Grave Danger (31 page)

“
Why the devil himself,” Corrigan answered
with a devilish smile.

“
You’re kidding, right?” Clarissa didn’t
believe for a moment that Corrigan knew Lucifer or that the man
owned the only other black dog in Florida. But then there was a
look in his eyes that made her wonder if he was being entirely
serious. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

Corrigan yawned, his eyes becoming misty in his
effort to remain awake. Unlike her species his body required that
he sleep as much as twelve hours to keep in top shape. It was
coming on dawn, the sky streaked with oranges and pinks. From the
cracked and open attic window, they could hear the lull of the
waves as they crashed against the nearby shore.

“
You’re falling asleep on me,” she chided him
as she caught him blinking rapidly.

He shook his head to clear the fog of Morpheus’s
pull into the dream world. Yawning again, he brushed his hand
against hers as she let it fall on the bed between them. “Maybe I
am,” he admitted, stroking the back of her hand absently. “Let’s
just say it has been a long night.”

“
I won’t mind if you lay down for bit,”
Clarissa encouraged him, pushing at his shoulders to get him to
move. His bed was too small for his size and as he spread out onto
the dark green comforter his feet and several inches of his legs
stuck out the end.

He lay on his back, his eyes closed and his handsome
face looking peaceful in its repose. With what little space wasn’t
taken up by his body, Clarissa managed to find a spot next to him
near his head. Taking his hand within hers, she touched the tender
mark where the skin was raised in the shape of a gruesome skull.
She’d make sure to put the deadly weapon somewhere safe and away
from him.

His breathing slowed as his heart rate dropped even
more. It was a beautiful moment watching Corrigan as he slept and
he seemed easy enough with letting her be so close to him
especially when he was most vulnerable. Her kind never slept, they
could rest but it was not the same as true sleep. Clarissa would
give anything to lie next to Corrigan and drift into the magical
world of dreams.

“
Will you dream of me when I’m gone,
Corrigan?” She asked as she stroked his midnight colored hair off
his forehead. She bent down and whispered in his ear. “Will you
make me real in your dreams; make me flesh and blood like
you?”

Corrigan frowned in his sleep, his closed eyes
scrunching at the corners. “You’re more than real to me, Clarissa.
You’re my very soul.” And with that he turned toward the wall and
drifted further into an unconscious sleep.

Clarissa held her hand over her chest, savoring the
effect he had on her as she gazed down at this most unusual man. A
sad smile hovered over her mouth, a single tear slipping from her
blue eyes. “And you are my eternal heart.”

She tenderly squeezed his bicep as she pulled away
coming to stand at the side of his bed. “Sleep well, Corrigan.”

Finding a scrap of paper, she made a hasty and quite
embarrassing note for Corrigan to find when he woke. She tucked it
securely under a pretty vase, hoping he’d see it.

Clarissa walked to the attic window, the light
already streaming through the glass, illuminating the sparsely
decorated interior that was Corrigan’s room. The light hit her skin
just so causing a prism effect creating the illusion of rainbows
floating over her body.

Opening the window more, she turned to look one last
time at the sleeping man on the bed in the corner. He would be out
for hours and as his day was drawing to a close hers was just
beginning.

She slipped out the window, finding her feet on the
window sill before jumping down to the balcony below. Moving with a
fluidity borne of her kind she stepped off the rail, landing softly
on the ground. Securing her back-pack over her shoulder she looked
up at the quiet house then at the other smaller homes around her.
They were all likely in their beds fast asleep. If she listened
hard enough she could hear the tell-tale signs of male snoring and
someone swatting the culprit with a soft object, a pillow most
likely.

With a soft sigh, she walked through the LeMoyne
complex. In the light of day it was a most beautifully manicured
property. Large blooming trees and perfumed plants were placed
about the lawn in just the right amount and in the perfect location
that made her think a professional had worked here. There were even
several water features throughout the property, the gravel pathways
that promoted strolling and daydreaming.

