by Meg Anne
The word ‘end’ hung between them, and the smile fell from her face. There was entirely too much held within that singular word, a sense of finality that neither of them could ignore.
“Maybe you should dig in to those numbers a little more,” Lucas said, his voice hoarse.
Skye nodded. “Okay.”
Lucas didn’t like the way any of this sounded. When the pieces were all placed side by side, there was one very clear picture that emerged, and he didn’t like the look of it at all.
Chapter 29
Skye
“Alright, so let’s run through this one more time,” James said. He sat on Lucas’ couch, having just brought Lizzie home from work. “I want to make sure that I understand what you are saying, because this shit is sounding crazier and crazier.”
“A vanishing Druid didn’t reset the crazy meter for you?” Lizzie teased, her voice belying her nerves, despite the joke.
“You’ve got to admit—this is next level shit.”
Lizzie nodded. “No fucking kidding.”
Lucas stood in the middle of the room, his arms folded as he watched them bicker. “You need me to draw you a diagram, shit for brains?”
“Couldn’t hurt,” James said honestly.
Skye laughed, three pairs of eyes turning to her. “Sorry,” she said, holding up her hands. “It’s just, he wasn’t wrong.”
Lucas shook his head, using a hand to cover his smile. “Yeah, alright. Let’s diagram this shit.”
By the time they were set up and ready to start, it seemed a lot more like they were four friends embarking on a game of Pictionary than trying to decipher mysterious clues left by a dead man.
Skye’s smile faltered. She was so out of her league.
“Shouldn’t the artist do the drawing?” Lizzie asked as Lucas brought over a piece of cardboard he’d torn from one of the various boxes.
Lucas held out the permanent marker he’d picked up and offered it to Skye. “By all means.”
She shook her head. “No, you go ahead. This is much more entertaining.”
He shrugged. “If the lady insists.”
“She does.”
Lucas winked and started writing. “Alright, folks, here’s what we know. There’s a rogue Druid who is running loose in Chicago while he tries to complete a ritual.” Lucas added some scribbles that Skye thought might represent Chicago and the Druid, but it was really hard to tell. She regretted not taking the marker.
“Each murder site holds significance… definitely in the placement, and potentially in the number of scenes and/or bodies.”
Skye nodded along with each point.
“Based on Professor Zane’s message, we believe that these sites may be left on what is referred to as a ley line.”
“A place of power,” Lizzie cut in.
“That’s right.”
“Okay, I’m following you so far,” James said.
“Good. Alright, so, based on the spiral, there are four unknown sites. One of them”—Lucas tapped his marker to the top of what was now a black spiral on top of a grid—“we believe to be the first scene. If the scale of the spiral is accurate—and that’s a big fucking if, since it was left by a dying man—then it looks like the first scene falls just outside of our jurisdiction, which is why we wouldn’t have known about it. I already have a call in to see if there’s a scene that matches ours.”
Lucas looked up to make sure the others still followed
“So, where would the other three fall?” James asked.
Lucas scratched his head. “That’s a little harder to say, again, because we aren’t sure of the scale.” Lucas pulled the city map out of his pocket and sketched three more Xs. “But, it looks like here, here, and here.” He handed the map to his partner.
“But that’s…” James looked up at Lucas in shock.
“That’s my diner!” Lizzie cried, springing up from the couch.
Skye was intimately familiar with the fear and anger her friend was feeling. She’d felt the same way when she and Lucas had realized it as well.
“It explains why he keeps going after you there, Lizzie,” Lucas said softly. “It’s not just convenience; it has some significance for him.”
Lizzie’s face had lost some of its color when she woodenly sat back down. “So I’ll never be safe.”
“You don’t have anything to worry about, sweetheart,” James said, taking Lizzie’s hand in his. “I’ll be there with you every day until we catch this bastard. Don’t give it another thought.”
Lizzie touched his cheek. “That’s really sweet of you, James, but you can’t be with me every second.”
“Watch me,” he said fiercely.
Skye shot Lucas a glance, expecting to see more of his brotherly outrage, but he looked at James with something more along the lines of consideration. Interesting.
“Alright, so we have seven sites, spread throughout the city in places of supposed power. If nothing else, we have a blueprint of where he’ll strike next,” James said.
Lucas nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”
“Do we have any idea when he’ll strike?” James asked.
Lucas shrugged again. “My guess is sooner rather than later. He’s dropped at least a body a day since he started.”
“So we stake out the other locations and stop him when he shows up.”
“That’s the long and short of it,” Lucas agreed.
“It seems too simple,” Lizzie jumped in, parroting Skye’s own concerns.
“It’s the best we got, Lizzie. I can’t just sit here with my thumb up my ass while I wait for him to go after you again. I don’t want the next body I find to be yours.”
Lizzie’s lower lip trembled at her brother’s words. “I don’t want that either.”
“Is there anything else? Like a motive? Do we know why the wizard fucker is going after you?”
Skye’s lip curled into a snarl, but James was already winking at her from his place on the couch. She scowled at him.
“Skye, you want to take that one?”
