One More Bite

by Jennifer Rardin

  Vayl flicked Cole’s light off. “Or Floraidh has two mortal enemies staying under her roof.”

  After such an exciting start to the day, you’d have thought the action would swing right on into overdrive.

  Nope.

  Vayl went back to his room to crawl into his specially made blackout bed-tent.

  After sleeping until one in the afternoon, Albert accepted the news about Mom and our plan to deal with her remarkably well. He grabbed a bite to eat and took Jack back to my room to watch a My Family marathon until we decided we needed them.

  Cole and I took turns napping, attending GhostCon events with Albert and Jack like we really gave a crap about the feng shui of a haunted foyer, and watching Floraidh. Since our ward spent most of the day in her room concocting weird Scidair spells while Dormal looked after the B and B, we’d had to improvise our stalker spot, turning the walk-in linen closet beside Dormal’s room into a Scidair-hide. I came up with the name. It helped alleviate my minor claustrophobia to imagine I was a National Geographic photographer, surrounded by vast expanses of jungle, just waiting for the elusive kangahipposeal to appear, at which time I’d film that sucker like a paparazzi on speed.

  We furnished the Scidair-hide with a laptop and folding chair, from which we eyeballed the empty hallway like we thought the walls were about to sprout ninjas. Sure, it would’ve been a lot more comfortable, not to mention safer, to guard her from one of our rooms. But if Bea tried something during the day, seconds would count. And though I could move a lot faster than I used to, I still wasn’t superhuman enough to race up two flights of stairs in time to save her from an assassin standing right at her door.

  The first time Cole relieved me he came with good news. “Rhona’s driving your dad nuts. She keeps knocking on our door, asking him if he’d like to accompany her to her GAPT seminar tomorrow. I think that blow to her head has lodged an obsession for him deep in her cortex.”

  “Cool!”

  “Plus, while I was fending her off for him—”

  “What!”

  “He gave me twenty bucks and promised to fart under the covers for the rest of the day.” I shrugged. How could you argue with that? “Anyway, it gave me the chance to talk to her about Iona. She came with great references. Which I plugged into the database along with one of the shots our cameras picked up. She’s clean. Squeakily so.”

  Bummer. I spent my break trying to solve the mystery of Bea’s true identity while some GhostCon idiot droned on and on about why people who die violently have such a hard time resting in the ever-after. I wanted to jump out of my chair and yell, “Well, I’d be pissed too!” I settled for relieving Cole early. Since I couldn’t shuffle my chips for the noise they’d make, I practiced walking one across the tops of my fingers. Amazing how much you can improve at something when that’s the only thing you do for two hours straight. Oh yeah, there was that ten minutes when I figured out Dormal’s secret.

  Before my first nap I’d sent the pictures of her room to Tolly along with a request to let me know what she could make of them. She’d gotten back to me with the results right around the middle of my last watch. The symbols on Dormal’s and Floraidh’s doorways were charms of protection, ones meant to keep ghostly and magical attacks neutralized. The squigglies on her wall? A massive curse aimed at one Edward Samos. The kind, Tolly said, that a scorned lover chooses, because wound around the curse is the demand for the stolen love to return.

  “Meaning what, exactly?” I’d asked Tolly.

  “If I had to guess, I’d say Samos broke up her happy home,” Tolly replied. “Do you know of anyone she’s holding out hopes of reuniting with?”

  “Actually, yeah, I do.”

  Around four Cole came to relieve me. “Anything new?” he asked as I handed him the laptop.

  “Not much,” I replied. “Oh. Except I found out that Dormal’s in love with Floraidh, who’s in love with Samos.”

  “Well, that could be significant.”

  “I don’t know. Samos is dead. Why would Dormal want to kill Floraidh now?”

  “Love is, like, the least logical emotion on earth,” he said, avoiding my eyes. “Look at us. On paper we’re perfect for each other, but in real life . . .” He shrugged.

  I crouched down in front of him so I could get a better look at his expression. Hurt. Despite all my efforts, and although he’d pretended otherwise, I’d made his heart bleed. What to say now? Where were the words that would heal him without leaving ice between us?

