Rockwell Agency: Boxset

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Liam nodded. “Exactly. But I was curious enough to figure out who your grandmother was, and just as I did …Trinity died and was declared a victim of foul play. And I knew that I was in trouble because your grandmother was going to assume it was me.”

  Hannah took the story back over, motioning for Liam to stand up and turn around. “This is what your grandmother did to Liam last night,” she said as Liam unbuttoned his shirt, and let it slide off his shoulder to reveal the dark red X in his back. “He would have bled to death if I hadn’t seared the wounds.”

  Agnew looked away from Liam’s back, his jaw clenched. After a moment, and after Liam had put his shirt back on, Agnew shook his head. “I wish I could say that I was surprised, but I can’t. It’s exactly the sort of thing that my grandmother would do to someone, and you can be sure that she meant for it to kill you. Discovering that you’re still alive will anger her more than anything. She believes that she has been given these special skills and powers because she has abilities that others can’t be trusted with—including the ability to know who should be allowed to live, and who must die. Anyone who defies her by daring not to die when she has decided their life is over—that person is in imminent danger.”

  Hannah looked over at Liam, as he sat back down on the couch, her heart lurching at the thought of Winnifred coming for him again. “Will you help us, Agnew? We need to find out who killed your sister—for her sake, and so that your grandmother won’t come after him. And …we might need to end your grandmother’s reign of terror, if that is, in fact, the situation.”

  Sighing, Agnew slid the palms of his hands along his thighs, rubbing the faded denim of his jeans. “I will. Of course, I will, because I loved Trinity, despite our differences. And because if I was really the man I should have been, I would have ended this so-called reign of terror before it ended up affecting so many people. There’s no sense hiding out anymore down here, hoping that I can just wish it all away if I keep my distance. It’s time to act.”

  Hannah let out a sigh of relief, glad that they had found an ally who would know all of the inside information they would need to take down a woman like Winnifred. “Thank you.”

  “Of course,” Agnew said, standing up. “It’s my last night here in New Orleans, then. Come with me on my tours—I promise that you’ll learn a lot. And afterward, I’ll take you to my favorite spot in the city. In the morning …I’ll go back with you, and do whatever I can to help you find who killed my sister.”

  Chapter 16

  Liam

  “This is my kind of place,” Liam shouted in Hannah’s ear, leaning close to her, as the live musicians played up on the stage in front of them. Spread out on the table they sat at were multiple dishes of fried oysters, macaroni and cheese balls, fried alligator, and two different kinds of crab dip. Their flaming Bananas Foster would be arriving soon, and Liam planned to get a third beer as quickly as possible. It was an excellent way to spend the evening, as far as he was concerned, and the fact that Hannah was sitting next to him, relaxing into the sensual, swinging beat of the music with the rest of the crowd, didn’t hurt in the slightest.

  Hannah leaned closer to him. “What?”

  “This is my kind of place,” Liam said, putting his lips right by her ear. Purposely, he let his lips skim along the shell of her ear, and he was rewarded by seeing a shiver of pleasure move through her. He had been back and forth on Hannah all day, alternately thinking that he was desperate to have her and wondering if she was much too dangerous to play with. But now, as he sat there, two beers in, with the music washing over him, all he could think about was the fact that he could have died the night before. That he could, in fact, still die at any moment, assuming that Winnifred made a second attempt on his life after finding out her first one hadn’t worked. It wasn’t the time to be second-guessing things, and Hannah looked so damn beautiful with her hair flowing down her back, and her eyes bright with alcohol and enjoyment.

  She nodded, looking up at him. “I know. Agnew picked just the place for you.”

  Agnew didn’t hear her say his name. He was sitting across the table, his chair turned towards the stage, and he had been sitting there for some time, just enjoying the moment. Liam didn’t blame him. It was probably his last night in New Orleans for a while.

  It was Liam’s last night in New Orleans for a while, too.

