In the midnight hour, p.19
In the Midnight Hour, page 19
Deke’s control slipped, but he reined himself back in. Ryne didn’t want him tamed, she wanted him as wild as she felt right then. She writhed against him, stroked him with her body.
The days she’d held herself tightly in check seemed like a foolish waste of time. Ryne muttered a complaint as he broke the kiss, but when his shirt was off and she had all that bare skin exposed to her eyes, to her hands and mouth, she smiled.
She pressed a kiss at the base of his throat, traced his collarbone with her tongue and tasted the slight saltiness of his skin. Ryne moved lower, bit at his pec and slipped her fingers under the waistband of his jeans.
The world spun, and when it righted itself, she was on the bed, Deke at her side. He kissed her, and this time, he was the one in command. With one hand, he fumbled with the buttons to her shirt, but she pushed him aside and undid them herself. They worked together to open the front clasp of her bra.
He stared, a finger lightly tracing her areola. Ryne arched, wanting him to use his mouth, but while he put his leg over hers, he didn’t take the hint and do what she needed most. Frustrated, she pushed him onto his back and straddled him. He tried to move, but she leaned forward, pinning his wrists to the bed and forcing him to bend to her will. If he wasn’t going to do things right, she would.
Mo cridhe, you learned well.
Ryne went ice cold. “No!” Get out of my head. And she increased the energy to her mind shield, blocking Anise.
Shakily, Ryne pulled her shirt closed and slipped off to the side. She had learned well. She’d treated Deke almost exactly the way her mentor had behaved with her human males.
Co-aigneach. Maybe she and Anise really were two of a kind.
14
CHAPTER
They had every light in their hotel room ablaze, but it did nothing to relieve her unease. Low risk or not, she couldn’t quite believe that breaking the law was smart. She kept quiet, though, and at Deke’s nod, Ryne looked down at the sketch she held and focused on the camera positions. This was one of those times where remote sight would really come in handy, but instead, she had to rely on his drawing of the apartment building’s hallway.
When she felt confident that she had her energy directed toward each of the four cameras, Ryne began to chant. Because she was modifying a spell in a way she hadn’t tried before, she went slower than usual. Fooling electronic equipment was difficult anyway and it was important she get this right. Her goal was to hold the current view of the hall in lieu of a live shot. Of course, if someone was walking through right now, that would shoot her plan to hell—if it worked at all.
Ryne reached the end and closed the incantation. She drew in a deep breath and slowly released it, clearing her body of residual energy. It was crucial she be centered before she attempted to transport Deke. If she messed up the camera spell, he’d find himself rounded up by security, but if she made a mistake on this second proclamation, she could injure or even kill him.
“Are we set on the cameras?” he asked.
“I think so, but I won’t know for sure until we’re there.”
“I’ll take my chances. Send me over.”
Ryne didn’t want to. She wanted to keep Deke here, to tell him to forget the whole scheme, but she’d already committed to this, and unlikely as it was, if there was a chance something in his notes could help defeat Anise, she needed that information. “I’ll be right behind you—don’t start without me, okay?”
“Sure, babe,” he agreed with a smirk.
His cavalier attitude made her scowl. Until she arrived, he was going to be on his own. If Anise or one of her minions was waiting, Deke could die before she got there—the protection spell she had around him wouldn’t last long—but she’d explained the potential problems earlier and he’d been serious enough then. She had to trust that he got it.
“Are you ready?” Ryne asked.
“Almost.” He closed the distance between them and leaned down to kiss her. It was short, sweet, but Deke eased away so slowly, his lips clung to hers.
She knew what he was doing. It wasn’t merely reassurance for what they were about to do, he was also telling her that although she’d pulled away from him this afternoon, everything was all right. He was wrong.
“Okay, now you can send me,” he told her.
Softly, Ryne began the incantation. Normally, she sent items to and fro without saying or even thinking a word—everything worked by focusing the energy—but Deke was human and this was meant for inanimate objects. She wasn’t taking any chances.
It was a brief spell. Reluctantly, she closed it and he was gone. Ryne didn’t bother with a cleansing breath this time; she immediately began the proclamation to open the transit. The instant she completed it, she crossed. Her eyes scanned the hall until she spotted Deke crouched in front of the far door, studying the lock. She allowed herself a deep breath. He was okay.
When she reached him, he handed her a penlight and pointed toward the dead bolt. The hallway had light, but it must not be enough for him. With a shrug, she turned it on and aimed it while he pulled out his tools. Deke hadn’t wanted her to accompany him earlier in the evening when they’d bought them, but since she had the money, he couldn’t go without her.
They’d entered a neighborhood so bad that Ryne had been happy she could throw fire. The negative energy—and the dark-force creatures that were attracted to it—made her more uneasy than the humans, although they couldn’t be discounted. Nothing had happened while they’d been there, but she’d been glad to get out of the area.
Deke inserted the tension wrench into the lock. He’d walked her through the tools and their purpose, and if they had time to kill at some point, she’d ask him to show her how to pick a lock. Just for fun. When he had that tool the way he wanted it, he slid in the lifter pick.
