Just Believe (30 page)

Just like those long-gone nights when
her imagination's overwork produced a closet teeming with monsters
which preyed on little girls who couldn't fall asleep, every
clatter of the old house exploded in her ears. She peered into the
dark, seeing in the shadows the forms the sounds
suggested.

A grown woman shouldn't be so jumpy.
But her scolding didn't stop her from starting at the sound of
voices outside her door.

"This is the one, is it?"

The words were followed by a whisper,
too low to tell anything about the speaker.

"Awww, never mind, now. 'Tisn't as
though she can get away."

She forced herself to lay still and
concentrate on the voice. The man's voice was familiar.

Again the whispering voice scratched at
the door.

"No, no," the man replied. "I saw the
big yellow-haired lad leaving here about ten minutes ago. He'll be
going to the pub for a drink before last call. We've got plenty of
time. Now stand back and let me do my work."

The doorknob rattled. Annabelle jumped
out of the bed, looking for an escape route. One glance around told
her nobody but Santa Claus could get out of the room without going
through the door.

Not really knowing where the
inspiration came from, she yanked two overstuffed pillows into the
rough shape of a body and threw the comforter back up over the
lump. Just as the knob rattled again and a splinter of light sliced
into the room, she dropped to the spotlessly clean floor and slid
under the bed, not stopping until she hit the wall.

Two sets of feet entered the room. The
first to reach the bed were large, inside heavy-soled work boots.
She could see the deep treads caked with mud.

"Here you go, darlin'. Time to wake
up!"

A pause of silence broke the sound of
speech. Annabelle caught her breath, fearing her thumping heart
would wake everyone in town.

"What the hell?"

"Where is she?" The whisperer's voice,
closer with no door between them, was identifiable. Dr. Duncan's
small feet appeared at the side of the bed, then scampered to the
window where Annabelle could hear her shaking the window, testing
the lock. "She didn't go out this way unless she's sprouted
wings."

The man chuckled. "Not likely with Dr.
Riley around."

What did that mean?

But she didn't have time to worry about
it. The man dropped to his knees beside the bed, obviously to take
a look underneath.

Where to go now? Annabelle scrunched
closer to the wall.

The bedspread. It hung further on this
side, hidden against the wall, layered on the floor. She grabbed a
handful and pulled it over her, covering herself with it like a
shroud.

Would this be enough? She could see a
shadowy outline through the thin material. Surely the man would be
able to see her, even in the darkness under the bed.

Her heart jumped in her throat. She
couldn't have breathed even if she hadn't been afraid
to.

His face appeared upside-down peering
under the bed.

He's got me.

Gaelen where are you?

Chapter Twenty One

Gaelen stood behind the rented
Mercedes, pawing through the things in the trunk. He'd come down to
get their precious supply of ointment, so he could keep an eye on
it. It was the only thing they had which couldn't be replaced
easily.

He hefted the bag their supplies were
in: the iron knife, the salt, and the crystal bottle of
ointment.

Better be getting back to the room and
get some sleep.

Still he stood there,
waiting.

What if she were still awake? Would she
still have that hurt look in her eyes?

Maybe I should sleep in the car?
Nothing good could come of getting too close to her. She'll be
hurt. I'll be hurt.

Too late, bucko. Too late.

He slammed the trunk lid. "Damn, Lucas!
This is all your fault, little brother." Promising his brother all
manner of punishment in this world and the next, Gaelen stomped
back to Mrs. O'Hara's establishment. Another muttered threat to
Lucas's well-being froze on his lips unspoken.

He stopped beside the panel van in
front of Mrs. O'Hara's that hadn't been there when he'd left. He
slammed through the front door, eyes up. His heart fell to the
soles of his feet when he saw the door to the small bedroom open.
The room where he'd left Annabelle.

He took the narrow stairway three steps
at a time, then froze at the door.

One of Linette Duncan's pet fairy mercs
knelt down by the bed, his head low.

"Not under here, Doc."

"Are you sure?" Linette started to drop
to her knees to take her own look underneath.

Gaelen stepped inside, unnoticed by the
two intruders, and swept his gaze around the room.

Annabelle, where are you?

"Looking for something, Linette, my
songbird?"

Linette jerked up straight but didn't
answer.

Her pet also straightened. He glanced
between Linette and Gaelen.

"What have you done with her?" Gaelen
asked.

"Nothing." Linette's calm voice didn't
reassure him.

He dropped the bag and crossed the room
in two strides, his hands on Linette's pixie neck before he could
stop himself. The merc jumped, hands out to intervene. Gaelen
backhanded the man across the room.

"Stay out of this," he
growled.

Linette struggled, her hands clawing at
his fingers wrapped around her throat. "Let go of me! Frank!" she
called to the merc sitting on the floor.

"If he gets off his ass, I'll squeeze
everything out of you. So sit still, Frank." Gaelen loosened his
fingers. "Where is she, Linette? I swear before Dana herself, if
you've done anything with her--"

Linette shook her head as much as she
could with Gaelen holding her by the neck. "I haven't touched your
precious mortal woman."

"Where is she?" he asked for the final
time between clenched teeth.

"I don't know." As Gaelen's fingers
tightened again, she sputtered, "She wasn't here when we came in. I
swear."

"I left her here. Right here." He
squeezed tighter. "Tell me, you treacherous pixie bitch or
I'll...!"

Linette's gurgle filled the
room.

"Gaelen?" Annabelle's voice drifted
from under the bed. She scrambled up on the far side, squeezed
between the bed and the wall. He glanced up at her and saw her face
assume a mask of horror. "What are you doing? Let her
go!"

