His feet were rooted to the ground as his magic took hold of six bodies in the back yard and brought their incorporeal forms to the surface of their graves. He felt them make their way slowly through the house towards him.

  Jayden tried desperately to cut the flow of magic, but with his blood still steadily dripping on the ground, the ties with the bodies only strengthened.

  As the first figure came through the front door Jayden nearly passed out from shock. His body was shaking violently as the repercussions of who and what he had stumbled upon fully registered with him.

  He and Noah had been following a story of missing women from Mitchell Street in the news. Seven in total and two of those had disappeared in the last month.

  The police had called his father asking if there was anything they could do to aid in their investigation and, as it turned out, Jayden was the only one with enough magic to be able to help. However, he still needed to know the location of the bodies to be able to raise them because his gift was so unstable. He wasn't willing to let his magic free without a barrier to contain it. Who knew what he could raise? He guessed it was too late to worry about such things now.

  Shouts from inside the house caught his attention.

  The bodies of six young, beautiful women floated through the walls and out onto the front lawn, less than a metre away, all looking at him with hope. Before Jayden could say anything the door was slammed open with two very irate men standing in the doorway. They stood there for God knows how long, just looking at each other. Jayden was still too shocked to move.

  His brain, however, seemed to be in overdrive. The scene was highlighted by a sensor light that had switched on when the door to the house opened. One man stood tall, at least a few inches over six feet. He was bald with a short dark beard and a scar running down the left side of his face.

  He wore black jeans, motorcycle boots, and a white muscle tee that was straining to hold in the guy's stomach. The other man was slightly shorter than the first with short, curly blond hair. He wasn't wearing a shirt and tattoos of barbed wire wrapped around his arm from shoulder to wrist. He was wearing blue jeans, and his belt was open and his feet bare.

  "What the fuck?" the tall one said as he produced a gun from behind his back. Jayden took one look at the weapon as his body finally started listening to his brain. It was time to get the fuck out of Dodge.

  Jayden took one final look at the pair then at the six women standing on the front lawn, and he took off down the darkened street. He really hated to leave the women standing there but hopefully someone would see them and call the police. Jayden hoped he could come back later and lay them to rest.

  "Come back here, you little shit." Jayden could hear the thumping of someone running but couldn't afford to slow down and look. He finally reached the end of the street and turned left back onto Stoddard Drive just as a shot was fired. He ducked instinctively but kept running.

  Jayden frantically reached into his pocket for his phone so he could call for help. He probably should have dialled 000 but all he could think of just then was to call Noah. If there was ever a time to need your mate, now was it.

  "Hey, Jay, where are you?" Noah's voice sounded over the connection.

  "Don't… know…" Jayden gasped as he ran. He had never tried to run full pelt and talk before and it wasn't easy. "Noah… I… need… help." Jayden didn't pay attention to any of the houses he ran past; he just kept running because he could hear someone chasing him.

  "Jay, tell me where you are and I'll come get you."

  Noah was starting to sound frantic, and Jayden couldn't really blame the man. A loud shot reverberated behind him and a tree to his left exploded in a shower of bark.

  "Jayden!" Noah screamed his name.

  Jayden put on a burst of speed trying to put as much distance between himself and the other guy as possible. He wasn't a runner by any stretch of the imagination, but he was young and relatively fit so he was hoping he would be able to outrun the man chasing him. "Jay, talk to me please—"

  Jayden was jolted back to the phone as he rounded a slight curve in the road "Dead bodies… Running… Shots fired… Gunbar Street… I think." Jayden was having a lot of trouble trying to catch his breath.

  "We're on the way, Jay. Stay safe, we'll be there soon," Noah replied, and Jayden almost sobbed in relief.

  "'Kay." He hung up and shoved the phone back in his pocket before he quickly looked behind him as he darted across the road. The bald fat man in motorcycle boots was only halfway down the street. But he had stopped under a streetlight and took aim once again. Jayden tried to make it to the corner so he could turn down another street to connect him through to Muzzell Street, but he wasn't quite quick enough.

  Another shot reverberated down the usually quiet suburban street and Jayden cried out in pain. His arm felt like it has been set on fire.

  Jayden could feel the blood running down his arm but he didn't have time to worry about it. He screamed again as he tucked his right arm against his chest and kept on running. Every step he took jarred his arm and sent icy fingers of pain radiating through his body.

  Getting to the end of the small side street, Jayden turned right and started heading back up toward Stoddard.

  Halfway up the road he quickly looked behind him and noticed the man hadn't yet caught up to him.

  Seeing a car parked in a driveway right up against the fence, and away from any street lights, Jayden headed for it. He tried to stem the blood flow as much as he could as he ran behind the car and ducked down. He didn't know if the man chasing him was smart enough to follow his blood trail or not, but he really didn't want to have to find out.

  Jayden felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. God, was he glad he always turned his phone to silent when he visited his parents' place. There was nothing ruder in his opinion than sitting down for a nice family dinner and someone's phone ringing right in the middle.

