Slither

by Bernadette Gardner

Rihana had no idea what to do. She hung back a moment, afraid to step in and try to pry Darq away from the Gemii and equally afraid not to. She wondered if the streaky red webbing now covering half the assassin’s face was equivalent to the black marks left by him on Tanesha’s body. Were he and Darq attempting to poison each other?

  Once she too realized what was happening, Makena lunged forward, hands outstretched toward her mate. Swift as lightning, Heath broke contact with the Gemii and caught her, forcing her backward away from the melee. “Don’t break their contact,” he warned while Makena struggled in his arms. “The Gemii guardian will only attack you and you’re not strong enough to fight it off.”

  “Help him!” Makena fought Heath and Rihana moved to assist him in pulling her back away from the fight. Before she could reach them, though, something in the color storm caught her attention and held it.

  She recognized something there beyond the swirling shapes of the guardian beasts, something she’d seen only a few times before during her trips to the quaking. She stepped back, reluctant to leave Heath to deal with Makena alone, but she had an idea that might tip the balance of power in their favor.

  Once her back hit the nearest wall, she plunged forward again, not physically but psychically into the quaking.

  Ice rippled across her skin and she screamed. She’d never been so cold or felt so weak in her life. It took every ounce of strength she had to lift her head and confront the scene before her. Here in the netherworld, the guardian beasts were invisible. Only the black mass hung in the center of the room, undulating like a tentacled creature of the deep. Thick ropes of black attached the creature to Darq, who still wrestled on the floor with the assassin. A shape had formed on the side of his face. Like a blotchy bruise, it resembled the marks left on Tanesha’s body.

  With each second, the tendrils wrapping themselves around Darq’s head and neck grew thicker. Rihana didn’t need to ask Heath what the outcome would be if the black mass consumed his crèche brother. Darq would die the way Tanesha had.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Heath pushing Makena toward the door. He shoved her back several steps then turned and lunged for the combatants on the floor. At the same moment, she threw herself at the Gemii guardian and plunged into utter blackness.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Heath cursed under his breath as he tried to break contact between Darq and the Gemii. Though it appeared the man was beginning to weaken, his whole life had been spent building the strength of his poisonous guardian and teaching it to kill. Even after his death, the formless creature might live long enough to do damage to any one of them.

  Faintly, he registered Makena’s cries of protest and that made him fight harder. Losing his crèche brother would be devastating, but to have it happen while Darq’s chosen mate looked on would be unbearable.

  He wrapped his own hands around the Gemii’s skinny throat and concentrated on fighting the transfer of poisoned energy. He would have held on until the death—the assassin’s or his own—but he didn’t have to. With a force that knocked him backward and shook the dilapidated walls of the tenement, the battle above him ended as quickly as it had begun.

  Stunned, he looked up as black dust rained down across the room. The Gemii guardian had exploded, sending harmless streaks of itself all over everything and everyone. Makena met his startled gaze and a millisecond later threw herself at Darq. He coughed once, convulsively, and caught his mate as she wrapped her trembling arms around him.

  Heath allowed himself a relieved half-smile and dragged himself across the floor to examine the assassin. A spider work of black and red marred his face and his eyes were open and unseeing.

  Under Heath’s searching fingers his pulse faded and a moment later death halted his last strangled inhalation.

  Amazing. It appeared that the man’s own guardian had killed him, possibly in a backlash when the transfer from Darq was interrupted.

  Heath leaned back on his haunches, taking grateful gulps of air, and turned to Darq. “How did you manage to—”

  “I didn’t.” Darq shook his head and shrugged as Makena undraped herself from his body. “I was almost gone myself.”

  “Well it wasn’t me.”

  “Heath.” After leaving Darq’s embrace, Makena had scuttled to the far corner of the room. She huddled there now over a crumpled form. The tone of her voice sent a blade of dread through Heath’s heart.

  Rihana’s skin had turned a shade of lifeless gray. Her lips were blue and her eyes were open, staring without focus like those of the Gemii.

