by T. A. White
I set it down on the bed and flipped through it. Caroline crowded closer, curiosity in her face even as she held her silence.
“Oddly enough I picked it up from the book keeper,” I said, referencing her boss and the book store for spooks where she worked. “Sometimes it’s more helpful than others.”
She made an interested sound as she bent closer.
“What stellar advice do you have for me today?” I asked it.
Something on how to break Niamh’s hold on half the Fae in the city or how to keep me from being part of the Wild Hunt would be good. Hell, any advantage would help.
I doubted it would be that simple however. The book seemed to take a perverse pleasure in tap dancing around an answer. It liked to give me just a hint, a small tease, but refrained from ever being truly helpful. You had to read between the lines with anything it shared. Its advice was often subtle and not apparent until the moment when you needed it most, when it was oftentimes too late.
Those were just a few of the reasons I could never truly trust it. Not to mention the odd way it had come to me and the mystery surrounding it.
I flipped it open, randomly selecting a page. My intent was to look for an entry on the Fae, hoping to glean some small tidbit that might help me.
It opened on a blank page.
“Not helpful,” I told it.
I flipped to another page. A picture of a forest looked back at me. Another page, another part of the forest. This time with the remains of train tracks partially covered by overgrowth. Again, and again, each time showing me a different part of the same forest.
“Is it supposed to do that?” Caroline asked.
I slammed it shut and threw it on my bed. That was even less helpful than normal.
“Perhaps I should give more thought to the fire idea,” I said to where it lay on the bed.
There was a soft sound and then abruptly the book was on fire.
“Oh my God,” Caroline shouted at the same time I yelled, “No.”
We both leapt into action. I grabbed a towel from my closet, while she picked up a pillow. Together, we beat frantically at the fire, trying to smother it.
After several heart-pounding moments, it went out.
I lifted the towel, cringing at the sight of my blackened bedspread, small holes in it from where the fire had touched. The stark markers of soot were very noticeable on the soft blue. There was no way to salvage it.
Caroline stared back at me with wide eyes, saying without words ‘what the hell just happened’.
In the middle of it all, lay the book, untouched, not a mark on it. Nothing to show it had been on fire moments before.
I glared at it, wanting more than anything at that moment to put it in a shredder but not daring to voice that thought. Who knew what it would do if it knew what I was thinking? Nothing good.
“Did the bed offend you?” Liam asked from the doorway, his gaze on my ruin of a bed.
Caroline jumped, while I sighed, depressed all over again. It would take money I didn’t have to replace the bedspread and possibly the sheets. I just hoped it hadn’t burned all the way through to the mattress.
Liam’s gaze moved to Caroline. “Leave, wolf.”
She looked back at me, a question in her eyes. I nodded and indicated she should go.
“Alright, I’ll call you later,” she said. She edged past Liam before shooting me a significant look with raised eyebrows as she disappeared down the hall.
“What did the wolf want?” he asked, ice in his voice.
“She was just helping me with something.”
His gaze turned back to my scorched bedspread. “So, I see.”
We were quiet for several seconds as we observed the destruction.
“If you wanted to come home with me, you only needed to ask,” he said.
I snorted. “You can hold your breath about that ever happening.”
“Why? Because Thomas showed you a few unwelcome truths?”
I hesitated in the act of tossing the book to the floor, eying the wood there. On one hand, Thomas owned the apartment. He was the one who would have to deal with the aggravation of fixing it when I moved out. On the other, I didn’t trust that he wouldn’t figure out a way to take the damages out of me, whether monetarily or by binding me ever tighter to him.
Yeah, it wasn’t worth chancing the book having another spontaneous combustion episode.
Liam ignored my preoccupation as I looked around the room for a better place to stash my current pain in the ass. He prowled along the perimeter, fiddling with the things I’d collected through the years, picking one up before placing it down and picking up another. He held up a glass ocean buoy I’d found when I was a kid on a trip to the ocean.
“We both know it’s only a matter of time,” he said, putting the buoy back down.
“Maybe before. Not anymore.”
With a sigh, I placed the book on an end table. It was the cheapest piece of furniture in the room. Replacing it would hurt, but not as much as if the book did permanent damage to my floors.
Liam brushed past me, his smell, the scent of a spring thunderstorm, wrapping around me as it danced along my senses.
I moved away from him. I didn’t need distractions and Liam was the biggest of them all.
“Believe me, a chuisle, you’ll be mine in the end. Fight it all you want,” Liam said, giving me a smile that invited sin and decadence. It was the type of smile meant to con a woman out of her underwear. The kind of look that said he’d give you a night you would never forget, a night you’d spend the rest of your life measuring other men against.
Despite what I knew of him, the anger I still had, his smile got to me. Just a little. Just enough that warmth filled me even as I brushed it off.
I arched my eyebrows and smirked. “You have an inflated sense of your irresistibility.”
His smile widened, a hint of fang peeking out, his eyes heavy-lidded. “There’s nothing inflated about me.”
