Ghosts of Christmas Past (15 page)

About the Author

Corrina Lawson is a writer, mom, geek and sometime superhero. She is a former newspaper reporter with a degree in journalism from Boston University. She turned to writing fiction after her twins were born (they were kids three and four) to save her sanity. She's a hopeless romantic and loves happy endings, though she enjoys writing an explosion or two before getting there.

Her books include
The Curse of the Brimstone Contract
, a romantic steampunk mystery; the alternate-history Seneca series:
Freya's Gift
,
Dinah of Seneca
and
Eagle of Seneca
; the superhero, romance stories from Samhain:
Phoenix Rising
,
Luminous
and
Phoenix Legacy
; and the upcoming
Ghost Phoenix
,
Ghosts of Christmas Past
and
Phoenix Inheritance
. She also is the cowriter of
The GeekMom Book
, which was published by the Potter Craft division of Crown Publishing in October 2012.

Corrina is currently content director of GeekMom and a core contributor to its brother site, GeekDad.

You can reach her via her website:
www.Corrina-Lawson.com

Her Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/corrina.lawson

Her Twitter:
www.twitter.com/corrinalawson

Her Tumblr:
www.tumblr.com/blog/corrinalawson

Look for these titles by Corrina Lawson

Now Available:

Freya's Gift

The Phoenix Institute

Phoenix Rising

Luminous

Phoenix Legacy

Ghost Phoenix

The Steampunk Detectives

The Curse of the Brimstone Contract

Coming Soon:

The Phoenix Institute

Phoenix Inheritance

He thinks he's seen everything…until he encounters a woman he can't see at all…

Luminous

© 2012 Corrina Lawson

The Phoenix Institute, Book 1.5

As a teen, Lucy left home to gain the independence to pursue her dreams. When a renegade scientist captured and used her as a guinea pig, she escaped, but not unscathed. Rendered permanently invisible and with little memory of her previous life, she has transformed herself into Noir, a rogue crime fighter with one goal: find and stop her tormentor from harming anyone else.

Police Lieutenant Aloysius James thought he'd seen it all in the crumbling and corrupt Charlton City, but a brutal bank robbery committed by a monster has left him feeling he's out of his depth. One man is missing from the scene and if he isn't found soon, Al fears he'll be as dead as the rest.

Al is unprepared for the one woman with the key to solving the case—Noir, who seems equally surprised he doesn't find her unique ability repulsive.

Together they go out into the night, joining forces to track the monster down. They never expected their desperate alliance would generate a force of a different kind. Attraction…and desire.

Warning: This book contains sex without sight, requiring the characters to do everything—yes, everything—by touch alone.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Luminous:

She raised her head, and he could now see below the rim of the hat. Her face was covered by black mesh, the kind they used in Halloween costumes. All of her was over the top, like something out of a comic book.

“What is this? Am I supposed to be scared?”

“I'm guessing you are scared since you're pointing a gun at me.”

Wiseass.
“What's your name?”

“Noir.”

Gimme a break.
“Come closer. Let me see you're not hiding anything under the cape.”

She swept the cape over her shoulders. The jacket hugged her chest, proving that she was definitely a woman. The skintight clothing hugged her in all the right places, especially around her small waist. Nicely shaped legs too.

He saw no weapons or hint of any weapon.

“Will you please put your gun down?” she asked. “If I'd wanted to hurt you, I could have done that without showing myself. It's not like you noticed me before I spoke up.”

Definitely a wiseass. Great. It was true he'd paid little attention to his surroundings as he'd stumbled up the steps to his apartment. She'd likely slipped in behind him, somehow.

All he'd wanted was a few minutes of peace and quiet. Not another freak. One today was enough.

He took a couple of steps to the wall and flicked the switch on the living-room light. He stared at her for a minute, and when she made no move, finally holstered his gun. Training said never do that in the face of an enemy, but hey, he was in a mood to gamble. Either that, or too tired to care.

“Who are you?” he asked. “Besides Noir?”

“I know who killed all those bank employees. I know who kidnapped the teller,” she said, avoiding his question. “The monster's name is Jack. I can tell you all about him.”

The killer was a monster, but this one, despite wearing black leather well, was also some sort of freak. It made a certain weird logic they were acquainted.