  “What are you looking for, Cole?”

  “You!”

  I shook my head. “Come on. You knew I wanted Vayl almost from the second we met. And you still came after me. What is it that you think I can give you?”

  He closed the laptop lid, spread his fingers out across it and studied them, turned his hands over and watched his palms for a while. If he could’ve seen his future there, would he have felt any relief? “I want what my parents have. Real love. A whole lifetime of it. I’ve been looking, God, since I was probably fifteen. Every time I meet a woman I think, She’s amazing. She could be the one. And then, no. I realize she’s somebody else’s one and I let her go. Then I found you. And I still keep thinking, Yeah, this is it.”

  I knew, if I had made a single different decision in my life, he might’ve been right. No Matt. No dead Helsingers. No life as an assassin and no Vayl might have all added up to a Jasmine Bemont with lots of Cole Jrs running around her suburban split-level. Because I did love him. And part of me wanted to be that woman for him.

  I said, “You know I can’t do that to you. As much as I might want to, I can’t give you that life. You only think I’m the one because you don’t really know me. You’ve never seen the horror I’m capable of.”

  “Jaz—”

  “If only you’d consider somebody better. Like Viv.”

  “She’s a great girl. We may go on a few dates. We may stay together for a month or two. Someday we’ll probably be good friends. But I can already tell she’s not the one.”

  I’d put my hands on his knees to make my point. Now I dropped them. “I’m sorry.”

  When Cole’s answer turned out to be a shrug, I shuffled off to his room to try for a last power nap before Vayl rose. I’d been worried about sleeping after my confrontation with Brude, but Raoul and Colonel John had assured me that his promise of safe passage meant I’d be okay for the duration of the mission. Coming back to his territory after his two-week freebie concluded might be a problem, but they were working on a way to protect me from him should I ever need to cross his lands again. And it turned out they were right. Despite the niggling worries about Brude, and Cole, I slept well. No dreams. No interruptions. Until Vayl knocked on my door.

  His hair sparkled, still wet from the shower. Wearing a black button-down shirt with pinstripes tucked into faded jeans he looked good enough to eat. I felt like a leftover taco. “Hi.”

  “I am up for the evening.” Really, should it be legal for one man’s smile to make your heart skip a beat? Maybe if he’s not a man at all, but a vampire who has finally taught you the meaning of the word “luscious.”

  “I need a shower. And some food.” I thought a second. “And lessons.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’m pretty sure there’s no way I’m going to be able to keep you interested if you continue to catch me when my hair’s standing on end and my breath smells like drooly pillow. But maybe if some svelte supermodel could teach me a few tricks—”

  The alarm in his eyes made me reach for Grief. Which was currently hanging in its holster on the headboard of the bed. So all I got for my trouble was a handful of armpit. Lovely. Problem was, I couldn’t even make farting noises to entertain him. All I could do was stand there and look like a freak show reject.

  I think he might’ve read some of what I was thinking in my eyes, because his lips curled as he ran his fingertips down my arms. Oooh, shivery good!

  “My sweet pretera, do not change for my benefi
t. I love you just as you are. Evening breath and all.”

  “What a nice thing to say. I’m not sure I buy it, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

  “Ah yes, you always did prefer actions to words.” He leaned down and kissed the tip of my nose. “Never fear. I am still working on a most amazing proof for the depth of my feelings for you.”

  “Well, you could start by letting me get freshened up.”

  “Certainly. Take all the time you need. I am just going to relieve Cole. I understand he and the girls are scheduled to sit in on Rhona’s presentation shortly.”

  “Wow. So cool that I get to miss that.”

  Unfortunately my shift at GhostCon started right after Cole’s ended, so I did have to endure a debate over what shades do when they’re taking a break from the haunting biz. Some panelists voted for them falling into a kind of mystical coma state from which they emerged only when disturbed by our presence. Others insisted they functioned in a society of sorts, one much more savage than ours, where atrocity was the earmark of progress and success. After what I’d seen in Brude’s dungeon, I tended to agree with them.

