by AJ Sherwood
Here There Be Insecurities. I reacted accordingly. “I really do. Mack, there’s never been anyone I’ve wanted as strongly as I want you. But more than that, I’ve never had someone I’ve enjoyed as much as you. You’re this amazing gestalt of the best friend I’ve ever had, an amazing colleague, and this sexy honey I’m constantly hot for. I’d be insane to not keep you. But I don’t want to push you into something you’re not ready for, either. If you want to give us more time, we can wait. I really do not mind.”
His eyes fell to my collarbones. Mack’s voice was barely a whisper as he spoke. “I do want to. But I feel like I’m a burden to you. I’m too much sometimes.”
Yeah, after this, I’m just going to go beat his whole family. He shouldn’t feel like this, not after I’d made it very clear how I felt about him. “Burden me, Mack. Depend on me. Ask too much of me.”
Mack’s eyes shot up to mine, expression incredulous.
“Otherwise,” I continued, sincerity ringing with every word, “I feel like you don’t need me. And it breaks my heart.”
“I do need you. I didn’t realize until recently just how much I do.” Mack’s mouth twisted up in a wry smile. “I guess I don’t understand why you need me. But I can accept that you do, that you want me, and maybe that’s all I really need to know. I really want you to be my anchor, cher. Are you one hundred percent sure of that decision?”
“Yes,” I said without any qualms whatsoever.
“Then after this case, let’s do it.”
Even if he’d offered me the moon, I couldn’t have been happier. I hugged him tight, relief coursing through me. I’d always felt one step off from Mack, him holding back even as I dragged us forward. It was the hesitancy that did it, his insecurities acting like a boat anchor. But in this moment, we were perfectly in sync, and I felt giddy with it. “We can’t do it right now?”
“I refuse to do a rush job on this,” he denied firmly. “And I’ll need at least a few days after we’re properly bonded to get used to it. So no, not this case. After it.”
“Yeah, okay,” I sighed, a little disappointed. “That’s fair. But no other delays.”
He snuggled in, kissing me on the side of the neck. “Ma moitié. You are a constant surprise to me.”
“Good or bad?”
Mack snickered. “Both. I didn’t expect you to ask me that, here and now.”
“I was too impatient,” I admitted. “I’ve wanted to ask you for days now, but couldn’t find the right time. And you gave me a good opening.”
“I’m happy but annoyed,” he informed me with a long sigh. “Because now I really don’t want to go back to that dorm hall and stay up all night. I’d much rather find a bed and drag you into it.”
“Well damn, when you put it that way….” Now I was annoyed myself. “Later. We’ll properly celebrate this later. Let’s go figure out what that damn thing is, put it quickly down, and then we’ll have time.”
Groaning, he pulled himself out of my lap and back into the other seat. “I don’t think it will be quick.”
“You really have no idea at all what this is?” I asked as I got the SUV back in motion.
“No, I do. That’s the problem. I’ve never seen one, but I’ve heard stories growing up.” Mack radiated unease. “When a bad person dies, and doesn’t pass, he lingers and becomes a malevolent spirit. Something worse than what we exorcised at Edmée’s. But if you give that spirit time, say a hundred years or so, it becomes much, much worse. Some people call them demons.”
“Yikes! Uh, not what I expected you to say. A demon?”
Mack shook his head. “No, it’s not that level yet. Trust me, you can’t mistake a demon for anything else. The destruction and havoc it wreaks is incredible. I’ve seen the aftermath of one and just that was too close for my comfort. But this thing, I think it’s evolving to that state. It’s why the aura is so pitch black and why it’s taking such pleasure in hurting others. It’s only managed minor damage so far, but with each successive attack, it’ll grow worse. Stronger. Right now it’s more a malevolent level.”
I remembered part of a lecture I’d sat in on. “Wait, I heard about this. It’s why the FBI’s so quick to send us out when there’re reports of the ghost hurting someone. Because it’ll become worse and uncontrollable if not quickly stopped.”
