Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed [Good Will Ghost Hunting 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (12 page)

Aidan maintained his iron grip on Will. “You fucking bastard!” Will sobbed. “You brought her back? After everything that happened, you brought her back?”

“I would think you’d be happy—”

Will screamed again, lunged, and finally fell to the floor, sobbing, with Aidan holding him. “How could you
do
that? You fucking bastard!”

“Yes, you keep calling me that. Still doesn’t bother me. It’s my job, you know.” He leaned forward, fixing his cold, hard eyes on Will. “It’s
your
job, too, Will. We need you back. You’re the strongest.”

Aidan eventually felt it safe to release Will but stayed close, watching his cousin’s despair, numb inside, his own conflicted feelings swirling. “That’s low, Ryan,” Aidan said. “Even for you.”

Ryan’s green eyes hotly blazed at Aidan, his gaze warning him not to push his luck. “Will is ten times stronger than you and Geryon and Purson combined and you know it.” He looked at Will again. “There’ve been rumors of some bad shit coming down, Will. I’m going to need you. I’m sorry I had to resort to this, but you’ve been rather unresponsive to my requests to return over the years. She was my insurance policy that if I had to force you back I could. Planning ahead, as it were. I need you. I never wanted this to happen, but this is your fault, your responsibility. Had you been reasonable and not turned your back on The Firm, I wouldn’t have had to do this. It’s your
job
. I have to look at the big picture and keep that in mind, no matter what you think of me for it, no matter what we’ve been through together.”

Heartbroken, Will looked up at him. Tears streamed down Will’s face at the shock of the news. “She’s an
innocent
, Ryan. How could you
do
this to her?”

“She’s your wife. Was, will be. You get the girl—again. Lovely one she is, too.”

“She’s a fucking innocent!”

Ryan smirked. “Well, she won’t be after you have your way with her, will she?”

Aidan barely managed to hold Will back as he lunged again from the floor with an enraged howl. Ryan apparently had more confidence in his handling skills than Aidan did because Ryan never flinched.

“Why can’t I do it?” Aidan asked, still struggling to restrain Will. “I don’t have a soul mate. I’ll do it. Why’s it got to be Will?”

“Because he’s the only one strong enough and without a soul mate who can do it. Just because his powers are dormant doesn’t mean he’s not strong.”

“And I’m sure you planned it that way, too, didn’t you?” Will bitterly yelled. He finally quit struggling against Aidan and shook his cousin’s arms off.

Ryan shrugged. “It took a little doing.” His sly, knowing smile transformed his lips into two harsh, red wounds across his face. “Besides, Aidan, we all know she’s not your type. Your heart certainly wouldn’t be in it, now, would it?”

* * * *

Aidan’s face flushed deep crimson as he studied the floor. He preferred his personal life be kept personal. The flirty façade he portrayed to the world was what he wanted people to see. Will didn’t care, but he hated Ryan even more for putting Aidan through that, for using their shared ancient history against Aidan.

Will closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate. “You can’t tell her she’s Abby. I don’t want her to know who she was before. It’s bad enough you’ve used her like this.”

Ryan considered it, then finally nodded. “Fair enough. I can agree to that. I think it’s best she not know, frankly. It might somehow taint the bond with you in this life.” He held out an amulet.

Will had last worn it the day Abby was murdered.

Will stared at the amulet and tried not to consider the implications. “And
you
have to tell her what we have to do to get rid of the wraith. You get to prove to her we’re not crazy or just trying to fuck with her. You’re the boss. You want to mess with people’s lives? You get to do your own dirty work.”

Ryan nodded again, unsmiling. When he spoke, his voice sounded quiet and serious. “I accept that, too. You’re right. I need to be the one to tell her.”

With trembling fingers, Will took the amulet without touching Ryan’s hand. The cool obsidian immediately turned warm in his palm, the embedded amethyst center winking at him with iridescent purple light. The dark leather cord still felt supple and strong as he slipped it over his head. He felt the amulet’s power immediately, channeling the long-dormant energy within him and pulling it reluctantly to the surface.

