by Casey Wyatt
“Radiance!” Luca sounded far away and muffled.
Suffocating darkness loomed ready to suck me into its depths.
A Luca-shaped whirlwind streaked by and collided with the shadow creature approaching me. With an ear-splitting roar, it batted him away, crashing him into the chain-link fence.
Though my bones had knitted together, making it possible for me to move, I was trapped in the twisted wreckage of the car.
Heavy footsteps clomped toward me, its relentless march undeterred. The ground quaked with each step. I half expected to see a T-rex standing over me. Instead, a dark man-like creature, at least twelve feet tall loomed overhead. It raised its arm. A double-sided battle-axe glinted in the dim light.
I was dead.
Chapter 4
One way to learn more is not to hide your ignorance.
“Be gone, draugr!” Luca smashed into the towering monster, hurtling them both to the ground. The battle-axe cleaved into the pavement with a sharp crack.
From my reclined angle, I saw the draugr’s brawny arm rise. With a dull thwack, Luca was slapped like an errant fly into the building. Glass windows exploded under the force of Luca’s landing.
With a rending tug, I freed my body from the wreckage and fell to the ground. I leaned against the remains of the car door, breath hammering in and out of my chest.
Where was Luca?
I needn’t have been concerned. He shot across the parking lot and tackled the draugr behind the knees. Luca and the monster traded hard body blows. I don’t know how the draugr hadn’t mashed Luca into mincemeat. The thing’s massive body was three times Luca’s size, but it was slow and couldn’t dodge his fists.
Sirens sounded in the distance. I prayed that everyone had already left the building.
“Radiance. You back on your feet yet?” Luca nimbly darted around the draugr and headed toward me.
“I’m over here. Shit. Is this my car?” Of all the cars in the parking lot, I had to land on mine.
“We’re leaving.” Luca swept me into his arms and ran. The axe landed behind us. A deafening blow split the remains of my car into two halves.
“Bastard!” I shouted right before we winked out of the parking lot, sucked into whatever space Luca traveled through. This time I kept my eyes open. A parade of colors, shapes, and lights whizzed by so quickly I couldn’t process it all. Then, we were on my front lawn.
“We can’t leave that thing to attack people.”
“It won’t. It’s after you. Grab Brody and anything you can’t live without and let’s go.” Luca carried me up the front steps.
“Why?” Every bone is my body ached as Luca set me on my feet. My keys and gym bag had been left behind. With muscles protesting, I slipped the spare key out of its hiding place in a planter. A single overriding thought bugged me as I opened the front door. “It can’t follow me here, can it?”
“The draugr has your scent. It will track you here. We don’t have time for stubbornness. Get what you need quickly.”
Right. The last thing I wanted was for my neighbors to witness a monster trashing their street. “I’m going.”
“I’ll find Brody.” Luca assured me before bounding up the stairs.
I ran to my desk and retrieved a file of papers: my passport, family photos, and other important documents. In the kitchen, I unplugged my cell and charger, then grabbed Brody’s favorite mouse toys and his bed.
The ground rumbled. Water in a half-empty glass on the counter swished back and forth. Pulse in my throat, I ran down the center hall.
“Brody. Here, boy.” I prayed this one time he would listen and not go all feline on me or worse run out the cat door and into the yard. Then we’d never find him. And I couldn’t leave him behind.
“Got him.” Luca cradled my unhappy cat in his arms. Brody wailed, but didn’t claw the crap out of Luca. “Help me cover his eyes.”
I draped a kitchen towel over the cat’s head. He didn’t like it, but he stopped squirming. The floor rocked under my feet.
“We must go.” Luca swept us away, the cat sandwiched between us.
Brody howled the entire time. I buried my face against his head and whispered to him. The motion stopped. The fragrance of green vegetation permeated the air. I re-opened my eyes and discovered large leafy plants. Moist humidity clung to my hair. Brody wiggled, his sharp hind claws digging into my tender chest.
“Wait. Where are we?” I didn’t want my cat running loose in some forest. Brody growled low in his throat and squirmed harder.
“The arboretum.”
I stared at him. I must’ve been hit harder than I thought. “Come again? Whose garden is this?”
“Yours. We’re at Ashworth Manor. Your new home.” Luca plucked Brody from my arms, taking advantage of my shock.
Brody sniffed the air then stopped struggling as if accepting he was stuck in Luca’s grip. I wasn’t about to capitulate that easily.
“This is not my home.” No way, no how, would this monstrous manor ever be my home. Only problem was, I had no car and I wouldn’t risk anyone else’s life, so I was kind of up the creek for the moment. “Is that draugr thing going to follow us here? Are my neighbors safe now?”
“Yes, on both counts.” Luca scratched a now-contented Brody under the chin as he led me out of the arboretum. “The draugr has followed us here, but it can’t breach the grounds. Sebastian ensured this place has serious magical protections. It’s locked down like a supernatural fortress.”
Once in the main hall, cooler air smacked me in the face and I shivered at the temperature change. The large rips and tears in my clothing didn’t help. I was pretty sure part of my ass was hanging out. “Then what will it do? Hang around outside the gate waiting for a shot at me?”
