“Now’s the time, Teresa,” she muttered, instantly lifting both hands high over her head. All around her, lightning danced, pulsed, the air scorched from thousands of volts. Her hair lifted in the wind; her eyes narrowed on the helicopter. She stabbed one hand toward it and a lightning bolt sizzled past the black beast, barely missing it. The chopper dodged, dropping several feet in an instant and turning slightly to allow someone to stand in the open doorway.
Someone with a gun.
“Damn it!” Teresa dove for the ground as the first crack of bullets chattering from the automatic weapon enveloped her. Still too far away, she thought wildly, but not for long. She ran toward an outcropping of rocks. Yes, there might be snakes in there, she thought, but out here there are bigger dangers. She crouched behind a sand-encrusted boulder and jabbed her hand at the chopper again. Once more, lightning split the sky, racing to do her bidding but still missing the damn target.
“Teresa Santiago!” a voice shouted over a bullhorn. “Surrender now or we will kill you.”
The thunder crashed and the helicopter blades sounded like the heartbeat of a hungry beast. Closer now, those same blades were churning up the sand, throwing it at her, stinging her skin and her eyes. She couldn’t even risk turning her back to the flying sand, since that would mean turning her back on her enemies. Each second that passed brought them ever nearer and Teresa knew she was out of time. There was no escape. She glanced around at the wild emptiness surrounding her and saw no options.
“Die here,” she murmured frantically, “or die in prison. Not much of a choice.”
So she did the only thing she could do. She stood her ground and threw yet more lightning at the men who had somehow followed her into the desert. Bolt after bolt shot toward the helicopter heading directly toward her, yet none of them hit. Desperation fueled her movements and she knew that her aim was only getting more erratic, but she couldn’t do anything about that now.
How had they found her? How did they even know about her?
Fury laced her fear and somehow tangled in the threads of her power. She felt something new … something old pulse within her, strengthen. As if her power was centering itself. Staring hard at the incoming helicopter, she sent one more bolt of lightning at her enemies and this time she scored a hit. A small, jagged bolt slapped the tail rotor of the chopper, sending the machine into an uncontrolled spin. Torn between elation and fear, Teresa watched as the pilot struggled for control. She didn’t want to kill anyone, but damned if she’d stand still and be shot, either.
The pilot recovered, the chopper continued on and the gunman took up position again. Teresa braced herself for the inevitable.
She looked up into the face of death—the incoming chopper—and lived.
A wall of fire appeared in front of her and the bullets flying at her embedded themselves in the flames instead. Teresa staggered back in surprise, looked up and met the pale gray eyes of a warrior. Fire surrounded his body, enveloping him in a living wall of flame. His features were drawn tight in concentration and his muscled body swayed with the impact of more bullets, but still he stood between her and danger.
“Hold on to me,” the stranger ordered.
Teresa didn’t even think about it. She jumped into the fire that covered the man, hooked her arms around his neck and shouted, “Go, go, go!”
And in another bright flash of flames they were gone.
Chapter 2
Rune felt an immediate drain on his strength reserves, but fought past it. The fools in the helicopter had known enough to use white-gold bullets in their guns and the man-made metal alloy was affecting his magic.
Pain was nothing new to him. Centuries of existence had inured him to it. And despite the agony of white-gold bullets tearing up his back, as an immortal he would survive. If those bullets had hit Teresa instead, his witch would be dead.
And the world would not have survived his fury.
Flashing his woman to a small house on the edge of Sedona, Rune held her a moment longer than necessary. He’d waited years for this. Had hungered for the feel of her pressed along his body. Through the pain dragging at him, Rune braced himself for his witch’s panic. Her questions. Her fear.