In the midnight hour, p.5
In the Midnight Hour, page 5
“No.” He turned on his side, mirroring her. The blankets rode low on his hips and she struggled to keep her attention on his face. “Not only do I not feel hung over, but I rarely drink, let alone get shit-faced enough to lose time. I can’t think of how else I got here without remembering it, though.”
Unfortunately, she could come up with several ways and they involved magic. Her wards weren’t easy for anyone to circumvent, let alone a human. They’d been created by all nine councilors combining their powers and only the full council acting in concert could enter without her approval. It protected the troubleshooters and gave them sanctuary within their homes. Without this in place, they’d have to sleep with one eye open.
The only person she allowed to enter at will was Maia, and even if she wanted to, her sister couldn’t lead anyone else inside without Ryne’s permission. She considered the next possibility and decided it was unlikely the council had been involved. She couldn’t think of a single reason why the leadership would want to put a human in her house.
Anise? Some other Gineal working with dark energy? Again, the question was why? To prove someone could be sent through her protection? It wasn’t logical. If they’d been able to gain entrance, she’d be dead.
“Babe?”
She scowled at him and said, “My name is Ryne. Remember that and use it.”
“Ryan? That’s a guy’s name.”
Ryne grit her teeth. She should be used to this by now, but it still grated. “It’s Ryne. R-Y-N-E.”
“Your parents named you after Ryne Sandberg? He’s a man.”
It figured he’d be a baseball fan. Ryne might not pay much attention to the National League, but she knew a lot about this one former Cubs player. Voice tight, she said, “It’s a family name—for Frasier women.”
“No need to get defensive.” His lips twitched, but before she could take issue with that, he said, “I’m Daniel.” He held out a hand for her to shake. “Pleased to meet you.”
Her frown deepened and she ignored his outstretched hand. She’d been right, he was a smart ass. With a sigh, she shook off her irritation. “You don’t look like a Daniel.”
“And you don’t look like a Ryne.” He pulled his arm back and shrugged one shoulder. “Just call me Deke. Everyone else does.”
“Deke Summers?” She stared at him, half in disbelief, half in hope. “You’re Deke Summers?”
“Yeah. Why are you looking at me like that?”
Ryne shook her head, but didn’t say anything. No wonder she’d thought he seemed familiar. He didn’t resemble the cartoon Deke that much, but now that he’d introduced himself, she could see the similarities. Still, it was better to be safe. She closed her eyes and tuned into his auric field trying to verify what he’d said. Sure enough, she picked up the telltale signs of someone who’d been subjugated to a black magic spell. It took more work to identify Anise’s energy signature, but then he had been snared in the show for four and a half years.
This explained how he’d gotten through her wards; she’d brought him in. She didn’t know why there had been such a long delay before the spell worked, but each incantation was different and she’d never performed a ritual that dark before either.
“Babe?”
Her eyes popped open and she scowled at him again.
The man grinned. “I thought that would get your attention.”
“Ryne would have worked just as well.”
With a shrug, he sobered. “You wanna tell me how come you said my name the way you did, like you know me, and how do you know my last name? We’ve never met, I’m sure of that.”
He might have said he was sure, but she heard the tendril of doubt in his voice. Before she’d performed the ritual, Ryne had considered how much to tell him about the Gineal, her job as a troubleshooter, and Anise. The council would be angered, but she’d concluded that if she planned to use him in the battle with her former mentor, she would have to tell him a lot. Of course, he already knew a lot. Anise had seen to that.
“No, we haven’t met. I said your name like that because I was surprised. I thought the likeness to your TV character would be stronger.”
“TV character?” Deke sat up and shifted the pillows behind him to cushion his back against the headboard of her bed.
Ryne moved, too, sitting cross-legged on top of the covers. She paused, trying to figure out what he was asking. For a moment she was distracted by all that bare skin and hard muscle. No cartoon, no matter how well drawn, could have prepared her for the effect he had on her. She didn’t like it. That smug look was back on his face and she glowered. Damn it, he knew what he did to her and was enjoying it.
