Voices in the Darkness

by Rebecca Royce

  6

  I ran through the desert, sand kicking up from my bare feet. I’d cut myself, and I was bleeding.

  “Lacey, you are mine. You’ve always been mine, and no matter how far you run, my eyes will always find you.”

  I knew what this was—another dream of Erdirg. I wanted to wake up. I’d had enough. This nightmare could go fuck itself.

  A voice called out to me.

  “Lacey, don’t worry, soon you’ll be with me.”

  I blinked awake. Who was that?

  Light floated in through the window, waking me up slowly. Next to me, Thorn still snored loudly, deeply asleep. What time was it?

  I didn’t want to move, but now that I was awake, my body was jittery. I shifted uneasily beneath the covers, my dream still hovering around the edges of my consciousness. Perhaps I should go to the sleep clinic for real, get all this worked out before I developed—what? Insomnia? I already had that.

  “Why are you moving?” Thorn’s voice was raspy. “You’re all over the place.”

  “Sorry.” I turned into his arms and kissed his warm chest. “I don’t sleep well.”

  “Since when?” he asked.

  Since the moment I left you. But I didn’t say that out loud. “For a long time,” I answered.

  He sighed, breath ruffling my hair. It was nice to lie here, just talking, but my legs were starting to get twitchy. “I have to get up.”

  Thorn let me go, watching me as I got out of bed and pulled on some flannel pants and a t-shirt. “Are you okay?”

  I was and I wasn’t. Having him here was a dream come true, and he’d told me he loved me, but there was a pretty big chance I would fuck this up.

  “I’m scared,” I told him, not meeting his eyes. Hands on my hips, I stared at a worn spot on the rug that kept my feet from freezing on the wood floor every morning. “I’m afraid I’m going to mess this up. That you’ll leave me and I’ll be alone, and it’ll be even worse than last time because now I’ll be sure that I—”

  In the time my back was turned, Thorn had pulled on his jeans. He gathered me in his arms, pulling me against his chest. “Now that you what?” His voice was a deep rumble.

  I wanted to be honest with him. Thorn had been my first and best friend. I’d always loved him. Why then, was it so hard for me to get the words out? “You know.”

  Rasping his beard over my hair, he squeezed me tighter. “A guy likes to hear the words.”

  I smiled despite myself. “I love you.”

  He stilled, slowly drawing away from me. I glanced up at him, and my smile melted off my face. The intensity in his eyes overwhelmed me. “I love you,” I said again, “with all my heart, Thorn.”

  He leaned down to kiss me, and I winced as his beard rubbed over my cheek. “Ouch.”

  Cupping my face, he rubbed his thumb over my skin. “I gave you beard burn.”

  “Worth it.” A thousand times over.

  A sudden knock on the door made me jump. “Are you guys awake?” It was Colton.

  “Yes.” I started to back away, but Thorn stopped me.

  The door opened, and Colton walked in. He was already dressed, though he had bundled up with thick socks and a flannel shirt under a sweater. The tip of his nose was red.

  “Why don’t you turn up the heat?” I asked.

  Two spots of red appeared on his cheeks. “Right. The heat.”

  It hit me. “You couldn’t start the fire.” I laughed. “Guys. I have heat in addition to the wood fire!”

  Colton called over his shoulder. “She has heat, not just the fire.”

  I groaned. “I’m coming.”

  He walked over, kissing me on the shoulder. “See you downstairs. We’re cooking. Oliver says you’re not real big on it, so consider it our job to feed you.” I waited for him to indicate that it bothered him that I’d clearly had sex with Thorn, but he didn’t. The heat turned on, the buzz filling the room. Someone had clearly found the thermostat.

  “I just need to take a shower. So… maybe you two could skedaddle from the room while I dig through drawers for clean underwear?”

  Thorn laughed. “Sure. I’ll just skedaddle.”

  Colton groaned. “Thanks, Lacey. He is going to use that word the rest of the day.”

  I found my clothes and hurried downstairs into the bathroom where I grinned my way through my shower.

