We both sort of lunged at each other as I halfway fell into his arms. He was kissing me so thoroughly that I only caught a glimpse of Otto out of the corner of my eye as he shook his head, then disappeared in another flash of light.
A while later, Jeff coughed and said, “Um, could you two break it up? We probably should get out of here.”
I refused to be embarrassed, but I did pull away from Paul. “Hate to say it, but he’s right.”
“True.” He let me go and we both stood. For the first time, he appeared to notice the dead body of the hybrid on the floor a few feet away. “What happened?”
“Hurricane Persephone,” Raymond replied.
For a second or two, he said nothing, and then understanding flickered in his eyes. “Damn.”
“No kidding,” said Raymond, who bent to pick up the gun from the dead guard’s hand. “Can we get going now?”
The rest of us chorused our agreement, and we hurried out of the cell. Once we had gotten in the elevator, though, Paul hesitated, his hand hovering over the control panel. “Which way out? Last time we went through the motor pool, but….”
“No need,” I said. “Nobody’s going to stop us from walking right out the front door.”
Jeff snorted, but Raymond only nodded, and Paul smiled and pressed the button. It seemed I was going to have to revise my opinion of Raymond. Maybe the experience of being possessed by an alien had brought him new insights, or maybe he only seemed improved in contrast to Jeff. I’d been wondering why the aliens hadn’t possessed Jeff as well, and thought maybe even they couldn’t stomach the idea of being stuck inside his head.
At any rate, I was proved correct, because when the door opened on the first level, it was completely deserted, unless you counted the bodies of dead hybrids and alien possessees. There weren’t as many as I had thought, though.
“Where is everyone?” Paul asked, gazing around even as we hurried down the main corridor.
“Run off,” I replied, knowing that was the simple truth. “A few are hiding, I think, on the lower levels. Didn’t know what to do when their lords and masters all suddenly dropped dead.”
“Oh, they’ll regroup,” Jeff put in.
“I suppose so,” I said. “But by then we’ll be long gone.”
The main entrance turned out to be a small, unprepossessing metal door that opened out into a box canyon filled with scrub pines and more of the omnipresent juniper and manzanita. No one would have ever seen it, which made perfect sense. Most of the personnel on the base probably came and went through the motor pool area, anyway.
By that time, it was almost full dark. Maybe some last dregs of sunset lingered far out on the western horizon, but of course we couldn’t see it, trapped as we were inside the canyon walls. With Paul in the lead — he had more wilderness experience than any of the rest of us — we slipped and slid and somehow negotiated our way westward. I didn’t really have a plan. I just figured if we could make it out to Dry Creek Road, then maybe we could try to flag down someone and catch a ride.
We broke free of the canyon and emerged into the more or less open area beyond it. Off to the south and west, I thought I could faintly see some lights from one of the residential areas that lined Dry Creek.
“That way,” Paul said, and the rest of us just nodded, too tired and thirsty for speech.
As we moved toward the lights, I realized that several of them were getting bigger and brighter, and were heading in our direction.
I’d gratefully handed over my gun to Paul. It glinted as he pulled it out of his waistband and held it at the ready. Raymond quickly followed suit.
We could have run, but where? There was no cover any place close by, and all four of us were tired and winded. It was probably better to stand our ground.
A large, dark vehicle skidded to a stop a few feet away. The passenger-side window rolled down, and Lance stuck his head out and grinned at us. “Thought you kids might need a lift.”
Kara’s home was — probably like many of the houses in Sedona — Southwest in style. But instead of being decorated in UFO kitsch like her shop, it was warmly casual, with well-worn Spanish mission–style furniture and colorful pottery and art that I guessed was the work of local artisans. Seemingly from thin air, she conjured a pitcher of margaritas, and some amazingly good pizza was delivered just a short time after she poured the first round of drinks.
I sat on the couch next to Paul. His arm was around me, and he didn’t lift it even as he reached forward to snag another piece of pizza. It felt more right than anything I’d ever experienced to have him there beside me.
“How did you know we would be there?” he asked.
Kara already had the better part of a margarita inside her, or she probably wouldn’t have had the nerve to stick out a finger and tap Lance on the side of the temple. “Our resident remote viewer. Who else?”
For some reason, he didn’t appear too annoyed by the liberty. “Yeah, it’s like a real live version of the Psychic Friends Network.”
Kiki half-choked on a mouthful of pizza as she giggled. “Except yours actually works.”
Michael Lightfoot had been quietly watching the proceedings, barely touching the margarita on the coffee table in front of him. He glanced over at me, dark eyes sober. “But it’s really over.”
I nodded. “Well, that particular little plot. God knows what they’ll hatch up next, but we’ve got some breathing room.”
“I’d say,” Raymond commented. “Took out all their soldiers, all the brass, too, from what we could see. It was like Persephone was some sort of smart bomb.”
Everyone turned to look in my direction. Paul’s arm tightened around me for a second, as if to provide reassurance.
