Marie Harte - Entranced

“Fine. I’ll be right back.” Jack saw an opportunity. While Ralf lay asleep, and Ernst seemed the largest threat, he might have a shot at their escape if he moved now.

He returned to find Ralf sleeping. Jan had settled down but kept a worried gaze on Heather. He glanced up when Jack stood over her.

“You doing it now?”

Jack frowned. “What?”

Jan sighed. “Took you long enough. Knock us both out first. Have to make it look real.”

The man knew he wasn’t Klaus. Apparently he could trust Jan. But why had Ida told them not to trust him, then?

“I’m part of the town council,” Jan said, as if in apology to Jack’s unasked question. “The time has come to stop the Baers. But none of us is powerful enough. Not with Ralf, Ernst, and Klaus alive. Their bloodline keeps them strong, and as long as the three are alive to share the power, none of us can hold Ralf off for long. I’m still not sure how you did it back there, but when his boys are near, he’s got triple the power he normally has.”

That explained a lot.

“Good news is, I think Mikhail has seen the light. He didn’t know how bad Ralf and his boys had gotten. Random killings? That’s not right any way you look at it.”

“No shit.”

“We can fix the town, son. But you have to get rid of Ernst first. With Klaus gone, we’re halfway there. But not yet. Take care of Ernst, and I’ll handle Ralf.”

Jack nodded. To make sure to keep Ralf out of the way, he knocked the man out with a blow to his head, then bound and gagged him with the ties in Ralf’s pack. The man was a telekinetic, but hopefully he’d be out long enough for Jack to get the job done. He returned to Jan and tied him up as well, making sure to keep the ropes loose enough that they didn’t cut off Jan’s circulation.

“You’re sure about this?”

“Yes. Use a pressure point, though. I don’t relish you slamming my head against the ground the way you did Ralf.”

Jack sighed. He slowly squeezed Jan’s neck until he passed out, then grabbed their packs and a sleeping Heather.

“Wake up,” he whispered.

She blinked up at him, recognized Klaus, and shrank back.

“No time.” He yanked her hand to his side. “Heal me. Quietly.”

She let go of her power, and he ate it up, sighing at the pleasure.

She stared at him with wide, hopeful eyes. “Jack?”

“Shh.” He dragged her hand from his knitting side and brought it to his thigh, ignoring his rampant erection. How the hell could he be hard when he was wounded? “Now my leg.”

She poured the energy into him, and his leg healed in seconds.

“I’m Klaus, and you’re scared,” he growled. “I’m taking you to Ernst. We’re planning to share you.”

She nodded so fast he feared she’d give herself a headache.

“And Heather, this might get rough. Remember that talk we had about using your gift in other ways? Focus on that.” He dragged her away from camp toward Ernst and stashed their bags. He hoped to hell she wouldn’t have to harm anyone. If she even could. She’d been a healer her whole life. But Jack knew power was power. If you could give it, you could take it as well.

He brought her back to where Ernst had been waiting. But when he looked for the man, he found nothing. And then Ernst was there, smiling, and he hugged Jack tight, holding him close with his arms and a mental strength that hadn’t been present before in the bastard. A knife slid between Jack’s ribs before he could react, and Heather was yanked violently away.

As Jack fell to his knees, gasping in pain, Ernst whispered, “You’re not Klaus.”

HEATHER HAD NEVER been so scared in her life. Klaus wasn’t Klaus. Ernst had just stabbed what looked like his brother…but was Jack? So she wasn’t going insane, and the spark she’d felt before that had felt like Jack really was Jack. But how could Jack be Klaus? He looked and sounded just like him, yet when her energy had merged with his before, she’d felt Jack.

Though confused, she refused to let Ernst hurt Klaus—Jack—like that. She searched for something to help her and found a large rock. Without thinking, she lifted it and tried to brain Ernst with it.

But it stopped in motion, as if it hit a wall. She let go, staring at it in astonishment, and backed up to put space between her and Ernst.

Ernst chuckled and stabbed Jack again.

Jack gasped and shrugged out of his jacket, then rolled to his back and slowly began to change. Heather heard popping noises, and she watched in amazement as Klaus’s face and form slowly transformed into someone else. His muscles grew lax, then tight, then lax again. His bones seemed to shift under his skin as his cheekbones and chin grew sharper, then squared. His skin color deepened to that dark bronze of Jack’s, and streaks of black overtook the auburn of Klaus’s hair. It didn’t take long before he looked like himself again in clothes too small to fit him comfortably.

“You are one fucked-up freak,” Ernst said pleasantly. “And now you’ll find out why the Baers are so very good at what we do.”

“What’s that? Kill anyone who says no to you?” Jack asked in his deep, rough growl.

The rock, which had been hanging in midair, thudded to the ground an inch from Jack’s head.

“Oh, wow. Another telekinetic.” Jack snorted. “You people are a dime a dozen.”

Ernst frowned, obviously not getting the respect he’d anticipated. He narrowed his gaze at Jack, and Heather felt a surge of power. Jack lifted from the ground several feet before slamming back down hard enough to crack something. He let out a curse, then slowly got to his feet and stood, not even clutching his side, which had to hurt.

Heather could feel his pain, and she sent energy out toward him, hoping she might be able to heal him without touching him. She’d never done so before, but she’d never felt such overwhelming need to use her power either. Jack needed her, and she loved him. She had to help.

“You’re stronger than you look, outsider,” Ernst mused. He smiled. “But she’s not.”

Without warning, Heather jerked in his direction, flying off the ground, then through the air. She smacked into Ernst’s chest, and he wrapped his arms around her, using her as a human shield. One hand gripped her by the hair, holding her still. Tears stung her eyes, and she wished she could do more to help Jack than be used as leverage.

He’d mentioned before about using her power to harm. But Heather couldn’t fathom tainting herself like that. If she killed using her ability, she’d never be the same. She simply couldn’t do it.

Jack watched without blinking. He didn’t seem upset or even worried.

“Now why don’t you watch while I fuck your girlfriend?”

Jack shrugged. “If you think you can, by all means.” Then Jack grinned. “By the way, Klaus is dead. You know that, right?”

Ernst stiffened but didn’t stop himself from gripping her hair tighter. For all that he pretended to be in control, she thought that maybe Ernst was afraid. Hell, she was scared of this Jack, this icy killer staring at them without feeling. Larger and stronger than anyone she’d ever seen, even with blood pooling at his side, Jack projected such an air of menace that she pressed back against Ernst, away from her lover.

“Oh, and your father too. He’s gone,” Jack said casually.

“You’re lying.”

“Nope. Go look.”

“Fuck you. I’m not moving.” Ernst trembled behind her.

“Heather, pull.” Jack stood watching them and crossed his arms over his chest. “You can push it out, because I just felt it. I need you to hurry up, woman. I have things to do.”

She blinked. “Wh-what?” she squeaked as Ernst’s fury bled through to her. His hold around her chest tightened, and he raised several small boulders with his mind and aimed them at Jack. Jack dodged two of them but several smaller rocks hit his torso and legs.