Balanced Chaos (The Void Series Book 3) Read online

  “Corporal, would you mind giving us a moment?” Sam asked, doing her best to sound polite.

  “I’m sorry, Ma’am. I’m under orders.”

  Sam rolled her eyes. “You can watch me just fine from across the street.”

  “I can watch you, sure, but I can’t protect you.”

  “He’s here to protect you? I thought you were in trouble,” Ryan said, breaking into their conversation.

  “No. Why does everyone assume I’m in trouble?”

  “You usually are,” stated Ryan.

  Werner gave a nearly silent grunt at Ryan’s statement.

  “Corporal, may I please I have some privacy to speak to my brother?” Sam asked again.

  “Not here, Ma’am. Your brother is welcome to come to the administration building and speak with you within the safety of a private room. I’m sure Major Halstead can arrange it. But my orders are to protect you outside the administration building, and I can’t do that from across the street,” the corporal explained.

  Sam turned to Ryan. “Okay, so spill anyway. The corporal doesn’t care about our family dramas.”

  Ryan shook his head. “What goes on in my family is private.”

  “My?”

  “What?”

  “You said ‘my family’. I’m not part of the family anymore?”

  “You know what I mean, Sam.”

  Sam nodded. “Right. Yeah, I think I do. Whatever is wrong is my fault, isn’t it?”

  Ryan ground his teeth together, the muscles of his jaw flexing under the strain. He glanced around, working hard to avoid Werner’s eyes.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m taking care of Mom and Dad. Go back to your cozy little life with the humans,” Ryan said before turning and joining the flow of the morning traffic.

  Sam stood on the sidewalk, watching Ryan weave through the crowd as he continued on his way south toward the hospital where he worked part-time. With powerful healers, the hospital didn’t have many overnight guests or many workers for that matter. Most patients were in and out within minutes.

  Sam ground her teeth together, just like her brother. He would have been able to do a lot more for her than the human doctor.

  “We should be getting back, Ma’am.”

  “Oh for the love of Pete,” Sam said, using her tamest curse, “you’ve gotta knock off this ‘ma’am’ crap!”

  Sam glanced up at the corporal. He was staring straight ahead, looking no different than he had at any other moment during their morning—a perfect mix of bored and constipated.

  “Yeah. Okay. Let’s go.”

  It only took them a few minutes to cross the width of the reservation to where the administration building sat near the exit, despite Sam’s obvious limp. Werner remained silent, walking two steps behind her. Sam wanted to tell him to walk beside her, but she had a feeling nothing she said would change his habits.

  They entered the little-used parking lot of the admin building, where a solitary black sedan waited. Sam eyed the vehicle as the two front doors opened in unison. Two men stepped out, both garbed in the sleek, professional suits of the outside world.

  Upon recognition, Sam ground to a stop, her lips pressed into a thin line. She glanced around the parking lot, gaging her chances of making it to the door without being recognized. They were limited.

  “Problem?” Werner asked from behind her.

  “None that you would care about,” she grumbled.

  Werner didn’t respond.

  “Miss Gollet, is that you?” asked the man closing the passenger door.

  “A pleasure to see you again, Mr. Sterling,” she said, her eyes jumping to the driver.

  The driver shut his door with a thud and slowly turned to look at her. Sam stared at Roman Hunt, torn between a desire to flee and the need to fling herself into his strong arms. Her heart beat increased until she thought her heart might break free of her ribcage. She had no doubt his illicit mage ears could hear her blood racing through her veins.

  Roman’s human boss had no idea he employed a secret mage. Sam knew only because her gift was enamored with his mage power, much like she found herself aroused by his good looks.

  Mr. Sterling smiled at her, his knowing eyes glancing between her and his executive assistant.

  “I think I’ll leave you two to catch up,” Mr. Sterling said. “I’ll see you inside, Mr. Hunt.”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Roman said, preparing to leave Sam.

  “No, no. Far be it from me to interrupt young love. Take your time, Mr. Hunt. I mean it.”

  Sam felt her cheeks burn.

  “Really, I shouldn’t take up any more of Corporal Werner’s valuable time,” Sam said, too embarrassed to face Roman after Mr. Sterling’s comment.

  She hobbled past the two men, preparing to open the door for them, as she knew the colonel would want her to. Whatever reason they had for visiting the reservation, they were wealthy men with the power to bring positive changes to the living conditions for the fae. No matter how much she wanted to fling dirt in their faces, she needed to grovel.

  Sam reached the door with them and held it open for a brief moment until the corporal took it from her and ushered everyone inside.

  “I hope we get a chance to catch up with you later, Miss Gollet,” Mr. Sterling said as they reached the guest central desk in the foyer of the large building. “But I am afraid I have a meeting I am running late for.”

  Sam nodded and followed the corporal back into the bowels of the building. They reached the central hub and bumped into the major.

  “Get everything?” Halstead asked with a smile.

  “Yes, sir,” Werner said as he unslung the canvas duffel bag and handed it over to Sam. “Let me know when you need me again, Ma’am,” he added before turning on his heels and marching away.

  “What did you do to the corporal?” asked Halstead.

  “How do you know I did anything to him?”