  Jayden fumbled with his t-shirt clad left hand to try and extract his phone from his right hip pocket. After several attempts he was finally successful. Swiping to accept the call Jayden ignored the smear of blood he left across the screen of his phone.

  "Hello?" he whispered as he peeked out from behind the car searching for any sign of his pursuer.

  Jayden hissed and gritted his teeth when he moved wrong and bumped his arm. "Jay, where are you? What's wrong?"

  "Shot," Jayden got out through his still-clenched teeth.

  "Oh God," Noah said through the line. "How bad?

  And tell me where you are so I can come and get you.

  There's police everywhere; we'll bring some with us."

  "Arm. I'm okay," he managed to say. "Hiding behind a car on Muzzell," Jayden panted. "Okay, Jay. Sit tight, we're on our way."

  "Hurry." Jayden shut the phone off and shoved it back into his pocket. He took one final look around the car.

  Noticing nothing out of the ordinary he settled back to wait.

  Jayden closed his eyes as he tried to deal with the pain radiating in his arm. When he finally opened them again, he found himself face-to-face with the forms of three dogs, four cats, a fish, and what he thought was a hamster.

  He closed his eyes again, too exhausted at the moment to deal with this shit and just tried to ignore it as best he could. Blue and red flashing lights penetrated his closed lids. Jayden tried to move but his legs had stiffened and his arm felt like it would drop off any minute.

  "Jayden?" he knew that voice. Jayden sobbed at the sound of his mate. "Jay." Noah came careening around the side of the car he was hiding behind and knelt down in front of him. His hands hovered over Jayden's body not sure where to touch.

  "I've got him," he yelled out to someone before he looked back down at Jayden.

  "You look so good," Jayden sobbed.

  "Oh, Jay. You look like shit. Just hang in there, an ambulance is on the way."

  Jayden nodded his understanding. "My legs won't work."

  "It's okay, sweetheart," Noah said as he gently cupped both of Jayden's cheeks. "Just breathe, Jay. We'll take care of the rest."

  Before Jayden could reply they were joined by his father, brothers, three policemen, and two ambulance officers with a stretcher. Noah was asked to move back and let the professionals do their job. Jayden was asked if he was allergic to anything before being given a shot of morphine to numb the pain he was feeling. Once he was loaded onto the stretcher and wheeled down the driveway, Jayden noticed the homeowners standing in their doorway looking on at all the commotion he had caused.

  "We'll follow in the cars," Jayden heard Dad say before he was loaded into the back of the ambulance. Noah got in and sat where he was instructed to followed by the EMT who set to work gathering all Jayden's vitals. The doors were closed and before he knew it they were on their way to the hospital. CHAPTER 11

  Noah sat in a hard plastic chair next to Jayden's hospital bed. Once they had arrived at the hospital Noah had been asked to go wait in the waiting room while they assessed Jayden's condition.

  Noah had walked out of the emergency room

  department to the waiting area where he was immediately surrounded by Jayden's family. He hated that he couldn't tell them what they wanted to know. Jayden had fallen asleep not long after they entered the ambulance and hadn't woken up by the time they'd arrived and Noah was kicked out.

  They waited together until finally a doctor had walked out and told them the bullet had lodged in his right upper humerus, and Jayden was being taken to surgery to remove it.

  Noah sank into the waiting room chairs and quietly cried for what his mate had gone through. The doctor disappeared but was soon replaced with one of the policeman from the scene.

  Noah answered his questions as best he could, but didn't really know anything other than what Jayden had said in their brief phone calls. Several hours later they were notified that Jayden had made it through surgery and was now in recovery. They could go up and see him as soon as he had been moved to a private room.

  So here Noah sat, gripping Jayden's slightly bandaged left hand in his own and waiting for his mate to wake up. Jayden's right arm was strapped across his chest to restrict his movements. Jayden had slept through the night, but Noah had refused to leave. Instead he put his head down on the side of Jayden's bed to nap on and off, wanting to be there when he woke.

  Jayden's black and blue hair was stark against the white of the hospital sheets. He'd undergone a transfusion last night as he had lost too much blood during his ordeal.

  His skin was a healthier colour now than it had been the previous night.

  Jayden groaned and his fingers twitched in Noah's hand.

  Noah lightly squeezed back and stood up. "Jay, that's it, open those soulful blue eyes and let me see them again," Noah said quietly and he lifted his left hand and brushed Jayden's hair back from his face.

  Jayden groaned again and his eyes fluttered before finally opening. Jayden opened his mouth to say something, but he only managed a croak.

  Noah bent down and kissed Jayden quickly. "Hold on, Jay. I'll get you some water," he said as he extracted his hands and reached for the movable tray that had a plastic jug and a cup with a straw sticking out. Noah filled the cup and placed the straw to Jayden's lips. "Small sips."

  Jayden nodded and took small sips of the water until he collapsed back on the bed, his tongue darting out to moisten his dry lips.

  "How do you feel?"

  "Like I got shot." Jayden smiled.

  "So not funny. You scared the shit out of me and your family. Don't ever do that to me again. I love you too much to lose you."

  "Didn't mean to. I love you too. Not how I wanted to tell you, but the one thought going through my head when everything happened last night was how I'd never told you I loved you and that we might never get to have our ceremony and grow old together."

