The Haunting (Immortals) (15 page)

“Of course, he seems to be better,” she continued. “He’s definitely fighting for the good guys now. In fact, I heard he recently got married.”

“So the experience screwed up your magic?”

“Among other things.” The tweezers hit something hard and Mai froze. “I think I found a bullet.”

“Yeah,” he groaned. “Felt like it.”

“Sorry.” She didn’t like causing him more pain.

“It’s about to hurt a hell of a lot worse. You have to get the bullet out and that’s going to mean digging around until you can grab it.” He sighed and she saw his hands grip the pillow and hold tight. “Might as well get it over with.”

“Okay.” She peered into the hole and wished the lighting was better. Looking around her room to see if she had a lamp she could angle over the bed, she spotted her mini book light.

It would do. Leaving it attached to the book, she laid the book on his back and angled the light so that it was
shining directly into the wound. Then Mai leaned over it and looked into the hole.

To her immense relief, the bullet was visible and she set to work. It took several attempts before she succeeded and each one had Nick sucking in his breath.

Once she had the bullet out, she started on the second. This one was a little deeper than the first and a fresh wave of guilt hit her. It should have been her lying here, not him. He shouldn’t even have been there.

“Can I ask you a question? Why’d you go to the park?”

Nick was silent for a second. “After I heard that phone call, I was afraid you might be headed into trouble. So I decided to go in first.”

“When I first saw you, I thought you’d killed Lenny.”

“And now?”

The image of that figure leaning over Lenny’s body was still vivid in her mind.

“Damn it, Mai. Did you see a gun in my hand?”

“No, but you could have hidden it.”

“True. I could have thrown it into the woods and then used telekinetics to fire the bullets at both of us as we were running. I think it was an especially brilliant move on my part to shoot myself in the back. But I couldn’t fool you, could I? You were onto me the entire time. Damn, now I’m totally screwed.”

“Fine,” she grumbled. “You made your point.”

“Did I? Good, then let me make one more. You need to be more careful. You could have been lying dead right there alongside what’s his name.”

“Lenny.”

“What ever. The point is, you’ve got to think before you walk into a situation like that.”

“Do you think you could lecture me later? I mean, I’d hate for you to pass out from the pain when I stab you with these tweezers right in the middle of a good rant.”
She knew her irritation was more with herself than him since she’d just had the same thought seconds before.

He fell silent and didn’t say anything else until after she’d found and extracted the second bullet.

“They’re both out,” she announced when she was done. “I need to clean the wounds before I can bandage them.”

“Do it,” he grumbled into the pillow.

She poured the peroxide into each wound and watched it bubble up. She waited until the bubbles disappeared before repeating the process. Then she patted both wounds dry.

In her bathroom, she had antibiotic ointment and bandages. Returning her book light to the nightstand, she hurried to get them. Soon, she had the wounds clean, treated and bandaged. Feeling pleased with her work, she stopped to admire it and noticed how white the bandages appeared against Nick’s smooth, tanned skin.

He still hadn’t moved and she took a moment to appreciate how broad his shoulders were. The rest of his back was equally wide and muscled—and tapered to a waist that was lean but not too thin. Of course, she’d seen equally good-looking men at the vampire bars.

At that moment, Nick rolled onto his side and she took back her earlier thought about having seen equally good-looking men. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen anyone that looked this good to her.

She let her eyes linger on the planes of his chest. He was delectable and what she could do with—and to—that body!

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” The sound of Nick’s tired voice had her gaze snapping up to see a lazy smile splashed across his face.

She hoped he couldn’t see her blush. “I thought you were asleep.”

“I am. I can tell because I only see such beautiful angels in my sleep.” He smiled. “Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you. You saved my life.”

“My pleasure.” He struggled to sit up.

“What are you doing?” Mai asked, hurrying to his side so she could push him back down. It didn’t take much effort on her part. He was still weak.

“I should get out of here and leave you alone.”

