“Sharp ears.” He favored her with a wry expression. “Seriously, his magic isn’t the same as mine—or Eleanora’s.”
She waited, but Jeremy didn’t seem inclined to add to his statement. “Look,” she finally said in exasperation as she booted up her computer, “it’s not okay to drop a tantalizing comment and then clam up.”
“What are you doing? I thought you’d be heading home after that call.”
So much for answering me.
“If I don’t have to be there until ten, I’ve got some time to work a little more on e-Ouija.” She watched him carefully. As usual, there were things he wasn’t telling her.
He drew his eyebrows together into a fuzzy blond line, shifting from foot to foot. Finally, he blurted, “His magic’s from the fae. Mine’s from the Druids. His is, uh, sneaky and dark. Demon-linked.” There was a long pause. “Your mom wouldn’t have liked him.”
A sad smile rose, and she struggled to hold back tears. “You miss her too don’t you?” At his nod, she went on. “He always told me he had the same magic Mom did. So that’s a lie?” She held her breath. If there was one thing she’d learned about magic-wielders, they didn’t like to talk with normies about their gifts.
“He told you that?” Jeremy grimaced, bending a thumb and two fingers into a sign against evil. “He’s nothing like Eleanora. Her magic is like mine, rooted in Celtic traditions. We help humans. Fae mostly play tricks on them. And some really disgusting ones at that.”
He paused to suck in a breath, blowing it out slowly. “I’ve pretty much bitten my tongue since you’re sleeping with Tyler, but I don’t think you should leave him alone with Eleanora.” His words came faster, tumbling atop one another. “Didn’t it seem odd he showed up mere days before your mom checked out?”
She stared at the Electronic Workbench program flaring across her screen. The circuitry for e-Ouija was demarcated in a rainbow of different colors, some flashing where she’d made a mistake, others glowing softly.
Of course it seemed weird. It has a whole different flavor hearing someone besides me say it out loud, though.
“H-how long have you thought that?” she stammered, trying to pay attention to the complex circuitry and failing utterly. Electronic design was a lot like high level math. You had to hand over your undivided attention, which wasn’t possible given what hung in the air. It didn’t take much of an imagination to feel her mom’s things bending closer, almost as if they were absorbing Jeremy’s words and urging her to do something about them.
“Ever since you met him.”
She looked at him, her eyes wide with shock. “Why the hell didn’t you say something? It’s closing on a year for chrissakes.”
“Aw, Cassie. You don’t remember, do you?” His glass-green gaze bored into her.
“Remember what?” she demanded indignantly.
“You were so hot for him, all you could talk about were those shoulders and those eyes and that dick.” He colored slightly, and then dropped his gaze. “Uh, sorry, didn’t mean to be crass.”
“No, sounds like I was. Did I really rave about his equipment?”
Jeremy nodded, looking annoyed.
“Humph, guess he pretty much mesmerized me.”
“That’s about the size of it, no pun intended. He sweet-talks his way into your bed, your mom exits stage left, and he’s conveniently positioned to move in on her clients. Leastways things likely started with her clients. Now I think he wants it all: her house, her money, her things…”
Cassie groaned, flinching away from the painful truth in his words. She shut off her computer. She’d never be able to glom onto enough focus to place even one more capacitor or diode. No point in making her circuitry mistakes worse than they already were. She couldn’t move forward until the basic circuit board worked without bugs.
Shame flooded her for ignoring the truth about Tyler—until she heard it reflected in Jeremy’s words.
“I’m embarrassed I was that gullible.” It was hard to look at her friend. “And that I didn’t see through that scumbag long before.”
“You were lonely, Cass, and scarcely the first woman to fall for a smooth pick-up line. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
“Before we go, you said Mom’s magic was like yours. She’s not a Druid, is she?”
Jeremy shook his head. “No, but her power has Celtic roots, just like mine.”
“You also mentioned Tyler’s magic is fae-linked. I thought the fae were Celtic too.” She chewed her lower lip, trying to understand.
