Crush (Elemental Hearts, #3) Read online

  “Is there any way you can sway her, convince her it’s too dangerous?”

  “No,” Micah ground out, “Tried. She’s very... determined.”

  Walker sighed on the line. “Then no, don’t prevent her from going up there. She might call in the government or law enforcement, and we don’t want to get any human organizations involved. We don’t need anyone preventing us from our mission, and we certainly don’t want to bring any more humans near the Chaolt or the portal.”

  Micah mumbled an agreement. Their goal was to stay so low-profile that the humans would never know they existed or were here fighting a war.

  “Stay close for now, keep an eye on her. See where her claim is in relation to the portal. Drain her right away if you get an opportunity, and then report back.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And Micah, I’ll be leaving for Elementium soon. Report to Ajax when you return.”

  Walker leaving was rare, but it was necessary. They needed more Elemental Warriors here in Topaz Ridge, and Walker had to go back to their world to ask the Premiers, the leaders of their race, to grant them.

  He did not envy him the task.

  “Yes, sir.” Micah disconnected and walked over to Jade. “You may go to your claim.”

  “Thank you,” Jade said, tipping her head, and turned up the path.

  Micah watched the woman go, waiting until the only sign of her was the faint feeling of her footsteps through the earth.

  And then he followed.

  Tailing her from a distance, he used his powers to mute the sound of his footsteps. When she reached her claim, he climbed around and up and found a spot to watch her unnoticed.

  It was exactly as he’d feared. Only a mile further from her claim was the portal. Too close, to expect the Chaolt not to notice her presence.

  And when Chaolt noticed Erratics... people died.

  Erratics had latent Elemental powers in their blood that could be unstable. The enemy would search them out, make all that latent power surface, which would cause the Erratic to self-destruct. Explosively, and with as many other casualties as possible. All that destruction, all that death, fed Chaos. All the resulting death and despair fed the Chaos in this world, brought this plane ever closer to destruction. As Chaos grew stronger, Harmony grew weaker. As did the bonds that held this special world together.

  The Chaolt wouldn’t be able to resist an Erratic so close. And since the woman was Earth, they could use her to cause a lot of damage here, surrounded by rock and soil. The entire population of Topaz Ridge sat in the shadow of these mountains.

  Watching her from this distance, it was hard to see what had caused his body to tighten when he’d first seen her. Desire... It was a sensation he hadn’t felt in a long time, hadn’t allowed himself to feel. One he wouldn’t allow to resurface, no matter how beautiful he found her light green eyes, full lips, and the sleek fall of shiny black hair.

  Urges were a distraction, but they could be controlled. They must be. He’d controlled them for decades, and would not stop now. They were a natural function of his human body, but one he could do without. Nothing mattered except the mission. Nothing mattered but the war against Chaos.

  Until he got an opportunity to drain her, staying away from her would be easy. And as long as he did, there wouldn’t be any urges to fight against.

  WHEN JADE GOT BACK to the clearing, she was irritated again. Even when the campgrounds were open, Jade never stayed there. This had always been her spot. The road in was hidden well, poorly marked, and muddy enough to discourage the curious. She’d never once had to share it before.

  It wasn’t big, this clearing in the trees, and the security guy took up half of it with his ridge tent, meant to sleep five to eight people. Or, maybe just one very large man and all his gear. She’d set up her camper in the remaining space after visiting her claim, and now it sat the same distance from the fire-pit as his tent. Way too cozy for her liking.

  It didn’t matter that he’s started a fire, that he’d moved a log to her side of it for her to sit on. It didn’t matter if he greeted her with a nod as she exited the trees. She didn’t want him here.

  She didn’t want to share this spot; she didn’t want anyone to know what she mined out, and she didn’t need any distractions. Not to mention he’d tried to keep her from her claim. The nerve.

