by Eve Langlais
Logan sidled close. “Something don’t smell right.”
The dog had pinpointed it. There was a scent in the air. A strange one. “Keep watch. Perhaps something has attached itself to the doctor in order to gain entry.”
“What?” Logan shot him a look. “I was talking about the doctor showing up. It’s fucking weird.”
“You don’t actually smell it?” Titus asked. Judging by the frown on Logan’s face as he turned to sniff the air, he didn’t.
Interesting. An odor not on the canine scale.
The women exchanged a hug. Adara played the part of a flighty, normal human. Yet another facet to her. At times, she changed so much that Titus almost had whiplash keeping up.
“Why would Adara call her doctor?” Titus mused aloud as he kept subtle watch on Adara and Kyla, noticing the differences. Where Adara was all cool colors with her pale skin and platinum locks, Kyla oozed color and vitality in direct opposition.
It seemed strange to find himself attracted to the latter, and he made sure he shut down the link between him and Adara tight lest she sense it.
Oddly enough, he felt no guilt about his attraction. Some things couldn’t be helped. Especially given that he hungered for Adara but was not allowed to feed his appetite.
“She’s confused,” Logan grumbled. “And, apparently, she can’t talk to us about it.”
“Understandable. She is dealing with many issues, but if that’s the case, she should consult with a new doctor.” The kind that wielded magic. A certain shaman he knew had just returned after a sabbatical. Perhaps a call was in order.
“Apparently, she felt more comfortable dealing with a familiar face.”
“Not the wisest idea,” Titus said softly. Because memory blocks weren’t foolproof.
“Shhh.” Logan’s low hush had Titus holding his tongue and pasting on a smile. He pretended he didn’t know Kyla, because if the mind wipe had worked, then they’d never actually met.
Which meant he felt perfectly justified in giving her the once over. It was, after all, what new acquaintances did. Took the measure of one another. By his estimate, his hands would fit nicely on her waist.
Only when his gaze reached her face did he find her staring at him. He offered a tight smile.
She didn’t, yet he could have sworn amusement shone in her gaze.
“Adara,” Titus said, “I didn’t know we were having guests. I would have had Cook leave us a tray of refreshments.”
“No need,” Kyla replied. “I ate before coming over.” Her lips moved in a way that made it sound lascivious.
“Sorry, I didn’t tell you. You were sleeping, and it was kind of last minute.” Adara didn’t sound apologetic in the least.
“Titus is old. He doesn’t like change,” Logan teased.
“So this is the infamous Titus?” The doctor took in his measure, her gaze not lingering the tiniest bit. She then looked over at Logan. “Logan, I assume?”
The dog nodded.
“I can see why you keep saying that one’s a werewolf. He’s a hairy man.”
For some reason, the remark caused a blush to crawl across Logan’s cheekbones.
As for Adara, she laughed. “You should hear him howl. But, good news, he doesn’t pee on the furniture or shed too bad. You aren’t allergic, are you?”
“As long as he doesn’t attempt to hump my leg, I should be fine.” A dry retort that almost made Titus chuckle.
“I am very glad you could come over on such short notice. Especially since I know it’s after hours.”
“I have to say, your insistence on meeting at night because Titus, the vampire, doesn’t like sunlight, bothers me,” the doctor interrupted with a placating tone. “I am a touch disappointed in you, Adara. I thought we’d gotten past the elaborate fantasies.” The doctor spoke as if she’d never met those fantasies face-to-face. She didn’t remember, but how long would it last with Adara poking at the threads of the memories?
“Nope. Still living the dream. And not why I called you over. I’m having more man troubles.”
“More?” Kyla cast Titus a puzzled glance. “Isn’t two enough?”
Apparently not, and yet Titus didn’t find himself as bothered as expected. Nor did he find himself surprised. Anyone could see the turmoil in Adara where Desmond was concerned. The pair had history and unresolved issues.