In the next instant she removed herself from the
flesh-eaters property to the recently awakened streets of downtown
St. Augustine. The stores had yet to open and only an occasional
living or ghost passed by her.

“
Where have you been?” a female voice barked
harshly in Clarissa’s ear before she felt herself being pulled into
a nearby shop.

Eleanor pulled Clarissa into one of the more
touristy shops that sold the sorts of items that visitors to the
Florida coast bought up instantly. A plethora of locally made
nick-knacks that satisfied the heat-stroked, sun-burned Northerners
while divesting them of their hard-earned money on what might later
be considered useless tourist junk; then again maybe not.

“
Have you lost your mind?” Eleanor continued
to rant. “Where have been all night? We’ve been looking everywhere
for you.” She made an agitated swat at her curly blonde locks,
glaring angry at Clarissa. “I thought to stop by early this morning
at the house, but you weren’t there. Apparently you’ve not been
home all night. What in God’s name were you doing all night? Where
could you have disappeared to so easily? I swear…”

“
Stop,” Clarissa commanded, shaking Eleanor a
little to get her to shut-up for a second. “Just stop,” she
repeated, taking a step back and watching as Eleanor calmed herself
down. Her mouth set in a firm line as she managed to expel the last
of her pent up energy.

“
I’m fine, Eleanor. It’s not like I can’t take
care of myself. Why is everyone so damn concerned about where I go
and what I do? It’s my afterlife and I can choose for myself how I
want to live it.”

“
There was another attack last night,” Eleanor
said, running her hands along her cool arms. “It happened sometime
in the early hours of the morning. Candice Snow, do you remember
her? She was sitting just in front of us at the meeting on
Friday.”

“
I remember her, yes.” Clarissa didn’t add
that she already knew about the attack, she’d seen the aftermath of
it herself. “Is she alright?”

“
It’s terrible,” Eleanor continued, her eyes
staring out the storefront window. “Her sister was just killed not
that long ago and here she is minding her own business, not hurting
anyone and they come after her too. It’s horrific what those
creatures are doing to our community.”

“
But she is doing better now, right?” Clarissa
hedged the question.

Eleanor nodded, her face still bleak “Leah Moon
found her. I don’t know what that girl was thinking being out on
the streets at night, but in this case I’m actually glad she wasn’t
following the rules. The ambulance was brought in time, but that
doesn’t mean she’s out the woods yet. Her throats been horribly
mangled and they’re worried about infection. Leah and her mother
and grandmother are staying with her at the hospital to keep her
with us, but even with their combined efforts I don’t think it will
be enough.”

“
What has the council said about this?”
Clarissa could see the worry in Eleanor. She very much liked the
living woman and her death would be a tragic blow to her. “Do they
have suspects in mind?”

Eleanor turned to give Clarissa a hard look.
“Suspects,” she bit out harshly. “Of course they have suspects.
Those animals across the bridge are the only ones capable of such
an attack on us. You know that. The council has finally seen the
light and they’ve found what we need to stop them,
permanently.”

That bitter breath of fear stole its way up
Clarissa’s spine, setting her senses on high alert. If Eleanor
meant what she suspected she meant by that statement then she was
sure the beautiful world she had created in her mind would collapse
upon itself.

“
What do you mean when you say permanently?”
Clarissa asked the question, not letting Eleanor read more into it
than as simple curiosity.

Eleanor’s very demeanor changed from just a moment
ago, her eyes seemed to sparkle in hate, her anger overriding any
compassion for the creatures that had harmed a close friend of
hers. She had already made up her mind about them, as almost all of
them had. Clarissa regretted her own false presumptions about the
other kind. Even though the beast inside them rode hard on their
senses, there was still a measure of humanity in them that let them
find love and friendship. Clarissa was learning that there was more
to the LeMoyne family than the savage predators that the world
perceived them to be.

“
The council members have found a death
dealer, a bokor” Eleanor said those words like they’d found a great
treasure in the ocean or a divine savior from above. Those words
raced through Clarissa’s system like battery acid, leaving complete
destruction in its wake.

