Power Ranger Ninja Storm, Heather Ray [best classic romance novels txt] 📗

To everyone that has read my books so far: Thank you all so much! You all rock and make me want to continue writing! To all Power Ranger Fans, past, present and future: "May the Power Protect You!"

Power Rangers Ninja Storm and all related characters are the property of BVE. This is a missing scene written in Tori's voice, that fits neatly into "Thunder Strangers, Part Three"

right before she meets Shane and Dustin at Storm Chargers and tells them that Blake and Hunter left.

Tori can't stop thinking about Blake's deception.

Author's Note:

This is a missing scene written in Tori's voice, that fits neatly into "Thunder Strangers, Part Three"

right before she meets Shane and Dustin at Storm Chargers and tells them that Blake and Hunter left.

It's another perfect day at the beach. The sun's shining, the breeze is strong but warm, and the waves have some bite to them. The shore is full of life, with kids and adults alike enjoying a lazy afternoon. Almost a dozen surfer boys are trying their luck in the waves, each one trying his best to outlast the guy to his right.

Any other day I'd be right out there with them, teaching them all a thing or two about surfing these waves. Only today, I just don't have it in me. I'm utterly and completely spent, and for once it's not from surfing. Or even training with Shane and Dustin.

I spent this morning alone. After a fitful night's sleep, I went out for some fresh air. What was supposed to be a short walk became a five-mile run. I had so much nervous energy, building inside me for hours, that I had to expend it.

Now, I sit and stare at all the life around me, feeling so detached from it all I might as well have been watching the scene on television. I feel that comfortable burn in my limbs from this morning's jog, and the familiar grit of sand between my toes. And I still feel this insatiable need to hit something. I just need to feel strong, in control. I'm tired of being so damn weak.

'A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.'

Sensei taught me that months ago, when he first tried to teach us teamwork. Now that we're Wind Rangers, Shane, Dustin and I have been revisiting those old lessons, applying them to our lives with much more fervor. Now they're not just notable quotables. Now, those little pearls of wisdom just might save our lives.

Weakest link, weakest link...seems that lesson was in the basic curriculum of the Thunder Ninja Academy as well.

The Navy and Crimson Rangers targeted us with a vengeance. Their objective was clear and focused: to nab Sensei and make him pay for killing their parents. Sure, they were dead wrong to implicate Sensei, the most honorable man on the planet. But at the time, he was their only suspect, and all the love they carried for their adoptive parents fed their hatred for the man that took them.

They were cold, cruel, and calculating. They befriended Dustin first, and watched our every move. For days they pretended we were friends, giving Dustin motocross pointers, helping us after the Megazord was K.O.'ed... and all that time they were just gathering information. Figuring out how to get to Ninja Ops, and to Sensei. Testing out the chain, one link at a time...and choosing their target.

The weakest link...and they picked me.

Dustin's heart's in the right place, but he can definitely be a little thick sometimes, and mind-blowingly irresponsible. Shane acts like he's bullet proof, and prefers to shoulder all the responsibility than truly trust that Dustin and I have his back.

Hey, I still love them. When push comes to shove, Shane and Dustin will be there for me. I know it, and I'll never doubt it. Still, they've got some serious personality quirks that could've given the Thunders a clear opening to Sensei.

Instead, they picked me. He...exploited

me. And like some starry-eyed school girl, I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

I thought

I was a Ninja warrior. I thought I was strong, intelligent, and fearless. I thought having a Wind Morpher on my wrist meant I was worthy...that I was a hero.

But I was as helpless as the cliché damsel in distress when that frog monster attacked the shore the other day. And Blake rode in on his bike like some fairy tale knight on a white horse, and risked his life to save mine. Or so I thought.

Dammit!

How could I be so stupid? So naïve

??

"...and this choice wave came up out of nowhere, and I almost wiped out..."

I nod and smile, trying to look interested as I make eye contact with the surfer hottie that caught my eye a few weeks ago. He'd seen me sunbathing alone, all dark and moody, and decided to cheer me up. Seriously, if he'd swung by to say "hi" like a week ago, I'd be hanging on his every word. Now I can't even get his name straight. Bill? No, that's not it...

Then, out of nowhere, a shadow falls over me. "Tori."

The deep voice sends a shiver through me. I try to mask it by grabbing my sunglasses, and sliding them on my nose before I look up. The last thing I want to do is make eye contact with Blake.

He's standing with his back to the sun, wearing trunks and an open Hawaiian shirt. Despite his smile, in my eyes he's a deadly viper, ready to strike at any moment. Standing at his shoulder is the taller, grimmer Hunter, looking just as out of place in his "normal" clothes. How did I not see the ice in their eyes before? Or their rigid stances? How the hell did they dupe me so completely?

Blake's stare cuts into...I think his name is Will. There's a threatening chill in those dark eyes, and for a split second I think the bastard has come to pick a fight. "Tori, I need to talk to you for a minute. Alone."

I glare at him through the navy lens of my sunglasses. When he says "alone," he means to get rid of my companion. I'm sure Hunter's not going anywhere. After all, Hunter and Blake are brothers...they're completely loyal to each other. Each other, and no one else.

I don't like the idea of being outnumbered, but it's not like Phil will be any help if this degrades into a fight. I don't want to get the poor guy hurt, and I am

capable of defending myself if necessary.

I turn to him, pulling off my sunglasses. Since I'm not quite sure what his name is, I decide to skirt around it. "Could you get me a soda? Please?"

To his credit, Gil notices the weird vibe between Blake and me. His jaw tightens as he casts a quick, measuring glance toward Blake. Even he

can tell something was off with them! Sheesh, some Ninja I turned out to be...

"You sure, Tori?"

I muster my most earnest smile. "This'll just take a second," I assure him, and lean in to give him a quick peck on the cheek.

I don't know what made me do that. I guess I rationalized that a little affection would distract him enough to just do as I said. And if he had any concerns that Blake might be competition, the kiss would give him some reassurance that he wasn't being blatantly dismissed. A little manipulative? Well, yeah...but it's for his own good anyway.

I toss a little wave to Dill...that's his name!...as he makes his way to the refreshment stand. Then, all cheer is gone in a wink as I stand up and face the guy that wiped his boots with me like I was a doormat before marching into my home base to kidnap my mentor.

I stare in surprise as Blake watches Dill leave through narrow eyes. Maybe I'm imagining things, but his stance seems even more rigid, his arms folding over his chest. That totally fake smile is gone, leaving an expressionless mask in its wake.

For a split second, I consider the possibility that Blake is actually...jealous

. But that would assume he actually gives a damn

about me as a