by Juniper Hart
“She’s crashing now!” someone yelled, a near panic in his voice. As Alec turned to look, he realized he was laying on a gurney, a paramedic hovering over his head.
“Am I going to die?” he asked, but his voice was that of the girl’s, and he watched as the medic’s eyes widened in fear.
“No, Briar. You’re not going to die.”
His eyes bolted open as the door to his bedroom flew open.
“Alec! What on earth are you yelling about?” Alicia demanded, her face twisted with worry. “I can hear you all the way from the kitchen.”
Alec sat up slowly, shaking his head in sheer confusion. That was no easy feat, considering the soundproofing which had gone into the walls of the mansion, but the fact that the housekeeper had heard him was hardly his concern.
A dream? But what the hell does it mean?
Alicia seemed to understand instantly and grunted, whirling on her heel toward the hallway.
“This is what happens when you work too much,” she muttered. “I’ve warned you.”
“Wait!” he barked out at her. “Get me my laptop.” She paused and looked over her shoulder at him.
“You had an epiphany in the middle of your nightmare?” she asked sarcastically. “I would think that this is an indication that you need to slow down, especially after all that happened.”
“Just do it, Alicia,” he grumbled, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. “Bring me the dark net computer.”
Alicia froze and scowled. “Alec, I don’t want to know about your fetish stuff.”
Alec cringed at the idea that he was using the untraceable IP for kink, but he didn’t let Alicia see what he was thinking. “Alicia, please?”
Thankfully, she continued out the door without offering any more insight, and Alec hurried to throw on a pair of jeans and a black hoodie. The dream had troubled him much more than he wanted to admit, and it wasn’t just because of the circumstances.
He’d never before had a dream where he had been someone else, and it lingered in his bones as though he had teleported into the girl’s body. He ached obscurely, the feeling of crushed body parts paining him. Once more, he felt like he was being warned or called upon. But by someone he had never met or seen?
Alicia returned silently and placed the laptop on his bed. Alec waited for her to add something before she left, but to his surprise, she didn’t. Immediately, he reached for the computer and opened it.
There was a reason he wanted the dark net computer. He, like the demons, had been instructed to stay away from Briar Baker, and while Alec knew it was more likely that the Council was keeping an eye on Raven than on him, he didn’t want to risk the chance that he was being watched, too. Although it wasn’t like Alec to disobey direct orders, in this case, he felt like he had no choice in the matter.
There was something else happening to him, something that had nothing to do with the robbery. He had some connection to Briar Baker which did not have anything to do with what had happened in the wee hours of the morning just before dawn. The robbery had just been a catalyst somehow, and Alec knew he wouldn’t rest until he understood what it all meant.
His fingers flew over the keyboard, his brow furrowed in concentration. There was surprisingly little about the woman he was seeking. No social media, no school history.
Who is this woman?
It was odd to him that the address they had found on the van was registered to a Coconut Grove location. It indicated that she must be someone be somewhat successful because of the upscale nature of the neighborhood, and yet there was nothing as far as Alec could find.
He shoved the device aside and wandered toward the window, the dream still heavy on his mind. The rain showed no signs of letting up, a crack of lightning flashing through the sky like an omen as his thoughts wandered toward his next plan of attack.
There was only one thing left to do. He had to go to the address, even though he had been warned to stay away.
The townhouse was elegant, well manicured, and boasted a new Corvette in the driveway, but there was no sign of the white van that had been at the scene. Was he in the right place?
Alec didn’t give himself time to reconsider his actions as he jumped out of his vehicle and headed onto the covered stoop. He considered that he might leave empty-handed. The workday had yet to end, but the car gave him a modicum of hope.
Ringing the bell, he waited, listening for signs of life inside the house. To his surprise, the door opened almost instantly, and he was faced with a breathless young woman of no more than twenty-one. She looked at him in shock.
“Oh. You’re not the pizza guy,” she muttered, looking over his shoulder into the storm like she expected her delivery to be behind him. Alec stared at her, certain that she was not the woman he was seeking.
“Are you Briar Baker?” he asked. Her head jerked back, and she narrowed her brown eyes in contempt.
“Do I look like that bitch?” she snapped.
“I don’t know,” Alec replied, an inexplicable stab of anger coursing through him. “I’ve never met her officially.”
The girl snorted. “Consider yourself lucky. Why are you looking for her?”
“Who are you?” She glared at him, folding her arms over her chest.
“Who the hell are you?” she demanded. “You can’t come to my house and ask me questions without identifying yourself.”
“Bailey, is that our food?” a man’s voice called out before he made himself visible.
“No, babe. It’s some guy looking for your ex.”
Understanding flooded Alec, and for some reason, he found himself relieved. The male showed himself, his eyebrows forming a vee of annoyance.
“Who are you?” he asked coldly. “And why are you looking for Briar?”
“She fled the scene of an accident this morning,” Alec lied. “But I got her license plate. This is the address given.”
Bailey laughed mirthlessly. “Your goody-goody ex fled the scene?” she asked her lover. “Maybe she went all bad girl since you kicked her out on her ass.”
