Sea Haven 02 - Spirit Bound

behind the shed. Stefan kept running across the yard, tackled Levi, taking him down and dragging him toward cover.
    The shed exploded, wood flying outward as a heavy car burst through the front of the structure, aimed straight at Stefan and Levi. Even as Stefan wrapped his arms around his brother and rolled to try to get out of the path, the pounding water curved, formed a tunnel and engulfed the car. A second tunnel merged with the first, a violent wind that caught the car and spun it, pushing it away from the men, into the street and down toward the ocean.
    Levi caught Stefan’s arm and pressed his mouth to his brother’s ear in order to be heard above the shrieking wind. “Get out of here now. Take the weapons, and get to the Jeep. Go back to the farm. Let me handle Jonas. If you’re caught with all these guns, you’ll go to jail. Jonas will take me to the hospital and Rikki and Blythe will stay with me. Judith, get him out of here now.”
    The sound of brakes screaming told them all that Ivanov was frantically trying to control his car. Judith kept the pressure on, pushing the vehicle almost into the sheriff’s path before she eased up on the wind. Ivanov responded by shoving a machine gun out the driver side window and letting loose a barrage of bullets at the sheriff, spinning his car around and heading out of town. The sheriff’s car followed, lights whirling, sirens blaring.
    Judith directed the slashing rain over Ivanov’s car, hoping to not only slow him down, but make it impossible for him to see Jonas or Aleksandr through the sheets of water pouring from the turbulent skies. More shots rang out and she dropped a twister of wind and water right over the car. Drawn to the sea, the wild cyclone swept the car closer and closer to the edge of the bluffs. It crashed through the wooden fence and tumbled onto the grass-covered bluff.
    Judith nearly screamed in frustration, desperately trying to control the terrible force of five elements interwoven and feeding each other power and fear.
    Lexi pushed dirt upward in an effort to stop the forward momentum of the vehicle. The twister whirled, the rain poured down and the car slid closer to the edge of the bluff. Judith tried to shut down the fury of the weave, easing back on the wind and rain. Lissa’s flames had long since gone out. The car seemed to hesitate and then it went straight over the edge.
    The storm collapsed in on itself. Judith slumped against the side of the building. “I tried to stop it,” she whispered. “I wasn’t trying to push him over the edge.”
    “You didn’t,” Stefan said. “Ivanov sent the car over. It went in a straight line.”
    “You’ve got to go,” Levi reiterated as Rikki and Lexi reached his side. “Now, Thomas. And none of you can say he was here.” He looked around at the women. “You don’t have to lie, just leave him out of it. Ivanov was hunting me .”
    He wasn’t satisfied until all of them nodded in agreement—even Blythe.

18
     
    “YOU drugged me, you cretin,” Judith accused the moment they were inside her house, whirling around to glare at Stefan, hands on hips. “In the chocolate—your old Russian recipe. You drugged me. And don’t you dare tell me you didn’t.”
    Stefan nodded his head. “I can see that was probably a mistake.”
    “ Probably ? It was probably a mistake?”
    Judith looked around for something to throw at his head. All that she could find was a kaleidoscope sitting on the end table. She launched it at him, instantly regretting it, not because it might dent his thick skull but because she loved that kaleidoscope. It was one she’d created for all of her sisters, a mandala for each of them, and one for herself. Each of them had one in their homes.
    The ornate cylinder stopped in midair, inches from him. Stefan reached out and carefully wrapped his fingers around the kaleidoscope and set it gently back on the end table, wincing a little as his bloodied arm protested.
    “ Definitely a mistake. I clearly should have said definitely ,” he stated. “Do you have a first-aid kit? I think I need a couple of stitches.” As a bid for sympathy, he thought a little reminder that he was wounded might be just the right touch.
    Judith’s scowl deepened. “Do you have to play hero all the time? You made me crazy with the way you were just inviting him to shoot you. You have a gun. Lots of guns. I didn’t see you shooting back at him.”
    “I shot him,” he defended, allowing