It was ironic that the very thing she had been
searching for the past few days was the last thing she wanted now.
Then a thought occurred to her. Who had they found, surely it
wasn’t her? No one knew, except Leah. Leah couldn’t have
blabbed.

“
Who,” Clarissa asked the nail-biting
question. “Where did they find this person?”

“
I don’t know what his name is or where they
dredged him up from. Some swamp I would imagine. All that matters,
though, is that we’ve got the tools to exterminate these creatures
from our city. Isn’t that wonderful, Clarissa?”

No.

“
Yes,” she lied. “That’s wonderful
news.”

His name,
she’d said,
not
her name.
Then the council
members didn’t know her secret. Then who could this male death
bokor be? And why after all these years would the council members
suddenly find him? Corrigan, his very existence was at
stake.

She couldn’t allow him or his family to be punished
for a crime she was almost certain they hadn’t committed. She’d
been in their home, inside the belly of the beast, and seen inside
the nature of these otherworldly creatures. No rules had been
broken, at least not by them. But the council members wouldn’t see
it that way.

“
Clarissa, what’s the matter? Why do you have
an odd look about you, your colors are changing so fast.” Eleanor
made a motion to reach out and touch her, but Clarissa pulled back
at the last second. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” Her
expression read deep suspicion.

Clarissa stole herself from answering; she couldn’t
tell Eleanor the truth. Eleanor had already made up her mind
against Corrigan and his family and if she told her that she’d
found her other half in a monster, she’d think she was crazy. Maybe
she was crazy.

“
Nothing,” Clarissa said instead. “I’m going
home now. I’ll see you later, okay?”

She was out the door before Eleanor could utter a
reply. Clarissa knew Eleanor was only looking out for her. She’d
been so worried when she couldn’t find her at Mrs. Connors house.
And at any other time, she might have been glad that someone she’d
only known for a short while could already care for her that much.
She was fast thinking of Eleanor as a good friend, but it didn’t
make her right about the others.

Clarissa had to find a way to stop the council
members from putting their dog out on the hunt for the LeMoynes.
Not until she found the truth to prove them innocent or guilty of
the murder crimes against the S.S. and the Eidolon community at
large. But would they give her the chance to plead their case?

The terrible lump in her stomach told her they
wouldn’t care one whit what she had to think.

Chapter 17-

Clarissa walked in the front door of Mrs. Connors
house expecting the house to be empty. It wasn’t though. Maddy, she
heard by another phone call from Leah, was spending the morning at
the hospital. Leah had once again told her how crazy she was for
even contemplating shacking up with a flesh-eater then letting her
know that Candice was doing better. She was scheduled for surgery
the following morning to piece her throat back together.

The television was on in the family room. Going
through the kitchen, Clarissa found Jackson lounging on the couch
eating a bowl of cereal, a ripe banana sitting atop his shaggy
blonde head. Watching the morning news from a small television set
in the corner of the room, he looked like he was nesting, stretched
out on the sofa, books and magazines and several bags of snacks on
the coffee table beside him.

Jackson gestured a non-verbal hello with his over
sized spoon, his mouth too full of snack cakes to actually
speak.

“
What are you doing here?” Clarissa questioned
him, coming into the room. “Aren’t you supposed to be in
school?”

He shook his head, swallowing at the same time.
“No,” he finally said. “Sick,” he uttered before shoveling in a
spoonful of sugar coated cereal flakes.

Clarissa looked at him closely, a frown on her face.
“You don’t look very sick to me. What is it that you have?”

Twisting the top off a half gallon of milk he downed
half the contents in about a minute and a half. Making a satisfied
swipe over his mouth he gave her a grin that more than likely made
young naïve girls’ hearts flutter in their chests. “I got this
fever,” he put a hand to his forehead, making a pitiful face, “And
my chest feels congested. You know that commercial with the tiny
green mucus people? Like that, they’re having a party in my
chest.”