Al collapsed on his couch and waved his hand at the armchair across from him. There would be a price for her information. There was always a price. No one volunteered to get involved in a homicide investigation without wanting something in return. Though he had to admit, he'd talk to the devil himself to prevent another fucking mess like that in the bank and to save that kid from becoming another casualty.

Noir hesitated a second before sitting across from him.

“What do you want in exchange for your information?” he asked.

“All I want is for you to help me find Jack, his sister and the missing teller.”

“The monster's name is Jack. So you've said twice now. He has a sister too?”

“Yeah. Jack's human—well, he was once—but he's just what you said, a monster now. He's not in charge of anything. Jill, his sister, is the planner and probably the one who sent him to the bank.”

“Jack and Jill?” Al snorted. That upped the freak factor. And he'd thought it couldn't go any higher.

“I so wish they were a nursery rhyme,” Noir said. “Jill is some sort of doctor or scientist. She probably needed the cash from the robbery to fund her research.”

Noir leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs. Her boots—black, of course—were knee-high. Sleek and dangerous. Her getup should have made her look ridiculous, but somehow it didn't. As superhero costumes went, it worked. He wondered how old she was. She seemed so self-possessed, but she had a young voice.

“What type of research is Jill involved in?” Al asked.

“Genetic research to alter body types. She's what caused Jack to change from human into that monster you saw on the video.”

A mad scientist? Great. Add that to the crazy list. “That's hard to believe.”

Noir could be as unbalanced as this “Jack” obviously was. Too bad. He wondered if her face matched the killer body.

He shook his head, walked to the kitchen and pulled a Coke out of the fridge. He needed a break to think of his next move. She was either crazy or had information he needed. Or both. Whichever it was, he wanted to keep her talking.

“Want a drink?” he called.

“No.”

“Right, that would require you to show your face.”

“Do you want to hear this or not?” she snapped.

He opened the Coke and leaned in the kitchen doorway. “If I hadn't seen the bank video, I'd think you were insane. And I'd be arresting you for breaking into my apartment.”

“But you've seen what Jack can do. And you need me.”

“Maybe.” He chugged the Coke, wishing it were beer. But not while he was on duty. Okay, probably not ever, if he was being honest with himself. “But why come to me? Sure, I'm a detective, but I wasn't the senior detective on the scene.”

“I saw you there,” she said in a whisper. “I saw how you reacted to the victims. You care. You want to help.”

“You were
watching
me?” Just how had she snuck into the crime scene?

“I was looking for Jack.” A pause. “I picked up his trail but I got there too late.”

“I didn't see anyone who looked remotely like you.” Though how could he know that when he really hadn't seen her? There was no telling what she looked like without the cape, cowl, hat and all that black leather.

“I stayed out of sight,” she said.

“I'll bet.” He sighed. “Look, I know Jack's real. I know I need to catch him. That's why I'm listening to you. But how do I know your information is good? For all I know, you're as crazy as he is.”

“I can tell you what kind of equipment Jill uses for her lab and some of the chemicals she needs. Would that help track her down to where the hostage might be?”

“It would.” It definitely would. Crazy or not, it was the best lead he had, and that missing bank teller wasn't getting any safer as time passed. But he needed more to go on.

Al set the empty can on the counter. “The thing is, I need a reason to trust you. For all I know, you could be working with Jack and Jill. Or making them up. Or have a hidden agenda. Right now, all I have is someone who broke into my place. You see the problem?”

She stood and the cape swirled around her. “I've got to stop them. I've got to save the hostage.”

“Why you?” he said. “What's your angle?”

She said nothing.

“Maybe you have a speech ready about great power bringing great responsibility?”

She snorted. “Not likely.”

“At least let me see your face. I can't trust someone who won't look me in the eye.”

“You'll be waiting a long time for that.” She put out a hand. “But, yeah, I see your problem. I know I sound crazy—” She began pulling off a glove, finger by finger. “Like I said, Jill's playing with altering DNA. I don't know exactly what she's doing. I didn't pay enough attention in science class, I guess. But I'm familiar with the results.”

Noir finished taking off the glove and held up her arm for inspection. “Jill did this to me.”

There was no hand above the wrist cuff.

“She cut off your hand? Fuck!” Al walked closer.

“No, you've got it wrong,” she said. “Hold out your hand and I'll show you.”

