by K.N. Lee
“Is that your professional profiler opinion?” He hooked his wrapped fingers on the top corner of the fridge door and opened it.
“Maybe.”
He seemed different today — and different from the first different when she’d changed worlds. He’d stopped trying to hug her or touch her. In fact, he seemed cold.
She leaned toward him, uncertain what to say, or if she should say anything, when her gaze fell on a business card on the fridge door.
It was dark red, similar in shade to the magnet holding it in place — which was for Double Pizza — and why she hadn’t paid any attention to it. But the text was different than the pizza place. Where Double Pizza used a plain block-style font, the business card was cursive, screaming wedding invitation font.
“What is Devils Do?” she asked, more an act of thinking out loud than actually asking a question.
Shannon popped his head out of the fridge and glanced at her. “Aside from a pun on a bad cliché?”
She matched his look with a dry one of her own.
“An upscale demons’ club,” he said.
“That’s entity to you.” Jovkovic strode across the living room and joined the conversation.
“This doesn’t strike me as the place of someone who would patronize an upscale club.” She yanked the handkerchief from Shannon, pinched the edge of the card in her cloth-wrapped thumb and forefinger, and eased it free of the magnet. On the back, hand-written in blue ink, was the name: Faust. She showed it to Jovkovic, who narrowed his eyes.
“I didn’t think Manny was his type,” Jovkovic said.
“Who?” Shannon asked.
“Faust.”
Shannon nudged the fridge shut with his elbow and crossed his arms, making his chest seem even larger. “Do you think it was a collection?”
Jovkovic shrugged.
She felt in the middle of a tennis match, except she couldn’t see the ball. She couldn’t tell if she was supposed to know who Faust was or not, but she couldn’t stand not knowing what was going on.
She’d just have to risk it.
Maybe she could blame her supposed memory loss on the post-traumatic stress of getting shot. “Remind me again who Faust is?”
“He’s an entity bookie,” Jovkovic said. “A Spriggan.” He said it as if that word alone would mean everything to her. It sort of did. She’d read about them in an English folklore book. They guarded treasure hoards, stole babies, typical mischievous fairy kind of stuff, but she got the impression there was more to Faust than typical fairy.
“With a lot of muscle to keep him company,” Shannon said.
Jovkovic gave him a sour look. “He caters to high-stakes gamblers and has a number of large entities in his employ.”
“Also known as muscle,” Shannon said. “Which means Manny might have been in over his head and Faust sent someone to collect.”
She glanced about the kitchen. “Collect what? And that still doesn’t explain how Manny got ahold of the Devils Do business card.”
“Anyone could have given it to him,” Shannon said.
“That anyone could know what Manny was sticking his nose into.” She looked for a place to set the card. Jovkovic produced a small plastic evidence bag from his inside coat pocket as if reading her mind and held it out.
“And that anyone could also know why Manny was murdered.” She slipped the card in the bag. “Besides, it’s an upscale entities’ club and our missing entities are from upscale families. How much do you want to bet they were members?”
“There are other clubs in town,” Shannon said.
The thought had occurred to her, pretty much as she was making her statement. “The town’s only so big.”
“And it’s a lead,” Jovkovic said. “You remember what that is, Agent Shannon?”
Shannon nodded, the movement curt, and she was reminded of the Shannon back home, who was much more reserved.
“I need to check in with CSU. Take Hill back to the office then check it out.” He turned to her. “I need a complete victim profile on both demons and Manny before the day is done.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. There was no way she was going to let Shannon go to the club without her, but she also knew she’d have better luck convincing Shannon of that than Jovkovic. And it was obvious there was something between Shannon and her other-self… or her dream-self… or whatever.
She’d just add some feminine wiles, the promise of a little something later, and she’d be set. She hated to have to manipulate him, but she needed to get home. Stopping the murderer in her world was more important than Shannon’s feelings in this one.
