the Pacific Northwest.”

“After Dixon died and left Dark Horse to Burns, things changed.

Burns only takes jobs that fit his criteria of fighting for the underdog.”

“So he’s turning jobs down?”
Wind opened the door before turning to him. “With Burns, it’s a

sense of proving to the world that the rich and powerful have finally
met their match. His idea of those that need our help can sometimes
be pretty skewed. I don’t take as many jobs anymore since Gabe and I
have the restaurant, but from what others tell me, the jobs they do go
on are pretty basic.”

Chris thought about that. As he walked through his reasoning, he

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said it aloud. “If Burns is only taking jobs from those fighting the rich
and powerful, how are they paying?”

“That’s the problem. Half the time, they can’t because of the

trouble they’re in. It’s a catch-22.”

“Sounds to me like Burns needs to open his mind as well as the

talent within his agency.”

Wind grinned. “I always figured you for a smart guy.”
Just then his phone rang, and Chris looked at the number. City

Morgue. He brought the phone to his ear. “Captain Taylor speaking.”

“You’d better get down here.”
“Why?” Even as he asked, he stood and grabbed his suit jacket.
“You need to see this for yourself.”

Lust in the Wind

Chapter 8

Nick really didn’t want to be anywhere near an entire building full

of dead bodies, but if he planned to prove to both his agency as well
as the authorities that he had the balls to do this, he had to man up.

Following Wind’s directions, he took the elevator to the basement

and walked down the long, empty hall. The heels of his riding boots
echoed throughout and gave Nick an even more ominous feeling. He
stopped at the double doors and pulled in a breath before stepping
inside.

“So then I told the guy to shove his drink up his tailpipe. There

was no way I was going to do that on a first date. At least get to the
pivotal third date first.”

“You sound like Nick.” Nick recognized Chris’s warm laughter in

his tenor voice.

“Another reference to the great Nick. That’s four times in less

than an hour.” A pretty redhead with shining blue eyes laughed as she
talked to Chris. Dressed in indigo blue scrubs that matched her eyes,
she smiled and turned to Nick as he walked in. “Can I help you?”

“Nick.” Chris stood up from the stainless steel gurney he’d been

leaning on, his stunning blue eyes shining. “Hi.”

“Well, well, well. You must be Nick Vermont.”
Nick shot a look at Chris, who gave him a nod as if that answered

all the questions Nick had. She pulled off her gloves with a snap and
held out a slender hand.

“I’m Dr. Melissa Graves. Insert joke here.”
He took her hand and looked to Chris again.
“It’s okay, Nick. Chris told me.”

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“Told you what?”
She glanced over at Chris and flashed a wicked grin. “Should I

start with what happened in the bedroom or maybe what you did to
him in the living room that had him screaming out your name?”

Nick dropped his jaw as heated embarrassment burned into his

cheeks. He glared at Chris. “How much did you tell her?”

“Nick—”
“Why in the hell are you running around telling people things that

are going to get both our asses in trouble?”

“She’s—”
“I got my ass handed to me last night by Burns and here you are

oversharing with the ME.”

“My—”
“This is bullshit, Chris.”
“Sister.”
That shut him up.
She smiled and nodded. “Don’t worry, Nick. Chris tells me

everything. He doesn’t have anyone else to talk to even though I
really wish he’d leave the details out sometimes. What you two did in
the kitchen is worthy of pictures.”

Nick didn’t know whether he liked anyone else knowing what

they did, sister or not. He clenched his teeth together to stop from
saying anything.

“Shall we get started?” She walked over to the table and slapped

on a new pair of gloves. At once her smile disappeared as she
concentrated on the ripped-open body of what used to be a human.
She poked around inside the opening, and the gooey, slushy noises
turned Nick’s stomach. As if the smell didn’t already have him close
to losing breakfast.

“Okay, you see what’s missing right here?” She pointed at

something in the mushy mess.

Chris leaned over and got a real close look. Nick didn’t.
“What’s missing?” Chris asked.

Lust in the Wind

“His heart. Lungs. Liver. Kidneys. Basically every organ a person

needs to survive. They’re all gone.”

That caught Nick’s attention. He took a step toward them. “What

do you mean, gone?”

She rested that intense blue gaze on him, and Nick saw the

resemblance. Those beautiful blue eyes were definitely a family trait.
“I’m not sure what part I can make any clearer for you, cutie-pie. He
really is a looker, Chris, just like you said. Maybe not too bright,
though.”

“What a minute,” Nick protested, not sure whether to hate her for

her comment or not.

“She’s kidding, Nick. Lighten up, Mel. This is his first time.”
Spiking a red brow, she gave him a crooked grin. “Well, good for

you.”

Why did everyone keep saying that? “First crime scene,” Nick

clarified.

“Not quite as much fun, if you ask me.” She brought her attention

back to the shell of a body. “How old are you, Nick?”

“Twenty-nine.”
“Aren’t we all.” She repeated her brother’s words in a teasing

tone. “Okay, take a look here. You see where I would expect signs of
separation here?”

“How would I know what you would expect to see?” Chris fired

back.

She rolled those pretty eyes. “Quit being such a cop, Chris. I’m

looking for signs of how the killer took all the internal organs.”

“And?”
“And there aren’t any. They just aren’t there.” She stepped back

from the body and popped off her gloves before resting her gaze on
Nick. “How about you, air caller?”

Nick looked at Chris incredulously. “Is there anything you didn’t

tell her?”

“She doesn’t know about that last scar you showed me.” He

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wiggled his brow, and Nick slapped his own forehead.

“Don’t be so touchy, Nick. Chris wouldn’t stop talking about you

for like two hours this morning. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he
has a crush. Then again, based on the level of pheromones you’re
both emitting, I’d say that’s quite mutual. Apparently you didn’t get it
out of your system yesterday.”

Chris colored beautifully, and Nick reached up to scratch at his

neck. They exchanged looks and both grinned sheepishly. Oh, yeah.
Nick had one hell of a crush on Chris Taylor and couldn’t wait for a
replay of yesterday. No one had to know.

Well, apparently, no one but Chris’s sister.
She spoke up. “So can you get a scent off of this or whatever you

do?”

Nick thinned his lips as he leaned more toward not liking her.

“I’m not a dog.”

“You can definitely say that again. But that isn’t what I mean.

Chris told me you could feel the air or something. Isn’t that what you
do?”

Chris looked at her. “

F eel, Mel. Not smell.” He then turned to

Nick. “Can you get me anything off this?”

Nick dropped his gaze to the body and swallowed hard. He still

stood a full five feet away, and yet he smelled the rancid scent of
death as if he were right next to it.

He took a breath to protest but stopped when he smelled

something else. Sniffing the air, he then took a step, and another. “Do
either of you smell that?”

“Smell what?” Chris asked.
Dr. Melissa Graves grinned triumphantly at her brother. “I told

you he could smell it.”

“Smell what?” Chris asked again, this time with a little more

agitation hardening his tone.

“It’s hot air,” Nick answered Chris.
She turned to Nick. “That’s exactly what I smelled when they

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brought him in, like he’d been inside a sauna. I don’t smell charred
remains and trust me, that’s a very distinctive smell. But this…” She
paused and motioned at the body. “This is unlike anything I’ve ever
seen.”

Something Burns said came back to Nick. The chief of the fire

department swore he saw a half man, half dragon at that house fire.
Dragons breathed fire, at least they did in all the stories. And birds
seemed to float on air, like they controlled it.

Birdman had something to do with the Edwards murder. Nick

would bet his element on that. That same instability ate at him, very
distinctive, as the birdman upset the air.

So if the birdman had something to do with the murders, how did

the dragonman play into all of this? What was he doing at that house?
And how in the world did they mutate into what Nick and Chris saw
yesterday, if the two monsters were connected at all?

“Which body is this?”
Melissa read the chart. “Richard Edwards.”
“And you’re sure?”
“At least the DNA is.”
Nick had a wild idea, but since nothing else about this case made

any sense, he didn’t throw it out. “Can you get DNA from a feather?”

She nodded. “Sure. You can get DNA from just about anything

anymore. Why? Do you have one you need tested?”

He pulled the feather, still in the evidence bag, from the inside

pocket of his leather jacket and held it up. Melissa’s eyes widened.
“Holy hell. That thing is huge. What did that come from?”

“That’s what we’re hoping you can tell us,” Chris added.
She walked over and took the bag from Nick to examine it herself.

“Why not just send it to the lab?”

“Discretion is critical on this, Mel.” Chris held his sister’s gaze

until she gave him a nod.

“I still have the autopsy of Newman Sygowitz and a couple John

Does to do.”

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Nick stepped to the side of her Chris wasn’t on. “This is really

important.”

“There’s a killer out there,” Chris stated.
“And you might just crack the case wide open.” Nick nodded at

the feather, hoping he sounded like he knew what the hell he was
talking about.

“Please, Mel. We really need this.”
“Please, Mel.”
She bounced her gaze to the one talking as they both tried to talk

her into running the DNA on the feather ahead of everything else. She
finally put up her hands, one in front of each of them. “Fine, just stop
doing that.”

“Doing what?” Chris grinned wide at his sister.
“Being all likable. And you,” she said as she looked at Nick. “You

are just as bad as him. Quit being so cute.”

“I’ll have to work on that.”
“See? Just when I’m sure I have to hate you since I only want my

brother dating kings and presidents, there you go being all likable
again.”

Chris kissed her cheek. “You’re the best.”
Nick mimicked Chris’s move and kissed her other cheek. “You

really are.”

Her cheeks reddened as she smiled and stepped back away from

the men, shaking her finger at them both. “Okay, you two. Quit
combining your charm and ganging up on me. Now go away before I
change my mind.”

Chris grabbed Nick by the arm and dragged him out. They both

waved at Melissa before closing the double doors behind them.

“You’re something else,” Chris commented in a chuckle.
Nick swung around and trapped Chris against the wall, his hands

on either side. He hesitated a split second before lowering his lips to
Chris’s. He wouldn’t make it through the day if he didn’t get to at
least taste him. Swiping his tongue against Chris’s lips, licking them

Lust in the Wind

open, he then got their tongues feeding off one another.

Their kiss deepened as they consumed each other. An entire night

of aching, tossing and turning as he thought about how to break it off
with Chris, clawed at Nick. Maybe kissing Chris like this, devouring
him like a starving man, would ebb the desire he felt every time he
saw him.

“Wow,” Chris groaned against Nick’s lips once the desperation in

their kiss slowed. Nick tore his mouth from Chris’s, and he stepped
back to allow Chris to move away from the wall.

But Chris didn’t move. He stood there, panting, as he stared at

Nick with lust darkening his blue eyes. When Chris traced his lower
lip with his tongue, licking off Nick’s saliva, Nick nearly collapsed to
his knees at the sight.

“Do that again,” Nick rasped.
Chris did, and Nick lost control. He jerked them together, tangled

his fingers in Chris’s ponytail, and slanted his lips over Chris’s. He
opened his mouth to Nick, and a throaty moan escaped from Chris
into Nick.

He drank from Chris greedily, getting completely lost in his

intoxicating taste. Heated desire sent all of his cells vibrating, and he
forced himself to center. He didn’t want to call right now. He just
wanted to devour this man and die from pleasure right here in his
arms, if only for a little while.

“You do realize there are cameras in all the halls?” Melissa

walked out and had a “caught you” look in her eyes.

Nick lowered his head and stepped back from Chris. Shit. Just

when he thought they had everyone at Dark Horse convinced that
nothing happened between them yesterday, Nick had to go and attack
Chris in front of a camera.

“Did you need something, Mel?” Chris asked his sister in an

irritated tone.

“I just wanted to make sure you understood that by me using the

feather, testing for DNA will destroy the sample. If it does implicate

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the killer, it won’t be admissible in court, not without the defense
being able to run their own testing.”

Nick spoke up. “That won’t be an issue. If you get a hit off the

DNA on that feather, we’ve got much bigger problems than building a
case against the killer.”

“Okay,” she sang and pushed the double doors open.
“Hey, Mel?”
She paused and glanced at her brother.
“Don’t run the results through CODIS. Call me as soon as you

have anything.”

“How will I know if I have a hit if I don’t run it through the DNA

Index?”

Chris looked at Nick and lifted his brow. “Well?”
Melissa’s mouth fell open. “Wait. You’re going off the word of

someone who’s never been on a case before?”

“He’s got good instincts.”
“He’s also got a great ass, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to

destroy a sample without knowing what I’m comparing it to.”

“I trust him.” Chris’s words slammed into Nick, and once again

his cells went into overdrive. He smiled as they held each other’s
gazes. “And so should you, Mel.”

“I’ll trust him when he gives me something I can compare the

sample to.”

Nick pulled his attention from Chris and rested it on Melissa.

“Compare it to both the vics.”

Lust in the Wind

Chapter 9

“I sure as hell hope you know what you’re doing.” Chris waited

on hold for the fire chief to jump on the line. “He’s going to ask why I
want to know about a house fire without a dead body involved.”

“You’re a cop,” Nick answered like that made a difference.
“I’m homicide, not arson.”
“And I’m late for lunch, Captain.” The fire chief sounded on the

other end of the line.

Chris jerked up in his chair. No matter how many times he talked

to this man, it made him feel like he’d been sent to the principal’s
office. Fire Chief Paul Bearstrom, or Bear, as people called him, made
everyone feel like that. In his late fifties and in better shape than
anyone else on the force, Bear looked just like the colonel from that
Avatar movie. Gray-haired flattop, pale gray eyes, muscles to spare.
He even had the Southern accent that bit at a person instead of
soothed into them.

“Bear, sir, good to hear your voice.”
“Cut the shit, Taylor. We are both past the position of needing

small talk to talk shop. What do you need?”

With a deep breath to keep his voice steady, he started in. “You

responded to a house fire in West Seattle yesterday.”

“I don’t need a replay of my day. I already know what I did

yesterday. What’s this about?”

“You said you saw something.”
“I see a lot of things, son.”
“A man,” Chris went on and tried not to get flustered. This guy

made him feel stupid no matter what he said.

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“I don’t have time for this.”
“Wait, sir. Please, just let me—”
Nick took the phone from Chris and brought it to his ear. When

Chris tried to take it back, he brought up his hand. The air in the room
immediately changed, thickened, and Chris ran into an invisible wall.
That was not fair, although pretty damn cool that Nick called air to
put up a barrier.

“Who’s this? Well, Chief Bearstrom—Bearstrom, really? Oh,

yeah, Bear sounds better anyway. Anyway, my name is Gust. I
wouldn’t shit you. Yes, I’m a caller. You think I’d come up with that
name on my own?”

And then, to Chris’s chagrin, Nick laughed. No one ever laughed

talking to Bear.

“I hear you. I know what you mean. No, I’m sure they don’t have

half the balls you do, but then again, if they did, would any of us be
able to live with them?” Nick laughed again.

Chris couldn’t believe it. Nick was actually laughing and, dare he

say, getting along with the fire chief.

“Listen, we saw something really weird yesterday. It was this

birdman thing. It had feathers and everything. I’m still not shitting
you.” He looked at Chris as he dropped the air field and then pointed
at him in playful, albeit effective warning. Chris put his hands up in
surrender.

“Oh, you did? Scales? Really? I bet he was one ugly son of a

bitch, am I right? I have no idea where they came from but that’s what
we are trying to find out. You wouldn’t happen to have a picture of it,
would you? You do? That’s even better. Can I stop by and pick it up?
Of course I’m working in an official capacity, but if it makes you feel
any better, Captain Taylor will be with me. Okay. See you then.
Sounds great. Thanks, Bear.”

He hung up the phone and handed it back to Chris. “What’s chain

of custody?”

“It basically means the evidence never leaves the physical control

Lust in the Wind

of an identifiable person.”

“Huh?”
“Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork.” He slapped Nick

on the shoulder as they stood to leave. “I guess we get to pay Bear a
visit. I want to swing by a burger joint, though. I’m starving.”

“Bear said he was making sandwiches and for us to not be late.”
Chris groaned. “Not one of Bear’s sandwiches. They are heartburn

between two pieces of bread. The last time he made me one of his
sandwiches, I had to pop TUMS for a week.”

They climbed into Chris’s car, and he pulled away from the curb.
“What’s so bad about them?”
Chris took the entrance to the freeway. “Let me put it this way. If

you like garlic, onion, tomato, and pepper, you’ll love his
sandwiches.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“He puts that on top of this god-awful pastrami-and-salami loaf

with green olives sprinkled throughout. He makes it himself.”

Nick laughed. “That does sound pretty bad, but he’s making them

for us anyway.”

“He knows I hate his sandwiches. He’s doing this on purpose.”
“Why would he offer you food you hate on purpose?”
“He loves to torture me, that’s why.” Chris’s stomach knotted and

twisted at the very thought of eating one of his sandwiches.

“Quit being such a big baby. The man is offering to make us

lunch. Don’t insult him by turning it down.”

