Free Summoner of Storms by Jordan L. Hawk Page A

world.
But the older man’s expression didn’t give anything away.
    “Right,” John said. “It’s one of the more
common reasons the paranormally-abled strike deals with NHEs, to
enhance their existing power.”
    “Like Senator Olney’s kid and the incubus.
Yeah, I remember.” Caleb bit his lip. “Do you think something
similar is happening here?”
    John blinked. “Are you...wait a minute. Are
you accusing me of being possessed?”
    “Of course not! No, I mean, I think Gray’s
giving you a boost, too.”
    “The drakul?” Devon asked.
    Tiffany nodded. “It’s what he goes by.”
    “And you’re certain it’s the same one as
Papillon spoke to in the crypt?”
    “Yes. But that doesn’t matter right now.”
Tiffany waved her hand vaguely. “Etheric energy doesn’t work by
fucking osmosis. I’ve been stuck in the same damn car with Gray for
two days and my pyrokinesis didn’t get a boost.”
    “Um, yeah.” Was Caleb actually blushing? “The last couple of nights, Gray manifested when
John and I...you know.”
    “Ew.” Tiffany’s lip curled. “You’re fucking
freak, Starkweather.”
    “Don’t judge,” Devon said.
    “He’s banging an NHE. I’m judging.”
    John shot her the middle finger, but his mind
was only half on her words. “Would it even be possible?”
    Caleb looked like he wanted to sink through
the floor. “There’s definitely an energy loss to go along with
the...other loss. I figured it just, you know, dissipated or
something. But your talent is to manipulate etheric energy, right?
What if you absorbed it instead?”
    “Etheric spunk.” Tiffany crossed her arms
over his chest. “Now I’ve heard everything.”
    “You’re the one who asked,” Caleb shot
back.
    “That was before I realized the answer would
involve so many horrifying mental images. Every time Starkweather
does his new trick from now on, I’m going to have to scrub my brain
all over again.”
    “Drop it, Tiffany,” John said. “It’s more of
my sex life than I really wanted on display, but I think Caleb’s
right. And if I can tear out NHEs in the middle of a fight...it’s a
hell of an advantage.”
    “Only if one doesn’t bite your face off while
you’re trying to work your mojo on it.” But she sounded
thoughtful.
    “I just have to be careful. And the problem
of disposal is taken care of, because apparently Gray can eat the
captured NHE.”
    Tiffany looked at him speculatively. “I
thought he needed to drink the blood of the host.”
    “The blood is just a container,” Caleb said.
“The plate the burger is served on. In this case, the container was
John’s ability to manipulate and hold the energy long enough to eat
it. It wasn’t quite as, well, satisfying. More like gobbling off a
paper plate than fine china. But a lot less fatal to the poor
bastard hosting it.”
    “Yeah. Which is important. Especially if
we’re right about why Forsyth has started kidnapping people.” John
hated to bring it up, but he didn’t think Tiffany would want him
dithering, either.
    Her hands clenched slightly, but she nodded.
“Yeah. Good point.”
    “I just wish I’d gotten there sooner,” Devon
said. “I didn’t get Tiffany’s message until this morning. I thought
she might go to Marcus’s place and tried to get there as quick as I
could.”
    “If you’d arrived in the middle of
everything, SPECTR might have you, too.” Tiffany patted his arm.
“Don’t beat yourself up.”
    “What next?” Caleb asked, with a glance at
Tiffany. “We still don’t know what your mom wanted to tell
you.”
    “Not quite.” Devon leaned back. The
bedsprings creaked under him. “Renée and I talked, you know. Before
she got Tiffany’s call about RD, Renée was following up a lead.
Seems Forsyth has been shipping his bottled demons someplace.”
    John’s heart picked up its pace and his mouth
went dry. “Bottled demons? You mean he’s diverting the ones
scheduled for destruction?”
    Tiffany snorted.