19
Rowan and Shannon left Jovkovic in the apartment, with Shannon taking the lead while she followed. The breadth of his shoulders almost took up the width of the stairwell.
Suddenly her plan to seduce him to let him take her to the upscale demon club instead of back to the office didn’t seem like such a great idea.
Since she’d joined the FBI’s Occult Crimes Unit, she’d often felt uneasy around Agent Shannon, but his physical presence had had nothing to do with it before. He was always silent, even when the situation called for conversation. That unnerved her. But perhaps that had something to do with his physicality after all. There was a sense of danger that both versions of the man possessed. She had no idea where to start at convincing him to let her check out the club with him, and she needed to get into that club to find Seth’s brother and get the hell home.
“So who is he?” Shannon asked, his voice low, dangerous.
She blinked, uncertain she’d heard him speak.
“Who is he?” Shannon asked again, taking the third-floor landing in one step.
“Who is who?
He wrenched back to her and shoved her against the wall. The air burst from her lungs and her chest ached from where she’d been shot. He pinned her with a thick forearm against her collarbone and leaned forward. In the glaring fluorescence of the hall light, his eyes glowed gold and his features were feral, with sharp jaw, cheeks, and brow bone.
He thrust his thumb against her cheek and drew a hard line across the bruise. She winced and bit back a gasp. It drew a snarl from Shannon, revealing one pointed canine and a gap where the other tooth should have been.
“Who is he?”
Her pulse leapt into action. This wasn’t going as planned.
“Ro,” Shannon said, his voice softening. He pressed his body against hers.
She shivered at his nearness, uncertain if it was fear or something else.
“I can smell the blood.” He brushed her cheek with his, inhaling her scent. “It’s just under your skin. A definite bruise.”
Her pulse pounded harder.
His weight increased on her chest and his eyes narrowed. “You didn’t have the bruise yesterday. So who’d you sleep with last night?”
“Sleep with?” Holy shit. Really? “Excuse me?” The words spilled out before she could stop them. She should have turned the accusation to her advantage, but she’d never seduced a man before — she’d never needed to — and the revelation of her other-self’s predilections was surprising, to say the least.
Shannon seized her by the shoulders, and for a moment she thought he’d hurt her. Instead he opened his mouth then closed it without a word.
As fast as he’d spun on her, he released her and stormed away.
She sagged against the wall, refusing to let her knees give out and letting the wall hold her up. Her heart raced with a mix of adrenaline and something else she couldn’t explain. This world’s Rowan had some interesting activities, and from an intellectual perspective, they were intriguing. But she didn’t want to live any of it. She drew the image of Ben’s soft brown eyes to mind, but they bled into Shannon’s gold and then flashed into Seth’s black. No matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn’t keep Ben in her mind’s eye.
God damn it. She pushed away from the wall and hurried down the stairs after Shannon. Home. Home. The
mantra pounded through her mind with her rushing pulse. The only foreseeable way to get home was to help Seth and that meant working with Shannon and convincing him to let her join him at the entities’ club.
“Listen—” She followed him out of the building and down the steps to the SUV.
“I don’t want to hear it.” He got into the vehicle, jammed the key in the ignition, and started the car.
“No?” She lowered her voice and made it breathy, filling that one word with possibilities. It made her insides churn. This was as close to cheating on Ben as she’d ever gotten.
Shannon gave her a dark sideways glance and put the car into gear.
Well, that went over like a lead balloon.
Words obviously weren’t the way to Shannon’s heart. She just didn’t know if she was ready for actions. “Why don’t we save you an extra trip. I’ll go with you to Devils Do and then we can both head to the office.”
“I’m not going to help you get in.”
Now that was interesting. Not that Shannon wouldn’t help, but that she’d need it.
Still, she needed to get in and it looked like she had to be more aggressive in her convincing. That was what Shannon liked. That was what her other-self’s relationship was based on. “Would you help me get in if I—” She ran a hand across his thigh, hard. “If I show you how sorry I am for last night?” Now she felt slimy.