Chris knew better than to argue. He wouldn’t win anyway. They

drove the rest of the way in silence. He pulled the car into the parking
lot, and they both stepped out.

Bear sat at a table he had set for three, a monster heartburn

sandwich on each plate. Chris forced a smile and swallowed thickly
as his stomach acids already started to kick in.

“Chief Bearstrom?” Nick marched up to him and held out his

hand. Bear stood up from his chair and took it. They shook firmly and

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nodded at each other.

“Please, have a seat.” He sat and then rested his dark eyes on

Chris. With his gray hair cut into a square flattop, along with his
Kennedy-like jaw, Paul Bearstrom looked like he’d just left boot
camp. He always wore sleeveless shirts that showed off his well-
muscled arms. For a man almost sixty, he definitely knew how to stay
in shape.

“Dig in. These are my specialty.” Bear lifted his sandwich and

took an enormous bite. He then rested his gaze on Nick. “You look
like a sturdy guy. Good thing I doubled the meat.”

Nick picked up his sandwich and took as big a bite as Bear. He

nodded and smiled as he chewed. “This is great. How do you get that
smoky flavor in the meat?”

“Smoke it myself,” he answered proudly.
“Must be hell to keep it lit.” Nick took another bite.
Bear laughed long and loud. “Gust, you got one hell of a sense of

humor, son. I like that.” He then turned to Chris and bounced his gaze
to the untouched sandwich. “You got something against my offerings,
son?”

“No, sir.” Chris gulped and grabbed the sandwich. Oh, dear God.

It had to be five pounds. He lifted it to his mouth and took a small
bite. His mouth protested by salivating wildly. He had to swallow
twice to keep it down.

Bear shook his head in obvious disapproval and turned to Nick.

“So tell me, can you fly?”

“No,” Nick answered after swallowing. “Do you have anything to

drink?”

Bear grinned and jumped up. “I have some homemade lemonade.”
Oh no.
As soon as Bear moved out of earshot Chris leaned to Nick. “His

lemonade is even worse than his sandwiches. It’s like sucking on
lemons straight, no sugar.”

Bear returned with three glasses of the bright-yellow liquid.

Lust in the Wind

Lemonade shouldn’t glow like radioactive waste. He set them down
and then passed one each to his guests. Nick took a long drink and
seriously looked like he enjoyed the hell out of it. He even licked his
lips when he set his glass down, now half drained.

“This is so refreshing, Bear.” Nick took another bite and

swallowed. “I think I may have to take a few lessons from you to
learn how to make food like this. If the whole fire-chief thing doesn’t
work out for you, I have a friend who owns a restaurant. He could use
someone with your talent.”

Was he kidding? Chris took a bite just to stop himself from

protesting. If Bear worked at a restaurant, he’d expose the public to
this god-awful food. That restaurant would shut down in less than a
week and probably end up getting sued for burning holes in the
linings of people’s stomachs.

Bear threw his head back and laughed. “Thanks for your vote of

confidence, son, but I’m happy being right where I am. I don’t think
too many can keep up with my palate like you.” He flicked a glance
Chris’s way.

Great. Somehow Nick had found a way to be best friends with

Bear while at the same time having Bear hate Chris just a little bit
more.

“So tell me what you saw,” Bear prompted, switching to

interrogator. It was exactly how Chris would do it. Not offer anything
up until he knew exactly what the other person had to offer in return.

Nick pulled out his phone and found the picture on the screen. He

then handed it to Bear. “Check this out.”

Bear squinted his eyes as he studied it. “What in the hell is that?”
“You got me.”
“Is that a beak?”
Nick nodded. “And it had feathers when it expanded its arms.”
“It also had talons,” Chris added. “Check out its feet.”
Bear looked at the screen again. “Looks like a man who turned

into a bird. That’s just like the dragonman I saw.”

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“Tell us about him.” Nick finished his sandwich then downed the

rest of his lemonade.

Bear handed his phone back to him. “I’ve seen some freaky shit in

my day, but this one definitely has them all beat hands down. I’m
called out to this house in West Seattle to investigate a fire, which in
itself is no shocker. I’m called in on any suspicious fires and this one
definitely fit that definition.”

Chris pushed his plate aside and leaned forward on the table. He

debated taking out is tablet PC but knew how much Bear hated it
when he did that. Instead he did his best to commit everything Bear
said to memory. “What did you find?”

“At first, nothing. It looked like a typical house fire, with the

ignition point more than likely in the garage. That room sustained the
most damage. So I’m in the garage sifting through what the fire didn’t
eat when I saw it.”

This time Nick leaned forward. “What did you see?”
“This.” Bear pulled his wallet out and lifted a silver-dollar-sized,

greenish-gray scale in the shape of a rounded diamond.

“May I?” Nick asked. Bear handed it to him. He immediately

brought it to his nose. At once he stiffened and turned to Chris. “It’s
that same smell.”

Chris frowned as a feeling of dread plunged through him. “As the

body?”

Nick nodded.
Shit. That meant the two crimes were related in some way. He just

knew it.

“What smell is that, son?”
“It’s hot,” Nick explained. “Dr. Graves described it like the body

had been in a sauna, which is close to the smell. The scent of a call is
more like a hot metal. Think of the way your car’s engine smells after
a long road trip, or your brakes after you’ve come down a long hill.”

Bear sat back and muttered a cuss. “I was afraid of that. I’ve

smelled lots of fires and I got a nose for when accelerants have been

Lust in the Wind

used. I smelled something at that house, something that didn’t click
until now.”

“And what’s that?” Nick asked and handed the scale to Chris to

examine.

The rough scale had a shine on one side and a thick crust of some

kind on the other. Following Nick’s lead, he lifted it to his nose and
took a whiff. He didn’t smell anything.

“I’ve had to call an agency before to report that I’ve found another

fire caller, so I recognize that smell they put off. I wasn’t even
thinking a caller until I went back and saw that thing. That’s when I
smelled it.”

“You didn’t smell the call before that?”
Bear shook his head, and he and Nick sat there for several

seconds, reading each other. Chris really wished he had a connection
like that with the fire chief. It would make his job a hell of a lot
easier.

“And I didn’t smell the call yesterday when I first arrived at the

crime scene. I felt it, but didn’t smell it.”

“Felt it?”
Nick nodded. “Callers can feel when their element is unstable. I

bet if we brought a fire caller to that scene, they’d feel it.”

“Burns?” Chris offered.
“Torch,” Nick corrected. “He feels his element better than Burns.

Burns runs more on instinct. Torch runs on emotion. And, of course,
when you have Torch, you have Flame.”

Bear chuckled. “You callers sure as hell have funny names for

yourselves. Why not just go by—what is your real name anyway,
son?”

“Nick Vermont.”
“Better.”
“So we have a dragonman at an arson scene and a birdman at a

murder scene.” Chris handed the scale back to Nick. “What does one
have to do with the other?”

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“May I take this?” Nick held up the scale.
Bear’s expression turned to stone as he stared at Nick, no doubt

sizing him up enough to trust him. Nick never looked away and
allowed Bear to take his time.

Finally, Bear gave him a curt nod. “If you find a connection

between your case and mine, you best let me know.”

“You’ll be one of the first people we’ll call.”
“What do you mean,

one of the first?”

Chris would like to know the answer to that question as well and

waited for Nick to explain.

“Bear, you’re a smart man and you’ve been at this for a long time.

You know when something isn’t right. The smell of a call hung in the
air at both scenes, but not until later. We both saw something not
quite human at each scene.” Nick shook his head and dropped the
scale into his pocket. “I’m in over my head on this one. I need to call
Dark Horse for help and get some of the senior agents involved on
this.”

“I’ve got to be honest with you, son. I don’t like having your kind

involved in any of this, no matter the side you’re on.”

Instead of Nick taking offense, he smiled, and it warmed his

handsome expression. “You know what, Bear? I couldn’t agree
more.”

That seemed to satisfy Bear.
Bear stood and scooted in his chair, signifying the end of their

lunch. Thank God. Chris hadn’t even gotten through half his
sandwich. Still, he’d have acid reflux for the rest of the week as his
body fought to digest the food. He didn’t touch the lemonade.

Nick thanked him for lunch, and as they walked out of the

firehouse, he turned to address Bear. “You wouldn’t happen to have
the name of the owner of the house, would you?”

“Newman something. I can get the file.”
Nick and Chris exchanged looks. Chris felt like he’d just been

sucker punched, but Nick simply nodded, as if it confirmed his

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suspicion.

“Sygowitz,” Nick answered.
“That’s it.” Bear gave him a nod, then froze as it sank in. “How

did you know that?”

Chris spoke up. “Bear, it looks like we just found the connection

between the two cases.”

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Chapter 10

“I still don’t see why Boulder had to come.” Flame pouted and

sank down in the backseat of Chris’s car.

“Yeah, Shane is back to being at the top of his game.” Torch took

Flame’s hand, and they both nodded.

Nick rolled his eyes and ignored them. Sometimes he’d rather

throttle the two fire callers than listen to them. They were disgustingly
happy and seemed perfectly in sync. He stole a quick glance at Chris,
wondering if the two of them would ever make it to that place in their
relationship.

Relationship? Where did that even come from? They’d spent one

day together. One day. That did not constitute a relationship.

“It isn’t always about you, Flame,” Boulder spoke up as he sat in

the backseat of the car, crammed into the corner, his enormous
linebacker frame taking up his fair share of the seat. Luckily both
Flame and Torch were smaller in size, and together, they filled up the
other half of the backseat.

Nick grinned, knowing Boulder was less than pleased to be sent

out on assignment so soon after his honeymoon but did it anyway.
The air callers usually had the most even personalities, but when it
came to Boulder, he broke all the rules. As an earth caller, Boulder
was the most powerful caller at Dark Horse, aside from Char.

He also had the ability to read and control a person’s mind, both

callers and weeples. That even surpassed Char’s powers. Added to his
ability to make anything taste like it should cost five hundred dollars a
plate and he was a man of incredible talent.

“Sorry to pull you from

Dixon’s

,” Chris offered.

Lust in the Wind

Dixon’s was the restaurant Boulder opened with his now husband

and named after Dark Horse’s mentor that died in the battle that saved
Boulder’s life.

“Good thing Derek didn’t get sucked in to this assignment or

you’d all be shit out of luck. He’ll get everything prepped for the
dinner crowd tonight, but I have to be back in time to get the line
started.”

“This shouldn’t take long,” Nick added. “I felt it right away, so

I’m sure Flame and Torch will, too.”

“Then why do you need me?”
Nick turned and looked at him. Boulder’s intense green eyes

rested on him. “Do you really need me to answer that?”

“I do,” Chris pointed out.
“If that thing is anywhere near the remains of the house, Boulder

will sense it. With any luck, he’ll actually be able to read its mind and
maybe figure out where it came from.”

“You’re putting an awful lot of faith in me.”
Nick smiled. “We always do, Boulder.”
“Yeah,” he grunted and looked out the side window.
Chris gave Nick a look, and Nick wished he could reach out and

touch him, just to let him know that everything would be okay. He
recognized the uncertainty in Chris’s blazing blue eyes, and it had to
do with more than just this case. No doubt he wondered if he and
Nick would have a repeat of yesterday.

Nick wondered the same thing. He wanted to spend the night with

Chris, to share more with him than a day of sex here and there. Was
this love? Maybe. Lust? More than likely.

They parked in front of the charred, skeletal remains of a house.

Chris stepped out first and waited for the band of callers to join him.
Boulder stood on his right and Nick on his left. Chris looked up at
each of them.

“Damn, you two together makes a guy feel pretty small.”
“That’s only if you let it,” Boulder quipped, always the therapist.

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Chris looked at him. “Are you going to tell me it has something to

do with the relationship I had with my father, Freud?”

“You brought him up, not me.”
“I really hate you sometimes,” Chris snapped at Boulder. When

Nick frowned at him, Chris explained. “I used to call on Boulder and
Wind a lot. When he started to psychoanalyze me, I started calling
other agencies.”

“He does that to everyone,” the fire callers said in unison from

behind them all.

Nick glanced over his shoulder at them. It wasn’t like them to

avoid a fight. Torch and Flame joined hands as they huddled closer
together. Nick kept stealing glances back at them, and the closer they
got to the house, the more agitated the two became.

Even Boulder appeared to be on edge. He kept looking around in

all directions and slowed his steps. “Hold up.”

Instinctively, Nick put up his hands, readying his call. The two

fire callers did the same. Nick grabbed Chris and shoved him behind
him. He already had a bad feeling about this and didn’t want Chris in
the line of fire. As a weeple, if the callers got into an elemental battle,
Chris wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Stay behind me,” Nick ordered.
“I’m the cop. Isn’t that my line?”
“Not right now it isn’t.”
“Gust, hang back with the captain. Let me take the two in there.”
Instead of the two fire callers protesting so they could barge in

with flames blazing, which was more their style, they both nodded
and drew closer to Boulder. Something had them scared.

“Gaia?” Nick asked.
Boulder shook his head. “I’m not feeling her. Whatever is here is

more than a caller, I can tell you that.”

That didn’t sound good. “Why do you want me to stay back? I’m

an air caller. I’m the strongest call there is.”

Boulder looked at him. “Not with me here you aren’t.”

Lust in the Wind

Nick couldn’t argue that.
“If anything turns to shit, you put up an air field around the entire

house. I don’t want anything in or out.”

“Got it.”
“Come on, you two. Let’s see what we’re up against.”
Flame and Torch followed Boulder into the remains and

disappeared from Nick’s sight. He didn’t like not being able to see
them. He couldn’t protect them if he couldn’t see them.

He took a step toward the house, but Chris’s hand on his arm

stopped him.

“What are you doing?”
“Helping.”
“Boulder told you to stay here.”
“He tells me to brush my teeth after every meal but I don’t always

listen to him then, either. Stay here.”

“Nick, I’m not leaving your side. If you go in, I go in.”
He looked at the determination shining in Chris’s beautiful blue

eyes. If Nick went inside, he knew Chris would follow. If that thing
was in there, it might attack, and if Nick couldn’t stop it, it could end
up killing them both. He had no idea how to battle a dragon.

“You’re nervous.” Chris pointed out the obvious.
“Of course I’m nervous. We’re standing out here while three

members of my family are in there hunting a dragon.”

“Dragon

man,” Chris corrected.

“Like that makes it any better.” Nick kept checking the skies,

expecting the birdman to swoop in and attack. Or even the
dragonman. Dragons could fly, couldn’t they?

“We, uh, never did talk about yesterday.”
Nick’s insides clenched. Should they really talk about this while

they waited? Nick knew they should stay focused, but as they waited
for Boulder and the two fire callers, they had nothing but time. He
kept his attention to the sky. “What about it? It was great. We
obviously both needed that release.”

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“Is that all it was for you?”
Nick dropped his gaze from the sky to rest it on Chris. He saw the

trouble brewing in his eyes, that look of concern on his face. “Do you
want more?”

“Do you?”
“Hell yeah I want more.” He didn’t have any problem admitting it.

“I want to fall asleep with you in my arms and wake up the same
way.”

“I want that, too.” Chris smiled, his relief evident.
“Tonight?”
“It’s a date. You, Nick Vermont, are coming home with me.”
Nick’s chest pinched as his heart rate skipped a few beats. He

hadn’t actually stayed over with anyone in a long time. Sleeping over
implied more than a one-night stand. Waking up together usually led
to breakfast, then lunch, then the rest of their lives.

Did he want that? Did he want to spend the rest of his life with

Chris? Did he want to spend the rest of his life with anyone?

He couldn’t think about that right now. Nick once again lifted his

gaze to the sky as the air shifted, thickening around him. The wind
picked up, and Nick felt the call.

“Nick?”
“Stay close.” He reached for Chris and made sure he rested up

against his back. “Something’s coming.”

“Oh, shit. The birdman?”
Nick assumed so, or he wouldn’t be able to feel the call. He

sniffed the air and didn’t smell anything, but that didn’t mean the
caller wasn’t out there. He felt the instability settling in. His element
was warning him.

A steady

whoop whoop noise started off in the distance and grew

louder. Nick remembered hearing something like it as a kid, and it
turned out to be a giant owl as it swooped in to pick up a field mouse.

Which meant, unless whatever caused the noise was a giant owl,

something else flew close enough for them to hear that.

Lust in the Wind

Nick looked in every direction, scared he’d miss it and terrified he

wouldn’t. When a shadow covered him, he spun in time for the sharp
talons of the birdman to dig into his shoulders. He hollered out in pain
and shock as the birdman picked him up.

He called air, but the birdman barely wavered. It pulled them

higher into the sky, and Nick yelled out. “Boulder!”

The thing dug its talons deeper, and Nick cried out as both his

shoulders screamed in pain. He tried to center his call, but it refused
to respond. Instead he felt his element weaken as the stronger caller
drained the weaker one.

