by Rose, Imogen
He looked uncertain, his brows furrowed. “I don’t know, guys. I’ve only ever wandered with one other person at a time. It takes up most of my energy. This would, however, be a very short distance, and there’s no time or dimension travel involved....”
“Faustine doesn’t need to go,” Fitch countered.
I shot him the death glare. Maybe not, but I wanted to. I had to make sure that things went according to plan. I would be the strongest being there, and invaluable should anything go wrong and we had to resort to sheer force. Katerina was half demon after all; there was no telling how this would play out. I might have to take her out. “I need to go. I may be the only real weapon against Katerina should something go wrong.”
Fitch didn’t look convinced. If Ryker couldn’t take me, I’d have to find another way. I turned to him. “Ryk?”
He shrugged. “I’ll try.”
“What happens if his try doesn’t work, and you’re all revealed?” Fitch muttered.
“All hell will break loose,” Taylor said. “I can’t have that.”
“Wait! No need for all this worry. We don’t need to be in the same room with you. We just have to be able to hear you. We could do that from an adjacent room in Katerina’s house. Then, if there’s an issue with visibility, we’ll just hide until we are needed. Okay?” I suggested.
Taylor nodded. “Okay. I’m going to integrate with Dad now and try to arrange to meet Katerina at eight over at her place. So, I’ll see you there with Edith. I’ll let you know if there’s a change of plan.”
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “And make sure to change outfits! Katerina is sure to know something is up if you arrive in that hideous getup!” I laughed, looking at Robert still wearing the bright red dress.
Ryker and I decided to stroll over to Central Park and hang out while we waited for evening to arrive. We didn’t speak as we walked over to Loeb Boathouse and ordered a couple of Diet Cokes. We sat watching the boats as they moved on the calm water of the lake.
“Do you want to row?” Ryker suddenly asked.
“Yeah, why not? Let’s!”
We walked over to the rental dock and stepped into a rickety rowboat. I smiled at Ryker as I dipped my oar into the water. This was just what I needed, meaningless preoccupation; the fresh breeze blowing on my face was a bonus. As we synchronized our strokes, hitting the water at the same time and using the same amount of force to propel the boat forward, I submerged myself totally into the activity, rhythmically moving my arms in circles. We laughed as we clumsily tried to turn the boat. We got into a rhythm very fast, able to anticipate each other’s moves. I felt even closer to Ryker than before. After a couple of hours, we returned the boat. We were both exhausted, but relaxed. We had managed to forget our troubles for the afternoon.
We ate at The Lakeside Restaurant, where I dove into the pan-seared, Colorado rack of lamb and Ryker opted for the Scottish salmon. Once we had finished, we sat back and gazed at the glistening water of the lake. The moon was full, and its reflection in the lake was both beautiful and surreal. Ryker grabbed my hand and pulled his chair close to mine. He put his arm around my shoulder, and I relaxed back onto his chest. The evening air had turned cooler, so I pushed myself closer to him for warmth. I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent.
“We have to go,” Ryker reminded me. “Alexandra texted me to let us know that Edith is at her place waiting for us. Ready, babe?”
I shook my head.
He laughed and pulled me up with him. “Come on, Demon Princess. We have some rescuing to do.”
Sigh. All I wanted to do was get a good night’s sleep and go to school in the morning. We walked, hand in hand, through the park toward Fifth Avenue. We were at Alexandra’s building in no time.
“Faustine! Good to see you. I was starting to get concerned,” Edith said, glancing down at her watch. “Alexandra filled me in. It’s nice to see you again, Ryker. Your uncle isn’t going to be pleased when he hears that you’ve involved yourself without his approval,” she cautioned.
“We don’t have much choice,” I countered. “We need him. We’ll deal with Spencer later. Perhaps it’s better to keep it from him for now,” I suggested.
Edith shrugged. “So how’s this going to work, Ryker? I have never been invisible before. Nor have I ever traveled with a Wanderer.”