“I don’t think so,” she said more firmly, trying not to notice how the towel was slipping off. “Besides, you’ll attract a lot of attention if you go now. You don’t have any clothes to wear.”

“Speaking of clothes,” he said. “Check the pockets of those jeans I had on. That guy you were going to meet had something in his hand, a piece of paper. Right before you showed up, I grabbed it.”

Maybe it was another copy of the information Lenny had given her before. If so, maybe she could make sure that Lenny’s death counted for something.

“Thanks, I’ll take a look. Can I get you anything?”

“No,” he said, his voice fading. “I’ll just rest here a minute.”

Before the last word was out, he was sound asleep.

Mai left him there and went to the bathroom. The clothes he’d been wearing lay in a heap on the floor. She picked up the jeans and reached into each pocket until she found the paper Nick had mentioned. Dropping the jeans to the floor, she opened the note.

A sense of satisfaction filled her. Lenny had died trying to give her this list of dates and names. This time, she wouldn’t let anything happen to it. She took it into the kitchen and laid it on the counter; then using her camera phone, she took several pictures of the names and dates. She checked the pictures to make sure she could see the writing well enough to read it and then e-mailed the photos to her e-mail box. Now it didn’t matter what happened to the paper itself. She had several backup copies.

Refolding the paper, she put it and her phone back into her purse. Then, grabbing a garbage bag from under the sink, she returned to the bathroom. It didn’t take her long to throw the clothes away and clean up the mess.

Then she went back into the bedroom to check on Nick. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Worried that he might get cold with no clothes on, she pulled her comforter over him, thinking how odd it was to have him in her bed.

Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was late. Tired and feeling grungy, she gave Nick another look to make sure he was sleeping peacefully and then went back into the bathroom to shower.

With all that was happening, it was hard not to think about the last time she’d gotten information from Lenny and she half worried that when she stepped out of the shower, there would be a message scrawled across the mirror.

She stood under the hot water until her skin started to wrinkle, then finished and got out. There were no words written on the mirror and Mai wasn’t sure if Nick’s being there had made a difference or not.

Drying quickly, she wrapped a towel around her body and went back into her bedroom for the clothes she’d forgotten to get earlier. She’d let him have her bed while she slept on the couch.

Nick had moved about on the bed and the comforter was now down around his waist. She debated pulling it back up, but decided against it. If he got cold, he could pull it up himself.

Bending over her dresser drawer, she dug through it for a nightgown that wasn’t too suggestive. She thought about putting it on there. After all, Nick was completely out of it. It wasn’t as if she were undressing in front of him. But no, she couldn’t do it.

She was on her way out of the room when a groan from
the bed stopped her. Hurrying over to his side, she placed her hand lightly against his forehead. He felt warm, but she wouldn’t have said he was feverish.

Eyes still closed, he mumbled something, but Mai couldn’t make out the words. “Nick. Hush. Everything’s all right.”

“Mai?”

“I’m here, Nick.” She sat on the edge of the bed and brushed the hair from his forehead, hoping to ease his troubles so he could sleep better.

His breathing grew steadier, but she didn’t get up and leave. He was as handsome in sleep as he was awake, though some of his rakish charm had been replaced by a boyish innocence.

It was crazy to think like that, she scolded herself. Despite what he’d said earlier, they weren’t really dating. One partial meal together did not a date make.

Deciding it was time for her to leave, she pushed off the bed, only to have Nick’s hand reach out and grab her.

“Don’t go,” he whispered, pulling her down to him.

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked, getting worried.

He grumbled something incoherent and Mai realized he was more asleep than awake. She tried to ease her wrist from his grip.

“No. Stay.” Before she realized what he intended, he pulled her onto the bed beside him and held her there. Trapped, she lay nestled in his arms, wondering what in the hell she should do.

If she was honest, she’d admit that she liked being there, her back to his front, her head nestled between him and the pillow and his arm covering her like a favorite warm blanket. She could stay like this all night, she thought.

Almost immediately, guilt hit her. This was wrong. She felt like she was taking advantage of him, but he felt so
good and some part of him must have found comfort in her being there, she argued.

