“Do you know how Thomas died?” she asked.
He paused, tilted his head, and considered. A faint smile played on his lips. “Know it? I saw it. It was horrifying. Terrible. He had come home drunk. So unlike Thomas. I suspected they put something in his drink to make him fuzzy-brained. Probably a drug that was hard to detect, something odorless and tasteless. James is very resourceful.” He grinned chillingly. “Thomas went to sleep.”
It was so quiet that Aerilyn heard the thump thump of her heart. “Then what happened?”
Simon crept a bit closer. “James and Robin slipped into the apartment. They must have made a key. Or maybe they stole my key. I am not sure.” He frowned, as if this part of the story was just now making sense. “They went to Thomas’s room. Naturally, I followed. I wanted to kill that Robin. Wanted to KILL THEM BOTH. But I couldn’t touch them. I didn’t have the power that I do now.” His hands rose, his fingers extending, resembling claws. “They had a rope with them. After tying one end of the rope around the hook on the ceiling, James took the chair and positioned it under the hook .They both carried Thomas and made him stand on the chair. He couldn’t stand, poor fellow. He was so out of it. Robin held it up and put the noose around his neck.” He stopped, gulped. “Thomas used to hang a windmill from that hook. They broke it .Threw it on the floor.”
Aerilyn put a hand on her stomach, trying to curb the nausea that rose up her throat. “What happened next?”
“Can’t you guess, moron? They let him go and kicked the chair. He swung like a damn pendulum for a long time. And they watched. His neck stretched. His tongue came out. His skin grew all red and splotchy on his face.” He shook his head. “And they watched, and watched, AND WATCHED!”
“They wanted to make sure he was dead before they left.”
“Right on, pretty lady!” he said in a sing-song voice. “Aren’t you the clever one?”
Aerilyn was distracted by a sudden noise. Someone was banging on the door and moving the handle, trying to get in. “Cole?” she whispered. Had Simon barred entry into the apartment? Did he have that kind of power? How long had Cole been trying to get in?
What else was Simon capable of?
“So now that you know everything, what are you gonna do?” He stepped forward. Aerilyn took a careful step back. He covered the distance between them in a heartbeat, his dirt-streaked face inches away as he glared at her. A short scream burst out of her mouth before she could control it. “WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?”
The fervent banging on the door increased. Aerilyn heard Cole cursing and yelling, but she couldn’t make out the words.
She gulped. It was unnerving to find him so close, especially when he was in such a hostile state of mind. “I’m going…to see to it that they are punished.”
“How? You’ll tell the police that you talked to a ghost?” He laughed. His teeth were yellow and stained. Suddenly his attention shifted to the door. “Your friend is very persistent.”
“Don’t you…”
The door snapped open with a loud bang, and Cole stumbled in. He’d used an axe to break the lock and handle. Or maybe Simon couldn’t maintain his hold on the door any longer. Seeing her pressed against wall, Cole stopped. Holding the axe high, he took in his surroundings. The building superintendent stood behind him, his mouth gaping open.
“What’s going on?” Cole said cautiously. Clearly, he couldn’t see anyone near her, but her stance alerted him to some invisible danger.
“Don’t hurt him.” Aerilyn tried to grab Simons’ hand but her fingers slipped through the empty air. She couldn’t touch him.
Cole stepped forward, his eyes on the space in front of Aerilyn as if he knew someone was there even if he couldn’t see someone. The superintendent frowned. “What’s going on?”
Simon raised a hand and suddenly the axe in Cole’s hand slipped out of his grasp. It flew through the air and crashed against the opposite wall.
“What the hell…” The superintendent swore and backed off. “Are you both nuts?”
From his perspective, it must have looked as if Cole had thrown the axe. Aerilyn tried to step towards Cole. She wanted him out of the room but her feet were frozen to the ground. She couldn’t move. “Go back,” she yelled.
“Not without you.” Cole took a few more steps, but before he could reach her, Simon raised a hand and Cole flew through the air and crashed into the opposite wall.
The superintendent screamed. “Who did that?”