  Without acknowledging his wave, she went to her trailer and sat her pack inside, and then began to set up the other things she needed. She’d done a lot of pre-work at her claim today. Rebuilding her markers, the piles of stone that marked the boundaries of her claim and warned away any potential miners, and a handful of other things. She’d desperately wanted to get started, hardly able to stop herself from looking at rocks every five seconds, but there were a lot of things to do here at camp, too. Even though she’d brought her trailer, she needed to set up her tables for cleaning and sorting gemstones, the overhead canopies that would allow her to keep working in case of rain. A clothesline. A deep chair for the end of long, strenuous days.

  But how about that? The only place she could put her chair looked right across the campsite, at his tent.

  And while she did all these things, her skin tingles with awareness. She’d felt it earlier too, at her claim, and had the distinct impression she was being watched. Like now.

  She pivoted to catch him staring. And he was. But he didn’t look away in embarrassment or apologize or anything. He simply tilted his head to the side as if asking if there was a problem.

  Yes, there was a damn problem.

  She marched over to him, fists clenched, and glared at him. He was sitting, so she should have been looking down, but he was so tall that he was almost eye-level. For some reason that annoyed her too.

  “You were spying on me.”

  “No, I wasn’t.” He leaned down to the pack at his feet, long black braids falling forward, and pulled out a protein bar of some kind.

  Not usually one to argue, she couldn’t seem to help herself at the moment. “Yes, you were. I could feel your eyes on me.”

  He gave her a quizzical look but didn’t say anything further as he opened his bar.

  “You’re denying it?”

  “No.”

  Taken aback for a second at his admission, she stared at him. But then the anger came. “I don’t want you watching me. I don’t want you anywhere near me or my claim, and I don’t want you spying on me.”

  He took a healthy bite of his bar and she had to wait for a response until he was done chewing.

  “I’m simply doing my job. All the claims are close together. If you felt my presence as you say, that was the only reason.”

  Okay, so it made some sense what he was saying, that he was doing his security work. And naturally, he’d want to stay hidden in order to catch any thieves. But the whole thing still rubbed her wrong.

  He was too quiet, too intense. Too tall, too wide, too handsome. Too close. He was a threat on all levels.

  But she could make no sane argument against him, and that exasperated her. She didn’t want him here. This year was too important to take any risks, and his proximity felt like a definite risk.

  “Just stay away from me and my claim,” she said as she turned back to her trailer.

  “Jade.”

  She stopped with her hand on her door and looked back at him.

  “You have nothing to worry about from me. I will not hurt you.”

  She wanted to trust him. It really felt like he was sincere, like he was telling the truth. But feelings weren’t science, and she needed evidence first.

  “We’ll see,” she muttered, pulling the trailer door shut behind her.

  MICAH TOOK ANOTHER slow bite of his special energy bar as Jade disappeared into her trailer, the calories already bolstering his powers and his body.

  She was right, he’d been watching her. Guarding her, guarding the portal, trying to come up with a plan to drain her powers that didn’t involve the authorities or her getting hu
rt. So far he had nothing except an unwelcome heat, low in his gut, anytime she was near.

  He waited by the fire until long after Jade’s lights turned out, and he was reasonably sure she slept. Then he stood and sent a spear of power through the ground, toward the portal. Nothing moved there. Nothing moved in the forest between here and there, except nocturnal animals searching for food. None of the enemy. He would double-check on his way out, but there was no danger to Jade out in the dark at the moment. Still, he’d have to hurry.

  Micah got in his SUV and drove back to base to make his report. This would be the only time he could come back until he drained her. It wasn’t safe to leave her alone for long, with her so close to the portal. She was too much of a lure. With the limited time in mind, he pushed the gas pedal down more.

  Now, Micah entered their base through the series of locked doors, heading for the elevator at the end.

  He pressed the elevator button and looked around. Their base of operations in this world was a huge refurbished warehouse, plenty big enough for all of them.

