" The boat ride was a pleasant." Corrine Wentworth said as she looked up at her lifemate, Dayan, as they walked along with Corrine's former sister-in-law, Lisa Wentworth, and her husband, Dayan's friend, Cullen Tucker.
" I thought so, too." Lisa chimed as they walked up to the home the four of them shared. It had been Lisa and Corrine's home when Corrine was married to Lisa's brother, John, and Dayan and Cullen had no problems staying there, knowing how hard they worked for the home. Eventually though, they would be on the road with Dayan's band, the Dark Troubadours.
Dayan stopped when he seen a SUV in the driveway. Corrine squeezed his hand, alarm filling her mind.
" There is someone in the house. Stay here." He ordered, prying his hand from Corrine's. She bit down hard on her bottom lip and forced herself to release his hand as they waited on the porch. Dayan slipped into the house and looked around, slightly shocked that no one was there. He froze when there was the sound of a gun cocking behind him, right next to his head.
" You have about five seconds to explain what you are doing here before I send you winging into the next life." A voice hissed. It was a female threatening him! He heard Corrine's startled gasp as she flung the door open against his orders not to enter the house. No matter what.
" Rusti, no!" Corrine cried out. Dayan turned to see the woman threatening his life and now was a danger to his lifemate.
She was petite, maybe five foot tall, with flawless cream and roses skin and all womanly curves. Her lips were full, pouty, and naturally red. They were turned down in a frown as she looked at Corrine with her neon emerald green eyes. Her hair was a mass of deep cherry red, silken curls that was pulled into a messy, braided bun. If she didn't have the gun aimed at his head, he wouldn't have thought her dangerous at all.
" You know him?" The young woman--Rusti as Corrine had called her--asked.
" I do, honey. He is my husband." Corrine said. Rusti slowly brought the gun down, her eyes still on Corrine.
" What about these three?" She asked.
" What three?" Lisa asked. Rusti nodded towards three men who were tied up in the floor. One moved and she snapped the gun up, level with his head.
" I would not do that. You came here with the intention of kidnapping my mother and aunt and having your way with them. So, as far as I am concerned, your life is forfeit." She cocked her head to the side. " Now, be warned, I have an itchy trigger finger and I've never been known for my self-control." She added, her voice low and compelling with an edge of menace.
" Tempest! Please do not shoot them." Corrine pleaded as one of the men lunged for his gun.
" Turn your head." Rusti ordered, shooting each man once in the center of his forehead. Corrine made a sound of horror and jammed her fist in her mouth. " Sorry, Mom. I warned him." She said, holding her hand out to Corrine.
" I know, baby. I just hate when you do things like that." Corrine said, wrapping her arms around her daughter, Tempest "Rusti" Trine.
" I've got to get this mess cleaned up." She said, flipping the safety on her gun on and shoving it in the back of her pants.
Dayan was inspecting the bodies, slightly shocked at what he had just witnessed. He knew Corrine had a daughter, she had told him, but he did not know her daughter was not completely human nor that she was a skilled killer.
" These shots are perfect." Dayan whispered to himself.
" Actually, one is off center, but he was moving." She said, hunkering down next to him. He looked over at her and she smiled at him.
" I am Dayan." He said, extending his hand.
" Tempest. Well, you can call me Rusti if you want." She said, shaking his hand and then flipping through the men's wallets.
" What are you?" Dayan asked.
" Not what you are, Carpathian, but I can use your skills to get rid of these." She said, smiling as she stood up and hooked her arms under one of the bodies and lifted it onto her shoulder. Dayan stared at her in shock as he lifted the other two and carried them outside. He glanced at Corrine and she shrugged, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.
Dayan brought a storm and slammed lightening into the bodies. He turned to look at Tempest, noticing that she had donned a pair of extremely dark shades.
" Nice job." She said, shrugging as she wheeled around and going back into the house. Dayan stared after, shaking his head. There was no give in Corrine's daughter. She would not back down and had no problem killing, as she made painfully obvious. But what was with the shades? It was night.
" Now can I hug you like I'm supposed to?" Corrine asked. Tempest grinned at her.
" I guess. If you must." She said, heaving an exaggerated sigh and rolling her eyes. Corrine laughed and wrapped her arms around Tempest. Tempest hugged her back and then hugged Lisa.
" Are you home to stay?" Corrine asked, tugging Tempest down onto the couch next to her.
" That's the plan. Well, that is if you and your lifemate will have me." She said, glancing up at Dayan, knowing his opinion carried a lot of weight.
" I see no problem with it. Let's just try not to shoot anyone else." Dayan said, smiling at her. Tempest inclined her head to him.
" I will try my best." She said, not promising anything.
" This is great!" Lisa exclaimed, throwing her arms around Tempest.
" Oh, honey, we will be traveling with Dayan's band. The Dark Troubadours. I hope that is okay." Corrine said suddenly. Tempest suddenly burst out laughing, shaking her head. Dayan's eyebrow shot up at her outburst. She held up a hand and reigned herself under control.
