by Sharon Kay
“Khali?” asked Brooke, but she already had a guess as to what it meant.
“Granddaughter.” Ashina’s smile radiated pride as she kissed Nicole, then Brooke, on the cheeks. “We love you.”
CHAPTER 19
MATHIAS GAVE HIS ORDER TO the barista who, like the rest of the staff, wore reindeer antlers on a headband. Bing Crosby’s rich baritone filled the shop, crooning about the wonders of winter. On the wall behind the counter, colorful Santa hats cut from red construction paper decorated the wall, each one bearing a name in thick black marker. A sign above them thanked those who had donated to Toys for Tots. On the first line of hats, front and center, a hat read “Ginny B.”
She was everywhere in this town. If he concentrated, he could detect her scent from two days ago. Hell, he’d debated whether to take a shower in his hotel room, because that would mean washing her sweet scent off his skin. In the end, he took the fastest shower of his life, knowing he was on his way back to her.
“Two large Brazilian rocket fuels and two cranberry muffins to go!” the server announced his order cheerfully.
Mathias scooped up his items and headed outside to his car. In less than sixty seconds he was at Gin’s front door. He pressed the buzzer.
Her voice crackled through the tinny speaker. “Yes?”
He put on a serious voice. “I come bearing coffee and dirt.”
“Mmm, just what I ordered!” The lock on the door clicked and he opened it slowly, half expecting Muffy to come barreling out. But there was no sign of the wayward terrier.
He walked up the stairs and into the second floor hallway, detecting the apple fragrance of bath wash mixed with Gin’s own cinnamon scent. She opened the door before he got to it and cocked a hip.
He sucked in a breath. Her skin was dewy and glowing, and her hair hung in damp waves past her shoulders. She wore a green V-neck sweater that clung to her curves and tight dark-washed jeans. Holy hell. “You look great,” he said as he neared. Then he looked down.
On her feet were socks with a pattern of cats wearing Santa hats and sunglasses. “Nice socks.” Gods, she was adorable.
She jutted her chin. “They’re festive. Oh!” Her eyes widened as she glanced to his hands. “You brought muffins too!” She licked her lips. “Dirt. Coffee. And muffins. Did Santa send you to me?”
No, Arawn did. He leaned down to kiss her sweet mouth. “Maybe.”
She took his hand and led him inside to the kitchen. “Eat first.”
After the dinner she’d made last night he wouldn’t need to eat for two days. But he could make room for a muffin with her, and he polished it off in record time.
“Wow, you were hungry,” she commented.
“You worked up my appetite.” He winked.
She blushed, delicately picking one last berry from where it stuck to the paper, and ate it.
His eyes swept her up and down, watching her throat move, taking in the chestnut tendrils of her hair. He’d love to drag her back to the bedroom and stay there for a week. Maybe when this job was over and she was on their side… He tossed their muffin wrappers into the garbage can in the corner. “I’m still full from last night, actually.”
She got up to wash her hands and turned back to the table, eyes zeroing in on the dirt. “Now let’s take a look at this.” She opened the gallon size Ziploc bag and sniffed it. “You gathered this with your hands, right?”
He tilted his head. “How else would I get it?”
“No, I mean, were you wearing gloves? Whatever has been in contact with this dirt, if it was still active, could have also been in contact with your skin.”
He shook his head. “No gloves. Is that bad?”
“I’m not sure yet. Have you had any skin irritation since touching this?”
“Not a thing.”
“Okay, that’s good. No high alkaline content then.” She popped on a pair of safety glasses.
He stared. Why did she look insanely sexy in those?
Misreading his look, she shrugged. “Habit. And we don’t know exactly what is in here.”
“No, it’s not that. You look…”
“Like a nerd.”
“Fuck no. Never.”
“Like a scientist?”
He leaned forward. “Sexy.”
“Really?” She turned to him, a mix of mirth and doubt in her green eyes.
“Yes, really. I’ll ask again, how do your male students get anything accomplished with you in the room?”
