"I won't," Chloe said. "I'm calling the police." She took her phone out of her pocket to do just that when he slipped a hand into his own pocket. He brought out something that looked like pixie dust, but it was a dull green color; something Chloe had never seen before. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making you love me," he said. He blew the powder in her face. Chloe swayed for a moment, her vision going black. Then, she blinked a few times.
"Nick," she said. He seemed different, she thought. There was an aura around him, a beautiful aura, something she'd never seen before. It appeared to be a soft gold, and at that moment, she knew that she wasn't going to be able to resist whatever he'd done. She was going to fall in love. It might have scared her if she didn't feel so at peace.
"Let's go home."
ELEVEN
"Harper! Wake up!"
Harper groaned at the sound of Brittney's voice. She covered her head with a pillow and tried to ignore it. Brittney grabbed the pillow away, smacked her with it, and then tossed it on the other bed. "Come on," she said. "Get up."
"Why?" Harper asked. She opened her eyes, winced at the light in the hotel room, and then closed them again. "It's so early."
"It's ten," Brittney said. "You have to get up because we have to meet the movers in like... twenty minutes. Come on, out of bed."
Harper sat up immediately. Brittney threw her clothes at her, and she began to get dressed.
"It's ten already? God, I slept like a rock," Harper said. "Even through your snoring. How long have you been awake? Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"
"I've only been up for about ten minutes," Brittney said. "Hurry up! We're going to be late. I told the others that we were leaving. You'll have to catch up with them later. Right now, we need to go."
"Alright, alright," Harper said.
"We can grab a taxi out front," Brittney said. "I'm leaving my car here in case we're being followed. We don't want Trinity to know where we live, after all."
Harper went to the bathroom, splashed some water on her face, and tried to feel awake. It didn't work very well but she followed Brittney out of the hotel room and down into the lobby. The sun was shining through the windows, and she winced, realizing she had a headache.
"Of all days," she said.
"I know," Brittney said. The two of them went out to an available taxi, climbed inside and gave the driver directions to their new house. Brittney offered to pay him more if he sped, and the taxi driver seemed to have no problem with this. He even ran two red lights. Harper was nervous; she kept expecting to be pulled over. They were lucky though, and avoided all of the cops that were usually lurking around waiting to give tickets.
The movers were already there when Brittney and Harper arrived. They were sitting in their truck, waiting. Harper ran up to them. "I'm so sorry," she said. "We woke up late. I'll unlock the house now."
"It's no problem," the driver assured her. He got out of the truck and was followed by his coworkers. Together, they began to move furniture into the house and set it up for them. It took a couple of hours, and Brittney left at one point to get them all coffee. The crew seemed to appreciate it, and Harper knew she did.
Once the men were done setting up the furniture, Harper tipped them and then called another taxi. They took it to a shopping center where they had some shopping to do. They got groceries first; most of it was frozen food that could be stored in the freezer, but Harper remembered that Alec would be staying with them and got some regular food for him to cook.
From there, they went to a home furnishing store and got bed sets for all three rooms, a dozen towels and washcloths, shampoo and conditioner, a pack of razors for each of them, and one for Alec, and toothbrushes and paste. They also got a half dozen pillows, extra sheets, and a few lamps. By the time they were done, it was nearly two in the afternoon.
They took another taxi home and began setting everything up. When they were done, they stood together in the kitchen, looking over their new home. It was covered in boxes, bags, and bubble wrap.
"Looks like we'll have to clean before that housewarming party," Harper said.
Brittney flopped down on one of the sofas. "Yeah," she agreed. "But not right now. I'm exhausted."
"Me too," Harper admitted. She sat down on the reclining chair they bought and relaxed a little. "I think I could sleep for a week once we're done with this case."
"Cheers to that," Brittney said.
Harper pulled out her phone for the first time since they'd left that morning and blinked. She had half a dozen texts from Sarah, three from Conner, and one from Alec. All of them said the same thing: Chloe was missing. Harper closed her eyes briefly. Could anything go right? She turned to Brittney.