“Make up your mind,” I said lightly. “First I was a hurricane, and now I’m a smart bomb.” With a nonchalance I didn’t feel, I ran a finger along the salt on the rim of my glass, then took a large swallow of margarita. “Let’s just say something was working through me. I still don’t know exactly what happened.”
Which was only the truth. Now, with some distance between me and the installation, and some time to absorb the events that had led to our escape, I could only conclude that I had to have been the conduit for some other kind of power. Maybe it was the power of Otto and his people, being channeled through a human vessel so they could maintain some sort of distance, if only a fictional one.
It was better than thinking that destructive energy had come only from me.
As if knowing the subject was a touchy one, Lance said, “Well, it sounds as if it was a team effort.”
“Oh, yes,” I said immediately, gratified and a little surprised that Lance, of all people, would be so perceptive. “I mean, there’s no way I would have been able to destroy all those tainted files if Jeff hadn’t gotten inside the mainframe.”
“That must have been some hack,” Kiki commented. She smiled at Jeff, who appeared startled to be the object of such attention. “I do a little myself, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to break into something with that level of security.”
And Jeff, who had wedged himself into the far corner of the couch as if to separate himself from the festivities, actually appeared to be at a loss for words. He mumbled something about it not being that big a deal, while Kiki beamed at him and Adam, who was sitting next to her on the floor by one end of the cocktail table, frowned, as if wondering why she’d be paying a scruffy computer hacker such particular attention.
The phone rang, and Kara excused herself to go answer it. A companionable silence fell while we munched pizza and sipped our margaritas. I hadn’t realized it was possible to be so tired and yet so content at the same time. A few days earlier, I hadn’t known any of these people, and now I felt surrounded by friends in a way that I never had back in L.A. Yes, even Raymond and Jeff, prickly and odd as they could be.
Kara came back into the room and said, “That was my friend Miguel. He’s the night manager at one of the resort
s here. He’s got a room ready for you two — I figured you weren’t in any shape to drive back to Los Angeles tonight.”
Of course we weren’t…but that didn’t answer the question as to whether Paul even intended to return to L.A. True, his luggage was still presumably back at the Sheraton Universal, but he could probably have it sent on to New Mexico if necessary. Here in Sedona, we were halfway between our two homes. It would have been simple enough for him to go his way and me to go mine.
He said smoothly, with no hesitation, “Thanks, Kara. You’re right — I know I don’t want to head west after everything that happened today, and I’m pretty sure Persephone feels the same way.”
Relief coursed through me, warm as the weight of Paul’s arm around my shoulder. “That was thoughtful of you,” I added.
“No problem.” She reached down to the coffee table and retrieved her margarita. “I’d offer to put you up here, but the spare bedroom has sort of turned into a storage room. I’ve got all kinds of crap piled on the bed. But Miguel will take care of you. He said he had a last-minute cancellation, so it’s no trouble at all.”
Raymond cleared his throat. “Um, not to be a bother, but I won’t be able to rent a car until tomorrow — ”
Kara looked stricken. It was clear she’d completely forgotten that Jeff and Raymond were also stranded here in Sedona. “Well, I can call Miguel back — ”
“They can crash at my apartment,” Kiki said. “That is, as long as you don’t mind a fold-out couch.”
Her words were directed at Raymond, but she was looking at Jeff as she spoke. Adam scowled again.
Raymond must have picked up on the vibe, because he said hastily, “I think we’d both be happy with a spare piece of floor at this point, so a sofa bed sounds great. Thanks.”
With their accommodations arranged, Kara smiled and nodded, and the conversation moved on to a lively speculation as to what the aliens’ next move might be. I didn’t participate much, content to listen to the others trade ever wilder ideas. I noticed Paul was mostly silent as well. No doubt he was even more tired than I was. After all, I hadn’t died that day.
We drove to the resort in my Volvo, which we’d retrieved from the UFO Depot’s parking lot before following the van to Kara’s house. It wasn’t far. Then again, I was starting to get the impression that nothing was all that far away in Sedona.
As promised, Kara’s friend Miguel did take excellent care of us, leading us to a secluded cottage on the resort’s grounds, not all that far from Oak Creek. After he left, I opened the windows, and a gentle night breeze, overlaid with the soft, whispering sounds of the creek, drifted into the sitting area.
Neither Paul nor I said anything for a minute. My luggage had still been safe in the trunk of the Volvo, so I had the spare clothes and toiletries for both Paul and me that I’d retrieved from the motel in Pomona. Was that only the day before yesterday? Somehow, it seemed as if those events had taken place a thousand miles away, and had happened to an entirely different person.
I busied myself with putting things away and setting out our personal-care items in the vanity area. For some reason, I found myself tongue-tied now that I was alone with Paul. I knew what I wanted, but, despite all the powers that had manifested in me, I still didn’t know if he wanted the same thing.
He came to meet me in the bedroom, a glass of water in each hand. “I thought you could use this.”
“Thank you.” I took it from him gratefully; while pizza and margaritas were fun, neither of them was much good for rehydration after a grueling day.
“No, thank you,” he said.
“For what?”
A lift of the shoulders. “For everything?”
“You should probably be thanking Otto for that. He was the one who brought you back.”