  It took me a long time to blow-dry my hair, which wasn’t a surprise. But I wanted to look pretty, or at least prettier than usual, and not because of the four of them downstairs. Liar. They’d already seen me as I was.

  No, it was for my appointment with the sleep doctors. Pants on fire.

  Except, I did have to be the kind of patient they’d take seriously as soon as I came through the door. It wasn’t right, but I’d discovered over the years that the more put together I seemed, the more that strangers treated me with respect. Too bad as a society, that wasn’t a blanket expectation. But then again, I’d learned pretty early in life that humans could be awful to one another.

  With or without demon influence.

  I put on some dressier clothing; a pair of black pants and a red sweater. Then I managed some eyeliner and lipstick. As a last thought, I put Aaron’s amethyst into my pocket. I always brought it on jobs like this.

  A child had fallen from the window the night before and then vanished. I had questions that needed answers.

  I headed downstairs. For the first time in a decade, I’d be seeing a paranormal job through, all the way from start to finish. This had never been the life I’d wanted, or so I’d thought when I was seventeen, yet here I was, embracing today like it was some kind of much needed fresh start

  All four heads turned to look at me when I entered. I stared down at myself. Had I forgotten something like pants?

  I glanced down. Nope. Pants on. Boots on. Shirt on. I grabbed my boobs. Bra on. Thorn groaned into his coffee mug.

  “What?”

  “You’re a beautiful woman,” Oliver said. “That’s what.”

  A sense of pride filled me. Last night, without makeup and wearing only a t-shirt and underwear, Thorn had told me the same thing. But I liked hearing it. And I especially liked hearing it when I had made an effort. It was nice that effort hadn’t gone unnoticed.

  “I have the sleep clinic appointment today.”

  The simmering arousal of the room disappeared. The guys straightened. Thorn put his mug down, and Oliver turned off the burner on the stove. “How do you want to do this?” Aaron asked.

  My usual MO was to go in, get a feel of the spot, get out, and call Rick. But this was different.

  “I don’t really know,” I said. “This is new to me. I thought I’d go in, wait for my Spidey-senses to alert, and then—I kind of am drawing a blank. What do you do?” They were, after all, the experts.

  “One of us will go in with you,” Aaron said. “Probably me. I’m the best at blocking negative energy, so if there is a potential for possession, it hopefully won’t happen while I’m there.”

  At seventeen, Aaron had saved all of us when Erdirg had destroyed my house. It had taken him more than twenty-four hours of sleep to recover. “Will anything happen to you though?”

  He smiled, his tan cheeks turning pink. “Yeah.” He ran his hand through his long hair. “You probably remember how it used to knock me on my ass.”

  “As well it should have!” Colton interjected. “You went up against an ancient being. The fact that you survived at all speaks to how strong you are.”

  I watched the exchange between the two of them, realizing how much I had missed. They had been friendly before, but Colton’s quick defense hinted at a deep and profound friendship. I couldn’t help feeling a little left out.

  It took me a moment to shake it, and in that time, I had all the guys’ attention again. “Sorry.” I shrugged. “So much has changed.”

  “Not that much,” Aaron was quick to add. “But I’m stronger now. I have had—fortunately or unfortunate
ly—more experience with psychic protection. Why don’t you grab that amethyst?”

  Laughing, I pulled the stone out of my pocket. “This one?” I stared at the milky purple edges, turning it in my hand. This little stone had come with me on some pretty freaky investigations. I wasn’t sure if it offered real protection, but it gave me emotional protection. I just had to look at it to think about Aaron and his bravery.

  “Great minds.” He grinned. “That makes me feel better. Still, I’m going with you.”

  Thorn passed out plates with scrambled eggs and bacon. “I’m going to take Oliver’s fancy rental car and go to the grocery store. Then I’ve got some work I’ve got to get done for a client. After that, I’m all over this sleep clinic from the internet. If there’s a path to track, I’ll track it.”

  I smiled at him. “Thanks.”

  “I’m glad to do it. Don’t thank me.” He took a bite of his eggs.

  Colton pointed at him. “Can you drop me at the historical society?” He showed him his phone. “It’s out of your way, but I appreciate the ride. I’ll grab an Uber back.”

