Chapter 11
ELEVEN
HEAT
The sound of my little sister’s screams are not something I ever want to hear again. They plague me enough as it is, and hearing her screaming for Fire and me from the other room didn’t help.
Finding her, staring wide-eyed, tears streaming down her cheeks, at the seat next to her at the bar, only to find McKenna missing pissed me off.
She’d been sitting there where I planted her ass as I told her not to move while I was meeting with my brothers and Leon in church.
She reluctantly agreed, and I was expecting to find her there.
Instead, my sister is upset, clutching her stomach, and crying.
“I don’t know what happened,” Evelin cries, shaking her head. Fire tucks her closer, comforting her. “One minute she was sitting there, we were talking, the next she vanished through a black hole in the floor.”
“That would be my mother’s doing,” Leon grumbles. “What were you talking about?”
“Um . . .” Evelin licks her lips and murmurs, “We were talking about something between her and me, and then suddenly she looked scared and near panic.”
Leon nods. “If she were on the verge of a panic attack, Hel would sense it and pull her away to protect everyone.”
“Protect everyone from what?” I demand.
“It is not for me to share.”
I had to hand it to the guy for his loyalty to McKenna, but now wasn’t the time. I need to know what the hell she’d need to protect others from. Especially considering my sister was pregnant and closing in on her due date.
“Leon,” I growl. “You can either share freely and willingly, or I’ll make you share.”
I didn’t give a damn if he’d be able to take me or not. I needed to be able to protect my club and family, but also, I needed to know how to keep McKenna safe.
“On Mick’s eighteenth birthday, Hel gifted immortality to her along with the ability to see the death of people around her.
When she did this, the Norns also added to it the ability to suck souls from those around her.
When Mick gets overwhelmed or starts to have a panic attack, the lock she has on this power slips.
Hel senses it from her and intervenes to protect her and those around her.
My mother adores Mick and doesn’t want to see her do something she will regret.
Taking a life will destroy my little sister. ”
She’s not his little sister, yet he claims her as such.
I’ve never known a god or goddess to give so willing to someone that is not born of their blood, yet I stand corrected when it comes to what they’ve done for my woman.
Leon’s explanation does nothing to ease my anger at McKenna’s disappearance. I could’ve been the one to calm her down. I know I would’ve been able to ease her out of the panic she was feeling.
“What do you mean she can suck the souls of those around her?” Brimstone asks, anger vibrating off him.
“She can kill by taking their souls,” Leon states.
“She’s a soul-eater?” Fire growls.
“No, she doesn’t need the souls. Doesn’t thrive on them. The ability is that she can rip the soul out of someone as a way to kill them. It’s kind of like if you were to rip the heart out of a vampire.”
I didn’t like that she could do this, but what’s the difference between her taking a soul and me putting a bullet between someone’s eyes, or even slitting their throats?
It doesn’t matter.
“The only time she doesn’t have control is when she’s overwhelmed with panic?” I ask.
“Yes.” Leon nods. “She dances because it’s something she loves, and she can block out the world.
Mick thinks I don’t see what she’s doing, but I do.
The times she’s on stage, she’s simply erasing all her thoughts, giving her mind a break.
” His gaze locks with mine. “You’ll never understand the gift the Norns have given you when it comes to Mick.
She’s special, not because of the gift she has, but because of her compassionate heart.
People, human and supernatural alike, would kill to break her of that compassion and make her into the destroyer she could turn into. ”
People would kill to break her. I won’t let that happen.
Seems my little troublemaker needs me more than she thinks she does.
A thought crosses my mind, and my anger grows. “Is there a possibility the stalker is after her because of this very reason?”
Before Leon can answer, a black hole forms, and McKenna, along with a woman who can be none other than Hel, appears. With a wave of her arm, Hel closes the hole and looks directly at me.
“Rankin.” Her voice is like a melody, soothing and lyrical, and it was just her calling me by my name.
“Everyone calls me Heat,” I tell her, and look to McKenna. I don’t bother with words as I cross the distance between us and pull her into my arms. It’s only then that I feel myself being able to breathe. The weight of her being missing is now gone. “You good, Trouble?”
“Stop calling me that,” she mutters against my chest.
“You’re good.” I grin.
“I see why the Norns picked you for her.” Hel giggles, and damn if it doesn’t sound enchanting.
I wonder if she lures those she wants to kill with that voice of hers.
“It is not my voice that lures those who I take the life of,” Hel says, smiling, watching, assessing. “So long as you do not harm McKenna, you will never find out.” Thank fuck for that.
“Can’t say I won’t fuck up somehow.”
“You’re a man. Men do stupid things, but a smart man knows when to own what he’s done and fix it. A smart man also knows the difference between harming someone and harming them.”
I knew exactly what she meant, and I knew the difference.
“You will learn the connection between you is undeniable. You cannot reject it. It will only grow stronger, tugging you together even if you pull away. You are to be the one who protects my McKenna from those who seek to cause her pain.” With that, she looks to her son before vanishing through a black hole.
Silence fills the space upon her disappearance. Her words spin around in my mind, declaring it’s me who will protect my woman. But who the fuck am I supposed to protect her from?
The stalker who is after her? The way Hel stated her last comment, I feel my intuition is correct.
Her stalker is after her for her ability and not because they simply want her.
They’re obsessed with her because of what she can do if they rid her of her compassion.
What better way to lay the groundwork out than to screw with her head.
Make her feel unsafe wherever she goes. Destroy her little by little until she loses the trust in those around her.
“You hungry?” I ask. It might be a stupid question, but I need a distraction. Something to get my mind off everything else. Food right now will do that at least for the second.
McKenna nods her answer, and I look to Brimstone. The two of us are close. Have been for a long damn time. We could both easily read each other and know what they are thinking. Brimstone nods and clears his throat.
“Prospect, call in an order at Manny’s.”
“Got it, VP,” Coarse says, pulling out his phone.
The amount of times he’s ordered, he doesn’t have to ask twice what to get.
“Can you ask them for a chocolate cheesecake as well?” Evelin pipes in, her hand on her stomach.
“I’ll make sure to add four to the order,” Coarse answers and looks in my direction. “Is there anything that . . .”
I glance down at McKenna. “You prefer pizza a certain way?”
“I’ll eat anything, but can I also get a salad?”
Salad?
Fuck.
I’m not one for rabbit food. Give me the rabbit instead.
“Yeah,” I tell her and tuck her back close, not ready to let her go.
I didn’t care that she was with her godmother, and Hel was simply protecting everyone. I didn’t want her away from me. I left her for a short amount of time, and the thought of her disappearance doesn’t sit right with me. Anything could have happened.
Coarse heads off to get the order with another prospect in tow. It was gonna be a large damn order.
“Come on,” I mutter to McKenna and look to Leon. “You stickin’ around or heading back?”
“Considering I have to go deal with the nightclub, I’ll be heading out, but I expect a call and updates,” he states, eyes on McKenna. “Mick, think we might be needing to open another nightclub around here.”
“Why?” she asks.
“You know why.” Leon grins and just as his mother did, he vanishes, only he doesn’t open a black hole, he simply disappears.
“Tell me you can’t do that,” I mutter.
“If I could, I would have done so when you first dragged me here in the first place,” McKenna grumbles.
Thank fuck for small favors.