  “She went back to the other side.” Makena spoke in a monotone as if she was in shock. “Why hasn’t she come back?”

  “No!” Heath dragged Rihana’s body away from the wall against which she’d slumped. He pulled her into his lap and cradled her head. “I know you can hear me, Ree. I know you’re still in this room. Come back…now! I need you to come back now.”

  “Heath.” Makena’s gentle touch on his arm burned like acid and he flung her off.

  “She’s here. She just needs to come back.”

  “Darq, call 9-1-1. We need to get her help.”

  Vaguely Heath registered the electronic tones of a cell phone as Darq obeyed Makena’s quiet command. He knew by the time help arrived, Rihana’s body would be too far gone to resuscitate, even if her spirit wanted to return to it.

  Ignoring Makena’s soothing words, he clutched Rihana’s cold hand and projected his frantic consciousness into her mind.

  * * * * *

  Forcing the Gemii guardian away from Darq had actually been the easy part. Now, confronted with its remnants, the sticky, grasping tentacles of negative emotions that had made up the guardian’s spirit, Rihana had no idea how to proceed.

  She could see her body lying in Heath’s arms and hear his desperate voice begging her to step back through the veil, but she couldn’t move. The web of hatred, anger, greed and deceit had trapped her here. It would cling to her and use her as a conduit to journey back to the living world. She couldn’t allow that, but she didn’t know how to prevent it.

  Gramma Essie had always warned her to avoid the black masses and she’d obeyed. Only on rare occasions had she chanced observing them and then only for a moment or two before fleeing back to the safety of the living world. Now she had one on her, its oily limbs draped around her like a cloak, as cold and heavy as a wet blanket in winter.

  She didn’t have the strength to pull it off her.

  “Rihana, it’s time to come back.” Heath’s voice bounced off the dirty walls, less distant now than it had been a moment ago.

  She managed to turn, though the movement caused her frozen joints and limbs to ache, and she found him standing beside her. In the far corner of the room lay her body, still wrapped in his arms. Darq and Makena hovered nearby, their faces pale and drawn.

  Heath had followed her over to the quaking and now he was in danger too.

  “Go back. I can’t leave or this thing will come with me.” She pushed ineffectively at the clinging mass, but it only seemed to tighten like elastic around her wrist and arm. A tendril snaked out and clamped on her biceps, gaining purchase for its anticipated journey through the veil.

  Heath moved to stand beside her. Here in the netherworld his blond hair was white and the twin serpents on his arms stark black. “You don’t have much time. If you don’t come back now, you won’t be able to.”

  “I can’t take the chance. This thing needs to stay here.”

  “It will.” He took her hand and grasped the slick strands that bound her. “I promise.”

  She met his gaze and her heart thudded with the dull cadence of rocks dropping into mud. The hardest part of staying here would be leaving him. She put her hand over his. “I’m afraid.”

  “I know. It’s going to hurt to break away from this and it’s going to hurt to wake up, but you’ve got to do it.”

  “Let me go. I’m too weak to do this.”

  “No, you’re not.
” He began to pry the shimmery strands from her body. It seemed so easy for him, but each time he pulled one of the sticky tentacles away, a wave of fatigue swept over her. She felt the last of her energy ebb, stolen by the evil thing.

  “I can’t, Heath. Please, just leave me here.”

  He grabbed her chin and stared into her eyes. “I won’t leave you here. I love you and I’m not going to let you die.”

  A sob escaped her, cutting through the damp, metallic atmosphere like an explosion. She wrapped her free hand around his neck and kissed him. “I love you too, but—”

  He kissed her back, fiercely, and a puff of air rushed into her lungs. She gasped as the world spun sideways and when she opened her eyes she was lying in his arms, looking up at Darq and Makena as they peered over his shoulder.

  The pain and the cold left her breathless and shivering violently. Heath wrestled her convulsing form against him and held her, warming her enough through sheer force of will that she could finally pry her clattering jaws apart and speak.

  Sirens wailed in the distance and fear absorbed her last drop of energy, but she managed to croak out two words. “Get out.”

