Shimmering Chaos (Enchanted Chaos 2)

His eyes shimmer with delight. “Good gods, that blushing…” He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip. “I can’t…”

“Easy,” Max warns with an edge in his tone. “Get your shit together, man.”

A purr reverberates from somewhere.

My gaze tracks the noise to Porter, who’s clutching the life out of the steering wheel as his eyes flicker wildly. Another purr fumbles from his lips, his head turning in my direction, his gaze welding with mine. The most confusing sensations wave through me and a gasp fumbles from my lips.

“I want…” Porter murmurs, his hands lifting from the steering wheel, and he reaches for me.

“What’re you doing?” Max’s voice slices through the moment as he reaches for the wheel. “Get your head cleared out before I clear it out for you.” Max’s cold eyes fasten on Hunter. “And you’re usually better at controlling your shit. What the hell’s a matter with you?”

“I have no idea, but I think it might be the…” Hunter stares at me for an unnerving moment then tears his gaze off me and pats the back of Porter’s seat. “Pull over. I need some fresh air.”

Porter rubs his lips together, his eyes flashing like fireflies as he rips his gaze off me. Then he takes the wheel back from Max and pulls over onto the side of the road. Without saying a word, he hops out and lifts the seat up before walking away.

Hunter carefully sits me up and climbs out, shutting the door behind him.

Silence encompasses Max and me as Hunter and Porter hike away from the car and into the trees.

Once I can no longer see them, I turn toward Max. “Is everything okay?”

Max gives a wavering nod, sweeping strands of his hair out of his eyes. “They’re fine. They just needed a time out.”

“From me?”

“No… from…” He rubs his hand across his mouth then lets out a sigh, lowering his hand to his lap. “The power that was trapped inside you while you were in that room… some of it ended up slipping down the link between us and it’s making all of us a bit… unsteady.”

“Did it hurt you?” Did I hurt someone else today?

He shakes his head then rotates in his seat and reaches out to take my hand. “You didn’t do anything wrong. And this thing with the link… Hunter has an ability to repair broken energies, and is going to work on repairing the link as quickly as he can.”

“So I broke the link?” And here I thought I was controlling my powers better.

He shakes his head again. “It’s not really broken so much as… altered.”

“Altered how?”

Reluctance creeps across his features. “You’re very full of questions. Not that it’s a bad thing. It’s just…” He closes his eyes and sucks in an inhale before opening his eyes again. “I’m not sure how to answer them.”

“I’m sorry, but I need to know…” My words fade as his glowing green eyes collide with mine and exhaustion drips into my veins.

My eyelids start to lower, and I know Max is the one doing it, making me fall asleep.

The question is, why?

What could be so bad that he’d knock me out with his powers just to avoid telling me?

Chapter 9

When I open my eyes again, I’m lying in my bed and darkness has settled across the sky outside.

Even with all the sleep, I feel groggy as I sit up and stretch my arms out. On a positive note, a lamp has been left on, so I’m not completely in the dark. But my head is also buzzing with confusion and my stomach is rumbling with hunger.

As I climb out of bed to go find something to eat, my mind races with questions. Why were Porter and Hunter acting so weird before they got out of the car? And why did Max put me to sleep just to avoid answering my questions? If I’m being completely honest with myself, it kind of annoys me that he hypnotized me again. The next time I see him, I’m going to demand that he stop doing it to me.

Yep, I’m making it a goal.

Before I walk out of the room, I check my reflection in the mirror to see if anything that happened to me today did any physical damage. I instantly cringe at how swollen my lip is and the dried blood left over from where Brody bit me.