A loud pounding on the front door startled her. Jade jumped and ran to answer it. Graham stood on her stoop, breathless and wide-eyed.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I went to see Violet,” he said.
“Without me?” She ushered him into her apartment.
“I thought it would be easier on you if you didn’t have to deal with her emotions.”
Jade frowned. “And why didn’t you answer my messages at least?”
“Left my phone there,” he said. “Going was a mistake.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Jade, you were right.” He shook his head as if still in disbelief. “My dreams are real. She took control of me.”
Jade thought of Nicodemus, the powerful man who had been able to take over people's minds. “She possessed you?”
“Not exactly. More like…she made me like…er, love her.”
“That’s it?”
“It’s more intense than it sounds,” he mumbled. Jade felt traces of his humiliation and frustration.
“What did she make you do?”
“Nothing—that is, I think she was about to make me do something really horrible. She had me grab a knife—”
“A knife?”
“But I got away before she could make me use it.”
Jade’s pulse rocketed. “How?”
“Well, Logan was there and—”
“Logan?” It was almost too much to consider.
“She’s got him under her spell,” Graham said.
“I knew it!” Inside Jade, Graham’s frustration rose. She stomped her foot.
“But she can only control—or influence, I guess—one person at a time, so when she took control of me, Logan went ballistic.”
“What happened?” Jade asked.
“He was so angry. I thought he was going to attack her—but then he ran for the door.”
“He got away?” Jade asked, needing a grain of hope to cling to.
Graham shook his head. “She got to him again before he could leave.”
Jade’s hopes shriveled. “So he’s still there.”
“Yeah. The only reason I got free was because she wasn’t expecting me. She can’t control two at once, so she had to keep switching between us. Apparently that’s tricky for her.”
“Are you…okay?”
“I will be.”
“So you fully remember it afterward,” Jade said, more to herself than to him. The man that had abducted them last spring could not only control people but also somehow made them forget all about it afterward.
“Yeah…” Graham hesitated.
“What?”
“The thing is…even after I got away, she kept messing with my head somehow. I was in my car driving this way, but a couple of times my mind got hijacked.”
“How do you mean?”
“Like, even though I remembered I was heading to your place, I suddenly got completely enamored with Violet. It was intense: dreaming up things I could do for her, even fantasizing stuff….” He shuddered.
“Whoa. So she could still control you?”
“Yes—even when I was miles away.”
“Miles? That means it’s not limited by eye contact…or touch….”
“Actually,” Graham said, rubbing his temple, “I think I know what triggers it. Initially, anyway.”
“What?”
“Assuming everything in my dreams is true, I think a touch unleashes her power.”
“A touch…like—”
“Skin to skin contact. It’ll put you under her power indefinitely. In the very first dream I had about her, she touched that guy, and it flipped a switch inside him. Made him her willing servant.”
“The one who died?”
“Yeah.” Graham’s eyes widened suddenly. “I didn’t remember this until now, but when I took her home from the hospital three weeks ago, she touched my arm, and I felt this spark.”
“Like static electricity?”
“Bigger than that. Ever put your finger in a socket?”
“I try to avoid things that might get me killed. Danger chases me down as it is.”
“Well, I did it once when I was a kid,” Graham said. “We lived in this crappy little apartment that was literally falling apart, and we couldn’t get the landlord to ever fix anything. One of the electric plates was missing, and I was playing around it with one of my Matchbox cars. Gave me a serious shock.”
“Whoa. That’s scary,” Jade said.
“Freaked my mom out. Anyway, touching Violet initially was sorta like that. It happened after her coma.”
“You said she had a head injury, right? I wonder if that changed her somehow.”
“Well, she definitely didn’t have this ability a few years ago, so something must’ve triggered it.”
Jade thought about everything Graham had told her. “If she enchanted you when you were in the car, that means she can do it again.”
Graham nodded slowly. His naturally tanned face had gone pale. “I know. That’s why we have to stop her now. And why I can’t go alone.”
Jade bit back a comment about why he’d gone without her in the first place. Right now they had bigger concerns. “But how are we going to stop her?”
“Call the police?” Graham suggested, without any certainty.
“That would be the worst thing we could do,” Jade said. “With just a touch she could enchant any of them.”
Graham nodded. “She could make them draw their weapons and shoot each other.”
“We have to think of another way. And we can’t risk more lives than we have to. Sending anyone in who doesn’t know about her power is suicide.”
“You’re right. Maybe we should tell the police about her ability.”
“No,” Jade said. “Even if they did give us the benefit of the doubt and agree to go check up on her, they’d still have weapons she could use against them. It’s too risky.”
“We have to deactivate her power somehow first,” Graham said.
“How are we supposed to do that?”
Graham’s brow furrowed in concentration. “Logan tried to take Violet’s medicine away. I think I know why.”
She arched a brow.
“A few weeks back I had to come pick her up from campus. She was passed out cold. It was because she’d missed a dose. If we take her meds, she’ll pass out again.”