With it, the pain in his soul sharpened, deepened, worse now than it had been in years.

The power wasn’t in the amulet itself, rather in its symbolism, rejoining The Firm. But without it, and without a soul mate bound to him, he was unable to tap into the strengths within. All the years of not using his powers and not having any sexual partners had weakened most of his abilities. Archdemons didn’t have to have soul mates to survive and maintain their powers. Even if they only occasionally slept with someone, the energy created from one encounter could sustain them for years.

Having a soul mate constantly fed an archdemon’s energy, made their powers flourish. Losing a soul mate…

It was worse than hell on earth.

“I’m not doing this willingly,” Will hoarsely said.

Ryan nodded. “I know. I don’t do this lightly, Will, and I take no joy in it. I’m sorry I had to resort to this to bring you back. I would not have done it if there were any other way. As you’ll recall, I have tried many times over the years to talk you into reconsidering.”

Will glared at Ryan. “I’m going to kill you one of these days, you son of a bitch.”

Ryan smiled, sadly and without humor. “I know. It’s in your nature.”

They would return in a few hours with Kal. The men couldn’t risk moving her until sunrise because of the wraith.

Ryan knew he wouldn’t sleep.

While he’d long ago accepted he wasn’t well-liked, and had to maintain sometimes unsavory positions because of his responsibilities, he did care what Kal thought of him.

Not that he’d ever admit it to anyone, including her.

She’d never believe he loathed putting her through this. There were so many things he couldn’t tell her because Will would have access to her thoughts.

Will could never learn certain truths.

Ever.

And if he had to lie to Will and Aidan to accomplish this, it was something he could live with in the grand scheme of things. What’s a little lying when compared to setting up an innocent to be possessed by a wraith so an archdemon would be forced to deflower her?

With a less than steady hand, Ryan poured two fingers of bourbon and returned to his sofa. Not that mixing grape and grain was ever a good idea, but fortunately for him the alcohol didn’t affect him the way it might a normal human. It just helped take the edge off for a short time.

No, Will wasn’t the only one powerful enough and without a soul mate who could take Kal. Oh, the irony. Will needed a soul mate and didn’t want her. Ryan desperately wanted her…and couldn’t take her.

He’d kept a strict distance from her in Columbus, interacting with her only enough to ensure she would take the job and move to Tampa. He knew the more time he spent around Kal, the more difficult it would be for him to let her go. His feelings in the matter had no place or weight.

Will Hellenboek was needed and had to be brought back to The Firm by whatever means necessary.

Ryan spent the night staring at the Atlanta skyline and tried not to think about the past, about the three of them taking on the world, the two men he still loved like brothers even if they couldn’t stand him. He didn’t allow himself to hate the Universe for forcing this responsibility on him. He was the only one who could do this job, and he’d come to terms with that ages before.

It was easier to let them think he was a jerk and keep their distance. Then they wouldn’t pity him. They’d seen him at his worst, helped him move forward, but it didn’t change anything. It didn’t change the fact that despite all his powers he couldn’t save Chloe, and he hadn’t been able to protect Abby, either.

* * * *

When Kal opened her eyes, she found the four men staring at her, dawn visible around the outer edges of the drawn curtains and her hands free of the restraints. She sat up and rubbed her wrists.

“I’ll admit I don’t feel very good but what the heck is going on? How dare you handcuff me! Is this some sort of stupid trick to scare me and get me to quit, because if it is, it’s not going to work. You just wait until I call my boss and tell him about this. You guys are crazy! Absolutely flippin’ crazy!”

All four men shook their heads.

She stood and pushed through them to the bathroom, where she slammed and locked the door behind her. She didn’t feel like they’d done anything to her. She was still dressed as she’d been when she went to bed, just her wrists hurt where the handcuffs had chafed them. Faint bruises already shadowed her flesh, but wouldn’t she remember struggling against them?