“I’m going to put one hand on your shoulder, the other on Faustine’s. You will feel a sense of weightlessness combined with a force to your eyes. Shut them. We will arrive at Katerina’s place almost instantly. Taylor is going to try to keep Katerina in the living room, so I’m going to bring us to the kitchen. I’ll keep my arms around you both, cloaking you from the rest of the world. We’ll be able to see each other, but we won’t be visible to anyone else while I keep us invisible. We’ll be heard if we speak, though; so we must remain silent.”
“Sounds good,” Edith said. “My understanding is that we will intervene once Taylor has left Robert’s body and occupied Katerina’s. I’ll place a shield around Robert and bring him back here, leaving the two of you to deal with Katerina.”
I nodded.
“Ready, ladies?” Ryker asked. We both nodded, and he put his hands on our shoulders. We were off.
We arrived in Katerina’s kitchen moments later. I looked at my watch. We were early. I made myself comfortable on Ryker’s lap as he sat down on the floor against a wall on the far side of the kitchen. Edith scooted up against us, so we would all maintain body contact.
I freaked out a bit when Katerina came waltzing into the kitchen. None of us dared to breathe. We sat dead still while Katerina retrieved a couple of wine glasses and grabbed a bottle of white wine from the cooler before she made her way out again. I heaved a deep sigh of relief. My relief was short lived as she returned, this time to bring a bunch of trays laden with food back out with her. I hoped that Taylor would go easy with the wine! But, it would be good if Katerina drank a decent amount. She would be much easier to occupy if her defenses were down.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when the doorbell rang. We saw Katerina checking her makeup in the hallway mirror, which was situated opposite the kitchen door, before answering the front door. It struck me that it was kind of strange for Katerina to be wearing a sexy, cocktail dress. It was a short, black number with a deep scoop. The dress was gathered at the waist with a rhinestone belt. She had accessorized with super-high, red stilettos. Mutton dressed as lamb. She looked ridiculous. It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps she had a date! Blech. Maybe she’d rescheduled her meeting with Robert. Surely, Alexandra would have told us....
“Baby!” Followed by a slurpy, tonguey kissing sound. Yuck. We were inadvertently listening in on a date. I looked at Ryker and rolled my eyes. It was time for us to go.
“Katerina, I’m exhausted and thirsty,” came Robert’s slightly panicky voice from the living room. I bit down on Ryker’s hand as it came over my mouth to stop me from laughing out loud.
“Hard day, Sweetums?” Katerina crooned.
My body was shaking with stifled snorts. Sweetums? Were Robert and Katerina hooking up? Blech. Poor Taylor!
“Yes,” Robert replied. “Here, let me pour us some of that wine.”
We heard the clinking of glasses.
“Not long now,” Katerina mused.
“That’s right,” Robert replied vaguely.
“I’ve chosen my coronation gown. I can’t wait for you to see it. I’ve also booked us a wedding ceremony tomorrow in Vegas. We need to get rid of Tessa before then.”
“Now?” Robert asked.
Katerina laughed. “No, not right at this minute. I have different plans for us tonight. I was thinking a pre-wedding honeymoon, since we won’t have time for a real one after the wedding.”
Blech.
“We can stop by Pauline’s house and get rid of Tessa before we drive to the airport,” she continued.
“What about the others?” Robert asked.
“I better keep them alive
a little longer in case my pesky half sister wants a visual of them. However, let’s not talk about her tonight. Drink up. I have a whole case of this wine waiting to be enjoyed.”
I was getting pins and needles as I sat listening to Robert and Katerina chatter about their wedding and the upcoming coronation. So, Robert was intending to take over Cassandra’s position in London, while Katerina took mine. They had plans for Collette to assume Alfred’s position. There was no talk of Silvia. There was also no mention of Sebastian, Oscar, or any of their New York plans. They–Katerina, at least–were too engrossed in chatting about their nuptials, for the moment.