Aerilyn tried to lunge towards Cole but she was frozen into one spot. She couldn’t even move a finger. “Please! Please, I am begging you. Don’t hurt him. He is trying to help me bring Robin to justice. Please. Leave him alone.”
Cole stood, wincing. His head had crashed hard into the wall, and she saw a faint trickle of blood running down his temple. It didn’t appear to deter him from moving towards her. He shuffled forward, his eyes wide open. His lips were set in a hard, determined line.
“Cole, stay there,” she ordered but it didn’t stop him. “Please. I am fine.”
He kept on moving towards her.
“Interesting!” Simon mused. He tilted his head, watching Cole’s progress across the apartment with an amused grin on his face. “Quite a determined man, isn’t he?”
“Please. We’re trying to unveil the truth.” Aerilyn pleaded. “We mean you no harm. Let us go.”
“Go then,” he said in a harsh voice. And Aerilyn felt the bindings that kept her frozen to the same spot snap open. She rushed towards Cole and grabbed him around his waist. He turned her around, and forced her to move behind him, using his body as a shield for whatever the hell he thought he was protecting her from. Simon watched, his blood-red eyes glinting with amusement. “Come back soon after you catch them. I will be here, waiting.”
After they were out of the room, Cole didn’t let her turn. Instead, he kept his back to the apartment and ushered her out into the hallway and down the staircase until they were in the lobby. The superintendent was right behind them, his face a comic mixture of fury and shock.
“What was that? What did you guys do?”
“Can’t you tell? Do you think she threw me all the way back with a flick of her hand?” Cole demanded furiously. “Didn’t you see that?”
Aerilyn searched her purse. She dug out a tissue and pressed it the wound right above his temple. It didn’t look deep, but it might require stitches. She hugged him, one hand holding the tissue on his head, the other gripping him around the waist. She had never been so scared in her life. For a moment, she had thought Simon might actually kill Cole.
He was the most powerful spirit she had come across. Simon was a poltergeist; a spirit capable of acting physically in the world of life. It was not an unheard of phenomenon – but it was rare – and extremely disturbing. It was clear that he was anchored in this world due to his desire for revenge or hatred for his killer – but his anger was so out of control that he seemed to be willing to harm any innocent person who stumbled across his path.
If he ever managed to gather enough energy to escape the apartment where he was localized, it would be a great disaster. His deep rooted rage and his propensity to hurt others would lead him to harm others. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Perhaps once his murderers were behind bars, he would retreat to the otherworld.
“You’re alright. You’re fine.” Cole ran his hands up and down her back. She wasn’t sure if he was reassuring her or himself. He kissed her forehead. Turning his head, he looked at the superintendent who was standing next to them with a bewildered expression on his face. “I suggest you lock that damn apartment. Don’t let anyone go inside. There is something…someone in that place. Something dangerous.”
“A ghost?” The superintendent’s eyes popped wide open.
“Do you have another explanation for what we saw?” Cole put his hand on her hair. “Don’t tell anyone. Don’t say anything to anyone, and don’t rent that apartment to anyone.”
Aerilyn look
ed up. “It’s Simon. He is very angry.”
“Simon? But he is dead,” said the superintendent.
“That apartment is haunted. At least for now. Maybe…he might leave later.” She exchanged a meaningful glance with Cole. “But for now it’s not safe for anyone to go in. Make sure that apartment is off-limits for everyone.”
“Alright. I will have to tell the building owners, but…ok, alright.” The superintendent nodded.
Cole led Aerilyn out. He called his chauffeur. “We’ll need to go to the emergency room to see about this wound.”
He nodded. “I am fine, but we’ll go to a hospital.”
Standing on the pavement outside the nondescript apartment building, breathing in the fresh air and watching people walk by them, Aerilyn felt as if she had been through a nightmare. Had this incident really happened? The blood on Cole’s face was proof that they just had a supernatural encounter with an extremely pissed off spirit.
God only knew what he would do if someone else came into his path? She hoped the superintendent intended to keep his word. It was important that the apartment remain locked for now.