“So we go find her meds and confiscate them until it wears off? You think that will work?”
Graham nodded. “Getting them will be hardest. And if you go with me, she could get you under her power too.”
“Well, you can’t go alone. She’d hijack you before you could get to her medicine. If we go together, at least we’ll be more targets for her to worry about.”
“We should try to surprise her,” Graham said.
Jade nodded. “Good point. Except ringing her doorbell might be a giveaway, and I don’t have any experience with breaking into someone’s home.”
“Got it covered,” Graham said. He pulled a key from his pocket.
“You have a key to her place?”
“Dad gave it to me so I could keep an eye on her.”
“Okay.” Jade took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”
~
Graham had suggested Jade drive just in case Violet tried to enchant him again. The idea of being hijacked that way disturbed him, and he tried not to think about the experience as they drove to Violet’s condo.
From Jade’s hands, clutched tightly on the wheel, he knew she was as nervous as he—or perhaps his emotions were affecting her.
They entered the condominium but parked several units down from Violet’s. Jade killed the engine.
“Here goes,” Graham said.
He crept to the back door and retrieved the key from his pocket. Jade waited to one side, hidden by a large shrub.
He took a deep breath and slid the key into the lock.
The door was in good condition and opened
without so much as a creak. Graham stood listening. He could see down a short hall that led past Violet’s kitchen, further down on the right and to the open living space on the opposite side. The back of the sofa was visible and the far wall beyond, but not much else.
All was quiet.
Graham gave Jade a silent nod and entered. He wasn’t sure what Violet normally did at six o’clock on a Friday night. Maybe she was sleeping—for all he knew she was still recovering from the accident. Though she didn’t look as sickly as she had three weeks ago.
He crept down the hall, glancing in as he passed the small half bath—empty. To his left the door to the utility room stood open. The garage lay that way, but for now, he continued to the main living area.
There was no sign of Violet or Logan in the living, and no sounds came from the kitchen. Still, Graham peered beyond the edge of the cabinet to look. Nothing. He paused at the foot of the stair. Maybe the quiet should’ve comforted him, but instead, he thought of a million things he didn’t want to find up there. If she’d killed Holly, she might have done the same with Logan. Graham remembered the knife he’d held in his hand at her request. Had she been that ready to kill him—her own flesh and blood? If so, anything was possible.
And maybe the silence was intentional—maybe Violet had heard…or felt…him enter and she was lying in wait, ready to enchant him once he found her.
There was only one option. He had to check the second floor. Graham gripped the banister, swallowed, and ascended the stairs.
Jade waited behind a shrub outside Violet’s home. Graham had left the back door open, and she strained to hear his footsteps as he explored the condo, but he was nearly silent.
She wasn’t sure if the lack of commotion was good or bad, but it had her nerves on edge. Each second stretched into what felt like minutes, and as the minutes ticked by, she wondered what was taking him so long. The place didn’t look that large, and he should’ve had time to search at least the whole first story by now. He’d said it had a second floor but that most of it was open loft space. Maybe Violet wasn’t home.
Jade heard a muffled thud. Then another. Her heart raced, and an odd sensation filled her mind. All traces of apprehension—Graham’s and her own—had vanished. A strange wistfulness had taken its place, a little like the first fluttery butterflies of a new crush—the way she’d felt about Logan after meeting him in the forest last year. But there was more to this feeling. It had an edge of something akin to euphoria—that blissful lack of deep, coherent thought or deliberate intention. Either she was feeling a new presence, or Graham’s emotions had been hijacked.
It was time for Jade to go inside.
She stepped over the threshold. Her soft-soled flats allowed her to tread without making a sound. She passed a bathroom, laundry room, and living room. She checked the kitchen too. Just as she’d figured—Graham and whoever else must be upstairs.
When she placed her foot on the bottom step, a soft moaning sound drifted from above. Another sound mixed with it—a strange sort of rustling. She frowned, unsure what to expect. How could she fight off Violet if Graham needed her help?
After a second thought, Jade retrieved a large chef knife from the kitchen sink. It still smelled of garlic and onion, but at least it was a weapon. She cringed at the thought of using it.
She crept up the stairs, wincing when one squeaked beneath her foot. Halfway up at the landing, the stairway turned. She paused and held her breath. All she heard was the same mysterious sounds, followed by a long sigh. She gritted her teeth, hoping she wasn’t about to walk in on Violet and Logan in some awkward moment of intimacy. Then she went to the top.
The stairwell deposited her directly into Violet’s bedroom—a vast, luxurious space with elegant but minimalistic dark walnut furnishings. A king-sized bed lay in front of her, and Graham lay spread out across it. He was alone.
Jade frowned, watching him writhe around on the bed as if he were a dog trying to rub his scent onto the comforter.
“Graham? What the heck are you doing?”
A soft moan escaped the smile on his lips, and his eyes were closed in what looked like enjoyment. At her question, he gave one final stretch and sat up.
“And what are you wearing? Is that….”
