Cataclysm (34 page)

Drew propped himself up on his elbow and watched as she dressed. “And who might that be?”

She could just tell him the truth. It wouldn’t make a difference in the grand scheme of things. That potion she had given him was so potent that he would crawl over hot coals to get to her at just the curl of her finger. But she didn’t because even though what he felt for her wasn’t real, he still looked at her like she was something special.

“I’m here on business, Drew. I have associates I need to meet with,” she answered as she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail.

“Ah, yes. We’ve never talked about the reason you’re here. What sort of business is it that you do, and how long will I have the pleasure of your company before you leave this fine city?”

She pushed her feet into her shoes and looked at him. “Procurement. My boss sent me here to obtain a very rare tool because he knows I’m the only one who can get it done. Once I have what I need, I’ll be leaving St. Augustine.”

“And I’ll never see you again?” He looked forlorn.

“That’s right.” She knew it was best for the both of them if she led him to believe she wouldn’t be in St. Augustine long. Eventually the potion would wear off and he would be free to meet and genuinely fall in love with someone who deserved a man like him. Someone who had a good heart and even better intentions.

He climbed out of bed and strutted over to her. “Well then in that case,” he said, taking her into his arms, “we should make the most of the time we have together. Don’t you think?”

She nodded. “Yes, we should.” Standing on her toes, she kissed him as if it were the last time. Depending on how things went with Drake when she saw him again, it very well might.

Outside of her training sessions with Drew, there really hadn’t been much more for Kerrigan to do. Despite the endless hours she spent preparing for the inevitable showdown with Drake—Sinclair was the least of her concerns—she was still powerless to help Dominic.

He was more ghost than human lately, even though he slept very little, as did Colton. The theory was that if they weren’t sleeping, Drake couldn’t haunt their dreams. Lack of sleep meant people were on edge. Tempers flared over the most insignificant things, and the house was a cesspool of tension so thick it would probably explode and wipe St. Augustine off the map if someone lit a match within a ten-mile radius.

She did her best to stay awake with Dominic to keep him company, just as Gabe did for Colton, but being in the first trimester of her pregnancy took a toll on her body. Like it or not, there were times when she had to put the baby first. If he had known she was pregnant, Dominic would have insisted on it. Even without knowing, he still griped about her not getting enough rest. It was so like him to worry about her even though he was on the brink of death himself.

Six weeks’ pregnant. She knew that for sure now. Under constant pressure from Drew for her to see a professional and take proper care of herself, she had finally agreed to let him escort her to a local obstetrician. By her count, that made her date of conception right around the first night she and Dominic had made love.

A normal woman, happily in love, would be able to gush about her monumental news, but she couldn’t tell anybody. At least not until Dominic was out of danger. He should be the first person to know, and since that wasn’t possible, she didn’t feel right telling anyone else. Besides, the more people who knew, the greater the chance Dominic would find out, and then he would put a stop to everything she was trying to do and bench her for the big game. Convinced she was the key to saving him, she wasn’t about to let that happen.

Kerrigan was perfectly aware that she was going to have to face the wrath of her best friend, but Gabe would have to get over it. He was the mouth of the south—in more ways than one judging by the snickered remarks she had heard Colton mumble under his breath—and he couldn’t keep a secret to save his own life, let alone Dominic’s.

Even though her mother, Priscilla, was miles away in Chicago, she knew that she would feel obligated to share the news with Kerrigan’s father, Hudson. It was a no-brainer that Hud would be on the redeye flight to St. Augustine, shotgun in hand, when he heard of his daughter’s delicate condition. He was old fashioned, so his baby girl being knocked up out of wedlock was simply not something he would tolerate. She would deal with him later. For now, she and Dominic had enough on their plates to worry about.

Worry. That was all she ever did. Obviously for Colton, Dominic, and her baby, but also for Drew. He had been forced to spend quite a bit of time with that witch, Sinclair. She was appreciative of the fact that he sacrificed himself in order to help them out, and there really was no other option, but it didn’t make it right. It was disgusting what they were asking him to do. Drew refused to talk about it, which only solidified her suspicion that his sacrifice was taking a toll on him mentally and emotionally. He was even displaying characteristics of Stockholm syndrome, defending Sinclair at times.

She just wanted it all to be over with. The sooner the better... for everyone.

“So, what will you be working on today?” Dominic was flesh and blood now, but they never knew how long that would last. Sleep deprivation made his voice slurred and his eyes narrowed to slits. His large frame was slouched into the corner of the loveseat, and his head rolled to the side like it weighed more than what his neck could support.

Kerrigan moved the hair off his forehead and then swept her thumb over the heavy bags under his eye. “You look so tired.”

He smiled, but the effort it took was evident. “Yeah, but not sleeping is better than the alternative. I’m mostly ghostly now, so at least my body gets some amount of rest. Colton’s the one who’s getting the shit end of the stick. I’m more worried about him.”

His nod in the direction of Colton and Gabe on the matching couch against the far wall was just barely noticeable. His brother was stretched out with his head in his lover’s lap, having agreed after a great deal of protest to try to get a few moments of sleep. Gabe, ever watchful for signs that he might be in distress, was running his fingers through Colton’s thick hair while catching up on his recorded episodes of
Supernatural
.