“Fae magic is powered by demons. Sometimes lesser demons, but I believe Tyler has links to Abaddon and the Irichna.”
“Shit! Goddammit.” She pounded a fist into her desk and winced as pain lanced up her arm.
“Good that you get how serious that is.” Jeremy looked right at her, his expression resolute.
Cassie pushed up from her chair. She tossed her things into her battered leather shoulder bag and packed up her laptop. Donning her denim jacket, still sodden from the earlier rainstorm, she shuddered as the cold, wet fabric settled over her body.
“Did what I said about Tyler hurt your feelings?” Jeremy asked, the question so soft she wasn’t sure she’d heard it.
“No. I needed to hear the truth—up close, personal, and out loud,” she admitted grimly. “I do appreciate it, even when it’s tough to stomach.” She hesitated. “Tyler’s going to a big spiritual gathering. That’s why he wants me home by ten. To trade off watching Mom. For some reason he’s more worried about her being alone than I am. It’s almost like he’s afraid she’s going to escape or something.”
Jeremy cocked his head to one side and frowned. “Of course,” he muttered. Meeting her gaze, he added, “You’ve stumbled onto something, Cass. Tyler must be afraid if your mom leaves the house, she’ll break free of whatever ensorcellment has her in thrall.”
Ensorcellment, thrall—it’s like a foreign language.
“Could you come with me?” She laid a hand on his arm. “Maybe you could reach Mom, somehow, and between us, we could coax her out of there.”
After a very short pause, Jeremy said. “Sure. Tyler gives me the creeps, but I’d like nothing better than a run-in with him.”
She bit back a snort of laughter, mostly so she wouldn’t scream. “Funny, he gives me the creeps too. Ready?”
“Not quite. Sit back down for a few minutes.”
Something about how he said the words generated a resurgence of her discomfort from the night before. She perched on the edge of a soft chair. “Okay. I’m sitting. Now what?”
He bit his lower lip. “I can’t tell you much, but I was, uh, called out to deal with something last night. The veils between the worlds are thin right now because of the Winter Solstice. Demons and other wicked spirits are afoot, roaming free.”
“I know what demons are. I—” She almost told him Tyler had looked like one, but it felt so absurd, she bit her tongue.
“What?” He cocked his head to one side and locked his sharp gaze onto her.
“Nothing. Go on.”
“Not much more, really. Except it’s dangerous. More so for you because of your lack of psychic ability.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
A corner of his mouth turned down. “Lots. For now, if you just pay attention and do what I tell you—without hesitation—I believe I can keep us safe. Ready?”
She swallowed hard before getting to her feet. “Not really, but it doesn’t seem like there’s a whole lot of choice.”
Stepping forward, he pulled open the carved oak door, gesturing her through ahead of him. As she engaged the deadbolt, she chanted and waved a hand horizontally to the floor before heading for the elevator.
“You can’t cast spells,” he protested.
She shrugged. “Yeah, I know, but it’s the same one Mom always did when she left, so I just do the same thing. I don’t have any idea what those words mean.”
“I do.”
Here we go again with partial data.
“You going to tell me?”
“You just asked the spirits of The Tower to guard the gates. No enemy shall pass, nor escape from this portal.” He paused, narrowing his eyes in concentration. “I do believe it worked. Amazing.”
“How can you tell?” She’d always been fascinated by the unseen world, despite her dearth of magical acumen. “Hurry up, goddammit.” She stabbed repeatedly at the elevator button.
He moved a hand downward, and the elevator doors opened. “They require a special touch.” He winked knowingly. “About the other… I can tell because the air currents are different, thicker somehow. Maybe it works for you because you have Eleanora’s blood and, after all, it is her office. I feel her presence every time I’m in there. It trumps everything else.”
“Yeah, I’ve always felt it too,” she agreed, missing her mother’s smiles and herbal concoctions and soothing ways.
The elevator opened onto the deserted lobby. As soon as she set foot on the marble floor, the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She looked about apprehensively. “Is there something here?” She glanced at Jeremy, trusting his paranormal sensitivities to warn her of danger.