  “Yep.” Thorn sipped his coffee and pushed a cup toward me. I guessed it was mine, and I picked it up, loving the smell before I took a sip. They’d gotten it right. These days, I was more of a tea drinker, but I loved this.

  Oliver pushed back his chair. “Grabbing a shower before I catch a ride with Aaron and Lacey. I’m going to scout around.”

  “Does this all work for you?” Aaron asked me. “It’s your job. You get to be lead on it.”

  “It does. I mean, I have to go in and be a patient. Talk about my insomnia, and that either I don’t sleep at all, or I have really awful dreams. Maybe if the clinic is fine, they can help me. Of course, we had astral projection, so the likelihood it’s not something paranormal is small, right?”

  “Well, I guess they could have a team of shamans chanting there at night or something.” Oliver shrugged. “But I doubt it. Probably some bad mojo in there. We can work on your sleep or find you a different doctor. Today, you’re there to figure out how we fix the paranormal element that is making people sick. Oh yeah, and stop babies from falling out of windows.”

  Right. That little detail.

  I ate my eggs quickly. There was time before my appointment, but I was going to be one of those patients that got there really early, mostly because I couldn’t tolerate the anticipation of waiting to go.

  The guys got dressed to go outside, and they were missing some key winter items. “Hey, while you’re shopping, you might want to get some clothes so you can survive here for however long you stay.”

  “Okay.” Thorn nodded. “We’ll get snowman clothing.”

  “Snowman?”

  He blinked. “Is that not what you call it?”

  I stared at him. “It’s called a coat. Boots. Mittens. Hat. And if you want to make snow angels, grab some snow pants.”

  He laughed. “I was just messing with you.”

  “I know we grew up in New Mexico, but everyone knows what a coat is.”

  “I want boots like yours though.” He headed toward the door. The jacket he wore was too light for this weather, much more suited to a fall day than temperatures that hovered around freezing.

  “There are lots of outdoor gear stores. Just asked for warm and waterproof. They may not be pretty, but they’ll definitely keep your toes from freezing off.” All of them needed clothes, and it could get expensive.

  Grabbing my phone, I scrolled through some numbers. “Here.” I took a piece of paper and wrote down a store and the name of the manager. “Go to Outdoor Gear Exchange and ask for Shane. He’ll help you. Tell him you know me, and I said I was calling in a favor.”

  Thorn had started to reach for the slip of paper but hesitated. “Shane?”

  “Yeah. He was a client, and he owes me.” I glanced up and froze. “What’s wrong?”

  Thorn was frowning, staring at the paper like he would burn it with his eyes. “Nothing.”

  It was definitely something, and I could have been totally misreading it, but it seemed like maybe—just maybe—he was jealous. “I never dated Shane. I saved him a ton of money after a couple who bought climbing gear from him claimed it failed. He would have lost his whole store. He’s grateful. And almost seventy. So chill out.”

  Thorn dragged his hand through his hair with one hand while stuffing the paper in his back pocket with the other. “Yeah. I’m sorry. It’s just that I assume any guy who meets you would tell you to ask for them specifically. Try to make a play. They’d be idiots not to.”

  That was sweet, but Thorn definitely overestimated my appeal to the opposite sex. With my long, dark-brown-nearly-black hair and green-brown eyes, I was a pretty basic girl. My features worked together, and I was fit—probably from all the shoveling and chopping wood—but I was nothing to write home about.

  I went up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “You’re sweet. Thank you.”

  “Ready?” Colton appeared, scarf wrapped so many times around his face his voice was muffled. “I’m dying to drive Oliver’s rental beast.”

  Thorn shrugged and pulled a hat down over his ears. “Sure. Just don’t drive it like that dune buggy we used when we did that dig in Idaho.”

  Colton grinned. “You flew out of the seat.”

  The other guys chuckled and again, I was left out, but it didn’t hurt as badly as it had when it first happened. We’d have our own stories soon enough.

  With Colton and Thorn leaving, I turned to the Chee brothers. “You guys ready?”