Without his element, Nick was screwed. The birdman had the

stronger call, which sucked Nick of his. With the talons imbedded in
his shoulders and no way to break free, Nick was at the mercy of
whatever this thing wanted to do to him. It flew higher and higher, at
least fifty feet into the air, and Nick closed his eyes, praying for a
miracle.

Shots rang out, one after another. The birdman jerked, tearing the

muscles in Nick’s shoulders. He shouted from the blinding pain.

And then the birdman went limp. It slammed into Nick as they

both plunged back to earth. Oh shit. As they sped toward the ground,
Nick knew he’d break every bone in his body on impact. No way
would he live through this. He tensed and braced himself.

A leaf the size of a car came out of nowhere and caught them

both, wrapped around them, and lowered them to the ground. Despite
Boulder’s attempt to have his call lessen the fall, the birdman
slammed into Nick’s chest on impact and forced the air from his
lungs.

He couldn’t move. Not only were the talons still firmly imbedded

in his shoulders, but the dead weight of the birdman lying across his
chest had him trapped.

The leaf yawned open, and Nick struggled to get away from

whatever the hell had its claws in him.

“Stop struggling,” Boulder ordered. He rested his palm on the

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birdman’s deformed head and closed his eyes. With a shake of his
head, he removed his hand. “He’s dead.”

“Get it off me!”
Boulder examined the wounds in Nick’s shoulders and shook his

head again. “If we just pull them out, it could cause more damage.”

Panic fueled Nick’s words. He just wanted the damn thing out of

him. “I’m not going to walk around with a dead birdman attached to
me.”

“Give me your hand.”
Nick looked at him as he panted through the pain and the fact that

he had a hard time pulling in any breath with this thing collapsing his
lungs. “What?”

Boulder held out his hand, and Nick cringed as the movement to

take it shot pain through his body. Shit. He felt every single broken rib
and it hurt like hell.

“What happened to your call?” Boulder asked as he frowned and

squeezed Nick’s hand like that would make his element return faster.

“This thing drained me.”
“Then we are going to have to do this the weeple way.” He pulled

out a knife and flipped it open. Nick’s heart seized as he watched
Boulder lower that knife to him.

Holy shit. Was he about to perform surgery with a pocketknife?

Who did he think he was, MacGyver?

With a flick of his wrist, he sliced both legs of the birdman off and

then moved the thing off Nick. He finally drew in a lungful of air.

Chris holstered his weapon as he approached and knelt down next

to Nick. “Are you hurt? Well, aside from the obvious fact that you
have two mutated bird’s feet imbedded in your shoulders. You know
what? Forget I even asked. That does not look comfortable.”

Nick had to laugh and then winced from the pain. Yep, definitely a

couple cracked ribs in there. “You think?”

“How are we going to get those out?” Torch asked. “Should we

get Heat out here?”

Lust in the Wind

Boulder shook his head at the mention of the other fire caller at

Dark Horse. It came in handy that he also had a degree in medicine.
“He doesn’t have the instruments to deal with something like this.”

“We can’t take him to a hospital,” Flame added. “Aren’t there any

doctors that are part of the authorities that know about us and can
keep this quiet?”

Nick winced as he sat up. It hurt like hell, but he’d live. The ribs

would heal on their own, which left removing the dead bird’s feet and
stitching him up. “I’m fine, guys. Chris, give your sister a call.”

“She’s an ME, not MD.”
“She’s still a doctor.”
Chris dropped his jaw. “She works on dead people.”
Nick looked up at him. “Maybe it’s time for her to expand her

practice.”

Jayden Knight

Chapter 11

Chris led them all down the long hall to what he referred to as his

sister’s lair. It was dark, cold, and creeped the shit out of him. She
might want to spend her life surrounded by death, but Chris preferred
life.

He stopped the entire group in front of the double doors and

turned to them. He couldn’t reach her by phone, and just dropping by
like this would only piss her off, especially when she realized Chris
had brought her a group of callers. Melissa didn’t like surprises,
which explained why she spent her time around dead people. “Let me
go in there first.”

“Why?” Boulder asked.
Nick, who’d progressively lost color as the blood oozed out of his

wounds, leaned up against Boulder. A fine film of sweat had broken
out across his ghostly pale face and drenched his hair.

Chris recognized shock when he saw it. They didn’t have time to

argue about this. They had to stop the bleeding and get those talons
out of him.

“She’s never even met a caller until this morning.”
“Who cares,” Nick mumbled. “Get these things out of me.”
“We’re going together,” Boulder announced and took a step. Chris

knew he’d never be able to take them on and hurried forward to try
and warn Melissa before she saw them all at once.

“Mel?”
“Chris! Be right there. You will not believe what I have for you. I

got the DNA results on…your…” She trailed off as she walked out.
Her smile wilted as she spotted the group behind Chris. She then

Lust in the Wind

snapped that burning glare he knew all too well at him. “Chris? What
is this?”

Chris stepped aside to show her Nick.
She dropped her jaw. “Oh my God. Nick?” She ran to him and

examined the wounds without question. She then nodded at Boulder.
“Get him over to the empty table. You two, lock those doors and keep
watch. Make sure no one so much as peeks through those windows.
Let me wash up and gather a few things.”

Torch and Flame did as ordered and guarded the doors. She

buzzed around the room as Boulder helped Nick to the metal table
and lifted him onto it. Chris stood there, somewhat in shock, mostly in
pride, as his sister immediately went to work to remove the talons
from Nick’s shoulders, no questions asked. He knew the questions
would come, but silently thanked her for not asking a bunch of
questions now.

It took longer than Chris expected, but she finally had the talons

out and finished the last of Nick’s stitches on his shoulder before
tugging off her gloves. She leaned back against the sink behind her
and let out a sigh as she wiped her forehead.

“I can honestly say that was a first for me.”
Boulder looked at her. “Surgery?”
“Giant-bird-talon removal,” she corrected.
Nick offered her a weak smile. “Thanks.”
“I’m only nice to you because you’re cute and my brother likes

you.”

“You don’t?”
“Right now I’m undecided.” She turned to wash her hands and

glanced over her shoulder with a tug at the corners of her lips. “But
don’t push it.”

“I’ll try not to.”
She smiled at Nick. “You see? There you go being likable again.”

She then looked at Chris. “Am I allowed to ask what happened now?”

Boulder spoke up. “Thank you for your time. We’ll take it from

Jayden Knight

here.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, big guy. He leaves when I say he can leave.”
“You did what we brought him in for.”
“He’s still my patient.” She challenged the largest man in the

room without hesitation, even though she stood a good foot shorter
than him. “He needs to be monitored. I think I removed all the foreign
matter, but if I didn’t and there’s an infection, he’ll need immediate
medical attention. It’s best if he stays.”

Boulder shook his head. “We have a doctor at the Farm.”
Melissa crossed her slender arms in front of her as she thrust out

her chin. Uh-oh. Chris new that look. He’d been on the losing end of
that look more than once.

“What part of

my patient is unclear to you?”

“The part where he stays.”
She narrowed her icy blue eyes at him. “You, I don’t like.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve met someone who didn’t like me.”

Boulder even grinned as he delivered his comment.

“No doubt. Listen, if you won’t let me keep him here, at least let

me keep him near a medical facility. Chris tells me the Farm is clear
up in the foothills of the Cascades. That’s too far.”

“He’ll stay with me,” Boulder announced. “He needs to be around

others like him.”

“You mean other air callers?” She smiled sweetly when Boulder

lost all expression. “Don’t look so shocked. Chris told me.”

Boulder shot Chris a glare.
“And Nick showed me,” she added as she grabbed his chin and

directed his attention back to her. “So calm down.”

“Why are you still holding my face?” Boulder asked as she

squeezed his cheeks, distorting his words.

“Just making my point.” Dropping her hand, she then turned to

Nick, and her smile returned. “And how is our patient?”

“I’m not a patient,” he told her in a weak voice and blinked at her.

He looked half asleep.

Lust in the Wind

“Sure you aren’t. And you’re not gay, either.”
“Mel,” Chris warned. Sometimes her mouth got ahead of her. Like

now.

“Am I allowed to know what happened?”
“Remember the feather?” Nick asked. She nodded. “The owner

wanted it back.”

“Shut the front door!” she exclaimed. “Those talons were from the

bird that left the sample?”

“Sample?” Boulder stiffened. “What sample?”
“They had me run DNA on a feather,” she explained as she

disappeared into the little room that housed her desk and a laptop. She
then returned with papers in her hands.

Chris explained. “We found it at the Edwards scene yesterday.

That thing that attacked Nick today was there and dropped a feather.
Nick asked her to run DNA on it.”

“And you are going to be as shocked as I was, I promise you.”

She handed Chris the papers. “The one in your left hand is from the
feather.”

Chris looked at both papers, not seeing the difference. He then

layered them and held them up to the light. “It’s a perfect match.
What was the DNA on the other paper?”

“Not what,” she corrected. “Who.”
Chris didn’t like that wicked glimmer in her eyes. That usually

meant she was onto something that would end up taking them in an
entire different direction.

“The DNA results of your feather are an exact match to one of

your vics, Newman Sygowitz.”

* * * *

Chris lost count on how many cups of coffee he’d consumed after

the numbers reached into the double digits. If he didn’t have another
one, he’d end up falling asleep at his desk. Again.

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“You’re here late, Captain.” Jones, the detective he had on the

Edwards case, walked into his office as he stirred the liquid in his
paper cup. “What’s got your attention?”

Chris shook his head and looked at the giant screen that displayed

his tablet PC when it sat in its docking station. He swiped the screen
and brought up the OneNote program he used as his electronic
whiteboard. Pictures of Richard Edwards and Newman Sygowitz sat
in the middle of a spiderweb of lines drawn to connect them to all of
the leads that had, thus far, resulted in dead ends.

He didn’t have anything about the birdman or dragonman on the

board, knowing that at any time his records could be called in as
evidence. He’d received his instruction when he took the job as
captain that anything out of the ordinary should be left out of the
official reports. Considering everything he’d seen over the past two
days, that pretty much left everything out.

He never really understood those instructions until this case. If he

testified on anything that he’d witnessed, they’d lock him up in a
padded room. Especially after witnessing the two fire callers use their
combined powers to burn the birdman’s body until it turned into a pile
of ash. As much as he wanted to take the body to Melissa for more
tests, they couldn’t risk it being discovered.

Jones glanced up at the screen. “I’ve been over this one a dozen

times and I still can’t figure it out. Two guys that live across the city
from each other are found gutted in one of their houses. The other
house was torched.”

“We’ve already established that they worked together, so they

weren’t strangers.” Chris stood and pointed at the line on the screen.

“That doesn’t explain why Newman Sygowitz made the trip all

the way over to Richard Edwards’s place.”

“Unless there was reason for them to see each other outside of

work.”

Jones shook his head. “We swept that place. No sign of semen on

the bed. According to their phone records, they barely spoke to each

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101

other outside of work. What’s even more puzzling is these past few
weeks.”

Chris’s spine went ramrod straight as his pulse slowed. “What

happened?”

“They stopped talking altogether. The phone calls, sparse that they

were, stopped. We have video of them meeting at the Starbucks
around the corner from the office and picking up coffee together—
that is, up until three weeks ago.”

“So what changed?” Chris studied the board, trying so hard to find

the connection that would lead him to solving this chaotic case and
going back to his normal life—caller-free.

He immediately thought of Nick. Did he want to be caller-free if

that meant saying good-bye to the only man that had brought a smile
to his face just by thinking of him?

Glancing at his watch, he debated calling Boulder’s place again. It

had been an hour since he’d last called, and Nick had still been
sleeping. Wind had made it home and called their element, recharging
Nick. According to Boulder, now Nick just needed sleep to allow his
cells the chance to regenerate and heal.

“It was night and day,” Jones said as he stopped next to Chris.

“Literally. From what we’ve been able to find out, Sygowitz pretty
much kept to his same routine, although he started darting his head
around like he was tweaking or something.”

Like a bird

Chris kept his comment to himself. “And Edwards?”

“He did the opposite,” Jones said and flipped through his notes.

Someday Jones would jump on the technology bandwagon and use a
tablet PC. Until then, he’d always be a little behind on the times. “Let
me see. Oh, here it is. We found charges on his credit card for
purchases made in the middle of the night. Nothing during the day.”

“Have you pinpointed the day this all changed?”
“I have that.” Jones flipped through more pages. “Somewhere.

Just a second.”

“You know, you could always use a tablet PC.”

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“And when you run out of batteries I’ll still have ink in my pen.”

Jones grinned and continued flipping until he tapped on his notes.
“Looks like Memorial Day Weekend changed everything. You think
they went a little wild? Maybe they took something that really freaked
them out, had an

I K now What You Did Last Summer moment, and

tried to bury it? Maybe the killer tracked them down and acted out his
revenge for leaving him for dead and dumping his body.”

Chris shook his head, dismissing Jones’s wild-ass theory. “But

this is real and I’m sure our vics would rather we try to find an actual
theory instead of something someone else wrote.”

“There are nut jobs out there that act out scenes of movies all the

time.”

True. Chris couldn’t dismiss that fact, no matter how remote. He

glanced once again at the board. He was missing something. He knew
it. He

felt it.

A jaw-popping yawn broke his concentration. If he didn’t get any

sleep, he’d be worthless tomorrow. “I’m calling it a night.”

“Yeah, I’m right there with you. French and I have a few other

homicides we’ve been working pretty hard, so we haven’t been able
to focus on this one.”

“That’s fine.” If they focused too much, they might find out too

much, and then Chris didn’t know what he’d do. The rest of the
department didn’t know about the callers and the agencies they were
sent to. “Where’s French?”

“He went home to the wife and I’m about to do the same—to my

wife, not his.” Jones grinned.

“What’s tomorrow?”
Jones looked at his watch. “Wednesday, at least for a few more

minutes. Once the clock strikes twelve, the day changes and so does
Cinderella. You know, even as a kid I never understood how some
lady could turn a mouse into a horse with just a wave of her wand. I
mean, that would take some serious power. Anyway, have a good
night, Captain.”

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103

“You, too.” Chris grabbed his suit coat off the back of his chair

and grabbed his PC off the docking station. He then locked his office
before heading for the elevator. Jones’s words kept echoing in his
mind.

That would take some serious power.

Power.
Boulder said something about the stronger caller draining the

weaker caller. It took a stronger caller calling the element while
touching the weaker caller to recharge him or her. Wind had a
stronger call than Nick. When that birdman called, it drained Nick. He
needed Wind to recharge.

Chris applied that to this case. What if those two crazy bastards

really did find a way to harness an element? What if, in their drive to
see if they could, they never stopped to see if they should? What if
they tested it on each other?

That was a hell of a lot of what-ifs.
The elevator opened, and he stepped out into the lobby. His theory

explained why Newman Sygowitz and the birdman shared the exact
same DNA. The experiment went wrong. Instead of giving him the
ability to control an element, it turned him into a monster.

No. None of this made any sense. He had no proof of anything.

Yet, deep down, he knew he was onto something.

How he wished he had at least one other person to bounce his

ideas off of, someone who knew about the callers, the agencies, and
even knew about this case.

He could only think of one person.
He needed Nick, and for more than just this case. It made no

sense, how connected he felt to the air caller, but it was there,
nonetheless. Climbing into his car, he pulled out, heading in the
opposite direction than his apartment.

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Chapter 12

“I’m not helpless, Wind.” Nick pushed his hand away when Wind

tried to spoon-feed him. The soup went everywhere, and Wind caught
it with his call, sending the liquid back into the bowl.

“And I’m only trying to help.”
“Did Chris call?”
“Only about a dozen times.” He pushed the tray to Nick and kept

his gaze lowered as he sighed.

Nick already knew what he was about to ask but didn’t say

anything and instead ate his soup without any assistance. His
shoulders throbbed in protest at the movement, but he was too damn
hungry to care.

“Gust, we need to talk.”
“So talk.”
“Getting involved with a weeple is one thing, but a cop?”
Nick set his jaw. “Why is everyone so concerned with my love

life?”

“Love?” Wind jumped off the bed. “Are you shitting me? Dude,

you’ve known Taylor for like two days.”

“And how long did you know Boulder before you knew?”
Wind clenched his teeth until his jaw was white. “We’re both

callers.”

“Answer the question.”
He met Nick’s gaze with purpose, those pale hazel eyes boring

into him. “I knew the minute we met.”

Nick returned that same look. “So did I.”
“I’m not going to fight you on this, Gust. We’re both air callers

Lust in the Wind

105

and usually have the most-level heads.

Usually

”

That just pissed him off. Why would it be any different just

because he didn’t fall in love with a caller? “Why is this such an issue
with everyone? You know Chris won’t hold it against Dark Horse if it
doesn’t work out between us. But, goddamn it, Wind, I like him. Hell,
I may even love him.”

“Two days. You’ve known him for two days.”
“Two

seconds may be all it takes.”