She pushed herself off his chair and walked into the center of the living room. “Sure.” She took a deep breath. “I pieced together the little knowledge I can still recall from my Gran’s teachings, as well as what I found today when I was doing research, and it seems to all come down to power. Our Druid wants more of it, or all of it, I should say. He believes that by performing these rituals in these specific locations, he will gain more power. A lot of it.”
Now Lizzie was scowling, but to Skye she appeared more like an angry kitten than a pissed off woman. She was entirely too sweet to have that level of outrage on her face. Skye knew better than to ever tell her that, but the thought made her lips twitch anyway.
“He’s saving Lucas for last!”
Skye nodded. “That’s what I think. The most powerful person, in the most powerful location. Lucas is his grand finale.”
The room fell silent until James broke it with a heartfelt, “Shit.”
“Yeah, it’s a big fucking bucket of rainbows, isn’t it?” Lucas said.
Skye snickered. “I guess that’s one way of looking at it.”
“He really thinks all these sacred numbers and shit are going to give him a mojo boost?”
“I think what’s scarier,” Skye said, “is what happens if he’s right. I did some more digging this afternoon into the numbers three and seven, because of their significance in the body count and crime scenes, and I stumbled across something really creepy. Not only is the number seven tied to things like creation and completion, it is also considered a place between the two worlds: death and life. A place where they meet, and possibly merge.”
The others stared at her, not fully understanding what she was trying to say.
Skye licked her lips, her palms sweaty as she opened her mouth to finally say out loud the thing that had been scaring the shit out of her since she stumbled across it. “You guys, I think this ritual is more than just an attempt to
steal Lucas’ power and send him to the Wasteland. I think our Druid wants to be immortal.”
“The place where both meet and merge,” Lizzie whispered, understanding dawning in her bright blue eyes.
“Where they both merge, and both cease to be. Eternal life and complete power; he would be unstoppable.”
Skye looked at Lucas, who watched her intently. “This is so much bigger than we thought. This isn’t just about keeping the four of us alive anymore. If he succeeds...”
Skye didn’t need to finish her sentence. Her words had the impact of a bomb and now the others all looked shell-shocked.
“We can’t let him win,” Lizzie said fiercely.
“We won’t,” Lucas promised her. He turned back to Skye, his jaw hard and his blue eyes blazing with determination. “Whatever we have to do to take that bastard down, I’m in.” His voice was a deep growl as he said, “All in, Skye.”
Her stomach swooped at the words. Lucas had always had an aura of strength and purpose, but right now he was exuding all kind of sexy superhero vibes, and she was into it.
If there was ever anyone who was a superhero in disguise, Skye believed it was Lucas. In fact, when it came to trusting in someone to fly in and save the day, she’d put her money on him every single time.
They might be on the edge of a colossal shit storm, but she knew he would protect them from the fallout. That’s what superheroes did.
Chapter 30
Lucas
The next morning, Lucas followed Skye into her brightly decorated apartment. They were grabbing the box of journals her grandmother had written, and then heading back to his apartment. He had plans to drop her off, and then he and Matthews were going to meet with a neighboring precinct.
They’d called him back that morning to let him know a murder matching their Druid’s MO had been discovered less than a week prior and in the general area he’d inquired about. It seemed that Professor Zane’s markings had been pretty close to scale after all.
“This way.” Skye made her way down a short hall, and Lucas glanced at the photographs on the wall as they passed. A few images of Skye smiling with an older woman decorated the space along with some paintings of the stars Lucas assumed were Skye’s own work.
They stepped into her bedroom, and the delicate scent of her surrounded him. It took everything in him not to breath in like some kind of creep, but damn she smelled good.
Her bed was decorated with a bright red quilt that had gold stitching, and a multitude of orange and gold throw pillows. What the hell was it with women and extra pillows? To him, it was just one more step that separated him from his sheets.
Skye stepped around her room and pulled open her double closet doors. “There it is.” She pointed to a box at the top of her bedroom closet.
He eyed the long distance between the top of her head and the shelf. “I would love to know how you got that up there.”
Skye glared at him. “I do own a step ladder.”
He shrugged. “I just assumed you had taller shoes.”
“Yes, Detective Loomis, I own a pair of four-foot heels. Now can you please shut up and grab it for me?”
Laughing, he moved past her and lifted the box off the shelf. After setting it down on the bed, he took a seat next to it and watched as she took a deep breath before unsealing the box. His eyes zeroed in on her lips as they opened up on an exhale. He knew he should be focused on anything but the way her lips felt on his, but her taste was addicting, and he was desperate for another hit.
“Lucas?”
Her voice pulled him from the memory of the night on his couch. “Yeah?”
She eyed him. “I asked if you wanted anything to drink.”
“Oh, no, I’m good. Find what you’re looking for?”
Skye nodded and held up a stack of four leather-bound journals. “There should be something in here. From what I remember, she kept incredibly detailed notes.”
He lifted one of the journals from her stack and opened it to the first page.
Skye slammed the journal shut, pulling it from his hands. “I will be reading them first. On my own,” she added for emphasis.
