Pulled to the Dark (The Siriena Series) (34 page)

She smiled.

"You were there during the day, but it will be night for me," she confirmed.

"Yes. Until you learn to travel on your own, we can only summon you when you're asleep. We tested, and napping doesn't seem to do it."

"How will I see, if flashlights don't work?"

"Old fashioned oil lamps," said Petra. "We can bring anything that one of us can pick up. Lighters and matches work. Anything that works on electricity or batteries does not. We also tried an old, old camera, before they all went electronic. It took the pictures, but the pictures were all fogged. So either they don't work there or transporting the film fogged it. We can't tell."

"Along with the lamps," she said, "everything I need is in that bag. It has clothing and a
hazmat
suit. It won't keep out something like
ebola
, so let's hope it's not a super nasty pathogen. But there is an integrated gas mask, so I won't have to smell anything." She looked at the map. "Two bodies in this building." She pointed. "Summon me there."

"I can't," I said. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I can summon you outside, or in the stables, but I don't think I can stand being in that building for the thirty minutes it takes to summon you. Not and keep enough focus to actually make it work."

"The stables then," she said. "Have my clothes and the hazmat suit out of the bag and ready for me. Time is limited, right?"

"You're up to twenty minutes," Petra said. "So about that."

She stayed in our guest room that night.

* * *

"There she is," said Petra. "Took a little longer."

"Will I still have twenty minutes?"
Sally
asked, sitting up.

"We'll see," Petra said, helping her get dressed. It took a few minutes.

She picked up her bag and we pointed the way out of the stables. While I'd been summoning her, Karen and Beth had been setting up lanterns. Sally moved quickly. Petra and I followed closely behind her.

"Keep the door open," she said. She was inside for almost ten minutes before she came out. "You said there were two at the smithy?"

I pointed. She grabbed a lantern and ran over. She didn't come back out. After ten minutes, I poked my nose in and saw her clothing lying in a pile on the floor.

"She's gone," I said. "Petra, summon me back in five minutes." She nodded, and I popped home.

She was standing in the living room buttoning up her blouse.

"It was an execution," she said. Her lips were tight.

"You're sure?"

She nodded.

"What do we do with your suit and clothes? Bring them back? I can take a garbage bag with me and stuff everything in."

"That works."

"We'll all be right back, maybe five minutes."

"I need a beer."

"Fridge," I said. "How could you-
"

And then Petra summoned me.

"No way was that five minutes," I said. "I need to go get a garbage bag, give me one more minute."

I popped straight to the kitchen, startling Sally.

"Sorry," I said. I went straight to drawer with the bags and grabbed two. "She pulled me back too fast." I hugged her fast before Petra pulled me back again.

"This is one way to make sure I don't flirt with anyone else," I told
Petra
. She offered a wry smile. I went into the smithy and pulled all of Sally's clothes outside with me before stuffing them into the garbage bags. We quickly collected her bag and the lanterns and returned to the apartment.

"It's so weird watching you all do that,"
Sally
said. She was sitting at the sofa. "In the first building, one suffered a trauma to the head. The skull was cracked. I couldn't tell anything on the other one. At the smithy, it was clearly an execution. Their hands were tied behind their backs. I couldn't tell you the method of execution." She drank from her beer. "That's all I have. It would take a proper forensics team to get anything resembling real information."

"That's good news and bad," Petra said. "Violence is easier to understand than if there were some new disease. We don't know who or why, but we know more than we did."

"I have a few questions," Sally said. "I would appreciate honest answers." I nodded.

"Did you ask me out just to get me to look at the bodies?"

"We thought of you because you're a cop," I
explained
. "But as soon as we thought of you, I thought, 'you would be perfect'. Not just because you're a cop, but because I thought I'd like you as a friend. I asked you out to get your schedule, but I had a nice time. I asked you to Sunday night movies because I want us to be friends."

"So no simple answers?" she asked.

"No."

"Well," she
decided
. "I want to join your gang. Am I invited to the movie tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," I said. "The movie is 'The Dead Pool'. It's a Dirty Harry movie."

She laughed. "Good choice. I'll be here."

I turned to Petra. "I want a real date tonight."

"I could arrange something," she said.

I looked at Sally. "I really liked the place you took me. Would it bother you if Petra took me there?"

"Not at all. I was going to ask someone tonight. We could meet there."

I looked at Petra. "That would be lovely," she said.

"I have to go," said Sally. "I'll text you later with details." She collected her things and headed for the door. I walked her out and hugged her. She kissed my cheek and was gone.

"I'm making breakfast," Petra said. "I'm staving." We all bundled into the kitchen and talked about next steps while Petra cooked for us.

"Make enough for Kelly," Andrea said. "I can take her a plate." She paused. "Guys, we need to figure out what's going on. We need to make it safe there again.
Renea
and Kelly are going stir crazy. I'm setting up a romantic date tonight, but Kelly is really tired of looking at the same few things."

Erika's phone rang and she stepped into the other room to take the call. She came back in a few minutes later. "I have a date tonight."

"Who is he?" Beth asked her.

"I'm not telling," she said. "If it goes well, we'll see."

"I can make you tell," Andrea told her
. S
he said it playfully, and I wasn't sure if she was serious.

