Love Beyond Expectations (16 page)

Zane stepped out into the hall. Gia didn't know why she got scared. That much was evident, and she'd gone out of her way to calm herself down. However, that didn't exactly mean she'd been wrong to have fear.

He opened the door. Breaking into safes, using his voice to make people do what he wanted, speaking to ghosts—they were all small powers. But his blood pounded in his ears, telling him that he needed to get rid of whatever had freaked out his roommate.

Closing the door behind him, he stepped out of their apartment. It was freezing out in the hallway. He sniffed the air but didn't scent anything out of the ordinary. Closing his ears, he listened.

Other people couldn't do it—they were human. Zane could hear things. The smallest tick in an unbreakable safe allowed him to simply open the dial. If there was something in the hall, he wouldn't be able to see it or smell it but damn, he'd be able to hear it.

Nothing struck him at first, and then the whispering started. He almost missed the sound because the chanting in his ears, the ones he heard so rarely, the ones that told him that he did the right thing, made so much noise.

"Quiet it down, please." Amazingly the singing became barely a flicker of noise. That's when the whisper he'd been pretty sure he heard became clear to him.

"
Die, Outsiders
."

Zane raised his eyebrows, not opening his eyes.

"Want to say that again?"

"
Die, Outsiders
."

He immediately ruled out the demon. No way would that thing be sitting in the hall saying Die Outsiders. If his eyes were open, Zane would have rolled them.

"Yeah, that's what I thought I heard." Zane shook his head. This was some run-of-the-mill, pissed off ghost.

The demon would have concerned him. This just made him mad.

"
You will all die
."

"We might." He couldn't deny that fact. Zane knew nothing about epic battles. He could barely manage to put one foot in front of the other. They might die. "It won't be because you're out here threatening a woman, chasing her up the stairs."

"
She should know pain and fear
."

"If you come near her again, I will search high and low until I find some sort of ghost remover. And then I'll be sure you get sent some place awful, some place downright uncomfortable. Got it? Go away. Or I'll give you pain."

Zane walked back into the apartment and closed the door.
Frickin' ghost.

"And if you start to rattle bars or windows, or bleed the walls, I'm taking you out too. No contact. Got it?"

If Gia came out of the bathroom, she'd think him insane. Who shouted to himself in the living room?

He walked to the window, his mind shifting to thoughts of dinner. He'd just throw together some spaghetti and meatballs. It would be fast. He didn't know what she liked to eat. But everyone liked spaghetti. Or at least, he thought they did. If she didn't, he'd figure it out fast.

Zane stared down at the street. A woman looked back up at him. He blinked to make sure he hadn't imagined her, but she remained there. Skinny with short black hair, she wore a skirt and a T-shirt.

His heart turned over in his chest, and he forgot to breathe. Dressed so, she must have be freezing. She was the single most breathtaking creature he'd ever beheld. Her face was long with high cheekbones. Although it was dark, except for the streetlight below, he could see her eyes, small and slightly slanted, like a pixie staring up at him.

She must be freezing
. His heart picked up, and like Gia had moments earlier, he panted as if he'd run a race.

Tears streamed down her face, and she turned away, breaking their seconds of eye contact.

He knew in that instant she meant to leave. He couldn't—
wouldn't
—have that.

Charging as fast as he'd ever moved, he stormed out of the apartment. His feet stomped loudly on the stairs while he made his way out the back door of the bar. He rounded the corner and knew before he even got there that it would be too late.

His fantasy woman, who looked exactly like he'd always pictured her, had vanished.

Left and right, he ran around like a lunatic. She wasn't fucking there. He kicked the side of the building several times.

His woman had been crying. What had been wrong? He shook his head, calling out to the sky for some answers.

When none came, he slowly made his way back to the apartment. His cock ached. For the first time in his life, he wanted a woman.
His soul mate
. Although she might not be more than a ghost.

Chapter Thirteen

Christophe stroked Ruby's hair. He loved the softness and how easy it was to run his hands through it. But they didn't have time for his amorous thoughts. Not when he had to deliver some devastating news and then figure out what to do about the preacher.

