The Ian Dex Supernatural Thriller Series: Books 5 - 7 (Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department Box Sets Book 2)

by John P. Logsdon

  In a smooth motion, I whipped out Boomy and plugged my older brother right on the shoulder, flinging him off balance and sending him careening into the pit.

  He yelled out as he fell and then shrieked upon impact.

  I rushed over and found him with a spike through his leg and another through his upper-right chest. He was a mess, but he was also still alive.

  Thinking quickly, I hopped down into the pit in an empty location and moved over toward Kevin. There wasn’t much time before his lights went out forever, so I had to get to him fast.

  I reached out and put my hand on his head, hoping that one of the special skills Gabe the vampire had given me would work. It was called Flashes, and its job was to tell me something about a person’s past so I could plan.

  My desire was for it to tell me about my youth, our parents, my sister, and anything else I could get from it.

  Nothing happened.

  On the hope that I could summon it by using the power directly, I closed my eyes and thought the word with intent.

  Flashes.

  CHAPTER 36

  I was in that familiar room again. It was the one with the large containers that I couldn’t help but feel held bodies.

  The place looked like a lab of some sort. Whosever’s eyes I was looking through for this Flashes event was wearing a white robe, so I was guessing scientist or doctor, or both.

  I couldn’t tell, but I had the distinct impression these were the same eyes I’d looked through during all of the Flashes I’d enjoyed. Trust me when I say I use the term ‘enjoyed’ rather loosely.

  The guy got up and started walking down a hallway, glancing left and right at the different enormous canisters. There were no outside windows wherever this place was housed. If I were to guess, I’d have gone with it being underground.

  It just seemed so dreary.

  We pushed through a doorway that led to a downward-sloping floor. The hallway grew darker and darker until only the dim lighting from the embedded bulbs in the ceiling lit the way. I couldn’t feel the temperature, but something told me it was getting colder, too.

  Finally, we reached another set of doors. The guy keyed in a code, but I couldn’t see that for some reason. His fingers had blurred during those few moments.

  When he pushed into the room, I spotted four metallic tables lined up side by side. On each of them were bodies that connected to familiar faces.

  My brothers.

  Bertram, Leo, Span, and Kevin were lying there, face up, all naked except for a towel that had been laid across their midsections. Their eyes were closed and I couldn’t detect any movement to indicate they were breathing. But I didn’t sense they were lifeless, either.

  The doctor slipped on gloves and then proceeded to poke and prod each of them in turn.

  I wanted to look away, but it wasn’t really possible since I had no control over Flashes.

  Fortunately, he didn’t do any prostate checks.

  That would have been scarring.

  Finally, he gave each of them a shot that contained a bluish liquid.

  Each set of eyes fluttered for a moment after receiving the injection.

  The doctor took off his gloves and threw them into a wastebasket. I watched as he turned on the water in a large, silver sink and began scrubbing his hands. After a good thirty seconds of washing, he rinsed off the soap, dried his hands off on a towel, and then looked up into the mirror.

  I felt my stomach sink.

  That was a face I’d seen many times over the past year. It was a face I’d grown to hate, but also one I’d learned to trust. Not implicitly, mind you, but the trust had been built up, for sure.

  But now I was left questioning everything I wanted to believe.

  It just didn’t make sense.

  The face I was staring at belonged to Gabe, and he was smiling.

  “Well done, Ian,” he said, using my first name. “You have passed all the tests I’ve set before you over this year. I am impressed and quite proud.”

  What the fuck was going on?

  “Disposing of your brothers was the final obstacle,” he added. “Now, you must come and see me.”

  He turned away.

  “Where the fuck are you?”

  He turned back.

  “You can find me in an underground area via a hidden zone by the Absinthe tent near Caeser’s.”

  “Shit,” I said, shocked that he could hear me. “Are you actually able to hear me? Because, if so, let me just say that you are one sick mother—”

  “And, no,” he interrupted, “I’m not actually speaking to you live, if you’re thinking that. I just assumed you would ask the question of my location.” He smiled. “In fact,” he added while looking back at the tables that contained my four brothers, “this was recorded before I sent them out to the desert to confront you.”

  My brothers were beginning to move.

  Gabe turned back to the mirror.

  “Since you’re watching this message,” he pointed out, “it’s obvious you have succeeded. I will miss your brothers, but they never would have been able to fill your shoes anyway.” He then gave me a small salute and added, “See you soon, son.”

  CHAPTER 37

  I climbed back out of the pit and rushed over to Portman. He was just sitting there sobbing. I’d never expected to see him like that. It was disturbing because he was usually so tough and strong.

  “You okay?” I asked, kneeling down and checking his eyes. They were no longer dull. “Your eyes are clear.”

  “Where is he?” Portman whispered, looking terrified.

  I assumed he meant Kevin.

  “He’s dead,” I replied.

  Portman let out a huge sigh and put his face in his hands. He was trying to hold back his tears, but the man was obviously broken. That was one more nail in the coffin of becoming too powerful. Someone like Kevin…or me…could really fuck up a person’s life.

