Entranced (A PowerUp! Story) by Marie Harte

hurt protecting her, and she couldn’t help him? Had her obsession to be the family savior pulled her so far away from doing the right thing?
    “For God’s sake. You’re not going to cry, are you?” Jack asked in a thick voice. “Look. If I wasn’t here, I’d be somewhere else getting almost killed for pay. So think about it this way. One, I’m not your brother, so you don’t have to prove anything to me. Two, Owen’s safe at home, because you’re here with me. Three, if the shit hits the fan, you can heal me. And hell, we’re just going to some energy vortex with a magical book only you can read, in a town lost in the Twilight Zone full of psychic whack-jobs who want nothing more than to kill us. What could possibly go wrong?”
    They stared at each other for a moment before Heather broke down laughing. His deadpan delivery brought tears to her eyes, as did the fact she was such an idiot, and Jack didn’t seem to hold that against her. When she could catch her breath again, she saw the warmth and happiness in his gaze, and she smiled back at him, glad that of all the men sent to help her, Jack had been the one she’d been given.

Chapter Seven
    Jack breathed easier once they returned to their journey. Seeing Heather with tears in her eyes freaked him the hell out. He wanted nothing more than to ease her grief. And seeing her laugh so hard had made his heart race and his stomach flutter with nerves he’d never felt before. God, she was fucking beautiful. So full of goodness it made him feel dirty to be anywhere near her.
    Except she was jealous of her brother. Suddenly, the saint wasn’t so pure, and that gladdened him like nothing else. He could have her. Maybe even keep her for a bit when they returned home.
    They walked in silence for a few hours as the sun peaked. Noon came and went, and still they walked. He hoped to make camp at the Source by dark. Maybe a few hours past at this pace. Then Heather would do her thing, and they’d be ready to return home. To Bend.
    As casually as he could, he said, “So you said you’re thinking of coming back to Bend?”
    “Yeah. I’m done with the East Coast. Owen has been on me to come back anyway. I’m tired of the constant travel. I was talking to a friend of Owen’s. Doctor Cannon runs a clinic and knows a bunch of people in the medical community. She was saying that she could use my talents. I’d be based out of Bend and still need to travel, but it wouldn’t be as much.”
    His palms sweated. “Oh?”
    “I feel selfish, but I’d like to eventually settle down and have children. You know, start a family.”
    He badly wanted to look over his shoulder and see her, but he didn’t want to let anything slip, like how badly he wanted to be the one to make those children with her. The thought had his mouth drying and his heart racing like a freight train. He’d never thought about settling down. Not with what he could do, could become. He’d had a decent childhood, but it had been hell, adjusting to being less than he could be, never able to show off his special ability to mimic others. His parents had warned him to keep his talent to himself so as not to alienate himself from the neighbors. In retrospect, they’d been right, but the secrecy had been so hard.
    “You okay?”
    He felt her touch on his psyche. He hated that he liked it so much. Because he knew he’d already grown to miss her when she left his mind, which was crazy. He shouldn’t like such closeness, because in that connection lay vulnerability. “Cut it out.”
    She immediately withdrew. “I wasn’t doing anything. I was just—”
    “I know what you were just . You did that before without asking.” Which he still intended to rectify. “Just keep out of my head, okay?”
    “Yes, Jack.”
    Christ. If she said “Yes, Jack” just one more time, he might lose his mind. Every time she acted submissive, he had an urge to see how far that meek streak might take them. Would she succumb