Truth be told, she remembered Will and Aidan apparently disappearing and reappearing a couple of times, Gery and Purs talking to her, and then…nothing.

Well, nothing except for the horrible dreams. She didn’t remember how she got into Will’s room in the first place. She’d gone to sleep, and then…

Then more horrible dreams.

Kal studied her knuckles. How had she injured them? They hurt like heck, like she’d smacked the dickens out of someone. That couldn’t be right, could it?

The men watched as she angrily emerged from the bathroom. “What the heck is going on?”

The other three deferred to Will. He cleared his throat. “We can’t leave you alone at night until this situation is taken care of.”

Kal glared at him. “What do you mean you can’t leave me alone? Why the heck not? If you think I’m letting you handcuff me again, you’ve got another think coming, Hellenboek.”

“Sit down, Kal. You need to watch the footage.”

“What footage?”

“What happened to you, and what you’ve been doing. Why we had to keep you restrained last night.”

Reluctantly she sat at the folding table where the computers and monitors were set up. Aidan cued the feeds. They pointed out how the shadow had stalked her all evening. She remembered feeling watched at base. Then they showed her the side by side of the IR and FLIR feeds, synced with the audio.

Her face paled. “What was that?”

“That’s what we’re trying to tell you.” Will looked at her. “There’s more. We think you attacked the guy across the street from the motel the other night.”

“What?”

“How else do you explain your hands?”

She looked at her hands and ran her thumbs over her battered knuckles. Eventually she shook her head. “I don’t know,” she softly replied.

“Last night you tried again,” Will explained. “Only we were ready and followed you to see what happened.” He nodded to Aidan, who played the video. It looked shaky, bouncy, as Aidan and the others raced to catch up with her. When she watched as she attacked the two men, her hands flew to her mouth in stunned shock. Tears filled her eyes.

Everything mirrored her horrible nightmares.

After the video showed her unconscious in Gery’s arms, Will nodded to Aidan. “That’s enough.” Aidan stopped the playback.

They let Kal digest it for several long, silent minutes. “I thought I dreamed all of that.”

Her horrified whisper scorched Will’s soul. He desperately wanted to hold and comfort her. Damn Ryan, he was right.

He
was
falling in love with her.

On the heels of that came the revelation that he now knew who the wraith referred to.

Ryan.

Hating himself, but knowing she had to see it, Will turned to Aidan. “Show her more of the video from last night, when we had her back here and the damn thing took control.”

Aidan cued and played it. Kal watched herself handcuffed to the bed, Will and Aidan disappearing, reappearing, examining the ring on her hand. Then disappearing again.

That hadn’t been her imagination.

Then she watched as her face changed, leering, snarling, and…but that couldn’t be her, could it?

“You fucking sons of bitches! Let me go!”

“Settle down, Kal,”
Purson said, standing by the end of the bed.

He easily dodged her when she tried to kick him.

“Kal’s left the building,”
Gery quipped.

“You have no idea who you’re fucking with, assholes. Let me go or I’ll eat your balls for breakfast.”

Purson shook his head.
“I don’t know what you are but we’re not letting you have Kal.”

“He said I could have her.”
She lunged against the handcuffs.
“He told me where to find her!”
On the video she listened to herself maniacally laugh. The sound sent shivers through her core.
“She’s mine! And you can’t fucking stop me. She was given to me! He gave her to me!”

“I don’t care if it’s Kal,”
Gery quipped.
“She starts spewing pea soup, I’m outta here, dude.”

Purson looked at him, smiled, then Kal lunged against the restraints again, shaking the entire bed.
“I’ll start with your intestines first, you fat fuckwad.”

Kal trembled as she watched the video, her palm pressed against her mouth in shock. Will laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. When she started crying, Will nodded to Aidan, who stopped the playback.

She shook her head in disbelief. “I thought they were horrible dreams. I thought…” She cried.

The men exchanged a silent glance and the other three left the room. Will knelt in front of her and took her hands. “I’m so sorry, Kal,” he softly said.

“What is
wrong
with me?”