by Elicia Hyder
“I know. Want me to talk to him?”
“Why bother? It’s not like you did any good the last time.”
He tickled my side, and I laughed and caught his wrist. He turned over, pulling me on top of his hips, and my black hair fell into his face as I bent for a kiss. His hands gripped my thighs. I sat back up and gathered my hair over one shoulder.
“God, you’re beautiful.”
I scraped my nails down his bare chest. “Beautiful, even if a bit crazy?”
“I don’t think you’re crazy at all. I think you’re perfect. I’ve always thought you were perfect.”
I squeezed his torso between my knees. “Scars and all?”
“You know I think scars are sexy.” His hand slid along my bumpy thigh. “How do we find the hypnox?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could speak, he said, “Wait.” He handed me the pillow he’d playfully hit me with, pressing it against my bare breasts. “I can’t hear you with those things in my face.”
I laughed and held the pillow against my chest. “We’re getting closer. Orion is the reason Lucas Costa almost drove his car straight into us.”
“Who’s Orion?”
“The guardian from the Boundary. He’s been helping me from the other side.”
Essex sat up on his elbows with sudden realization. “Is he the ghost?”
“Huh?”
“Is he the reason you were almost killed by the car?”
“Oh. Yes.”
Anger flashed in his eyes.
“I punched him in the junk.”
“You should’ve broken his neck.”
One side of my face screwed up. “I’m not really sure that’s possible.”
“What did he do to Lucas Costa?”
“Spirits in the Boundary can animate bodies.”
It was the most surprised Essex had looked during the whole confession.
“Elias could too. He did it all my life, randomly dropping in on me through my friends and coworkers, until I finally begged him to stop. He disabled my car cameras the night I took Teek to jail and used Teek’s body to communicate with me.”
“Damn. That explains a lot.”
“I know.”
“So this Orion guy drove Costa to us?”
I nodded.
“And you trust him more than the chief who signs your paychecks?”
“Honestly, I don’t trust anyone at the moment.”
His hands slid up to my hips. “Even me? Because given your compromising position right now, you seem pretty trusting.”
I rocked forward against him, causing his head to roll back on the pillow with a soft moan. “I’m in a compromising position?”
He laughed softly. “Point taken. Damn, you feel amazing.”
“Now, focus please. This is serious.”
“Focus? Really?” He arched his hips between my legs. “You just sent all the blood rushing from my brain, and now you want me to pay attention?”
I felt the blood flow in question rising beneath me. I let the pillow fall to the mattress and bent to kiss him.
He broke the kiss and pushed my hair behind my good ear. “How can I help you?”
I rubbed my nose against his. “Not thinking I’m a lunatic is a damn good start.”
“Look at me.”
I pulled back to look at him.
His face was stone serious. “Saphera Nyx, you’re the fiercest and bravest woman I’ve ever known. If you’re a lunatic, it’s only because you’re here with a loser like me.”
I kissed him again. With a smooth and fluid flip, I was beneath him. He slipped on another condom and pulled my knee along the side of his hip. Then his dark eyes locked on mine before he entered me.
My spine arched, and he kissed my throat, then my chin, then my lips again. “Tell me what you want, Nyx,” he said in a deep, throaty whisper as he pushed deeper inside.
Then I did.
Chapter Twenty-Four
It was daylight outside when my spirit snapped free. Essex was asleep on his stomach with one arm under his pillow and the other across my naked back. His nose was nuzzled against my shoulder.
I hated to leave, but every second I spent warm in bed with Essex, Teek was spending in a padded jail cell at Sterling Frights.
The bedside clock said it was 8:47 a.m.
My go bag was on the floor. I jammed my fingers into its side pocket and pinched the ergane gloves between my fingertips. I pulled them out and slipped them on before quietly lifting the bag and swiping my dagger off the nightstand. I crept out of the bedroom and down the hall, taking care not to disturb Karma in the guest room.
I unzipped the bag in the kitchen and found the Boundary clothes and shoes Orion had brought me. As I pulled them out, I wondered what a man like Orion might pick out for me to wear. “This should be interesting.”
I held up the pants first. They looked like plain black leggings. “Not bad,” I said, slipping them on. Like the shoes, they molded to my legs, and they had pockets that were much roomier than those in any of my regular workout pants.
There was much less fabric to the shirt.
I put it on and rolled my eyes. It was a Lara-Croft style tank top that completely showed my stomach and fit like I’d been dipped into it. “Fucking men,” I muttered, shoving my feet into the shoes.
Finally, I put on the oneiryte necklace and light stone. I uncorked the vial, poured a line on the floor, and closed my eyes. Concentrating hard, I pictured my driveway at home.
The floor disappeared beneath my foot when I stepped forward. A half second later, I was jolted to a stop when I collided with the asphalt in front of my garage.
I stumbled a few steps until I regained my balance. Then I looked around the building. On the stairs. Up on the roof. Down the street.
“Orion?” I called out.
Nothing.
I waited. Still nothing.
I guess I’m on my own.