  “The things that guy was going to do to my Claire,” he said, referring to his wife. “I can’t stop picturing them. It’s horrible.”

  “They’re not real, Portman,” I assured him. “He used magic on you to make you believe everything you’re imagining, but none of it’s true.” I then pulled him to his feet and dragged him over to the pit. “He’s dead. He can’t do anything to Claire. I promise.”

  “But I can still see it. All of it.”

  So it was that fucking compelling magic again.

  Kevin had to have used it on Portman to get him to come back down here. My brother must have also compelled my friend to believe some pretty horrific things about what would happen to Claire if he hadn’t cooperated. Actually, knowing what little I did about Kevin, he was probably planning to do those things one way or the other. He just wanted Portman to suffer before killing him.

  “I can’t let her get hurt, Dex,” Portman said desperately. “She’s my lady, man.”

  That dug at me.

  “Listen to me,” I said, putting a serious amount of magic into my voice. “Kevin did not hurt Claire, and it is impossible for him to hurt her at all now.” His breathing was ragged as his eyes opened wide. I felt my face glowing from the power. “You stopped Kevin from his attempts.” It was a lie, yes, but I was getting good at those lately, and I wanted Portman to feel empowered, so fuck it. He needed to be able to battle against any residual magic that Kevin may have left behind. “You destroyed him, Portman. He has absolutely no power over you. When you think of him, his words, his images, or anything else related to him, you will feel strong, knowing that you crushed his sorry ass.”

  By the time I was finished, Portman looked like a man who had found a modicum of strength again.

  He wiped the tears from his eyes and took a deep breath. He glanced around the area again in bewilderment.

  “What happened?”

  I pointed into the pit.

  “You killed Kevin,” I stated firmly.

  “I did?”

  “Yes.”

 
“Oh.” He looked to be wrestling with his mind again. “I don’t remember—”

  “He was about to get me,” I explained, “and you pushed him into the pit.” I then slapped him on his shoulder. “You crushed him, Portman. I owe you one.”

  “Yeah?” he asked, furrowing his brow deeply. Finally, he looked up. “I guess I did crush him, huh?”

  “You sure did,” I replied, lacing my voice with just a tiny bit of magic. “Again, I owe you one.”

  “No, no,” he deflected my praise. “You’d have done the same for me.”

  “True,” I agreed.

  Portman pointed at the bodies in the area.

  “I’ll, uh…get my crew down here to clean all this up.”

  “Good idea.”

  We then set about picking up the various pieces of equipment we’d brought out, throwing them all into the duffel bags. The bags of lime weren’t necessary at this point. Portman’s crew would make sure there weren’t any traces of my brothers splattered about.

  After about fifteen minutes, we were back in the Jeep and getting ready to cruise.

  “We’re going to the precinct, right?” he asked, still looking somewhat unsure. “I think that’s what you said.”

  “You are,” I answered him, remembering where Gabe told me he was located. “I need you to drop me off at the Absinthe tent first, though.”

  “By Caesar’s?”

  “Unless you know of another Absinthe tent, yep.”

  He gave me a look that told me he was slowly getting back to being his usual self. It’d take a while, but I was confident he’d return in full force before too long.

  “You know,” The Admiral piped up, “you could probably help the guy get his sex life back on track, if you did that magic thing on him and Claire.”

  “What do you mean?” I said, holding back from just telling him to shut up.

  “Compel them to get things going again,” he said, and I swear I felt him shrug. “They’re married, so it’s not like you’re doing anything wrong…unless they totally hate each other or something.”

  That was true.

  “Based on how that dude was sobbing over the fact that his wife might be hurt,” The Admiral added, “I’m pretty sure he still loves her.”

  “Wow,” I replied, nearly beside myself with awe. “I had no idea you were such a romantic.”

  “Shut up.”

  I cracked a smile at that.

  “Portman,” I said as we headed through the dirt, back toward the main road, “were you serious about the fact that you no longer have relations with Claire?”

  He gave me a sidelong glance.

  “That’s a weird question, Dex,” he said. “I know we just went through a bonding moment and all, but that doesn’t make me suddenly interested in having a pajama party, eating ice cream, talking about our girlfriends, and then watching The Notebook until we cry ourselves to sleep.”

  It was my turn to grimace at him.

  “Dude, I’m trying to help you out here,” I stated. “You’ve been married a long time, and I know for a fact that you love Claire.” I looked back out at the upcoming road. “Unless that love died for you guys or something.”

  “It didn’t die,” he shot back. “We do love each other. We just stopped being intimate, is all. Things change as you age, Dex. When you’re with the same person for a long time…things change.” His voice sounded tired. “You’ll see.”

  “Did you want them to change?” I challenged him.

  He opened his mouth and then shut it again. It was clear to me that he was unhappy about the situation, but sometimes it was difficult to break down walls that had taken years to build.

  Finally, he shook his head to indicate that he hadn’t wanted things to change.

  “Did Claire?”

  “No,” he stated almost immediately. “We just…” He trailed off.

  “Got complacent,” I finished for him. “It happens, man.”

