Sea Haven 02 - Spirit Bound

gotten inside his head because he could hear a loud buzzing growing into thunder. It took a minute to realize it was his pulse pounding so loud. She had a way of throwing him without him even knowing it was happening until it was far too late to guard against her spell.
    “It means I’ll have to get it out.”
    “Can’t we just leave it in?”
    She slipped her arm around his waist, fitting neatly under his shoulder. A slight wind stirred the trumpet trees, drawing his attention to the darting army of hummingbirds. He was going to have to go through that gauntlet to get into Judith’s house. Who knew what else his deviant brother would come up with to torture him in the hopes that he’d leave.
    “No, we can’t leave it in,” Judith scolded. “And it really is swelling, Thomas. I need to put some allergy cream on it quickly. Come on.”
    Without even hesitating, Judith stepped onto the narrow lane woven through the thick stand of trumpet trees with those nasty little birds just waiting to do Lev’s bidding. Two steps in and the birds flew at Stefan’s head, tiny wings buzzing loudly, the sharp beaks going at his skin, veering away at the last minute. Some protective instinct long forgotten had him wrapping his arm around Judith’s head, covering her face from the attack.
    Judith let out a little shocked cry and picked up the pace with his, although she couldn’t see much, her hands up defensively. He used his body to protect hers and his arms to shield her face, his anger growing into a slow burn.
    Knock it off, Lev. If she gets one scratch on her I’m going to come after you and you seriously don’t want that. He meant it too.
    Stefan had come to save his brother’s life, to warn him of an assassin stalking him, but now he wanted to punch him right in that smug mouth. Lev thought he had a good gig going here, deceiving these women—Judith’s sisters—well, it just wasn’t going to continue. And if his smartass playing around caused one of the birds to attack her, Lev was getting the beating of his life.
    You could try, but I doubt you’ll get more than the first punch in.
    Clearly Lev had forgotten who was the older brother and in charge. Judith let out a second little sound of distress. He could feel her fear beating at him. Cold, black fury rose, smoldering just below the surface in direct proportion to her fear, always a bad sign.
    You’re scaring her, you bastard.
    The birds abruptly backpedaled.
    Why the hell didn’t you just say so instead of posturing like a puffed up adder?
    You’re right, why on earth would I give you credit for having a brain? Stefan poured contempt into his voice. He was disgusted with his brother using these women. He took great care to push aside his disgust at himself for thinking to do the same thing.
    The connection between them was slipping away over the distance. Stefan made certain to “feel” for a direction. Before he left, he was going to find out just which house belonged to Rikki, Lev’s supposed wife, so he could pay his brother a little visit and toss him out on his ear.
    “Are they gone?” Judith asked, her voice trembling.
    Stefan’s protective instincts kicked at him hard at that little catch in her voice. He removed his arm so she could see. They were almost out of enemy territory, approaching the last of the trumpet trees. “I believe we’re safe,” he assured.
    “I’ve never seen them act that way before. Hummingbirds are aggressive, but they were actually attacking us.”
    “Maybe we were too close to a nest,” Stefan suggested.
    “I suppose that’s as good an explanation as any.” She sounded a little suspicious and took another careful look around with that little frown he found adorable, before giving him her attention again. “First the bee stings you and now the birds attack. I’m so sorry, Thomas. This was supposed to be a fun afternoon for you.”
    His arm tightened around her. “I’m an adventurous man, Judith.”
    She smiled up at him. “You’re a good sport, I’ll say that for you.” She glanced at his neck, worry in her eyes. “Your neck really is swelling.”
    He could feel it. He’d been shot quite a few times, knifed, tortured and other unpleasant things. It would be irony if he was done in by a small bee his brother had sent after him. Wouldn’t Ivanov get a kick out of that? He did rather like the alarm in her voice for him. She was genuinely worried about him and since it was a brand-new, unfamiliar