Storm Watch (Woodland Creek) by Hope Welsh, Woodland Creek Page B

said. “I’m not sure if he’d call you if he spotted someone or just chase them off.”
    TJ thought about that for a minute. “Yeah, I’m not either, come to think of it. He’s an ornery old cuss.”
    “Should we warn him?” Storm asked. “Or the nuns at the convent?”
    TJ and Luke both laughed. “It’s abandoned. The only residents are in the cemetery,” Luke explained. “But we should give Arnold a heads-up.”
    “Alright, then, we have a plan,” TJ said. “I spoke with the phone company. They are saying tomorrow or the next day for service to be restored. This storm is damn strange. It wasn’t supposed to last this long.”
    Luke looked at Storm pointedly. “Yeah, I think we might be able to remedy that one.”
    TJ’s eyes widened as he looked at Storm. “You?”
    “Not intentionally!” she cried. “I don’t know why it changes based on my moods!”
    “I’m going to work with her. It might be good to see what all she can do. Before coming here, she had no idea she had any abilities at all.”
    “ She is sitting right here,” Storm snapped.
    A loud crack of thunder snapped through the air, shaking the house. Luke and TJ both looked at her.
    “Yeah, I think we need to work on it,” Luke said dryly, having no doubt at all that that little blast was a blast of her temper. He made a mental note to remember that—just in case she pulled down some lightning to go with it if he irritated her. He looked at her and grinned.
    She glared in response. “I didn’t do that!”
    He laughed. “Yeah, you did. Now that I think of it, you could be quite useful in a fight.”
    Storm put her hands over her face and groaned aloud. “What is happening to me?”
    “You’re a wizard, Storm,” Luke explained. “Get used to it.”
    While Luke smiled, Storm just sat shaking her head in awe.
     
     

 
     
    T he next morning, they had a few more answers. The Inn confirmed that they had rented rooms to a group of men who were supposedly on a business trip. Of course, Luke knew better. There was nothing in the town of about three thousand to warrant a group of men arriving. The woman at the Inn had told TJ that the men had arrived the same night Storm had. For now, he was keeping them under watch.
    A call to Mercedes confirmed that there was definitely something amiss. She spotted several vehicles that were obviously not from here, as they had New York plates.
    Storm had thought she’d had a head-start, but she hadn’t had much of one, obviously. She wasn’t entirely sure why they hadn’t already made a move.
    But, the good news was that Samuels didn’t appear to be with them. The Inn had taken copies of the ID of all the men as per their standards, but Samuels was not one of them.
    TJ had run all their IDs, but found not one single record among them. Apparently, they all worked for RSI. Luke knew that was the name of one of Samuel’s corporations. Business trip, his ass. They were here to either catch or watch Storm.
    They’d just finished breakfast, but Storm had barely said a word. They’d made love and she’d been with him all the way—but still, when they’d finished, she’d curled into a ball and gone to sleep without so much as a ‘Goodnight’.
    Just then, they were sitting in front of the fire. “How bout we work on seeing what all your magic can do?” he asked her gently. “It could come in handy if you can call up a storm if we need one.”
    Storm looked at him and shrugged. “If you want to.”
    “Talk to me, Storm. What’s going through your head, darlin’?” he asked, gently ruffling her curly hair. “I know you’re upset—but I’m not really sure what’s changed since we talked to TJ.”
    “I just keep thinking of how much he could hurt you or your friends,” she said quietly. “I wish we could just run. There’d be no reason for them to stay if I wasn’t here.”
    It was the same damn argument, and he was getting tired of having it. “I know you’re worried, hon.