He did as she asked. She extended the arm that ended at the wrist to him, as if she meant to give him a phantom handshake.

His hand was gripped by…something. It felt just like a handshake. He could feel the impressions of her fingers on the back of his hand.

But he couldn't
see
them.

His mouth fell open. “Your hand is
invisible
?”

“Not just my hand.” Her grip tightened. “My whole body is invisible.”

He was born to be a weapon. For her, he must learn to be a hero.

Phoenix Rising

© 2011 Corrina Lawson

The Phoenix Institute, Book 1

Since birth, Alec Farley has been trained to be a living weapon. His firestarter and telekinetic abilities have been honed to deadly perfection by the Resource, a shadowy anti-terrorist organization—the only family he has ever known. What the Resource didn't teach him, though, is how to play well with others.

When psychologist Beth Nakamora meets Alec to help him work on his people skills, she's hit with a double-barreled first impression. He's hot in more ways than one. And her first instinct is to rescue him from his insular existence.

Her plan to kidnap and deprogram him goes awry when her latent telepathic ability flares, turning Alec's powers off. Hoping close proximity will reignite his flame, she leads him by the hand through a world he's never known. And something else flares: Alec's anger over everything he's been denied. Especially the passion that melds his mind and body with hers.

The Resource, however, isn't going to let anything—or anyone—steal its prime investment. Alec needs to be reminded where his loyalties lie…starting with breaking his trust in the woman he's come to love.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Phoenix Rising:

“I'm sorry for staring. I've haven't seen your equipment up close before.”

“Hah!” He sat in an easy chair to lace up his boots. “You know you can see my equipment anytime you ask.”

“Um, that's not quite what I had in mind.” Alec had charmed her. Lansing had been right about that. She hadn't counted on him being so genuinely interested in her.

At least she'd had the willpower not to touch Alec's hand and risk that intense jolt of energy a second time. Just being around him was seductive enough.

Alec shrugged at her refusal, walked back to the bed and loaded a clip into his handgun. Some sort of pistol, though she had no idea exactly what kind. Philip would have known. Alec's eyes narrowed as he double-checked the weapon. For a moment, he was completely the competent military officer.

Satisfied, he set it down and turned to face her. He frowned, on uncertain ground again.

“Did anyone ever show you a life without guns?”

He raised one of those perfect eyebrows, oozing more confidence than ten men. Who wouldn't have that confidence, if fire literally danced to their command?

“You know, I thought Lansing agreed too quickly to send you. Did he want you to check up on me?”

“No.” But it would be like Lansing to say that he had.

“Hah. I think you're a bad liar, counselor. A life without guns? That's the kind of leading question that he uses to test me.”

“I'm not lying.” Not about that. “No, it's the first time I've seen you prepare for a mission. It worries me.” She looked down at the dark carpet and scuffed her feet. “I have doubts about what you're doing. I think you're not seeing the big picture.” Like how your foster father is using you to gain power and influence, at the risk of your life. “You don't have to put your gift to this use. There are so many other things you can do that don't involve violence.”

Or the possibility of being killed.

Philip had been terrified at letting her walk into danger. Looking at Alec, she knew how Philip felt. Just how dangerous was this mission tonight?

“Only I can do what I can do,” Alec said.

“Which is all the more reason not to risk your life so recklessly.” She was pushing too hard, out of fear. No choice now. She'd run out of time.

“I'm not reckless,” he said. “I'm as careful as I can be.”

“With weapons and body armor? If you're doing something careful, you don't need them.”

He buckled on the body armor and walked over to her, so that they were only a few feet apart. He towered over her, even more than Lansing, but she didn't feel the least bit afraid of him, not since their first meeting. He wouldn't hurt her. Despite his work as a soldier, there was no meanness in him. She rubbed her arm, remembering Lansing's anger. Alec wasn't like him at all.

“I like doing this,” Alec said. “I make a difference. It's what I'm trained for.”

“Yes, I know. But you never had a say in any of that training. You've told me that.”

“Fighting the bad guys is family tradition.” He straightened. “Lansing's too old now, so it's my turn. It happens all the time. Daz has the same deal, on both the American and the Filipino sides of his family.”

“Daz didn't grow up isolated in this place.”