Ryne leaned over his shoulder, trying to see what he was doing. When he turned his head to frown at her, she realized she was breathing down his neck and backed up a pace. The adrenaline pumping through her system made the minutes he spent on the lock seem like forever. Nervously, she looked around, half expecting to see guards rounding the corner, but the hall remained empty.
More minutes passed. Ryne wanted to use her magic to get them inside, but she fought the desire. It was only after he believed his role was a vital part in this mission that Deke had been his usual, pain-in-the-ass self. He needed to feel necessary and she’d curb her impatience to give that to him.
There was a soft click and he grinned at her.
He stood, slipped the tools back into their case, then eased the door open. The apartment was dark. Ryne grabbed his arm to keep him in place. “Spell,” she mouthed, indicating she wanted to corral the residents before they entered.
When Deke nodded, Ryne silently repeated the containment proclamation and one that would block sound from the bedrooms. As soon as she finished, she released him. Turning on a second penlight, he led the way inside the unit, closing the door behind them. Part of her relaxed—they should be safe from arrest now.
Even with the mini flashlights, though, it took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the much lower level of illumination. As soon as they did, she looked around. The place was loaded with furniture and knickknacks—one false move and they’d make enough noise to rouse the dead.
Ryne followed Deke on his zigzag path to the back of the room. He stopped short and pointed. An oversized chair that looked like it weighed half a ton sat atop the spot he indicated and under that was an area rug that covered a hell of a lot of the floor. It wasn’t a huge problem, but it would slow them.
Deke was wrestling with the chair before she could volunteer to move it with magic and Ryne swallowed her offer. This was one more thing he could contribute to their mission, and with the protection she had up around the bedrooms, they weren’t going to be caught. She winced as he lost his grip and the leg thudded against the floor. Probably they wouldn’t be caught—as long as he didn’t wake up the downstairs neighbors.
When he had the chair shifted to an open space, Deke rolled up the rug and started pressing around, testing how secure the floorboards were. Nothing moved.
“This is it,” he said and drew a rectangle with his finger.
She nodded and tried to lift it with her magic. The boards were down tight. Ryne increased the strength, and with a squealing groan, the section rose.
Deke knelt beside the space and put his hand in the opening. He went down lower, reached farther inside, and she knew he hadn’t found anything. When he laid on his belly to reach farther yet, Ryne was tempted to tell him to give it up. She didn’t. If he needed to grope around for an hour to prove to himself that his notes were gone, she’d give it to him.
“Yes!” Deke said and Ryne jerked her eyes off his ass.
Moving into a sitting position, he shone the penlight on the sealed plastic bag he held. “Looks like everything’s here,” he told her. “No damage either.”
“Good. Now can we leave?”
He smirked at her. “You’ll never make a good thief. You’re much too uptight.”
“And honest,” Ryne added.
“That, too,” he said, getting to his feet. “Close up the floor, then we’ll put everything where it belongs and go back to the hotel.”
Ryne gestured with two fingers, returning the floorboards to their original position, and installing them as tightly as they’d been when they’d arrived. Her relief was short lived. While he was unrolling the rug, she felt something enter the room. She strengthened the protection spells around both of them and turned. Crap.
The temperature dropped fast, becoming almost arctic. Ryne didn’t react, simply continued to watch him approach.
“What are you looking at?” Deke asked.
“Just stay still,” Ryne ordered. When the ghost stopped in front of her, she said to him, “You know you’re dead, right?”
“I know.”
He was probably used to scaring people with his gruesome appearance. Half his head was blown off—maybe he’d even done it himself. From the angle, it could have been self-inflicted.
“You’re supposed to go to the light.” In her peripheral vision, she saw Deke shift and silently willed him to stay back.
“This is my building; you’re trespassing,” the apparition said, menace in his voice.
Ryne guessed he was lying. If there’d been a ghost here when she and Deke had toured the other apartment, she would have felt it, but the place had been clean. “You weren’t here this afternoon.”
“Babe, what’s going—”
Before Deke could say another word, the ghost flung his arm out, throwing energy. The fussy things covering the fireplace mantel crashed to the floor, shattering on impact.
“Is that supposed to scare me?” Ryne snapped her fingers and the shards of glass reassembled themselves into the figurines they’d originally been. “You’re supposed to go to the light,” she repeated. “Or are you too cowardly to see what’s there?”
He sent knickknacks flying at her and Deke, but Ryne threw a hard wall and they crashed into it, falling harmlessly to the floor. She put those back together, too.
“You’re not much of a ghost. I’ve dealt with spirits a lot more frightening than you.”
That deflated him. “If you were normal, you’d be scared. It ain’t my fault you’re not.”
Anise hadn’t sent him, that was obvious. She would have found one that was far more powerful, something that would be a match for—Ryne stopped short. Had her mentor had anything to do with the wraith she’d faced at equinox? The timing was pretty coincidental if she hadn’t. The ghost shifted and she put the idea aside. Right now, she had to do some spirit counseling.
Deke moved again and Ryne put her body squarely in front of his. She didn’t need him trying to help her and aggravating the situation. “You followed us out of that bad neighborhood this afternoon and trailed us here,” she said.