"Now, don't get upset," she said, "but..."
"I know," Brittney said, holding up her own phone. "Chloe's missing. They texted me too."
"We better get back to the hotel," Harper said.
Brittney nodded. They called their fourth taxi of the day and rode back to the hotel in silence. Once they were there, they went straight to the room shared by Alec and Conner. Sarah was sitting on the bed, Alec was at the desk, and Conner was pacing.
"Well, where is she?" Brittney asked.
"We don't know," Conner said. "The last thing we heard, she was going to the computer store to get Alec a new laptop. None of us have heard from her since. We've sent her dozens of texts and tried calling her phone but there was no answer. No response. Nothing."
Harper frowned. "So she's in trouble," she said. "Do you think the person after us got her?"
"I don't know," Conner said.
"They must have," Sarah said. "Otherwise, she'd be answering. I don't know what to do."
Brittney pulled out her phone and brought up the friend finding app. She clicked on Chloe's picture and waited for the results to come back. She flashed the screen at all of them. "She's twenty minutes away. It looks like she's in a residential area. Come on, we have to go get her."
"Alec, you stay here," Conner said.
"Not a chance," Alec said. "If she's in trouble, I'm going to be there to help."
"You can't," Sarah said. "You're weak during the day. You'd be the perfect target. This could be a trap, you know. Take Chloe, lure the rest of us in..."
"It doesn't matter if it's a trap," Alec said. "I'm not staying behind."
All of them knew it would do no good to argue with him, so they left the hotel, and then paused. They took a look around, then decided they didn't want to wait for a taxi, so they climbed into Brittney's car. Harper navigated and they got to the house in about twenty minutes.
"So what now?" Conner asked. "Do we break in the door?"
Alec pulled out his sidearm. "Let's try knocking first."
The rest of them followed his example, pulling out their weapons. They kept them down by their sides. Brittney led the way. She pounded on the front door. Nobody answered, and she knocked again, then rang the doorbell twice. After a few more minutes passed, Chloe came to the door.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asked.
"What are you doing here?" Brittney asked. "You're not responding to texts or calls. We were worried."
Chloe smiled slightly. "I didn't have the ringer on," she said. "And you don't need to worry. I'm safe here."
"Where is here exactly?" Harper asked.
"You're at my boyfriend's house."
"What?"
"You heard me," Chloe said. "You're at my boyfriend's home. I don't think he'd be too happy to see you guys here, though. You should probably go."
Brittney blinked at her a few times. Harper put a hand on her arm, but she pulled away and approached Chloe. "What are you talking about? You have a boyfriend?"
Chloe nodded. Before she could say more, Nick appeared at her side. "What is this?"
"Just my friends checking on me," Chloe said. She took Nick's hand, and intertwined their fingers. "But they're leaving now."
"No, we aren't," Brittney said. "This do
esn't make any sense. You've never mentioned a boyfriend, Chloe. Who is this guy, really?"
Chloe sighed. "I didn't want to have to get into this," she said, "but since you're pushing the issue... yes, this is my boyfriend, Nick. We're planning to get married. We want to have kids, and neither of us are getting any younger. You're all invited to the wedding, of course."
Nick shook his head. "No, they're not, baby. Remember? We have to get rid of them."
"Get rid of us?" Harper demanded. "What the hell does that mean? Chloe?"
Chloe looked between Nick and the Afterlife crew, looking torn. "I'm sorry guys, but he's right. If we're going to be together, we have to kill you."
"What?" Alec moved forward. "Are you out of your mind? Is this the guy that's been after us? He hit you with a car, Chloe! And he set a fire in the building that you were in! He's been trying to kill us all!"
Conner remained silent, folding his arms over his chest, and staring at Nick with a look of deep disdain. Sarah, on the other hand, gazed at him for a minute.
"Wait," she said, "you're a bartender at Afterlife. Why would you want to kill us?"
Nick didn't meet her gaze or respond to the question.
