Page 70 of A Touch Of Death

His gaze snaps up from the hand that's firmly pressed against my chest, and his violet eyes bore into mine with so much intensity that each one of my cells feel it. "We're fated mates, Novia."

All I feel is truth. Not just from his words, but from the way my body is reacting. From the familiar feeling of a new bond shimmering at the surface. From the memory of my mother's words...

There's another...

I blow out a deep breath and mutter, "Wow," before I can stop myself. I can't begin to even process what is happening right now. My mind is in overdrive, and I'm struggling to keep anything straight. But one thing I know for certain: I have another mate.

"I know you're probably freaking out right now, but we'll have to get back to this discovery. We need to get out of here, and we need a damn good plan. You with me, Dusty?" Quinn asks, a boyish grin growing on his face while his thumb idly brushes my collarbone where Spencer's shirt has slipped down to expose my skin.

"Yeah. We'll get back to it. Plan. We need a plan," I mutter in a daze.

Movement in the corner has my mind snapping back to attention, and my first reaction is to slap my hand over Quinn's. His body grows tense, but before either of us can do anything, soft words are spoken in a feminine tone. "We'd like to help."

We?Who the hell is 'we'?

As though I've spoken my question out loud, four figures walk from the shadows, slowly stepping into the light. Four women covered in dirt and tattered clothing, matted hair and painfully slim bodies. They all share similar features, yet each one looks entirely different from the next. Despite the awful lighting, I can tell they all have different hair colours. The one on the far left has hair almost as white as a summer day’s cloud. The woman beside her has hair the colour of fire, while the third has hair the colour of coal. The last woman on the right has dark blonde hair, the tips tinted a faded teal hue.

They all look malnourished and worse for wear, but they stand together like a unit. The one with white blonde hair looks like she's suffering the worst, holding onto the hand of the woman beside her to keep upright, but the determination set in her face makes her look strong.

"Who are you?" I ask, keeping my voice low enough for them to hear.

Instead of verbally answering, I watch with confused fascination as each one of their eyes glow before changing entirely. A blue so light they almost look white, orange as bright as a lit flame, a green so bright they look like fresh grass in the middle of spring, and a deep teal that looks like the colour of the ocean.

I hear Quinn inhale swiftly and curse under his breath. He stands quickly and pulls me with him, grasping my hand in a firm hold and tugging me to his side.

In a voice filled with trepidation, he looks at me and answers the question I forgot I’d asked. "They're elementals.TheElementals."

He looks back to the women whose eyes have turned back to normal. With a conviction that has the hairs on my arms rising, he says, "If they have the Elementals, then this is bigger than I thought. We need to get them out of here. We all need to get the fuck out of here."

"Why? What does this mean, Quinn?"

The redheaded woman answers with a rasp, "It means that this shitshow is about to get a whole lot messier."

Quinn's worried eyes meet mine. "And it means their plans haven’t changed, but grown. And you're still a very big part of them."

To be continued...