Paranormal After Dark: 20 Paranormal Tales of Demons, Shifters, Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Witches, Magics, Ghosts and More

by Rebecca Hamilton

  “Utah?”

  She spun around and Maizey saw surprise and fear in her eyes, but only for a moment. She was good at concealing her true feelings. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

  Maizey smiled and shook her head. “No, but I think we have a mutual friend.”

  “How do you know that? How do you know me?” All attitude and suspicion.

  Maizey liked this girl. Subtlety wasn’t going to work so she decided to just go for it. “Kale Delancey.” Utah’s pupils dilated, she sucked in a quick breath, and she backed away.

  Maizey didn’t have to get inside her head to know Utah was trying to decide if she should deny the name or just run. She pressed a little deeper into the girl’s thoughts and understood the source of her fear. Kale had shared a lot with her.

  “I’m not Tanya. I’m a friend.”

  Utah blinked twice. “You know about Tanya?” She still wasn’t sure which way to jump.

  “I know a lot of things. I know your name is Utah Case, I know you found Kale yesterday, I know your brother is hiding him in his brownstone about a block and a half from here, and I know right now you’re trying to protect him. Please believe me. So am I.”

  Utah let out a breath and her body language softened in a heartbeat. “Are you like him?”

  “I don’t think there is anyone quite like Kale, but yes, I am, in my own way.”

  “That’s how you knew all that? Who I am, about my brother?”

  Maizey nodded. “We’ve been searching for Kale. I’m glad you found him before Tanya.”

  Utah bit her lip and Maizey knew she was struggling with trusting her completely. Desperation seemed to have made the decision for her. “He’s hurt and he’s sick, really sick,” she held up the bag from the pharmacy. “This is medicine for Kale, but he needs more than just antibiotics. Jude, my brother, he’s a doctor but he can’t do much for him at his place. Can you help him?”

  “I can, but I need you to trust me. Think you can do that?”

  * * *

  UTAH WAS EXCITED and nervous. But mostly excited. She had to remind herself to simply breathe and try to act normal. That was hysterical. Act normal. Her notion of what was normal had been flipped on its head in the last few hours. She took a deep breath. She didn’t even have the key out of the lock when Jude pulled the door open and yanked her inside.

  “Jesus, where the hell have you been? I kept having these visions of you being kidnapped by the people looking for him.” Jude snatched the bag of pills from her.

  “Sorry. I would’ve called but my cell died.”

  “Why can’t you ever remember to charge it?”

  “Jude, we need to talk.” Utah said as he disappeared into the kitchen, apparently to get something for Kale to wash the pills down with. As he did, Maizey appeared where there had been nothing, and next to her, Kale’s brother. She jumped a little at their sudden appearance. Knowing Maizey had concealed herself and Cross was one thing. Actually witnessing them become visible was another.

  They were supposed to wait until she told Jude they were there, but she guessed Cross was impatient. She couldn’t blame him. If it had been Jude lying there, she wouldn’t have waited either.

  Jude came back from the kitchen. He was opening the bottle of pills and had yet to notice Maizey or Cross. “He’s really feverish, I don’t even know if I can wake him up enough to make him swallow these.” He glanced up and froze.

  “Jude, these people can help him.”

  “What have you done?”

  Maizey had knelt at Kale’s side. She stood now and faced Jude. “She did the right thing. So did you. I’m Maizey. This is Kale’s brother, Cross. We’re here to help.”

  Jude had yet to move. Utah watched his expression change as he tried to come to terms with what was happening. “You said yourself, he needs more help than we can give him.”

  Jude looked at Utah for the first time since entering the room. “How do you know they’re not the bad guys?”

  “They convinced me.”

  “Look we can explain everything later,” Cross said. “Right now, Kale is what matters.”

  Utah knew the guy was blind, but he sure as hell looked like he was seeing his brother. He looked like he was seeing everything.

