Kaida tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was a shy kid and had trouble making friends. Part of me thought that's what he wasan imaginary friend I'd conjured. My parents were nice people and very supportive, but they were...distant. We'd often spend hours in the same room and not say anything. They gave me a lot of space, more than most parents would give a child." She huffed a sarcastic laugh. "I could've snuck out of the house to have an affair with Ozzy Ozbourne and snort eighty grams of coke up my nose, and they wouldn't have been the wiser." She glanced at the cliffs in the distance and the moonlight glittering across the inky water. "I had no inkling of what to do when my powers kicked in as a teenager. The few friends I did have began to distance themselves when I stopped wanting to hang out. I was already considered a freak. The last thing I needed was to prove to my peers they were right. Worse, I was afraid I'd hurt someone."Refocusing on the flames, she tugged the

Fiona closed the door behind his brothers, giving them the hairy eyeball. "Upstairs sleeping as most people do at two in the morning."Dodging furniture, he strode into an adjoining room that looked like a circular solarium. Glass walls and padded bench seating had it set up like a reading nook. Bypassing it, he rushed into another and found a dark polished winding staircase with a burgundy runner."What are you doing here, Meath?" Fiona flicked her glance at his brothers, who trailed after him like lost puppies. "And Meath accessories? It's the middle of the night.""Something's wrong with Kaida." Brady stomped up the steps, hysterical anxiety clawing his gut. The burn in his mark grew hotter, nearly intolerable. "Very wrong."Ceara met him at the top, auburn ringlets in a high ponytail and wearing a green nightgown that molded to her slender frame. "What's going on?""Which bedroom is Kaida's?"She moved aside and pointed. "First door on the right. Why?""Kaida!" He tried the

"Venatores," Ceara whispered, clearly shaken. "Latin for hunters. Our family grimoire makes mention of them, but they've always left the Galloways alone. Mara doesn't know much about them, either. Just stories passed down and rumors."Tristan straightened. "I need a cell phone or laptop. We left the house in a rush and I don't have mine with me. Can I use one of yours?""Sure, if you promise not to call Tokyo." Fiona rose and left the room, returning moments later and passing Tristan her cell.His thumbs flew over the keypad. Rising, he walked over to Kaida and showed her the screen. "Is this the guy you saw tonight?"A handsome gentleman with light brown hair interspersed with gray stared back at her. Fan lines spread from the corners of his green eyes and unsmiling mouth while deep grooves marred his forehead. "No, the man I encountered was ten or fifteen years older. In his sixties, perhaps. He was heavier and his hair was white. It fell to his shoulders."Brady and Tristan exc

A nod, and she moved across the moonlit room to slip under the covers.He followed, setting his glasses on the nightstand. Lying on his side facing her, he took in her pretty features. The sweep of her pale lashes. Her high cheekbones. The delicate curve of her eyebrows. Those full lips. It was but a dream within a dream to actually have her in front of him. To be in the same bed, breathing in her rosemary scent and having her gentle exhalations fanning his jaw."Surreal, isn't it?" She smiled as if reading his mind. "Being here together.""Yes, not that I'm complaining." His gaze lowered to her throat, to the black and blue marks forming. Bruises she might not have if she hadn't blocked him from getting to her. Irritation pounded his temples at the helpless sensation she'd thrust at him. "What you did in the hotel room? Don't ever do that again. Promise me. I couldn't get to you because of the water you erected. I was out of my damn mind.""I'm sorry. I didn't even realize I was

"No." She brushed the hair from her face and eased out of Brady's hold to sit beside him. "I couldn't see his face, but it wasn't him. This guy wasn't as husky or solid. His frame was slimmer. Except..." She was unsure how to explain it to them and have it make sense. "He gave off the same vibe, though. Vengeance. Purpose.""Her premonitions are rooted in the present." Fiona rose to her feet and sighed. "Which means this person is on the island right this second." She looked at Kaida. "Did you get the impression he was after us?""Not necessarily. He's definitely dangerous and I sensed he was arriving for a reason, but it didn't seem specific to us or anything."Ceara's gaze drifted as if she were thinking. "We can assume if you got a vision of him it has to pertain to us in some way. How is the question. You projected into that hotel room and got the premonition just now for a reason. Yet if it's not the same man, I'm not connecting the dots.""Is he a hunter?" Brady's mossy eyes