“We should go.” His car came to a smooth stop, and Cole helped her in.
She held his hand, burrowing close to him, breathing his fresh, spicy scent as they made their way to the hospital. For now, at least, they were safe. And Simon had given useful information. Another piece to the puzzle was filled in.
They were closer to the killers than ever before.
Chapter Eight
Aerilyn opened her room door and stepped out into the suite’s living room. The sight that met her eyes stopped her short. Damn it! Afraid that her eyes might pop out of her head, she blinked rapidly – but scenario didn’t change.
Cole, naked down to his waist, was doing fast push-ups on the plush rug in the living room. His arms, bunched up and muscled, were slick with sweat. He wore a black bandana that kept his hair off his face. His body, lean and fit, moved up and down as he counted quietly with each movement.
A wave of lust, hot and crazy, sizzled its way down to her belly. Aerilyn took a step forward and walked right into the couch. “Ouch!” she muttered, and grabbed the edge of the couch to break her fall.
He looked up but his momentum didn’t break. After ten more push-ups, he stood. His sculpted body was even more spectacular from this angle. His muscles were well-defined. This wasn’t a guy who used exercise sparingly to look good. He treated his body like a temple. Her gaze moved up from his flat stomach to his chest, up his neck, and on to his face. Embarrassment flooded through her when she saw the amused smile on his face.
“If I’d checked you out like that, you would have called me a chauvinist or a pervert.”
“I am not the one prancing about half-naked,” she countered.
“Oh! What I would give to see you do that.”
Knowing she wasn’t going to win this one, she pointed towards the dining area. “I’ll just…” Sure that her cheeks were a flaming red by now, she hurried off to score some breakfast – and perhaps get herself in control before he appeared. “Down, girl,” she muttered. “This is a losing battle. And it’s not like you haven’t seen naked men before.”
While sitting at the dining chair, she gazed at the polished surface of the smooth mahogany table, her mind still processing the image she’d seen. Cole was hot. On a scale of one to ten, he was way over the top. No doubt about that. And maybe, just maybe, she had gone too long without sex? When was her last relationship? Two years ago? And it had barely lasted for three months before things fizzled out.
No wonder she was hyperventilating at the mere sight of him. Sure, he looked good enough to eat – but did she really want the complications that went with a hot, torrid affair; the fights, insecurity, and the demands?
“Hi.” He appeared at the doorway. His hair was still wet from the shower and his cheeks flushed from the workout. “Did you order breakfast?”
Realizing she had been sitting there woolgathering for half an hour, Aerilyn flushed. “I…was about to order breakfast. What would you like?”
“I’ve already placed my order. I wasn’t sure what you wanted and when you would be up.” He picked up the phone. “What should I order for you?”
“Toast. Tea and fruit.”
He ordered and put the phone down. Coming up to her, he yanked her up and planted a kiss on her mouth. “There. That makes us even. You checked me out, I kissed you.”
“You call that a kiss?”
They were so close together, barely a few inches apart. She felt the heat radiating off his skin. His heart beat with a steady rhythm under her palm. Heart curled inside her, making her yearn for something more. Without knowing how, her hand moved up to rest on his chest.
“I could do better,” he muttered, his lips inches away from hers.
“Show me.” She was feeling reckless and out of control. A hard knot of desire tightened in her belly. He bent his head and his lips touched hers, ever so gently, as if gauging her reaction. Aerilyn was past the point of reason. Nothing made sense – but this certainly did. She didn’t care if this was a wrong thing to do. She didn’t care if she was breaking her own personal rules.
She was past the point of thinking about anything.
As they kissed, her hands moved up his back. His muscles bunched under her fingers. A fission of excitement slithered up her spine. She shivered. He tasted all male – spicy, sweet, with a buttery, warm flavor. She had never tasted anything better. Heat, a desperate need, coiled deep inside her, stretched, and churned in her gut. Her breath hitched in her throat, exploded as she gasped.
With a low moan, he scraped his teeth against her jaw. “We’d better stop right now.”
