Tempted by Two Angels [Notorious Nephilim 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (20 page)

Sterling fought hard to concentrate on the meeting, but when Molly came back in, he turned all his attention to her second note. Neither the Illinois State Police nor the police in Chicago had reported an accident matching the description of Caleigh’s car. Sterling breathed a sigh of relief, but Molly still looked worried.

Knowing Emmett would be pissed but not caring, Sterling rose from his seat and followed Molly into the hallway. Once they were out of earshot, she spoke. “No one has seen her all day. I knocked on the door of the suite but she didn’t answer, so I used the passkey because I thought she might be sleeping. She wasn’t in her room, but I didn’t check the other bedrooms. Do you want me to?”

“What time is it?”

“Almost midnight.”

Sterling ran a hand through his hair and tried to keep his thoughts logical. “Maybe she stopped at a club? She must know people in the city, surely.”

Molly nodded. “You’re probably right. She knew you’d be in the meeting pretty late.”

“Thank you for checking with the police and for checking the suite, Molly.”

She gave him a warm smile. “I don’t mind at all. I’m sure she’s fine.”

* * * *

The meeting finally ended at two in the morning. Sterling and Hugh practically ran toward the bank of elevators. There was no reason to speak. Hugh knew that they both had the same thing on their minds.

The suite was dark and quiet. Hugh’s heart beat so loudly he was sure Sterling could hear it. It wasn’t like Caleigh to disappear. They always knew where she was, and even the few times she’d gone shopping she told them she was going and always returned before dark. Maybe they should call the police again? He realized he had no idea if Caleigh carried any documents with her that instructed the police or medical personnel to call the resort if something happened to her. How would they find her?

She wasn’t in her room, and it didn’t look as though the bed had been slept in recently. Hugh turned on the lamps and searched the bathroom and closet, feeling foolish as he did so. Caleigh wasn’t hiding from them in her own room.

He heard a strangled cry from somewhere else in the suite and followed Sterling’s voice into his bedroom. The look on his face sent Hugh’s stomach plummeting. Sterling gazed at him with pure agony in his eyes. “There’s probably one for you, too,” he whispered. “Check your bed.”

“What?”

Sterling held up the piece of paper in his hands. “It’s a note. From Caleigh.”

Hugh still didn’t understand, but he sprinted across the hall and flipped on the bedside lamp, hoping he wouldn't see anything. His heart sank as his gaze fell on a cream-colored piece of paper on the pillow. He picked it up and willed his fingers to stop trembling. Unfolding it slowly, as though the contents could somehow magically be altered if he did, he forced himself to read it.

Hugh, I’m so sorry. The only way I can keep from hurting you and Sterling is to leave. I’m no good. I use men, and I don’t know how to have a real relationship. But I want you to know that, even though I suspect you used your powers on me, I believe what I feel for you is real. I love you. It’s true. I love you both, as impossible as that seems. I will never forget you or your grin that makes me burn with desire or the scent of you. Your touch will haunt my dreams.

Take care of Sterling and the others. Tell Leo I’m sorry to quit without giving proper notice, but I knew if I didn’t make a clean break, I’d only end up hurting you and Sterling. I pray you both find love and happiness one day and that you take away only good memories of me. Please forgive me, but I feel this is best for both of you.

Love forever,

Your songbird,

Caleigh

“No.” Hugh tossed the note on the ground, expecting it to turn into a mass of hissing snakes. This had to be a cruel trick of Lilith’s or some other demon that she’d sent to torture him because he was happy—because he’d fallen in love. “It’s not real!” he roared. “Demon, be gone!”

The note didn’t move. There was no rush of hot wind or smell of sulfur. A demon hadn’t done this. Caleigh had written it, and she was gone.

Sterling ran into the room, his eyes wild. “It can’t be true.”

“It is.” Hugh stared at the note on the floor, willing it to disappear. Caleigh was in her bed, sound asleep. They’d both wake her up and make love to her, and all would be right in the world once again.

“She can’t be gone.” Sterling glanced around the room as if expecting her to jump out from behind a piece of furniture.

“She’s gone, Sterling.”