He sucked in a slow breath. “Tonight?”
“Yes.” She made her voice low and breathy again, fighting a sudden, rising panic. She couldn’t cheat on Ben, not with Shannon. This was a dangerous game and the implied violence in the relationship made it more so.
“Tonight, then.” He flashed a smile, his eyes filled with dark desire.
They drove the rest of the way without another word and pulled into a long circular drive somewhere in the oldest part of town. It led to a mansion surrounded by towering trees and landscaped gardens and lawn, and backed by a natural growth forest. From that, she could assume the property encompassed a few city blocks. If she were to hazard a guess, she’d say the building was of similar age to the original section of St. Anne’s College, a typical Victorian Gothic mansion, complete with gargoyles nestled between the turrets and widows’ peaks.
She stared at the gargoyles, waiting to see if any of them moved. Shannon ignored her and marched across the gravel driveway and up the wide, stone steps to a front door that made him look small.
She hurried after him, making sure she wasn’t gaping. There was nothing that said tourist more than an open mouth and wide eyes. And since she couldn’t do anything about her eyes — at least until she became acclimatized to this strange reality — she could at least keep her mouth shut.
It was midmorning. A little early in the day, depending on the type of club it was, but maybe she could talk to the manager to get what she needed — or rather, figure out what she needed — to get home. There hadn’t been any other cars out front, but there also hadn’t been a parking lot and the driveway had curled around the side of the house and down the hill. The lot could have been in the back out of sight.
Inside, they were welcomed with a large foyer of polished marble. At the far end, by a single door, stood an entity with four arms, talking to Seth. Her breath caught in her throat, the four-armed entity forgotten, her eyes only for Seth.
Their gazes met and heat seeped up her neck. She shifted her focus to his temple. If she didn’t make eye contact, maybe she could resist the dueling urges to knock him senseless or kiss him, neither of which she could do in front of Shannon.
This was a complication she hadn’t counted on.
Of course, Seth had shown up everywhere else. Why not the entities’ club, as well?
Shannon crossed the foyer and she forced herself to follow, keeping her gaze down. She didn’t know if she could control her physical reaction to Seth and if a bruise set Shannon off, she didn’t want to see what he’d do with something more.
She could feel Seth’s gaze on her. It was irrational, she knew that, but a heat caressed her face and neck, coaxing her to glance up.
She refused.
Her heart pounded. It was all she could hear.
She wanted, no, needed Shannon, or Seth, or someone to break the moment, but it was as if she was in a bubble. Just Seth and her.
Her will crumbled. She could see the toes of his dress shoes — no longer tan work boots — and followed the line up his thigh, narrow hips, chest, neck, face, until she was drowning in his dark eyes.
He leaned close, his breath brushing her cheek. Her pulse leapt in response and she couldn’t focus beyond the heat within her. She imagined sparks jumping between them, igniting the air. The energy was palpable. She could taste it, feel it dancing across her skin. She yearned for him to touch her, release it, send it rushing over both of them. The need was overwhelming, unlike any other she’d felt before, even with Ben.
Her mouth went dry and she ached with sudden, desperate desire. This man had more power over her than just keeping her trapped. In one look — one sizzling hot look — he’d made her slick with want and panting with need.
20
Rowan swallowed, trying to bring moisture into her mouth, but it had all rushed between her thighs. Seth’s lips parted as if he were going to kiss her right there in the foyer of the upscale entities’ club. He drew a slow breath, and her body leaned toward him, his inhalation pulling at her very essence. She was drowning in his energy, boiling with sensual need, ready to cheat on her fiancé, Ben.
Ben!
She strained to focus on him, on his boy-next-door looks and friendly grin, and his smiling eyes. That was the man she loved. That was the man she trusted. She clutched at those thoughts, desperate to fight free from Seth’s spell.