She smiled and shrugged again, poking at the plastic. “This is the grass that was growing when you found it? Before it got all mixed up in this bag?”
“Yes, it was standing up straight and healthy.”
She frowned. “It’s still green. But you found it a few days ago. Wait, what day?”
“Thursday.”
“Thursday…then it should have a duller color than this. Look at how bright it is.”
He nodded. “Odd.”
“Mmm-hmm. I need to take a closer look.” She took a spoon from a drawer and picked up the bag. “Follow me.”
They went to the living room where she sat at her desk, pulled her microscope close, and turned its tiny light on. With the spoon, she scooped a few grains of soil and set them on a slide, then placed it on the scope and peered through the viewer.
“Hmm.” She frowned. “I need to look at this grass.” She opened a drawer and took out a plastic art box. Popping the lid, she flipped it open and selected an exacto knife.
Next she carefully pulled a blade of grass from the Ziploc bag and laid it on the cutting surface. She made two cuts across the grass, resulting in a wafer-thin cross section. Using tweezers, she lifted it onto a slide, then added a drop of water and put it into her scope. She leaned down and adjusted the magnification.
Mathias waited, holding his breath, studying every blink of her long eyelashes. What will she see? Rilan didn’t even know.
“That’s weird,” she muttered, and readjusted her focus.
“What’s weird?”
“Something with the channels…I need to look at another one.” She cut a cross section from another blade of grass and looked again.
“Channels?”
“The channels that draw up water to hydrate the plant. They’re enlarged. I’ve never seen this, not even with aquatic plant species. And…” She looked at him. “This indicates there may be enzymes present that shouldn’t be there. I need to get a better look.” She got up and grabbed the dirt. “The lab has an electron microscope. Let’s go.”
She took a coat from the hall closet and started to shrug into it. He was behind her in a heartbeat to help her. “Whoa, there’s no rush.”
“Yes, there is! This is exciting!” Her eyes sparkled, then she took in his face and her smile dimmed. She nibbled her bottom lip. “Oh. Well, maybe only to me. I know not everyone gets into dirt the way I do. Would you rather do something else?”
Hell no. He grinned. “No way. I want to see what’s going on.”
“Okay. This way, you can see the science building.” She bounced on her toes and opened the door. “I’ll drive, since I have a faculty permit.”
“No.”
Her jaw dropped. “What?”
“Not getting in your matchbox car again.” He draped an arm around her as they walked down the hall. “Grab your permit and get your cute ass in my ride.”
She laughed and bumped him with her shoulder. “My Bug would be insulted by that, but I won’t tell her.”
“Good idea.” Her scent wrapped around him and her enthusiasm was contagious. He hoped it would remain after she figured out what had happened to the dirt.
Ten minutes later they walked into a bright gleaming building. Out of habit, Mathias reached out with his senses. No supernaturals here but us. Gin greeted a few professors and led him into an empty lab.
“No class today?”
She shook her head. “The schedule is all goofy because of finals. We’ll have this room to oursel
ves for the day.” Gin busied herself immediately, tossing her coat onto a desk and washing her hands. She pulled on latex gloves and popped on her safety glasses, then got out tools and the bag of dirt.
She scooped what looked like a teaspoon’s worth into a clear plastic dish, then uncapped a glass bottle. Measuring a small amount of clear liquid into a graduated cylinder, she mixed it in with the dirt.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Extracting solution. A standard soil test can take forty-eight hours, per state regulations, but I can test for certain nutrients in a few minutes. I’m checking the phosphorus level first.” She recapped the bottle and pulled a blade of grass from the bag. “Now, while that’s working, let’s take a closer look at this grass.” She cut a fresh cross section of grass, set it on a slide, and walked over to a table-mounted instrument as big as his torso. A computer screen sat next to it.
“That thing is a microscope?” he asked.
“Yep.” Gin sat at the table. ”We call her Bertha. She has—no joke—a million times more magnification than my light microscope at home.” She put the slide into the machine. “Okay, Bertha, show me what’s going on with this grass.”
