Demon Inn

by Davida McLea

  "You haven't told me about that."

  "I haven't got around to it, and I haven't watched the video. But I could feel it. It was almost like the damn thing had a physical body and breath that I could feel on the back of my neck.” She shuddered as she remembered the cold draft on her skin.

  "I could see it on the cam's screen,” Sam said. “I've never seen a spirit manifest itself through a lens. They usually only show up after the recording is finished.” He plugged the video camera into Lorena's laptop and pressed a button. McKenna, pale and scared at the bottom of the stairs, showed up on the screen. They all listened as McKenna called to the spirit and received no answer.

  "Stop and back that up,” Josh said. “I heard something."

  Sam backed up the video and turned up the sound. “Is anyone here?” McKenna's voice called on the video. A disembodied voice, so low that McKenna had to lean in to catch it, said, “Go away.” A shiver ran down McKenna's spine. The spirit repeated the same phrase to every one of her questions. “Go away ... Go away ... Go away..."

  "Did you hear that?” Josh's face was flushed, and his eyes danced. “You got the thing talking on video."

  "Keep watching,” Sam said, never taking his eyes from the screen. “It gets better.” He paused then stopped the video. “There.” He pointed at a shadow just over McKenna's shoulder. “See that?"

  "Shit,” Lorena mumbled under her breath. “That thing is huge. It's gotten stronger since you shot the first video. It's been feeding on the energy from you.” She turned and looked at Aidan. “Without any kind of shield, you were just an incredible power plant for this thing.” They all watched as the demon followed McKenna walking up the stairs, barely a half step behind her. “It's definitely attached to you, McKenna."

  "So what do we do about it?” Aidan asked. He had stood from the table and was pacing back and forth behind McKenna. “I mean, you say it's stronger now and for some reason it seems to have zeroed in on McKenna. Should she even be in the hotel at all? Aren't you putting her in danger?"

  "We're all in danger here,” Lorena said. “I could make McKenna leave and it would protect her, but the demon would only go to the next person with an attractive energy field.” She gave Josh a quick look. “And whoever it picks might not be as strong and well-trained as McKenna. McKenna can help us fight this thing, and from the looks of it, I'll need every person I can get."

  "So what's the plan?” McKenna asked, hoping to get Aidan off the subject of her safety.

  "First, we all get a good day's sleep. I think we're all a little drained. Then, we will go over a few hot spots tomorrow night, just for an hour or two. After that, we really don't have a choice but to begin trying to get rid of this thing. It's not going to be easy, but it's absolutely necessary. It has shown itself to be exceptionally adept at tapping into energy sources. We could clear you, Aidan and Josh out of the building and it would still find a way to tap into the energy from people that aren't open to attack, like Julie."

  Julie's eyebrows knit together as she frowned. “You mean this thing could come after me? I thought spirits left those that they couldn't see alone."

  "Just because you don't have any sensitivity doesn't mean that you're completely invisible. It's hard to see you with all of this other energy floating through the air, but if we removed the most potent energy source, you would stand out like a beacon. Everyone has an energy field, Julie. Even you. You are just around people whose energy fields are so much stronger that the focus is never on you. It's why you should be cautious on an investigation. If you get too far away from McKenna or Josh, you could find yourself a target."

  Julie didn't look reassured.

  "So,” Eric said, looking as worried as Julie, “if everyone is a potential target, then how do we fight this thing?"

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter Ten

  McKenna and Lorena spent most of the next morning in Aidan's office, researching demons on the computer.

  "I feel kind of silly,” Lorena admitted to McKenna. “Here I am, the supposed expert in demonic hauntings and I'm as clueless as you are about how to get rid of this thing.” But McKenna knew that Lorena wasn't entirely truthful. She wasn't totally clueless. It had taken McKenna the better part of the morning to realize that Lorena was completely comfortable and extremely knowledgeable about cleansing buildings.