I rolled my eyes at him. Sure, there wasn’t.
“What’s that?” Liam asked, his gaze going to the book on the table behind me.
“What’s what?” I asked, looking around the room.
“The book you just had in your hand.”
I glanced at the nightstand.
“Nothing. Have you finally tired of throwing yourself against my downstairs neighbor’s door?” I asked, stepping between Liam and the book, not fully recognizing what I was doing. There was this need, urgent and all-consuming, to prevent him getting a look at my book. To keep him from knowing, just what, I wasn’t sure.
Liam’s gaze sharpened. I fidgeted.
He relaxed. “I’m glad you mentioned that. When did you plan to tell me a deposed Fae lord and the captain of his guard had taken up residence in the apartments below you?”
I snorted. “Why ask questions you already know the answer to?”
He didn’t seem to appreciate that answer, his eyes darkening as he prowled closer, stopping just far enough away I couldn’t object to having my personal space violated as he examined the burn marks on my bed.
“I remember Niall of old. He is dangerous and always liked to play with his food before he ate it.”
And I suppose in that analogy, I was the food.
“Everyone is dangerous,” I told him. It was true. Compared to me, everyone was. Even Inara and Lowen could be deadly if they put their mind to it. Their magic, for one, was way out of my league.
“Are you sleeping with him?”
The question came out of nowhere leaving me to blink dumbly at Liam. Anger erupted in the next second, heating my blood and setting my pulse pounding.
I threw my hands up. “Yes. That’s it. You’ve got me. I was down there for a secret assignation.”
His gaze went stony. That was all the notice I got before he made his move, skirting past me and grabbing the book from the end table. I yelped and lunged after him.
He hissed and dropped it, cradling his ha
nd as he glared down at the offending piece of leather and paper.
I crouched and grabbed it.
“How did you get an object of power?” Liam asked, staring at me like he’d never seen me before.
I straightened and held the book in front of me. “What are you talking about?”
“That,” Liam said pointing. He seemed disturbed by the fact that I was holding the book against me. “Where did you get it?”
“It just came to me,” I said. In a way it had. And now it refused to leave.
“Those things don’t just come to people,” he said. “You need to get rid of it.”
“Can’t,” I said.
His stare said that wasn’t answer enough.
I sighed. “I’ve tried. It just keeps coming back.”
He grimaced. “Yes, I’ve heard of some being able to do that. It usually means they’re very powerful with a mind of their own.”
“You know what this thing is then?” I asked.
Because the last time I’d asked a witch, the response I got in return was that it was powerful but didn’t mean me direct harm. Not exactly a comforting thought.
“Enough to know this is one of the higher objects of power. It was probably created by a Fae; they’ve always been amused by such things. I’m surprised to find it here,” he said. “Has it done anything for you?”
“Depends on your definition. Mostly it gives me little hints when problems arise in my life.”
Setting it back down, I moved into the living room, looking for my phone. Liam followed after another dark glance at the book.
The phone was in my fridge. Definitely not where I left it, but given who I had for roommates, it could have ended up in a much worse place—like the toilet. It had taken me a week to dry the phone off enough to work the last time that had happened.
I flipped it on and paused. There were fifteen missed calls and five messages from my sister starting around ten p.m.
I hit play on one of the voicemails and lifted the phone to my ear. Only seconds later, my face paled as I listened.
“Aileen, where are you? Please, pick up. I need my sister.” My sister’s soft sobs filtered through the phone. “Linda’s in the hospital and they don’t know what’s wrong. She keeps throwing up blood.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Liam straightened from the counter, the irritation and sharp playfulness disappearing from his face as the blood rushed from my head.
My hand with the cell phone fell to my side.
Liam didn’t ask what was wrong. With our superior senses, he already knew. Sympathy crossed his face and a tense watchfulness as he slipped the phone from my hand.
I let him do it.
Fifteen missed calls. Jenna must have been going out of her mind.
“I need to get to the hospital,” I said through numb lips.
Liam nodded. “I’ll have Daniel drive us.”
I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I was stuck. The sound of the barely controlled hysteria in Jenna’s voice played in my head over and over again.
“Sun’s coming up soon,” I said, softly.
It was a little after six. Already, I could feel it lurking just below the horizon. The threat of its presence burned a hole in my chest.
“What am I going to do if I pass out?” I asked.
“I’ll be there. I won’t let you go alone,” he assured me, his voice quiet and steady.
I nodded.
He paused, watching me carefully. “But it might be wise to take some of my blood. It can help you resist the sun.”
I shut my eyes, already resigned. I knew that.
He correctly read that as my agreement, lifting his wrist to my mouth. I bit down, the warmth of his blood hitting me, the power zinging through my veins. The usual lust was still there, but this time its urgency was overridden by my need to get to the hospital and check on my niece.
He pulled me away shortly after I started drinking, murmuring small words in his native language.
After that, the trip passed in a haze. He gave Daniel the hospital name, having paid more attention than me to the end of Jenna’s message. I spent the drive staring out the window, trying to remember the last time I’d seen Jenna and my niece.