Letting out a sigh, Wind went to the door to the bedroom and

rested his hand on it. “Gabe and I had our own elements to battle in
order to be together. Just promise me that when you hit a low spot and
swear there’s no hope in sticking it out together, you remember the
way you feel about him right now. You’re willing to go up against
both the authorities and your own agency to be together. They may
not be elements, but they each have just as much power to keep you
apart.”

Nick rested his gaze on Wind. “I wouldn’t be fighting so hard if I

didn’t have reason to.”

“I hope you’re right, my friend.” He opened the door and stopped.

“Captain? What are you doing here? It’s after midnight.”

Chris had his attention on Nick, and damn if Nick’s heart didn’t

gallop at the sight of those gorgeous eyes, that sexy smile, and the
captivating man that had somehow stolen his heart. The tension he
didn’t even know he’d had tightening his muscles released at the
sight.

“I need to talk to you,” he said to Nick.
“And it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?” Wind asked.
Chris looked at him, and Wind snapped his mouth shut.
“I’ll just leave you two alone.” Wind waited for Chris to step

inside before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

“How are you feeling?”
“Like a giant birdman had its talons imbedded in my shoulders.”
Chris smiled and removed his coat, tossed it on a nearby chair,

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and then took a seat at the foot of the bed. “You know, it’s funny. I’ve
only known you two days and I’ve already experienced more shit in
that short amount of time than most people will in their entire
lifetime.”

“I wish I could say the same.”
“It’s not all bad, though.”
The way he looked at Nick, a heated glimmer in those wicked

blue eyes, had lust sizzling in Nick’s balls. He focused his
concentration on something else to distract him from the ardent desire
now racing through his veins and rapidly expanding his dick.

“Name one thing that’s gone right.”
Chris stood and removed the tray before taking its place right on

Nick’s lap. He reached up and brushed Nick’s hair off his forehead as
he leaned in. “How about I show you?”

He met Chris’s lips halfway and growled into the kiss. Chris

slanted his mouth and gently swiped his tongue, meeting Nick’s. This
kiss was slow and steady, like a caress, and did every bit as much
damage to Nick’s control as their earlier, demanding kiss. Shivers
ripped up his spine when Chris brushed the pad of his thumb across
Nick’s nipple.

When Chris touched Nick’s face, he trembled. He actually

trembled at his touch, which warmed him from the inside out. Nick
reached up, barely feeling the pain from the movement over the heat
consuming him, and smoothed his hand over Chris’s shoulder.

Nick slid his lips from Chris’s and left kisses along his jaw before

pulling back. Chris’s eyes had darkened to a midnight blue as he
licked his lips.

“When that thing had you, I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

Chris rested his forehead against Nick’s as a telltale sob shook
through him. “I almost lost you today.”

“You saved my life today,” Nick corrected and cupped the back of

Chris’s neck, ignoring the race of pain shocking his system. Chris
tried to turn, but Nick held him close. “Don’t.”

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107

“I’m a cop. I go through shit like this every day. This isn’t even

the first time I’ve shot someone.” His voice shook with such raw
emotion that Nick’s eyes burned with emotion in return. “But the
thought of losing you…” He trailed off and sucked in a breath.

“I feel you in my soul, Chris.” His words came from someplace so

deep inside him he didn’t even know it existed. He knew he’d never
survive the rest of the night if he didn’t have Chris beside him. “Stay
with me.”

“Tonight?”
“For starters.” He needed Chris, all of him, inside and out. He

needed to touch him, feel his touch in return, and get lost in him.

Chris stood off the bed and undressed, never taking his heavy

gaze off Nick. In turn Nick removed his shorts and tossed them aside.
His cock throbbed, and he swore he had to be harder than he’d ever
been in his life.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?”
Nick threw the blankets off him and fisted his erection. “I’m sure.

Come here, baby.”

Chris grabbed a small foil pouch and a little tube of lubrication.
“Come prepared?”
“I’m always prepared,” he said as he sat back on Nick’s lap,

straddling a leg on either side of him.

Nick grabbed Chris’s hips and rocked his own, rubbing his cock

up against its mate. Chris’s head tipped back as a whisper of a moan
slipped past his lips.

“Nick, I need you now.”
“We’ve got all night.”
He whimpered and moved his hips so that Nick’s cock slipped

behind him, wedging between his cheeks. Chris reached back and
squeezed Nick’s erection before rolling the condom over it. He then
slathered lube all over.

When Nick felt the head of his cock nuzzle up against Chris’s

tender entrance, he grabbed Chris’s hips to slow him down. “I don’t

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want to hurt you.”

“So we’ll go slow.” He wiggled and pressed against Nick’s

erection. The tip slipped beyond the unbelievably small, tight hole.
Chris panted and bit his lip as he worked to sink down on Nick’s rigid
flesh.

He refused to rush through this. Nick needed to feel every inch of

Chris and wanted to experience every ripple of his muscles when his
orgasm tore through him.

“Oh, Nick.” Chris lowered his head and met Nick’s lips, licking at

them, as he took Nick’s cock all the way inside his ass. His breath
caught when Nick rocked his hips and started to move. “It feels so
good. So good, baby. Oh, my God. Oh, yeah.”

Chris lifted himself, almost completely disengaging them, then

slowly sank back down, creating a friction that had Nick groaning
into Chris’s mouth. Nick felt the walls of Chris’s ass caress his thick
shaft, accept him in, swelling his heart as he made love to the man he
wanted to call his forever.

Nick knew the instant he fell absolutely and irrevocably in love

with Chris Taylor. It was like a switch had been flipped, where night
became day, and the world shifted off its axis. He knew, there and
then, that he’d never make it another day without Chris in his life
permanently.

He moved his hips gently, taking in every second of this sweet

paradise. He never wanted it to end. Chris raked his nails against
Nick’s scalp, and it drove him wild. Moving in long, steady strokes,
Nick buried his cock inside of Chris, over and over, building the
pleasure that threatened to consume them both.

“Let me have you.” Nick dug his fingers into Chris’s slender hips

as his release drove his motions faster, harder. “All of you, Chris. I
need all of you.”

“I’m yours,” he whispered and arched his back as he grabbed his

own cock and squeezed. He then stroked in time with Nick’s thrusts.
“Oh, Nick. I’m all yours. Don’t stop. Oh, please. I’m so close.”

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109

Something changed between them as they pushed each other

closer to the cataclysmic explosion. Nick felt it. It was more than just
physical pleasure they shared. Chris’s touch became deeper, more
possessive, as he fisted Nick’s hair and whimpered out Nick’s name.

“Chris.” Nick took his lips and consumed them as he couldn’t

hold back. The cum bubbled in his balls and climbed inside his cock
like mercury on the hottest day of summer. With each stroke he
brought their worlds together all that more.

Chris jerked against Nick as he stiffened when the first of his

orgasm shot between them. He threw his head back. “Nick!”

The emotions of their connection overtook Nick, and lights

exploded behind his lids like the Fourth of July. His orgasm swept
through his body as he pumped into Chris’s ass, filling the condom
with his release. It seemed never ending.

Finally, after the last of the shockwaves pulsed through him, he

fell back against the headboard. Chris collapsed against Nick’s chest,
panting, shivering, and covered in slippery sweat. Despite the pain it
caused, he lifted his arms and wrapped them protectively around
Chris.

“Mine.” He kissed Chris’s forehead.
“And mine.” Chris kissed Nick on the lips.

* * * *

“I told you, he’s my patient.”
“Hey, you can’t just barge in there.”
The noise of the bedroom door being thrust open sent Chris’s

instinct into action even before he could make sense of anything. In
one smooth motion he reached over and had his weapon out of its
holster. He blinked the sleep from his eyes to see his sister standing
there, a knowing smirk on her face.

“Well, I see he’s already being taken care of.”
Chris lowered his gun. God

damn his pushy, nosy sister. “Mel?

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What the hell are you doing here?”

“I came to check on Nick. What’s your excuse?”
“I’m fine.” Nick grunted and remained stretched out on the bed,

all six foot four inches of delicious muscle. If they didn’t already have
an audience, Chris would curl up against that beautiful body and catch
just a few more minutes of peaceful silence wrapped in Nick’s arms.

“Clearly. Get dressed, both of you. I got the results back on that

scale and you won’t believe what I found.”

“It’s Richard Edwards,” Chris answered as he looked at his pile of

clothes. It was too far away to be able to dress without all of them
getting to know Chris almost as intimately as Nick did.

Melissa lost her “I have something you want” smile. “Wait. How

did you know that?”

“I have a theory. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like a little

privacy so I can get dressed.”

“Sure.” She turned to Boulder, who’d been watching the scene

with keen interest but hadn’t said anything. “Do you have coffee?”

“Out here.” He motioned for her to follow him. Before he shut the

door he poked his head back in and rested intense green eyes on Nick.
“Gust, we need to talk.”

“Swell,” Nick groaned.
After Boulder closed the door, Chris jumped out of bed and got

dressed. “What was that about?”

Slowly, wincing as the wounds in his shoulders must have

protested against the movement, Nick rose to a sitting position. He ran
his hand over his face. “I guess I broke some sort of golden rule by
getting involved with you. I’m sure Boulder is going to lecture me on
my choices, just like everyone else.”

Chris sat on the bed and leaned over to kiss Nick. “I happen to

love your choices. Especially that third one last night. How did you
manage to get me to speak in tongues like that? I swear I’ve never
come so hard. Or so many times in one night.”

“Like you, I’m a man of many talents.” He grinned, and the

Lust in the Wind

111

gesture warmed his hazel-green eyes. He then gave Chris a wink.

Chris loved the way his heart lost its rhythm as it danced in his

chest. “Come on, Romeo. We have a date with the rest of the
occupants of the house.”

“Plus one. Throw me those shorts.” Nick dressed and slowly rose

to his feet. With every inch, he cringed all that more and stopped
before straightening up completely. “Shit, that hurts.”

“Can I get you anything?”
“I’ll live. It’s not the shoulders as much as the ribs. That thing had

to be at least two hundred pounds as it crushed my chest.”

“Do you have those pills Mel gave you?”
“Boulder has them somewhere.”
Chris walked over and opened the door. “Let’s go get them.”
Nick moved slow, but Chris refused to leave his side. They

walked out of the bedroom and into the modest living room. Melissa
sat in a chair as Boulder and Wind took up an entire couch due to
their size. Chris helped Nick onto the other couch and then took a seat
next to him.

Melissa stood and grabbed the bag Chris recognized as her

“playing doctor”

bag, as she called it. She pulled off Nick’s bandages

and examined his wounds. “Looks like you didn’t take it easy like I
ordered.”

Nick shot Chris a sly look, and they both fought not to smile.
“Then again,” she went on and pulled items from her bag, “I never

figured you for someone that exactly followed the rules.”

This time Nick looked at Boulder. They narrowed their gazes at

each other for several seconds, and Chris wondered what, exactly,
passed between them.

“Ouch.” Nick jerked forward. “Shit. What the hell are you

doing?”

“Sewing up the tears in your stitches.”
“You could have warned me.”
“I could have.” She focused on the wounds as she stitched him.

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With each poke of her needle, Nick winced but said nothing. “There.
You were a very good boy. If I had a lollipop I’d offer it to you.”

Nick grinned at Chris as he licked his lips. Heat burned his cheeks

at the memory of what Nick did with that talented mouth last night.

“Gross.” Melissa finished covering the wounds with fresh

bandages and snapped her bag closed. “We don’t need the visual.”

“We already had quite the audio,” Boulder grumbled.
Wind nodded. “I’ve never had to sleep with earplugs before. They

hurt.”

Chris dropped his gaze as the embarrassment scorched his face.

He had to be ten shades of red.

“So tell us about the scale.” Thank God Nick had the sense to

redirect the conversation.

“Chris is right. The DNA from the blood found on the scale

matches Richard Edwards, but that doesn’t mean the scale came from
him. That just means the blood on it did.”

“Same thing with the feather?” Chris asked.
“No. That definitely came from Newman Sygowitz. I could

penetrate the feather with a needle and extract the sample. With the
scale, I couldn’t, so I only pulled DNA off the surface. The scale has
something to do with your case, but I don’t know what.”

Nick and Chris exchanged looks. Chris read it on his face. They’d

both reached the same conclusion.

Melissa gave them all a nod. “Gentlemen, it’s been real, but I have

dead bodies waiting for me. Don’t get up. I’ll show myself out. Chris,
come see me in my office once you’re done here.”

Swell. Sometimes he hated having his older sister as one of the

MEs. Not only did he have to work with her almost every day, but she
spent way too much time poking around in his private life. He didn’t
know how she’d react if he told her that he planned to spend the rest
of his life with someone other than a king or president.

Once the front door closed, Chris stood and paced, something he

did whenever he mentally followed a lead. He moved behind the

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113

couch to give himself more room as he verbalized his steps.

“So we have Newman Sygowitz, an R & D specialist who claimed

to have created a weapon that had the power to control an element. He
somehow turned himself into a bird.”

“He controlled air,” Nick reminded everyone. “I felt it. My

element didn’t like it, not one bit. And when he called as he flew
away, even though he touched me, he drained me.”

Wind stiffened and rested that pale-hazel gaze on Nick. “So it

didn’t recharge you the way it does if I touch you when I call? What
the hell does that mean?”

“And back at that house, Flame and Torch said they felt their

element was upset, like it was being forced.”

“Forced,” Chris muttered. He snapped his fingers as he recalled

what Nick said at the first crime scene. “You said the same thing
when we discovered the bodies.”

Nick joined in on the mental track. “So we have two men that

somehow turned themselves into monsters, all in an attempt to control
an element? I don’t buy it. How would they even know about us?”

Chris already knew the answer to that but didn’t want to say it

until he was absolutely certain. Lee had already gone through so
much. Chris really didn’t want to link him to this and put him through
even more without being sure.

“How do you explain the bodies?” Boulder asked. “You said you

found the bodies of Richard Edwards and Newman Sygowitz. How
could that birdman be Sygowitz if you found his body?”

“Because they were pods,” Chris answered and almost bit his

tongue at how ridiculous that sounded. “Mel showed me. They were
missing all their internal organs and it looked like they’d been sliced
from the inside out. She couldn’t see any signs of detachment, only
that the organs simply weren’t there.”

“Are you saying that those things were hatched from the bodies of

your two dead guys? That their internal organs were somehow sucked
into the new being?”

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Chris nodded at Boulder. “Exactly.”
“I still don’t buy it,” Nick admitted with a shake of his head. “Pod

people? Really? I know it can be hard to accept that there are those of
us with the power to call elements, but come on.”

“Think about it, Nick. How else would you explain this?”
“I’m with Gust on this,” Wind spoke up. “Pod people? That’s

pretty hard to swallow.”

“What theories have you come up with?” Chris asked Wind.
“It isn’t my case.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t help contribute.” Wind narrowed

those pale-hazel eyes at him. “How about this for a contribution? The
next time you two want to fuck all night, do it in your own home. Do
you have any idea what this will do to Dark Horse?”

“Derek.” Boulder looked at him.
“No, Gabe. I’m not about to support what they’re doing. We’ve

all worked too damn hard to have a junior caller fuck it all up because
he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.” Wind jumped up off the couch
and stormed out of the room, leaving the rest of them all staring at
each other in shock.

“Gust, would you talk to him, air caller to air caller?” Boulder

rested his gaze on Nick.

“Me? He’s your husband.”
“Please, Gust?”
“Do you realize how long it took me to get out to the couch?”

Even as he protested he stood up slowly and started to shuffle off in
the direction Wind had disappeared to.

Boulder waited until Nick was gone before turning that

penetrating green gaze Chris’s way. “Let’s have a talk.”

“Listen, Boulder. We meant no disrespect.”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Fallen in love with an incredible man, Chris wanted to say.

Instead, he dropped his attention as he sank down on the couch. He
had a feeling nothing he said would make Boulder lose that stone-cold

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expression.

“Dark Horse is barely hanging by a thread without Dixon. Burns

is doing the best he can, but with all of his senior water callers living
outside the Farm, barely taking jobs anymore, and Derek and me with
the restaurant, he’s only got juniors left. He can’t run an agency if
they don’t respect the line. Once it’s crossed, there’s no going back.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You and Gust. I recognize that glow in you both. You’re in love.

I read it in Gust’s mind as well.”

Chris wanted to run into Nick’s arms and kiss him to show him

how much he loved him in return. He wanted to jump to his feet and
punch the air in his excitement. Instead, he switched to cop mode and
didn’t wear any expression as Boulder delivered the news.

“That, uh, doesn’t work with me.”
“What?”
“The whole pretending to not give a shit.”
“Are you in my head right now?”
Boulder shook his head. “I don’t have to be to know what’s going

on.”

“So we’re in love, so?”
“So snap out of it.”
Chris frowned. Like hell would he ever want this feeling to end. It

was like a drug. He knew his blinding hunger and endless love for
Nick would never go away.

“Why is it the only ones that want Nick and me together are Nick

and me? Why is everyone else so against it?”