“I’m more to handle than they expected.” Adara held her head high as she led the way to the great room. The massive space with its floor-to-ceiling river stone fireplace had a huge bank of windows that would cause a problem if he ever had to switch bedrooms during the day. The custom blinds he’d ordered took time to fabricate.
“Hard to handle is an understatement,” Logan hissed as he followed the doctor. “I wish she’d warn us before she did shit.”
But warning or even talking to them about her decisions would smack of them trying to control her. The new Adara wasn’t someone who took orders. Her confidence had her acting on her own.
So why suddenly the need for outside help? And why did he chafe at the way she took over?
Following in the women’s wake, that strange scent kept tickling him, less an actual smell, he realized. More an aura.
Is it magic I sense? A strange one if he was right.
And it came from Kyla. But the Kyla he’d met was human. So, who was this woman then?
Moving to the sideboard, Titus poured a snifter of blood-infused brandy, keeping an eye on the room, waiting for something to happen.
Because something would happen.
Adara sat on the edge of the couch while the doctor dragged a chair close enough to converse.
Logan prowled by the bank of windows, his gaze divided between the room and outside. The yard around the house held only flat lawns. No trees or shrubs to hide anyone approaching, and there was landscape lighting illuminating a radius of forty feet around. The rocks, strategically placed, held wards. They wouldn’t be caught unaware.
If the wards work. A glance at the doctor was a stark reminder of their failure.
He caught the wolf’s gaze, inclined his head and mouthed, “Anything?”
A negative shake. Nothing there. Yet in the last few minutes, something in the air tingled the senses. Anticipation. Danger. The electric buzz before an upcoming battle.
Oddly enough, Adara appeared relaxed. A little too at ease. Did she not sense anything?
Titus leaned against the bar, one hand in his pocket, the other holding the brandy, the image of nonchalance.
Everything seemed calm just like that moment before the storm.
Adara placed her hands on her knees, leaned forward and, loud enough to draw attention, said, “Who do you report to?”
“Excuse me?” The doctor blinked. “Are you talking about our sessions? Everything you say to me during our conversations is confidential, which is why you’re going to have to ask these gentlemen to leave.”
“What if I want them to stay?”
“I didn’t realize you required group therapy. The fee is slightly different.”
“I can afford it.” Titus waved a hand negligently. The sense of impending disaster increased with every passing moment, and yet he found himself strangely curious. What was Adara up to? Because he began to recognize that despite her seeming relaxation, she had a plan.
Adara regarded the doctor steadily. “How long were you sleeping with him?” An abrupt change in conversation.
Titus straightened. Things were about to get interesting.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The doctor pretended not to understand.
“We both know that’s a lie.”
A cold breeze swept through the air, barely an exhalation as it whispered past his skin.
Titus focused his senses on Adara where the wind seemed to coil, lifting the tips of her hair, moving them sinuously.
“I think someone opened a window,” the doctor tittered. She shifted, a hand dropping from her lap to rest on her
leg. The skirt had pulled taut, revealing a bulky outline.
“How long are we going to pretend?” Adara said.
“Pretend what? Have you not been honest with me, Adara?”
“You can drop the act. I figured it out,” Adara said softly.
“Adara?” A warning query as Titus took a step.
“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.” Adara’s smile appeared genuine and genial, but the look in her eyes? Pure violet frost.
“Adara, are these men threatening you in any way? Tell me, and I will make sure they never hurt anyone again.”
“I trust them more than I trust you. I will admit, the disguise was excellent.”
Disguise?
Logan circled closer.
“I see your delusions are getting the better of you again.”
“Why are you pretending? I can see your otherness. I couldn’t before, but now… It’s plain as day. What are you?”
“I thought you wanted to talk about your problems.”
“I do, and it turns out you were part of my problem. Who were you reporting to? I know you’ve been leaking my sessions.”
“That would be unethical.” The prim reply by Kyla.
