by Terry Spear
He was handsome, as all Matusa were. Deadly handsome, with a rugged face, not an ounce of extra flesh—looked to be an athletic type, tall, muscled, a regal nose, and a haughty expression that screamed arrogance. Arrogant, as were all Matusa.
Hunter included.
On edge, Alana watched, unable to make Indigo cease and desist. No matter how many times she’d tried to exorcise him so he wouldn’t be floating around Earth world causing trouble, she hadn’t managed it. It seemed to her that even in death, a Matusa with a grudge—another had murdered him to claim power over the area—was still a powerful presence.
The teacher, Mrs. Cogsworth, was catching students up on simple math they’d probably forgotten over the summer, writing on the board while Samson was taking studious notes. Mrs. Cogsworth was totally unaware that Indigo was standing beside her, mimicking her in his silent ghostly way.
Alana shook her head. As long as he didn’t do anything more… no… no… no…
He began to pick up one of the markers and, of course, all anyone else could see if they were watching her was the red marker waving in the air near the teacher. The cap came off. Then the marker was pressed against the white board and started drawing.
Alana glanced at the students. Some were watching as the unsmiley face suddenly appeared about a foot away from the teacher, who was oblivious. Alana wondered if he hated math. The students, who were watching Indigo, stared at the paranormal occurrence in silent horror. What if the marker targeted them next? That’s what she would have been thinking had she not been able to see Indigo and know him somewhat. Although she probably would never truly know him.
Unable to do anything about him and his ghostly actions, she glanced again at Samson. He was so absorbed in the teacher’s explanations, he didn’t even see Indigo’s drawing.
Did the demons teach calculus in the village where Samson was from? Somehow she hadn’t really envisioned him as the studious type.
He interrupted the teacher with so many pointed questions, indicating he was way ahead of probably most of the students in math, if not all, that Mrs. Cogsworth finally asked him to hold his questions until the end of the class. But Alana could tell that her teacher was pleased that someone was interested in her lecture.
When she turned her back to him and began writing some more equations on the board, Samson smiled at Alana as if to show her just how smart he was. Was she impressed?
She mouthed, “Show off.”
He grinned and watched the teacher some more, turning his head only slightly to see the unsmiley face on the board. Samson said to Alana in a whisper, “Indigo?”
She nodded.
Samson shook his head. Since Alana had returned to Baltimore, the ghosts that the Matusa had stirred up were wreaking havoc at a much more acceptable level. Her mother was back to taking care of the hauntings that arose on her own. Although Alana would rather ghost bust or fight the evil demons and free the enslaved ones any day over the drudgery of school.
She noticed that several of the students were playing games on cell phones on their laps, others drawing pictures, or writing notes. Not the math kind. Indigo had slipped out of the room, probably annoyed he wasn’t getting any really great response from anyone over his unsmiley face or chilling everyone by thirty degrees or more.
Only Samson seemed intrigued with the teacher’s lecture. That’s when Alana noticed an older girl who seemed inordinately interested in Samson. She looked like she must have been held back a couple of years.
Maybe she was one of those math whizzes and liked him because he was also and that he wasn’t afraid to show it. Or maybe she was so bad in math, she was looking at Samson as a tutor after hours. Alana would give anything if Samson could find someone else to… well, maybe date, so he’d quit telling her she was his intended mate.
Maybe in the demon world it would have been the case. But she wasn’t all demon. And so that meant whatever he thought the protocol was for demon gate guardians and bodyguards who watched over them didn’t count in this case. Right?
Alana prayed he wouldn’t tell anyone at school that she was his intended mate!
The girl was beautiful and had a sophisticated look, unlike Alana who thought of herself more in a sporty way. The girl was wearing a black dress, more suited to going to an evening dressy kind of party and didn’t fit in with the jeans crowd.
The more she observed the girl, the more the hair prickled on the nape of Alana’s neck. She didn’t know what it was about her, but something wasn’t quite right.
Samson was totally unaware that anyone else was watching him. He was too engrossed with the teacher’s lecture that Alana imagined if she walked out of the class right now, he wouldn’t even notice.
She used her witch’s ability to ensure the teacher didn’t realize she was leaving the class and left. She was headed for the water fountain at the other end of the hall when she heard footsteps behind her and turned.
Samson. So he was watching her after all. “Why are you out here? You’re missing all those notes you should be taking,” she said, teasing him.
“Why are you out here? You’re missing the teacher’s lecture. It’s your school, your class.” He was serious, as usual.
“You can teach me all you know later.”
He shook his head. “This is the easy stuff like adding one and one and getting two.”
“I know that, Samson. I mean, when the math gets harder and if I don’t understand it, you can help me then. Why are you taking notes, if you already know all this stuff?”
He shrugged. “Someone ought to look like the teacher’s effort is worthwhile.”
She smiled. He was still a big mystery to her, but she loved how considerate he could be of others at times. “You must be a genius.”
He looked inordinately pleased that she’d compliment him. She didn’t mean it that way. She had to be careful with any praise she offered him as he immediately concluded she was rethinking the mate scenario.
