by Addison Fox
It was time to get some answers.
* * *
Evangeline let out a heavy breath as she took in the row of sculptures, set at odds among a bright, vivid infusion of flowers. The installation was a centerpiece of the Archangel’s entertainment corridor, an effusive welcome as casino patrons moved past several restaurants and bars.
And someone had craftily positioned two statues beside each other in flagrante delicto.
Where was Security when you needed them?
And worse, why was her mind immediately filled with impressions of Rafe?
Shaking off the erotic image of his mouth trailing along her skin, she desperately tried to focus on the problem. And off all the delectable places Rafe might put those lush, gorgeous lips.
The Archangel’s curator, Arturo, was bound to throw a fit when he saw that his prize sculptures, on loan through the New Year, had been tampered with. Worse, the insurance risk was enormous. She’d done a cursory scan of the marble to see if she might be able to move it herself or secure help from her crew, but there was no way around the problem. She’d have to call Arturo down from his lofty perch in the hotel’s third-floor art museum and get him to put a specialized team on repositioning them.
She dragged out her phone, already preparing herself for the inevitable shooting she’d receive as messenger, when she caught sight of security. Waving down the large, beefy figure, she continued to pace around the sculptures after catching his eye.
How had someone managed this unnoticed? She’d been there when the statues were set in place. Each easily weighted at least three thousand pounds, the Italian marble hewn into the erotically lusty figures that now stood before her. Where their original placement had suggested a sensual feast, sexy nymphs lounging or traipsing through the lush garden she’d wrapped around them, the new placement suggested raw sex and something decidedly dirty.
Like a public shaming. Or the ravages of original sin.
The ringing of the phone in her ear ended, replaced with Arturo’s clipped voice as his voice-mail message rattled off in her ear. Unwilling to linger, she ordered him down to the lobby and shoved her phone back in her cargos. Like she had time for this.
Just like she didn’t have time for dates or kisses or erotic images of Rafe.
The guard she’d motioned for still stood at the opposite end of the hall and she waved him down once more, adding a wolf whistle for good measure. Was the guy blind? And what was taking him so long? He’d be in trouble enough for leaving the statues in the first place, but to ignore a direct request?
“Why, Evangeline, I had no idea you’d planned such a fascinating display for the promenade.”
The dark voice, rich as sin, seemed to float over the back of her neck like a brand. The erotic images she’d fought against rose up once more, a tantalizing replacement for the side of beef who continued to ignore her from the opposite end of the corridor.
Turning on her heel, Evangeline went into damage control mode. “I did no such thing!”
“I’m not saying I don’t like it.”
“You shouldn’t like it. Someone’s tampered with the sculptures and I can’t seem to find Arturo and security’s gone MIA.”
The litany was enough to draw his focus off the sexy art and Rafe’s brows lowered. “Where’s security?”
“I have no idea. I’ve been flagging that hulk down there for the past few minutes and he’s ignoring me.” Evangeline glanced over her shoulder, surprised to see the end of the corridor empty, the mountain of a man nowhere in sight. “I... Where is he?”
“Where’s security?” Rafe’s gaze sharpened, his dark eyes sweeping the breadth and depth of the corridor. “Where’s anyone, for that matter?”
“I don’t—” She broke off, a strange, insistent pounding in her ears in direct counterpoint to her confusion. Where was everyone?
The Archangel lobby was rarely empty, although traffic dimmed considerably during the overnight hours. But it did not vanish in the middle of the morning, nor did the air hum with a malevolent sort of silence.
“What’s going on?”
“How long have you been here?” Rafe’s question was sharp, at odds with his subtle steps as he moved closer toward her.
“Only a few minutes. I wanted to refresh some of the flowers in here and then I found this.” A wave of embarrassment heated her skin, creeping up her neck toward her cheeks. “It’s not how they were originally placed.”
“Not at all.”
“But how could someone move them unnoticed?”
“You could.”
Those two words were spoken in quiet tones despite the accusation that screamed from each of them. “They’re too heavy. I couldn’t even push one.”
“Directed your team, then?”
“No!” The pounding in her ears grew thicker, adrenaline drumming a hard beat through her body. “Someone snuck in here and moved these. A group of guests, maybe, who thought it was funny. Or someone on Arturo’s team. I just found them.”
“Of course.”
Memories from long ago spiraled through her mind and she was once again a helpless child, at the whim of the adults around her. When in one of their moods, her parents had accused her of any number of childish crimes she’d not committed, and those memories braided with Rafe’s dark, endless stare. Fear wrapped around her throat with tight hands, nearly choking off her breath.
I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me. No!
Forcing air into her lungs, she lowered her voice. “What are you trying to say?”
His eyes narrowed, a hard, storm-cloud gray that indicated he wasn’t persuaded by her response.
Did he honestly believe she was responsible?