All right. She’d stay for a few minutes—maybe to the count of one hundred. Then, when he was sleeping soundly, she’d slip out and go to the couch.

One…two…three…four…five…

Her eyelids grew heavy and she let them close, still counting.

Fourteen…fifteen…sixteen…seven…

Sarah sat in the vast darkness of the void into which she’d been pulled. Not far away, the creature that had kidnapped her stood by a portal talking to Will. Who would have thought the idiot super could be involved with the magical creature holding her?

“Are you crazy?” Will hissed. “What makes you think you can kidnap a girl and not get caught?”

“Who says I don’t want to get caught?” the creature asked.

“And what do you think I’ll be able to do for you then? I can’t protect you.”

“I don’t expect you to,” the creature said. “I want them to know I’m here.”

“No,” Will snapped. “It’s too dangerous.”

“For whom?” the creature asked. “For you, maybe?”

“I’m not the one who kidnapped the girl.” There was a moment of silence before Will spoke again. “What are you planning to do with her?”

“I haven’t decided.”

“I won’t let you hurt her. I wish you to release her—now!”

“No.”

“Genie, I command you,” Will shouted, crazed with rage. “Release the girl.”

The genie chuckled. “You have no idea how tired I am of your pathetic demands. Make me handsome,” he mocked. “Make me rich. Make me…lovable.”

The genie’s laughter echoed through the darkened hallways as Sarah scooted away unobserved.

This dimension reminded her of being in an old, decrepit house with no electricity. The hallways stretched on endlessly and were lined by doors that led to who knew where. Yellow wisps of smoke floated below the ceiling like ghosts, their eerie glow providing just enough light to see by. These, she had learned, were the remnants of unfulfilled wishes. Somewhere her own wish for freedom mingled with the others.

She’d lost all perception of time. She could have been gone minutes or days.

She wondered how her sister was doing. Would Jenna think she’d run away? Surely not. She’d never given Jenna any reason to believe she’d do that. But would she suspect foul play? Her heart sank. Even if she did, she couldn’t know about the genie.

Sarah had moved far enough away now that Will’s and the genie’s voices were faint. Thinking it safe to stand, she glanced behind her to make sure her absence hadn’t been noticed and continued down the hall, moving as quietly as she could.

The hallway branched before her. With no idea of how to escape, she chose passages at random hoping that one would eventually lead to freedom.

She ran until her lungs labored for air and she could run no more. Tears of frustration sprang to her eyes as she looked around. The section of hallway she was in now looked the same as the section she had just left. She could even hear the faint hum of male voices off in the distance.

Her desperate race to escape had led her nowhere.

Unwilling to give up, she opened one of the many doors. A light shone at the end of the room. She moved closer to it and found herself standing in front of a window.

Peering through the glass, she was reminded of a fun-house mirror. If she moved too much one way or the other, the image distorted. But if she held just so…

She could just make out the shapes of a couch and chairs. Off to the side, colored lights flickered. This looked like someone’s living room, and the lights were coming from a television. Was someone watching a show? If so, maybe she could get their attention?

She looked around and spotted a pair of legs sticking out from behind a chair. She followed them up until she saw a young boy sitting on the floor, leaning back against the couch. He looked to be about ten or eleven.

She rapped on the glass to get his attention. She had to do it twice more before he looked around.

Encouraged, she rapped louder. This time, the boy jumped to his feet, gazing wildly about the room.

“Help!” Sarah shouted. “Please, help me.”

“Mom!” The boy ran screaming from the room. When he reappeared, he was standing behind a woman who held a bat in her hand. They approached the end of the hallway slowly, then stopped to look around.

After a few minutes, the woman’s gaze fell on the television. “Are you sure it wasn’t the TV you heard?” Sarah heard the woman ask.

“No, Mom. I’m positive. It was a ghost.”

“Well, I don’t hear anything.” She glanced at her watch. “We’re late. Are you ready to go?”