Relief made him weak. He let Linette go
and she dropped to the floor. She scampered over to Frank, who'd
obediently kept his seat on the floor.

Annabelle stared at him.

Frank stared at him.

Linette was the only one who didn't.
"So, Gaelen," she said in a croak. "You and your brother both, law
breakers, eh? A double trial, then. Such an event it will
be."

"What are you talking
about?"

"You know perfectly well. You've been
consorting with a mortal woman. You've exposed yourself to her,
haven't you?"

"I wish," Annabelle muttered, crossing
her arms.

Frank snickered.

"Shut up!" Gaelen and Linette shouted
in one voice.

Gaelen's brow tightened in a frown at
Annabelle. "Let me handle this."

"Like you were handling it just now?"
She shook her head. "No thanks. Don't know what Irish prisons are
like, but I'd really hate to have to explain a dead pixie in our
room."

Linette glared at him. "You've exposed
me, too?"

Annabelle clambered over the bed. "You
know, you fairy people--"

"I'm not a damned fairy," Linette
said.

"Sorry. You immortal people worry way
too much about whether anybody believes in you or not."

"That's easy for you to say, lass,"
Frank said, his words trailing off as he met Gaelen's gaze. He
raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I know. Shut up." He
folded his hands in his lap.

"Look here, Gaelen. I was ordered to
bring her to the Council of Elders."

"Why?"

She didn't answer.

"Because she told them you and I were
lovers." Annabelle's voice filled the empty air. "That makes you
guilty of breaking the law."

Linette laughed. "This isn't about sex,
you stupid mortal."

At a growl from Gaelen, she backed away
from him, a very satisfying reaction from his point of view. Once
out of his reach, however, she regained her confidence.

"It's about revealing ourselves." She
tossed Gaelen a saucy look. "If you'd been half the scholar you
pride yourself on being, you'd know that. But I guess our records
aren't a fit subject of study for you, Dr. Riley."

"What?"

"That's right, Gaelen, me boyo,"
Linette crowed with a smirk. "The law forbids revealing one's
nature to a mortal. You can boink 'em to your heart's
content."

"Where did you find this
out?"

"In the Great Library. Where you'd be
doing your work if you had any ethnic pride at all."

Her words struck so close to his
conscience, Gaelen couldn't respond. Annabelle, however, had no
such impediment.

"I don't see you practicing fairy
medicine, Dr. Duncan."

"I am a pixie!" Linette snapped her
mouth shut. "I am a pixie," she said more calmly. "I am a distant
cousin of the Irish fairies." Glaring at Gaelen, she added, "A
close enough connection, I assure you."

"What now?" Annabelle knelt on the bed,
arms crossed.

Linette's green eyes flicked between
Gaelen and Annabelle. "I suppose there's nothing I can do. I must
leave with my mission unaccomplished. I had hoped to produce Miss
Tinker here as Exhibit A against you."

"Don't worry, Doc," Annabelle said,
"I'll be there."

Her words gave Gaelen a rush of pride
in her spunk. He turned to Linette and clucked insincere pity.
"What a shame you have to be going so soon, Doc." He motioned to
the door, unwilling to remove himself from between Linette and her
quarry.

"See you in court tomorrow, then. Be
sure to bring her," Linette tossed her thumb back to indicate
Annabelle. "Come on, Frank."

Linette marched out the door. Frank
followed, but paused to offer a salute.

"No hard feelings, eh?"

In answer, Gaelen slammed the door in
his face. Feeling suddenly needful of more security, he locked the
door and put the old-fashioned key in his pants pocket before going
to the window.

* * * *

He stood looking out the window for a
long time it seemed to Annabelle.

"What are you looking for?" she
asked.

"I'm watching to make sure they both
leave."

She heard an engine start and tires
squeal as a vehicle peeled out from the front of the
house.

He turned from the window at last,
going back to the door and picking up the bag he'd dropped
earlier.

"Here," he said shoving the bag at her.
"Take the salt out and sprinkle it on the sill and by the door and
on the hearth."

"Why?"

"It'll keep them away
tonight."

"What are they? Vampires?" She turned
to do as he ordered.

"No," he said, wiping his face with
both hands. "For vampires, I'd use garlic salt."

She stopped in mid-turn, slowly turning
back to face him. "You mean…?"

"What?"

"There really are vampires?"

"Sure."

She turned slowly again to the window,
taking small careful steps. "What else is…out there?"

Gaelen fell into the comfortable chair
in front of the small fireplace, his breath whooshing out as he
stretched.

"Werewolves, shapeshifters, gargoyles,
demons, witches, you name it."

She glared at him, aware now he was
teasing. "That's not funny, Gaelen."

When she'd finished salting down Mrs.
O'Hara's spare bedroom, Annabelle put the box of salt back into the
bag. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she finally asked what had
been on her mind since Frank, the fairy mercenary, had rattled the
doorknob to this room.

"Where did you go?"

He leaned back in the chair, eyes
closed. "Out for a walk. Then I stopped at the car to get the bag.
With Linette hovering about, I thought I'd sleep better with it in
here." He opened his eyes and rolled his head around to look at
her. "You should get some sleep. It's late, and we have to be about
our business early tomorrow."

She shrugged. "I can't sleep now.
Besides, I think I'm getting a hangover."

"Oh, poor darlin'." He pushed himself
out of the chair. "Got a headache?" He climbed behind her on the
bed and knelt, raising his hands over her head.