  He knelt next to the bed and took off the dark glasses. Without them the resemblance between him and Kale was startling. Cross closed his eyes and held Kale’s hand.

  Utah quietly moved next to Maizey and whispered. “What’s he doing?”

  “He’s trying to find Kale.”

  Utah must have looked as confused as she felt.

  Maizey explained. “We can’t move him like this. Cross is trying to bring Kale’s consciousness back to the surface. Once he does that he can help him feel better for a short while.”

  “So you really can help him?” Utah still didn’t understand completely but she was content to watch. Jude looked like he was ready for an epic meltdown. But he was quietly, if not suspiciously watching.

  “Yes, then we can help him.”

  * * *

  THE FIRST THING Cross saw when he walked through the door was Kale. Not through a veil of manifested energy, but through his newly acquired sight. Maizey had asked him to wait until Utah had a chance to prepare her brother for them, but he couldn’t. She’d also warned him to use his sight sparingly. He understood, but he had been practicing. He could turn on the lights for hours at a time without it draining him now. When he walked through the door he sensed Kale’s presence and couldn’t wait another moment.

  Lying on a sofa in the corner of the room, Kale lit up in Cross’s visual spectrum like a beacon. Cross let Maizey guide him to the bed. He could have managed it on his own, but his feet didn’t seem to want to move. For the first time in ten years Cross was physically in the same place as his brother.

  He reached out and touched Kale’s hand. The skin was dry and so hot. “You’re real,” Cross whispered. “I should never have doubted you.” He glanced up to Maizey. Kale was in far worse shape than he realized.

  Maizey met his eyes and he heard a brief whisper in his head.

  Do you need me to help? She was asking if he needed her help to wake Kale up. He shook his head and took off his glasses. They interfered with his blue and white spectrum vision. He closed his eyes and let his consciousness flow into his brother.

  The first thing he felt was the pain. He grimaced as he tried to get a handle on that. Cross had forgotten when he shared a consciousness, he shared everything, joy, sorrow and pain.

  Kale’s pain was huge. Broken bones, bruised flesh and the perhaps the worst of it, a massive infection that had spread from the deep wounds in his wrists. He pushed past all of that and moved deeper into Kale’s mind. Where would his brother go in his memories for comfort.

  A shared memory came to him. Yes, he knew where to look for Kale.

  Cross pictured the place in his mind, and suddenly the tree house appeared before him. It looked like a dream, incomplete, but with enough form to give it substance. Cross looked down at himself and smiled as he saw his fourteen-year-old self. He climbed the rickety ladder and soon he was sitting next to his brother. “I found you.”

  Kale glanced up with that stupid half-cocked grin. “How’d you know to look for me here?”

  “It was one of the few places we ever had any real privacy. It’s where you always ran to when you were hurting. You’re kind of hurting now, Kale.”

  Kale grimaced his agreement. “Yeah, but I got out.” His tone was one of pride.

  “I know.”

  “Tanya did a number on me though, man. I think I might be dying.”

  “Not if I can help it. That’s why I’m here, Kale. Do you remember when we got sick as kids? Remember that bad reaction I had to something they injected me with? They were all worried. Do you remember what we did?”

  Kale’s eyes widen as he did remember. “We shared it.”

  “We shared it,” Cross agreed.

  Kale consider
ed that, but he looked worried. “It’s too much, Cross. I can’t share this with you. It would hurt you, too.”

  “I can handle it. Listen, I told you I would come for you and I did. You already did the hard part. You got out. Now I need you to trust me to do the rest, okay?”

  Kale still didn’t look sure. Cross clutched his brother’s arm, the one with the scar. He turned it over. “I would die for you, too Kale. But not today. Okay?”

  Kale looked at the scar and then he looked over at Cross. “Okay.” He sounded exhausted.

  Cross gave him a quick nod. “Let me take what I can and then you follow me out, understand?”

  Kale nodded back.

