"She's having a surge." Ceara stepped closer to Kaida, whose eyes had gone dissonantly vacant. "Take a deep breath.""A surge?" "Power surge. She doesn't have control over hers yet and stress or fear or anger can trigger a response." Ceara skimmed her hand down Kaida's strands. "Rein it in, sister. Take a breath and draw it back into you."Tristan, pale as snow, grabbed his chest. His gaze ping-ponged from the events to the group. "Power? Power!"She turned, impatience in her eyes. "Yes, powers. Fire." She held out her palm, where a ball of...flame flashed, then disappeared."Holy shit." Riley stumbled into Tristan.Brady's heart lodged in his throat."Somewhere in the back of your puny minds, you knew we had them. Kaida's element is water. Obviously."They looked to Fiona as if beseeching her demonstration, too shocked to do anything more, but Kaida's eyes rolled back in her head and her face tilted toward the sky. A strangled noise filled the quiet as her body jerked taut. T

With her hand trembling, Kaida put her tea down on the table beside her. Brady's mood wasn't only unsettling to his brothers, but her, as well. Tonight may have been their first actual face-to-face encounter, yet she'd known him a very long time. He was quick to smile, very intelligent, and great at conversation. She'd witnessed his frustration at their circumstances, sometimes desperation, but never aggression. And, again, she seemed to be the underlying culprit."Let's see if we can't figure it out." Mara turned Brady's hand over, skimming her fingers over the mark on his inner wrist. "How did this happen?""Hell if I know." Brady's jaw ticked. "That's why we're here. For you to tell us.""I mean, what were you doing when the branding appeared?""Oh." He looked at Kaida, and all the rigidness in his frame dissolved. Emotion filled his eyes and the sentiment nailed her in the breastbone. "I touched her. Fiona dropped the shield and let me through. Kaida had just opened her eyes after

Brady made his way through the grand foyer and up the polished, winding marble staircase. Taking a hard right to the east wing, he headed for his suite at the end of the long, dark paneled hallway. Portraits of deceased family members stared at him on his trek, and he resisted the urge to shudder. Kicking the suite door shut, he strode straight past his four-poster sovereign bed to the matching honey walnut dresser and fished in a drawer for sleepwear. He stripped, tossing his damp clothes near the vicinity of the hamper in the adjoining bathroom, then stepped into a pair of blue-striped cotton pants. Barefoot, he padded back down the hallway, shoving his arms into a white tee. A runner took some of the chill out of the mahogany floorboards, but he longed for a fire.Knowing the few household staff they had on retainer would be asleep in their quarters, he took a shortcut through the kitchen to get to the west end of the mansion. Polished white cabinets and stainless steel appliance

"To say the least." She stared at her partially eaten salad. "I thought I was crazy. The moment I turned sixteen, weird stuff started happening and..." She breathed a laugh. "Add the dreams into account, and let's just say I spent a lot of time alone. There was always a feeling, though. A sixth sense that something bigger was in motion, yet I couldn't put my finger on it." She dropped her chin in her hand. "I suppose that's what drew me to ancient religions and, ultimately, Wicca.""You're a professor? That's what you said, right?""Yes, at a college in Iowa. I'm on sabbatical. I teach two courses in the normal curriculum at the moment."He nodded. "Always wondered where you were from. Wondered a lot of things, actually. Did you know you were adopted? Have any other brothers or sisters?""No siblings, and yes, I knew. They didn't hide the adoption." Everything else had been kept a secret but, apparently, not making a point to cover up the fact she wasn't theirs was okay. Bitterness

She hummed, an adorable sound she made when in agreement, but was too deep in thought to respond. After a beat, she turned and walked toward him, sitting sideways on the bench to face him. "Water is a lullaby for me. Unless I was dreaming, the closest I've been to an ocean is Lake Michigan, which looks remarkably like the Atlantic. I always intended to travel, but never got around to it. Well, until I arrived here, anyway. In dreams, the roaring sound and the waves drew me, a balm to my nerves. Restless and wild, it should've had the opposite effect. Instead, I was captivated. I suppose that makes sense, though, considering my element is water.""In total honesty, I've Googled the whole witchcraft thing for two nights straight, but I still don't have much of a grasp, nor do I know what's folklore versus fact." Mercy, he wanted to touch her again. Having her within inches of him was wreaking havoc on his control. "If I understand correctly, each witch gets power from an element?""M