  “Dance with me,” Liam said to Hannah, standing up from the table. “Come on—one dance.”

  Hannah glanced towards the dance floor, which was populated with at least six or seven couples. She hesitated, and Liam reached for her hand, tugging her gently. “Make an injured man’s night.”

  She smiled and shook her head, even as she got to her feet. Her hand stayed in his, and he guided her towards the dance floor, pulling her against him and sliding his arms around her waist. She felt good pressed against his body, and he looked down at her, his eyes sweeping over her face, as she rested her hands against his chest…then slid them up to his shoulders …then slid them down his arms …then rested them on his chest again.

  Liam chuckled, and Hannah flushed. “I don’t know where to put my hands,” she said, taking them off him completely.

  His own hands were resting on the small of her back, and he slid them up, stroking up and down her back, as he held her close. “You can put your hands anywhere you like, Hannah.”

  Her flush deepened, and she settled her hands on his shoulders. “Does this hurt your back?”

  “No,” Liam said, still watching her face. “Not at all.”

  He pulled her closer, so that her arms went around his neck, and her cheek rested against his. Closing his eyes, Liam breathed in the scent of her soft hair, then dropped his head down so that it rested against her shoulder. One hand slid up her back, his fingers brushing against the ends of her hair, and his face turned towards her neck, his lips skimming against her soft, warm skin. He could feel her pulse just beneath his lips, and he pulled her closer, wanting to know what it felt like to kiss her pulse when her heart sped up from excitement.

  “Liam,” Hannah whispered, her hands tight on him as though she was worried that he would be unsteady on her feet if she let go. “Liam …”

  “What is it about you?” Liam asked, kissing up her neck and pressing his lips to her ear. “That drives me so crazy? I’m completely, entirely …” He didn’t finish his sentence, his lips finding hers, as they swayed together. Hannah moaned, as he kissed her, her lips yielding to his with a passion that surprised him. But he didn’t stop to question her willingness. He kissed her deeply, pouring all of his desire into the kiss, as his hands stroked down her body, gripping her hip and pressing her close to him.

  His body had been rigid with desire before their lips met, but now as she kissed him so fiercely, he thought that he might explode if he didn’t have her. Liam was desperate to slide his hands beneath her clothes and remove all of the boundaries between them. He was desperate to kiss every inch of her and join their bodies and watch her come apart beneath him. He was desperate to fill her with everything that he had.

  But even as he kissed her again and again, he could feel something happening to him—something he didn’t understand. His hands became heavy, and his body stiffened—not with desire but with heavy, leaden weight. Her kiss created a haze in his mind, but then something more toxic began to take over him. He felt disoriented and confused, and he broke the kiss, stumbling back.

  Hannah reached out to him, grabbing his arm before he could knock into another couple. “Liam? What’s wrong?”

  He pushed her hand away. He was going to be sick. Or faint. Or …something. He didn’t know what was happening to him, but he had to get out of this bar. He had to get …air. He needed air desperately.

  No—he needed water. Salty water. Cold, salty water with undercurrents that would drag him far, far away from whatever this feeling was.

  Liam knew that it wasn’t logical, but he couldn’t help himself all the same. His lungs screamed
for salty ocean water, and his throat and mouth were so parched that it felt like he had swallowed a desert. He went running out of the bar as fast as he could, rushing into the night air and ignoring the crowds and lights all around him. Liam knew exactly where he was heading.

  He ran towards Jackson Square, which was much quieter at night than it was during the day. The musicians and the palm readers had all gone home, and it was just the odd tourist walking around, going from one place to the next. He ran through the square, crossing the road and bypassing Café DuMonde—also long closed for the night. He came to a high bridge overlooking the Mississippi River, and he clutched the railing, staring down into the depths of the water. It was deep, and it would be cold—he knew that. It wasn’t quite what he was looking for, but it was the fastest way to get to what he needed. He had to get to the Gulf of Mexico—into the ocean water, so that it could swallow him up, rushing saltwater into his lungs that would create a leaden weight in his body, dragging him further and further down into its depths.

