I lay there for an hour before I admitted that it wasn’t mentally possible for me. I couldn’t pretend he wasn’t there. How was I supposed to sleep like that?
To make it worse, I was fairly certain he was sleeping, which irritated me further. Thirty minutes after that realization, his arm snaked around my waist and he pulled me back, flush against him.
“Fate?” I whispered, trying to determine whether he was moving around in his sleep. Please, please, let him be sleeping. I had to make it through tonight for the good of the world. No one should have an ego larger than his.
“Do you always wear this much to bed?” His voice was deep and husky and vibrated through me, sending tingles everywhere.
He was not only awake but speaking to me and admitting it. Now what? “Murphy has the AC down to sixty. I get cold. What are you doing?” I asked as I started to stretch in a strategic way that, if all went right, would gain me an inch or two of separation. Somehow, he ended up fitting closer to me. Hips to hips, the back of my legs to the front of his. I’d managed to stretch myself right into an official spoon.
“Helping you sleep.” His breath tickled my ear and I could hear the smile on his face.
“By spooning me?” Full body contact was not going to put me to sleep.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes. One Mississippi, two Mississippi… Maybe sheep would work better.
“It’s not helping.”
“Fifteen minutes.” His arm didn’t budge and the heat that poured off of him was starting to feel really good, dangerously so.
“This is not going to help me.”
“Shhh.”
This was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever agreed to but since his arm wasn’t loosening, it was either get into a fully fledged battle and wake up the whole house or give him his fifteen. If I didn’t, I’d practically guarantee a pool hanging on the kitchen wall by coffee time tomorrow. It wasn’t like it felt bad.
The stiffness leaving me, he took it a step further as his leg nudged in between mine, dislocating my own and pushing it forward while his took its place.
“You’re pushing it.”
“Not the way I’d like to be.”
I threw my arm over my head, knowing I’d lose this fight and closed my eyes, counting down the minutes.
I awoke four hours later in a cold sweat, in the same position I’d fallen asleep, with Fate’s body wrapped around me.
“Karma?” His arm tightened around me and I didn’t try to pull away. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just a lousy dream.” I’d woken in the middle of a nightmare. I’d been standing in the warehouse again, watching Kitty’s fingers being broken, but this time I’d also seen what they had done to her legs. I’d never had an image attached to that atrocity before.
In my dream, one of the men I’d seen with Malokin had stabbed me in the hip. It was the throbbing of the tattoo leaking into my dream and I was almost grateful to the pain for interrupting it.
“You want to talk?” Fate wasn’t smiling anymore.
“No.” I just wanted to forget, the dream and the pain, but I couldn’t. I shivered, in spite of the warmth of the blanket and his arm rubbed mine in response.
“It’ll fade,” he said. “The memories.”
“The past will but what about the future?” It wasn’t getting better; it was getting worse. Things were spinning out of control, again.
“Eventually, everything passes. The good and the bad.”
I turned my head back over my shoulder and I shouldn’t have. There was a look in his eyes, a concern I couldn’t possibly miss and every caution or worry faded as I looked into his eyes.
His eyes shifted to my lips and I looked away quickly. One full day. I had to make it at least an entire twenty-four hours resisting Fate or I wouldn’t be able to live with his ego.
Chapter Fourteen
“You killed my men.” Malokin’s voice, sounding guttural and nothing close to human, shook the walls of the house.
I was jumping to my feet before I was fully awake and thankful for the sweatpants and t-shirt I’d worn to bed.
“Stay put.” Fate had beaten me out of the bed and was already at the door.
I grabbed the gun I’d left on the side table and ran out right after him.
Everyone in the house was heading into the living room, colliding in the predawn darkness. Luck was wearing a flimsy red thing that I guess would be considered lingerie. Mother had on some flowing diaphanous white ordeal that practically fluttered around her as she walked.
“Where did that come from?” Murphy said, still in the process of tying his smoking jacket.
Fate was suddenly deadly still as he stared through the back doors onto the beach. “He’s out there. No one leave this house. No matter what.” Fate caught Knox’s attention and received a nod in return.
Now they were best buddies? I didn’t understand the sudden cohesion between them but it didn’t matter; I wasn’t staying behind and I had a strong feeling that Fate’s order was meant specifically for me.
Fate made for the door, me glued to his side every step of the way.
He stopped, hand on the knob. “Stay here.”
“Why? This has more to do with me than you. Maybe you should stay in here?”
His eyes shifted behind us before he said softly, “You know why.”
And then there was that vision of me, throat slit, which was always there between the two of us. “The only difference between us is we don’t know what happens to you. Don’t be so sure you aren’t sharing the same end.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. Unless you can say, with one hundred percent certainty that you’re going to live, which I know you can’t, I’m going out there.” My eyes shifted to Malokin, where he stood on the beach waiting.
“You are so—”
“Right?” I asked, my hands coming to my hips.
“Not the word I was planning on using,” he said, sounding more frustrated than anything.
“But still the correct choice.”