“No,” he set the cat down, then picked a stray piece of glass out of my hair. “It will disappear at dawn. They only answer one call per lunar cycle. The bigger concern is that it knew about you at all. And it was summoned by someone who could control it.”
“So will it be back next full moon?”
“I doubt it. The draugr exact a high spiritual price for their services. I will alert Joanna to set extra security.”
I nodded my head, as if reassured, but really I wasn’t. “Thanks.” We reached my bedroom. After I bid Luca goodbye, I landed in the nearest chair, body and mind spent.
Great. I already had enemies. And I thought being back in the press spotlight would be an issue. Just goes to prove there are so many ways to wreck a day.
“No. For the fifteenth time, I don’t need anyone to set my clothes out for me.” I closed the door in Mr. Meadows’ face. Honestly, the guy must have had cotton in his ears. Then again, maybe he was hearing impaired. He’d been serving Sebastian since he was a young man.
“Shouldn’t that guy be retired by now?” I groused to Julian, who’d parked his ass in front of the suite’s large-panel television. Every day he faithfully watched the evening news and tonight was no exception.
“There’s been another murder.”
“I hate to say it, but murders happen every day.” I cinched the belt on my robe and sat on the bed. A long hot shower cured most of my aching muscles and I’d managed to extract all the glass and debris from my hair. Once Julian’s appetite for news had been satisfied, I planned to boot him out so I could sleep.
“Not like this one. Another grisly slaughter has occurred.” Julian pursed his lips. “The press is having a field day speculating on the motives.”
“Another one Sebastian’s cronies?”
“No. But it is another wealthy businessman. He was found butchered amongst a pile of Chinese food take-out containers.”
There was a soft knock at the door. I tensed. If it was that butler again . . .
“You
really should be nicer to the staff. They are trained professionals.” Julian frowned as the door opened.
“Yeah, fine,” I sighed. The idea of people waiting on me hand and foot was a total turnoff. It reminded me too much of my childhood and times I’d rather forget.
Luca entered the room with a tray, Brody trailing hot on his heels. Tea and fresh-baked double chocolate chip cookies.
He set the tray on a low coffee table and offered me a cup. He settled in the armchair near the bed. “We need to talk.”
I groaned internally. To stall I nibbled on a cookie and sipped the tea. I savored the sweet, citrusy tang on my tongue and enjoyed the energy coursing through my veins. “Whatever’s in this tea can’t be legal. I mean, this is the second time you’ve fed me this stuff. Where do you get it? Do you have a secret stash? And these cookies are delish. Would you like one?”
“Do you know you chatter when you’re avoiding unpleasant topics?” Luca gave me a tense smile then took the cup and saucer, replacing it on the tray.
“Do not. Are you going to tell me what a draugr is?” I patted the bed. Brody jumped up, settled on my lap then promptly fell asleep. I envied his life of obliviousness.
“That is one of the topics we must discuss.” Luca had changed into, what I assumed was casual for him, khaki pants and a loose cotton shirt. I liked the jeans and T-shirt better. I doubted the man owned a pair of sweat pants or anything remotely comfy. He’d showered, too, his hair damp and slicked back. My mind delighted at the image of his body, all sudsy under hot, steaming water.
He arched an eyebrow at me, a smug smile on his face. “If you’re done eyeing me, I’ll answer your questions.”
God, he could be so annoying. I cleared my throat and gave him my full attention.
“Draugr are undead nightmares. Warriors sent to capture or kill our kind.”
Julian perked up from watching television. “You were attacked by draugr?” He glared at Luca, then blinked out.
“I hate when he does that.” Sliding off the bed, I snagged a cookie and sat in the armchair across from Luca. “Let me guess, draugr don’t normally attack Redeemers.”
“Correct. Nor do they attack in the human world.” Luca steepled his fingers, expression grim. “Until we find out who summoned the draugr, you aren’t safe. Dark forces in the Hereafter are aware of your existence.”
I didn’t need to ask if that was a bad thing. If I could have, I’d locate Sebastian in the underworld and kick his ass. “So do I have to look over my shoulder every time I leave the house at night?”
“I have a way to mask your presence, but you won’t like it.”
“Don’t you dare say we have to be handcuffed together day and night.”
Luca leaned forward and smirked. “Ah, cariad, we are already bound together.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “I’m not you’re darling or whatever cariad means. So what do I have to do to avoid the draugr?”
“Take this.” Luca stood, hand held out. A silver necklace with an intricate pendant dangled through his fingers. “The silver is blessed with the light. And I’ve added my own power to it.”
He moved behind my chair, bent down, pressed his lips against my neck, and whispered, “Cariad means beloved.”
The cold metal warmed against my skin as he fastened the clasp.
I swallowed down the ache of desire that blazed through me then turned around to look at him. “This doesn’t mean we’re married.”
He gave me a slow, seductive smile. “No. Our bond is much deeper than a mortal vow. I haven’t totally bound us together yet. I wanted you to have a choice.” He circled around the chair and knelt in front of my knees. Slowly, deliberately, he trailed his fingertips up the side of my bare calf. A bolt of lust shot up my legs, targeted straight between my thighs.