“Correct, cher.” Mack passed a hand over the bottom half of his face. “Which is why I’m super glad we called in that other team, now. I wouldn’t have been equipped to face it alone. Falisa especially is a godsend. She’s got more experience than I do.”
“You got a good vibe from her too, huh?”
“She and Ken together make a solid partnership. I’m glad to work with them.” Mack looked up at the building as I put the Tahoe into park. “Delaney, I guess we’ll see.”
I was of the same opinion.
We both hauled in more flashlights with us, as light was always a good thing and we couldn’t trust that the lights we had in there would have good batteries throughout the night. I still rode the high of him agreeing to properly bond, so I caught his hand as we headed for the front doors. Mack laced our fingers together, and his expression was everything in that moment. All the happiness, the relief, the security. I really didn’t know how I’d manage to focus on anything but him for the rest of the night. I felt a little giddy.
Falisa, Ken, and Delaney were waiting on us in the main common room downstairs. The square-shaped room was filled with worn-in couches, tables, and a coffee bar along one side. The few decorations along the wall were out of date by years, and it was clear from the fine layer of dust that no one used this room at all. Falisa gave us a wave as we came in. Delaney looked at our linked hands and his expression went sour, like he’d bitten into a rotten lemon. Oh yeah, we’d have trouble from him at some point. I’d have no trouble squashing his homophobic ass when we got to that point, either.
“We had two come in for quick interviews while you were gone,” Falisa informed us. “More or less what Connie relayed. One of the girls could show us the scratches, and it looked human, and bright red. She said they itch something fierce and she keeps a cold patch on them to keep it from burning. I splashed a little holy water on them and that helped.”
I blinked. “Holy water, really? That helps?”
“Sure. Purifies the wound of any bad energy, which is what’s making it burn. It should clear up in a day or so now.” Falisa cocked her head at me. “You do carry holy water on you, correct?”
“Well, yeah. I’ve got a bottle here” —I patted my right front pocket— “and of course I have a pistol fully loaded with it. I just didn’t know you could use it for treatment purposes too.”
Falisa’s eyes narrowed in a suspicious manner. “They rushed your training, didn’t they.”
She hadn’t said it as a question, but I answered it like one anyway. “Probably. Mack was already an agent by the time I met him. They wanted me caught up as quickly as possible. I’m still on a learning curve with this stuff.”
“I’ll try to fill in some of the gaps,” Falisa promised. “We’ve got a long few nights ahead of us. I’ve got the distinct impression all the spirits in this building are laying low until they can figure out what we’re doing here.”
Since that seemed pretty par for the course, I shrugged. I also looked forward to having the time to pick this woman’s brain. Not to mention Ken’s.
Waggling the walkie-talkie back and forth, Ken offered, “We’ll start out on third floor. You want to stay here or go to the basement level?”
I looked to Mack.
Mack didn’t hesitate. “This floor. I’ve got the walkie-talkie. Delaney, you with us or with them?”
Falisa beat Delaney to the answer. “Go with them to start off with, Delaney. You’ve worked with us plenty, get some experience in.”
His pinched face turned even more sour. “Yeah, okay.”
I got the distinct impression Delaney and I would have a chat at some point tonight.
But I’d give him the benefit of the doubt. He might be smart enough to keep his opinion to himself, who knew?
Armed with light, walkie-talkies, holy water, and salt, we split up at the base of the stairs. Mack walked steadily, his head swiveling back and forth as he looked. We had a janitor’s key that opened all the rooms, and he opened the ones that weren’t already open for us, poking his head in. Delaney had the other key ring and did the same on the other side of the hallway. I stayed in the middle, thermal glasses on, watching both their backs. I didn’t think we’d missed any talismans, as we had matched everything on Rachel’s list, and it stood to reason that if we couldn’t readily enter a room, she shouldn’t be able to. Still, she was a rattled and nervous young woman and anxious people didn’t have good recall. I wanted to stay on my toes just in case.