“Can we get out through the basement?” At her nod, he jerked her back inside and punched the close door button. The car dropped into the bowels of The Tower.
The bum’s predictions about being cursed rose to prick Cassie. “What was in the lobby?”
“Don’t know. Those things are hard to explain, but something didn’t sit right. A lot of real estate stretched between us and the front doors. I don’t think we would’ve made it unscathed. Let’s see if it’s better down here.”
The doors slid open. Cassie stuck her neck out and craned her head first in one direction, then another. “I don’t feel it down here. Do you?”
“Nope.”
Relief uncoiled the knot in her guts. She moved beyond the electronic doors and came to a halt as she considered what to do next. Jeremy followed her out and, in a totally unexpected move, pulled her against him, his touch gentle, but demanding. She thought about how long it had been since anyone had touched her and then shook her head. It didn’t matter. The warmth of him so close was comforting. And tantalizing.
He stood behind her, hands woven round her shoulders. He smelled like bayberry and the exotic scents her mother used to lure spirits. Cassie’s breath caught in her throat. She wondered why she’d never realized how attractive Jeremy was. He was warm and funny and sexy all rolled into one. Desire for him grew in her, sharp and urgent, and she wriggled in his embrace. An obvious erection jutted into her ass.
“Wow! What a lovely surprise.” She tried to turn around, but he held her in place.
He nuzzled her neck. “This is for later, once we manage to extricate you from Tyler.” He laughed low in the back of his throat and ran a string of kisses down her neck.
“Mostly,” he went on, as if they were having the most prosaic of conversations, “I wanted you to know this was here. That I’m here. I can’t go all my life waiting to catch you between lovers. Well, I suppose could—” He teased her neck with more kisses and flicked his tongue in her ear. “I don’t especially want to.”
She felt stupid—and hotter than hell. Jeremy had been by her side for years, and she’d never, ever considered the romantic possibilities. Cassie smiled softly to herself and murmured, “I’ll make sure you don’t have to catch me between lovers.”
“Those were the right words.”
He pulled away and swatted her playfully on the rump, just like the old Jeremy would have. When she turned so she could see him, she caught him rearranging himself. “Where’s your car?” he asked, shooting her a roguish look.
“Not down here. I let Mom’s space go months ago because it cost four hundred bucks a month. I’m a few blocks over in a monthly rental lot.”
“Cassie, you have plenty of money—”
“Because I don’t spend it on unnecessary things. Besides, I was trying to live on my engineer’s salary—before I quit my job.”
He held up a hand. “All right. Stand down. Thrift is a virtue. Back to our problem. It’d be best if we avoided the front of the building. Just in case—”
Cassie bit on a knuckle as she considered the possibilities. She wasn’t anxious to confront the unseen menace in her lobby again, either.
“Do you want to risk the catacombs?” she asked. A high note in her voice betrayed her apprehension, but she couldn’t get rid of it. “Only way out of here other than that takes us right past the main entrance.”
“Do you know the way?”
“Yeah. I’ve used that route before to get to my car, but there’re so many bums, I quit going that way.” She shrugged. “Now, Mom, she actually liked it down there. I think there were artifacts or something she hunted for.”
Chapter 4
“Eleanora always was drawn to the obscure,” Jeremy muttered. He looked preoccupied, and Cassie assumed he was considering their choices. “The ’combs might be easier to deal with than whatever was in your lobby. I suspect Tyler did something once he knew you were here. Or maybe he’d planned it all along, and that was why he called. Mentioning Eleanora was only a convenient ruse. Remember, he specifically asked if you were by yourself.”
She laughed nervously. Other than residual heat between her legs, her arousal had fled. “That bastard! You don’t really believe—?”
“I do.” He cut her off.
“Crap! Here I was thinking I was cursed with all the shit I’ve dealt with lately.”
“Only curse you’ve had to deal with is Tyler,” Jeremy grunted. “Lots of ways he could’ve laid a trap to snare you. Wouldn’t even have to be here to spring it. Hell, he could’ve set it up days ago and was just waiting for an opportunity.”