  The only other interesting occurrence that evening happened when I got back to the B and B in time to meet the Haighs on the way to their fancy supper.

  “Wow, don’t you guys look ritzy?” I said as I met them on the walk in front of Tearlach. Humphrey wore a shiny black suit, white shirt, and bow tie while Lesley had chosen an ivory dress with matching low-heeled pumps.

  “Thank you!” she said, her hand fluttering up to her hair. “I’m so excited. I’ve never been to Adair’s before.”

  “Where’s your necklace?” I asked.

  She looked at me blankly. “Excuse me?”

  “The diamond rose necklace you had on last night. You said you’d brought it just to wear to this dinner.”

  She gave me that polite smile people reserve for eccentrics and friendly drunks. “I’m sorry, you must have me confused with someone else. I don’t own any necklaces like that.”

  “Of course, my mistake,” I said, stepping aside to let them pass. Helluva spell, Floraidh. Just wiped their minds clean of those jewels, didn’t you? Wonder what else you erased while you were at it?

  I told Vayl about the conversation as I took my linen-closet watch, but he still wanted to wait and see. “The mission is our priority,” he said as he handed off the laptop. “We must neutralize Bea.”

  “Who’s taking her own sweet time showing,” I muttered as I grabbed the computer and thumped into the chair. “If she doesn’t make a move tonight I’m going to smoke her out.”

  I know, impatient words from a girl who should’ve been an ace at waiting by now. But I wasn’t the only one who was sick of Bea’s lack of progress.

  Chapter Thirty

  Midnight. I’d once read this was the witching hour. Then I learned that only counted if the moon was full. As I jerked upright in bed, jarred awake by the shout in my head, I knew three things at once. The moon was only in its first quarter, showing like a halved dime in the sky. I’d overslept my shift change. And the voice I’d heard wasn’t my own.

  Jack jumped into bed beside me, a forbidden practice that he knew would earn him a scolding. But as soon as he saw I was awake he bounded over me, went straight to the door, and began to scratch. I adjusted the receiver, which had fallen back into my hair while I’d napped. “Did you hear it too?” I asked.

  Jack looked back at me and jumped on the door, the thump he made probably loud enough to alert Vayl, who’d retired to his room to see if he could pull up the results of the ash test we’d sent for, and also to help Albert hide from Rhona, who hadn’t given up her clumsy attempts at seduction.

  The guys met us in the hall.

  Before I could ask, Vayl said, “Cole is in trouble. Come.”

  He led the way to the Scidair-hide. The door was cracked open. Vayl raised his eyebrows at me. As I drew and cocked Grief, I sent my extra senses into the room ahead of me. Shook my head. No scent of others. From the look on Vayl’s face he couldn’t feel any intense human emotions either. And Jack showed no more than mild interest in the entire exercise. With Albert staying in the hall to watch, we entered the room carefully. Vayl led, throwing frost ahead of him so thick I could see my breath before I’d taken a single step.

  How, with a laptop feeding him camera shots, had Cole not seen them coming?

  Scidair, my mind replied as it noted the upset chair. The quarter-sized spot of blood on the floor next to it. The wad of gum that had fallen out of his mouth at some point during the kidnap.

  Or killing?

  No. Hell no! I’d have known! I’d have felt him—pass! Right? Geez, where do you go when you can’t stand being inside your hysterical head one more second? Some girls find a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. Some shop. I warm my hand on the butt of my gun and sink into my own center. It’s not quite the shelter it used to be. Cracks have opened and the floor’s developed a big rusty spot, but it still does the job most of the time.

  Vayl pointed to himself, jabbed a finger back toward Floraidh’s room. Then he gestured for me to take Jack and check out Dormal’s place. We met back in the hide less than fifteen seconds later, where Albert had at least had the presence of mind not to touch anything.

  “She’s not in there,” I whispered. “Although I’m pretty sure we tripped whatever magical alarms they’ve woven over their rooms. I felt them zap as soon as we crossed the thresholds.”