Erika stared at her, then grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the other room. The rest of us looked at each other. "I wonder what the big secret is," Karen said. "Where could she have met a guy, anyway? She's with us all the time."

"Someone from work?" I offered. "The tech guy is sweet."

"He's not really Erika's type," Beth said. "She likes them saucier than that."

"Maybe she's settling down," I offered. I shrugged and helped Petra with breakfast.

Erika and Andrea were only gone for a couple of minutes. Andrea was smiling, but efforts to get her to spill went nowhere.

Beth turned to Karen. "It's just you and I tonight, then. Want a date?"

"Only if you dress to impress," Karen said. "I want to see some skin,
chica
." They both turned to Petra and me. "Can we come tonight?"

I turned to Petra.

"It's up to you," she said. "This date was your idea." She smiled. "You know, the one who does the asking does the paying."

"Of course you can come," I told Karen and Beth. "If you both dress to impress. I want to see some skin, and I expect you each to dance with me." I glanced at Petra then back at them. "But no checking out my ass."

Petra made plates for Kelly and Andrea. Andrea thanked her, grabbed the plates and disappeared. The rest of us ate and washed up.

"I'm going back to bed," Erika said.

"Me too," I said. I turned to Petra. "Will you take me shopping later?"

* * *

Petra joined me in bed. She crawled in next to me,
then
rolled me over for a kiss. It was sweet and soft. Then she let me roll back before pulling me into her arms. We spooned and fell asleep.

"I love you," she whispered to me.

I woke some time later, still wrapped in her arms. I wriggled more tightly against her.

"Little vixen," she purred in my ear.

"I like feeling you against me, Petra," I told her. "I'm not trying to tease."

She kissed my shoulder and I wriggled even closer.

"If you do that again, I am not responsible for my response," she said.

"Hold me," I said. "Tightly."

She wrapped herself around me more thoroughly, her leg sliding between mine. One of her hands was right in front of me, so I kissed it and nipped at her palm a little.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yes. Just in love," I told her.

She kissed my shoulder again. We cuddled for a while,
then
I rolled over and pushed her onto her back. She let me climb on top of her and I wrapped myself around her, holding her tightly. She stroked my hair and my back. I squeezed tightly and didn't let go.

"Hey," she said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said. "I don't know. I just can't get close enough to you."

We stayed like that for a while. After a while I began whispering in her ear. "I like being yours. Even when you get all domineering." I paused.

"Do you wish I were less domineering?" she asked.

I thought about it. "I wished you trusted me more." I paused. "I like it when you spank me."

She sighed. "Those are supposed to be punishments."

"Yeah, right," I said. "That's why you get me naked first and give me orgasms afterwards."

"I need to find new punishments for you."

"Do you?" I asked her. "What have I done since we've met that deserved punishment except when delivered playfully?"

She didn't have an answer for that.

"Are you going to do something tonight to earn another spanking?"

"Probably," I said, giggling.

She took me shopping. I bought a slinky black dress, nylons and new black boots. She tried to lure me back to bed afterwards, but I told her, "No. I want lots and lots of sexual tension tonight." I grinned.

We had an early dinner then got ready. I wore my new clothes and had a lot of fun on my makeup and hair.

Karen and Beth came over to the apartment shortly before eight. They looked amazing. Karen was in a bright red dress, black nylons and heels. Beth was in black.

"Erika went downstairs to wait for her dat
e," Beth said. "She told us she would
be pissed if we try to check him out. I think she was serious." She looked me up and down. "You look amazing.
"

I clung to Petra all the way down the elevator. Beth and Karen smirked at us, but when we stepped out of the e
levator, Karen took Beth's arm. Once at the club, w
e found parking and descended the steps into the nightclub.

Petra stared the moment we were inside. "I think I know the owner," she said. "I knew the name was familiar."

"Someone you dated?" I asked. "Her name is Alicia."

"No," Petra said. "We did some charity work together a few years ago."

We checked our coats and stepped through to the hostess stand. Carol was there.

"Hello, Carol," I said. "I'm Felicia."

"Yes, I remember," she said. "Sally is already here. If you will follow me." She took us to the back room. As we approached a large booth, I saw Sally's profile, but it wasn't until we were standing at the table that I saw who her date was.

We all stared.

"Don't look at me like that," Erika said. "She's nice. I like her." She looked at Sally and smiled.

The booth was a big U shape with room for six comfortably, as many as ten if they were cozy. I started to slide in, but Petra pulled me back to her side and told Beth and Karen to grab a seat. Then she nudged me in before taking the outside slot across from Sally.

I looked at Erika. "Last time we talked, you were straight."

"Why do you have to label everything?" she said, grinning. "Straight. Gay. They are just words. She asked, I thought I'd have a nice time, I said yes." Then she pulled their hands out from under the table. They were holding hands.

I laughed. "I did that with Petra when we first started dating. Held hands under the table at the start."

Beth pulled her hand out from under the table. It was clutching Karen's.

"Seriously?" I asked them.

Beth laughed. "Probably not. We're just trying to fit in."

"That's not what you promised earlier," Karen said. "You said I might get lucky tonight."

"I figured the waitresses might be cute," Beth replied.