Free Destiny of Three by Bryce Evans Page A

and we’ll protect you.”  Jansen’s voice was strong, but she could hear the concern in it.  He continued to lightly caress her skin as she calmed down.  She didn’t have any clothes on, but at the moment she didn’t care.  All she wanted to do was make it go away.  Jansen was right.  Something was coming, and she didn’t know how to tell them. 
    “Vampire.  Big one, and he wants River to read his guard’s mind.  He thinks she can read minds.  He says we all have our own separate powers, and together we can do something unbelievable.  He hurt Sky.  She had to do it so he would stop, but they kept cutting into Sky’s face.  I could feel his pain.”  Star broke down as she described the event.
    Her sobs broke Jansen’s heart.  He could feel her pain as her body shook from the nightmare.  Banks pulled her onto his chest and rubbed her back as Jansen started humming a song his Ne-ma had sung to him many nights.
    After a while, Star calmed down and fell back asleep.  Jansen got up quietly and put on his clothes.  He nodded to Banks, who was watching him, then left the room in search of Reece and Jonas. 
    He walked down the hall and listened to see if he could hear anyone; when he didn’t he went downstairs, where Sky, River, Reece, and Jonas were all eating chocolate cake.  When he first arrived here, he had no clue if he would like this place, but it grows on you.  Now he couldn’t go back home.  This was his home and Star was his heart.  These colorful people were crazy, funny, loving, and most of all they cherished family.  That was something he had been searching for.
    “Hey, did you save me some?”  Jansen asked as they all turned around with chocolate on their fingers and lips.  He laughed out loud at their startled looks. 
    “You all look guilty of something.  I take it that you ate all the cake?”  Jansen smiled and sat down at the table.  River cut him a piece and pushed it toward him.
    “Thank you River,” Jansen muttered.
    “Well, I’ve had enough for one night. I’m going to take a shower, then head off to bed.”  Star kissed her mates and then went over and hugged Sky.  As she passed Jansen, she reached down and kissed him on the cheek.  Her two mates growled as she giggled and went upstairs. 
    Sky picked up his plate, washed it, and put it in the dishwasher.  “Thank you for tonight.  It was the best birthday I’ve ever had.” 
    Jansen noticed that Sky’s voice was strong as he spoke.  He realized that he’d grown up during the months he’d known him; he was taller, and bulkier, too.  They’d been working with him on self-defense and magic.  He was a fast learner and always seemed grateful for everything they taught him.  Jansen liked that about him. 
    “Goodnight,” Sky said, and walked out of the kitchen.
    “Is Star okay?”  Jonas asked.
    “Well, that depends,” Jansen answered.
    “What does that mean?”  Reece and Jonas both stood up with a hard look in their eyes.
    “She’s been having nightmares for the last two months.  Tonight we stayed in her room, and she had a bad one.”  Reece narrowed his eyes at him.  “Nothing happened, but she woke up crying and she described what she’d seen.  She said that the man who was after her was a vampire who had captured all three of them.”  Jonas and Reece both started growling at the thought of a vampire having captured their mate. 
    “Has River been having any nightmares?”  Jansen asked.  He already knew the answer, by the way Reece and Jonas looked at each other. 
    “Yes, but she won’t tell us what they’re about.  She just says it’s about the incident with Paddock,” Jonas explained.
    “Something tells me that Sky is having them too, but he holds all his pain in, so nobody would hear him if he cried out,” Jansen said. “I’ve always been able to tell when something bad was going to happen, and I feel like something is coming for all three of them and we need