  Oliver narrowed his eyes. “Your head feel all right?”

  I laughed. “I think the answer is going to be the same for a while. It’s throbbing a little bit, but I’m mostly ignoring it.”

  “I’m going to keep asking.” He kissed my cheek. “And then one day you’ll say fine, and it’ll be the best day ever.”

  He really did say the sweetest things. Aaron walked by, tugging on the end of my hair. “Every day with Lacey is the best day ever.”

  I wasn’t sure how my life had gotten turned over like this, but I was going to hold onto every second of it. I’d been around long enough to know that it was going to get twisted up somehow.

  The waiting room for the sleep clinic was friendly enough. Nothing about it screamed demonic possession, at least not to me. I looked over at Aaron as we entered, and he shook his head. No, nothing was out of the ordinary for him either. He’d pulled his hair back, and when he took his hat off, some of it came loose from the ponytail holder. I liked the look.

  He was adorably disheveled. I made my way to the receptionist, who handed me a clipboard. I guessed I could have done most of this online, but had paid no attention to that when I made the appointment. It was a good thing I was early.

  Sitting down in one of the line of chairs in front of the TV they had on the wall, I started to fill out my information. My fake information. The made-up last name, everything about me contrived to look like I wasn’t me. I didn’t know why I bothered. The people I’d hidden from had found me. Still, it seemed important. I’d maintained this front since I got to Anchorage. I wasn’t going to undo it now.

  I turned my clipboard back in and sat back down next to Aaron. He stared at the television. It was medical information streaming, not all of it sleep-related.

  “All set?” he asked.

  “Yes, I guess.”

  He leaned his head on my shoulder. “Good.”

  “What would you be doing right now if you weren’t doing this?”

  He didn’t answer for a second. “Either trailing after Colton so I could write about him, or writing an article for one of the online sites I freelance for. Or working on my solo book.”

  I perked up at this. “Solo book?”

  “Lacey?” A middle-aged woman caught my attention as she stepped through the door. I rose and followed her through the door with Aaron trailing after me. I didn’t object and neither did the nurse, who quickly took my height
and weight. From the corner of her eye, she watched Aaron, clearly appreciative. It was one of those moments where one woman just knew what another was thinking.

  I smiled. That was okay. She could look. He was gorgeous. He was also, inexplicably, mine.

  I hopped up on the table, and she took my blood pressure and pulse.

  “Hmm.” She furrowed her brow. “Is your blood pressure usually elevated?”

  “Ah… no.” I couldn’t remember having a single glitch medically.

  Aaron sat up in his chair across from me. “How high is it?”

  “130 over 90. Not terrible. Just higher than I would have expected from a healthy young woman your age.”

  Aaron rose and crossed to me, taking my hands in his as she put the cuff away. My palms were definitely sweating now. “My fiancée was recently in a car accident. She’s been under a great deal of stress.”

  “Well, perfectly understandable. Let’s get some quick questions done, and then the doctor will be in to see you. Shall we?” That was a question, but she didn’t wait for me to answer. “Do you have trouble falling asleep at night?”

  That one was easy, but I was still confused by the blood pressure thing. “Um. Yes. Usually I do. It can take hours for me to fall asleep, if I do at all.”

  The nurse typed fast on her small computer as I answered.

  Aaron squeezed my fingers. I wanted to lean against him, but resisted the impulse.

  The nurse went on. “Do you have trouble staying asleep?”

  “Yes.” Mostly from bad dreams, but she wasn’t asking for specifics.

  “Do you get a creepy, crawly feeling in your legs?”

  I blinked. That sounded awful. “No.”

  “Do you get a good night’s sleep and still feel tired during the day?”

  Her perky voice was starting to bug me. “No. I have a lot of energy. Even when I don’t sleep.”

  “Do you fight to stay awake during the day?”

  The answer was no. Also no when she questioned me about whether I took naps. I’d never really been a napper, and I didn’t snore. Not that I knew. With those questions answered, she left.

  Aaron waited a second before he crossed to where she’d stored her blood pressure monitor. “Trust me, okay?”