“I told you, I live here.”
“That’s bullshit, we both know it. Why’d you decide to come with us?” Ryne had a pretty good idea, but he needed to realize it. “That area was your home.”
“Long time ago. Back before those other things moved in. I don’t like them.” He folded his arms over his chest. “I ain’t going back there either.”
“I didn’t say you had to, did I? Why did you follow us?”
He stayed stubbornly silent, but Ryne stared at him, not looking away from his one remaining eye. The ghost fidgeted, growing uncomfortable under her steady perusal. “He shines,” the ghost said pointing to Deke. “You kinda do, too—not like him though.”
Her heart stuttered in her chest. How much had her dance with the dark side tainted her aura? It worried her. What if she were turning, sliding into darkness without realizing it? She pushed the fear aside. This was something else she’d have to consider later. “And you’ve been surrounded by the dark spirits and those humans who are dark for a long time.”
“Too long.”
Ryne felt more energy fill the room, but this was glowing, beautiful. “You have friends here to help you cross over. They’ll go with you through the light.”
“I ain’t going.”
“Why not? It’s what you’re supposed to do.”
“I like it better here.”
Deke grew restive again and she made a sharp gesture behind her back, warning him not to move. An infuriated poltergeist wasn’t fun to deal with. “If that were true, you wouldn’t have been attracted to his light. You want to go, but you’re afraid.” He didn’t respond and Ryne decided to be blunt. “You’re worried because you committed suicide, aren’t you?”
He said nothing.
“It’s time to stop running,” she told him.
For a long moment, the ghost was silent. “Does he think I should cross over? He’s the one who shines bright.”
Ryne battled the fear back again. As much as she wanted to take care of this, she knew the words had to come from Deke. She turned to look at him. “Tell our ghost he should go to the light, okay?”
Deke must have cued in on where her eyes were directed, because he managed to look directly at the apparition. “Go to the light,” he said with a hint of shyster medium in his voice.
“Will you help me?” the ghost asked, addressing Deke.
“He’ll encourage you,” Ryne answered, since Deke hadn’t heard the question, “but it’s not our place to help you cross. You sense them around you, don’t you? That’s their job.”
They stared at each other for a long time, then about the time Ryne thought she was going to have to tell him again that it was time to leave, she saw the light envelop him. In an instant, the ghost was gone and so were those who’d come to assist him.
“Okay,” Ryne said as she turned, “he left.” She popped the chair back into position. “And we’re ready to get out of here.”
“You can explain that ghost deal back in our room.”
She nodded, but Ryne didn’t want to talk about it. She was Gineal; her aura should be brighter than any human’s—unless she was turning. Had the dark forces left her after she’d rescued Deke or had they remained, unnoticed by her? Later, she reminded herself. They had to get out of here now.
Carefully, she did the spell to transport Deke, then quickly removed the magic from the cameras and from around the bedrooms. It took only a moment before she crossed the transit.
Ryne walked into hell.
When Deke arrived in the room, the first thing he saw was an intruder. He didn’t think robbery was the motive, not when the freak was stroking a pair of Ryne’s panties. At least the bastard wasn’t masturbating with them, but it pissed Deke off. If anyone was going to play with her lingerie, it was going to be him—preferably while she was wearing it.
He put his notes silently on the bed and demanded, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
The guy dropped the panties and turned. Only then did Deke realize it wasn’t human. In the blink of an eye, he assessed the creature. It was so pasty, he wondered if it was an albino. The only color came from its jet-black pupils and the clothes it wore. It had four arms. The lower set, positioned about eighteen inches below its shoulders, looked like the legs of an eagle complete with four claws. This couldn’t be good.
Deke immediately braced himself for an attack and he wasn’t wrong. The thing lunged across the distance separating them and he barely had time to bring his arm up to block the blow.
His question about how far the secondary arms could extend was answered when it slashed out with one of them. Deke jerked back, but he wasn’t fast enough. A set of talons raked his forearm and he hissed as pain seared through him.
He pushed it out of his mind, and spinning, delivered a high round kick to its chest. That drove the freak back a step.
The albino attacked with a flurry of blows and Deke was unable to block most of them. He retreated, trying to evade the claws. It followed him and Deke ended up leaning backward over the table, the thing grinning and drooling above him. Reaching behind him, Deke searched for a weapon. He needed something—fast.
His fingers closed around a chopstick as the talons of the creature’s right arm headed for his heart. With full force, he drove the wooden implement into the bastard’s chest. The thing roared, the sound a combination of growl and screech. Purple blood spurted, falling on Deke, the table, and the hotel’s carpet, but the strike was enough to drive the thing back a few steps and Deke scrambled out of range.
It recovered fast and leaped at him again, driving him into the wall hard enough to force the air from his lungs. Those talons shot out and he spun to avoid them. The tips grazed his chest, ripping his shirt and slicing into skin.
This time, instead of backing away, Deke launched his own assault. He reached for the painting hanging on the wall, jerked it loose, and brought it down on the creature’s head.