“Yeah, well, Daz didn't have to worry about accidentally burning down the schoolyard as a kid. I did.” He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you seriously trying to talk me out of going tonight? C'mon.”

“I'm trying to get you to reconsider what you've been forced into doing for your entire life. There's a whole world out there you haven't seen.”

She walked over to the coffee table, reached down and brushed her fingertips over the gun. Her hand trembled. The gun looked like the same kind that her kidnappers had used, years ago. If he stayed with the Resource, Alec might become like those men, using any ends to justify the means.

“Hey! What's with the nerves? Where's my competent, no-nonsense counselor?”

The gun rose from the coffee table, floating in air. She turned and followed its flight. He snatched the gun out of midair with a smile and holstered it.

“See?” he said. “I control the guns, not the other way around.”

“And who controls you?”

His chest, Kevlar vest and all, rose and fell in a deep sigh. “I know someone in this room who's trying to control me. What's wrong, Beth?” He walked to her and lifted her chin with two fingers, his dark eyes crinkling around the edges.

“This is not a life you chose, this is a life that's been imposed on you, from birth.”

“And?” His fingertips moved along her jaw, in a soft caress. I should move away. It feels too good. But he's listening.

“I'm scared. About this mission, about you being locked up inside the Resource forever.” Deathly afraid, so afraid her stomach felt like a heavy lump of coal. “There's so much you don't know about the Resource and about Lansing, so much you don't understand. And you need to know it before it kills you.”

“Hey, I know Lansing can be a bastard. And that he's overprotective and controlling. I'm working on it. But it doesn't change the fact that this is my job.” Alec leaned closer to her face. “We can talk about that another time.”

“Do you really think there's going to be another time?” Her voice rose, almost panicked now. She wasn't getting through. “What if you get hurt tonight?”

“Look, this cell might have a dirty bomb. They need to be stopped, and I'm the one who can do it. I have to do this, right now.”

“Just that simple?”

“Yep. I walk away, people get hurt. I do my job, people are saved. That's the deal, that's my life. You analyze things too much.” He cupped her face in his hand. “But if it took this mission to find out you care, then good.”

She shuddered. Wrong, wrong, she shouldn't let him touch her like this. Yet it felt like he touched her somewhere far deeper than her skin. A shiver, like the one from their first meeting, traveled from her neck to her toes, setting her nerves jangling. “This is wrong.”

“The mission isn't wrong,” he said, misunderstanding her. “Relax.” His face was less than an inch from her lips and his breath fell on her cheek. Her skin felt inflamed, sensitive to the slightest movement of his hands.

He kissed her.

His lips were softer than she had expected, tender, not at all like his casual, even macho, confidence. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling those strong muscles and pulling him against her, intensifying their contact, even as her mind screamed in protest. This is not what I came for!

Her body became enveloped in that strange energy, alive as never before. It was like the kiss had a second level, one which she responded to instinctively, creating a living connection between them. He drew her lips apart with his tongue, still tender, still allowing her the chance to back away. But she opened her mouth to him instead, her whole self consumed with wanting to touch him, her face flushed with desire. She grabbed the buckles of his body armor for balance, her equilibrium lost along with her reason.

He crushed her against him, no longer tender, a bruising kiss demanding conquest. She allowed him full control, despite the buckles digging into her shoulder. He lifted her completely off her feet and brought her up to his eye level.

“Beth,” he breathed, brushing his lips against her neck before moving back to her mouth.

Her mind whirled, too lost to remember that she should stop him. She wanted him too much. The air heated up, warming them. The papers on the coffee table began to smoke.

Startled, she broke the kiss. There was a momentary disorientation, like a soft mental slap. The tingling stopped. Her skin went cold.

She let her head fall to his shoulder and closed her eyes. Her last chance to reach Alec and she'd blown it. More, she'd crossed all ethical boundaries. Yet his arms around her felt so right.

Alec spun around and set her into his easy chair. He swallowed, breathing heavily, his face and neck flushed. Staring at the papers on the table, he reached out a hand and they burst into real flame. He twisted his wrist, calling to the fire. It came to him, wrapping itself around his wrist like a bracelet. He smiled, blinked, and the fire vanished.

He whistled through his teeth. “Wow. You are some kind of hot, counselor, to set me off like that. I usually have to think about creating fire.”