  Out. Cross wanted to share the pain and the hurt so that Kale could wake up. So they could travel. Finn should have everything they needed by the time Kale was ready. But time was not their friend. Tanya and Coben were out there looking for both of them. They needed to move fast, but first he needed to help his brother. This time it was his turn to save Kale.

  He began, slowly at first, to syphon the worst of the pain to his own body. It wasn’t real no matter how it felt. Cross wasn’t actually hurt. He was only fooling Kale’s body into thinking it wasn’t as injured and as in pain as it truly was.

  He was sharing the shock and the pain. When Kale was stronger, he would give it back. The tricky part was, while his mind knew the difference in what was real and what wasn’t, his body didn’t.

  He seized up as the worst of the pain knifed into his system. Having dealt with his own pain all too often, he knew how to keep it at a manageable level. But this pain was almost more than he could handle, it shadowed his new vision and threatened his balance.

  He sensed Maizey at his side. “You okay?”

  “I’m good,” he said. If he thought about it too long, Kale’s pain would surface, but for now it swam in lazy circles beneath the surface of his consciousness. He couldn’t keep it there for long, but hopefully he wouldn’t have too.

  “Kale?”

  “Here, man. Good to see you, Cross. I mean really see you.” His brother’s voice, his real voice, was quiet but he was there. He was awake. More than that. He was alive.

  Overcome with raw emotion, Cross held out a hand and felt Kale take it. They hadn’t been close enough to touch in a long time. Such a simple thing, to touch his brother’s hand. He had thought he would never have the chance to do it again. Cross held on tight.

  “You good?” he asked Kale. He wanted to say so much more, but the words wouldn’t come. He felt Kale’s presence in his head. His brother understood.

  “A little shaky, but yeah, I’m good.”

  “What the hell just happened?” Jude’s voice. “What did you just do to him?”

  “He made it possible for Kale to travel,” Maizey said.

  “Travel? He’s in no shape to travel. Where do you want to take him?”

  “Jude, I know this is a lot. But hey, if you can handle the glowing ball of light thing, you can handle this.” Utah said.

  “Maizey,” Cross said. “Will you explain what’s going on to the good Doctor? It might save some time.”

  “Jude?”

  “Just start talking,” Jude said.

  “Actually, this will be easier.”

  Jude took a step back, let out a short gasp and then fell silent. Maizey had just entered his mind. She would calm him and show him exactly what had happened and what they needed to ask of him. She would show him the truth in a way he could accept. It was an invasion, but they were precious short on time.

  “Hmm, Finn is outside.” Kale said.

  Cross raised his brows. “Right on time for a change.” Then he sensed something else.

  “I feel it too,” Maizey said.

  “What?” Utah said.

  A moment later Maizey’s cell phone rang.

  As she answered it, Cross said. “We have company.”

  Chapter 31

  TANYA PACED HER office, trying to see through the anger. She needed to control the rage boiling beneath the surface. In a space of two days she had lost not one but both Delancey brothers.

  Cross, she could almost understand. He probably couldn’t remember a time when he had belonged to the Department. Even if the truth was something other than what he remembered, his outrage and escape while not acceptable, was understandable. Even predictable.

  Kale, on the other hand, was a personal betrayal. Tanya had prided herself on being able to control Kale. He had never seriously denied her anything in the past. Of course he’d put up mock protests but in the end, Tanya always got what she wanted. Always.

  She should have realized without Cross as leverage, Kale would be unpredictable. She thought the girl’s death had him sufficiently terrified. He always seemed so afraid of his powers, Tanya had honestly never thought he would use them to escape.

  But he had.

  Now both of them were in the wind. They both should have been scooped up within hours of their escape. But forty-eight hours later and they were both still missing. Which told Tanya they’d had help.

  Cross had to have had assistance in leaving the complex.

  She considered every possibility and every time she came up with the same conclusion. There was a five minute loop on the surveillance video. Five missing minutes. A lot could happen in five minutes. Cross had probably only needed three to get out. The loop gave Vic a plausible excuse for why he hadn’t realized Cross was gone sooner. Tanya found the excuse shaky, but Vic had never been even a blip on her radar before. She let it slide until she looked closer at the man.