“Dark Horse.”
“This has nothing to do with Dark Horse.”
“This has everything to do with Dark Horse,” Boulder corrected.

“If this is just a fling and you two get tired of each other, Dark Horse
is screwed. You’re going to use another agency to avoid Gust.”

“That’s not going to happen. Nick and I will never get tired of

each other.”

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“Okay,” Boulder said with a nod. “Let’s go that route. Let’s say

you and Gust end up staying together. Maybe you even get married.
What then? If you use Dark Horse, you’ll be accused of favoritism.
So, to avoid it, you’ll use another agency. Either way, Dark Horse
loses.”

Chris clenched his teeth as the hardness of the truth in Boulder’s

statement encrusted his heart. This sucked. “What am I supposed to
do, Boulder? Am I supposed to ignore what I want? What I deserve?
Do I always have to put the job first?”

“That’s a decision you’ll have to make.”
“And that’s my only choice? It’s Nick or the job? I can’t have

both?”

“Sure, you can.” Boulder stood and grabbed the empty coffee

cups off the table between them. “But Gust will have to leave Dark
Horse. Those are your options.”

Before he could respond, Nick stormed out of where he’d been

talking to Wind. “This is bullshit!”

“Gust.” Wind followed him out. “Where do you think you’re

going?”

“Away from you. Away from here.” He marched into the room

faster than Chris would have expected in a man in his condition. He
returned moments later in the pants and shirt he had on yesterday.
Boulder or Wind must have washed the blood out. They still bore the
stains, a reminder of the events from that horrific moment when Chris
almost lost Nick forever.

“What are you doing?” Chris asked Nick.
“Apparently we’re now forbidden to see each other.”
No, goddamn it. He refused to let anyone else dictate this. They

tempted fate once and barely got out of it together. Chris would not
let it happen again. He wouldn’t lose Nick again.

He shot off the couch. “Let me get your shoes.”
“Taylor,” Boulder bit off. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What I should have done the minute Wind walked into my office

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to lecture me on my relationship with Nick. It isn’t my love for Nick
that could hurt Dark Horse. It’s the rest of you. Change your attitudes
or I will find another agency to take point on my cases.”

Wind looked at Boulder. “Told you.”
“Fuck you, Wind.” Nick accepted his shoes from Chris and then

his help slipping them on. “If it means that much to you, I quit.”

Everyone in the room stiffened, including Chris.
Wind shook his head as he paled. “No, Gust. That’s not the

answer.”

“That’s the only one you’re giving me.”
Chris couldn’t let him quit Dark Horse. It was his life. These

callers were his family. “Nick, I can step down.”

“No.” Nick tossed him a glare, and Chris knew better than to

challenge him. “We need you in your position. Dark Horse doesn’t
need me.”

“The hell we don’t,” Boulder rasped. “Please, Gust. Think about

what you’re doing.”

“That’s all I’ve been doing.”
“But we’re family.”
Nick set his jaw. “Family doesn’t make one of their own choose

between duty and love. True family supports one another. I’ll register
with another agency, one that won’t have a problem with me and my
choices. Maybe Gaia has an opening.”

“No!” Boulder and Wind said in unison. Boulder went on. “Gust,

she’s pure and unadulterated evil.”

“From where I stand, I’m not feeling that much different toward

Dark Horse right now. At least Gaia wouldn’t try to step in on my
personal life.”

“Why not talk to Flame about that?” Boulder mentioned, a

knowing look in his eye.

“Come on, Chris.”
“Right behind you.” He helped Nick to the front door.
“Taylor, don’t do this.” Wind called out behind them. “Think

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about what this means.”

Nick wobbled outside. Chris turned to face Boulder and Wind as

anger ripped through him, fueling his words. “My father kicked me
out of the house when I told him I was gay and refused to ever speak
to me again until I went to therapy to be “cured,” as he called it. I
never did go, and never did speak to him again. Not a day goes by that
I don’t wish he wouldn’t have allowed his blind ignorance to rule his
actions. He dismissed his only son, all because he was scared. Even
when my sister told me he was dying, I never went back to see him. I
had to hear about his death from the only member of my family still
talking to me.”

Chris swallowed thickly to keep his emotions in check. He’d

never talked about his dad to anyone, but choosing this moment in
time to make his point made sense. It almost broke him to mention his
past, the memory so hard to face, even after all this time.

“Maybe as you watch Nick walk away, you’ll think about how

you let your fear destroy your family like my father did mine.”

“Where will you go?” Wind asked. Chris didn’t miss the mist

glistening his eyes. And yet he still stood there, allowing Nick to
leave.

And Chris knew nothing he said would change their minds. They

might have given up on him, but Chris never would.

He thrust out his chin as he met Wind’s gaze. “Nick will live with

me.”

“Until we get this sorted out,” Boulder added.
“No,” Nick jumped in as he appeared next to Chris. “I’m never

going back. You made your choice and now I’m making mine. I’m
leaving Dark Horse.”

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Chapter 13

For someone who just walked away from the only life he’d ever

known as a caller, Nick Vermont took his resignation from Dark
Horse quite well. Chris only wished he could believe that impervious
armor his sweet lover wore over his true feelings.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked Nick as they stood

outside the morgue. Nick looked ready to collapse, both from the
emotional roller coaster and the lack of sleep.

Nick nodded and drew in a deep breath as he forced his eyes open

wide. “We’re close, Chris. I know we are

that close to solving this

case.”

“And then what?” Chris met that hard, hazel-green gaze he’d

fallen in love with.

“Let’s take this one disaster at a time.” Nick attempted to smile

but failed miserably.

“You know,” Melissa called from behind the double doors, “I can

hear you out there so you might as well come in.”

Chris reached up and touched Nick’s face, running his thumb

along his cheek. Nick kissed Chris’s palm before pushing his hand
down. “Cameras.”

“I don’t care.”
“My career may be over, but I’ll be damned if I let you clobber

yours.”

“Hello?” Melissa sang.
Nick pushed through the double doors first. As soon as Melissa

spotted him, she beamed. Oh, yeah. She liked him, despite what she
said. His sister never smiled at anyone like that unless she approved

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of him. “Nick. Hey there. How are you feeling?”

“I’ve had better days.”
“Talk to me.”
Nick’s eyes shined as he forced a smile. “I just walked away from

the only family that has ever accepted me for both my power and my
choices.”

“Then you are even a bigger man than I originally thought.

Doesn’t make it hurt any less though, does it?”

“No.”
“See? That’s why I like you. You don’t answer with a canned

response like fine or good. I hate that.” She swept her large eyes to
Chris. “And how are you?”

“Fine. Good.”
She shrugged her slender shoulders and grinned at Nick. “You

see? That tells me nothing. At least you’re honest.”

“It’s not in my nature to lie, Dr. Graves.”
“Oh, please. Call me Mel. We’re practically family.” She walked

around the empty table and entered her office. She then returned with
papers and handed them to Chris. “Your report on Newman Sygowitz.
Just like Mr. Edwards, all his internal organs were missing.”

Chris scanned the report and settled on the cause of death. “COD

is undetermined? What about the giant gash splitting him in two?”

“I can’t determine cause of death without all the body parts. Find

me the rest of the vic and I’ll get you a cause of death. Whatever did
happen to birdman? His feet were stuck in Nick’s shoulders, but
where’s the rest of him?”

“Destroyed,” Nick answered, matter-of-factly.
Incredibly, Melissa didn’t argue. That was a first. “Too bad. What

about Richard Edwards? What did he morph into?”

“We think a dragonman.”
She lifted her perfectly penciled brow. “How interesting. Well, if

you find him, I would love to examine him. Imagine the medical
breakthrough.”

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“Mel,” Chris cut in. He saw that troubled look in Nick’s eyes. The

poor guy didn’t need anything else disrupting his life right now. That
pain clouding his expression told enough. “If we find him, we’ll have
to destroy him.”

“Can’t you capture him instead?”
“Mel, think about what this could do to those close to us.” He

nodded toward Nick, who seemed to have taken a special interest in
studying his feet. Chris felt his pain and wished he could take it all
away.

Mel didn’t even look at Nick as her blue eyes flashed at Chris.

“This is a living thing, Chris. Who are we to destroy it?”

“Since when did you give a shit about the living?”
“I’ve always given a shit about the living,” she countered. “That’s

why I do what I do.”

“Please,” Nick said in a soft voice, barely audible. “Don’t fight. I

don’t think I can take another family breaking apart today.”

Melissa wrapped her arm around Nick’s and her expression

immediately softened when she craned her neck to look up in his
eyes. “That’s never going to happen, Nick. Chris and I fight like cats
and dogs. He’s the cat, by the way.”

Nick chuckled, and it gave Chris hope that eventually Nick would

snap out of his depression.

“But I’ll tell you this,” Melissa went on. “Chris is family, and

despite our disagreements, we’ll never turn on each other. Family
sticks together.”

Nick pulled out of her grasp and turned his back to them both as

he squared his shoulders. Despite his exterior, Chris saw the way Nick
struggled to keep his appearance one of strength and nonchalance. He
knew Nick too well. The man battled to keep it together.

“They’re idiots,” Melissa said in that soft voice Chris always

found comfort in. When his dad refused to talk to him, he turned to
his sister. Melissa used that tone to keep him from going insane time
after time.

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But now was not the time for Mel to get all big sister on Nick.
“Mel.” He didn’t want to push Nick over the edge.
She put her hand up to stop him, and he did. Chris hated that he

still allowed his big sister to control him with nothing more than a
hand signal. He was the captain of a homicide unit, for Christ’s sake.

Yet when his sister used that voice and looked at him with that

deep understanding, it hurt too much to fight it.

“They’re in shock, Nick. Think about it. I bet you’ve always been

the easygoing guy, right? You’re the one who never makes waves and
acts as the peacekeeper. Am I right?”

He nodded once.
“And then you went and shocked the shit out of them by finding

your own voice. When the living no longer have a voice, I step in and
become that voice for them. I find the answers that comfort loved
ones and bring closure. I fight for the dead because they can no longer
fight for themselves.”

Wow. Chills washed up Chris’s spine. He’d never heard his sister

speak with such conviction about her work before.

“You fought today, Nick.”
He turned to her as a bitter chuckle rumbled from him. “Yeah, but

will I win?”

“You already have.”
The shrill ring of a phone broke into their conversation. Nick

pulled his phone out of his pocket, rolled his eyes, and killed the
ringer.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Chris asked.
“No” was all Nick said. Chris didn’t push it.
His phone rang again. Nick silenced the ring and then turned his

phone off.

And then Chris’s phone rang.
“Don’t answer that.”
“I have to.” He didn’t have the option to turn off his ringer. It was

overly exhausting to have to be on call twenty-four-seven. Not for the

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first time, he wondered if accepting his position was all worth it.
Chris brought it to his ear. “Captain Taylor.”

“Where’s Gust?”
Chris recognized Burns’s snarling voice. “Good morning, Burns.”
“Cut the shit. Where is he?”
Chris rested his gaze on Nick. “He’s right here.”
“I want to talk to him.”
“If he wanted to talk to you, he would have answered his phone.”
“This is bullshit, Taylor. He can’t just quit Dark Horse.”
“I think he already did.” Chris glanced down at the report in his

hands to stop himself from staring at Nick.

“I will send agents in to retrieve him if I have to.”
“And expose your callers? No, you won’t.”
“The fuck I won’t. You don’t steal from me. Ever.”
Chris tried to ignore the skip in his pulse. He really didn’t want

the head of Dark Horse angry with him. Not only was Burns a
powerful fire caller, he had a hell of a temper. It sounded like Chris
had triggered it.

“I’m sorry, Burns. I can’t help you.”
“Put Gust on the phone.”
“No.”
“I’m not joking with you, Taylor. If I don’t talk to him—”
Nick took the phone from Chris much like he did when they

talked to Bear.

“I’m here.” Nick remained silent as he made several different

facial expressions in reaction to whatever Burns said. “When? And
you won’t try anything? Fine. I’ll be there.” He handed the phone
back to Chris. “He wants to talk to you.”

Chris lifted the phone to his ear. “Yeah?”
“I’m sending Flame and Torch back to that burned-up house. This

time, I’m coming with them and I’m bringing backup.”

“Backup?”
“Char will be with me. If that thing is there, not only will she

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sense it, she’ll stop it.”

“Do you think it’s safe bringing a child into this?” That didn’t

sound like a good idea at all. Chris looked at Nick, who shook his
head. He clearly didn’t like the idea, either.

“Don’t pretend you give a shit about any of the other callers,

Taylor. You made that clear when you decided to break up this
family.”

The line went dead.
Chris tucked his phone away and sighed. “Looks like we are

taking another trip back to that torched house.”

“I’m coming with you,” Melissa declared, her eyes bright and her

smile wide.

“Hell, no.” Chris wouldn’t allow it. Not only did she not have the

training to be in the field during a possible altercation, she was his
only family left. He wouldn’t let her be anywhere near the line of fire.

“Why not? What if someone gets hurt? I could help.”
“No you can’t. You’re the ME. We bring them to you after they

no longer need medical attention.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” she corrected as her smile faded

and her expression changed. She set her chin and looked at him, that
blazing determination in her eyes. He knew he’d never be able to talk
her out of it.

“Mel, I can’t.”
“Let me put it this way. If you don’t let me go with you, I’ll report

the DNA on the feather and the scale.”

Chris’s stomach dropped as he stared at her, his mouth open.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

She spiked her brow. “Try me.”
“Bring whatever you need for burns.” Nick spun around and

headed for the double doors. He grabbed his phone and brought it to
his ear. “And I call shotgun.”

Chris hurried after him. “Who are you calling?”
“I’m letting Burns know we’ve got a plus one as well.”

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“As well?”
“No doubt he’s letting Lee come along. At least Mel can keep him

back while we go in and capture this son of a bitch.”

* * * *

Nick slowly stepped out of the car so not to piss off all his injured

body parts. He ignored the skip in his chest when he spotted Burns
standing there with Flame and Torch. And, of course, Lee. Char stood
next to Lee and held his hand.

Burns chopped up the space between them fast with his stocky

legs, his hazel glare penetrating right through Nick. Still, Nick stood
his ground. He refused to allow Burns to intimidate him into backing
down.

“You are not leaving Dark Horse,” he ordered in his usual, pissed-

off tone.

“Burns,” Chris started, but Nick put up his hand.
“I’ve got this.”
Chris nodded and stepped back. He then exchanged a look with

Melissa as they stood off to the side, but close enough so that Nick
felt them. It warmed him knowing he at least had some mode of
family willing to stand by him no matter what.

“I’m not leaving Chris,” Nick countered.
“You two haven’t even known each other a week.”
“So?”
“Gust,” Burns started, then stopped when he shot Chris and his

sister a glare. “Do you mind? This is private.”

“When it comes to Nick, I do mind.” Chris set his jaw. “I won’t

let you hurt him anymore.”

“Me? This is all your doing, Taylor. He was fine before he met

you.”

Melissa stepped forward. “Don’t talk to him like this is anyone’s

fault but your own.”

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“Who the hell are you?”
“My name is Dr. Melissa Graves. I’m one of the MEs.”
“No one’s dead.”
“The day is young, Burns. Maybe we’ll get lucky.” She tilted her

head as she smiled.

He narrowed his glare at her as he audibly growled.
“I’m here,” Nick said, drawing Burns’s attention back. “Why do

you need me?”

Burns’s expression changed, softened, as he dropped his gaze as

well as his tone. “I need you, okay?”

Hearing Burns’s declaration shocked the shit out of Nick. Burns

never admitted his feelings. “Why?”

Burns shot another look toward Chris and Melissa, who listened in

with great interest. He then lowered his gaze once again. “I’m losing
them, Gust.”

“Who?”
“Them. The rest of the callers. I’m losing control of this agency

and I don’t know what to do. If I don’t have you there to help me keep
the peace, I’m going to lose them. If Dixon only knew what a fucked-
up leader I’d turn out to be, he would have never left the agency to
me.” Burns glanced up into Nick’s eyes and held his gaze. “Please
don’t leave. If you do, I know they will, too.”

For the first time since Nick had met Burns, he saw fear in the fire

caller’s hard hazel eyes. “You have your senior callers to keep the
peace.”

“But you’re the glue with the junior callers. Boulder, Wind,

Flood, Pipe…They’re all senior callers. They’ve left the nest, so to
speak. I need someone like you at Dark Horse. The junior callers
don’t connect with them the way they connect with you. I’m making
you a senior caller.”

Shock racked his body for a second time. Since coming to Dark

Horse, all he wanted was to be made a senior caller. Now, having him
win the title in an attempt to keep him at the agency only pissed him

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off. “No thanks.”

Burns looked at him. “Excuse me?”
“I want to earn the title, not have it handed to me in some pathetic

attempt to reward me if I stayed on.”

“God

damn it, Gust.”