With a deep breath, I opened the vial again and poured, this time picturing the courthouse. When I stepped, the falling journey was longer, but by only a fraction of a second.
My feet landed hard, and I collapsed to my knees in front of the courthouse’s stone steps. Last night’s press briefing had been right here. Swearing, I rolled onto my hip to inspect the damage. My kneecaps were pristine, but they felt like they’d been split open.
I limped as I stood.
“It’s all in your mind, Nyx,” I reminded myself as I hobbled up the steps.
The square was bustling with activity per usual for the morning rush hour. The press was still camped out front of the building, and several extra officers patrolled the area. The heavy wooden doors to the courthouse were roped off with a sign: “All visitors and staff, please use the office entrance through the parking garage.”
I walked around the side of the building. Cars were rolling into the garage off Church Street, but entering that way meant immersing myself in a sea of office workers. I thought back to being metaphysically trampled at the Sizzling Chicken and shuddered.
Down the side of the building was a row of windows I’d never paid much attention to before. They were well off the ground, but thanks to the building’s stone exterior, the walls appeared scalable.
I wiped my palms on my pants and shook my head. “I really hope no one can see this.”
Stretching on my toes as far as I could reach, I stuck my fingers between the blocks. My foot narrowly fit on the lowest ledge made from the façade’s ornate trim. Clinging tight with my fingers, I shimmied sideways across the wall, out over the hedges, and toward the first window. When I was directly beneath it, I slowly began to climb.
Every other row of blocks jutted out just enough to fit my inside arch.
Like Stallone in Cliffhanger, I passed the second row of blocks with shocking precision. The third was even easier. But when I reached for the fourth, my left foot slipped, and with a scream that certainly pierced the dimensions, I fell backward,
shoulders-first, into the holly bushes.
The berries didn’t even shake, but I felt the sharp thorns of the leaves slice through my skin as I plowed feet-over-head onto the ground. I landed hard on the grass and immediately checked my skin for blood.
There wasn’t any.
I cursed again. Then I got up and instinctively brushed off leaves and dirt that weren’t on me. “Whatever happened to flying in dreams?” I muttered as I walked off the invisible pain. “Why the hell isn’t that a thing?”
Then like a lunatic, I tried the whole damn thing again.
For my second attempt, I didn’t even make it past the second row of blocks before I crashed into the bushes. The pain was less—score one for my subconscious learning better—but this time, there was laughter.
I recognized the giggle and looked around for its source.
Flash was sitting cross-legged on top of a retaining wall. His elbows were balanced on his knees, his chin securely perched in his palms as he watched me.
“Where did you come from?” I shouted, though it really wasn’t necessary.
“Macon, originally, but we moved to Savannah when I was—”
“Not where you were born. Where did you come from right now?” I searched the sky, wondering who else might be watching me.
“Orion sensed you were out and about.” Flash pointed to the white crystal around my neck. “He sent me to find out why.”
“A friend is in trouble.”
“And you’re helping this friend by falling off buildings?”
I cut my eyes at him. “Did you only show up to make fun of me?”
“Nope. This is entirely a bonus.”
I would have flipped him off, but forty-seven or not, Flash was still a kid. “Can you please help me? I don’t have much time.”
With a huff, he pushed himself off the wall and walked over. “You haven’t been inside before?”
Shit.
I looked at the building.
“You have been in there before. Why didn’t you try your oneiryte, then?”
“I didn’t think about it.”
Flash shook his head sadly. “And Orion said you were a fast learner.”
“Hey!”
He offered his hand. “Come on. I’ll go with you.”
I took it.
“You know where you’re going now?”
“I think so.”
I’d been in the DA’s office many times, but it had been a few weeks. Flash poured a line of sand on the ground, and I closed my eyes and pictured it as best I could recall. Mahogany furniture, lots of loaded bookshelves, a painting of Lake Tahoe on the wall . . .
“Any day now,” Flash mumbled beside me.
“You’re not helping.”
“I’m just here for the show, lady.”
I pressed my eyes closed harder and stepped. The ground dropped away, and we fell, landing hard inside the office.
Flash grabbed my arm as he toppled sideways. “Whoa! That was rough.”
“I got us here, didn’t I?” I asked, looking around the room.
“Miracles do happen.”
“Oh, just hush.” I dropped his hand and began to search the room. The office was empty, but the door was open, meaning Birch would be back.
“What are we doing here anyway?” Flash asked.
“I’m not exactly sure. I haven’t had a whole lot of time to think this through.”
“Surprise, surprise.”
Putting the glove back on, I moved behind the desk and began trying drawer handles. The filing drawers were locked. So were the cabinets along the wall. I opened the pencil drawer and rummaged through it.
“What are you looking for?” Flash asked.
“Video storage.”
“Like a VHS tape?”
My eyes narrowed before remembering that VHS had probably still been king when Flash was on Earth. “No. Like a flash drive or a—”
“A me drive?” His eyes bugged out.
I chuckled. “A flash drive. Like a little plastic and metal stick about this big.” I held up my fingers a couple of inches apart.