  But no one else, none of the other Warriors or their families, were on the lower common level. That was unusual, even at this time of night. Because the Warriors needed less sleep and worked on rotating schedules, no one kept ‘normal’ hours. There was always someone about. Micah took the elevator to the floor with Walker’s office on it.

  Walker’s office doors were open, but it was Ajax who stood behind the large wooden desk.

  Beside it, baby Jackson pulled himself up on the sides of his playpen. Two tiny white teeth showed in his smile when he saw Micah step through the door. Micah gave him a one-finger wave when Ajax turned toward the windows and got a wet grin in return.

  Ajax was on the phone, so Micah crossed his arms and waited. It wasn’t clear who Ajax talked to, but his tone had an edge that Micah hadn’t heard many times before.

  He hung up with the hard rattle of plastic against plastic and pushed his long, blond hair back. The Air Elemental took pride in his mortal hair, and to see it in disarray told Micah that Ajax had done that same move several times already.

  Leaning with his fists on the desktop, Ajax looked up at Micah. Micah waited silently to hear what put the grim look on his face.

  Ajax was one of those who always had to fill the silence, usually with something inflammatory. But it meant Micah didn’t have to say much, because any information would be volunteered. Which was fine with him.

  “That was the base leader in Osaka. A tsunami hit Japan.”

  Micah closed his eyes for a second and then reopened them. “How bad?”

  “Bad,” Ajax said, standing back up, teal eyes bright, jaw tight. “It had to be one of the strongest Erratics in the world to cause that much devastation.”

  Micah dropped his arms and closed his eyes again, fighting back a wave of despair. All those souls lost, all that Chaos released into the world. How could they possibly win this war?

  “And Walker?” Micah asked.

  “Yeah, he already left.”

  So Walker wouldn’t know about the disaster yet, and Ajax was the one in charge for the time being.

  Jackson babbled loudly in his playpen, drawing Micah’s gaze, and then he turned back to Ajax, one brow raised.

  “Emory is with Brooke. She says Brooke’s will go into labor any time now. And Levi,” Ajax snorted, “He’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

  Levi had difficult controlling the Fire inside him when his emotions were high, which they were since the day he’d found out Brooke had conceived his child. Understandable, considering Warriors weren’t supposed to be able to breed with humans. But Brooke’s pregnancy, Jackson’s existence, were both signs that something big had changed.

  With a sigh, Ajax said, “Give me what you’ve got. Walker said an Erratic came to the portal?”

  Micah turned back to him, back to the mission. He nodded. “Her mining claim is less than a mile from the portal.”

  “Shit. Did you drain her?”

  Micah shook his head.

  “Because...?” Ajax asked, waiting.

  “I don’t know if she can mine safely after draining.” The way they kept Erratics from being trouble in the future was to draw out their Elemental powers, draw them into themselves. But it required a prolonged period of touching and had consequences for the Erratics. To drain her all at once, make her physically weak and mentally confused, could mean her death on that mountain. “And she’s very... determined... to do that,” he ground out.

  “I see.” Ajax nodded, understanding. “So you think you can drain her slowly, while guarding the portal? Keeping the Chaolt away from her?”

  Micah nodded. He could drain Jade a small bit at a time without it affecting her too negatively. If he could find enough reasons to touch her.

  Ajax blew out a breath. “I’d prefer you just grab her and drain her and keep her contained in the meantime. Any chance of that?” Ajax asked, voice and expression hopeful.

  Micah just stared at him. Abductions weren’t really their style, and if Walker were here, he’d suggest the solution least likely to harm the Erratic or attract the attention of human authorities.

  “Fine,” Ajax conceded. “There’s no conflict with guarding the portal if she’s that close, anyway. I guess take as much time as you need to get it done. I’ll see what Walker says about it when he gets back.”

  Micah nodded, glanced at Jackson in his playpen, and walked out the door.