“Let’s get this over with.” Nick stepped aside and walked around

Burns to meet up with the rest of the callers. As instructed, Chris and
Melissa stayed back.

He nodded at Lee. “You should join Chris and Melissa.”
“The weeple section, I presume?”
Nick smiled. “Yeah.”
Lee released Char’s hand and had her stand next to Flame and

Torch. He then pulled Nick away from them. “Let me ask you
something, since Jake won’t tell me anything. Is this thing that seems
to have everyone so freaked out really Ricky?”

“The birdman used to be Newman Sygowitz,” Nick answered.

“The ME confirmed that with DNA. It goes to figure that this thing is
Richard Edwards.”

“I don’t believe it.”
“You don’t have to.” Nick met Lee’s kind, dark eyes. “You do

realize what we’ll have to do, don’t you?”

Lee nodded and blinked away glistening tears. “It’s really unfair,

isn’t it? Life, I mean. We spend our entire life in the pursuit of
happiness. Once we find it, we have to fight to keep it.”

Nick watched him, reading more in his words than he actually

said. “As long as it’s worth fighting for.”

Nailing him with an intense look, Lee said, “Everything worth a

damn is worth fighting for, Gust. Everything.”

“Even if that means fighting those closest to you?”
“Sometimes it’s those closest to you that put up the biggest fight.

When Jake and I first met, I knew I’d be with him forever. I also
knew he’d fight me every step of the way. But, in the end, I won.”

Nick glanced off in Chris’s direction and immediately felt the

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warmth spread through his body. “Is it worth it?”

“I’m not going to lie to you and say every day is like paradise. We

fight. Jake storms off. I cry like a little girl. He snores. I pace in the
middle of the night and wake him up. He bitches and orders me to
come back to bed. Sometimes it can be hard.”

Blowing out a breath, Nick tore his gaze away from Chris and

rested it on Lee. “You aren’t making a very compelling argument,
Lee. So far I’ve learned that you and Burns fight all the time and that
it’s hard to be with him. How’s that in any way comforting?”

“Does he make you smile? Do you get that weird flutter in your

belly when you hear his voice or see him walk into a room? When
you hurt, does he try to take it away and make it better? When he
hurts, do you hurt, too? Is he the last thing you think about before you
fall asleep and the first thing you think about when you wake? And,
ultimately, despite everything else, does he make you happy?”

“Yes.” Nick grinned and added, “To all the above.”
“Fight, Gust. Don’t you dare give up. Not on Dark Horse. Not on

Captain Taylor. You deserve your happily ever after and I believe it
involves both.”

Oh how Nick wanted to believe him. It pushed up his heart rate at

the very thought of being with Chris while still being a member of
Dark Horse. “But Burns made it very clear.”

“Then fight him.”
Nick darted a shocked glance to Lee. Was he asking Nick to fight

the head of Dark Horse?

“He’s a wonderful man and is doing the best he can, but no one’s

perfect.”

Nick remained silent as he mulled over everything Lee had said.
Lee stared off toward Burns as his expression grew somber. “I

loved him at one time.”

Nick’s eyes grew wide as he darted a glance at Burns. What about

everything he’d just preached about? “Are you saying you and Burns
aren’t—”

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“No,” Lee corrected quickly. “I’m talking about Ricky. Sorry. I

tend to jump to new subjects pretty quickly. I love Jake more than
anything and hate that he’s in yet another dangerous situation because
of me. I always thought it would be my life in danger being in love
with a fire caller. Now I see it’s the other way around.”

“How so?” That same fear kept a constant doubt in the back of

Nick’s mind. As a powerful air caller, if he got carried away with
Chris, he could seriously hurt him.

Lee looked at him, those dark eyes searching his. “You weren’t

around when Sergio took Char and me to that warehouse. Jake almost
died saving me. Now he’s chasing a man from my past that I made the
mistake of mentioning something to.”

Nick stiffened, his preoccupation on his own problems gone. “So

you did talk to Ricky about us?”

“It was only a comment.” Lee sighed and lifted his gaze to the

sky. “It was stupid, really. After my attack, I told Ricky the man that
attacked me had the power to control fire. I didn’t think anything of it
at the time. I didn’t even know about Dark Horse back then, but once
Ricky gets something in his head, there’s no stopping him.”

Nick didn’t know whether to feel sorry for Lee that he was about

to watch the demise of a former lover, or to be pissed as hell at him
for saying anything about the agents at Dark Horse.

He glanced over his shoulder and nodded for Chris to join them.

Nick waited until Chris approached and stopped next to him. They
exchanged looks, and Chris seemed to understand what Nick needed
him to do.

Chris’s expression hardened as he settled into cop mode. “Hello,

Lee.”

“Captain.”
“Lee was just explaining how he told Richard Edwards about our

ability to call elements.”

Chris didn’t even blink as he turned his attention to Lee. Damn,

did Nick’s admiration of this man jump about a thousand pegs.

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“So he created that device because you told him about the

callers?”

“The

original device,” Lee corrected. “I begged him to let it go

and he swore to me that he did.” He lowered his head as his shoulders
sagged. “Now I can see that he lied. I’m so sorry. Jake knows. I’ve
told him everything.”

“When was the last time to you talked to Richard Edwards?”
“I think it was right around Memorial Day. He called and begged

for my help. He kept saying how the elements were after him. He
talked about them like they were alive.”

Chris’s eyes flashed as Lee spoke. Something he said triggered

Chris’s interest. “Did you find him hard to reach after that?”

“Yeah. He would text me in the middle of the night, asking me to

meet him for coffee. When I’d get the message the next day, I’d text
back and not get a response until the next night.”

Chris nodded in understanding, which had Nick wondering just

how much Chris knew about this case that he hadn’t shared. The news
of Richard Edwards suddenly becoming a night owl didn’t seem to
surprise Chris at all.

“When did the texting stop?”
“About a week ago after he called me.”
“What was the last thing he said to you?”
With a long sigh, Lee pinched the skin above his eyes. “He told

me that someone else had also created a prototype. He swore it wasn’t
him.”

“But he created it once. Couldn’t he create it again?”
Lee shook his head. “Flame and Torch destroyed all of his

research. It would take him years to get to this point, or so I thought.
Newman witnessed Flame’s call, so maybe they had a breakthrough.”

Chris nodded and Nick swore he watched those wheels turning in

his mind. Chris was following another hunch. “But you don’t think he
created this device?”

“Ricky played it safe. When Flame and Torch destroyed his work

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last year, he said that was it. He would never have anything to do with
controlling elements.”

“And how did Ricky sound when you talked to him?”
Lee snapped his brow into a frown as he thought about that.

“Different.”

“Different how?”
“He seemed agitated, and when I asked him what was wrong,

that’s when he said the elements were after him. He wouldn’t go into
any more detail than that.”

“So he called you to tell you about the prototype that someone

else created, yet he somehow got his hands on.”

“I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve never known Ricky to lie to me.

He has no reason to.”

“Except that he was still in love with you.”
Lee blinked at Chris as he lost his color. “What? W–Why would

you say that?”

Chris had a knowing look on his face as his answer. Nick watched

in awe as Chris broke down Lee’s story, layer by layer. The suspicion
dripped from his tone. “Do I really need to answer that?”

Lee shook his head and lowered his gaze.
“I’m going to have to ask a very difficult question, Lee. It’s not

personal, but I have to ask.”

“No, I wasn’t sleeping with Ricky,” Lee snapped. “We were just

friends.”

“And he didn’t say anything else?”
“He did say one thing.”
“And that is?”
Lee rested his gaze on Burns again as he seemed to lose himself in

his memory. “He said he wanted to be more like Jake so he could get
me back.” His eyes swelled, and when he blinked, tears streamed
down his face. “He did this because of me. He turned himself into a
monster because of

me.”

“No.” Chris put his hand on Lee’s shoulder. “He did this because

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him. You remember that, Lee. This was Ricky’s doing, not yours.

You didn’t use the device on him. He used it on himself.”

Lee pulled in a deep breath and cleared his throat. “I can’t believe

what a basket case I am.”

“The man you love is about to fight the man you used to love.

That’s enough to make anyone a basket case.”

Nodding, Lee smiled at Chris. “Thank you. For what it’s worth, I

think the agents are wrong. You two deserve every bit of happiness
that they do. Don’t let them convince you otherwise.”

“Tell that to your pigheaded husband,” Nick rasped.
“He’s not my husband. Well, at least not yet. I’ll keep asking until

he finally realizes I’m the best thing to ever happen to him and says
yes.”

Nick and Chris stole glances at each other. Nick’s heart lurched at

the way those blue eyes glimmered at him.

“Come on, Lee. We should probably take our backseat away from

the action. Let’s let the callers do their job.” Chris nodded for Lee to
follow him.

Lee shrugged and accepted it. He really was the yin to Burns’s

yang.

Char stared at Nick as he walked over to join the other callers. He

hated when she studied him like that and knew she had to be reading
his mind.

“Are you really leaving?”
Nick looked at her. “Not now, Char.”
“Why do you want to leave?”
He glanced around at the other callers. Flame and Torch both

watched him, waiting for his answer. Burns joined them, and he, too,
seemed to wait for his answer.

“We’re family,” she pushed.
“She’s right.” Flame and Torch both nodded as they spoke in

unison.

“Can we focus, please?” Burns studied the sky. “Does this thing

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fly?”

“I certainly hope not.” Nick shrugged slightly and winced from

the dull throb in his shoulders and ribs. “I don’t want to go through
that again.”

“Maybe it’ll want a fire caller this time,” Flame offered. “I’m

game.”

“Me, too.” Torch grinned.
“Me, three.” Char nodded enthusiastically.
“No!” Nick and Burns yelled at her at the same time. She jumped

back as her eyes immediately flooded with giant tears. She hated
getting yelled at. When her lower lip quivered, it just about killed
Nick.

“Sweetheart,” Nick started. “I’m sorry, but you—”
“You’re mean.”
“Char, enough of this.” Burns shook his head. “You have to

understand that sometimes you are going to be told that you can’t do
something. You are going to have to accept that.”

She turned her wide-eyed attention to Burns. “You’re mean, too.”
“Then I’m mean.”
After darting her attention between Burns and Nick, Char then

shook her head. “I want Boulder.”

“He’s not here.”
“Get him.”
“Char,” Burns growled. She usually warmed his tone. This time,

she seemed to only irritate him. “He’s not coming.”

“But I want him.”
“No!”
She gasped and jumped back when Burns barked at her. “I don’t

like it here!”

“Stop this, Char.”
“You’re being mean!”
“God

damn it!” Both of Burns’s arms immediately burst into

flames, something he frequently did when his anger took over. He had

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to have some way to release the rage.

“Are you seriously going to attack a child?” Nick jumped in front

of Char and faced Burns. “What in the hell is the matter with you?”

“I feel it,” Torch said. He and Flame exchanged looks and gave

each other a nod. “Something’s off. I’m getting agitated.”

“He’s right,” Flame added. “I feel it, too.”
And here Nick stood dead center in the middle of a group of

pissed-off fire callers. “It’s your element. I felt it, too, when I was at
the house, and then again here before that birdman grabbed me.”

Burns killed his call and dropped his shoulders. “Char.”
“You’re mean,” she whimpered, apparently oblivious to the chaos

her element caused.

“You don’t want to be here,” Nick repeated as he turned to her.

“Why don’t you like it here?”

“He’s sad. I can feel it. And he’s also mad that we’re here. He

doesn’t like it.”

“Where is he?”
“Close.” She crinkled her tiny face into a tight frown. “I’m

scared.”

Nick glanced at Burns. Char never admitted her fear, which meant

she had to be pretty damn scared.

“I won’t let him get you.” Burns moved to her side, and she turned

to hug him.

“I’m still mad at you.”
“Stay mad, Char.” Burns glanced up at the sky, searching it for the

cause of the angst. “It’ll keep you on your toes.”

“I don’t want to be on my toes. I like my feet.”
God, how Nick loved that girl. He looked at Burns. “What are we

going to do when it gets here?”

“I’m hoping we’ll beat it.”
“And if we don’t?”
Burns didn’t answer as his eyes grew wide. Nick followed his

gaze to spot something flying right at them. It looked like a cross

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between Godzilla and a pterodactyl, but on a smaller scale. Like the
birdman, it appeared to be the size of a man, not a monster.

Oh, but how it looked like a monster. Those greenish-gray scales

covered its entire body, and as it drew closer, it even looked to have
those freaky lizard eyes. It flew past them and landed on the other
side of the house, out of their sight—and the sight of the road.

“Holy shit,” Burns muttered.
This time Char didn’t reprimand him on his use of a cuss word.

He took her hand and pulled her to him.

“Burns, I don’t want to go. Don’t make me go.”
Burns looked down at her. “You know you’re the strongest caller

we have, right?”

“Y–Yes.”
“Right now I need you to find your strongest call.”
“Which one?”
“Which one do you want to focus on?”
She glanced up at him. “Fire is mad. It makes me feel bad right

now. I don’t like it.”

Nick took her other hand. “How about air?”
She nodded and huffed out a small breath. “Okay.”
“You two ready?”
Flame and Torch forced smiles at Burns’s question.
They weren’t any more ready than the rest of them.
“Let’s do this.” Burns led the pack around the charred ruins of the

house and over to the gate leading into the backyard. Of course
there’d be a six-foot privacy fence. That way, when the dragonman
killed them all, no one would see it.

Nick glanced over his shoulder to see Chris not too far off, his

weapon drawn. Their gazes met, and Nick gave him a shake of his
head to tell him to stay back. He knew Chris wouldn’t listen, but he
had to try.

“ I love you

” Chris mouthed. Either that or he said “olive juice.”

Nick went with the first choice.

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“ I love you

” Nick mouthed back. They weren’t idiots and knew

the dangers involved. Although not ideal, this could be the only time
they ever got the chance to tell each other.

And then he walked through the gate.

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Chapter 14

Chris stared as Nick disappeared behind that damn fence, sure

he’d just watched his future walk away. He debated following him
back there, but knew he’d have hell to pay if he did. He might have
shot down that birdman, but he had no idea if the scales on that
dragonman would even allow a bullet through.

“Char! No!” Burns screamed.
And Chris sprang into action.
He ran to the fence and had the gate open just as a flame the size

of the house came at him. He slammed the gate closed just in time.
The flame caught the fence on fire, but spared Chris. He jumped back
when another flame flashed.

And then another.
Soon the entire backyard seemed to light up with fire. Chris

retreated further, and more of the fence was engulfed. As it burned,
Chris witnessed the battle unfold.

The callers surrounded the dragonman. It blew fire out of its

mouth at them, but Nick brought his hand up and blocked the attacks
with his air call. Burns hurled a fireball at the dragonman, and it
roared as the flames slammed into it. Spinning, it spread its winged
arms and spit fire at Burns.

Flame and Torch ran behind it and attacked, throwing everything

they had at it. The dragonman whipped around and threw flames back
as it roared.

That sound sent chills racing up Chris’s spine. It was inhuman,

and yet it sounded like a cry. The noise thundered through the air, and
it threw its head back, spewing fire all around them. The fire callers

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didn’t seem to notice, but Nick grimaced as the flames hit him.

No.

No! That thing would kill Nick if Chris didn’t do something.

Chris got as close as he could without the fire hitting him and

readied his weapon. The safety now off, he took aim.

“Come on, come on,” he chanted under his breath as he waited for

a clear shot. He couldn’t see anything through the flames and heat
vapors. “Damn it.”

He lowered his weapon.
The dragonman bellowed, and Chris lifted his gun, waiting once

again. He couldn’t see a damn thing and snuck a few more feet
toward the battle. The heat seared into him, covering his body in a
deep film of sweat. He shuddered and blamed the sweat mixing with
the air, and not the fear plunging through his body.

“Char? Char? Where are you? No!” Burns hollered, and Chris’s

blood slowed. Dear God, please don’t let that thing hurt the girl.

“Gust!”
Chris straightened up at the sound of Nick’s code name. What

about him? Was that thing attacking him? He hated this and took
another step closer to get a better look.

“Get that air field up, Gust.”
“I’m trying. Its call is draining me.”
A fire caller draining an air caller? Chris had never heard of that.

But, then again, he’d never seen a man morph into a dragon before.

“Us, too,” Flame, or Torch, said.
“Shit. You won’t take my family, you son of a bitch!” Burns

roared.

Chris saw a flash, and then the monster bellowed out in pain.
And then Burns did the same, screaming as the beast must have

done something in return.

Chris couldn’t wait. The agents were being overpowered by that

thing. He had to do something. The flames died down, and he saw
Torch and Flame holding each other up. Burns held Char close to
him. They all dripped from the sweat of the heat and the battle, and all

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looked exhausted.

The thing had Nick backed into the corner, and the wide look in

Nick’s eyes told Chris everything he needed to know. If he didn’t do
something right here, right now, he’d lose Nick forever.

Chris thought back to the days he used to hunt with his father and

took aim. Maybe the anatomy of a dragon matched that of a deer. He
could only hope.