Something swirled at her feet—a hard tug, really—that had her glancing down. The moment she did, a heavy gust of wind blew through the hallway with all the force of a hurricane. The tug at her feet became a hard drag, sucking at her shoes like cement while thick winds buffeted her. A scream crawled up her throat at the hard press of air that pushed against her bones with brutal force. The immediate urge to seek shelter was foiled by the large hands that wrapped around hers.
“Hold on to me!”
Rafe’s grip was tight but it was a solid match for the invisible tether that gripped her feet.
“I can barely move.”
“What?”
“My feet. It’s like I’m stuck or something.” Evangeline tried to lift her leg, straining against the force holding her down. She managed a few steps but a hard ache gripped the muscles of her thighs.
Rafe shifted his grip and bent at the waist, pulling at her leg. “Try once more. Match my movements.”
She ignored the tingle of electricity that ran the length of her calf where his hands gripped her body. On his mark, she lifted, him pulling in unison. Her muscles strained against the weird force attempting to hold her still, but his added strength was enough to get them moving. The moment she sprung free from the sucking vortex, Rafe had her on the move. “Come on!”
The long corridor seemed to flatten and stretch out, all at the same time. What was about one hundred yards of shops and restaurants shifted before her eyes into a long tunnel that she could barely see the end of.
“What’s going on?” Her question flew into the ether, cut off by another hard gust of wind, this one stronger than the first as it slammed against her chest with bone-crushing force.
“I don’t know.” Rafe’s grip was tight as he pulled her along, his expensive loafers sliding over the marble floor of the Archangel. Designed for interior beauty, not exterior gale-force winds, the two of them slipped and skidded toward a small alcove on the wall.
Were they under attack?
Although she paid it little mind, she knew Las Vegas—especially the small cities that basically made
up each casino—was vulnerable to terrorists. Had some group targeted the Archangel?
But with what? Some drug? Maybe that was what distorted perception, making the hallway look and feel like an endless corridor to nowhere. She smelled no smoke and saw no fire, yet that weird wind seemed to fill the space around them, pressing in on both of them. Where were the other guests?
She saw no one. Instead, it was only her and Rafe as they huddled, breathing hard against the wall.
“You okay? Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Can you stand upright?”
She tested her weight against the wind that still swirled when he spoke again, a hard shout in her ear. “Try to take a few steps against it.”
Evangeline pushed herself off the wall, moving forward against the full-body press of air. It wasn’t like before—her feet moved this time—but the wind was a harsh taskmaster. “Yes, but—”
Her words vanished along with her breath as a hard, supernatural hand seemed to slam against her chest, shoving her back against the wall.
Rafe’s arms cushioned the blow, but even with his full strength holding her, the violent shock of the attack seemed to echo through her midsection, her ribs vibrating like a pair of cymbals. What the hell was going on?
The fear of an explosion or fire never materialized, the air blessedly free of the acrid tang of smoke. Instead, there was that continued wind—harsh and unyielding.
Rafe’s urgent voice echoed in her ear, loud enough to be heard over the howling wind. “We need to get out of here. Whatever it is, it’s purposely blocking us here in this alcove.”
“It?”
The anger she’d seen only moments before had vanished fully from his eyes, replaced with something fierce and urgent. And careful.
Too careful.
“I think it’s targeted us.”
The lack of answer to her question was even more unsettling than his response and for the first time real fear choked at her throat.
“I need you to hold on to me. We need to get outside. Out in the open.”
“The door’s too far away.”
“That’s why I need you to push forward. As hard as you can. We’re making a run for it.”
She nodded in assent, the wild, raging wind swallowing the last of his words. Before she could blink, Rafe had her hand in his, pulling her out into the raging vortex of air. Once more, that hard, screaming wind wrapped around her, a violent storm of molecules forming and reforming, punching every inch of her body.
Evangeline focused on putting one foot in front of the other, Rafe’s hand around hers in a reassuring grip. The wind fought them, but the two of them fought back, their forward momentum a mix of their own combined strength as well as raw, purposeful motion. Whatever this was—and she was increasingly convinced there was a real, tangible force behind the assault—it wasn’t going to beat them.
Step by step, they moved down the corridor. Where they’d initially hovered along the wall, the force they fought quickly used that thick barrier as the immovable half of its wallop, so Rafe pulled them into the center of the corridor, forcing the wind to reform around them.
“The door! We have to get it open. It pulls inward.”
Rafe moved behind her, positioning himself as a shield for her to drag on the thick mass of glass. With both hands on the ornate brass handle, she positioned herself against the door, bracing her feet. A hard spear of wind pressed against the door, an opposing force to her strength. On a hard breath, Evangeline doubled her strength and tried again.
Only to have that reinforced burst of wind rise up and slam against the door once more.
She turned to Rafe, panic and terror choking the words in her throat. “We’re trapped.”
“We’re—” His words were cut off by another shot of air, a sly sort of agreement seeming to wrap around them.
His gaze narrowed, the briefest moment of confusion stamping itself in his gray eyes before he seemed to come to a decision. “We’re going to try this one more time.”
