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Sure there had been a time in her life, after the attack, after her confinement and torture, where she’d gone in search of any reason to fight. She’d needed the outlet for her anger back then, a way to take her pain out on someone, anyone, since the man responsible for hurting her was already dead. But she’d grown up a lot in the years that followed and she didn’t go looking for fights anymore.
If anyone knew that, it should have been Nova.
Her sister sighed, “Come on. Get in the car. I’ll drive you home.”
“Home is a block away. I can walk.”
“You left the lodge by yourself on foot because you said you needed to relax. I hardly think picking a fight with a bear shifter can be considered relaxing. Get in the car, Maya.”
Maya raised an eyebrow, “You saw him?”
“Yeah. I saw him.” Nova huffed, “Why do you think I came swerving in with the horn blaring?”
“I…” Maya fumbled for words and instead reached for the door handle, swinging herself into her sister’s Jeep. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Nova gave her one last look before putting the vehicle in drive and pulling away from the curb.
“They were drunk and looking for a good time. They picked the wrong girl for that and got mad when I wasn’t up for their version of fun.” Maya spoke as her sister drove them down the street and around the corner to the little parking lot behind the bakery. “I didn’t know they were bear shifters, obviously, but I don’t know what I would have done differently if I had.”
Nova shook her head, “Maya, they’re dangerous.”
“I know. I know, okay. I’m lucky you showed up when you did.” She glanced out the window and bit her bottom lip, tasting the dried blood there. “Thank you.”
“I wish I could say no problem but I have a feeling it is still a problem.” Nova pulled into her parking space and Maya fidgeted in her seat.
“Did you see something about them?”
“No.” Nova shook her head. “Not exactly. It’s just a feeling that something is coming.”
Maya swallowed past the sudden knot in her throat, “I’ve had that feeling all day.”
“I know.” Nova admitted, shooting her sister a sideways glance, “I can feel how tense you are, how tight you’re wound tonight. I wish I’d seen something so I could tell you what’s causing the feeling but…”
“You know how I feel about your visions.” Maya pushed the door of the Jeep open, stepping out. “I don’t want to know if you see anything about me. Ever.”
Nova groaned as she pushed out of the driver’s side of the Jeep, “I know but…”
“No buts, Nova.” Maya snapped, far too harshly considering her sister had possibly just saved her life. “Let’s just go upstairs and go to bed. Maybe by tomorrow this feeling will go away.”
“Or, maybe by tomorrow, we’ll know what it all means.”
Maya pretended she hadn’t heard her sister and walked up the stairs to the apartment that they shared. She loved Nova more than she loved anyone in the world. Her little sister was special and not just because of her ability to see the future. She was kind and gentle and generous. Her power could have turned her into someone cruel, someone jaded and cynical of the world and everyone around them, but it hadn’t.
No matter what she had seen and what she had been through, Nova only saw her power as a gift. Maya was the one that saw it for the curse that it truly was. Believing in Nova’s gift, in fate and a pre-determined future, had nearly gotten Maya killed once before and she wouldn’t let that happen again. She didn’t believe in fate anymore and that wasn’t going to change just because she had a bad feeling that she couldn’t explain away.
Chapter Two
Zander Leery was lost. He had no idea what he was doing or where he was going. Not physically. Physically he knew that he was behind the steering wheel of his classic Ford Bronco, driving down I-10 headed to southern Louisiana. He just didn’t know exactly what it was he hoped to find when he got there.
His world has been turned upside down by a phone call 8 weeks ago. It had been a hospital in Boulder alerting him that his older sister, Zenia, had been in a serious accident and was in and out of consciousness. He’d been shocked to get the call and absolutely dumbfounded to learn that the sister he hadn’t seen in almost a decade had him listed as her emergency contact and next of kin.
He’d felt obligated to go to the hospital so he’d packed a bag, left work in Oklahoma and driven to Boulder. She’d seized only hours later and the doctors hadn’t been able to restart her heart. She’d died before he had a chance to see her, to talk to her, or even to learn that he was an uncle.
Violet was seven years old and he hadn’t even known that she existed.
Zander let his eyes drift up to the rearview mirror and his heart ached just like it did each and every time he looked at his niece. She had fallen asleep curled in the fetal position on the backseat. She had one of his jackets covering her like a blanket and in sleep she looked like any other kid. Not like one who had been orphaned less than two months ago and then shoved into the arms of an uncle she had never met.
Violet was so little, so tiny and fragile looking. She’d inherited her mother’s pale skin, full lips and hazel green eyes. Her hair wasn’t the bright copper red Zenia’s had been, or a darker auburn brown like his for that matter. It was a dark blonde, long and wavy and he could only assume that attribute had come from whatever man donated the other half of her DNA.