  Heath rubbed her arms and her face. His hands felt like branding irons on her frigid skin. “Don’t try to talk.”

  “Go! Now. Don’t…let the police find you all here. Too many questions.”

  “No.” Heath dismissed her plea, but Makena reached out to squeeze his shoulder.

  “She’s right. Look at him.” She nodded toward the Gemii’s body and the formless black tattoo that covered half his face. “He died the same way that reporter did. With you two here, no one will believe he killed himself or that he died accidentally.”

  Heath helped Rihana to sit up and settled her against the crumbling plaster wall. “I don’t want to do this.”

  “It’s all right. I’ll be okay.” Rihana managed to gain enough control over her hand to thread her fingers through his. “You didn’t let it get through the veil.”

  Heath kissed her again, gently as a whisper, and cupped her face. “I’ll see you soon.”

  She nodded, too tired to form any more words. All she could do was show him a brief, translucent image of the two of them locked in an embrace and he smiled briefly before Darq pulled him out of the room.

  * * * * *

  A nurse had just finished removing Rihana’s IV when Nathan arrived at her hospital room the next morning. His visit the night before had been cut short by doctors insisting she spend at least twelve hours resting quietly.

  “So they’re springing you?” he asked once the nurse had excused herself.

  Rihana wanted nothing more than to fling the thin white blankets aside and retrieve her street clothes from the small closet across from the bed, but she forced herself to remain still. Heath would be waiting for her, no matter how long it took. She knew that. “I just need the doctor’s signature. The nurse said she’d track him down for me. No permanent damage.”

  Nathan nodded his tacit approval and pursed his lips. Clearly he needed a smoke. Too much time spent in the sterile corridors of the hospital would make him increasingly jittery. “Do you remember any more of what happened?”

  Rihana looked away. She remembered it all, very little of which DeYoung would believe, even if he’d been there himself. “Just what I told you last night. I saw him while I was in a trance. I recognized the building and I went there. I was going to call for backup, but he caught me looking around, grabbed me and knocked me out.”

  “Something doesn’t jive. Preliminary autopsy says he was poisoned the same way as Tanesha. Why would he kill himself before you?”

  “He did kill me first. He just didn’t bank on someone getting there in time to revive me.”

  “Another unanswered question. Who called 9-1-1?”

  “Someone must have seen him drag me into the building.”

  “Anonymous Samaritan saves life of NYPD psychic. That’s what the headline will read.”

  “It has a nice ring. I’m sure the papers will get some mileage out of it.” Rihana forced a chuckle, but beneath the blankets, her whole body tingled with anticipation. She had a lot more to say to Nathan and she wasn’t sure where to begin.

  “Brogan’s pissed,” Nathan added quickly. Half a smile played around his lips. “We don’t get a conviction on this one. We’ll never know why he killed Tanesha.”

  “I think he was just a violent man and she had the misfortune to get involved with him.”

  “So it’s case closed. Another gold star on your record.”

  “Does that cancel out the demerits for fraternizing with a suspect?” She hated to bring that up. Five years with the department had taught her that the official rule was the end didn’t justify the means. Results could be negated too easily by not following procedures.

  “No one saw you at Gyland’s apartment. Brogan made an assumption based on circumstantial evidence and he could have been mistaken.”

  “But he wasn’t.”

  “But he could have been.”

  “So you’re not writing me up?”

  “Nope. I’ve got too many backlogged cases to put one of my best people on disciplinary suspension.”

  Rihana’s spine stiffened. She had to speak now or she’d never be free. “About that, Nathan. I think it’s time for a change…”

  * * * * *

  Heath was waiting in her apartment when she returned from the hospital. She was tired, still shaky and under orders to take a full week off to recover. The moment she saw Heath, unshaven but still as handsome as the first time she’d laid eyes on him, she began to feel better.

  He drew her into a tight hug as soon as she closed the front door behind her and she melted against him, grateful for his warmth and his strength.