She studied her books. The whole group had decided to go with them to get Jacob Talbot's cane. But, the general consensus had been that it made sense to wait until after there was some kind of news on Marina. Christophe wanted to do whatever Ruby wanted.

His cell phone rang, and he stared down at it. In the chaos of everything, he'd forgotten he had one. The idea that they had cell service on the island didn't fit with the remote, "we're safe here" vibe they had gone for in creating the place. Who would be calling him?

The number on the screen told him it was his mother trying to reach him. He sighed. How long could he put her off? Ruby raised a questioning eyebrow while she watched him. She would probably do anything to speak to her human family again, and he had been avoiding his for too long.

He answered. "Hello, Mother."

Deliberately keeping his language in English so Ruby could hear at least his half of the conversation, he knew it would throw his mom off for a second. But, like everything else she managed to do, switching to English would not be a problem for the woman who had raised him.

"Hello, Christophe. Are you well?" His mother's voice wavered. He hoped she wasn't going to start to cry.

"I am well." He stared at Ruby. "Better than that, actually. I'm deeply in love."

Ruby squirmed about until she sat more closely next to him on the bed.

"You are?" This time he couldn't mistake the sucking in of her breath for anything else. His mother cried. He hoped some of it was tinged with happiness for him.

"Who is this girl?"

"A fellow professor at Columbia. She's wonderful."

"An American?" He could picture her pacing the living room.

"Yes. An American."
Sort of
. None of them were really anything. Then again, his mother would know that. She had to; she'd not, after all, actually given birth to him.

"I always expected you'd come back here and when you were ready, marry a French girl." His mother sighed. "I suppose you'll be staying there then, yes?"

"Her name is Ruby." He couldn't deal with her expectations; he'd had enough of his own to get over.

"That's lovely."

"Yes." He waited a beat. There was no delicate way to ask her what he needed to know. "Were you ever going to tell me the truth of where I came from?"

His mother fell silent. Had she hung up? "Mom?"

"How did you know?"

He rubbed at his forehead. Why hadn't he realized this would be hard? "Because there are others like me. People who are…different."

"You were my gift. You appeared out of nowhere. We couldn't have children. We'd been told. And then there was you…"

He cut her off. This was more than he could deal with at the moment. "Listen. It's okay. Everything will work out the way it's going to. But, it's going to be a long time until I can get home. There are some things I have to do. When it's over, we'll come see you."

"I see." She sucked in her breath. "I always knew you were special. You had to be. Whatever this is, you'll be careful?"

"I will." His already upset mother did not need to hear the details of this whole thing. She wouldn't believe it anyway. Or maybe she would. Either way, he had to get off the phone. "I love you, and I'll call you when I can."

"I love you, too. Be safe." He disconnected the phone.

Ruby ran her hand up his back. "You okay?"

"Yes." Since giving out bad news seemed to the be the way this day had been set up to go, he might as well get it all out on the table. "I get to make you upset now."

"Oh?" She moved until she sat in front of him on the bed. "What's going on?"

He reached out to stroke her arm. "You're so beautiful."

"Thank you. But that doesn't make me upset. In fact, it makes me feel really good inside."

"Unfortunately,
mon coeur
, that is not what I have to tell you. I just had to say it because it happens to be true."

"Whatever it is, get it out." Her gaze met his. Where did her tremendous patience come from?

"Right before I got here, I took one of my unexpected trips. I landed on a farm. It was dilapidated. Inside, I found a very upset ghost."

Ruby shivered. "I can't believe you talk to ghosts. I'm really happy to have not gotten that gift."

"Right. It's not the worst actually. Usually they have something interesting to share, or some way I can help them." He shook his head. "But that is neither here nor there."

"What did the ghost do or say?"

"Well, Ruby. To be honest, she was your mother. I didn't realize you were the Ruby at the time, but it seems rather clear to me now." He took her hands in his.