"He didn't mean to hurt me," Chloe said. "It was all a misunderstanding. He only meant to hurt you guys. Because he has to. If he doesn't... well, he won't survive. And I can't have that. Don't you understand? I'm in love with him."
Brittney shook her head. "What about us?"
"Us?"
"Yes, us," Brittney said.
Chloe let go of Nick's hand and took a step forward. She took both of Brittney's hands in her own. "I thought we might have a future," she said. "I really did. But we can't, Brittney. The two of us don't belong together. In your heart, you know that. Just like I know in my heart that I belong with Nick."
"This is ridiculous," Alec said. "She's obviously under some sort of spell... or something. I don't know what. What did you to her, Nick?"
"He didn't do anything wrong," Chloe said. "He just opened my eyes to what was already there. I should have listened to him a lot sooner. If I had, I could have been happier sooner."
Nick stepped inside for a moment. He returned, carrying a stake. "I'm sorry, Alec," he said. "But this is the only way."
He threw himself at Alec, stake held high. Alec moved backwards, but he wasn't very fast in the sunlight, and the stake nicked his arm. He barely avoided getting stabbed again, as he struggled with Nick. Conner leapt forward, changing into his true demonic form as he did, and grabbed Nick. He threw him backwards. Nick landed on his back and Conner stormed forward, ready to end it. Before he could, Chloe dashed in front of Nick. She shoved Conner hard. "No! Don't you hurt him!"
"Chloe! Can't you see what he's doing? He's manipulating you!"
"No, he isn't!" Chloe screamed. "If you want to hurt him, you're going to have to kill me."
Brittney stepped back, and Harper put an arm around her. She gazed at Chloe as though she'd never seen her before. She didn't understand how such a change could have happened in the mere span of hours. She tried to use her Sight to see if Chloe was under some sort of spell. There was definitely something interfering with her aura; unlike the usual soft pastel color it usually was, it was a dark, muddy green.
Sarah shook her head. "Don't worry, Chloe. We know this isn't you." She grabbed Conner as he made to stride forward again. "There's nothing we can do right now," she said. "We have to go before one of them gets a shot in at Alec. He's not doing too well."
Conner spun around and saw Alec kneeling on the ground. The nick on his arm was bleeding, and he looked faint. Conner moved to his side and put an arm around him, helping him to his feet.
"Come on," he said to Brittney and Harper. "We'll be back."
"No," Chloe said. "You won't. We'll find you before you return. I'm sorry, but it's the only way. I still care about you all, but this is my future I'm thinking of."
Harper frowned and directed Brittney towards the car. She seemed too upset to drive, so Harper got in the driver's seat and started the car. Everyone else piled in. She pulled away and drove aimlessly around.
"Something is wrong with her," she said. "I couldn't tell what, but her aura was messed up. She's not herself."
"Which means she's dangerous," Conner said.
"We're not going to hurt her," Brittney said. "She can't control herself right now. This isn't her fault."
"I never said we'd hurt her," Conner said. "But we need to avoid her until we can figure this out. We don't have time to figure out what he's doing with Chloe right now, unfortunately. We have other stuff to do. Harper, take us back to the hotel. They won't dare attack us there."
Harper nodded and took a sharp left and drove to the hotel.
"Everything else can wait," Brittney said. "We have to put Chloe first."
"No," Sarah said. "We can't, Brittney. We're on a tight schedule as it is. We have to get those paintings tonight, otherwise tomorrow you guys are going to be screwed."
"I don't care about that!"
"Well, you should," Alec said in a weak voice. "If you guys blow your cover or don't show up, they're going to know something is up, and they're going to start hunting you and your friends. Think about this, Brittney. How long would it take for them to discover your feelings for Chloe?"
Brittney said nothing.
"They'd go after her just to draw you out," Alec said. "That's the kind of men they are. No, we have to finish what we started. Which means that we need to prepare to go after the goblins."