About an hour later, when my legs were practically dead, we heard Katerina beckon Robert to follow her. It sounded like they were heading toward the bedroom. Katerina was slurring her words, obviously drunk. I motioned for Edith and Ryker to come with me, so we could see what was happening. Taylor had Katerina in a perfect place. Katerina’s defenses were down. It was now or never.
Still cloaked, we watched from the bedroom doorway as Katerina pulled Robert closer to the bed where she was posed seductively. Not.
Robert made the thumbs-up sign with his hand behind his back. That was Taylor’s signal to us that she was about to leave him. I looked at Edith; I hoped she was ready. She nodded in affirmation. Ryker made us visible again.
Robert suddenly jerked backward and fell to the floor. He looked around, confused, then spotted us. His face contorted into an angry scowl as he stood up and started toward us with his arms raised. He stopped abruptly, his body jerking forward and his face smushed, like he had hit a wall.
I looked over at Edith.
“I’ll take him from here,” she said. “You should check on Taylor.”
Ryker and I made our way to the king-size bed. The thoroughly distasteful figure of a loudly snorting Katerina was slumped on it. I pinched her–not so gently–to see if she would awaken. She didn’t stir. The wine, along with Taylor transferring herself over, had knocked her out. Boy, I hoped that Taylor was in control. There was nothing to do, but wait and watch the old witch sleep. I sat down on the floor beside the bed with Ryker and made myself comfortable. Both Ryker and I were exhausted.
I didn’t waken until a big foot landed on me the next morning. Pedicure anyone? Gross. “Ouch!” Get your foot off me!” I yelled, waking Ryker.
Katerina peered over the side of the bed. I felt my fingers merge.
“Keep your pants on; it’s just me, Taylor,” she said.
“Well, get those decrepit, old feet off of me!” I repeated.
She stared down at them. “Ugh! I can’t believe I have to be inside this! There’s just no excuse for that,” she said, pointing to the feet. “There’s like a gazillion pedicure places just on this street.” Then she looked at her fingers. “Ugh.”
I pushed the feet off of me and stood up. “Is the wine out of Katerina’s system?” I asked her.
“No. She’s completely smashed,” Taylor replied. “I think she’ll be out for hours.”
“Let’s get some breakfast before we drive to the Poconos,” I suggested.
It was awkward dealing with Taylor in this state. She moved like an old lady, though she didn’t want to. So she kept doing things way too fast for her body, making herself stumble about clumsily.
“Slow down, Taylor,” I suggested. “Your body can’t keep up with you.”
“It’s not my body,” she protested, and threw a steak at me, which I expertly caught with my teeth.
She laughed. “Are you sure you’re a half demon and not a shifter? Or a doggie?”
I threw the steak at her. It hit her stomach, making her tumble backward. I shook my head. She really had no control of that body. Once we were done eating, we got a cab and made our way to Pauline’s house in Pennsylvania.
“Taylor, are you going to be able to find the spell in there?” I asked, pointing at Katerina’s head. I could only imagine what Katerina’s mind was like; it wouldn’t be easy to find anything in there.
“I’m going to try,” she shrugged. “Mom’s meeting us over at Pauline’s. She’s going to help me with the meditation. What are you guys going to do with this body once I’m done?” she asked.
What were we going to do? I guessed that was up to Alexandra and Edith. This was their domain. Or was it? We were heading into Pennsylvania. They may not have any authority there. Would we now need to call on the local sovereigns?
“Katerina is very powerful and dangerous. She’ll need to be destroyed or contained somehow, once Taylor lets go of her,” Ryker remarked.
It was too bad that Edith was busy with Robert; she could have helped us restrain Katerina. Pauline and Tessa would have to handle it once they were free. The question was, would that be soon enough? In the meantime, Alexandra and I would deal with any violence–demon style–and restrain her physically.
Alexandra and Neave were waiting for us outside Pauline’s house when we arrived. It was great to see Neave again.