Indigo hurried to join them and Samson quickly chided, “Did you have to invite him?”
Their breaths were frosty, and she assumed that’s why Samson knew Indigo had suddenly arrived. “When do I ever invite him? He does his own thing. By the way, did you notice the girl who was admiring you in class?”
“I only have eyes for you,” he insisted, his green eyes growing dark with interest.
She groaned and headed back to class. “I think she likes that you’re so smart in math,” she tried again. Maybe that some other cute girl found his abilities noteworthy would make him lighten up some with Alana.
That’s when she felt the compelling surge of a portal opening somewhere in Baltimore, and her heartbeat sped up. She grabbed Samson’s hand to keep herself upright, and said between gritted teeth, hating that this was happening now but having no choice to avoid its pull, “Portal opening. Astral transporting time.”
“Evil demon or good?” he hurriedly asked, his expression more worried than she’d ever seen it.
She was gone before she could reply.
Chapter 2
Samson wondered just how long it would be before Alana realized they were meant to be together, permanently. He knew it was just a ploy that she was trying to foist him off on getting interested in some other girl in class. A human? No way.
He was glad that Alana liked that he was smart. He wasn’t certain she’d appreciate that fact. But he wanted to tell her how fortunate she was to have teachers and all the fantastic subjects humans could learn. Where he was from, teachers taught reading and writing and that was it. For anything more than that, he had to find teachers in the city, willing to educate him in other topics. He couldn’t understand her dismissal of all she had here, when he wanted to sign up for every course the high school offered. Instead, he’d have to use his ability to vanish and visit more of the interesting classes, if he didn’t have to watch over Alana. Like now.
He was torn between taking her out to her car until she could return to
her physical form, or guide her into the class and make her sit in her seat before the bell rang. But she was like a zombie, unable to respond to anything anyone said, so he just wasn’t sure what to do with her.
When he’d trained to be a gate guardian’s bodyguard, no one had said anything about having to protect a half human. Well, half witch. Not that she wasn’t human, too. She was just witchier than them.
He opted for taking her back to class. And hoped he wasn’t making a big mistake. Indigo must have taken off with Alana’s astral form because the hallway had warmed up by several degrees. If Samson could exorcise him, he would do it with a snap of the fingers. But for now, he hoped that Indigo could watch out for Alana wherever she’d gone. He prayed she’d return soon before anyone noticed she wasn’t really all here.
***
Hunter had been searching for demons in Dallas for three days now and had sent one back, but found no others, while Jared worked on creating the Demon-Tracker II device. The city was relatively quiet, and he should have been glad. But he couldn’t be. Not when he’d left Alana behind.
Jared’s adoptive parents had put him up in a two-bedroom apartment, feeling that he needed to be on his own now. Which suited him fine. Hunter had moved in and the two were free to continue taking care of demons until they could discover how to eliminate the way portals were being opened. But it was a mixed bag of good and bad.
Jared denied he really cared whether he could ever find his biological demon parents, but every free chance he got, he returned to the demon world of Seplichus to search for them at the hall of records. Despite the animosity Hunter felt toward his own demon father, Bentos, not ever having wanted to meet him, he was his flesh and blood father. So sealing off the portals forever would mean burning their bridges to the demon world. And Hunter wasn’t certain he wanted to do that.
Not only that, but Alana’s father slipped back and forth between worlds also.
Ever since Hunter had left Alana behind in Baltimore, he’d felt out of sorts, unable to focus on his mission. He knew she had the hots for him, no matter that she tried to deny it. What bothered him most was that Samson so firmly believed that he was the one who would have Alana as his mate because of the gate guardian nonsense.
Not that her job was nonsense, just that the notion that Samson would believe his claim to her was.
Hunter had warned Samson to stay away from her, though he knew the Samuria wouldn’t. He had done so as more of a warning that Samson was to keep his hands off, rather than to stay far away from her. In truth, the Samuria could protect her when Hunter was too far away to do so. That was what really griped him.
Then Frosty the ghost had designs on her also. Hunter was clueless as to how to deal with Matusa ghosts though. Just as Hunter had suspected when he’d first seen her in her astral form, she was trouble. The kind he loved. As much as he told himself otherwise.
In the living room, he sat staring at Jared’s laptop, trying to focus on anything, but envisioned only Alana’s bright green eyes staring back at him, a determined look on her face, arms crossed. Beautiful.
He glanced at his watch. She was still in school. Would be for hours. He wished she could telepathically communicate with him like she could when she was close by and let him know if she was in trouble. But she couldn’t from this distance.
What difference would it make anyway? He’d never get there in time to save her if she ran into something dangerous she couldn’t deal with.
He glanced up as he heard footfalls coming toward the living room.
Jared stalked toward him, his face grave, and he handed Hunter his phone.
He knew from the look on Jared’s face it was the worst kind of news. But why would anyone call Jared about it? And who would be calling him about it?