She talks to her equipment. He shook his head. Some might find it weird, but again he found himself thinking she was adorable. Silly and smart. She strove to uncover truths. They had more in common than she realized.
An image popped up on the computer screen. “This is amazing,” she murmured.
“What?” It looked like a bunch of wavy lines to him.
“Remember what I said about the channels being enlarged? That shouldn’t be possible. This plant is able to suck up like, ten times the moisture and nutrients of regular grass.” She turned to him and tapped a finger on her chin, her expression pensive, as if she could read the answers on his face. “But it’s December in Illinois, and plants need sunlight to perform photosynthesis…”
She got up and walked over to the soil.
Mathias followed her there, even though he didn’t follow her explanation at all. Hell, he was no scientist. “Photosynthesis…plants need sunlight for something?”
“To make food. Yes, but the winter solstice is nearly here, so we’re at minimum daylight hours right now.” She peered at the liquid in the plastic dish and dipped a strip of pink paper into the mix. Perplexion painted her face. “That can’t be right. I need to repeat this.” She scooped another sample of dirt into a fresh plastic dish and repeated her process with the extracting solution. She turned to him, brows knitted. “Where was this grass, exactly?”
He blew out a breath and debated telling her about the water treatment plant. Would she think that was strange? Ah, hell. “In a wooded area. There was a water treatment plant nearby.”
She folded her arms over her chest, looking at the computerized image from the microscope and back to the soil on the table. The wall clock ticked in the quiet room.
She checked the dirt again with a fresh paper strip. “Same results. I’ve never seen anything like this. The phosphorous level is way too high. That’s one indication of over-fertilizing. It should prevent the plant from retaining enough iron and zinc, but judging from its healthy color it has plenty of iron.” Pausing in her rapid-fire explanation, she looked up at him. “This is like a super-plant. Extra nutrients and hydration allow it to grow healthy in the dead of winter.”
So a dose of magic somehow altered the plant’s physiology? He rocked back on his heels. “Sounds like a mystery made for you.”
Gin opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as her cell phone trilled from her coat. She picked it up and checked the screen and smiled. “Hi, Ria.” Her expression changed to one of concern. “Oh no.”
Mathias’s hearing allowed him to hear Ria perfectly.
Oh shit.
Ria’s voice trembled through the phone. “…my mom got a lot worse overnight. Can you come with me today? Please, Gin. I need to go and I can’t do this alone.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! If Ria was giving Gin the “my mother is dying” spiel, that meant one thing.
That story was Ria’s cover for getting Gin out of town in the event of a supernatural emergency.
Gin ended the call, her face pale. “I have to go. Ria’s mom is really sick. Lung cancer. She-she’s dying. Ria needs me.” She began gathering up her things.
“Is she close by?”
“Yes, in a little town called Mansfied. It’s a twenty-minute drive west.”
He knew exactly where it was. A seemingly plain brick farmhouse right off the interstate, it was actually a heavily warded and well-armed safe house, prepared specifically for a threat to Gin. It had no neighbors within a square mile, which would minimize potential threats to others. No sense in sticking forty thousand college kids in the middle of a demon battle. He rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s gotta be upset. I can drive you two.”
“Yeah, she’s a mess. But she said she’s packing her car now and coming over to my place to get me.” Gin removed the slide from the microscope and threw it in the trash. She frowned at the dishes of soil on the table. “I’ll just toss those. I need more time to run the full test, anyway. I’ll do it later.”
Mathias helped her into her coat, gritting his teeth and wanting like hell to send Ria a WTF text. But she was a professional. Her job was security, and he knew she’d be tearing over to Gin like a hellhound to uphold her duty.
Duty. His duty was to get her on their side. She doesn’t get to opt out. Arawn’s words echoed in his mind. It was time to lay his cards on the table. But not with an unknown threat looming. He’d do it when they got to the safe house.
He wrapped an arm around Gin’s shoulders as they made their way outside and over to his car. He cranked the engine, sparking the big vehicle to life, and headed out of the parking lot.