He hesitated a few seconds while assessing me, surveyed Malokin on the beach, and finally capitulated, pushing the door open but not without a last order. “Stay within twenty feet of the house. It’s protected.”
I followed him out onto the deck.
“Got it.” I hesitated for a split second. “Math wasn’t my strong point. Where would you say twenty feet ends about?”
He looked over at me as if he were debating dragging me back into the house.
“Everyone has a weak point. It’s not like we’re going to be doing geometry in the sand for a math off.”
“You are not making me feel better about this.”
I looked out onto the beach, where Malokin was lethally quiet and staring at us like he wanted to rip us limb from limb. “I didn’t know there was a way to feel better about the homicidal maniac on the beach but if you’ve got some secret info, please share.”
Fate looked at Malokin, then the door back to the house.
“Not. A. Chance,” I said, putting every ounce of steel I was feeling into those three words, making it clear this was a line he shouldn’t cross. He was overbearing and bossy in a lot of his ways, and I let him get away with more than any other person I’d ever known and I didn’t even know why. I still wasn’t sure if it was because I had this incredible attraction to him or if he’d been the one person, since I’d started this new life, who had stuck by me over and over again when it mattered, with no regard for the risk to himself.
“Fate, I’m not the type to sit back and wait. Don’t ask me to be something I can’t.” I didn’t tell him that if he did decide to try and drag me back in the house, I’d be furious but I’d forgive him. I wasn’t sure there was anything I wouldn’t forgive him at that point.
But he didn’t need to know that because I’d have a fight on my hands.
“Don’t go farther than me.”
“That I c
an agree to.”
Once I started walking, and my eyes met Malokin’s, any fear I was harboring disappeared.
Malokin stood at the edge of the ocean, the pants of his fine suit and shoes getting drenched every time the waves rolled in but he didn’t seem to care. He reached out his arms and bellowed a scream that pierced the air and sent a group of thugs further down the beach scurrying in the opposite direction.
All I wanted was to get closer. The anger was boiling in me and the more I looked at him, the more the memories filled me. I hadn’t realized I was capable of hate of this magnitude until now.
It might have been what Malokin desired. He fed on hate. Even now, I could see him take a deep breath, as if I was feeding his very being. I didn’t care. I had plenty to fuel us both. It was thick, ran deep, and was so consuming it was shutting down every other emotion that existed.
The angrier I got, the calmer Malokin seemed to become and I knew I was the reason. I couldn’t make it stop, or maybe I didn’t want to.
Malokin took a step forward, looking only at me and disregarding Fate. “I knew you had this within you. If you come with me, I’ll leave here; I’ll leave them alone.”
“I’m going to rip you apart, maul you until you don’t resemble—”
“Karma, get inside,” Fate barked out from beside me.
Fate sounded…weird. I vaguely registered that he’d switched gears somehow. His voice was almost brutal in its intensity. I didn’t care. Something within me had clicked and I wasn’t leaving this beach until Malokin was in pieces at my feet.
“Karma.” Fate again. My name from his lips was a final warning but I didn’t understand his problem, nor did I care. I just wanted him to shut up and stay out of my way.
I took a few more steps, not caring whether I was past the twenty feet from the house or not, my hatred still building steadily. I felt the light touch my eyes and I did nothing to hold it back. I could feel the Universe’s energy bubbling around me, as chaotic as I felt and yet I did nothing to tamp it down. I fed it.
Malokin was smiling and I was about to destroy him. My fists clenched in anticipation of ripping his flesh from his bones with my bare hands.
And then Fate was in front of me, blocking my path, and I struggled to get around him. He carried me back to the house as Malokin’s laughter rang in the air, taunting me, and I wanted to rip Fate apart for dragging me away from him.
He carried me through the house, past everyone as they stepped out of our way. Through the blur of rage I thought they looked shocked but it was hard to think past the emotions boiling within me. We were in the garage before he released me.
The minute he set me on my feet I turned on him. “Why did you do that? I could have had him, right then and there. All this would’ve been over but you stopped me,” I screamed, my hands still in fists and looking to connect with his face.
He grabbed my wrists, forcing them to my sides.
“Look at me,” he said.
Anger boiled within me for no reason now as I met his stare.
“Think, Karma.” He shook me. “You weren’t breaking him; he was breaking you.”
His hands pulled me into his embrace when I would’ve pulled away. One hand rubbing down my back, and with each stroke, a tiny bit of rational thinking eased back into my mind.
I started shaking as I realized how badly I’d just lost myself. I was on the beach one second and then I’d barely known where I was. I’d seen nothing but red.
“How did that happen?” I ran both hands through my hair and then left them there, cupping my head, as I tried to figure out what I’d just done.
“I don’t know but it can’t happen again. He feeds off of you. When he does that he’s stronger than me, and I’m not sure you understand the implications of that, but it’s bad.”
Riotous amounts of knocking sounded from the closed garage door. I met his eyes and nodded, letting him know I was normal again before I took a step back.
“Come in,” Fate said.
The Jinxes were tripping over themselves as they pushed through the door. We both looked at them, knowing they were here to tell us Malokin’s status and we didn’t have to wait long.