  “Yeah.”

  This conversation was obviously making him uncomfortable, but I kind of felt like cupid at the moment. I had the unique ability right now to help him fix this issue with Claire. Based on what he was saying, they both wanted to be intimate again, but neither of them would make the first move.

  “Why don’t you call her and tell her that you love her, Portman?” I asked, putting the tiniest touch of magic in my voice. “I’m sure she’d appreciate hearing that.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I know I would,” I stated.

  His face contorted. “You’d appreciate me calling to tell you that I love you?”

  I rolled my eyes at him.

  “Just call her!”

  He sniffed and grinned for a moment. Then, after a sigh and a shrug, he pressed a button on the Jeep’s console and said, “Call Claire.”

  The speakers played the sound of a ringing phone. It rang three times before she answered.

  “Hey, baby,” Claire said. “I was just thinking of you.”

  “Was out in the desert with Dex. Had to deal with some bad guys.”

  “Is everything okay?” she asked, sounding worried. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

  Okay, so that solidified it. They were still deeply in love with each other. And while it may not be my job to get them to reconnect, I was damn well going to do it anyway. If I could use this compelling magic for bad, I could certainly also use it for good.

  “I’m fine, sweetheart,” he answered her. “I just wanted to let you know I’d be home a little later than usual, and…that I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “Okay,” The Admiral chimed in, “this is getting way too mushy for me. Do your thing already, will ya?”

  I smiled and then said, “Hi, Claire, it’s Ian Dex here.”

  “Oh hi, Ian. I hope you’re not getting my teddy bear into any mischief?”

  “I’m going to puke,” said The Admiral, “and not in a good way.”

  Ew.

  “He’s fine,” I answered and then layered on the magic again. “I want both of you to listen to me very carefully. Whatever it was that stopped you from being intimate with each other, I want you to forget about. If you still truly love each other, and you truly want to be romantic with each other again, then you will both resume showing that love. Now is your chance to rekindle the fire you once had, but only if you truly want to. Do you both understand me?”

  They did.

  I dropped the magic.

  “It was nice talking to you, Claire,” I said after the spell settled. “I’ll have Portman home to you soon.”

  “The sooner the better,” she whispered in a seductive voice that even a succubus would appreciate. “The sooner the better.”

  Portman adjusted in his seat.

  So did I.

  CHAPTER 38

  A fter Portman dropped me off at the tent, he headed back to the station. At least, that’s what I assumed he did. I hadn’t put any magic in my request, though, so he might have run home for a quickie with Claire.

  Either way was fine with me.

  My goal was to finish this job on my own anyway. Besides, it wasn’t like my crew couldn’t track me if they wanted to. My connector showed my location no matter where I was, assuming I was topside and there wasn’t interference.

  “Lydia,” I called back as I reached out with my magic, looking for the hidden zone Gabe had mentioned, “has the crew come back yet?”

  “No, darlin’,” she replied.

  They must have been having a wonderful time with the valkyries. That was good. I’d rather that than them facing their demise against the likes of Gabe and his goons.

  “Good,” I said. “I mean…I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

  “Is everything all right, puddin’?”

  “It’s peachy, babe,” I replied, having sensed the hidden zone. “Just found out where those wizards are holed up. Going in to have a quick chat with them now.”

  “Won’t that be dangerous?�
��

  “Nah. I’m sure it was all just a simple misunderstanding.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “I should be back in an hour or two,” I added, knowing I was pushing the truth envelope a bit. “Then I’ll meet with the Directors just like I promised you I would.”

  “Be careful, please,” she said, sounding concerned.

  “Always am, baby.”

  CHAPTER 39

  A fter a quick scan of the area, I stepped into the hidden zone and saw an access panel on the ground. There was a post with a console next to it, standing about waist high.

  I walked over and looked at it but refrained from touching it because there were two small runes on either side.

  They were protected.

  Calling on what I’d learned from Warren, I concentrated on seeing through the wrapping until I spotted that one was meant for notification and the other was a shocker. These were the most common runes around access points, so I should have known that, but I wanted to make sure.

  Since they were protected, I couldn’t just undraw them like I’d done that night at Tommy Rocker’s. I’d have to pick the lock on them first. The struggle with that was that I had no stick with me.

  “I can do it, man,” announced The Admiral. “I know I can!”

  I sighed.

  “And how weird is that going to look?” I countered. “While we both know that I’ll be using you to crack this lock, the rest of the world will just see me standing by a post as I swing my dick around.”

  “You’re in a hidden zone, dude,” he pointed out.

  “Oh, yeah,” I said.

  Then, against my better judgment, I unzipped my PPD suit and took The Admiral out.

  “Ahhh,” he said. “Nice night!”

  “Shut up.”

  I pointed him at the first rune and started working through the sequence. A moment later, the runes disappeared and the console went full green.

  “Did I do that?” asked The Admiral.

  “I doubt it,” I responded.

  “Please put away your penis, son,” a familiar voice said through the speaker on the console. “Honestly, I expected you to have better manners than that.”