Disappointment touched Alec, and he stifled a sigh. “She doesn’t live here anymore?”
“No,” the man snapped. “She doesn’t, but if you catch up with her, tell her to change her damned address. I’m still getting mail for her here.”
“Any idea where she might have gone?” Alec insisted, determined not to leave before he had another lead on where to find her. “I’d like to handle the matter privately without getting the police involved.”
A cruel, lazy smirk formed on the man’s lips.
“I don’t give a shit where she went. I hope she crawled into the same gutter I found her in. That’s what I get for taking pity on some poor wench.” He eyed Alec with mild approval. “You’re a well-to-do guy. You know what I mean.” He slipped his arm around Bailey’s waist and kissed her neck. “Now I only date grade A meat.”
Bailey giggled, but Alec was repulsed. Briar dodged the bullet with this guy, even if she has turned to a life of crime to do it. He tried to maintain his patience.
“Does she have any family she might have gone to? Friends?”
The man shrugged. “She’s got a deadbeat brother who lives in Little Haiti or Overtown. I don’t know. I never met him.”
“What’s his name?” Alec asked, somehow managing to keep the contempt from his tone.
“Colton Baker. Listen, buddy, it’s wet out here. Why don’t you come inside and have a drink with us? I’m an entrepreneur, and I’m always looking for new investors—”
“No, thanks. I make enough money,” Alec retorted flatly, spinning away from the stoop.
“Are you sure?” Bailey yelled out. In a lower tone, she muttered, “Jack, he’s cute. See if he’ll stay.”
But Alec was back at his car, ignoring the vile couple as he pulled away from the curb. He didn’t claim to know the first thing about Briar Baker, but he could already tell that she deserved much better than the fool with the tee
naged girlfriend.
Jack did her a favor by throwing her out.
He drove around the block and parked near a park, pulling up his phone to find the location on a Colton Baker. Amazingly, he found the young man’s address fairly quickly. It was a low-income apartment complex in Overtown, just like Jack had said.
It’s worth a shot. Maybe Colton will know where to find his sister.
When he exited off I-95, traffic was blocked for miles, and it took Alec almost half an hour to see that he had been held up by an accident. The emergency vehicles had almost dispersed, but as he crept through the sodden streets, the tow trucks and several police cars remained.
It was not until he was upon the scene that Alec’s heart stopped beating entirely.
The van sat on top of a flatbed, mangled almost beyond recognition.
That can’t be the same van, he told himself reasonably. It was too dark to see it clearly.
Yet Alec couldn’t stop thinking about the dream, the ambulance ride, and the girl he had become in his own subconscious.
Briar was in an accident. She was hurt in this accident. Alec rolled down the window and gestured to one of the cops directing traffic around the mess on the road.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Keep moving, sir,” the policeman intoned. “Nothing to see here.”
“I know one of the drivers,” he insisted. “Where did they take the driver of the van?”
The cop’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “I’m not at liberty to discuss this with you, sir. The family will be notified.”
“Notified? Did she die?” The idea filled Alec with nausea, but in his gut, he somehow knew that Briar wasn’t dead. How? How do I know that?
“I’m sorry, sir, keep moving along. You’re blocking traffic.”
Alec smothered a cry of frustration, but he did as he was instructed. It was clear he wasn’t going to get any more information from the cop. He quickly found another place to park and pulled up a Google search on his phone. Jackson Memorial was the closest hospital. He could start there.
With his knuckles white against the steering wheel, Alec raced toward the hospital, his heart hammering wildly in his chest.
You’re okay, Briar, he told himself. Hang in there.
The cell rang, causing him to jump, his nerves raw. Without checking the display, he answered it on the Bluetooth.
“What?” he heard himself growl.
“Good. You’re awake,” Raven purred. “I just wanted to see if you’d come to your senses about finding the woman with the van.”
Alec inhaled sharply. “Of course not,” he muttered. “We were ordered to stand down, remember?”
“Oh, I remember,” Raven replied. “I just didn’t listen.”
“Well, I can’t help you,” Alec told her quickly. “Sorry.”
“Is that right?”
Prickles exploded over Alec’s skin. He didn’t like the sound of the demon’s tone. “What is it, Raven?”
“You don’t know?”
“I’m really busy, Raven,” he snapped. “Can you just spit out whatever it is you need to say?”
“Well,” she drawled. “Drake and I have been sitting outside Briar Baker’s house since we left you this morning, waiting for word from the Council.”
The blood drained out of Alec’s face as he realized what she was saying. Drake and Raven had seen him at the house.
“Why did you let her go, Alec?”
He gritted his teeth, his mind whirling.
“That wasn’t her,” he confessed. “She doesn’t live there anymore, Raven. The van is just registered there. It’s her ex.”
Raven snorted in disbelief. “Then I expect you know where she is now?”
“No idea,” he answered faster than he had intended, and Raven caught it.
“You wouldn’t lie to a fellow member of the Seven, would you, Alec?”
“Raven, I have to go.”
“Alec, I don’t know what good reason you would have for hiding this girl, but I will find her and she will pay for this.”