“It smells like her,” Graham said with a goofy grin. He pulled the edge of the white fluffy robe’s collar up to his nose and inhaled deeply, letting his eyes roll back in delight at the scent.
Jade’s jaw dropped, but she clamped it back realizing she could absorb what was happening with Graham later. First, she had to get a visual on Violet. Still holding the knife, she edged her way around the bed to check behind it. It was clear. Next, she moved to the closet door that stood partially open. The inner light was on. She shoved past the door and entered a room nearly as large as her own bedroom. Rows and rows of dresses, shirts, and pants lined the walls. And the shoes—it could’ve been a shoe store inside. But there was no Violet.
Jade exited the closet, sparing only a skeptical glance at Graham, who was now rubbing the fluffy robe against his face. There was only one place left to check: the bathroom. The door was closed, as if a predator lay in wait, the trap set. But Jade had to check. She grabbed the knob, twisted, and shoved it open. It crashed hard against the wall, revealing an empty room. The shower door was clear glass—no way for her to hide there—and the bathtub was empty.
An odd, gag-inducing stench lingered in the room. It was a smell Jade couldn’t pinpoint. Rows of half-melted candles surrounded the tub, possibly Violet’s attempt to cancel out whatever that smell was. Jade covered her nose and went back to Graham, closing the door behind her.
“She’s not here?” Jade asked.
Graham had peeled back the comforter and crawled into the bed, and he lounged on an elbow, smoothing circles in the sheets with his palm.
Jade stared at him. “If Chloe were here, she’d say you’d gone completely bonkers. You’re a pile of goo.”
“Chloe?” Graham asked, and the comparison of him to a sloppy drunk hit Jade with more than a little bit of revulsion.
“You know, the girl you have a thing for? She’s a cute blonde, with impeccable fashion sense.”
“She’s no Violet.”
Jade snorted. “Thank God for that.” She shook her head, frowning. “Still, you really don’t have feelings for Chloe? Is that how in your head Violet is right now?”
“Violet…” Graham drawled. “She’s so pretty. And lavendery. The bed smells like her too.” He leaned his head to the sheets and gave another big sniff. Then his eyes met Jade’s, big with excitement. “She slept here. Right here. I’m touching the same spot. I just want to rub my body all over it—”
“Eew,” Jade said. “This is a bit much for my stomach. Graham, can we go now?”
“Go?” He sat up and gave a pouty lip. “Can’t we just…look through her clothes first?”
“Graham!” Jade yelled. “We have to keep searching. If Violet’s not here, she’s somewhere else. We can’t stop until we find her.”
He blinked and stared at her.
Jade groaned. She hoped Violet’s enchantment would wear off soon. Otherwise, what in heaven’s name was she going to do with him?
~
“Graham?”
Graham readjusted his position in Jade’s passenger seat, knowing his face had to be as red as the formal dress from Violet’s closet that he’d begged to try on ten minutes ago. He could remember the entire experience—writhing on Violet’s bed, sniffing her clothes like a crack addict trying to suck in every granule of the addictive substance. It made him want to vomit now, and both the back of his neck and his ears flamed with heat.
He cleared his throat, realizing he hadn’t heard whatever she’d asked a moment ago. “Huh?”
She eyed him across the console as she drove. “You sure about this? You really think she’d be at her parents’ house?”
He shrugged and rubbed at the hot place at the back of his neck. �
�I don’t know. She was at her condo an hour ago, so wherever she went, she left in a hurry. The Rousseaus’ is the first place I thought of.”
“But her car was in the garage….”
“They probably took Logan’s since her window was busted out.”
“I wonder how that happened,” Jade said.
After what Graham had witnessed of Logan, he could imagine several possible scenarios.
Jade bit her lip in thought. “She left because you found out about her.”
“You think so?”
She nodded slowly. “She tried to control you when you found how she was enchanting Logan, but she couldn’t hold both of you at once. She let you go in order to keep him. What I don’t get is, why didn’t she just summon you back once Logan was…under control?” Her voice went brittle on the last two words, and Graham knew that how Violet contained Logan wasn’t something Jade wanted to consider.
“I don’t think it works that way,” he said. “She tried to get me back after I left—that must be why she kept enchanting me while I was driving to your place. But the feelings she puts in you don’t come with specific directions.”
“So just being under her enchantment didn’t make you turn around and drive back to her place?”
“No.”
“But if she’d, say, called you and asked you to come back while you were under her spell—”
“I’da slammed on the brakes and done a u-ey in the middle of the freeway. No hesitation. But she took my cell phone.”
Jade’s eyes widened. “So she had no way to contact you. No way to give you that direction.”
Graham nodded.
“So she made it harder for herself when she took your phone.”
“I’m pretty sure she didn’t plan on me leaving,” Graham said. He swiped a hand through the hair that stuck to his sweat-dotted forehead. “I can’t believe you saw me like that.”
He thought Jade might chuckle, but instead, her lips went taut and her jaw rigid. “That was disgusting,” she said.
Enchanter: The Flawed Series Book Four Page 23