When he got off the shot, hitting the dragonman right below the

shoulder, into the torso where Chris hoped the heart resided, the
dragonman stumbled to the side from the impact.

It then turned to Chris and screamed out a roar as fire flew from

its mouth.

And then it sprinted toward him.
Oh shit.
Chris fired shot after shot, emptying his clip into the monster and

still, it didn’t slow. By the time he pulled the trigger and heard the
heart-stopping

click announcing he had no bullets left, it was too late.

The dragonman flew up and slammed its feet into Chris, knocking

him to the ground. It pulled in a breath, and Chris braced himself for
the pain of being burned alive.

“Ricky!”
The beast froze and jumped off Chris as it turned to face Lee. It

cocked its head as Lee approached. Chris saw several bullet holes in
the torso, all seeping dark-red streams of blood. He must have missed
all the vital organs—if there were any. Still, it was losing a hell of a
lot of blood. No way would it live through those wounds, not without
medical attention.

He thought of his sister and quickly dismissed the idea. He didn’t

want her anywhere near that thing.

“Lee,” Chris muttered, unable to catch his breath. “Get out of

here.”

Lee either didn’t hear him or didn’t care of the dangers. Either

way, he continued to approach the monster, his hand up.

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“Ricky? Is that really you?”
The dragonman kicked at the ground as it danced in agitation. It

rumbled a growl and shook its head. Chris scrambled away from its
sharp claws as images of the way the birdman impaled Nick with its
talons flashed in his mind.

“Char!”
Chris pushed himself up and tried to run around the dragonman to

stop Char from getting any closer. The dragonman reached out and
slammed Chris back to the ground. It then took a step toward him.
This thing definitely did not like him.

“Stop!” Char cried. “You can’t hurt him.”
It turned to Char and roared in protest. Her hair flew away from

her face from the wind its breath caused.

Yet she didn’t back down.
“Why do you hate us?”
The dragonman cocked its head at her. She tilted hers in return as

she stared at it. It staggered but caught itself. The loss of blood
definitely had it weakening more every second.

“Ricky,” Lee whimpered.
“He’s mad,” Char announced. “You weren’t supposed to be here,

Lee. He hates callers.”

“But I am here. Ricky, look at me.”
The beast did and beat at the ground with its clawed feet. It

rumbled and grumbled, but didn’t screech at Lee.

Lee took a step toward him. “Ricky, what are you doing? This

isn’t you. You don’t hurt people. All you’ve ever wanted to do is help
people.”

Char jerked her attention to the dragonman. “You can’t love him.

He’s like my dad. He’s with Burns.”

“Ricky,” Lee said as his voice shook. This had to be tearing him

apart, seeing the man he used to love turn into this monster and
knowing what he had to do. It was either destroy what Richard
Edwards had become or have it destroy Lee’s family.

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The dragonman made noises as Lee took another step toward it. It

retreated a step and growled, low and menacing.

“But you’re mean,” Char pointed out. “You’re lying. I won’t tell

him that.”

Lee turned to Char. “What does he want you to say?”
Char shook her head. “He makes no sense.”
“Just tell me what he’s thinking.”
Char wouldn’t stop shaking her head. “No. It makes no sense.”

She reached up and fisted her hair as she cried out. “Stop it! I told you
no. No!”

She then screamed and shook her head vehemently as it looked

like the thing attacked her with its thoughts. “Make it stop. Make it
stop!”

“I’ll take it from here.”
Chris could have cried to see Boulder and Wind hurry over.
Char immediately calmed as she looked at Boulder. “She’s inside

my head, Boulder.”

She?
Boulder kept his intense green eyes on the dragonman as he

addressed Char. “Char, I want you to go to Burns. Now.”

She didn’t hesitate and ran off.
Boulder lifted his chin as he stopped next to Chris and helped him

to his feet.

“It’s about time,” Chris muttered.
“Better late than never.” Boulder pushed Chris behind him just as

Nick stumbled out from behind the house. “Gust, get behind me.”

He did, running into Chris’s arms. Thank God. It felt so good to

hold him again.

But they weren’t out of the woods just yet.
The dragonman slammed its feet into the ground, clearly agitated

at Boulder’s presence. It roared long and loud as it drew in a breath,
no doubt preparing to spew fire.

“If you so much as cough in my direction, I will end you, right

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here, right now, before you get the chance to tell Lee a damn thing.
No, I’m talking to Ricky. I don’t give a shit what you want. This is
Ricky’s time, not yours.”

Chris and Nick exchanged glances.
It stopped and cocked its head at Boulder. After several seconds,

Boulder nodded in return.

“Lee, Ricky wants to tell you how sorry he is for this and how he

never wanted any of this to happen. He didn’t create the device that
did this.”

“Then who did?” Chris asked. Boulder looked at him and Chris

knew that whoever was responsible for this, did it on purpose. He
read it in Boulder’s eyes. Someone wanted to turn this man into a
monster.

Boulder turned back to the dragonman and nodded. “He says it’s

too late for him.”

“What?” Lee jerked his gaze to Boulder as he spoke, and then

back to Ricky. “We can find a way to fix this.”

“No,” Boulder said as he translated Ricky’s thoughts into words.

“We can’t. He’s too far gone. He is barely hanging on to what little
control I can find inside his head. He says the only way to fix this is to
kill him.”

“Ricky, please. There’s got to be another way.”
“Kill me,” Boulder said for Ricky. “He’s saying that in his mind,

over and over. That’s what he wants. This thing he’s become is a
prison. He wants it over.”

Boulder then stiffened as he studied the dragonman for several

seconds. “Is that so? Yes, he did kill Newman. Killing the captain in
return isn’t how it works, Ricky. Or is it Ricky I’m really talking to
right now?”

Oh shit. Chris looked at Nick. Nick pulled him closer and shook

his head. “I won’t let him touch you again. I’ll die before he hurts
you.”

That was exactly what had Chris ready to pass out.

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“And then what?” Lee asked as he stepped forward. “What

happens after you kill the captain? Will you kill Jake, too?”

Boulder shook his head and glared at the dragonman. “The hell

you will. This is my family and we’ve already proved to you once that
you don’t fuck with family. Release this man and let him go with
dignity.”

Chris frowned and darted a quick glance at Nick, who looked just

as confused as Chris felt. Boulder seemed to be having two different
conversations with the dragonman.

The dragonman threw its head back and screamed, and the pain in

that sound would forever be burned into Chris’s mind. It flew up into
the air, faltered, then fell to the ground as the wounds from Chris’s
shots oozed blood. It collapsed and seemed to labor its breathing.

It was dying.
Melissa ran over, her medical instincts no doubt kicking in. Nick

and Chris caught her and held her between them. Tears melted from
her eyes as she watched the dragonman lying on the ground, bleeding
out.

“Tell me,” Boulder said as he knelt next to it. “No. I want to talk

to Ricky.” After several seconds, Boulder gave it a nod and stood. “I
promise.”

He turned to Lee. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” Lee bounced his gaze to the dragonman and shook his

head as he cried, “No. No, Ricky. Please.”

Boulder nodded at Wind, who walked up and stood next to him.

They joined hands and both closed their eyes. Boulder then raised his
free hand. The sky above them rumbled and cracked as it immediately
darkened. And then, out of the black clouds, a bolt of lightning shot
out, striking the dragonman.

The life drained from it, and it fell back, dead and finally free.
“No!” Lee tried to reach for it, but Nick stopped him. “Let me go,

Gust. No! Ricky!”

Lee screamed in his grief as he collapsed against Nick and

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sobbed. It was the second time he’d lost Ricky in less than a week.

“Lee?” Burns came stumbling out from behind the house with the

help of Char. Lee blinked at him and released a heart-wrenching sob.

“He’s gone, Jake.”
“He was gone a long time before now, baby.” Burns pulled Lee

into his arms. Char wrapped her tiny arms around them both as best
she could.

Melissa stared at the remains of Richard Edwards, dragonman, as

silent tears streamed down her face. “It’s so sad. He may have turned
into a monster, but he was still human somewhere in there.”

Chris hugged his sister as she cried on his shoulder.
Boulder kept hold of Wind’s hand as he looked at his husband.

“You okay?”

“You drained me. Again. I really hate transferring my call to you.

I won’t be able to call for hours now.”

“Let me help,” Nick offered and stepped up to Wind. They looked

at each other before Wind nodded at him. Nick grabbed Wind’s
hands, and the air immediately thickened. Chris pushed the air in and
out of his lungs as he watched his sweet lover call and regenerate
Wind. The color came back to Wind’s cheeks.

“Better,” he breathed and smiled at Nick. “Thank you.”
Nick nodded and turned away, but Wind stopped him and turned

him back. “We were wrong, Gust. It took about a second for us to
realize that. If we can fight our own elements to be together, then you
can fight yours. We promise not to get in your way.”

“It’s about damn time.”

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Chapter 15

“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Nick nodded as he shoved the last of his things into his bag. He

glanced around the cabin he’d called home since he learned to call
and held in the swirl of emotions before they took over. He’d labored
enough over his decision.

He took Chris’s hand. “It’s time for me to move on.”
Chris squeezed his hand before lifting it and kissing Nick’s

knuckles as he rested those dancing blue eyes on him. “You don’t
have to leave, Nick. I already said I’m more than willing to transfer.”

“No, I need to do this. For me. For us. “ He dropped the back onto

the bed.

“You’re braver than I am,” Chris stated. “It’s one of the many

things I love about you, Nick Vermont.”

“I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love you,” Nick

declared aloud. They hadn’t stopped saying those three magical words
to each other since the day they took out the dragonman.

“I think last night you more than showed me, but I’ll never get

tired of hearing it.” Chris kissed him and let their lips linger against
each other.

“Ah, jeez.” Pipe walked into the cabin. “Do you two have to do

that right now?”

“Don’t give me shit,” Nick barked back. “I caught you and Skye

in a much more precarious position a couple weeks ago down by the
water.”

Pipe shrugged and grinned as he seemed to lose himself in the

memory. “Yeah, that man has amazing balance. He’s flexible, too.”

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“Okay, okay.” Nick laughed and tossed his bag at him. “Here.

Take this out to the truck.”

“I’ll take it up to the house,” Pipe countered as he threw it over his

shoulder. “Boulder made some frilly shit that I haven’t had since this
gala thing he held when Skye and I first met. I’m dying to have it
again. If you’re late, you know Char will have it all eaten.”

Nick knew that for a fact. For someone so tiny, she could eat

twice her body weight and then some at every meal.

Chris and Nick held hands as they walked up to the main house.

The warmth from the summer day melted into Nick, and he smiled. It
felt good, felt right, to start over. He just wished he didn’t have to
leave Dark Horse. They were his family.

“You know, something is still eating at me about that day,” Chris

said.

“The mindreading, right?” Nick already knew what seemed to be

bothering Chris. It bothered the hell out of him, too. “Who do you
suppose he was arguing with when he kept trying to get Ricky?”

“The monster he’d become, maybe?”
“Maybe, but I think it’s something more.” Nick stared off to the

horizon as he sorted out his thoughts. He didn’t want to scare Chris,
but after seeing what hiding something did to Lee and Burns, Nick
refused to keep secrets from Chris. “If you remember back when you
questioned Torch and Flame, he said he wasn’t in control, like
someone had taken over his mind.”

“He didn’t say it exactly like that, but yeah, I know where you’re

going with this. Do you think Gaia had something to do with this?
You don’t have to answer. I see it there in your eyes. What is it about
her that seems to have all you agents so scared?”

“We’re not scared,” Nick defended quickly as his ego refused to

allow him admit fear. “It’s just that you haven’t seen what she’s
capable of. She killed Dixon, Chris. She would have killed Boulder if
Dixon hadn’t stopped her.”

“So how is she involved in this?”

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147

Nick shook his head. “I have no idea but as soon as we can get

Boulder alone, let’s ask him.”

“Deal.”
They walked in through the back door that led into the kitchen.

Callers all lined the island to get a taste of Boulder’s amazing
cooking. The place buzzed with activity. Laughing. Teasing. And,
since both Pipe and Burns were in the same room, fighting.

“Because it’s a stupid idea,” Burns barked at Pipe.
“It’s only stupid because I came up with it.”
Nick shook his head. Their fights always started with those two

phrases. He squeezed Chris’s hand and nodded for him to get out of
the line of fire before the two opposite callers got into it.

“You know, you really are a pain in my ass, Pipe.”
“Yeah, but you love me anyway, Burnsy.”
Burns turned beet red. He hated when Pipe called him that. “Only

because I can’t kill you.”

Nick looked around the room. “Where’s Char?”
“She’s having a girl’s night in Brooke’s cabin.”
Brooke, the only other female caller at the Farm, had been

spending a lot of time with Char lately. Char seemed to shy away
from the men in the agency and only wanted to talk to Brooke. Nick
assumed Char was starting to become a little lady.

“Just the two of them?”
“No. Melissa is with them.” Burns tossed Chris a glare. “It seems

your sister has made herself quite at home with the lady callers.”

Chris shrugged. “That’s Mel. She’ll invite herself to anything.”
“Oh no,” Burns corrected. “Char invited her. Those two have

become bosom buddies. When they aren’t texting, they’re on the
phone together.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“It’s weird.”
Chris squared his shoulders. “Why? Because Mel is talking to her

like the little adult she wants to be, or because she’s connecting with

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Char in a way you’ll never be able to?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“She’s a girl, dumb-ass.” Pipe rolled his eyes. “Char is dealing

with girl stuff that only another girl would understand. The fact that
Melissa is a doctor also helps. Get it?”

Burns widened his eyes and then curled his lip. “Yeah.”
“Just tell me we don’t have to start shopping for bras and

tampons.” Lee stopped next to Burns and leaned his head on the fire
caller’s shoulder.

“You got it half right,” Boulder spoke up from the gathering of

pots and pans he had on the stove.

Burns and Lee both groaned.
Boulder announced dinner and refused to let anyone dish out their

own meal. Presentation was everything, he always said, and served
everyone after ensuring each and every plate was as perfect as it could
be.

Once they were all seated at the island, the real conversation

started.

Boulder looked at Nick. “Are you sure another agency is the

answer?”

Nick nodded and ignored the pinch in his gut. He didn’t want to

leave and would do just about anything to stay—except leave Chris.
“This is the way it has to be. I love you guys. You know that. But I’ve
already checked into this other agency and they are more like the
protector of our environment without the tree-hugger shit. They’re
called out for wildfires and poisonous-gas leaks and stuff. Basically,
anything that can hurt the public at large. Instead of tracking down the
evil that lives within us all, we stop the evils that could destroy the
world.”

“Sounds heavy,” Pipe commented. “I want in. Let’s hope there’s

some cute callers to get some of these juniors to branch out into the
wild. We need to mix things up. What, Burns? Don’t look at me like
that. It sounds cool. It’s much better than ridding the world of the bad

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149

guys, one crime at a time. Think about it. We could be like that one
cartoon. You know, the one where all those kids fight to save the
environment. That’s how we’ll really save the world.”

“Of course you watch cartoons,” Burns countered.
“And of course you’d focus on that instead of any of the other

things I just pointed out. You’re such an ass.”

And fight number two had started.
After the two lobbed a few more insults back and forth, they gave

up on that fight and, no doubt, had started to look for the fuel for fight
number three.

“I’m in.” Burns looked at Nick as he spoke, and his words

shocked the shit out of all of them. Nick could tell by the way the
entire room fell silent.

“You are?” Nick asked. “What about Dark Horse?”
“It’s time we start looking out for what really matters and not just

ourselves.” He then glanced around the table as he addressed all the
callers. “I’ve been really selfish. I’ve been running this agency the
way I wanted instead of the way it needed to be run. This last case
taught me that if I want to keep my family together, I have to suck it
up. I’m sorry for what I’ve done to Dark Horse. I’m sorry for what
I’ve done to you all.”

“And he finally sees the light,” Pipe sang. Burns glared at him and

then snarled when Pipe slapped him on the back.

The occupants of the table all broke out in laughter. Even Burns

cracked an uncharacteristic smile.

“How about this,” Chris offered. “Let me pull some strings and

have the two agencies work together. Think about it. You have agents
really good at fighting for the underdog. It’s what Dark Horse is
known for. I can’t tell you how many people I send your way when
the law can’t help them, but I know you can. And you will.”

“Chris?”
Chris turned to Nick and took his hands as he rested those brilliant

blue eyes on him. They glimmered wickedly as whatever idea he had

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brewing came to the surface.

“Think about it. This is your family, Nick. You can’t leave them.

And, you know what? I won’t let you.”

Nick spiked his brow. He didn’t know if he liked Chris ordering

him around or not, especially in front of everyone. “Oh, really?”

“I’m not kidding. As the captain of a homicide unit and a member

of the authority that places the callers with agencies, I have a little
pull here. I’m ordering you to stay at Dark Horse.”

