Free Hunter's Salvation by Shiloh Walker Page B

maybe not completely average. The telekinesis was a bit of a surprise—she’d flown right under his radar with that one. She was too damned nosy and too damned stubborn, and she had a mouth he really wanted to feel under his. But she was mortal all the same.
    Thanks to the rock she’d pelted him with, though, Vax knew firsthand just how not average she was. A telekinetic. He hadn’t met more than one or two people in his entire life who used pure telekinesis. Like psychic ability, it had nothing to do with magick and everything to do with a hyperrefined mental sense. All in the brain, as opposed to magick, which was in the heart and soul.
    Magick used the elements of air, fire, and water.
    Telekinesis used the power of the mind.
    That could explain why Vax hadn’t read her until it was almost too late to help. His strengths lay in reading the emotions, and like most psychically gifted people, she had probably learned to master her emotions when she learned to master her gift. They had to—emotions wreaked havoc on the control of somebody with psychic gifts. Poor control wasn’t an option for somebody who could hurl objects through the air without even touching them. But he had met telekinetics before, and not one of them had been like her. She was like a blank slate.
    He was silent for a moment as he tried to figure out how to handle her. Under normal circumstances, mortals who learned too much about the paranormal races were placed under a compulsion, their memories wiped.
    If her shields were anything to go by, wiping her memories would work about as well as laying a compulsion. And he’d already tried that, with absolutely no success.
    Vax suspected logic wasn’t going to work, either. “If you know about the Hunters, then it probably won’t surprise you to realize that there is a world of wrong going down in that club. You don’t need to be there.” Suspecting it wouldn’t work and refusing to try were two different things.
    â€œOh, I beg to differ.” Her voice was low and throbbing with passion as she said, “I have every reason to be there. I know just how much wrong is happening there. Believe me, Mister…” Her eyes narrowed on his face, and she scowled. “You know, you’re sitting in my house, using my coffeemaker to make very bad coffee, and I don’t even know who the hell you are.”
    Grinning at her, Vax sipped at the overly strong brew and said, “Where I come from, strong is the only way to make coffee.” He sipped again before adding, “I’d bet you like it weak and watered down. Or do you prefer those iced foamy things like they sell at Starbucks?”
    â€œPlease.” Jess shuddered in reaction. Sugary, icy mocha latte whatevers were definitely not how she preferred her coffee. But she did like to drink something that might leave her stomach lining intact. “And you still didn’t tell me your name.”
    He debated on that for a minute, trying to decide whether he should give her the name he was currently using legally. Finally he gave her the name he’d been given years ago when he was still a child. “You can call me Vax.” Even as he told her, though, he wondered why. Only a handful of people knew his real name. Why the hell had he chosen to tell a total stranger?
    â€œAnd is that your first name, last name, or neither?”
    He smiled at her over the rim of his coffee cup. “Take your pick.”
    Her pretty green eyes narrowed. He thought she was going to say something, but instead she just turned to the fridge and opened it. She took out a plastic bag full of bagels, and Vax watched as she popped one into the toaster. The scent of toasting bread drifted through the room, and accordingly his belly started to rumble. “Not much of a breakfast.”
    She glanced at him and shrugged. “I’m not much of an eater.”
    Shoving up from the table, he said,