“Why did Anise bespell you?” she asked, getting down to business.
“Bespell? What the hell are you talking about?”
Okay, so that wasn’t a word in the English language. At least not one humans used. He still should have understood her meaning; it was self-explanatory.
“Why did Anise cast the spell to imprison you inside a cartoon character? You must have done something to tip her off that you knew too much and held the key to defeating her.” She added the last part to be as clear as possible.
“Lady, you’re cracked.” His expression changed, but Ryne couldn’t name it. “Shit, you abducted me. That’s why I’m naked in your house and can’t remember how I got here. You slipped me a mickey and had an accomplice or two drag me here.”
She didn’t know whether to be outraged or amused. “I did not abduct you! I performed the ceremony that freed you.”
“Freed me. From a cartoon. Right.”
Clearly, he thought she was deranged. If this turn of events weren’t so disastrous, she’d be seriously pissed off. “You don’t believe me. Fine. Hand me that.” She pointed to the remote on the nightstand beside him. Maybe it was a simplistic solution, but seeing was believing. And if this didn’t work, she’d think of something else.
For a minute, he stared at her, then he grabbed the control and slid it across the bed to her.
Turning so she was on an angle, she flipped on the TV and hit the buttons to start the disk. It seemed to take forever to get through the obligatory warnings and into the show, but once the opening for Deke Summers, PI began, his reaction was immediate. The real Deke went pale, and as the view zoomed in on the character, he cursed, one vehement word.
Ryne gazed at the cartoon. No longer was there a soul visible in the animated figure’s eyes. It was the final proof she needed that the ritual had worked.
They watched half of the episode in complete silence. “Turn it off.” Although he’d issued an order, his voice had been so rough she couldn’t take offense.
“Are you okay?” she asked gently after she’d powered everything down and put the remote aside.
“Sure, who the hell wouldn’t be?” His laugh sounded hard, cynical, and not one bit amused. “God.” Deke rubbed both hands over his face, and when he lowered his arms, he said, “I remember now. I liked it better when I thought you were nuts.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Do you have any idea what it was like? To have moments where I knew everything that was going on and yet was forced to do and say whatever the animators and scriptwriters wanted?”
He looked furious, but underneath it was something else—fear. In his position, she’d be frightened too, but she didn’t say anything about that. Instead she moved nearer and put her hand over his knee. “I really am sorry. If I could have rescued you sooner, I would have, but it took me a long time to figure out what spell Anise used and even longer to find the one that countered it.”
“Who are you? Glinda, the good witch?”
“I am not a witch,” she said, trying not to let his tone aggravate her. “I’m Gineal.”
She pulled her hand away, but didn’t get far. Deke caught her and held on. After giving one halfhearted tug, she let him have his way. So what if the heat of his fingers disturbed her? She’d functioned through greater distractions than this.
“You said Anise imprisoned me.” He looked less cavalier at this moment than he had at any other time this morning. “I’ve never met anyone by that name, and if I don’t know her, why the hell would she put a curse on me?”
Ryne opened her mouth to tell him it wasn’t a curse, but shut it again without speaking. In this case, the differences between a curse and an incantation that drew on the dark forces were negligible. Besides, it wasn’t like he needed to know the fine points of magic. With a sigh, she ran her free hand through her hair, pushing her tresses behind her shoulder.
“She might have used another name. I’ll show you what she looks like.” Silently, she cast a short spell and an image of her mentor appeared in the room. The figure was life size and three dimensional, although not quite as solid as a photo. His gaze snapped to hers, but his emotions were masked and he didn’t ask how she’d done it. “Does she look familiar to you?”
Deke examined the likeness for a long time, then shook his head. “Nope, I’ve never met her.”
“Are you sure?”
He gave a sharp nod. “Can you people shapeshift or change your appearance in another way?”