"My human mother is a ghost?" She shook her head. "Why would she have stayed here? Why remain a ghost?"

She stared at him like he could offer her some kind of explanation. He'd do his best but knew it would be flimsy at best.

"I think she remained so she could pass on information to me. Something I needed to know."

The muscles in her throat clenched. "What?"

"That a preacher—and I would place all my money on it being Jacob Talbot—convinced her to kill herself. She realized after the deed was done, so to speak, that it was in order to get to you. He manipulated your mother to get to you. In the worst possible way."

Ruby stood, pulling her hands from his. Her eyes were huge. "He wanted me?" She tapped her hands to her chest. "Well then, he's going to get me. And we'll see how he likes it."

"Ruby…"

"No." She shook her head. "No more waiting. Jacob Talbot killed my mother? I guess he's going to see what happens when an Outsider gets really pissed off."

He sat up on his knees. Ruby was beautiful in her fury. He'd never seen her not gorgeous but had to say that in a rage, Ruby stunned.

"What do you think you'll do?" He really did want to know. The way the woman's brain worked consistently amazed him. If she came up with a plan, it was bound to work.

"I don't have a plan. I'm just going to, for once, think on my feet."

"Sweetheart, I don't know if that is sound. Perhaps we could put our heads together and sort this out."

"I'm tired of being thoughtful. I feel the need to kick some butt. I know you know what I'm talking about. You've been ranting for two days now, needing to pummel something." She walked to him and took his hand. "Just do it. Take us over there, and we'll handle Jacob Talbot like the bug he is. We'll squash his sorry ass."

"I don't think saying
take me to Jacob Talbot
is going to particularly…"

He felt the pull over take him and could have cursed himself for speaking aloud. Ruby held his hand. He'd uttered the words. They were, like it or not, being taken to Jacob Talbot.

Dropping to the ground, he managed to grab onto Ruby and keep her from hitting hard. He could take the pain, having done it now more times than he could count. Her small body shouldn't have to endure it.

She grabbed her head and rolled off him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. You take the switching places with more pain than me."

"Right." She nodded. "You aren't going to believe this but I didn't do that on purpose. I grabbed your hand. I know I did. I had no idea you were going to say it out loud."

"I never thought you did." Had she suddenly become devious? He doubted it. It would have been a good a manipulation if she'd meant it. Christophe knew Ruby's soul. It didn't go that way.

"Where are we?" He looked around as he stood up.

"It has to be somewhere around Jacob Talbot." He looked up and saw a sign on a door that read office. "I bet he's in there."

"Shouldn't he notice we're out here?"

"Good question."

They'd fallen into some kind of room that looked a great deal like a waiting room. Leather chairs and an expensive looking Persian rug decorated the area. This Talbot fellow certainly had a lot of money for a man of faith.

"There's nothing we can do but go look." They were there; they should get what they came for. Even if he had to scrounge up a gun and shoot the man in the temple. He shook his head. Ruby was correct, he had gone bloodthirsty.

His years of running and hiding were behind him. For Ruby, he would always be brave.

They walked together toward the door. "Do you want to knock?"

She shook her head before grabbing the door handle. It swung open when she tried it. Talbot didn't believe in locking his doors? He'd clearly never taught college students who weren't happy with their grades. They didn't need Ruby's magic key either. This must not be what she needed it for.

When she tried to walk in first, he stopped her. He'd go ahead of her until he determined the room safe. She looked up, perhaps to argue, but something on his face made her step back.

His resolve had to be written all over it. She would not get hurt doing this.

Christophe heard him as soon as he entered. On his knees before a large gold cross, the figure of Jacob Talbot appeared the figure of penance and piety.

"Hello, Mr Talbot," Christophe said, staring down at the little man.

"Parishioners are asked to wait outside until I have finished my evening prayer."

Christophe snickered. "I am not among your faithful. And I'm really, truly, glad about that."

"Neither am I." Ruby scooted around him. So much for her taking his need to protect her seriously. "Because I would never follow a man who convinced a young, probably mentally ill, woman to kill herself."