“I’m not hiding the girl. I don’t even know her!” There was so much defensiveness in his tone, Alec questioned himself.
“Well, if you do know her,” Raven concluded, “I wouldn’t get too attached, because she’s as good as dead when I find her—with or without your help.”
Alec had no doubt in Raven’s words, the sentiment filling him with intense concern.
Suddenly, he wondered if he was losing his mind, contradicting the Council and withholding information from Raven. But his gut told him that he needed to play his cards as close to the vest as he could.
At least for now, he reasoned. Even as he thought it, he knew he was fooling no one.
5
Briar had never been in such pain in her entire life, and it struck her even before she opened her eyes. For a woman who knew exactly what the weather was going to be like from the second she woke in the morning, she didn’t know what to make of the stabbing radiating throughout her body.
Is this what a snowstorm feels like? her hazy, unfocused mind asked almost comically. Is there a blizzard outside? She was too out of it to understand that she was in the hospital, even after she pried her eyelids apart to look around.
Her eyes were gritty, dry, matching the cotton in her mouth and throat. She wanted to cough, but the noise that came out of her was more of a kitten cry than anything else.
Suddenly, a man was peering down in her face, and Briar gasped.
“Are you God?” she asked. “Is this heaven?”
His attractive face twisted into a near-sneer. “Uh, no,” he replied, his green eyes emanating relief, as though they knew one another. “Not God, and I’m ninety percent sure this is not any semblance of heaven.”
Briar continued to study his face, taking in the firm jawline, despite the auburn scruff of a five o’clock shadow. He was only wearing a black sweater, the color bringing out his bronze complexion.
“Do I know you?” she mumbled. Abruptly, the accident came flooding back to her, and Briar struggled to sit up in the bed. “Oh, God!” she choked, and her words rasped out like her tongue was made of sandpaper. “Was anyone hurt?”
Perplexity shadowed the stranger’s eyes, but instead of answering, he moved out of view. Briar strained to move, but she realized that she was heavily bandaged around the waist. Breathing was painful.
“Don’t try to move,” the man instructed, returning to her side with a cup of water. “Here.”
Gratefully, she took it and downed it quickly, her eyes fuzzily following him. The liquid sloshed dangerously in her gut, and for a terrifying moment, Briar thought she was going to be sick.
“What happened? Who else was hurt?” she asked, her voice much clearer now that she had dampened her mouth.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “But I’ll call for a nurse and let them know you’ve regained consciousness.” He spun toward the door, but Briar called out to him.
“Who are you? Why are you here? Were you in one of the other cars?” Her eyes widened. “I need to call into work! I’m going to get fired!”
He looked at her in shock.
“You know you were almost killed in that accident, right?” he asked dubiously. “I think your work will understand.”
Even when Briar knew how ridiculous she sounded, his words did nothing to ease her state of mind. It’s easy for him to say. Those jeans cost more than my car… Oh, God, my car.
She was overwhelmed by the catastrophe which had struck her, but the man had already left the room, presumably in search of a nurse, leaving Briar to sort out her thoughts. A moment later, he returned with a nurse.
“Oh, you’re awake,” the nurse announced, smiling at her warmly. “You gave us quite a scare, Briar.”
“Did anyone else get hurt?” Briar asked the medical worker as he checked her blood pressure. “Please tell me no one died.”
“I think you took the brunt of the damag
e,” he chuckled. “You and your van. The police want to speak with you when you’re feeling up to it.”
Briar’s eyes widened. “The police? Why?”
“Well, it was a big accident,” the nurse explained. “I imagine your insurance will need a report.”
Briar closed her eyes, a feeling of impending doom overcoming her. What insurance? Who had money for insurance? Little by little, she felt her sanity slipping away.
I have no car, no auto or medical insurance, and I’m probably not going to work again for weeks. Colton and I are a week away from being evicted. So much for living in my van.
“Briar, the most important thing now is your recovery. Are you in any pain?”
“A little,” she lied. She was in more pain than she could begin to tell. Every muscle in her body ached. Even breathing was a task.
“I’ll get you something for that. Let me find the doctor to come in and explain the extent of your injuries. In the meantime, just visit with your husband and try not to stress out too much, okay?”
“My husband?”
The nurse looked to the stranger. “Didn’t you say you were her husband?” he asked, scowling. “Family only in here. Off you go!”
“Wait!” the man protested. “I just wanted to—”
“Ah, ah,” the medic interrupted. “Get going before I call security.” Before anyone could stop him, the nurse ushered the handsome guest out of the room, but not before he looked over his shoulder at Briar.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he called. “Get well soon.”
“Thank you…?” Briar didn’t know what else to say, her mind flooded with confusion. Why was he there? The nurse returned to give her a painkiller and shook his mop of blonde hair in disbelief.
“Sorry, hon,” he told Briar. “Boyfriends aren’t family.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Briar replied, a hot blush staining her cheeks as she admitted it.
You’ve got brain damage, she lectured herself silently. You’re making eyes at a stranger who snuck into your hospital room to watch you sleep. Yet even when she spun it like that in her own head, Briar found her eyes trailing back toward the door, silently willing him to return.