“Some can, but it’s a rare talent and Anise doesn’t have it. She may have altered her hair length or color or even her eye color, but anything else would have required a trip to the plastic surgeon just like it would for a human.”
“What about making someone think they look different?”
“You mean like fairies and their glamour thing? No, we can’t do that.” She pursed her lips. At least she didn’t think they could. It wasn’t a light-force power, but the dark? She hadn’t heard of it, but that didn’t mean it was nonexistent.
He looked back to the representation she’d created and gave it more study. “Sorry. I’m sure I never met her.”
With a wave of her fingers, she dissolved the image. His answer surprised her. As far as her teacher had been concerned, humans were beneath contempt and their males good for nothing but sex. To be honest, she’d expected Deke to have been a bed partner, one who’d discovered something he wasn’t meant to know.
Using her powers, she opened the blinds, letting more light into the room. She wanted to see his face clearly. “If you don’t recognize her,” she said slowly, “then you don’t have a clue what you know that makes you dangerous to her, do you?”
His lips tilted. “Ba—I mean, Ryne, I wouldn’t believe any of this shit if I didn’t remember being trapped inside a damn cartoon. How could I know anything that scared the Wicked Witch enough to put me in hell?”
“Crap,” she muttered and pulled free of him. Dropping her head so it rested on both hands, she considered the situation. He was a threat to Anise, he had to be—the woman wouldn’t have wasted her time and magic on him otherwise—but this added a layer of complexity that she hadn’t expected. She looked up again. “We’ll just have to figure out what it is about you that frightens Anise.”
“Why bother?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You got me out and everything’s fine now.”
“You think she’s going to shrug and say, ‘Oh, well, Ryne freed him, guess I’ll go take a nap’? Uh-uh. She’s coming after you with everything she has and you’ll either be dead or back in ’toon town. I’m your best hope of staying human and staying alive.”
“I can take care of myself.”
Ryne tried to suppress her own smirk, really she did. Okay, maybe she didn’t put as much effort into it as she could have, but he’d certainly dished out the attitude, let him take some. “Right, because you did such a good job the first time.”
The fierce look that came into his eyes was there and gone quickly, but she saw it. Mister Easygoing wasn’t quite as laid back as he wanted her to believe. There was more to Deke Summers than what was on the surface and she was reluctantly intrigued.
“I didn’t have any warning then,” he said. It took her a second to recall what they were discussing. “Now I’m aware of her and I’ll be prepared.”
“You have no magic, yet you think you’re going to hold your own against a woman who was among the most powerful of the Gineal? A woman who’s turned to the black arts, and since she no longer has a conscience, follows no one’s rules? A woman I haven’t been able to defeat in six years using all my abilities? Don’t you think that’s unrealistic?”
“You don’t know wh—”
A loud bang interrupted him and they both jerked in surprise. Ryne was scanning before the sound faded. “It’s my sister.” She scrambled off the bed. No way did she want Maia to meet Deke. Her sister had called her obsessed last night, she’d really think Ryne had gone off the deep end if she introduced her to Deke Summers. “Stay here. Whatever you do, don’t come out.”
His demeanor didn’t inspire confidence that he’d obey her order, but she couldn’t stand around and argue with him. If Maia wasn’t already on her way to the bedroom, she would be soon. Ryne had to head her off before she got here. After casting one last glare over her shoulder as a warning for him to stay put, she closed the door softly behind her and went to intercept.
It was a good thing she’d moved fast. She met her sister halfway across the great room. “Maia, hi!”
“Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get you out of bed. The wind grabbed the door and slammed it.”
She withstood her sister’s appraisal with outward calm, but Ryne was aware of her sleep-tousled hair, wrinkled pajamas, and the fact that she had a naked man in her bed. Her fingers twisted in the hem of her boxers, but she couldn’t stop the nervous motion.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better. Back to normal. Thanks for checking on me.” She took Maia’s arm and started to turn her toward the entryway, but her sister extricated herself.