Gin buckled her seat belt and sighed. “Ria’s been telling me how her mom just keeps hanging on, fighting the cancer even though the doctors haven’t given her a good prognosis. And for her to take a bad turn now…right before Christmas…poor Ria.” Her shoulders sagged.
He reached over to caress the back of her neck. “I wish there was something I could do.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be unloading all this on you. You just got here. You haven’t even met Ria and suddenly you’re hearing her life story.”
I already know her life story. “Hey, it’s all right. It matters to you, so it matters to me.”
He turned the corner onto her street. “Thank you.” She cast him a tiny smile. “I don’t ever have a dull day. Welcome to my crazy life.”
No, welcome to mine. “I’m glad we met.” He brushed a lock of hair off her shoulder.
“Me too.”
He nodded, about to reply when Ria’s silver Honda whipped around the turn ahead, barreling into Gin’s parking lot.
“Whoa, holy—! That’s Ria! Where’d she learn to drive like that?” Gin gasped.
They pulled in after Ria. In a heartbeat, Gin was out the door and running to Ria. Flinging her arms around her friend, Gin talked quickly. “How are you holding up? We can leave as soon as I throw a few things together. I’m so sorry, girl.”
Ria embraced Gin, but kept her eyes locked on Mathias, who stood a few feet behind Gin. She mouthed one word. Deseratis.
Shit. Fuck!
She pulled back from Gin’s arms and studied her face, changing her own expression to one of worry. “Thanks, sweetie.”
“I’ll be ready in a flash. Come on up.” Gin bounded for the door, dragging Ria by the hand.
Ria glanced back at Mathias, eyebrows raised. He knew her unspoken question. Stay or go?
He could stay down here and monitor the parking lot. Ria was good, but if there were several Deseratis and they managed to break through the wards, she may need his help. Plus, there could be a hostage situation with the neighbors. “I’ll come up too.” He caught up to the women.
“Watch out for Muffy!” Gin called as she yanked ope
n the door.
“Muffy?” Ria asked.
“Little white dog wearing a cone. Likes to escape. You can’t miss her.” Gin took the stairs two by two, then ran down the hall to her apartment. Flinging it open, she yelled, “Be right back!” She darted into her bedroom.
Mathias turned to Ria. “How many?”
“Eight. Dumb fucks weren’t careful. I saw the pop of light from a portal. They came into a forest preserve on the south side of town.”
“You saw them?”
“Yes.”
“How long ago?”
“Right when I called Gin. Where were you two?”
“In the science building. She wanted to look at the dirt through some fancy ass microscope.”
Ria looked at her watch. “Shit. Any answers on that?”
“No, but it’ll have to wait. You get her out of here. I’ll clean up the mess, talk to Arawn, and follow you to the Mansfield house.”
Ria nodded. “I’m glad you’re here, big brother.”
“Okay, I’m ready!” Gin bolted from her room, stopping short when she saw them talking. “Oh my god, I never even introduced you two!”
“We, uh, figured it out.” Mathias opened the apartment door. “I’ll walk you girls outside.”
As they hurried down the stairs, a sense of dread slithered over Mathias. The Deseratis were close. But the possibility of involving Gin’s neighbors was a no-go. They had to get out of the building and away. Now. “You two should wait inside by the front door. I’ll warm up the car.”
Gin looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “You don’t need to do that. We were just driving. The cars are warm already.”
“That’s a generous offer, Mathias.” Ria spoke from behind Gin, her blue eyes wide. “I’ll take you up on that.”
They reached the foyer, dimly lit with the sun’s valiant effort to shine through the clouds. Gin shook her head and muttered, “It’s not that cold. But it’s up to you, Ria.” She stopped by the tall narrow windows flanking the door. “Who are they?”
The smell of burnt sugar curled past his nose, but Mathias didn’t need his superior sniffer to know what was coming. Eight male Deserati demons lurked in the parking lot. They turned at the sounds near the front door, no doubt audible to them even through the glass.
