Lightning Rider - Excerpt Only

Lightning Rider (Excerpt Only) - Chapter 5

LIGHTNING RIDER by Maree Anderson

CHAPTER FIVE

Karylon contemplated the human male who, for the past six years, had systematically destroyed her Host's self-esteem. What he'd done to Andie had been subtle but insidious. To Karylon, it bordered on mental abuse.

If Andie's essence—her soul—had departed as it should have, leaving Karylon in full possession of Andie's physical body, she would have dealt to Bradley Winters big-time. First, she would have verbally flayed him until he was a sniveling, groveling mess. Then she would have booted his flabby executive ass through the doorway, and gotten a... a.... What was that legal term? Oh yeah. A restraining order.

Given her intimate knowledge of humanity, it would have been child's play to excise this toxic influence from "Andie's" life, and justify "Andie's" supposed change of heart to her family and friends and colleagues. A pity that Karylon's priority had to be keeping on side with her Host in the hopes that this... this... arrangement, for want of a better word, continued to be a harmonious one.

Well, a somewhat harmonious one, given what she'd just done. And if Andie hadn't been so weakened by the accelerated healing process Karylon had forced on her, Karylon suspected that she would not be able to nudge Andie aside and take over right now.

Her Host didn't realize it yet, but she possessed an inner strength that would make it difficult for Karylon to possess her permanently. Not that Karylon had considered for a second trying to attempt something so intrinsically evil. But neither was she prepared to stand idly by and watch Bradley Winters undo all her hard work. She'd embrace lightning and let it take her before she'd let Andie live out her life under this man's toxic influence.

Sharing a Host's body had not been on Karylon's agenda when she'd opted for early ReBirthing. To Karylon's knowledge, sharing a Host's body with the Host had never been on any Lightning Rider Elemental's agenda. Ever. In fact, she now considered herself lucky she hadn't ended up trapped and helpless inside a comatose body until someone took pity on her Host and switched off life-support.

Something had gone seriously screwy in Elemental land. And until she figured out whether she was stuck in Andie's body, with Andie, for the term of Andie's natural life, she had to be careful not to completely alienate her Host. Hopefully Andie would forgive her for this.

Bradley fidgeted and inched away from her, as though sensing the balance of power had shifted.

Karylon made Andie's lips curve in a feral grin. She watched Bradley swallow once, twice, and shift uneasily. And she enjoyed his increasing discomfort—boy did she what. So much so, she indulged in a momentary fantasy of screaming her head off, and pretending he'd gotten physical with her while she lay helpless in her hospital bed. That'd do wonders for his reputation.

The nasty little smile playing on her lips widened into a wicked grin. And it gave her immense pleasure to watch his breath hitch and his face blanch as his hind-brain instinctively reacted to a threat he couldn't consciously perceive.

 "Is something the matter, Bradley?" she purred. "Not feeling quite the thing?"

Bradley blinked, again removed his glasses to polish them with his handkerchief, and shucked off his unease. He tried another tack. "Darling, let's not quarrel. Obviously you're not feeling yourself. You should rest."

"As I said before, Bradley, I'm perfectly fine." Although Karylon had responded exactly as Andie herself would have, she could sense her Host's disgust.

Andie's private thoughts drifted to Karylon's awareness. Has it always been like this between us? Did I always suppress my needs and wants for his, and let him treat me like this?