Maia headed toward the couch, unzipping her jacket as she walked. Ryne clasped the flannel harder when her sister shrugged her coat off and tossed it and her purse on the sofa. She looked as if she were preparing to visit for a while. How long could she expect her houseguest to stay put? And even if Deke remained in the bedroom, Maia would hear him if he moved around and she’d investigate. When her sister headed back her way, Ryne shifted subtly, putting herself more squarely in front of the hallway.
“I don’t know; you look flushed,” Maia said after she reached her. “Go to bed. I’ll make breakfast and bring it to you. What do you want? A waffle? An omelette?”
Ryne tried to keep from looking as appalled as she felt. If Maia started cooking, she’d be here for hours, and Deke was a big man, he had to be hungry by now. The smell of food would flush him out faster than a pheasant routed by a bird dog. “Thanks, but you don’t have to do that. Really. I’m fine.”
“I know, but I love you and I almost lost you last night.” Maia looked away for a moment. When she raised her gaze again, Ryne got an overly bright smile. “So I’m going to stay here and take care of you and that’s all there is to it.”
Now what? Her family had never been physically or verbally demonstrative, so Maia’s words were staggering. Ryne floundered, trying to think of what to do. After that amazing, heartfelt statement, Ryne couldn’t ask her to leave. The problem was keeping Maia from meeting Deke. Even if her sister didn’t think she’d lost her mind, his presence would start an inquisition.
She could lie and claim romantic interest, but she’d never been able to deceive her sister and she’d spouted off too many times about never getting involved with a human. Maia might have revoked her powers, but she had her instincts—she’d know instantly that he wasn’t Gineal.
The truth was out of the question. When the council found out she’d conducted such a deep gray ritual without their permission, she’d be censured. There was no doubt about that. If she added passing sensitive information to an outsider, or so much as hinted to Maia that this was troubleshooter business, she’d receive worse than a verbal reprimand.
A gust of wind hit the house, rattling the windows, and she shivered, but it had more to do with facing the council’s disapproval than with feeling cold. “Sounds nasty out there,” she said when her shudder garnered a questioning glance.
“It is,” Maia agreed. “Freezing cold and windy. At least the sun’s out. Now what did you want to eat?”
Ryne smiled weakly. Her fingers clenched around the leg of her shorts and she tried to relax. She couldn’t think of a way to get rid of her sister without hurting her and she wouldn’t do that. “Um, a waffle sounds good. Let me throw on some socks and I’ll keep you company in the kitchen.”
That would prevent her sister from entering the bedroom and give her an opportunity to persuade Deke to remain quiet. God, she was going to have to do some fast talking there. The man wouldn’t understand why she wanted him hidden and she wasn’t going to have the time to explain it to him.
“Are you sure you don’t want breakfast in bed?” Maia grinned at her. “You know I don’t make this offer often.”
“I’m sure!” When her sister gave her a puzzled look, Ryne realized she’d said that too fast and too emphatically. “We don’t talk enough,” she added, hoping to cover up her mistake. “After what happened, well, I want to spend more time with my big sister.” She hoped her smile looked innocent.
“Okay, get some socks on and . . .” Maia’s voice trailed off.
Ryne saw her sister’s gaze lock on something beyond her shoulder and she closed her eyes briefly, praying it wasn’t him. Reluctantly, she turned. Oh, crap.
Deke stood behind her, wearing nothing except one of her bath towels. It left far too much of him exposed, including most of his left thigh, since there wasn’t enough terry cloth to cover all that muscle.
“Babe,” he said, voice husky, intimate. “What did you do with my clothes?”
4
CHAPTER
She was going to kill him.
Deke grinned. The promise of murder shining from her eyes was even better than he’d hoped for. He enjoyed riling her. Hell, he’d never called anyone babe as many times as he’d used it today, but he couldn’t help himself, not when she reacted every time.
