Untamed Hawaiian Heat (Rift Hunters) Read Online Free PDF Page B

studied his eyes.
    The comment sliced through the onslaught of emotions, and Tiaki broke eye contact with Mateo.
    “I’m positive he doesn’t have any, Niki. Why?” Ash moved into Tiaki’s line of sight.
    Niki handed him the light. “Because I just saw what looked like electrical currents spark in his eyes. Similar to what older implants emit when they burn out.”
    Ash took the light and shined it in his eyes.
    Shit! There was only one thing he could think of that Niki could have seen resembling what she described. His magic.
    “Relax, Hunter. I’d rather explain this to all of them at once. I have no intention of revealing anything right this minute.”
    Tiaki took a deep breath and concentrated on reining in his magic before it broke free and became uncontrollable. He needed to figure out what the hell was causing it to act this way. He hadn’t felt his control of it slip like this since he was a fledgling.
    A few moments passed as Ash examined his eyes. “I don’t see anything, Niki. It must have been a trick of the light.” Ash set the instrument on the table and backed away.
    Niki glanced back and forth between Ash and Tiaki as though trying to decide if she believed them. She wrote something down. “Okay, then. Monte, he’s all yours.”
    “Great. Let’s get going. I don’t want to keep Pearce waiting any longer than necessary.” Monte came forward and motioned for Tiaki to precede him to the door.
    Tiaki rose from the bed and followed. An awareness rippled through him when he passed between Kiana and Mateo, who had taken up defensive poses on either side of the door. His magic reached out to both of them as though it were trying to pull them to his side.
    Tiaki shook his head and pushed that thought away. He had bigger things to worry about right now.
    Like explaining the magic residing within Earth’s core.
    * * * *
    Tiaki surveyed the lay of the land as they led him to their command center. He wasn’t looking forward to enlightening this planet about the core magic. While he possessed the information needed to explain it, it wasn’t something he’d been trained to go into detail about.
    Tiaki shook himself mentally and started scanning the base with his magic, hoping to ascertain where he might be able to send a message to Legatus Cacus, who presided over the Rift Hunter Legion at the Citadel, but when it brushed up against Kiana and Mateo, his magic rushed back to his fingertips.
    Before he had a chance to analyze what was happening, he felt a net close around his magic, binding it tightly. Glancing up, he found Ash staring at him.
    “You better get a handle on it, Hunter. There are a lot of people who believe you are a soldier for our enemy. It wouldn’t be wise to introduce them to the core magic this way.”
    “And just why haven’t you told them about it?”
    “Because it is forbidden for me to do so.”
    Tiaki started to ask why, but Ash’s next words stopped him.
    “Leave it alone, Hunter. I will not explain my reasons to you.”
    Tiaki would have pushed further, but right then Monte punched a code into the security panel near the door. He glanced in Ash’s direction again. The man knew more than he was letting on. But how much more? He pushed the questions away for now. What Ash knew or didn’t know was none of his concern. He needed to worry about contacting the Citadel to find out what the hell had happened to the rift he’d been working on.
    * * * *
    Kiana tried not to stare at the stranger as he was led into the conference room, even though the restless energy within her kept reaching out to him. She glanced at Mateo as he entered the room, and quickly averted her eyes. He was furious with her about the feelings threatening to boil over inside her. Half of which were directed at the man she’d been kissing with as much abandon as she’d ever kissed Mateo.
    She noted that Monte seated the man near the head of the table, where Lieutenant Commander Pearce was already sitting