Wherever She Goes (Psychic Seasons, ReGina Welling [novels to improve english TXT] 📗

Neither Logan nor the earthwalker would see them even though they sat in plain sight. Estelle left it to Tyler to alert the others and then took her favorite position on the roof to serve as lookout while Julius, using another of Galmadriel’s shields, whispered in Logan’s ear, subtly leading him toward the trap.

From her spot in the gazebo, Kat watched Julie and Gustavia move away from the safety of the house, ostensibly to clean up branches shed during harsh winter storms. Tuned in, as she was, to Julius’ energy, she felt the cold darkness ease closer and closer as Logan crept silently through the forest.

She knew when he began skirting the edge of the tree line to position himself for the strike. She felt the chill created by the earthwalker as it advanced toward the gazebo, trembled as it shivered through her.

One look at Amethyst was enough to know she, too was feeling the strain. Kat grasped the aura reader’s hand. She felt a surge of reassurance run through the energy that made up Galmadriel’s shield. The plan was working.

On cue, Logan stalked silently out of the woods completely unaware that Julie and Gustavia were aware of his proximity.

For one second, the true spirit of the man fought his way to the surface. Kat could see it in the ravaged look in his eyes, the twist of his face into a silent scream that was quickly subdued by Billy, the earthwalker. She shivered again when his eyes turned black.

The plan had sounded reasonable, even simple when they were formulating it, but now that she was finally face to face with Logan, it felt impossible. Would she be able to give Billy that last chance? Convince him to go into the light? And what if she failed? What would happen to Logan then? No matter what he had done, he deserved to be free from Billy’s influence.

That was the thought that haunted Kat as Logan unknowingly stepped into Galmadriel’s circle and the game was on.

_,.-'~'-.,_

Impending sunset painted a watercolor of pale pinks and oranges across a delicate, spring-chilled sky while the pungent smell of mud rose from earth in the early stages of thaw.

From her hidden vantage point, Estelle watched as Logan crept up on what he thought was an unsuspecting Gustavia who stood some distance away. If he had seen the way her eyes lit in anticipation, Logan might have steered clear of the woman whose body was already tensed for battle.

It would have saved him a butt whooping. Instead, he moved closer then reached out to grasp her by the shoulder.

With the speed gained by some extra training taken since their last encounter, Gustavia used the element of surprise as she whirled, grabbed his arm and pulled him hard into her bent knee then when he staggered back, followed up with an uppercut to the jaw.

Breath wheezing, Logan pulled himself upright and even though she saw the short jab coming, Gustavia couldn’t fully dodge the blow. Her head snapped back as he tagged her hard enough to bring tears but not hard enough to take her out of the fight.

Instead, the blow just fueled her deadly calm and she retaliated with a left hook then stepped in to tromp on his instep. She knew he outmatched her in size but this time, she had tenacity and preparedness on her side. He took a step back to gather himself for a kick but Gustavia got there first, landing her boot-laden foot squarely between his legs with all the force she could muster. He went down with a groan, clutching himself and gasping.

Hands on hips, Gustavia stood over Logan as he lay on the ground, her chest heaving from a combination of exhilaration and exertion. Scraped skin on both sets of knuckles stung and burned, blood dripped from the split lip but she barely noticed.

Taking him down might wander into payback territory but she refused to feel bad about it. Instead, she congratulated herself for suppressing the intense desire to kick him a few more times and stalked over the where the others clustered around Galmadriel.

A wicked glint in her eye, she pointed to Kat. “Your turn.”

Kat kept one eye on the man still curled into a fetal position, the faint shadow of the entity inside him clearly visible to her psychic eye. A wave of compassion washed over her to compete with the satisfaction of having watched Gustavia get a bit of her own back.

It was a complex situation; this man had spent most of the past year terrorizing people she loved and part of her felt that he deserved the horror of being an unwilling vessel to an earthwalker. She was not proud of so petty an emotion.

“Billy,” she called out to the shadow. “We are giving you one chance to leave willingly. You can still go into the light but only by choice. That option will not be open if we have to force you out.”

In response, Billy leered. “Screw you, bi…”

Galmadriel gestured and with the flick of a finger, set a ring—a prison—of white light to surround the still twitching form before turning back to the group of women.

“He has made his choice. Shall we begin?”

_,.-'~'-.,_

Zack spun the wheel, gunned the engine, and accelerated into the final curve. “Hang on, almost there.” He spoke not only to the other three men in the car with him but also to his sister and to Kat.

Fear twanged at nerves taut as guitar strings while his intuition screamed, “Danger.” When he got hold of them, all four women were going to answer to him for their part in what he knew was happening at this very minute.

He’d given in to the idea that the women would become the focus of this little supernatural sting but not that it would happen with none of the men present. Worse, Gustavia