  “I know my men. What happened?”

  “I don’t know. I met my mentor at the apartment. He was upset with me. I met my brother in the street. He wouldn’t talk to me because Werner was with me.”

  Sam glanced at Halstead, who was still shaking his head.

  “Something personal?”

  Sam thought back to what felt like a very long morning.

  “Ryan, my brother, asked if I had made friends with the guards. I made a joke about me and Corporal Werner planning a June wedding. Nothing else had anything to do with…” she trailed off at the dark glare the major gave her.

  “I’m starting to realize, Sam, that you run your mouth off too much.”

  “You’re just figuring that one out?” she snapped back, unsure why they were suddenly fighting.

  “The corporal’s fiancée just broke it off with him because he was called up into active duty to come guard your sorry ass. Maybe next time you’ll think before you speak.”

  Chapter Six

  Sam examined the carpet as she stood in the back corner of the large conference room, not paying much attention to the meeting taking place before her. Roman and his boss were there, along with Colonel Gallagher, Major Halstead, and what appeared to be half the brass in Illinois, but Sam couldn’t make herself pay attention. She couldn’t get her mind off what Halstead had told her about Werner and his fiancée.

  She kicked herself internally for saying something so stupid. Sam knew she had a quick tongue often getting herself into trouble, but she had never considered the possibility of it hurting someone other than herself.

  “Sam?” called the colonel.

  She jerked her head up to find herself the focus of fifteen pairs of eyes.

  “Sorry, sir.”

  “We were talking about the missing relics. As I was saying,” he continued, running his eyes across the large group, “I don’t much like the fae trying to take a case of stolen property into their own hands. I’ll assign one of my senior officers to this investigation and have it done in house. I’d have M
ajor Halstead do it, but his plate is full enough.

  “Sam, would you introduce the officer I choose to the clan leaders and facilitate their cooperation with our investigation.”

  Sam frowned at the colonel. “You’re going to have one of your officers investigate the relics’ disappearance?”

  A light blush touched Gallagher’s cheeks, as though he was embarrassed for her dim-wittedness. “Isn’t that what I just said?”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but you don’t seem to understand the situation.”

  The colonel cleared his throat and adjusted his seat as the awkwardness in the room climbed noticeably. The other men sitting around the table tidied up their various papers, avoided the colonel’s gaze, and checked to make sure their ties were straight. No one seemed to want to be in Sam’s shoes, including Sam.

  “Would you care to enlighten me?”

  “You think these relics are just a bowl, a ring, or a stick of wood,” she said, stopping to wait for his reply.

  Gallagher raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to answer her own rhetorical question.

  “They are so much more. They hold real power. Just as I would never touch one of your soldiers’ guns because I have no training on how to handle it, you humans have no clue how to handle a fae relic.”

  One of the men at the table chuckled. “Are you saying they’re dangerous?”

  Sam stared at him, no humor in her expression. “Extremely. And humans aren’t prepared to handle them. That is why the fae brought in a fae specifically to find them. As much as I hate the douchebag, there is a reason for him to do the investigation.”

  “In what way are they dangerous?” asked another of the officers.

  Every ounce of Sam’s upbringing told her to hide the truth from these strangers, but they had to understand what they were dealing with. If they tried to handle the fae relics, they would be eaten alive for lunch.

  “One of the missing relics is called the Élettaram Staff. It pulls energy from the earth, but each use comes at a cost.”

  “What do you mean by ‘a cost’?” demanded the same officer.

  Sam frantically tried to figure out how to explain to a human the sort of debt one could owe to a seemingly inanimate object.

  “A debt, usually in the form of energy, power. With a mystic it takes our powers, usually at a later date… but a human…I got to be honest, I don’t know what would happen but chances are, if it tried to take payment from a human it would likely kill them.”

  “So you’re saying nothing could happen.”

  “Maybe. But we’re talking about a staff that the fae don’t even use anymore. These relics are ancient. There is a reason they are relegated to legend.”

  “Well, here in the twenty-first century, we deal in facts,” argued the officer.

  “You’re talking to a fae who can drain the powers of vampires, werewolves, and other faes and use those powers at her will, making her the most deadly resident of this reservation,” Sam said, the truth of her words hitting her like a ton of bricks.

  Sam kept her face blank, forcing herself to hide her own fear and amazement.

  “With all due respect, sir,” she continued, still talking to the officer who insisted on arguing with her, “you live in the world of legends now.”

  “Would you be willing to demonstrate this power?” asked another officer from across the table.

  Sam felt her insides clench. NO! her mind screamed. She had made a promise, one which the world seemed determined to see her break over and over again.

  “Sir, I may have this power, but I try not to use it. It requires me to invade, molest—if you will—another person. It is not something I do lightly.”

  “Someone who agrees to it, then.”

  “What about your friend, Breena?” asked Roman, speaking up for the first time. “I believe she is a werewolf. Surely she would be willing to do this. She trusts you.”

  Sam turned her eyes on Roman, amazement making it impossible to express her anger and hurt in one quick glance. How could he betray me like this?

  “I’ll send someone for Breena. What is her last name?” asked Major Halstead.