It lay there between us, the knowledge that for the better part of five minutes, Paul had been dead. He glanced away from me and out the window. In the hills to the east, a full moon had begun to rise.
I said lightly, “Well, now you can start writing for the near-death-experience market if the whole UFO thing ever dries up.”
At that remark, he actually grinned. “That would make me a fraud, I think, because I didn’t get any of the good stuff. No white light. No loved ones waiting for me on the other side. Nothing…just the dark.”
“It wasn’t your time. That’s all.”
“I guess you’d know more about that than I would.”
True enough…except I’d never known anyone else who’d come back from the dead. “Then I suppose you’ll need to stick with UFOs.”
“Assuming my name isn’t mud in the UFO community after taking a powder from the symposium.” From the lift at the corner of his mouth, I guessed he wasn’t too worried about it.
“Oh, you must have material for at least two more books out of all this,” I replied. “I’m sure they’ll welcome you back with open arms.”
“You’re probably right.”
A little pause then, as he drank some more of his water and I decided I might as well do the same.
Maybe it would be better to just go for broke. Having everything out on the table had to be better than dancing around the issue. “You don’t have to come back to L.A. if you don’t want to.”
His eyebrows went up. “Why wouldn’t I want to?”
“Well, we are practically halfway to Santa Fe, and — ”
He set his glass down on one of the nightstands and came to me then. The kiss was strong and firm, and clearly intended to show he wasn’t going to listen to any nonsense about going back to New Mexico.
“Come here,” he said afterward.
Mystified, I followed him out of the bedroom and through the sliding glass doors off the sitting area to the little private courtyard attached to the cottage. The moon was fully up now, shining brightly across the red rocks, glinting in the shifting leaves of the cottonwood trees.
“You know how I said I thought this was a really beautiful place?”
I nodded, not certain where he was going with this. “And I agreed.”
“Perfect. So why not live in this beauty every day?”
At first, I wasn’t sure what he was asking. Then it began to sink in, and I stared up at him, searching his expression, looking for the truth in it. And I saw it, saw my own dreams and desires mirrored in his features, and again that warmth surged through me, filling the center of my being.
But because it was still difficult for me to admit the truth of my heart, I had to answer his question with another. “You’d want to be here, so close to the base?”
He nodded, and smiled, albeit a little grimly. “Well, you know what they say. Keep your friends close — ”
“ — And your enemies closer.” I laughed then. “We’ve only known each other a few days. People are going think we’re nuts.”
His fingers wrapped around mine. “Persephone, I hate to break it to you, but you’re a psychic, and I chase UFOs. People already think we’re nuts.”
“Point taken.”
We kissed then, standing in the moonlight, as the cool night breeze ruffled our hair and brought with it the promise of another beautiful day yet to come. Then he pulled away slightly, but only so he could take me in his arms and hold me close to him. His heart beat beneath my cheek, strong and firm, soothing the last of my fears.
For a minute, neither of us spoke. Then he said, “You know, I’ve heard that Sedona has a pretty good school system.”
I pulled away slightly, stared up into his face. He met my eyes squarely. No secrets there, only a wish — and a hope that I shared that wish.
“Some people might say you were rushing things,” I remarked. My voice sounded a little breathless even to me.
His gaze didn’t flicker. “Would you?”
“No,” I said at once. “Oh, no.”
And his arms tightened around me once again, while I lifted my mouth to touch his lips. Let the world think we were crazy. None of that mattered.
> All that mattered was Paul, and the future we’d already begun to plan together. And if that future included alien conspiracies and meddling inter-dimensional beings, so be it. Better that than a safe life lived without him.
Together, I knew we could face anything.
The Sedona Files series continues with Kara’s story in Desert Hearts.
Also by Christine Pope
PROJECT DEMON HUNTERS
(Paranormal Romance)
Unquiet Souls
Unbound Spirits
Unholy Ground
Unseen Voices
Unmarked Graves
Unbroken Vows (March 2020)
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
(Paranormal Romance)
Sympathy for the Devil
Charmed, I’m Sure
A Wing and a Prayer
THE WITCHES OF CANYON ROAD
(Paranormal Romance)
Hidden Gifts
Darker Paths
Mysterious Ways
A Canyon Road Christmas
Demon Born
An Ill Wind
Higher Ground
Haunted Hearts
THE WITCHES OF CLEOPATRA HILL*
(Paranormal Romance)
Darkangel
Darknight
Darkmoon
Sympathetic Magic
Protector
Spellbound
A Cleopatra Hill Christmas
Impractical Magic
Strange Magic
The Arrangement
Defender
Bad Blood
Deep Magic
Darktide
Books 1-3 and Books 4-6 of this series are also available in two separate omnibus editions at special boxed set prices. Chronicles of Cleopatra Hill includes the series’ two “back in time” novellas, Bad Blood and The Arrangement.
Or get the entire series in one enormous, specially priced boxed set! (Not available on Amazon.)
THE DJINN WARS*
(Paranormal Romance)
Magic in the Desert: Three Paranormal Romance Series Starters Set in the American Southwest Page 77