  "Why are we doing this?” McKenna asked as she scribbled notes from a website. “You know all of this stuff. You should be sleeping. We should both be sleeping so we can be at our best tonight.” Aidan, Eric, Sam, Julie and Josh were all sound asleep in their respective rooms after having dragged their feet up the stairs, shoulders hunched with fatigue. When McKenna would have joined them, Lorena grabbed her arm and pulled her into the kitchen. Brewing a pot of strong black coffee, she told McKenna it would be hours before she was allowed to rest.

  "This is your gig,” Lorena said. “I do have some ideas about how to get rid of the spirit, but I want your input. It helps you to do the research on your own and to formulate a plan, and it will be more effective if you help craft our plan. This is basic stuff, McKenna.” Lorena crossed her arms and frowned at her. “You have ties to the area and you know the energy currents and cycles here. You know that if you lead, we'll get better results."

  "Then why the hell did I even bother to call you in?” McKenna grumbled.

  "Beats me,” Lorena shrugged. “Moral support, I guess.” She flashed McKenna a grin. “Face it, you just missed me. You need me to give you grief every now and then. Keeps you on your toes."

  An answering grin broke across McKenna's face. “You do give me hell, and I guess I do miss you.” Until she said it, McKenna had no idea just how much she did miss Lorena. After meeting at a paranormal convention in Baton Rouge, the two of them had never spent much physical time together, but they bonded during their brief visits and spent hours emailing and talking on the phone. But those modes of communication were unsatisfactory replacements for face-to-face time. “It's good to finally spend more than a day or two at a time with you."

  "And you thought I agreed to stay and train Josh out of the goodness of my heart?” Lorena cackled. “I only agreed so I can spend some time with you, and you could use a little training up yourself, you know."

  "Okay, so you'll train us both—you'll have your work cut out for you, won't you?"

  "You better believe it. I need a nap just thinking about it."

  "Speaking of naps, I'm tired and would like to get some sleep sometime today. What do we do next?"

  "You tell me,” Lorena said. “This is your show."

  "Well, this is a big place and I'm fairly inexperienced with driving out demons, and I'm working with people that are either psychically weak or untrained and inexperienced. I'm thinking that trying to cleanse the whole building at one time would be too much. One room at a time would be a safer bet, and we would have at least one safe room to work from.” She flipped through her notes. “We have a variety of belief systems here, so I say we just call on the higher power and guardians and everyone can visualize them as the gods or goddesses of their choice. We should start with this room—Aidan's office. It's been here too many times."

  Lorena's eyes misted over as she reached for McKenna's hand. “I'm so proud of you,” she squeaked melodramatically. “I'm going to make a real spirit hunter out of you yet."

  * * * *

  McKenna fell across her bed with a relieved sigh. It seemed like a week since she had slept. The hands of the clock read 11:30. Even as exhausted as she was, it felt odd to be trying to power down during the middle of the day. McKenna closed her eyes anyway, knowing that she had six and a half hours to get rested up before the team met again and she had to present her game plan. She wasn't entirely confident in her plan, but Lorena assured her that her ideas were sound. Then they had cleansed Aidan's office just before dawn. McKenna's mind wouldn't shut down, even as languor stole through her body. She thought briefly that she should shower
and change into her pajamas, but she couldn't find the strength to get off the bed. She turned as she stretched out, her head buried in a plump down pillow, and had just closed her eyes when a quiet tap on her door caused her to curse under her breath.

  "Come in.” She tried to keep the edge out of her voice, thinking it was Lorena coming in to discuss some other esoteric idea that they hadn't hashed out during their early morning session.

  McKenna felt her pulse jump when she saw Aidan walk through her door, clad in soft, gray sweat pants and a white t-shirt that clung to his shoulders. She forced herself to stay where she was, to not jump up and run to him.

  "You know you're not supposed to be in here,” McKenna said, but she couldn't muster up any rancor.

  "I came to check on you. I think Lorena is pushing you too hard."