“When the time comes, you will beg me for it.”
I clamped my knees together. That’s what I was afraid of.
Every once in a while, I reach a point in my life where I need to step back, evaluate, and ask the tough questions like—what did I do to deserve this shit? After a month of relentless soul captures, morning, noon, and night, often on the same day, I’d had it. To top off the madness, the most recent capture was best summed up in two words—cluster fuck.
Clown guts, floppy shoes, banana peels, and a pissed off monkey. ‘Nuff said.
At least with a human job, I’d get time off. I wouldn’t have to deal with freaky demented clowns who didn’t want to go to their eternal rest. And I sure as hell wouldn’t be wearing leather pants crusted with ectoplasmic guts and monkey poo either.
The whole situation was bullshit. In fact, Joanna could kiss my lily white –
“Lady? You gonna order something?” An annoyed voice came from the office professional standing in line behind me. Judging by his hyperactive obsession with his phone and his twitchy fingers, he looked like the last person who needed more caffeine.
I glared at him. This was my reward for attempting to act like my life was normal, that nothing had changed. I wasn’t ready to concede that I’d never write another book or be able to do simple things like ordering a coffee.
Coming to the local café had been my idea. Mikey’s had the best coffee in town and until my trip down Weirdo Lane, it had been one of my favorite places to hang out, work on my latest storybook, or plain old people watch. I realized the estate had a perfectly good espresso machine and expert staff to whip up whatever concoctions I desired. That wasn’t the point. I needed to prove to myself that being named the Ashworth heir and discovering I was a supernatural ghost wrangler would not change my life.
Coffee at Mikey’s was the last bastion of normalcy. The proverbial line in the sand between my old life and the new. While I hated to admit it, I could understand the danger to my neighbors and roller derby teammates. But one little mocha caramel latte wouldn’t hurt anyone. Right?
Luca, of course, had objected, stopping short of calling me a moron. Julian was equally unsupportive. He did call my mental health into question. In the end, my will prevailed in the matter. Now, I was starting suspect they knew exactly what would happen and wanted me to learn the hard way.
“Hey! Some of us don’t have all day here. We have jobs to get to.” The pissy professional attempted to muscle his way around me.
Luca stopped him with an iron stare and a low warning. The man’s eyes widened. He stared straight ahead, expression befuddled. Without another word, he turned on his heel and left the coffee shop. When I gave Luca the stink eye, he shrugged as if nothing happened.
As I approached the counter, then heard the words I dreaded the most.
“Ohmigod, is that her?”
The loud whisper reached my ears from across the store.
Shit.
“It is!” the voice said, followed by a squee.
Make that a double shit. In my rush to prove how normal my life was, I’d forgotten that in some circles, I was a celebrity. Curse my family. Curse me and my youthful idiocy.
The woman, probably early twenties, whipped out her cell phone, ready to take a photo. Plenty of gossip rags would pay handsomely for a candid shot of me. A picture that would show the world my red-rimmed eyes, scary, frazzled hair, and clothes stained with liquids of dubious origin.
Obviously no one knew I’d been on a soul capture. To rest of the world, it would appear as if I’d been on an all-night bender. Yep, the girl was about to fetch some quick cash.
“Ask for her autograph,” her friend urged, tugging the two of them closer to me.
My lawyer-in-shining- armor stepped between them and, with well-practiced grace, fanned open a newspaper, effectively blocking her shot.
He smartly snapped the paper, adjusting the angle when she tried to take another photo. He said, “Denial never
works as a long-term strategy. You can sweep something under the rug, but it’ll only come back and trip you later.”
The patrons on my other side woke from their morning stupors and started to notice the commotion. Recognition dawned on their faces, and furious hushed conversations sped around the room. The counter server slid a napkin my way with his phone number on it. Like he had a shot. I don’t think so.
“Shut it and get me out of here.” Time for him to earn that big salary my grandfather paid him and to atone for shooting me. Two elderly tourists approached me with pens and paper. “Please. Luca!”
So what if my rebellion was turning into an epic fail? I was nothing if not adaptable. I had to give Luca credit. He had some serious charming guy mojo that he directed at the elderly couple sending them away. While he deflected the groupies, I searched for Mikey’s scruffy head. We’d known each other in social circles for years. His father owned a frozen foods empire and had been on several corporate boards alongside Sebastian.
Mikey had followed in his old man’s footsteps, working toward expanding his chain of coffee shops nationwide. So far, he’d conquered the region opening stores in every metro and suburban area.
After several furtive glances on my tiptoes, Mikey must have sensed my desperation. He emerged from the behind the counter and offered me his arm.
“What have you gotten yourself into this time, kid?” he asked, scratching his neatly trimmed goatee, amusement crinkling soft lines around his eyes.
The crowd surged toward me. I swear it had multiplied in the last few minutes. Flash bulbs started popping.
“Oh you know, same old, same old,” I said, tightening my grip on his arm. Luca’s palm pressed firmly into the small of my back as we made our way around the counter.
“Been out partying tonight, Radiance?” someone called.