“That fucked up dude tried to follow you both into the house but got stuck and started spasming every time he tried to take another step,” Billy said.
“We know we aren’t allowed to shoot his ass,” Bobby added, “but we nailed him from the deck real good with some ketchup bombs we had saved up.”
“Should’ve seen those balloons hit! Red shit all over his fancy suit,” Buddy kicked in.
“Is he still out there?” I asked, now fearful of seeing him again.
“Nah, dude’s gone. Took off after the spasms and the bombs,” Bobby said. “So now what?”
The three of them looked at Fate and I like we had the answers. We said nothing.
Chapter Fifteen
The doors were locked when we got to the office building, and Fate pulled out a key I’d never seen. He jiggled it into a nearly rusted lock that looked like it had never been used.
Our footsteps echoed in the lobby, accentuating the creepy, empty feeling. No one was coming in anymore. There was no work and no purpose to report. The only purpose the building served now was as a target and this building didn’t have the same luxury of being warded by Lars.
The accountant, the only human occupant, had been told we had a roach problem that was going to need strong fumigation. The fact that he hadn’t even blinked an eye at that explanation just showed the dire need for some renovation.
If it hadn’t been for Jockey, we wouldn’t have been there either. He’d stayed behind with the Nightmares in their pasture, a place that wasn’t here or there. Jockey had been confident, for untold reasons, that he was perfectly secure. I was inclined to believe him. This was the only way we could gain access.
“You ready?” Fate asked, as he stopped in front of the entrance to the hallway that would lead to the Nightmares’ pasture.
I stepped forward and opened the door. It didn’t matter if I was ready or not. We needed any information we could get. Digging around in Malokin’s head was our best possibility of obtaining knowledge. It didn’t matter who you were or what you could do in the land of dreams; the Nightmares had free reign. No one could shut them out.
As soon as we entered the dark hallway, the wind picked up and so did the screaming. It was more intense than the last time I’d walked down this hall and was reaching a screeching crescendo that made me want to cover my ears. There were a lot of scary things happening in the world, and they were leaking into people’s dreams.
“Hurry up,” Fate said ushering me forward with hands on my waist from behind.
“What’s wrong with this place?” I asked as I moved forward, sensing something off as well.
“Not sure, but it doesn’t feel right.”
We reached the rustic barn door at the end and Jockey opened it before we had to knock. “Come in,” he said, ushering us with his hands.
His riding boots had lost some of their shine since the last time I’d seen him. A large scuff marked his riding helmet as if he’d taken a fall recently.
“Did you do something to the hallway?” I asked as Jockey was laying a large board across the door, and Fate was walking farther into the field and appraising the situation.
“Yes. But not to worry. You weren’t in there long enough to pick up any ill effects.” He grasped the handle, testing his barricade before stepping away.
“What did you do?”
“Are you sure you want to know?” he asked in his factual way.
I snorted quite unbecomingly. “Yeah, after you ask like that, I have to know.”
He didn’t even crack a smile as he started to explain. “Uninvited guests won’t have a very long life. There’s a reason you wake up before you die in a dream. Anyone who comes here unwelcomed won’t come again.”
The possibilities clicked instantly, and I wondered if th
ings got bad enough to risk it, was that an easy way to do away with Malokin? “What about someone like Malokin?”
“No, I’m afraid not. I can’t, anyway. If he were to come to the hallway I could, or here in the pasture. This is my domain. But the dreams? I don’t have any control of those. The mares could but that’s not how they work. They stimulate nightmares but they don’t create them.”
“But could they?”
“They could but that isn’t something I would encourage, not to save fifty worlds would I do that. Some lessons can’t be unlearned.”
He was a heavy type of personality and his words were even weightier than normal. Nightmares spinning out of control and killing people? Enough said.
His eyes perused me as if I were horseflesh. “Rough night?”
I narrowed my eyes slightly. “You saw my dreams?”
“Occupational hazard. Unavoidable, at times.”
“Then you know they weren’t any worse than normal,” I replied, making it clear that was the end of the subject. I moved to catch up with Fate.
The field was exactly as I’d remembered; perpetual nighttime with dew laden grass shimmering the reflected light of the huge moon above. The mares, more than a dozen of them with gleaming pure black coats, were gathered on the tree lined field some distance away. One nickered nervously and the rest took up the call, shrill neighs ringing across the pasture.
“What’s wrong with them?” Fate asked as Jockey and I approached him.
“People are having some crazy dreams these days. It spills out onto them. They’re exhausted, rundown and on edge. If this weren’t important, I wouldn’t risk letting you come here. They’re not themselves.” Jockey stood looking at his herd with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “But I know it is. If there’s anything you can find that will help, it’s worth it.”
“What if he’s not sleeping?” I asked.
“Then you wait.”
***
The waiting didn’t turn out to be as horrible as I’d imagined. Jockey had a saddle blanket he lent us and went about caring for the mares, leaving Fate and I laying on our backs, staring up at the starriest sky I’d ever seen.
Fated: Karma Series, Book Three Page 11