“We have to find her. We have to bring her back.”

Hugh raised his gaze to Sterling’s face. “I don’t know what your note says, but mine was pretty clear. She planned this, Sterling. She waited until we were stuck in that fucking meeting, and she just left.” The only way to keep from screaming in pain was to stay angry with her. Hugh’s entire body was now trembling.

“No. She wasn’t thinking clearly. And she left without knowing that we love her.” Sterling ran a hand through his already tousled hair. “We should have told her. This wouldn’t have happened if we’d told her.”

“Why do you think that?” She would have bolted sooner if they’d told her they loved her. Hugh was convinced of it. Caleigh ran from serious relationships.

“Because she loves us!” he shouted, shaking the note. “She chose us. We have to tell her we love her, too, and then the curse will be lifted.”

“You make it sound so fucking easy.” Sterling was wrong. Caleigh hadn’t mentioned their plight since the night they’d told her what they were, and she’d proven last week she didn’t want to talk about it. Hugh had been so fucking stupid to tell her about Lilith. This wouldn’t have happened if he’d kept his damn mouth shut. This was entirely his fault. It had nothing to do with love.

“I’m going to look for her,” said Sterling. “You can stay here or you can come, but either way I’m going.”

“And where do you expect to find her?” Had she gone home? She could be anywhere, but she was driving. How far could she have gone in a few hours? There was still a chance.

“I don’t know.”

“We don’t have an auto, and even if we could borrow one, we can’t drive. I think you proved that in Philly.”

“But we have our powers.”

Sterling and Hugh knocked on the door of the suite Leo and Andras shared with Blair, hoping the three weren’t yet in bed. Leo opened it almost immediately. Sterling didn’t even have to say anything. Leo knew by the look on his face something had happened.

“What’s going on, Sterling?” He opened the door to let the pair in. Sterling showed him and Andras the notes from Caleigh.

When Blair came into the room, they let her read them as well. She burst into tears. “We have to do something. We have to find her.”

“That’s why we came to see you,” said Sterling. “We can’t fly any longer, but there must be
something
we can do to find her.”

“Emmett and Zach are better at this than I ever was,” said Leo.

Sterling glanced at Hugh. Hugh would rather eat glass than accept help from Emmett or Zach, but they were out of options.

“Fuck.” Sterling knew Hugh was as devastated as he was, and cussing was simply his way of dealing with the reality they now found themselves in.

“Let’s go find them,” said Sterling.

Emmett and Zach were in the lobby talking to some guests, but when Sterling took Emmett aside and quietly explained what had happened, they made their apologies to the ladies and joined the others in Leo’s office.

“We can hypnotize you,” said Zach. “Your powers will work better that way because you won’t be distracted, but all it will do is give you a visual. It won’t show you on a map where she is.”

“You might be able to look around the area for clues,” said Emmett. “A road sign, the name of a restaurant, or some other marker to tell you where she is. But it’s not foolproof.”

“What other choice do we have?” asked Hugh. Sterling was disheartened by the tone of Hugh’s voice. Gone was his sarcasm, replaced with defeat and a profound sadness. Sterling couldn't recall a time he’d ever heard Hugh sound that way.

“Other than to get in an auto and drive around the country, none.” Emmett and Hugh stared at each other for long moments. Sterling knew this was killing Hugh to ask for help from him, but they were backed into a corner. And the longer they delayed, the further away Caleigh would be.

“How will you reach her even if you find her?” asked Leo.

“We’ll figure that out,” said Sterling.

* * * *

Caleigh stopped at motel in Norwalk, Ohio. The clock on the wall inside indicated it was three in the morning. She’d actually been able to drive for almost seven hours straight, stopping only once to pee in the woods because there were no open service stations.

She was exhausted and would gladly sleep on the torn, stained sofa in the lobby if she had to, but her prayers were answered when a grizzly clerk shuffled out of a closed door behind the desk in response to her ringing the bell on the counter.

“Need a room?”

Caleigh nodded. He didn’t ask any questions, and she was grateful. She had no story prepared and was too tired to think on her feet. She signed the register, handed him the money, and took her key. Once inside the room she fell into a restless sleep. In her dreams, Hugh and Sterling took the form of demons who chased her with pitchforks and heavy chains.