“Flash drive; I like it.”
I searched the high surfaces. Flash searched the lower ones.
I looked up above a row of thick law books and froze. “Shit.” A green light on a security camera glowed from the bookshelf. It was exactly like the cameras I’d seen in the 7 Kings shop.
“What’s the matter?” Flash asked.
“A camera.”
“Want me to short it out?”
Voices echoed down the hallway. I recognized one of them as Birch.
“Someone’s coming,” I said, flattening my back against the wall.
“So? We’re invisible.”
Birch and Mayor Navarro walked in. “You can’t rush these things, Hector,” Birch was saying as he carried file folders behind his desk.
I backed into the corner to listen.
Navarro closed the office door most of the way. “You need to find a way.”
“I can’t announce to the press that we’re charging someone with murder until they’ve actually been charged with murder, and I can’t do that without Judge Hill’s signature. So if you want to hurry somebody, go visit his office.”
The mayor pointed at Birch. “I’m checking into a houseboat on Lake Tahoe at this time tomorrow. I want the press off my front lawn before I leave.”
I could have smacked him.
“I’m sure they will be. The announcement will be made as soon as the paperwork comes across my desk.”
“You don’t leave here until it does. I don’t care if it takes all night.”
A muscle worked in Birch’s jaw. “I won’t, sir.”
“What’s taking so long? You assured me yesterday you had a conviction in the bag.”
“We do have a conviction in the bag. It just takes time.”
“You’d better be right, Birch, or both of us will be out of a job come November.” Navarro stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Birch leaned his elbows on the desk and cradled his head in his hands.
“What was that about?” Flash asked.
“My friend,” I said quietly. “They were talking about—” Wait. I looked at the green light on the camera again.
They were talking about it.
“Bingo,” I whispered.
“What are you thinking?” Flash asked, watching me.
I pointed to the camera. “I need that tape.”
When Birch finally straightened, he stretched his neck and turned to his computer. I ran over and stood behind him.
He clicked on the password field.
“Flash, help me remember this. B-three-three-f-c-a-k-three.”
Flash repeated it. “B-three-three-f-c-a-k-three.”
With a quick look at the desktop, I saw the camera icon on the toolbar.
The phone beeped. “Birch?” a male voice asked over the speaker.
“Yes, Judge?”
“Can you come to my chambers?”
“Uh, yes, sir. Be right there.” Birch pressed the sleep button, and the computer’s screen went black. He hurried from the office, this time closing the door.
I quickly pulled on the ergane glove and tapped the keyboard to wake the computer. “What was that password?”
“B-three-three-f-c-a-k-three.”
As I typed it in, I shook my head. “Beefcake.”
“What?”
“The asshole’s password is beefcake.” I clicked on the camera icon. Then clicked “Export” in the menu. But export it to what? “We have to find a flash drive.”
We began searching the office again.
Across the room, at a cabinet beneath the painting of the blue lake, Flash’s arm shot into the air. “Is this a me drive?”
I looked. “Yes! Nicely done, Flashlight. Keep those investigative skills up, and Orion will have to make you a guardian.”
He beamed.
I jammed the drive into the USB
port and clicked “Download Seven-Day History” on the menu. An error message popped up. “Not enough storage.”
Five-day. “Not enough storage.”
Three-day. “Not enough storage.”
Two-day. “Downloading . . .”
I turned and offered Flash a high five. He slapped my palm. “I just hope it turns up something.”
“What did this guy do to your friend?”
“He’s charging an innocent man with murder so everyone else can be less inconvenienced.”
“So the guy in the suit can go to his houseboat?”
“Yep.”
“That’s mean.”
“Yeah. Humans suck sometimes.”
When the download hit 70 percent, the office door opened. Birch was on his cell phone. “Yes. I got the paperwork.”
Shit.
I looked at the screen. 77 percent.
“That would be great, Marianne.”
Marianne Clarke. I should’ve known.
“Sure. Press conference in”—he looked at his watch—“fifteen minutes?”
84 percent.
“Now, you know I can’t promise exclusivity. News vans from all over have been parked all around the courthouse for days.”
89 percent.
“Come on, come on, come on,” I chanted. “Flash, get ready to take us home.”
He unstoppered his oneiryte vial. “You got it, Nyx.”
92 percent.
“I’ll do my best. Thanks, Marianne. I owe you one.”
94 percent.
Birch laughed. It was so fake. “You know I’m good for it.”
Liar.
98 percent.
He walked toward the desk. “OK. I’ll see you in a few minutes. Bye.”
100 percent.
I grabbed the flash drive and slipped off the glove, enclosing the drive inside it. Then I took Flash’s hand, and we channeled out of the office.
Flash was laughing when we appeared in front of my condo. “OK. That was fun. We’re like Starsky and Hutch.”
“More like Mulder and Scully.”
“Who?” he asked.
“Never mind.”
“What are you gonna do now?”
“Get back to my body.” I pointed at my building. “I’m not here.”
“Huh?”
“My body isn’t here. I stayed at a friend’s house last night.”