“Why?”
“Because, Detective Nosy, these were her personal journals. It’s not all fire and brimstone in here; she also wrote about love and all that good stuff.” She winked as she gently placed the journals on the table.
“So, your grandmother kept a sex journal.”
Skye gaped at him. “She did not!”
“That’s what you just said.”
“Um, excuse me? I did not say sex journal! Some of her passages were just more personal, that’s all.”
Maybe it was just hearing her say the word sex, or maybe it was the loving way her fingers absentmindedly stroked the cover of the journal, but Lucas wished her hands were on him instead.
Clearing his throat, he dragged his eyes back to hers. “Alright, fine. Whatever you say, Twyla.” He threw his hands up in mock surrender.
Skye’s eyes fell back to the journals, her smile looking more sad than anything. “After she passed, I couldn’t bring myself to read these. It was too hard, knowing all that was left of her were her words, painstakingly written out in these books.” Skye sighed, shaking her head and looking back up at him with a little laugh. “I remember watching her write in them. She treated it like it was a ritual, always lighting candles and using special pens. These were really important to her.”
Immediately feeling like an ass, Lucas pulled her closer so that she stood between his legs. “I’m sorry. I can barely cope with going through boxes of my parents’ stuff; I can’t imagine having to read their words, too.”
Skye swallowed hard, and Lucas tilted her head up so his eyes could hold hers. “Thank you for doing this for me,” he said softly.
She nodded, her amber eyes serious. “I think there’s very little I wouldn’t do for you or your sister at this point.”
He lifted his hand and used his thumb to brush her cheek in the whisper of a caress. “The feeling is entirely mutual.”
Chapter 31
Skye
“If anything happens, call me,” Lucas insisted.
“I’ll be fine,” Skye promised.
James had already left to take Lizzie to her diner. Once the other police officer arrived to keep a watchful eye on Lizzie, James would meet up with Lucas so they could check out what could potentially be the original crime scene.
Since her head still pounded from playing target practice with the coffee table yesterday, Skye decided to sit this one out. Her primary mission today was to muster up the courage to start reading through her Gran’s journals.
Lucas narrowed his eyes. “You’re sure you’re okay with this?”
While she appreciated his concern, she was desperate for some alone time; they’d been together nearly twenty-four-seven since the night he demanded she stay with him. She might even do some painting and take a nap.
Scratch that, definitely a nap.
“Maybe Matthews should just go alone.”
“Lucas,” she stopped him with a hand on his chest. His chest was hard against her palm, and beneath it she could feel the threaded muscles that flexed at the contact. It was damn near impossible to ignore the way it lit a fire in her belly, but she took a deep breath and did her best. Damn timing. It had begun to feel as though fate was simultaneously pushing them together and pulling them apart. “I will be fine. I have my phone; if anything comes up, I will call. Scouts honor,” she teased, mimicking him from before.
“If I’m too rough around the edges to be a boy scout, there’s no fucking way you were a girl scout.”
Skye rolled her eyes. “Seriously. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself for a few hours.”
He hesitated for a moment before sighing. “Fine.” Lucas leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. The contact was soft, and the light stubble coating his jaw scraped gently against her skin. It was a sweet gesture, one that didn’t l
ack heat, but felt more like a smolder than a full-fledged flame.
“Stay safe,” she whispered when he pulled away.
“You too.” Lucas knelt and rubbed Lucy’s head. “Take care of my girl, Lucy.” He grinned up at Skye, before winking and stepping out.
Skye closed and locked the door behind him. “Alone at last!” She nearly sang the words, doing a little hip-shaking dance to complement them. “Lucy, my dear, I think this calls for a bubble bath.”
The dog looked up at her with adoring puppy eyes but bolted for a hiding place at the word bath.
“For me, not you, silly girl!” Skye called with a chuckle.
Amused, she went to the bathroom and filled the tub with the hottest water she could stand, grabbed the first of her Gran’s journals, and climbed in. The heat seeped through her skin, loosening muscles she hadn’t even realized were tight. Skye savored the near burn from the hot water, her skin immediately turning a bright shade of pink. She was already feeling more relaxed than she had in days.
Once she’d settled into the water, Skye took a deep breath and opened to the first page.
* * *
April 20, 1962
Death finally found me.
I knew it was coming; my mother and Gran warned me for years about the gift our family carried, but the warning still didn’t make it any easier.
A boy, no older than me, was struck down by a car. I was trapped there with him, having to watch as he drew his last breath.
Seeing his mother running into the street, trying desperately to save his life has weighed on me in a way I cannot even begin to put into words.
My mother was surprised it took so long for the Sight to manifest. She’d believed it might have passed over me, as it had her sister, since Mother received her first vision when she’d only been seven, and I am already into my twenties.
Perhaps it is because I have always been cautious about making physical contact with anyone, knowing that is often the trigger. At least until this morning. The brush of the boy’s shoulder had caught me off guard, and as I looked up to apologize, I felt the strangest tingling at the back of my neck. That’s when I knew.