  Micah recalled when he took Jade’s smaller, more delicate hand in his. He could have drained her right then if he hadn’t been so focused on the bright green of her eyes in the sunlight, hadn’t been dazed by her presence.

  He couldn’t conjure more reasons to shake her hand, but he’d need to touch her to take her power, so how would he do this?

  But that was his problem, not Ajax’s, not Walker’s.

  With Levi concerned with Brooke, Walker back in Elementium, and Ajax in charge, that meant only one mission could be addressed at a time. Which was precisely why Walker had gone back to Elementium. They were spread too thin. They needed more Warriors.

  Since the Chaolt came and went through that portal, it was the only mission that mattered at the moment.

  Finding enough ways to touch Jade—to drain her—would have to be secondary.

  CHAPTER THREE

  JADE GOT READY FOR bed and then tossed and turned, uncomfortable and tense. She only got snatches of rest here and there, short, shallow minutes of disturbed sleep.

  Usually, she slept like a rock, so tired and worn out from mining that she fell into a dreamless sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow and woke in the morning. But tonight the blankets were too hot and uncovered, she was too cold. It was too quiet, yet the nighttime sounds outside her camper were too loud, the owls and coyotes and random unidentifiable noises.

  Her brain was too loud as well. Her noisy thoughts circled around with all the things she needed to do, with worry over how this mining season would go. And Micah. He slept only a short walk from her camper. She’d be sharing her camping space, her temporary residence for the next few months, with a stranger. A handsome, distracting stranger.

  Jade sighed into the dark and then forced herself to close her eyes again, to breathe evenly. To keep her mind on mundane topics to bore herself to sleep.

  It seemed to have worked for a time, but suddenly Jade sat up, breathing hard and listening hard past her fast breaths.

  Why?

  Her ears finally caught up to her brain, and all the sounds of the nighttime woods from earlier were silent now. Eerily so, a smothering silence in their place.

  A hint of something else drifted in from the open windows with the crisp night air. A burning smell. Not a campfire or a forest fire, something... unnatural.

  Plastic?

  Could it be Micah, and why? As the smell grew stronger, Jade threw on her robe and opened her camper door, drawing the fabric close around her. But Micah wasn’t anywhere, his tent an
d the fire-pit dark. The vehicles were fine.

  No one and nothing seemed to be out there, but there was a feeling in the air that made her want to slam the door shut and hide under the covers.

  Not one to let her imagination run away with her, she stepped down the short stairs onto the cold ground, curling her toes against it as she looked around. Burning plastic meant people, somewhere. Too close for comfort, and suspicious, when there wasn’t supposed to be anyone else out here.

  Could it be the other prospector, the one who’d hired Micah, perhaps rustic camping out in the woods? Maybe they didn’t put their fire out, or they were staying up late, or something.

  But the moonlight should have been enough to highlight smoke in the air, and Jade saw none.

  Unsure, Jade stood there another minute.

  Movement caught in the corner of her vision made her turn her head as Micah ripped open the door of his tent and came out barefoot, shirtless. And carrying a sword.

  The traitorous moonlight seemed to trace every muscle in silvery light, and for just a second, her breath caught in her chest.

  He turned to her, voice deep and grating from sleep, said, “Go back inside. Lock the door. Don’t come out until you hear me return.” He grasped the sword with both hands, and she the hilt creaked as his hands tightened. “If I’m not back in half an hour, take your gun and drive out of here.”

  She’d hired a security guard with a sword. Sword may have been too generous, maybe it was just a long knife. Either way, it too, looked beautifully deadly in the moonlight.

  “Jade.”

  She swallowed and nodded, backing into her camper as he ran with silent footsteps into the woods. Still barefoot.

  Door locked, windows closed, Jade sat on her bed with the gun on her lap. What kind of danger lurked out there? Micah was here to guard the place from something. Was it claim jumpers like she’d assumed, or something else? And if it was, what kind of claim jumpers were these?