" My levelheaded mother fell for a rockstar." She said, shaking her head again. Corrine rolled her eyes.
" Very funny." Corrine said as Cullen, Lisa, and Dayan started laughing.
" I'm sorry, Mom, but it is funny." Tempest said softly. Corrine sighed.
" At least you still have your sense of humor." Corrine said, smiling. Tempest shrugged.
" At times." She said, pulling off her jacket. A long, jagged scar ran up her arm along with several straight scars that ran up her arms in what appeared to be columns.
" What happened?" Corrine demanded, grabbing her arm and studying the scars.
" Oh. I broke my arm during training. The bone went through the skin." She said, shaking her head.
" And the others?" Lisa asked.
" Um, healing time." Tempest said with a shrug. Corrine sighed and shook her head.
" I should have never sent you to his stupid academy." She said. Tempest shook her head and hugged her mother.
" These scars are light. In time, they will disappear completely." Tempest said, holding Corrine close.
" Still, it bothers me, baby angel." Corrine said.
" Don't let it. I am perfectly fine." Tempest said as Lisa began playing with her hair, releasing it from its braided bun. It fell past her hips. Tempest made a face at her mother and Corrine laughed.
" You knew it was coming." Corrine giggled.
" Yeah, it is the only reason Lisa keeps me around." Tempest complained, but she leaned into Lisa's ministrations.
" Desari just contacted me. We will leave out on the next rising to meet them." Dayan said. Tempest looked at him.
" In a car, right?" She asked. Dayan shrugged.
" Does it matter?" He asked.
" Kind of. I have things in my SUV I cannot live without. Trust me, no light is getting into it." She explained.
" Well, it will only take us a few hours to get to the meeting point. Why is your SUV protected from the sun?" He asked, his eyebrows raised.
" I've had to sleep in there. I don't want the sun blaring in my face while I'm trying to sleep." She said, looking at him as if he were insane.
" Ah, simple answer." He said, his smile self mocking.
" Yep." She said, standing up and shaking her head to release the little braids Lisa had started. She tousled her hair with her hand, scowling at Lisa, who smiled sweetly.
" With the way Rusti drives, we could make it there tonight." Corrine said softly. Dayan rested his eyes on Tempest, thoughtful.
" Let me see this vehicle. Maybe we can travel in it." Dayan said. Tempest nodded and led him outside to where her Cadillac Escalade was sitting. It was an expensive, luxury SUV.
She reached down and opened the back hatch. Dayan instantly noted that she had removed the third row of seats and placed a bed into the back. She was right, the windows were tinted so dark that the sun had no chance in hell of penetrating it. She had also hung heavy curtains up over the back window, the back side windows, and between the bed and backseat that also helped to block out the sun. She pressed a button and a divider went up in front of the front curtain, blocking the sun out.
" Well?" She asked, her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised.
" I think it will work." He said with a nod.
Tempest sat in the driver's seat, waiting for Lisa, Cullen, Dayan, and Corrine to get in. She had her head leaned against the window, her eyes closed. She opened one eye when they climbed in. Corrine opted to sit in the back with Cullen and Lisa and allow Dayan upfront as Tempest's driving scared the hell out of her.
Dayan studied the inside. Her radio was a touch screen and everything was computerized. He noticed a burnt CD in a case with a clear front and he picked it up, his eyebrow raised. It was labeled the Dark Troubadours. She glanced at it and smiled.
" I'm a fan." She said, shrugging.
" How did you get it?" He asked. She grinned at him, unrepentant.
" I was at one of your shows. I recorded it with a tape recorder, transferred it onto my computer, took out the sound of the crowd, and burned it onto a CD." She explained. Dayan paled.
" Don't worry. It is the only copy. I deleted it off my computer. Of course, I had to wipe the hard drive to do so. Luckily, all I use that computer for is music." She said, rolling her eyes.
" I didn't think people could do that." He said, glancing back at Corrine. Tempest looked slightly smug.
" Only if you know what you are doing." She said, using her knee to drive as she fished for her cigarettes. He heard Corrine heave a sigh when she lit one and then cracked her window. She flipped a switch on the dash so that the smoke was being sucked out of the car.
" That is nice to know. We will have to start checking for tape recorders now." He said, putting the CD back. She laughed and nodded.
" I assume you will."
" Why do you smoke?" He asked, watching her intently.
" Nerves." She answered honestly. It was the last answer he had expected. She sighed and snuffed the cigarette out in the ashtray. " I don't sleep much. I'll go two, three days, sometimes a week without sleeping. Then I'll crash out for a couple of hours and start all over. They aren't like normal cigarettes. No chemicals. They are strictly herbal, but impossible to get in the states. I order them out of Romania." She explained.
" Why do you not sleep?" Cullen asked. Tempest glanced in the rearview mirror and shook her head.
" You are an insomniac." Dayan said and she nodded, chewing her lip as she drove. Her eyes still hidden by the shades. Did she ever take them off?