  “McHatton. She works in the shipyard,” Sam said.

  A few minutes later, Breena appeared, a big smile on her face.

  “Sam! I wanted to talk to you after the fight last night, but couldn’t find you. You totes kicked ass!” Breena prattled on, oblivious to their audience or Sam’s upraised hand.

  “Breena, may I introduce you to Lieutenant Colonel Scott Gallagher and his executive officer Major Victor Halstead. Lieutenant Colonel Gallagher is in charge of the reservation now.”

  “Oh shit,” drawled Breena as she turned to survey the long table and the men surrounding it.

  “I have been trying to help these gentlemen understand a few things about the reservation and they would like a display of my power,” Sam said, trying to run right past Breena’s habitual foibles. “I was hoping you would allow me to take a little of your power as a…”

  “Ohyesofcourse,” Breena replied, running all the words together in her nervousness.

  Sam calmly turned to look at the waiting men. The colonel had covered his mouth in his effort not to laugh at the young werewolf. Halstead looked only slightly more controlled.

  “Colonel Gallagher, can you confirm that I am fae and only fae?”

  The colonel nodded, finally choking out a soft, “Yes.”

  Sam wasted no time and quickly released her power’s restraints. Her gift took a quick sip before she reined it back in, firmly placing it behind her barriers.

  “I have taken some of her powers. If you will watch my hand,” Sam said as she poured the stolen power into her hand.

  She allowed it to do what was natural for the stolen gift and her hand began to reshape itself. The men closest to her yelped in surprise and half rose from their seats, but each man seated at the table jerked as the bones broke and the new shape began to form. Despite her efforts, she cried out, unused to the pain of the transformation. Wolf hair sprouted across the wolf paw and up her forearm. Just as the claws began to form, she ran out of power and her paw began to shift back into a human hand, the bones breaking once again.

  Breena wrapped her arm around Sam’s waist, supporting her as her hand finished the last of the transformation. Sweat beaded across Sam’s forehead. She let out a slow breath and stretched her hand, each knuckle popping back into place.

  “How do you do this to your whole body?” she whispered just loud enough for Breena to hear.

  “I try not to,” Breena replied.

  The men mumbled to each other for a few minutes until the colonel called them to order.

  “That was but a small demonstration of what Miss Gollet is capable of,” he said.

  “You didn’t touch her. How did you take the power?” asked the argumentative officer.

  “Touch is not required to take power, but it does aid in how quickly or how much power I can take from the target.”

  “Werewolf, did it hurt?” asked the same officer.

  “Her name is Breena,” snapped Sam before Breena could respond.

  The room settled into a weighted silence.

  “Breena, did it hurt when Sam took from you?” asked the colonel in a calm voice.

  “In this case, no. She was extremely careful to take just a tiny bit. But she has taken from me before where she took a much larger amount. In that instance, I could barely walk afterwards.”

  Sam cleared her throat, not exactly thrilled with Breena for sharing more than what was necessary.

  “And what did you do with that power once you took it, Sam?” asked the colonel. “On that previous occasion?”

  “Nothing, Sir. I was just proving a point to her at the time.”

  Breena gave her a playful nudge. “She put me in my place, sure enough.”

  Once again, Sam cleared her throat. Breena couldn’t have dug Sam into a deeper hole had she tried.

  “Th
ank you, Breena, for your help,” Sam said, hinting at Breena’s departure.

  “This one time, I saw Sam…” continued Breena.

  “Thank you, Breena,” Sam interrupted, nodding toward the door.

  “Oh, yeah. No problem,” Breena replied, turning to the door and leaving.

  “As to the relics, gentlemen, I strongly recommend you work with the fae rather than try to take over their investigation,” Sam said, immediately trying to steer the conversation away from her own power.

  “I don’t think that will be necessary with you on the team,” the colonel said, smiling at her.

  Chapter Seven

  Sam gaped at the colonel. Before Sam could find her tongue and inform the colonel just how much of a mistake he was making, he clapped his hands and dismissed the various men.

  “With me, Sam,” Gallagher ordered.

  She scrambled after him and the major, surprised to find her ankle feeling a little stronger. It was only after the third step that she realized it was from the werewolf power she had taken. Like all werewolves, Breena had the innate ability to heal with super-human speed. What little power wasn’t used up by her hand-paw transformation had gone into healing her wounds. Her wounds weren’t completely healed, only slightly improved. Still, every little bit helped.

  “Umm, Colonel,” she called as she elbowed her way through the throng of men.

  “Remember, it’s Lieutenant Colonel,” said one of the men.

  Sam rolled her eyes, not caring much whether he was Mickey-Freaking-Mouse, so long as he stopped.

  “Lieutenant Colonel,” she called again as she reached the door and picked up her pace to reach Gallagher and Halstead.

  Her ankle blazed anew with pain and her shoulder throbbed as she worked to keep her speed up. So much for that werewolf healing, she thought. Whatever good it had done had been little and short-lived.

  “Yes, Sam,” Gallagher sighed once she reached them halfway down the hallway.

  “What did you mean about me being on the team?”

  “You’ll help my investigation team recover the artifacts.”

  “Sir, I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”