  Tanya wanted to hear it again from the man himself. She planned to confront Vic with what she suspected, and see his reaction.

  A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. “Come.”

  Robert opened the door and Vic followed him in. Tanya waited as Vic made himself comfortable in the chair opposite her. Robert stood at the door, hands clasped in front of him, his side arm visible at his hip.

  Vic seemed entirely too at ease. “Any news on Kale?”

  Tanya tried to read his body language, but he gave her nothing. He leaned back in the chair, one ankle crossed over a knee, his arms casually resting on the chair arms.

  “No, nothing. I was wondering if you might have heard anything from Cross.”

  “Nada. But I’m hardly the first person he would’ve come to for help. What about Finn? I know you told him to take a vay-cay but do you honestly think he’s going to do that?”

  “No, I don’t. Which is why I’ve had him under surveillance since Cross escaped. But you know that, don’t you Vic?”

  “Well, I assumed you would, but I didn’t know it for a fact until now.”

  Tanya deliberately placed her hands on the desk and slowly stood. She walked around the desk to face Vic, leaned back with her arms crossed. “You’re a smart guy, Vic. That’s probably why you have the job you do. But for the sake of expediency and to cut through all the bullshit would you mind if I just cut to the chase?”

  Vic chuckled. “As if you need my permission.”

  “For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how someone like Cross, and by someone I mean, blind, could get out of a secure building on his own. I get him taking down the guard. That was a pretty sweet move. But it should have been stopped there. The room was monitored, cameras following Cross’s every move. Live feed. But, you know that part because you were the guy watching the monitors.”

  “That’s never been a secret. You saw the feed. Someone messed with the system, and there was a five minute loop.”

  “And who would have known how to do that?” Tanya said.

  “Well, that’s obvious, don’t you think?” Vic never once changed his self-satisfied expression. He still appeared relaxed and confident.

  “Indulge me.”

  “Cross had inside help.”

  Tanya choked out a laugh. “Do you think?” She paced slowly in front of the desk, keeping her eyes focused on Vic. She was done playing. “Y
ou set the loop, Vic. You silenced the alarms and you made damn sure Cross got outside before anyone even knew what was happening.

  “I was an idiot not to see it sooner. Gabriel checked the discs, there was no trace of psychic manipulation on them. It was manually looped. You said so yourself, you were the only one who had access for the time in question. I have to admit it though, you got me. I did not see that one coming.” Tanya stopped pacing.

  Vic put his hands up in a, what can I say, gesture.

  “You’re not going to deny it?” Tanya wanted to smack the cocky grin off his face.

  “Would you believe me if I did?”

  “Not for a second.”

  “Then I suppose it would be a wasted effort, wouldn’t it?”

  Tanya fought the urge to have Robert shoot the arrogant bastard. Everything she had put into place ten years ago had fallen apart because of this man.

  Cross had slipped through her fingers, and now Kale had somehow managed to get out of the most secure building in the entire East Coast. She took one quick step toward Vic and pulled her hand back. She swung her arm back to slap him hard across the face.

  He caught her wrist and then bent it back. The pain was intense. He used her own forward momentum against her. He had her on her knees in a moment.

  Before she could utter one word, or even make a sound, she heard the soft snick of the slide on a Glock.

  Vic let her go.

  She looked up and saw the barrel of Robert’s Glock kiss the side of Vic’s head. His hands rose out to his side.

  Tanya stood and smoothed down her skirt. “Thank you Robert.” She wanted him to pull the trigger. She wanted that badly. Tanya closed her eyes for a moment and fought to rein back the need to hurt Vic. “You’re lucky I need you.”

  She turned as if to leave, but then spun quickly. No open hand this time. Tanya closed her fist and hit the bastard in the face as hard as she could.