  “How did everything go with Brogan and DeYoung?” he asked, running his fingers over her cheeks and the bridge of her nose as if committing her face to memory.

  “We can talk later,” she said, snaking her arms behind his neck and clasping them to lock herself against him. “Right now, we need to go to bed.”

  He didn’t argue. He merely scooped her up and carried her toward her bedroom. When he settled her on the soft blankets and made a move to leave, she ran her hands down from his shoulders and tugged at his belt. “Not me. We. I don’t want to be alone.”

  “You need to rest. You died yesterday.”

  “I died twice yesterday, actually, but who’s counting? I can barely move, so I need you to move for me.”

  He raised a golden brow. “Are you asking me to make love to you?”

  “No. I’m telling you. I couldn’t tense a muscle right now if my life depended on it.”

  His upper lip curled into a sardonic grin. “I bet I could fix that.”

  “Who says it needs fixing?”

  He held her gaze for a moment, contemplating, then began to pull off his shirt. An image formed in her mind of him rising above her, naked and hard. She closed her eyes and drifted on pure desire until the vision became reality.

  Heath slowly pulled off her shirt and worked her jeans open. He slid the denim down her thighs and yanked the stiff fabric away from her legs. Her panties followed and then he eased her bra off, careful of the still sore patch of skin beneath the body of her guardian beast.

  Just as in the vision he’d shown her, he climbed over her, easing her legs apart with his. She wrapped her arms under his and clutched his back, drawing her nails along his flesh. Just as she intended, the sensation caused his muscles to tense and he moaned softly into her ear as he stretched his lean body over hers.

  His erection slipped down between her pussy lips and found her entrance. She arched her back to make penetration easier for him and used the pressure of her crossed legs over his ass to help guide him into her.

  Rihana took his length with a low, appreciative groan and a quick inhalation once he’d reached full depth. He settled himself and brushed a featherlight touch across her brow, meeting her expectan
t gaze.

  “I’ve never seen you this relaxed.”

  She closed her eyes and smiled. “I’ll tell you my secret. They gave me something at the hospital to calm my nerves.”

  “Oh. Does that mean you’re going to fall asleep on me?” He nuzzled her neck and the journey of his lips across her skin caused a tingling that traveled down her nerve endings and stirred the deep places inside her. The places only he had been able to reach.

  “No, I’m not that calm. In fact—ah—” She gasped when he tilted his hips forward, reminding her of the long, hard shaft within her. “In fact, I’m very much awake.”

  “Good. I don’t want you to miss any of this.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Any world.”

  He smiled at that, but a hint of regret clouded the clear, deep blue of his eyes. She pretended not to see it, just as she planned to pretend while he made love to her that this might not be the last time.

  Mustering the last of her strength, she began to move, urging him to take her. He didn’t need words or psychic visions to understand what she wanted and in response to the wanton suggestions she made with her body, he gave without reservation.

  Rihana bit her lip and locked her arms around Heath’s back. He began to pump hard and fast, the rhythm of his movements matching the rising beat of her heart. Each thrust brought him deeper and Rihana found herself quickly reaching for orgasm. This time, though, the mounting tension in her muscles was from arousal rather than the fear of it. She met her desires head on and finally let herself enjoy the sensual demands of her own body.

  Sweat beaded on her upper lip and he kissed the salty moisture away. He nipped at her neck, then bent to flick his tongue across her nipple. When it rose and hardened in response, he took the puckered flesh in his mouth and suckled. Each long, sensual pull sent electric pulses racing down to her womb to ignite the fires of her climax.

  Years of resisting her own sexuality threatened to derail her pleasure and a faint thread of unrequited shame made her close her eyes and turn her head. This time, though, it wasn’t fear of sin that made her suddenly self-conscious, but the realization that she needed him as badly as she did. Fear that she might never feel like this again brought the sting of unshed tears to her eyes even as her nerve endings reached the point of overload. She loved him. It felt like she always had. Knowing him only a few days didn’t make a difference. He’d become her world in that time. How could she survive without him?