It had been months. Months of silence because I’d shut everyone out. Months of lost time because I couldn’t figure out a way to fit in with my family anymore.
Daniel parked near the entrance as Liam and I got out. He used his whammy to get Linda’s location out of the first desk we stopped at, then it was an endless maze as we traipsed throughout the hospital looking for the right floor.
Technically, it wasn’t visiting hours anymore, but whenever someone stopped us to challenge our presence, Liam pulled out his abilities and sent them on their way.
My normal dislike of manipulating humans was a distant memory, the overwhelming need to find Jenna and my family showing my true self. It’s easy to hold to your principles when times are easy. It’s much more difficult to do so when you’re tested. That’s when you find out which of your values are important. Turns out the vampire’s ability to mesmerize wasn’t nearly so objectionable when it was being put to use for me.
I rounded the corner and stopped, catching sight of my mother slumped in a chair, her face pale as she blankly stared into the distance.
My dad sat next to her. The man who’d raised me always seemed larger than life, but at that moment he seemed a shadow of his normal self. He looked older than his years. They both did.
My mother’s blank gaze drifted my way as if sensing she was being watched. “Aileen, what are you doing here?”
I stepped forward, her words getting my feet moving again, when I would have remained frozen in place. “I came as soon as I heard.”
They both took me in, still in the dress from the evening, my hair a tangled mess down my back. I never had gotten the chance to change.
A shutter slammed down on my mother’s face. “You shouldn’t have bothered.”
I felt the words like a physical blow.
“Elise,” my dad said, sounding shocked and chastising.
My mom’s face tightened. “Have you gone back to get help?”
My silence was answer enough.
“Then I don’t want you here.” She stood.
Liam moved at my side. I grabbed his arm, holding him back.
I lifted my chin. “I don’t care. Jenna asked me to be here. She can ask me to leave.”
“We’ve been here for hours. You’re just now getting here. Where have you been?” my mom asked, her eyes hard.
I stared at her, wondering how we had gotten to this point. This wasn’t my mother.
“I was at an event. I didn’t have my phone on me,” I said, trying to stay calm.
Emotions were high. There was no need to make things worse than they already were.
She made an ugly sound. It was half- laugh, half-scoff.
I didn’t respond, just stared her down.
Liam’s hand moved to the small of my back, a silent message he was there, that I wasn’t alone.
The movement attracted her notice and she narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re her doctor, aren’t you?”
We both went stiff. I hadn’t thought she would remember his face. He’d whammied her pretty good the one and only time he’d met her. Humans under that much influence often had trouble remembering what the vampire looked like, a natural defense mechanism to the way we tended to hunt.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Liam said easily, flashing my mother a charming smile and ignoring the way I stiffened.
My mother didn’t look placated, if anything his statement made her more suspicious as her attention swung back to me. “Is that how you got out of the hospital? By fucking your doctor?”
I sucked in a breath, shocked.
My mother rarely cursed, and never so casually—in a way designed to hurt and flay the flesh from your bones.
“Elise!” my father barked, horrified.
“Mom, that’s enough,” Jenna said, her voice strong. She stood in the hallway, her gaze fastened on my mother, the door slightly ajar behind her.
Liam had gone preternaturally still at my side and was now eying my mother in a way that made me think of a predator assessing the vulnerable points of their prey.
My mother stooped, grabbing her purse and straightening. “I’ll be in the cafeteria.”
She walked away without a word, leaving the rest of us staring at her.
My dad stood with a sigh. “I’d better go after her. Make sure she doesn’t get lost.”
He crossed to us and squeezed my arm. “Don’t hold it against her, Lena. This thing with Jenna has her out of sorts.”
I gave him a strained smile, not saying anything. There was nothing to say. Hurt had stolen my voice. Anything I said now wouldn’t be very nice, even if it was true.
There was a slight limp in his step as he headed down the hall after my mom.
Jenna watched me, the look in her eyes guarded.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier,” I said, not moving toward her for the hug every part of me begged for, too afraid of her rejection to attempt it.
Her shoulders slumped and she sighed, one hand coming up to scrub at her face. “I heard what you told mom. You can’t help that you didn’t have your phone on you.”
She took in our ruined and rumpled clothing. “Looks like you two had quite the night.”
I looked at the two of us, realizing for the first time how we must appear. The dress had seen better days and looked like I had grabbed it off the floor after a long night. Liam was in a similar state.
I sighed, at least there were only a few spots of blood. That wouldn’t be too hard to explain.
Jenna offered me a small smile. It wasn’t much, there and gone in moments, barely touching her eyes. “Thanks for coming, Lena. It means a lot.”
Finally, I stepped forward, wrapping her in my arms. “Of course. I’d do anything for you, little sis.”
She felt frail and insubstantial in my arms, the events of the night taking their toll. I couldn’t even imagine what she was going through. I was a wreck, barely holding it together. For Jenna, it had to be a hundred times worse.