  "She is, but that's what she does. She makes me better just by being here.” McKenna gave him a small smile. “She'll have your head if she finds out your here.

  Aidan gave her a wry smile. His jaw was shadowed by the merest hint of a beard, lending him an air of roguishness. “What are you going to do,” he chuckled, “tell Lorena?"

  "I probably won't have to tell her. She just seems to know these things."

  "She's probably in her room staring into her crystal ball,” Aidan said. “I've never believed in this stuff, and she has definitely forced me to reevaluate my beliefs. I feel like my world has turned upside down in the last few weeks."

  "She doesn't need a crystal ball,” McKenna admitted. “She says she's not any more powerful than I am, just better trained. I'm not sure that's it, though.” She paused and swallowed as Aidan's weight caused the bed to give under her. “She was raised in New Orleans, where no one bats an eye if you're a witch or a seer. Everyone in Murphy's Corner knows what I am, but it was never seen as a good thing, or even a normal thing. Lorena was raised to believe she was normal. Maybe that's the difference—she's always embraced her gift. I'm the town freak."

  "You're not the town freak.” Aidan tucked an auburn curl behind her ear and lay next to her on the bed. McKenna closed her eyes as he traced the curve of her ear with his thumb. “Everyone in town loves you. They depend on you, McKenna. Don't you know that?"

  "They are afraid of me,” she murmured. “They need me to do their dirty work, but they're afraid of me."

  It didn't feel like Aidan was afraid of her, though. His hand traveled from her face, down her side, and came to rest on the swell of her hip. She snuggled in closer, eager to feel his warmth. She hadn't realized that she was cold until now. He wasn't afraid, and he didn't think she was a freak. She could feel his energy field reaching out to hers, trying to intermingle despite the shields they both wore.

  "If they are scared, then they are fools,” he whispered. “You're just a little bit of a thing,” he smiled. “Who could be afraid of you?” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Look at Perry. He's not afraid of you. When this thing started causing problems, he wanted to call you, remember? I was the one who was against it. It took him weeks to convince me."

  "He didn't convince you,” McKenna reminded him. “He just called me himself. You were downright rude the first time I was here."

  Guilt washed over Aidan's face. “You know that wasn't me, McKenna."

  "I know,” she said. “I was just teasing."

  "Teasing, huh?” His eyes took on a predatory gleam that caused the heat to flare in her belly. “You like teasing?” His hand moved from its perch on her hip and found the hem of her shirt. “Let's see how much you like teasing now."

  She gasped as his work-roughened hand stroked the sensitive skin of her abdomen. “Aidan,” she moaned. “Don't.” She tried to push his hand away. “This is dangerous."

  "Dangerous to make love to you?” He asked as his hand found her breast and circled her nipple through the silky fabric of her bra. “Dangerous to do this?” He pushed her bra to the side, lowered his head to her breast and drew her nipple into his mouth. McKenna threaded her fingers through his hair and held him close. Desire spiraled deep in the pit of her belly as his tongue circled her tightly puckered nipple. Dangerous—yes, she thought. He was dangerous. She knew she should stop him, push him away and lock her door against him, but she couldn't find the strength to turn him away.

  The hair on the back of her neck stood up as he trailed his lips down her belly and pressed his mouth between her legs. Even through the thick denim of her jeans, she could feel the moist heat of his breath. She lifted her hips and pressed herself against his face, eager to feel his lips and tongue on her pussy. He reached for the snap of her jeans and slowly lowered the zipper. She shuddered as his hand traced the exposed skin of her belly.

  "Can I touch you?” he whispered. McKenna moaned and spread her legs wider in acquiescence. His fingers parted the tangle of curls and McKenna's breath caught in her throat as they slid over her clit with firm, sure stokes. A whimper escaped her lips as he withdrew his hand to hastily shove her jeans down her legs. With a hand on each thigh, he parted her legs easily and dipped his tongue deep inside her.

