Sea Haven 02 - Spirit Bound

hissed.
    Very slowly he knelt, his hands outstretched to show they were empty. His gut knotted. He detested the indignity of it.
    Shariton obviously knew the drill. He rolled to his knees, struggling to raise his hands.
    “I’m going to put you in handcuffs, Levi, for our safety and yours.” The officer—presumably Jonas—held his gun very steady without moving position.
    The officer approached from behind and reached for Lev’s wrist, drawing first one, and then the other behind his back. It was impossible to see with the glare of the headlights, a deliberate move to blind them, but Lev remained passive while the deputy removed the gun from Lev’s shoulder harness and the knife from his boot before thoroughly searching him as well.
    Stefan hadn’t allowed anyone to manhandle him since he was a boy. He could feel the need to survive, the drive to fight building relentlessly. For a moment he couldn’t breathe and something lethal unfolded inside of him.
    It’s just handcuffs, Stefan, Lev’s calm voice filled his mind. You know you could kill either of them if you needed to, even with the cuffs on. In any case, you can get them off in seconds. Just cooperate. It will be over soon.
    Stefan fought back the memories of beatings. Of betrayal. When he was twelve he was dropped into Siberia and told to survive, that someone would return for him only if every single one of the men hunting him were dead. He had no idea of how many men were planning to kill him or even if there were men. The ice rained down and the temperature was so cold his blood felt like ice water flowing through his veins. He had no food and only a knife, with no idea of the size of his enemies or when they would come at him.
    He couldn’t trust anyone. What was he doing, allowing a man to come up behind him? His breath burned in his lungs. His heart accelerated. He could take the deputy coming up behind him, but the headlights were blinding him and he couldn’t see the exact position of the officer behind the door. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t stepped out of position and the gun had never wavered.
    Thomas, talk to me. What’s wrong? I can feel something’s wrong.
    Shockingly, Judith breached the space between them. The surge of energy was powerful, so powerful, electricity snapped and crackled audibly and the hair on their bodies stood up. He wasn’t the only one who felt it. Both officers and Lev looked warily around them. Fortunately, he was the only one to hear her.
    Thomas, I’m coming out. Are you hurt?
    How did he answer that? She showed concern now, but the moment this was over, she would most likely run from him—and he couldn’t blame her. Losing her was going to be worse than all the tortures he’d endured, all the survival games he’d been forced to play.
    Stay in the house. The sheriff is here.
    Why are you so cold?
    The officer behind him grabbed his left wrist. It was now or never. He knew exactly every pressure point, every vulnerable target on the man. He took a breath and relaxed his hand, allowing his wrist to be cuffed and pulled behind him.
    They’re handcuffing me. I’m not good with this kind of thing.
    That much was the truth. The last time he’d had his hands tied he’d been beaten senseless and burned in long patterns all over his body—a reminder not to ever let an enemy take control of him. He broke out in a sweat as the officer caught his other wrist.
    Thomas, I’m so sorry. I’ll come out. Jonas will listen to me.
    No! He couldn’t bear for her to see him this way. On the ground. Cuffed. Vulnerable. She couldn’t see him this way. He would never be able to maintain his control.
    The deputy was thorough in his search, but he didn’t find the garrote, or the small pin he had shoved into his thumb.
    Tell me what I can do.
    Hearing her voice had tipped the scales, allowing him to try his brother’s way. You’ve already done it by distracting me. I’m fine now. We’ll talk later. He didn’t know if that was a plea, a threat or a command.
    When she was gone, all her potent energy dissipating as fast as it had surrounded him, he felt entirely alone. She filled him up with her light, that compassion and spirit that was wholly Judith—the one she tried so desperately to suppress. Every part of him that was insubstantial, no more than a transparent phantom, she brought back to life. Without her, he was back in the cold, in the shadows, where so long ago, Sorbacov had shaped him into the ghost he’d