“Are you pulling rank?”
Chris grinned and nodded. “You bet your ass, I am. I’ll have the

other agency’s director get in touch with Burns. They are small like
Dark Horse and frankly are as close to going under as you guys are.
Instead of breaking both your agencies apart, let’s combine them.
You’ll have twice as many jobs and twice as many callers.”

Nick laughed as a weight lifted. He didn’t want to leave Dark

Horse, and now he wouldn’t have to. “As long as I’m not called to
any other homicides, I’m game.”

“I can’t make that promise,” Chris admitted. “But I can promise

that the next case you get pulled in on, I’ll be right there with you.”

“Then I’m still game.” As much as Nick didn’t want to ever deal

with another scene like the one where they’d met, he would a hundred
times over if that meant staying with the man he loved.

The atmosphere changed as the callers devoured their dishes with

fervor. The awkwardness disappeared, and Nick knew it had
everything to do with the hope that it would only get better from here.

Chris found a way to keep the family together.
“Was there anything else Ricky told you?” Lee asked Boulder as

he uncorked wine and served it to those that wanted it. Burns grabbed
beers out of the fridge for those who didn’t do wine.

“No,” Boulder answered quickly and closed the subject. Lee

accepted it, as did Burns, but Nick watched Boulder carefully. He
wasn’t telling them everything.

After the dinner finished and the callers that no longer lived at the

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151

Farm had gone home, and those that did live at the Farm had gone out
to their cabins, Nick used the excuse to help clean up to stick around.
With only Boulder and Wind, Nick and Chris, left in the kitchen, Nick
hoped Boulder would tell him what his comment meant.

“What else did that dragonman have to say?” Chris asked.
“Ricky,” Boulder corrected in a growl. “His name was Ricky.”
Chris nodded. “Sorry, Boulder. I didn’t connect with him the way

you did.”

“He may have been a monster in appearance, but he was still

human in his heart and soul. God, all those things he had rolling
around in his head. It was hard making sense of them. No wonder
Char couldn’t.”

Nick took a plate from Wind. “Why is that?”
“He wasn’t in control of his own actions. He fought against

everything he did.”

Chris looked at Nick as he stiffened. “Like he was a puppet and

someone else controlled the strings?”

“Yeah. That’s pretty much it.”
“That’s exactly what Flame said. He felt like someone else

controlled him when he attacked Newman Sygowitz in that office.”

Boulder straightened as he studied Chris. “You’re right. Flame has

said that, even now, he still feels Gaia trying to drill into his brain.”

“Do you think Gaia had anything to do with this?” Wind asked.
Boulder remained silent as he finished wiping off the stove. He

then tossed the rag into the sink before turning around and leaning up
against the counter. “She tried to control me, and when that didn’t
work, she went after Char. Then she went after Flame. She’s realized
she can’t control existing callers and has taken to a very unhealthy
level.”

“Are you saying that she had something to do with what those

men turned into?” Nick shook his head. “That’s some scary shit.”

Chris spoke up. “Flame said that Gaia forced him to destroy the

research and the original prototype. Why would she then turn around

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and have them rebuild it?”

Boulder paled, which didn’t happen often. He lost all expression

as he lowered his voice. “What I say next stays in this room, got it?
We don’t need mass hysteria in the elemental world. Gust, like it or
not, Burns has promoted you to a senior caller so you have a right to
hear this, but it doesn’t make it to the junior callers, got it?”

Nick nodded and swallowed thickly. He somehow knew whatever

Boulder was about to say would change everything.

“When I got into Ricky’s head, it wasn’t him I found. Sure, there

were parts of him left, but not much.”

“Then who were you talking to?” Chris asked. Nick swallowed

hard and prayed Boulder wouldn’t say who he feared he would.

“Gaia.”
Shit

Exactly the person Nick had hoped it wouldn’t be.

“I saw it play out like a movie,” Boulder explained. “She had

Flame and Torch destroy their work because she’d already gotten
what she needed from it. This device she created alters a person’s
DNA. She’s trying to create callers.”

“Holy shit,” Nick muttered. “That’s unreal.”
“It’s unnatural,” Boulder added. “And the elements are pissed

because of it. Our elements chose us. We are a part of them and vice
versa. What Gaia is doing is forcing the elements to become a part of
a human never meant to be a caller. That’s why the device deforms
the weeple.”

He turned his attention to Chris. “Those bodies you found were

cocoons. That’s why they were suspended in the air. They were
nothing more than incubators, and when it was time for the
transformation, those cocoons gave birth to what they’d morphed
into.”

“I need you to do something for me,” Boulder went on as he

continued to address Chris. “I need you and your sister to find a way
to destroy those remains. We can’t have any proof of what happened.”

“A cover up?”

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153

“And you do it every time you have to deal with a caller. Until we

can figure out how to stop Gaia, we have to keep this hidden. If it gets
out, it could destroy both our worlds.”

“Protocol dictates that if we determine the body as diseased and

contagious, we have to cremate the remains immediately. I’ll talk to
Mel.” Chris gave him a nod. “Hey, what did you do to Ricky’s
remains, anyway? Did you destroy them like Newman’s?”

“Yeah,” Boulder said softly and shook his head. Wind reached for

his husband. Boulder leaned into his touch. “Two more deaths at the
hands of that woman, Derek. How many more lives is she going to
destroy before I can stop her?”

“This isn’t just your fight, Gabe.” Wind squeezed his shoulder.

“It’s going to take all of us to stop her.”

Nick glanced at Chris and saw the uncertainty swirling in those

brilliant blue eyes. He grabbed Chris’s hand and held it tight. No one,
not any monsters Gaia creates, not even Gaia herself, will get between
them again. Nick would fight every last being on the planet to protect
his lover, his best friend.

Lee was right. The fight made it all worth it.
Wind rolled his shoulders. “Man, I’m still wiped from transferring

my call.”

“Even after Gust recharged you?” Chris asked.
Wind looked at Nick and they both nodded. Nick wasn’t up to his

full strength and barely made a difference with a caller as powerful as
Wind.

“He did the best he could after being drained,” Wind pointed out.

“We all did.”

“So why did being around the dragonman drain me?” Nick asked.

“I’m an air caller. I get why the birdman drained me, but why the
dragonman?”

Boulder sighed as he seemed to contemplate his words. “Ricky

was never meant to be a fire caller. His body wasn’t strong enough.
No weeple is strong enough. Every time he called it ate at his cells,

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and since he had no way to regenerate them, he had to consume your
call to regenerate his. That’s how Newman in his bird form was able
to fly higher and higher while attached to you. Every time you called
charged him all the more.”

Nick’s blood slowed as that sank in. “Wait. Are you saying that

this thing fed off me?”

Boulder nodded. “Every time you called, you grew weaker as it

regenerated.”

“Shit,” Chris muttered. “Thank God we destroyed them all.”
Nick looked at Boulder and didn’t like the way the earth caller

continued to keep his gaze lowered. “Boulder? We did destroy them
all, didn’t we?”

“I wish I knew.”
“You don’t think we did, do you?” Wind asked.
Boulder shook his head slowly. Nick could barely breathe

knowing more of those monsters were out there, just waiting to feed
off the callers. “We have to destroy them.”

“We have to find them first,” Wind countered.
They both turned to Boulder.
“Until we know for sure whether Gaia is really behind what

happened, this stays between us.”

“But you just got through saying it was Gaia,” Nick said.
“I know. I just really want to be sure.”
Chris studied Boulder for several seconds, and Nick recognized

the probing look in his eyes as well as the hardened expression on his
face. His cop instincts were in full force. “You don’t want to destroy
her. Why aren’t you scared of her like the rest of the callers? What
connection does she have with you that she doesn’t have with anyone
else?”

Boulder turned his back to the rest of them. When Wind went to

touch him again, he shuffled out of reach. Wind pulled back and
returned to drying dishes.

“Gabe, she thinks her dead brother is the one making her do

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155

things. She refuses to take any blame for what she’s done and what
she continues to do.”

After several thick, awkward seconds, Boulder spoke. “She’s just

misguided.”

“Was she misguided when she left all those callers from her

agency for us to find? She killed more than we saved.” Wind dried
another pot vigorously. “I know you think you can save everyone,
sweetheart, but that isn’t the case with her. She’s evil, Gabe.”

“Maybe.”
Wind threw the towel on the counter. “Are you shitting me? She

buried a fire caller in ice. If Torch hadn’t been with you when you
found him, we would have buried him with the rest of the callers that
died that day. If that isn’t enough to convince you, perhaps I should
remind you what she did to you, or have you conveniently forgotten
how she attacked you in front of weeples and then killed them when
you wouldn’t go with her? On top of that, she killed Dixon, or did that
slip your mind, too?”

“Derek, please. Not now.”
“Then when, Gabe? Jesus Christ, man. What is it going to take for

you to stop making excuses for that woman?”

“I’m not making excuses.”
“Then what is it? Why are you always protecting her?”
Boulder kept his back to them, and Nick didn’t know whether he

and Chris should leave the room to give the two some privacy. They
obviously had some issues to work out.

But Chris, being the homicide detective he was, wouldn’t let it go.

“He thinks if he can save Gaia, it somehow makes up for not being
able to save Dixon.”

Boulder whipped around and rested a shocked gaze on Chris. The

atmosphere charged and Nick smelled the hot metal in the air, all
centering around Boulder.

He was about to call.
“Wind,” Nick said and stood to push Chris behind him. The other

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air caller in the room had to get ahold on his husband before Boulder
used his powerful call to destroy them all.

Char may be the most powerful caller at Dark Horse when she

focused, but she was no match up against Boulder and his control.
Both Nick and Wind knew that.

“Gabe, look at me.” Wind grabbed his husband’s face and forced

him to look at him. They didn’t say anything. They just stared at each
other. After a time, Nick felt the charge in the air lessen and he let out
a breath to release the tension he’d used to charge his own call.

Boulder tossed Chris a glare. “Quit trying to analyze me.”
“It’s what you do to everyone else. Maybe you need someone to

turn the table.”

“And maybe you need a good ass-kicking.”
“Enough!” Nick lifted his hand and brought up an invisible wall

of air in front of Boulder. He doubted it would hold Boulder in for
long, but he had to do something.

And, just as he’d feared, Boulder called and a plant in the

windowsill above the sink grew, its stems snaking out as the vines
raced toward Chris and Nick.

Shock held Nick still. Boulder had never used his call against any

of the other callers before. As the vines twisted around his ankles, he
didn’t look to Wind for help. He was a senior caller now and knew he
had to start acting like it.

“I understand,” Nick told him. Boulder snapped his brow into a

frown as he glared at him. “It’s unfair, the pressure we put on you to
fix everything all the time. You aren’t superman. None of us are.
We’ve been really selfish. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I can
tell you that I’m sorry and I promise you, I’ll man up and fix
everything from here on out. You won’t have to be that guy anymore.
I’ll take it on.”

The vines had made it up to his knees and froze. They then

retreated and, within seconds, returned to the plant. It once against
looked like the tiny green plant in the windowsill and not some

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157

snakelike thing attacking him.

“I’m not going to let you do that,” Boulder said, the regret of

using his call against Nick evident in his eyes.

“And I’m not going to let you do this alone.”
Boulder turned the corners of his lips up to a grin. “Spoken like a

true senior caller.” He then flicked his attention to Chris. “You’re
lucky you have him.”

Chris wrapped his arms around Nick’s middle. “No argument

there.”

Wind stood there as he jerked his gaze from his husband to Nick

and back. “That was weird. Gabe, you never use your call to attack.
What the hell?”

“He pissed me off.” Boulder nodded at Chris.
“Because I said something you didn’t want to hear—the truth.”
Boulder stiffened and once again the atmosphere thickened.
“Gabriel Brown!” Wind used his real name and even Nick shrank

back. Nothing good ever came from the use of that tone combined
with a full name.

“What?” Boulder tried to feign innocence.
“The captain isn’t saying anything the rest of us aren’t already

thinking. Because you dig into everyone’s heads whether they want
you to or not, this can’t be news to you.”

“You knew?”
Wind rolled his pale hazel eyes. “We all knew.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Nodding at Nick and Chris, he said, “Do you really need me to

answer that?”

“So I don’t want her destroyed, so what?”
“So how about we find a way to stop her without killing her,”

Chris offered.

Boulder gave him a single nod.
“So we need to come up with a plan.” Nick took a seat at the

island and nodded for Chris to do the same. He felt the calmness in

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the air and knew Boulder had finally calmed down.

“The plan is for you to stay.”
“I thought we already established that I am.”
Boulder looked at Nick. “I mean here at the Farm.”
Shaking his head, Nick protested. Not just no, but

hell no. “No

way. I’ve already packed.”

“So unpack.”
“I thought you said you wouldn’t get in the middle.”
“Gust, this is bigger than any of us. If we want to survive

whatever war is coming, we have to stick together.” He looked to
Chris. “All of us. I’m not telling you how to run your show on the
weeple side, but I do have some say with the callers. It will be better
if Gust lives here at the Farm.”

“He’s right,” Chris said, and Nick dropped his jaw.
“What? Boulder, you better not be controlling his thoughts right

now.”

“I’m not.” He even put his hands up.
Chris met Nick’s gaze. “How about this? I’m hiring you, Nick

Vermont, as a consultant. Don’t look at me like that. I have the
authority to hire consultants. Now, let’s talk details. I expect you there
every day. We’ll be working side by side until this is over. I need you
to be able to report back to Dark Horse each day. In turn, I’ll expect a
report from you on Dark Horse’s findings.”

Nick couldn’t believe this. He went from living at the Farm, to

moving in with Chris, back to the Farm, in record time. “Are you
asking me to be a double agent?”

“Double agents only work if one of the agencies doesn’t know

about you,” Boulder pointed out.

Nick didn’t know how he felt about this turn of events. This

morning he’d made up his mind about leaving Dark Horse and
transferring to another agency. Now he not only got to stay at Dark
Horse, he got to keep Chris, too. Everything moved so fast.

“Why don’t you look happy?”

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159

Nick darted a quick look at Chris and shrugged. “I was looking

forward to playing house with you.”

Chris grinned and took his hand. “Leave a couple bags at my

place so when we work late, which I fear will be more often than not,
you don’t have far to go. But Dark Horse needs an air caller here.
Burns is right. Just from what I’ve seen, you’re the glue with the
junior callers. They need you here more than I need you living with
me.”

Nick wanted to be pissed, but damn if he didn’t make sense. He

gave Chris a terse nod in agreement, even though he really wanted to
stay with him.

Burns walked into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of wine and two

glasses, then started back out. He paused and looked to Boulder. “Did
you tell them?”

Boulder nodded.
Burns turned to Nick, his expression solemn. “Something’s

coming, Gust. Something big. I feel it. It’s time to stop living in the
past like I have, or scared of what the future may or may not bring
like I tried to make everyone do. We need our family together to fight
whatever battle is coming.”

“Boulder said the same thing,” Nick grumbled, not liking but

accepting the fact that he didn’t get to live with Chris.

“He’s a wise man. Looks like we’ll all be in the right place and

with the right person.” Burns nodded at Boulder, who nodded back.
Then they both darted glances at Wind. Wind colored and dropped his
gaze.

Nick didn’t know what happened between the three of them, only

that he’d heard the other callers gossiping about how Burns and Wind
had a brief affair before Lee and Boulder came to the Farm. Nick
wondered if all the old feelings were really dead or not. It would be
interesting to watch that drama unfold.

Burns grinned, something the other callers rarely witnessed. “I

don’t know about you boys, but I’m through with all the bullshit. I

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have a date with the man I love and I’m not going to waste a minute
of the present.”

“Words to definitely live by,” Wind agreed. “Gabe, my gorgeous

husband. Take me home and ravish me.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Boulder grabbed Wind’s hand and

dragged him out.

Nick glanced at Chris and smiled as the love surged inside him,

warming him. “What do you say, handsome?”

Chris strolled into Nick’s arms and rested their lips together.

“Your place or mine?”

THE END

WWW.ALLIEKADAMS.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jayden Knight’s characters come to life when least expected,

inspiring stories in ways only the characters can explain. Jayden can
be found sipping on Monster Energy Drinks as the characters take
over the story and drive the plot.

“Who am I to complain?” says Jayden. “My characters write the

story. I want to take the credit, but in the end, I’m simply the one with
my fingers on the keys, tapping out what they tell me to.”

Call it inspiration. Call it insanity. Either way, it is what it is.

Jayden Knight loves writing and doesn’t plan to stop until the
characters do.

Also by Jayden Knight

Everlasting Classic ManLove: Dark Horse 1: Stimulust Package
Everlasting Classic ManLove: Dark Horse 2: Lustful Vengeance

Everlasting Classic ManLove: Dark Horse 3: Lust & Found

Everlasting Classic ManLove: Dark Horse 4: Lust & Lies

Everlasting Classic ManLove: Dark Horse 5: Lust We Forget

Available at

BOOKSTRAND.COM

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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