The glasses told me a more illustrated story than Mack and Falisa had. With them on, I could see it for myself, and I understood better why Mack was so unnerved by this place. It really did look wicked bad. And the miasma was thick—so much so I felt like someone could slice it up and serve it. No wonder they weren’t sure how many ghosts were in here—this stuff covered any sort of track left behind. Until something popped out of the woodwork, we could only hazard a guess.
We were halfway through the hallway when Mack visibly jumped. I was at his side in a second, gun poised, although I didn’t see anything to shoot. “What, honey?”
Mack stayed in the doorway, pressed up against my side, his eyes glued on something straight ahead. “I caught the tail end of something. Something white and bright, that’s all I can say. Maybe the friendly ghost in residence, maybe not. Went straight through the wall.”
“Not going to chase it?”
He shook his head firmly. “Not the right atmosphere for that, cher. There’s already too much pressure in here from the malevolent spirit. Let’s wait for it to come to us.”
“Okay.” I backed away to give him room.
The phone rang in my pocket and I shifted the gun to my other hand to answer it, putting it on speaker. “Hey, Sylvia. You’re on speaker with Mack and Delaney.”
“Good, I need a sitrep. What’s going on?”
Mack leaned in to answer her. “Bad juju down here, boss. The miasma’s so thick I can’t get a good read on anything else. I just caught the tail end of a spirit but I don’t think it’s the troublemaker. It might take us a few days to figure this out and get a solution hammered down.”
“So no possibility this is just a prank?”
“No way in hell,” Delaney said firmly. “If you could see this place, you’d understand. It’s really godawful in here. Makes my skin crawl. It’s no wonder the students don’t want to be in here. Even someone who isn’t sensitive would pick up on it.”
True. I picked up on it, and I sensed nothing on a pretty reliable basis.
“Boss, we’ve got multiple accounts of students being hurt here,” Mack added. “Falisa actually applied holy water to one of them. This thing, whatever it is, is going bad really fast. We have to nip this in the bud, otherwise it’ll be a disaster later.”
Sylvia groaned. “I was afraid you’d say that. Well, the president of the college called me screaming, and I basically told him I’d call him back and hung up. It sounds like you’re well within jurisdictional rights to investigate. I’ve got your backs, boys. Just do your job.”
And this was why I loved my boss. “Sure thing. Sorry you have to deal with his screaming.”
“Part and parcel of the job. Now, listen, if this takes a turn for the worse, pull out and give me a chance to send another team in to help. I do not want injuries, am I clear on that?”
“For that matter, we don’t want injuries. Trust me, if things go to hell, I’ll pull everyone out.”
“Good. Keep me updated.” Click.
We trudged on, checking rooms as we went. It took three hours to do a full sweep, often with Mack and Delaney pausing and cocking their heads like dogs listening hard for something. Whatever it was, both men usually grunted sourly and pressed on, as if their minds were playing tricks on them.
The full circle led us back to the common room, the only place in the building we’d fully salted, so we had a place to rest if we needed it. One look at Mack and I could tell he was flagging. This homecoming of his had been very stressful in all the wrong ways, and I wasn’t sure if he could survive an all-nighter without a pick-me-up. I leaned in a little to him and asked in a low voice, “Want me to fetch you a Coke?”
“Cher, bless you, I could use the caffeine hit,” Mack responded gratefully.
“Okay, I’ll fetch us both one. Two minutes, don’t leave this room.”
He lifted his arm, hand splayed as if taking an oath. “Promise.”
13
I stretched my arms over my head, trying to get the blood flowing some more. I could feel the tension building in my shoulders and was trying to head that off as much as possible. I cracked my neck to either side as well and felt marginally better for it.
Delaney cleared his throat, an attention-getting sound. “Look, I’m not homophobic—”
I groaned, as nothing good ever followed those words.
“—but can you not do that in front of me?”
