Free Mystic Flame (Beyond Ontariese 4) by Cyndi Friberg

was
team leader and two men had died on my watch.”
    “I know you renounced your title and asked
to be retrained.”
    He nodded. “I wanted to take responsibility
for my actions. I don’t pretend to be blameless. If I had warned
the team about the ambush instead of trying to be a hero, we might
have been able to blast our way out.”
    “Or we might have lost the entire team.”
    “Life is filled with possibilities.” His
voice was low and reflective, his gaze fixed on her mouth. “We’re
never completely sure the decisions we make are correct. I’ve tried
to learn from my mistakes, but I am not a coward.”
    Time itself paused as he raised his gaze to
hers. All the bitterness melted away, leaving a vague sense of
longing. She missed her friends and ached for the future she might
have built with Evan. “It was easier to believe you deserted us
than to accept responsibility for Bron’s death.” Her voice was
barely a whisper.
    He sat her on his lap and framed her face
with his hands. “Repeat after me—I am not responsible for Bron’s
death.”
    “I am not responsible for Bron’s death.”
    “Let’s try another one. Loving Evan did not
contribute to the tragedy.”
    She shook her head, her lips parting in a
reluctant smile. “I never said I loved you. There’s that Mystic
arrogance again.”
    He laid her back across the couch and arched
over her. Interlacing their fingers, he drew her arms over her head
and settled his mouth on hers. She inhaled his scent, relishing the
teasing brush of his lips against hers.
    “I missed you.” He didn’t allow her to
reply. Tracing her lips with the tip of his tongue, he warned her
of his intention then eased into her mouth. His taste, the silken
slide of his tongue against hers, the urgency, no one kissed like
Evan.
    Angling her head and curling her tongue
around his, she savored the heat and the intimacy. She needed to
touch him, to rediscover the wonder of being with him. His warm
breath wafted across her moist lips as he pulled back.
    “We can’t do this.” He panted. “I have to
figure out why we’re here.”
    “I think this is why we’re here. I think Tal
wanted us to work things out.”
    He shook his head, his ravenous gaze moving
over her face. “Tal didn’t trigger my vision. He might have sent
you after me, hoping we’d reconcile, but the crisis is real.”
    “Show me.” She tightened her fingers around
his as he started to get up. “Show me what you saw in the
vortex.”
    She wanted his mouth on hers, or better yet,
his entire body wrapped around her. Instead, he pressed their
foreheads together and told her to close her eyes. As soon as she
lowered her lids, color and light burst within her mind. Bending,
shifting, like a Mystic kaleidoscope, images flashed through the
color in rapid succession. She was about to dismiss the fragments
as simple distortions when emotion bombarded her mind. Trepidation
squeezed her heart. This was real. Someone was in danger. For just
an instant she saw thick-lashed lavender eyes, filled with fear and
hopelessness, then the image disappeared into the colors and the
vision dissolved.
    “Who is she?” Dro Tar whispered.
    He eased back and met her gaze. “That’s what
we have to figure out.”
* * * * *
    Grat held the palm-size device level with
his face and said, “Full spectrum display.” A three-dimensional
grid rose from the surface of the scanner. Malos had assured him
the scanner would pick up the Mystic’s energy pattern. As long as
Dro Tar was still with the Mystic, Grat shouldn’t have any trouble
executing his objectives.
    Stone-cold fury washed over him. The mission
was familiar. Neutralizing a threat was nothing he hadn’t done
before, but he’d left this life behind after he met Dro Tar. Her
effervescent personality and undaunted spirit had motivated him to
change. He’d sworn he’d never hunt again and he’d meant it.
    He shook away the thought. His intentions no
longer mattered. If some