  "Not going to happen. As soon as you're better, your mum's going to organise everything, and I'm going to tie your ass to mine so you can never leave me."

  "Sounds kinky." Jayden chuckled before groaning.

  "Don't make me laugh. Hurts like a bitch," he said as he took a deep breath.

  "Sorry, sweetheart." Noah kissed the back of Jayden's hand as he sat down in his seat. "Your parents called just before to let me know they're on their way. In the meantime, do you think you're up to answering some questions? There are a couple of officers outside the door."

  "Sure. Why not. Not in too much pain at the moment."

  "Good." Noah bent over and captured his mouth in a soul searing kiss. Pulling away, he watched Jayden run his tongue over his lips before Noah turned and walked to the door. He stuck his head outside and got the attention of one of the officers.

  "He's awake," Noah said before turning and heading back to sit at Jayden's side. There was no way he was leaving his mate alone to re-live what he had just been through.

  Picking up Jayden's smaller hand in his own, he turned and watched as the two officers entered the room.

  "Good morning, Sir, I'm Detective Daniels and this is my partner Detective Nelson."

  "Good morning, Detectives. Call me Jayden, God knows I'm no sir." Daniels smiled briefly but Nelson's face didn't even twitch. "What can you tell me about the events that took place last night in Bayview?" Detective Daniels asked.

  Jayden took a deep breath before he re-told the story of how he had been walking when he tripped, fell, and started bleeding. He told of how shocked he was when his powers started to investigate the area searching for the dead, and how he had felt the connection with six dead women before the front door to the house he had been standing in front of opened.

  Noah had no idea how the hell his mate was still alive after being shot at for what sounded like a half a dozen times. To walk away from something like that with only a gunshot wound to the arm was pretty amazing if you asked him.

  "Just to clarify, you didn't set out that night to cause mischief with your little trick?" Detective Nelson asked with a slight sneer.

  "Seriously?" Jayden and Noah asked at the same time.

  "Dude, you know nothing about me, therefore you know nothing about my powers. Why the hell would I go strolling around suburban Bayview looking for dead people to raise? If I wanted to do that don't you think a cemetery would be the likely place to start not the 'burbs?" Noah couldn't blame Jayden for being pissed. That had to be one of the all-time most stupid questions he'd heard asked.

  "Well, just look at you. You have punk written all over you. It's a fair assumption that you were out looking for trouble."

  "Okay, I'm not talking to him any longer," Jayden said to Detective Daniels. Even Detective Daniels was looking at Nelson with exasperation on his face.

  "Understandable, Sir."

  "I thought I told you it was Jayden?"

  Detective Daniels chuckled. "So, Jayden, did you get a good look at the guys? Do you think you could pick them out of a line-up?"

  "Yeah, I did. Before the guns came out, I got a pretty good look at the pair as they were standing in the front door of the house with a light shining right above them. Did you guys find the house last night?"

  "Yes, we did. We had a half a dozen calls come in last night all from neighbours, some reporting shots fired and others reporting seeing ghosts. Let me tell you the switchboard wasn't a hundred per cent sure what to make of the second report."

  Jayden laughed then groaned. "A team was sent in and after your brothers laid those women to rest all six bodies were recovered from the backyard. They were also holding a young woman, Amanda Seymour, in one of the rooms, handcuffed to the bed. She's currently in another hospital room with guards posted."

  "Please tell me you caught those sick bastards,"

  Noah said, unable to imagine the horrors those poor women had gone through.

  "We apprehended Bruce Dexley last night; the idiot was still hanging around the house when we arrived on scene. However, his partner in crime is still missing."

  "Do you have any idea who it is?" Jayden asked quietly. Noah didn't like the idea of the man who had tried to kill his mate still being free.

  "Yes, we know who it is as all his identification was still at the house. We have units out looking for him but, so far, no luck. We'll need you to come down to the station when you're able to make a formal statement and identify the man from the house through a line-up if you're up for it."

  Noah watched as Jayden nodded his agreement.

  "I'm sorry for everything you went through last night, but I can't begin to tell you how good it is to have finally got a break in this case. This has been an ongoing investigation for more than six months with very few clues.

  We were hoping the stories we've been running in the papers would help jog someone's memories of something they might have seen, but they all turned into dead ends.

  "Thank you for your cooperation. Here's my business card with your case number on the back. Give me a call when you're better and we can arrange a time for you to come down to the station." Noah took the card from the detective and placed it in his wallet. He watched as they left the room.

  They sat in silence for several minutes until the peace in the room was disturbed by a nurse and the entire Thompson family filing in. Thank God they had a private room.

  The nurse set about checking Jayden over, taking his temperature and blood pressure and filling out his chart.

  They visited with Jayden's family for about a half an hour, his brothers firing questions left, right, and centre about what had happened. Jayden took it all in stride and answered what he could.

  "So, I hear you had to go out to the crime scene?"

  Jayden asked Jackson.

  Jackson laughed. "Hell, bro, you have more magic in your little finger than we do in our entire bodies."