She sat up with a start and wasn’t sure it had been her dreams or something else that had jerked her awake. Her heart beat so loudly it would obscure any other sound in the room. She fumbled for the light switch and jumped out of bed. Glancing around the room, she saw only the same run-down furniture and her bag, on the chair where she’d tossed it before crawling into bed.

It must have been a dream that had woken her. She opened the window and drank in the night air, remembering how clear and still it had always seemed at Lilith’s Playground.
No
. She would not let herself dwell on memories. This was the best thing. She had to stay strong.

She picked up her wristwatch from the nightstand and was shocked to see she hadn’t even been asleep for an hour. She had to relax and get some rest or she wouldn’t be able to drive in the morning.

Caleigh had almost fallen back to sleep when voices shook her awake again—voices that sounded suspiciously like Hugh’s and Sterling’s. She turned on the light and curled her knees up toward her chest.
Dammit all to hell!
How was she supposed to get any sleep this way? She’d been a fool to think she could simply drive away and forget them, all in one day. Would she ever sleep again? How long would their faces and voices haunt her dreams?

She used the bathroom then winced at her reflection in the mirror. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her face was puffy from crying. Not that it mattered, because Sterling and Hugh wouldn’t see her this way. That thought nearly brought on another crying jag, so Caleigh drank a glass of water and crawled back into bed.

The air in the room felt charged, like it always had when her two angels were around. The scents of lavender and honeysuckle filled her head. Caleigh shut her eyes tighter and willed herself to sleep. She’d just have to deal with the smells invading her imagination and hope in time they’d fade.

She heard voices a few more times but ignored them. She was simply overtired, that was all. They weren’t here, and no one had followed her. In the morning she’d eat a quick breakfast then keep driving, right after she found a telephone and made a call to Babs. Maybe Babs could meet her in New York? It would be just like the old days, before the two most handsome, charming, sexy men Caleigh had ever met walked into her life.

* * * *

“Norwalk, Ohio?” asked Sterling, peering at a map Emmett had dug up. “I can’t find it.”

“Let me look.” Leo snatched it from him and rolled the magnifying glass over it. “Here it is. About sixty miles west of Cleveland.”

“How did she make it that far already?” asked Blair. “She must have been driving since she left.”

“So why are we going after her then?” Hugh slumped forward and put his chin in his hands. He hadn’t felt this defeated even when Lilith laughed at him for telling her he loved her. It was as if someone had ripped his fucking heart out and was continually stomping on it.

“Don’t give up, Hugh.” Blair gave him a long searching look. “She loves you. Her note said so.”

“Then why did she leave?” Hugh didn’t have the strength to argue with Blair or anyone else. He wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for years. All the hope he’d dared to let build came crashing down the moment he saw the note on his pillow. She was gone, and it didn’t matter that Sterling had been able to visualize where she currently was. She’d left them. The jig was up.

“You read the note,” said Blair gently. “She’s confused and thinks she’s no good for you and Sterling, but she’s wrong.”

“You didn’t leave Leo and Andras.”

“I couldn’t. I’d have been killed by Frankie or his men.”

“But you never actually wanted to leave, did you?” asked Sterling.

Blair flushed and cut her gaze to Leo and Andras. “There were times it crossed my mind, but only because I didn’t want anyone to hurt this resort. I didn’t want to be the cause of your business being ruined.”

“That’s a bit different than the reasons why Caleigh left,” said Hugh.

“Okay, but the real question here is do you love her?”

Hugh sat up straight and stared at her. He didn’t have to glance at Sterling or the other men to know they were watching him just as closely as Blair. Everyone was waiting for him to finally admit what they’d all known for months. But what was the point? She was gone. Saying he loved her wouldn’t bring her back.

“He does,” said Sterling, “but he won’t say it. I will. I love her, and I’m going after her, even if Hugh won’t.”

Hugh stood up. “The hell you are. Not without me, anyway. Fuck you, Sterling. She belongs to both of us.”