“Are you going to answer my question?” Dominic asked.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah.” She curled her legs under her and drew invisible pictures on his jean-clad thigh with her fingernail. It was distracting at best—dangerously soothing at worst. “Drew said he thinks I have enough of his energy now, and he also thinks he knows how we can banish Drake once and for all when we get
the
call. So, I think we’re going to work on that today.”

Dominic took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the tip of her artistic finger tenderly. Then he placed her hand over his heart so she could feel the thump, thump, thump of its rhythmic beat. “Just be careful. If anything ever happens to you...” He sighed and shook his head, the thought almost too much for him to finish but necessary at the same time. He pressed her hand closer to his chest. “If you stop breathing, this stops beating... for good.”

There was a knock on the door before Kerrigan could reply. She leaned in and kissed him. “Ditto,” she whispered before going to greet their guest.

It was Drew. Once inside, he took one look around at the occupants of the living room and then pulled her to the side. “They don’t look so good. How are they getting on?”

“They’re barely sleeping at all. I don’t know how much longer they can keep this up.”

Drew nodded in understanding. “And, how about you? Are you getting plenty of rest?”

“More than they are.”

“Are you taking your vitamins? Eating well?”

She rolled her eyes over his mother hen fretting. “Yes, Mom. I’m fine. Any word from Sinclair yet?”

He shook his head. “None yet, I’m afraid. She was acting rather odd this morning though. Said she had to meet with someone. I suspect that someone is Drake.”

As scared as she should have been, she couldn’t help but feel hopeful. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it is. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can all get our somewhat normal lives back.”

“True, but it won’t do you any good to walk into whatever lies ahead of you without knowing what to do once you get there. Shall we get started?”

Kerrigan nodded and held up a finger to signal for a moment. Popping back inside the living room, she noticed that Dominic’s eyes were closed.

“Don’t worry about him,” Gabe said, noticing her look of concern. “If he so much as twitches an eye, I’ll wake him up.”

Kerrigan gave her friend a warm smile and mouthed a thank-you before rejoining Drew, leading him out back to the garden.

“Drew, may I ask you a question?”

He gave her a sidelong glance. “Why do I get the feeling I might not want to answer it?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. If you think it’s too personal, you don’t have to answer, but I really hope you will.”

He chuckled. “Well then, by all means... please, ask away.”

“How did you know what Sinclair was and what she wanted to do?”

“Ah, that.” Drew looked toward the sky as if searching for the answer. “It... it’s just something ingrained in me. I heard voices... no, that’s not right. I
felt
the voices in my blood, a sort of pulsating pull that stemmed from my soul and carried the message to my brain, to all of my senses, both physical and supernatural. It was something... more powerful, bigger than I could have ever imagined, and I knew I could trust what it was telling me.” He shook his head. “I don’t know if that makes any sense or even if there really is any way to describe it properly. Have you ever been drawn to something, or known something that you shouldn’t have? Something you just couldn’t doubt?”

She thought about the day on the beach when Dominic had confessed his past to her. She should’ve run for the hills or called the police, anything to get away from him, but something had told her she could trust him—that inside the thug for hire beat a heart of gold. The intent of his actions had come from a selfless place, but they say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Dominic had been a walking testament to that theory, but she had known he wasn’t a lost cause; that she could steer him back in the right direction and help him find himself again, so she had taken a chance on him and found she had been right.

“Yes,” she said. “I know exactly what you mean.”

“You’ve felt it, too, then?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry you were forced to sleep with her. In fact, I’m sorry you were dragged into any of this. If I’d known...”

“There really is no need to apologize. I go where I’m needed and do what I must to ensure balance in the natural order of things is maintained. It’s what we Guardians do, Miss Cruz.”

“Still, I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been for you to get that intimate with that evil... woman.” She caught herself before she resorted to name calling.

He didn’t respond, but there was something in his eyes that made her question if it really was as appalling to him as she thought it ought to be. Men—maybe they really were all the same.

Once they reached the center of the yard Drew faced her, tapping a finger to his chin while surveying their surroundings. “What I have in mind for today might be a bit more grandiose than what we’ve been doing up to this point. Tell me about your neighbors.”

She turned toward her right. “Well, Olivia, Sydney, and the twins live there, so they won’t be a problem. The Days live on the other side, but just for the summers. The house sits empty the rest of the time, so we should be okay. What exactly do you have in mind?”

“I’ve talked to my father to get his insight on what’s going on here. My grandfather has a lot of experience with crossing lingering spirits over to the other side and sometimes they’re not so pleasant. He seems to think the solution to your problem is forcing Drake’s spirit to cross over.”

“And how do I do that?”

Drew paced back and forth in thought. “That’s the tricky part. We know Sinclair practices black magic, so chances are Drake did, too, which means he’s going to be more powerful than any other run-of-the-mill spirit. You’re going to have to bind him from using his magic and then banish him to the other side so he can’t return.”

“Okay. So, what do I need to do?”

Drew stopped and faced her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he bent at the knee to get eye level with her. “This is going to require a great deal of energy. I have no doubt that you have enough Light to accomplish the task, but I am concerned about whether you can handle it in your current condition.”