“If you were a real doctor. But we both know you’re not.”
“I don’t think I can help you anymore, Adara.”
Adara sighed. “Why must you make this difficult?”
“Adara, what’s going on?” Titus asked.
She finally cast a glance in his direction. “Don’t tell me you can’t see it.” She peered back at the doctor. “It must have been the spell concealing it before. Or you stopped trying to hide it.”
“You’re not making sense.”
“What didn’t make sense was why I kept seeing you? I’d go out to run errands, and you’d be browsing an aisle over. I’d leave the house and see you passing in a car.”
“Small town, and I have many patients.”
“Or you’ve been watching me. But why would you be doing that?” Adara leaned forward, expression intent. “Tell me what I want to know, and no one has to suffer.”
“Threats?” The doctor stood. “This meeting is over.”
Adara sprawled on the couch. “No, it’s not. Because you’ve been watching me for a reason. And I want to know why.”
For a moment, Titus thought the doctor would deny some more. But her head turned, as did Logan’s.
They didn’t have to say anything, he heard it. A shaking rumble of the ground, a fine tremor that nonetheless rattled everything not bolted down.
It was Kyla, who reached under her skirt to pull forth a long dagger and yelled. “Brace yourself. It’s coming for her!”
Chapter Eight
What was coming for her?
Adara frowned as the whole house shook as if in the grips of an earthquake.
Titus stared at the floor as if he could glare it into submission.
Logan began to strip.
“What is going on?” She’d really like to know.
Her doctor, who wasn’t a doctor, pursed her lips. “They’re becoming more brazen.”
“W-w-what is it?” Adara asked, her words stuttering as she shook.
“Death worm.”
“A what?”
It was Logan who hollered, “A giant fucking worm that’s going to eat your ass. Haven’t you seen Tremors? We need to get to high ground.”
While she hadn’t seen Tremors, she understood his advice.
Something appeared to be tunneling at them from below the house itself. Probably not a good idea to stick around and greet it. She ran for the staircase, only barely noticing her doctor keeping pace by her side.
As they rounded the newel post amidst cracking plaster and groaning supports, Adara yelled, “Are you still sleeping with him?”
And by him she meant Stefan. Titus’s ex-right-hand man. The fellow who had been feeding Desmond information until he got caught. The same guy who’d cozied up to her psychiatrist to get information about Adara.
“Must we do this now?” asked the doctor as they pounded up the stairs.
“Yes.”
“No, I am no longer sleeping with him. There’s no point since the vampire fired him.”
The admission almost made Adara crow. “I knew it. You were feeding him information.”
“I never told him anything. Just so you know,” Kyla added as they hit the second-floor landing in time to see the jangling chandelier come crashing down. “It was the other way around. Stefan was the one telling me all about you.”
“Who are you?” was Adara’s next question.
“An ally who has been keeping an eye out, ready to step in if you needed my help.”
“You?” For some reason, the idea seemed utterly ridiculous. “You just about pissed your pants when we ran into demons.”
Kyla smiled. “Convincing, wasn’t I? Don’t worry. If things had become dire, I would have intervened on your behalf. Same with your rooftop confrontation with the demon, Mammon.”
Adara might have said more, but the tile in the entrance chose that moment to explode. Chunks of broken ceramic and debris flew everywhere. A pipe also burst in the destruction, spraying water. And was that rotten eggs she smelled?
It was in that moment Adara realized that Logan and Titus hadn’t followed her. Where were they? She frowned down at the cloud of dirt and fat water drops.
The moisture quickly wetted the dust, and the air cleared. From the ruined floor emerged a muddy lump, the folds of its skin wrinkled. It inched—or was it yarded?—out of the hole, a giant worm surfacing.
It seemed rather innocuous initially, then all over the head of the beast mouths opened. Dozens of them lined with teeth, the kind that could chew up rock and crunch tile with ease. It probably wouldn’t even feel the squishy crunch when it gobbled her up.