“Hey!” she exclaimed, coming over and flinging her arms around me.
“Are you okay?” I asked, looking her over.
“Yeah! Why did Robert contain me? Was it to keep me safe?”
“No, Neave. It wasn’t to keep you safe. He isn’t a nice man. He’s a warlock....”
“A what?” she asked, her mouth falling open.
“A warlock. I’ll explain later. We need to free Luke and the others first. Okay?”
She nodded and sat down next to Ryker and Fitch on the wooden picnic bench on the porch. Alexandra, who was seated next Katerina, got to work immediately, trying to relax Taylor into a meditative state.
Katerina closed her eyes and listened to Alexandra’s directions. She started to take deep, even breaths, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. Just as it seemed that Taylor was finally relaxing into Katerina’s body, her face contorted and she cried out.
“Mom, I’m scared,” Taylor whimpered, her eyes welling up with tears.
“Honey, what’s the matter?”
“There’s another demon in here! It’s asleep, but it’s starting to wake up.”
Oh, no! Of course! Yikes! Why hadn’t we taken that into account? Katerina was half demon; Taylor couldn’t possess Katerina fully. Not her demon part! And her demon part was stronger than Taylor’s. This was a disaster. Thankfully, the wine had knocked Katerina out, but she was slowly starting to sober up and awaken. She mustn’t find Taylor in there! She would destroy her.
“Get her out!” I whispered to Alexandra. “Now!”
“Hold on,” Alexandra said calmly. “Katerina’s demon spirit is still asleep. If Taylor works fast, we can still do this. It’s worth a try. We may never get another chance to rescue Kismet.”
I nodded. “Okay, but let’s get her out if Katerina starts to wake up.”
“Of course!” Alexandra got to work. Taylor–bless her–immersed herself in Katerina’s mind, hopefully searching through the myriad of spells swirling around in there. My heart filled with hope when I heard her starting to chant. Her chants became more and more frantic as time went by, then, Katerina’s body suddenly convulsed, as Taylor left it and collapsed into her mother’s arms.
Katerina’s body slumped back on the bench, still in a slumber. We needed to get her away from here, far away, so we could get Luke and Kismet to safety.
“Ryker, quick! Transport Katerina back to her apartment before she wakes up. Just dump her and get back here.”
“Aren’t you going to destroy her?” Neave protested.
“Not yet, I still need to find out where Dad is. Go, Ryker, we’ll figure out what to do with her later.”
Ryker immediately put his hands on Katerina’s shoulders, and they both disappeared.
“Taylor!” I threw my arms around her.
“Did it work?” Taylor asked. “Can Kismet, Luke and the others come out now?”
I glanced over and smiled at Luke as he was berated for not handing in his English assig
nment. Mr. Cooper, our teacher, was not amused. I had already angered him by not handing in mine. I’d been too tired to even come up with a good excuse; so, when he asked why, I had simply shrugged my shoulders. And got handed a detention slip, the same kind Luke was being handed at the moment. I rolled my eyes at him.
It wasn’t the only detention slips we got that day. I hadn’t done homework for any of my classes, and I was in a cheeky mood, so the teachers had been generous with them. I didn’t mind; I could do with an hour of detention to snooze. My mind was still buzzing with yesterday’s adventure.
As exhausted as I was, Taylor must be at least doubly so! I couldn’t wait to get her alone, so I could ask her how it had felt, being inside another being’s body. As a demon, that should have been second nature to me; that is what demons do, after all. Possess. But as a half demon, that wasn’t part of my usual repertoire. I had, in fact, never tried it. So I was dying with curiosity to find out how it felt. Taylor was the only half demon I knew who had now experienced this. And she hadn’t possessed just anyone! She had possessed a warlock and a witch-demon hybrid. Taylor had experienced firsthand what a warlock’s mind was like, how the spells were catalogued and retrieved. Flaming awesome! Although I couldn’t help feeling jealous, I couldn’t wait to talk to her.