  Vayl shrugged it off. His expression said now was not the time to be timid. “Floraidh has left as well. She keeps a shrine to Samos behind that screen.”

  “Okay, that’s pathetic.”

  “I have not even begun. Besides pictures and ticket stubs she also has hair snippets, fingernail clippings, and a used condom.”

  “Ick!” I watched Jack sniff at the bloodstain. My first instinct was to shove his nose away from the spot. His desire to take in that aspect of Cole’s scent grossed me out. Until I gave it a second thought.

  He didn’t get that I might disapprove of his behavior. He was in dog mode, pointing on odors that stood out because, for one reason or another, they interested him. Maybe that’s how I needed to view Floraidh. Not as a woman who’d loved Samos enough to keep souvenirs of their time together. But as a Scidairan who needed bits of him in order to cast a spell that would . . . what? You can’t raise a man from the dead when he’s got no body to raise.

  Unless you steal yourself another one.

  Shit!

  They must’ve been planning this for a while. And Cole probably hadn’t even been the original target. But Floraidh had been forced to step up her timetable for some reason. Gather diamonds to fend off ghosts who would interfere because, why? Was Samos stuck somewhere in the Thin? And was it the shades’ job to make sure he didn’t come back? If Brude was Satan’s Enforcer, maybe he was sheltering Samos. Or trying to distract us so nobody could keep him from returning. But, then, why the need for the diamonds?

  Didn’t matter. She’d manipulated Humphrey into handing over the goods. Taken Cole. And if we didn’t find them soon Samos would return.

  We did a quick check of the hallway. Kinda redundant, since we knew it went nowhere but past the rooms we’d already searched.

  “They can’t be that far ahead of us,” I fumed. “We just heard Cole’s voice!”

  “You stay here and keep searching,” said Vayl. “Albert, go downstairs and keep watch over their car. At least we will know if they try to leave by the lane.”

  “Should we”—I didn’t want to ask. It hurt to consider cutting Cole out of our loop. But if it would help in the end— “Should we tune the party line to a different frequency?”

  “We would be assuming Floraidh and Dormal had found his receiver and understood its significance,” said Vayl. “Am I stating the situation correctly?”

  “I’d say that about sums it up.”

  He gave it a moment’s thought. “No. At worst I believe they will think it
another one of our ghost-reaching gadgets. And anything that might help us find him faster is worth the risk.”

  They took off, leaving me spinning in the hall, trying to decide if the Scidairans had taken Cole to the attic. Was there an attic? If so, would a coven perform wicked rites there while the guests slept two floors below? I don’t think so.

  We’d closed the fourth-floor doors. Now I opened them wide. Went back into the linen closet where Jack lay, looking despondent, by the wrecked chair.

  I crouched beside him. “What do you think?” I asked as he looked up at me with his expressive black eyes. “Can you help me find Cole?”

  I heard his tail thump against the floor before I saw it wagging out of the corner of my eye. “Okay then.” I caught the end of his leash. “Have another sniff.” I directed his attention to the blood. Then we spent some time with the chair. When I couldn’t stand the delay any longer I said, “Got it?”

  A straight-up perk of the ears told me he’d decided the game was on. I led him into the hall. Knelt down beside him. Said, “Where’s Cole? Where’d he go? Let’s find him, okay? Let’s go play with Cole!”

  He sniffed around, with me repeating the command long enough that Vayl had rejoined us by the time Jack reached the wall at the hall’s end. The one with the cute little table holding our camera. Ducking under the table, Jack began to scratch.

  I looked at Vayl. “I should’ve known better. My dog sucks at trailing. The last time we were home I accidentally dropped a hot dog on the floor while I was cooking supper one night. And despite the fact that he was sitting beside me at the time I still had to show him where it landed.”

  “At least Albert is in place,” Vayl replied. “They cannot drive Cole anywhere without us knowing it.”

  Jack yelped and jumped back, all four of his paws clearing the ground at the same time as the section of floor that held the table suddenly lifted and slid three feet to the left.