  If he jumped into the Mississippi River, he could swim there. He would be there soon.

  “Liam, stop!”

  It was Hannah’s voice behind him, and Liam turned, looking at her over his shoulder. He couldn’t have known just how wild his eyes appeared, but he did know how wild he felt inside. “Hannah, don’t interfere.”

  “Move away from the railing. Now.”

  He shook his head. “I have to do this. I’m sorry.”

  “Liam—.” Hannah rushed towards him, her hand outstretched.

  He was confident that he could fight her off. She was a private investigator and security agent, yes, but she was also a slight woman, and he did workout routinely. Even if she caught his arm with her hand, he could push her away. But he didn’t want to have to push her, so he moved swiftly.

  Gripping the rail, he jumped over it, dodging the barrier on the other side that was meant for the express purpose of keeping people from jumping. The moment that he was in the air, falling towards the water, he felt elated. He felt as though he had finally found his purpose and his goal in life. This—this he could achieve. This would give him clarity. This would make everything right again. He would be reborn from the water into a new man—maybe even the kind of man who could make Hannah happy.

  The water was ice-cold when his feet splashed into it first. His body plunged into the water, and it swallowed him up, dragging him deeper and deeper. Liam was elated, but he only gave himself a moment to bask in the bliss of drowning. He began to swim with strong, steady strokes, ignoring the searing pain in his back. He would swim to the Gulf. The river would take him there. The current was already catching him and propelling him along, helping him, as he sought to achieve peace in the depths of the water.

  Liam shivered with cold and elation, and he knew that soon—soon—there would be answers for everything.

  Chapter 17

  Hannah

  Hannah stared in disbelief, as Liam leaped over the railing and plunged into the water below. Her heart stopped, and for a moment, she was frozen. She had known that something was happening to him, but she’d never expected to actually see him leap to what could easily be his death—especially given his injuries. But after one second of horror, she moved into action.

  It was late at night—well after midnight now—and most people who were still out and about were on Bourbon Street or in the bars. As she looked from side to side, Hannah saw no one in the immediate area paying any attention to her. What she was about to do, though, was still dangerous, and she knew that she had to be careful of her timing. As she reached the railing, she was already half undressed, her clothes falling into a pile beside a pole with a red paint swipe around it that she would be able to remember.

  In just her bra and panties, she climbed up onto the railing herself, and she stared down at the water, searching for some sign of Liam. It panicked her when she saw no sign at all, and she jumped, plunging down towards the water and shifting into her dragon form once she was hidden by the bridge. The fact that her scales were black meant that she could blend into the bridge, the water, and the night sky, and she trusted that camouflage would be enough as she glided down towards the water, breathing just enough flame to create light by which she could see.

  The water was still—too still. Hannah knew she had no time to spare, because if Liam was beneath the surface, he would run out of oxygen at any moment. But something in her gut told her to go further down towards the mouth of the Mississippi before she dove beneath the water to search for him.

  Hannah flew, low and fast, following the bend of the river away from the heart of New Orleans. She used her excellent vision to scan the surface below her, looking for the signs of a flailing man or any kind of motion that she could follow. The seconds ticked by, feeling like hours, and she had to decide. She had to act—one way or another—and hope that her gut was right.

  Diving low, Hannah broke through the surface of the water, opening her eyes immediately to see through the murky liquid. There were all kinds of creatures swimming along beside her, but she was unperturbed by fish, and alligators, and turtles. They slid past her, none of the creatures attempting to interfere with her, as she used her large wings like fins, displacing buckets of water every time she swept them forward and pulled them back.

