Page 92 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha (Witch Twins #2)

Electra

I jolted awake as power flooded through me, filling me, surrounding me. It wasn’t mine, but it was achingly familiar.

Bastien. Bastien had given me his power. The bond between us was pulsing with it, saturating the air around me.

Sounds battered my ears. Pain spiked in my head, smells flooded my nose and the taste of blood in my mouth was so strong I wanted to puke.

There you are, darling.

Bastien. What happened? I clung to the bond like a lifeline. My only sanity in a world that was spinning out of control.

Someone took you, baby. They drugged you. I gave you some of my power to wake you up. A chopper is on its way to take you away from me. I can’t get to you in time. Blast them into orbit, baby.

My brain caught up and I began to filter the various noises around me, helping me make sense of the cacophony around me. Voices. The harsh whappa whappa of helicopter blades and the roar of an engine.

One voice stood out. A voice that I recognised. Maximilian Veder. “Load her up as soon as the pilot lands,” he said. “We need to get out of here before that abomination finds out she’s gone.”

Abomination? I would kill him for that alone.

“Why don’t we just take him out now?” The voice was right beside me.

“I want him to suffer,” Veder snarled. “He’s taken everything from me. After Silvio’s confession, I have to leave the country.”

My body was jostled as the owner of the voice moved. Keeping my eyes shut, my muscles lax as if I was still unconscious, I tried to process the situation. An arm held me across the back of my legs and my body was draped over a man’s shoulder like I was a sack of potatoes.

The pain in my head had receded enough that I could function.

But when I reached for my well of power, I couldn’t touch it.

Fuck. It was like being in the bunker again.

I couldn’t feel any restraints around my wrists, but my power was inaccessible.

It had to be the same spell that had been used on the manacles in the bunker.

The same spell that was in the journal. The reason why Caly had been kidnapped as bait.

Did Veder have the journal? Perhaps he had a spellcaster who had put the spell onto tokens. It would explain why my pre-cog had been silent this whole time. The threat had been magically obscured.

Later. There was time to analyse the how later. Now I had to concentrate on getting away from Veder. And I had no time to plan. I had to act.

With no power, that left a physical attack. I could identify four different voices. Veder. The man carrying me and two more. Also male.

Four on one. At least they were all human. And I had the element of surprise. But if they had guns, I’d be toast without my shield.

The sound of the chopper was almost a physical force, pressing down on me. Coupled with the wind that whirled around us, it was clear that I had only moments to make my move.

I can’t access my magic.

USE MY POWER!

Bastien’s voice boomed down our bond. I could feel his magic spilling out, surrounding me. It was almost alive, buzzing with energy.

Fuck it.

I didn’t know what I was doing. But I had to try.

I love you , I told my mate.

Then I envisioned his magic swirling, forming a spiral. Still hanging over the back of whatever goon had grabbed me, I opened my mouth. Come to me , I beckoned in my mind.

And the magic answered. The spiral formed into a sinuous line, which arrowed towards me.

Into me.

It was like lightning filling my body, re-mapping every cell. Every neuron.

And then I brought my arms to the shoulders of the man carrying me, and stiffening my elbows, I launched up. The arm around my thighs tightened, but not before his head was clamped between my legs.

Startled, he lost his balance and began to fall backwards, his arms instinctively loosening.

I rode him down, only letting go of him as he landed, tipping my body backwards into a flip.

The move seemed easy, my body almost floating through the air.

Goon One landed hard, his head bouncing on the hard ground. I didn’t think he’d be up again soon.

In a heartbeat I was already spinning on one leg to face Goons Two and Three. They moved in front of Veder, who, like the coward he was, stepped back. Goon Two, bulky with a thick neck and a shaved head, and better reflexes than his buddy, was already reaching into his jacket. Shit.

Move.

My body responded to the thought. My leap was impossibly high. I spun in the air, once, twice, three times.

Legs connected with his head and he dropped like a stone. The jolt of the connection travelled up my bones and through my spine.

Fuck that hurt.

In some part of my mind I knew that I was moving faster than was humanly possible. And the pain was already fading, disappearing into nothing.

I felt my lips curl up into a feral smile. Veder’s remaining bodyguard paled in shock, his mouth hanging open. Behind him, Veder shrieked, “Get the bitch.”

Belatedly, Goon Three began to reach into his jacket. To me, he seemed to be moving in slow-motion.

On my right, the chopper began to land, the rotors sending dust swirling around us.