I should avoid getting eaten.
Standing over it on the second-floor landing was a good start. It also helped that the thing didn’t seem to have eyes or a nose.
She didn’t need Kyla’s grimly whispered, “Stay still,” to understand it must have other means of tracking.
The head of the giant worm wavered, swaying left and right before pausing by the stairs. It angled the tip of its body/head, every mouth open wide. Even without eyes, Adara could have sworn it stared at her.
It pulled more of its body out of the hole and yarded to the stairs.
“We need to go higher.” Kyla pulled at Adara, who stubbornly dug in her feet.
“Not without Titus and Logan.”
“You can’t go back down there. It’s suicide. Those men can handle themselves.”
Staring down at the wreckage which continued to heave as more of the worm emerged, Adara didn’t disagree. Yet neither could she just abandon them.
“Titus!” She yelled his name while yanking on the mark between them. She felt a twang at the other end. So, he was alive. A check on her other mark showed Logan living, as well. But she might not remain alive if she didn’t move.
The worm appeared determined to make its way up those stairs, only they wouldn’t support its weight. With a groan and a crack, the staircase collapsed. It didn’t improve the situation as the landing they stood on listed without support.
“I think we should move,” Adara declared, ignoring Kyla’s snort of amusement.
“We need to get higher,” Kyla insisted again.
Adara noticed that Kyla’s feet were bare, the shoes left behind during their mad dash. Her toenails shone a bright red, too.
Higher proved to be possible in the master bedroom, inside the walk-in closet, behind a moving rack for shoes. An elaborate system that hid a private theatre in the attic, which Titus had confided was for the previous owner’s porn habit.
Whatever the reason for its existence, it got them one level farther away from the worm thing. Given the shaking of the house, it would be a small reprieve.
“What’s it doing?” Adara asked as the house shook harder.
“Since it can’t climb to us, it’s going to bring the whole structure down.”
Bracing a hand on the leather of the theatre seating chair, Adara looked at Kyla. “In other words, we need to act fast. We went higher like you wanted, now what?”
“Higher.”
Adara blinked at the woman. “There are no other floors. This is it.”
“We need to get on the roof.”
“The roof. Of course, because that makes the most sense. Let’s climb on the highest part of the house because at least then when we fall off, we’ll be more likely to die quickly.”
“We won’t fall. Promise,” Kyla said, moving away from Adara to tug at a drape. The entire room was ringed in thick fabric, muffling all light and sound.
“You’re asking me to put a lot of faith in you, which considering you’ve been lying to me the whole time we’ve known each other, is a bit much.”
“I had my reasons. I was trying to look out for you while not drawing attention to your location.”
“You’re lying. I’m Forsaken, no one is supposed to help me.”
“Not everyone agreed with the decision. There were those of us who spoke against it.”
“Hold on.” Adara paused in her yanking of the heavy curtains lining the walls. “Are you implying you were there?
“Not implying. Saying.”
Adara snarled, “You were part of the tribunal who cursed me.”
“I told you, I didn’t agree, but one voice couldn’t prevail. Which was why I helped you escape.”
“You?” A memory flashed in Adara’s mind, sudden and quick, a slight figure in a robe, exhorting her to, “Move, Erela. I know you’re hurting, but we mustn’t be caught.”
“Yes, me. And if it was known, I’d probably suffer the same fate as you. Or worse, I’d be dead.”
“I have so many questions.”
“And I will answer them. Once we get away from here. Aha.” Kyla pulled back the final curtain to display a blacked-out window. She reached under her skirt, and her hand emerged holding—
“A gun?” For some reason, Adara had expected a dagger like she’d pulled earlier, or at the very least, an exotic weapon.
“One of the tricks for a long life involves killing things from afar that would kill you first.” Kyla smirked. “It’s a lesson you apparently forgot. Shall we?” She smashed the rest of the glass free and clambered onto the sill.