Dropping my hands, I looked at him sideways. I had a feeling this would go south very quickly. Fortunately, the walkie-talkie was in my hand. I hit the talk button subtly and turned to face him. Two years ago, even a year ago, I would have apologized and ducked away from this confrontation. But being in the outside world from my hometown had taught me a lot. I liked to think I’d grown from it. I wasn’t going to let him treat my relationship with Brandon like it was something disgraceful. “Not do what in front of you, Delaney? Hold hands with my anchor? Call him endearments? You’re acting like I’ve done something wrong. I haven’t.”
Delaney’s boyish face screwed up in anger. “You’re unprofessional on a job—”
“Back that horse right up. There’s not a medium in the world who isn’t affectionate with their anchor, even if they’re siblings. Nothing in the rules say we have to be perfectly professional on a job. Try a different excuse, sir.”
The red in his cheeks could have been mistaken for embarrassment, but it wasn’t. It was anger, pure and self-righteous. “Fine. Fine, I don’t like looking at it. I can’t believe they let you pick some guy as an anchor and just roll with it. Although he’s not really your anchor, is he? Just your fucktoy.”
I saw red, my hand tightening around the walkie-talkie to the point I heard the plastic creak. “He will be after this case. And that’s something else that isn’t your call. You’re not homophobic? Bullshit. You can’t even stand the thought that I’m with him.”
“And he’s too much of a coward to confront me about it,” Brandon stated angrily from the doorway. You know those depictions of angry Buddha? That was Brandon at this moment. I’d never seen him so red in the face before. My lover stalked toward me, his motion graceful and smooth like a giant cat on the prowl. He glared at Delaney as he moved, hand twitching as if he either wanted to strangle or shoot him.
I personally was for shooting him.
Facing Delaney, Brandon stared him down. The other medium looked unnerved by his expression, as he should be. Brandon’s temper visibly hovered on the edge of cracking wide open. “Delaney. Let me make this perfectly clear. The FBI doesn’t give a rat’s ass what your opinion is, they don’t subscribe to this bullshit homophobia. They don’t care if you’re gay, asexual, trans, whatever. It’s all good in their books. Part of the reason why I joined them. We are here to do a job. We are here to protect people who need it. You can take your asinine opinion and shove it up your ass.”
Delaney couldn’t quite meet Brandon’s eyes but he had no trouble glaring at me. “What I’m asking is that you just put a lid on it—”
“Delaney.” Falisa’s voice cracked through the air like a whip. She strode into the room, shoulders back like a warrior queen about to descend on
some stupid subject. Delaney actually flinched, whipping around as she stalked inside.
Before she could even get a word out, apologies tumbled out of his mouth in a tide. “I’m sorry, okay, I’m sorry, I meant what I said earlier, I just wanted them to stop—”
The look on her face stopped him cold. Falisa spoke carefully, cement boots and watery graves in her voice. “I made it clear earlier. There is nothing wrong with their relationship. You cannot complain about it unless they’re sneaking away to have sex or do something equally outrageous. Your opinion has no room here. If you cannot keep hold of your tongue, then you can leave the FBI right now. We have no room for bigots like you.”
Delaney huffed, arm thrown out to indicate Mack. “You don’t even know what he said to me! He was yelling and cussing me out, threatening me!”
“And now you’re lying to me?” Falisa’s anger grew colder, her Bronx accent thickening.
I could have told him from experience that when a woman’s anger burned cold instead of hot, a wise man begged for mercy.
“I’m not lying!”
“I warned you what would happen if you lied to me again. You’re on my last nerve, Delaney. Apologize now, and I might forgive you for it.”
Growing louder, Delaney denied again, “I’m not lying!”
Shaking my head, I lifted the walkie-talkie and waved it illustratively. “They heard the whole thing, Delaney. Every word.”
He stared at the walkie-talkie for a moment as if he couldn’t recognize what it was. Then his face went chalk white and he dropped his eyes to the floor, not able to look at any of us.
Ken came to stand at Falisa’s side, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder. “Delaney, we talked about this earlier. You said it wasn’t a problem. You said you could ignore it. So that’s twice you’ve lied to us in the past three hours. If we can’t trust what you say, then we can’t have you on this case. It’s dangerous as it is. I don’t know if we can depend on you.”