Harper pulled into the hotel parking lot, and they all headed inside. Conner continued to support Alec until they got up to the rooms. When they opened the door, Alec immediately went to the bed to lay down. The others made themselves comfortable in the room.
"So what?" Brittney asked. "We go on like nothing has happened? We were outnumbered before, and that was with six of us. How are we supposed to take on the gang without Chloe?"
"We'll make do," Sarah said. "Just like we always do."
"I hate this."
"I know," Sarah said.
Harper sighed. "I'm going to take a shower," she said. "I need to get my head on straight."
She went into the other room and Conner followed her.
"What?" she asked.
"None of us should be alone right now," Conner said. "Take your shower. I'll just sit on the bed and wait."
"I don't need a babysitter," Harper said.
"I'm not babysitting you," Conner said. "I'm protecting you. Sarah and Brittney are more than enough to handle Chloe and Nick if they come calling. But if you're in here alone, you're unprotected. Especially if you're in the shower. So stop snapping at me, and let me do my job of taking care of my friend."
Harper flushed. "Sorry, Conner."
Conner shook his head and stretched out on the bed. "No need for apologies," he said. "It's been another stressful day. We're all on edge."
"You could say that again," Harper muttered. She stepped into the bathroom, shut the door, and got undressed. The hot water in the hotel worked well, and she turned it up till it was almost too hot for her. She'd always enjoyed showers that were a little uncomfortable in their heat. For some reason, it helped her think.
She was trying to decide what to do about Chloe. She knew her friend wasn't in the right state of mind, but she had no idea exactly what Nick had done to her, or how he'd done it. She hadn't been able to sense anything supernatural about him. It was true that he could be blocking her but she didn't think that was the case. Which meant that someone else was involved. But who? Who benefited from Chloe falling for Nick?
But that wasn't all it was. Nick believed he needed to kill the rest of them. The only reasonable assumption that she could draw was that he was chosen by some demon who wanted them out of the way, and the demon had offered Chloe as payment for their lives. The very idea nauseated her. She hated thinking about Chloe with Nick. And if she felt that way, she could only imagine what Brittney must be f
eeling.
Before she could dwell on her best friend's mental state, she heard something. She strained her ears, and realized that it was Conner. He was singing. She turned off the water and moved to sit on the toilet. She sat there like that for awhile, listening to his voice. It was beautiful. She'd known he could sing -- it wasn't the first time she'd heard him -- but it still shocked her how lovely he sounded.
The singing broke off abruptly, and Conner called out, "Are you going to sit in there all day?"
Harper felt her face fill with color. She quickly dressed, brushed her hair, and came out of the bathroom.
"Sorry," she said, "I was just listening to you sing."
"You know, you don't have to hide in a bathroom for that," Conner said. "I'll sing for you whenever you'd like."
"You will?" Harper was surprised Conner wasn't making fun of her.
"Sure," Conner said. He patted the bed. She joined him, sitting on the edge. He started singing again. This time, it was a ballad about a woman who didn't understand why she couldn't find love. Through the verses, she tried over and over again to form a connection with different men, and each time it failed. In the final verse, she realized that the man who'd been there to comfort her through her failed attempts was the right man for her.
Harper let out a long breath at the end of the song. "That was beautiful, Conner."
"Thanks," he said. "My mother used to sing to me when I was a child. I got my voice from her."
"Do you still see her? Or either of your parents?"
"No," Conner said. "Not for years. I ran away when I was sixteen. I couldn't stand living at home anymore."
"Why not?"
"I'm an incubus," Conner said. "Never forget that, Harper. I was used to getting my way in whatever I wanted. I could twist anyone around my finger. Except my parents. They were hard on me and I deserved it, I know that now, but at the time, I felt like they were trying to keep me from being my true self. Looking back on it, they were just trying to teach me right and wrong. But by the time I figured that out, we were already estranged."
"And you haven't tried contacting them?"
Conner shook his head. "No. It's best that they live their lives without worrying about me. They wouldn't like who I've become."
Kinda Like Van Helsing (Afterlife Book 4) Page 10