“It’s not working.”
“Once more. On my mark.”
When she didn’t move, Rafe placed his hands over hers, his palms warm against the backs of her hands. He leaned in, his lips hovering over her ears, his voice full of encouragement. “You can do this.”
Although it was a far cry from the accusation he’d levied mere minutes before, Evangeline took heart from the clear, unwavering support. On a hard nod she focused on the door, absorbing his strength through her skin. Willing the heat of his body to infuse her rapidly evaporating strength.
“We’ll do this together.”
She nodded, a heavy ache settling in her arms as she fought to hold on amidst the continued bluster behind them. Nothing about the past ten minutes made sense, from the sculptures to the wind to Rafe’s unexpected arrival. Yet something deep inside her relished his presence and his added strength.
Together.
For the first time in her life, she wasn’t alone. And that knowledge ceased the trembling in her limbs, instead suffusing her with a deeper strength—one born of determination and an unwillingness to let him down.
“Okay. Together.”
“On my mark. Three. Two. One.”
His hands tightened on hers as Evangeline pulled, the door springing free beneath her efforts. Cool, late November air rushed in and she took a large breath, free of the hard press of the hallway. Rafe’s hands dropped from hers and she turned to pull him forward just as a large wave of heat rose up behind them.
Time slowed, the already-surreal moment giving way to something unearthly.
Unimaginable.
Rafe stood before her, immersed in a wash of flame.
Chapter 6
Air, fresh and sweet, surrounded them as Rafe pushed Evangeline out onto the grounds of the Archangel, his fire winking out in a flash. The heavy doors closed behind them, effectively trapping whatever was left in the corridor back inside the building. The urge to radio Gabe was strong, but the bright, near-hysterical glint in Evangeline’s dark gaze took priority.
The corridor that had trapped them opened straight onto a walking path to the property’s pools, and he refused to stop until they’d put a good bit of distance between themselves and the building. With each step Evangeline’s panic seemed to rise, her eyes darting between him, his torso and somewhere in the distance behind him as he marched them farther and farther away from the casino.
“What? Why? How?”
Her words were barely intelligible at first, but quickly coalesced into a steady litany of questions.
How?
The what he knew. Even the whys of it. The how was always what tripped him up.
How did you explain what you were? His people had stopped trying long ago.
“We need to get to a quiet place.”
“I’m not—” Her protests increased as he sped up, the greenhouse in the distance his intended target. “No way.”
When she continued to drag her feet, tugging against his hold on her hand, he stopped and faced her. “Please. Can you give me that much?”
Whether it was the urgency of his words or the “please,” Rafe didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to question his good fortune. Whatever it was had been enough to get her moving forward in lockstep with him.
The heat of the greenhouse surrounded them as he swiped his access badge at the door and he ushered them inside. The thick air enveloped them immediately, along with an innate calm he couldn’t fully describe.
Something lived here. Plants and flowers, dirt and decay. And from that decay came something real and alive and welcoming. Bright blooms and lush, exotic fronds. Fruits of the earth, each and every one giving back life to the world around it.
If he were prone to
the fanciful he’d have said it was the same feeling he’d experienced the night before with Evangeline wrapped in his arms.
With her, he felt welcome. A sense of belonging he’d never known. And here, inside her world, he felt welcome, as well.
“You owe me an explanation.” Those thoughts of welcome vanished under her thunderous expression. While he struggled with what he was about to reveal, he couldn’t deny the time had come.
Finally.
“Okay.”
“What are you? And what was that in the hotel? And were you the one out on the lawn? The one on fire.”
“First things first.” He shrugged out of his suit coat and undid his sleeves, rolling the cuffs up to his forearms.
“Why aren’t you burned? You were on fire.” She rushed forward, snagging his suit jacket from the worktable he’d laid it on. Her hands roamed over the material, seeking some evidence of the fire he’d used to beat back the wind, staving off its impact so they could get through the door. “And why is this untouched?”
“I’ll explain everything. But first I need something from you.”
She dropped the jacket and took an abrupt step back. “I have nothing.”
Something twisted in his gut at the fear that replaced the bravado in her deep brown gaze. “What did they do to you?”
He hadn’t even realized he’d spoken the words out loud when those same eyes widened, instantly shuttering all emotion. “No one did anything.”
The urge to press her was strong but he didn’t push any further, instead he used her wariness to his advantage. “I don’t know what that wind was inside the hotel. Nor do I understand where all the guests went, but I have an idea I need to run by Gabe.”
“Want to run it by me first?”
“I don’t think anyone else saw or felt what we did.”
Whatever reassurance he took from that thought was lost on Evangeline. “You can’t be serious.”
“But I am. There’s no force on earth that could summarily vanish the roughly fifteen thousand people currently in my casino and hotel. Yet none of them filled the hallway. None passed by us. None could hear the commotion of hurricane-force winds.”