As if he could read her thoughts, Seth slipped away, taking the energy with him and leaving her feeling spent and thoroughly unsatisfied. A wry smile lit his eyes as he opened the door into the club and left.
God damn. He’d done that on purpose. He knew the effect he had on her and enjoyed the manipulation. She bit back a growl of frustration. The sooner she got back to Ben and the real world, the better.
Her heart skipped a beat and she became all too aware of Shannon standing beside her. He’d seen everything. Surely her lust for Seth had been crystal clear.
She held her breath, waiting for the axe to fall, but nothing happened.
A quick glance at her watch told her mere seconds had gone by. Her moment with Seth had lasted a heartbeat but it had felt like long, searing minutes, and somehow Shannon hadn’t noticed. She didn’t know how, but thank God.
She turned her attention to the bouncer. His plain black T-shirt strained against all four bulging biceps and his broad chest. A third eye opened in the middle of his forehead, and he watched them with two blue eyes and a white, milky one.
He nodded at Shannon and turned his gaze on her. Her skin tingled. The air grew thick, surging against her, seeping through tiny cracks in her soul that she hadn’t known she had. It drew her soul thin, stretching it out, examining her essence, and leaving her feeling exposed and naked.
She struggled to inhale, her lungs burning with the effort. The heat spread past her chest and down her arms and legs. Then the third eye closed, and the pressure disappeared. She stumbled but caught herself before she could fall.
“You’re not welcome,” he said, pointing at her.
“Excuse me?” she said, but she knew what he meant. Shannon had made it clear earlier in the SUV.
The doorman crossed his top arms. “This is an entities’ club.” And she wasn’t an entity.
She glanced at Shannon, who shrugged, an evil smile playing on his lips. Maybe he had noticed something between her and Seth and was more subtle at exacting his revenge than she’d first thought.
“We’re here on FBI business.” She hated to say it. It seemed like a bad cliché from a movie, but, well… it was true.
The doorman didn’t even blink as if FBI
agents crossed his doorway all the time. “Show me a warrant and I’ll let you in.”
“Shannon?”
“Sorry, babe.” He tossed her the SUV keys, not looking sorry at all. “See you at the office.” He stepped past the doorman and the inner door opened as if by magic — which it well could have. She caught a glimpse of a vast staircase in dark wood and a white marble floor before it shut behind him.
She turned once more to the doorman, who gazed impassively at her with his two normal eyes. For a moment she contemplated her chances of getting past him, but decided she wouldn’t be any kind of match for Mr. Muscles times four. Besides, bullying past the bouncer wouldn’t do her much good. She wanted to be discreet, ask a few questions, maybe return later and ask more. She couldn’t do that if she was barred from the establishment. She doubted she’d get a warrant anytime soon, so she’d just have to sneak in.
Fine. She jingled the SUV keys and forced a smile. See? Innocent and leaving. She resisted the urge to say something inane.
Outside, a drizzle had started, filling the air with a heavy, cold mist. She clutched her coat collar and shrugged at the cold. There wasn’t time to waste on adjusting to the drop in temperature. She couldn’t risk Shannon not asking the right questions and then not telling her about it.
She scanned the grounds looking for a security system sign. She didn’t expect an upscale club to post who their electronic security provider was, but it was a place to start.
No signs within sight of the front steps. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, hunched her shoulders against the chill, and stepped into the rain. She marched straight to the SUV, got in, drove it down the street, and parked in a mini-mall lot. Then she hiked back to the edge of the club’s property and made her way around to the side of the house.
The rain ensured the chances of encountering someone as she snuck around were decreased, for which she was grateful, since she didn’t have a lot of experience sneaking around, and wouldn’t have chosen to break into a place in the middle of the morning. She approached the closest window, looking for a way to open it. It was an old style that swung outward and latched when shut. There weren’t any sensors or any other indications of an alarm system around the window, so she peered in. She couldn’t see any flashing lights on any of the walls.