“Hello?” Hunter snapped, unable to contain his worry that something might have happened to Alana, yet he knew whoever the caller was it couldn’t have anything to do with her.
“She’s mine,” the baritone male voice growled, and the line disconnected.
Hunter was already on his feet and headed for the bedroom. “Who was it?” he asked Jared.
“How do I know?” he asked, throwing up his hands in resignation. “I don’t read minds. I didn’t recognize the voice.”
“Pack light.” Hunter stormed into his bedroom and grabbed a backpack. “What did he say to you?” he hollered as Jared moved around in his own room.
“Just ‘Hunter,’ as if I was some damned secretary for you.”
Hunter couldn’t help smiling at that. Then he sobered and shoved enough clothes for five days in the pack.
“Where are we going?” Jared asked, from down the hall still.
“Baltimore.”
“She might not be in trouble.”
“When is the Kubiteron not in trouble?” Hunter growled.
“Yeah, you’re right. She’s trouble. I’ve always said so. I’m taking two bags, Hunter. Well, three.”
“I said pack light.”
Jared joined Hunter in the living room and handed him one of them. “You can carry my laptop.”
Hunter stared him down for a moment before eying the other bags. When did an Elantus demon believe he could have a Matusa carry his bags for him?
“I’m bringing the Demon Tracker IIs with me so I can finish them up while you watch over Alana. Only two bags allowed per person on the plane. We don’t want this stuff to go into baggage claim.”
“Who was he?” Hunter said, whipping out his keys to the pickup. Jared could carry his own bags until they had to board the plane. Maybe even carry them on the plane. But Hunter would store one of them for him underneath the seat in front of him.
“I swear I don’t know.”
“Any background noises to identify a location?”
They reached the truck and Hunter unlocked it while Jared paused to consider the question. Then he shook his head as he climbed into the truck and both buckled their seat belts. “No. Which was odd. No noise at all. Which, I guess isn’t really that odd. But just makes it more difficult to identify where he was.”
“Which means he doesn’t want us to find him.”
“Was he a Matusa?” Jared asked cautiously.
“Who else would go after her?”
Jared cleared his throat as they drove toward the airport.
Hunter sliced him a glower. “Besides any demon within breathing distance. You know what I mean. Which kind would dare call me and tell me he was laying claim to her?”
Jared sighed. “A Matusa. We still don’t know for sure if this has anything to do with the Kubiteron.”
“What other she do we know that someone would want?” Hunter snapped. He didn’t mean to take it out on Jared. He was angry with himself for leaving her off in Baltimore, knowing just how dangerous things could get if he wasn’t there to watch her back. But her mother had really wanted her to finish her senior year in Baltimore, and her uncle had wanted that, too. No way could she have moved in with Jared and him.
Jared’s cell phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Hello, Samson?”
Hunter wanted to rip the phone away from Jared and speak to him himself, but he was pulling into long-term parking and needed to concentrate on getting parked and onto a plane, pronto. Still, it irritated him that Samson would call Jared, not Hunter.
“I’ll tell him. We’re on our way. Yeah. Really. We’re catching a flight out in another twenty minutes.” He shoved the phone in his pocket as Hunter parked the truck.
“Why is he calling you?” Hunter asked, grabbing his bag.
Jared pulled out his three. “I’m easier to talk to.” Jared gave him a quirky smile.
“You know that’s not what I mean, Jared. What’s wrong that Samson would call?”
“Alana’s astral traveled. Samson was in class with her…”
Hunter gave him a dark look. Samson wasn’t supposed to be in class with her.
Jared shrugged. “He was looking out for her.
If he hadn’t been, we wouldn’t know what was going on now.”
“So what’s going on now?” Hunter led them toward the terminal for the Baltimore flight. “You did get us a flight, right?”
“Absolutely. Hacked into the online reservations. Bumped a couple of passengers. But I’ve paid for the seats, unlike Alana who sneaks her way on, using her witch’s ability. We should be boarding in twenty minutes.”
With Jared’s keen abilities with computers, Hunter couldn’t have hooked up with anyone who could be more useful in this business.
“So what’s going on?”
“Alana hasn’t returned to her physical form. Samson’s pretty upset. He took her to two of her classes, and then when one of the teachers noticed how out of it she was, she wanted her taken to the nurse. He figured she suspected Alana was on drugs.”
“Great.”
“So he took her to a hotel.”
“What?” Hunter’s explosive response garnered several passengers’ attentions.
“To keep her safe,” Jared quickly said. “He was afraid to take her to her mother’s condo. What if someone came for her there? But what’s really spooked him is she hasn’t returned to her physical body. Not only is it creepy when she’s like that, you know how it is, but he’s worried that somehow her astral self is being kept hostage. What if she can’t return to her body if she’s kept away from it for too long?”
Hunter cursed under his breath. “We’re moving to Baltimore.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Tell your parents first chance you get that we’ve got work in Baltimore. We’ll need to cancel the contract on the other apartment and locate a place near where she goes to school. And you and I are going back to school.”