Breathless, she looked at him. “What if I don’t want to?”
“I hope you mean that because I am not letting you change your mind.” With one powerful swipe, he swept her off her feet and into his arms. As he carried her through the living room and into his room, she trailed a line of kisses up his chest. Her heart drummed so hard that she thought the entire building would probably be able to hear it.
Placing her on the bed, he lay down next to her. His lips captured her again, his tongue darting inside to dance with hers. She ran her hands up his back and buried them in his thick, dark hair. His lips traced a line down her jaw into the curve of her throat. He rose up on his elbows and looked down at her. She should’ve felt self-conscious or shy, but the look in his eyes made her feel beautiful. No woman could have ever been so wanted, so desired.
She trailed a finger down his forehead, to his cheek and onto his lips. “You’re beautiful.”
“That was supposed to be my line.”
“This is the time of gender equality and all that.” With a quick flip, she pinned him down and sat on top of him.
“Hmmm…interesting.” He surrendered by dropping his hands up above his head. His posture relaxed as he gazed at her. “I don’t mind letting a woman take the lead.”
One by one, she opened the buttons of his shirt and ran her fingers from his belly up to his chest. As a sea of raw sensation engulfed her, burning inside like a vortex of mad desire, she heard him groan. Too engrossed with the waves of pleasure that coursed through her body, she followed her fingers with her lips, kissing his exposed skin. She took off his shirt. He offered no resistance and instead took off the clip that was holding her hair. The heavy, golden mass tumbled down on to her shoulders.
“A goddess indeed,” he muttered as he gazed at her flushed face.
Feeling shameless and reckless, Aerilyn took off her shirt in one deft movement. He groaned as she unclipped her bra and threw it away. His hands moved up her waist to cup her breasts. A gasp escaped her lips as his fingers flicked over her nipples. Heat, need, and a punch of lust sliced through her. She unhooked his pants and rose to slide them down his hips.
He removed her skirt in one quick, sure move and flipped her over. Naked, she watched him from under her eyelash
es as he slid his body over hers. His hands skimmed over breasts, her ribcage and her belly. His tongue licked and caressed until she was withering, her body jerking with need and desire. Skin against skin, it was as if they were both on fire.
Aerilyn felt her breath come out in pants as she gasped for release. She was ready to feel him inside her.
“Now,” she mouthed the word, and with one quick stroke he dove deep inside her. She arched her hips, melting in the sea of vibrations that rippled through her. With each stroke, she found herself riding the wave higher and higher, soaring above with the wind under her wings, until finally she careened over the peak into the bottomless abyss beyond. As her body jerked with release, he slowed his rhythm and allowed her to catch her breath.
Aerilyn ran a hand up his back. His lips touched hers as with soft strokes he reignited her passion until she began to move again, matching him stride for stride. The sensations ignited deep inside her again; heat and cold, low and high, making her yearn for the blessed release once more. As the orgasm whipped through her, he emptied himself into her with a loud cry, and came to a shuddering stop. For a long moment they stayed tangled together, his hand resting on her shoulder while her arms encircled his waist. She never wanted this moment to end. Never before had she ridden the waves of passion to such dangerous highs.
He rose up on his elbows, lifting his weight off hers. “Jeez. What the hell was that?”
Aerilyn’s eyes were glazed. “I don’t know, but I am willing to try it again to explore it further.”
He laughed. “You’re going to kill me.”
Her eyes gleamed with mischief. “But you would die a happy man.”
“True.” He sat back. A look of contrition crept across his face. “I’m sorry. I forgot to use protection.”
She did a quick, mental calculation. “As much my fault as yours, but it’s safe, I think.”
He ran a hand down her thigh and her body melted with intense heat. Not again. She sat. “I need food before we do this again.”
He chuckled. “Right on time, because I think I heard the doorbell rang. The waiter must be here with our breakfast. I’ll go get the door while you dress.” He picked up his pants, pulled them on and then turned, shirtless, towards the door.
The Spiritist Page 12