“What kind of trap?” Tyler’s threats from the night before replayed in her mind.
“A kind you wouldn’t want to be snared in. Let’s get moving.”
She felt more uncomfortable by the minute as she headed for the rickety, rusted stairs leading to the warren of byways carved into Seattle’s hills. Jeremy didn’t clarify his answer. Either the details were so horrible, he didn’t want to give voice to them, or he didn’t know. Her mother always said words had tremendous power, and it was better to keep them inside unless you were prepared for the outcome of turning them loose in the universe. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t answered her. A shudder wracked her body, and she wished she had a coat that wasn’t wet clear through.
As she wound deeper into the stairwell, she moved more by touch than sight. Some of the steps were crumbling, forcing her to slow her pace. The dank odor of wet earth grew stronger, mingled with sweat, urine, and shit. She clutched at the handrail, wishing for the bottom. There’d be light down there from the fires the vagabonds lit for cooking and heat. Sure enough, a wavery glow rose to meet her.
The bottom step appeared quickly after that.
“This way,” she mouthed, not wanting to make any more noise than she had to. Wails and eerie laughter came from everywhere and nowhere, magnified by the strange acoustics of the ’combs. Drawings, dating back to long before there’d been a city overhead, adorned the walls.
It was only a fifteen-minute walk to stairs that would bring them within a few feet of her car. She imagined herself invisible, had almost deluded herself it was working, when a hoarse voice rose from the fetid near-darkness between the fires.
“Lady, you ain’t been here…”
They think I’m Mother. Maybe I can use that to get out of here unharmed.
“Nah, ain’t da witch—” someone else cut in, a phlegmy cough obscuring the rest of his words.
“Spare a buck?” another voice shouted. “Da witch, she always give us somethin’.”
“Fuckin’ A. This one could gi’ us all ten spots.” An ugly chuckle followed.
Cassie trembled, her heart beating faster. She toyed with tossing the contents of her wallet
into the darkness and making a run for it. Christ, how many of them were there, anyway? Reaching back, she felt for Jeremy’s hand, but he stepped in front of her.
A rose-tinted globe of light appeared, suspended above his clasped hands. He casually wrapped his long, slender fingers about the base of the light. “You shall let us go by,” he suggested, his voice dangerously smooth.
So formal and old-fashioned. Like Mother used to talk…
“Nah. We ain’t waitin’ for you to magic us up,” a man cried.
A hand shot out of the ether and grabbed Cassie’s wrist. Shocked, she came to an abrupt halt. “Let go of me,” she screeched, trying to pull away. The hand was filthy with grime crusted nails. God only knew what kind of crud he carried if those nails broke her skin. She fought harder, but he yanked her off her feet and into a tumble of reeking men, who all pawed at her.
Cassie shrieked. When that didn’t work, she raked her nails down someone’s bearded face. It didn’t even slow them down. The men just hooted and whistled as one tore her top open, exposing her breasts.
“Hoo, look at dem tits,” someone howled.
A grimy hand twisted one of her nipples. She writhed, hissing and spitting, but the collection of bone and sinew gripping her may as well have been made of iron. Fear beat a tattoo down her spine. Was she was about to be gang-raped?
“You’re hurting me,” she screeched and batted ineffectually at her captors. Part of her hoped Jeremy had gotten away. Another part prayed he’d do something to help her.
“That’s ’cause you ain’t relaxed,” another bum shouted helpfully.
“Yeah,” someone else chimed in, and then a brand new disgusting hand groped her other breast. Pivoting, she shoved a foot hard into what she hoped were his balls.
A muffled grunt, followed by, “fuckin’ bitch,” told her she’d found her target. The latest hand fell away as the man dropped it to his crotch. She was getting ready to tell them she was “da witch’s” daughter, and there’d be hell to pay if they didn’t let her go, when light flared, illuminating the catacombs. Cassie blinked. She turned her head to shield her eyes against the unexpected glare.
Alphas for the Holidays Page 82
