Page 22 of When Storms Awaken

On the front lawn lay a slender, but muscular man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties with a scruffy beard and tanned skin. He was struggling under the other man who had him pinned to the ground with his arms. He glanced up, meeting my eyes, and I sucked in a breath through gritted teeth. The man pinning the other one to the ground was Nik, his eyes moved from me to Tess, then back again.

“What the hell is going on out here?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

Nik looked up once more, his brow furrowed as if deciding something, then gave the guy a hard shove and pushed to his feet.

“Diana, get back in the house.” His voice was cool against the night air as he turned back to the man who still lay half sprawled across the snow, his hands on his hips.

My mouth thinned into a hard line. “You do not tell me what to do.” His eyes hardened before he closed them, taking a deep breath and letting it out through his nose. “What are you doing outside my house? And who is this guy? And where the hell did the wolves go?”

“What wolves?” he asked with a sweeping hand, glancing around and indicating there was nothing but darkness around us.

“Don’t play with me. I want answers, now. There were four wolves out here, then two, and now there are only twopeople. Who the hell are you, and what is going on?” My voice was hard, and Nik’s jaw tensed under the light of the moon. “Enough games. Who is this?” I asked, pointing to the man who had gotten up and now stood beside him.

“This is…an old friend of mine. He was justleaving,” Nik replied through clenched teeth. He gave the stranger a shove, and the man gave him a hard look before walking off without a word.

“That didn’t look veryfriendlyto me,” I pointed out. “Why are you here? Why ishehere?”

“He was…lost. He’s been around town looking for me,” Nik answered.

“Bullshit. How were there giant wolves out here one minute, and then they were gone the next?” I could hear Tess scoff from behind me.

“Maybe we should go inside and talk,” he offered, moving towards the front steps. I stepped into his path.

“I want answers, and I want them now. I don’t want you to lie to me, I know what I saw.” I turned towards the front door and let both Tess and Nik pass before closing and locking it behind me.

“Talk. Now.” I pointed towards the couch and watched as Nik settled onto it, kicking his heels up on the ottoman.

“I should be the one asking questions. What were you two doing in here? Hosting a séance?” he asked with a raised brow, sweeping his arm to indicate the charred feather and lit candles spread in a circle around the living room. I could feel the blood paint my face red, embarrassed that he could see the leftover materials from our little spell casting session.

“I asked you first,” I insisted, crossing my arms over my chest and blocking the doorway in case he tried to leave. His cold and hard demeanor from earlier was gone, replaced with his usual, witty, arrogant self.

“You two are exhausting,” Tess groaned, bouncing into the armchair by the fireplace.

“I’ll make you a deal.” Nik smirked. “You tell me what you two were doing in here, and I will tell you what really happened outside.”

As embarrassed as I was about this whole ordeal, that was a bargain I was willing to make. I couldn’t wait one more day not knowing what was going on in this town, and how far this newly discovered magic reached.

“You first,” he offered.

“Fine,” I grumbled.

“Tess and I were…” I paused, worrying my bottom lip with my teeth. “We were casting spells.” I don’t know what I expected from him, some sort of comical reaction, or a laugh at the very least, but Nik became preternaturally still on the couch. He didn’t so much as blink.

“Your turn,” I pushed, moving into the room and taking the armchair across from Tess.

Nik tracked me across the room silently as he watched me settle in, pulling my knees up to my chin and curling my arms around my shins.

“Well, are you going to say something?” Tess huffed leaning forwards and moving her hand back and forth across his face as if he was in a trance.

“You were…casting spells?” he asked.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, we were,” I replied defensively.

“And what would make you think that you could, or should, be casting spells?” he asked, finally coming out of his daze.

“That wasn’t part of the deal, you said you would tell us what happened outside if we told you what happened in here,” I pressed.

“New deal, why would you do something this stupid?” he asked, an edge creeping into his voice.

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