  She listened, her ears twitching for any sign of a sound that would bring her to Liam, and when she finally heard it, she almost froze with joy. She could hear slashing. The distinct sound of a human being moving in the water. It was ahead of her, and she sped towards it as fast as she could. When she rounded a bend in the river and caught sight of Liam in front of her, she used her tail to push herself forward even faster, and she swept Liam up into her mouth, cradling him as gently as she could in her teeth. He went limp in her grasp, and Hannah pushed upward, crashing through the surface of the water and soaring up into the air. She kept flying, higher and higher, trying to get out of any line of visibility, even though they were out in the middle of nowhere now.

  Hannah flew, searching for a tree in which she could land safely. She found one to her left, and she stroked her wings through the air, slicing through it in her desperation to get to the tree as quickly as possible. She settled in the top branches, resting lightly, so as to not overwhelm the branches with her weight, and she placed Liam gently in the solid, stable V of two sturdy-looking limbs.

  Then she shifted, sitting atop the tree, naked and shivering in the cool night air that brushed against her wet skin. She was breathing hard, but Liam wasn’t breathing at all, so she pulled him to, and she pressed her mouth to his, forcing air into his airway before pulling back to press on his chest. She repeated this over and over, administering CPR while searching his face intently for any sign of life.

  He lay limply across her legs for long moments that stretched out forever, but then he finally coughed, spitting up river water that spilled over his shoulders, and chest, and fell down through the branches below them. Groaning, Liam scrunched his face, struggling against the pain that must be sweeping back over him now that he was conscious again.

  With more relief than she had ever felt before, Hannah bent her head low over Liam’s, holding him to her and rocking him gently. “It’s okay. It’s all going to be fine. I’ve got you. It’s okay now.”

  Liam’s hand reached out to grip her arm, and he started to move, only to realize that he was suspended in a tree. He gasped, jolting from her grasp for a moment before she could stabilize him.

  “Shhh,” she said, brushing his hair out of his face. “Take a breath. Get your bearings. I promise that you’re okay now. We’re high in a tree—you have to be careful.”

  “We were dancing.”

  His voice was gravelly and choked, but Hannah was just so glad to hear it that she couldn’t help but smile. “Yes,” she said, nodding to him and rubbing her hands over his arms to keep him warm and stable. “We were.”

  “What happened?”

  “You ran,” she sa
id. “You panicked suddenly, and you ran—I followed you. I should have stopped you sooner, but I didn’t know what was happening. You jumped over the railing in front of Jackson Square, and you dove into the river.”

  Liam’s gaze swept over her, and his eyes widened. “You’re naked.”

  Hannah flushed, shifting her body so that her modesty was somewhat better protected. “Yes.”

  “I dove into the river, and you’re naked?”

  She nodded again. “Yes.”

  “You came in after me?”

  “Yes.”

  “And now we’re in a tree. And you’re naked.”

  “Yes,” Hannah said again, hugging her arms to her chest to keep her breasts covered. “Are you all right? How much pain are you in?”

  “A lot,” Liam said. “But I’m more confused than anything.” He reached for her hand, pulling it gently away from her chest and placing it on the sodden fabric of his shirt, pressed against his heart. “I have no idea what’s going on or what to think about first, but I’m not going to lie …you being naked is winning right now.”

  Hannah was so glad that he was alive and his normal self that she let him pull her to him, moving carefully along the branch, so that she pressed against his body. His hands immediately swept down her back and over her hips, and his lips pressed to hers. But only for a moment before he pulled back. “Liam …”

  “I almost died again?”

  She nodded, looking up into his face.

  “Another curse?”

  “I don’t see any other explanation,” Hannah said. “You weren’t acting like yourself. You weren’t acting reasonably. Do you not remember what happened at all?”

  “Vague impressions,” Liam said, resting his forehead against hers. “I remember feeling like I had to fill my lungs with seawater. I was desperate to swallow seawater.”

  Hannah whisked a drop of water from his cheek, as it fell from a curl of his hair. “A curse … Winnifred has realized you’re not dead, and she’s coming after you again.”