  "Oh,” she sighed when his lips found her clit. She squirmed with pleasure as he sucked her engorged button between his lips and flicked the tip with his tongue. His tongue was merciless in its tender assault, stroking McKenna until she was on the edge between pleasure and pain.

  McKenna writhed on the bed as waves of lust washed through her. “Please,” she breathed as she pushed his head away from her sensitive clit. “I can't take any more."

  He smiled up at her, his face slick and shiny with her juices. “It's time for this, don't you think?” He stood and removed his pants, his erection dark and so hard that his cock rested against his abdomen. The bed creaked as he lowered his weight on top of McKenna. “I want you so bad,” he whispered against her lips before dropping tender kisses along her lower lip.

  "Take me then,” she smiled.

  He entered her slowly, taking his time to savor her. His eyes closed and his lips dropped open as McKenna clenched her muscles tightly around his shaft. They wrapped their arms around each other, their bodies covered with a fine sheen of perspiration. McKenna rocked her hips to meet his long, slow thrusts. She felt him tense as his rhythm grew urgent. She held him tighter and pressed kisses on his eyes, his forehead, his lips, wherever she could reach, until her own pleasure began to build. Spasms wracked her body as she came.

  Aidan shook in her arms as his thrusts slowed and finally stilled. His dark hair was plastered to his forehead. McKenna brushed the hair back and caught her breath at the tenderness and love in his eyes. She knew that she would have hell to pay for their indiscretion, but she thought she would face any amount of wrath from Lorena for that one look from Aidan.

  * * * *

  Lorena took one look at McKenna and immediately screeched in a mixture of anger and concern. “How could you!” she cried. “You know better than this. You've seen this thing. You felt it push you down the stairs. You might as well have shined a spotlight on yourself. If I can see it, I know damn well this thing can.” Aidan flattened himself against the office wall as Lorena turned her considerable wrath against him. “And you,” she seethed. “You're supposed to care about her!"

  "I do,” he said, but there was no force to his words. While McKenna wasn't shocked by her friend's outburst, Aidan had never been on the receiving end of her anger.

  "Well, you have a damn fine way of showing it! Making love to her! What were you thinking?” Josh and Julie stuck their heads in the office door, curious as to what was causing Lorena to behave so violently.

  "I-I-I...” Aidan stammered.

  "You weren't,” she supplied. “At least, not with the right head.” Lorena paced back and forth in front of the office window. “You should see the two of you. You're both glowing like neon. Your shields are weakened, and energy is flowing like a fountain between the two of you.” She motioned to Josh. “Gather everyone and have them meet us in here. McKenna's going to cleanse and shield th
e room and we'll need everyone here.” Josh quickly left the room, with Julie following closely behind him.

  "Should we reshield ourselves?” Aidan asked, hoping he could distract Lorena from her tirade.

  "No!” she snapped. “Why should we? So the two of you can undo all of my work? No, we'll just do the best we can. I'll try to keep as much of the demon's attention on me as I can."

  "Then I guess I'll go up to my room.” Aidan turned to trudge back upstairs, but Lorena's voice stopped him.

  "No, you don't.” Aidan turned surprised eyes to Lorena. “With as much energy as you're throwing, if we try to drive the demon out of this room, he'll just find you and try to take you. You'll stay here where I can keep an eye on you."

  Josh returned with the rest of the crew, and they all stood, their eyes anywhere but on Aidan and McKenna.

  "Well,” Lorena said, her voice calmer, but her eyes and the tense set of her shoulders still giving away her anger. “We should probably get started."

  McKenna took a deep breath and looked at each of her team in turn. “We should all ground and center first. It's best if we're all calm.” She gave Lorena a look. “This will work better if we're all in control of our emotions.” Lorena's face took on a crimson glow, and McKenna felt a surge of triumph at having trumped her friend.

  "I don't know how to center and whatever,” Aidan said.

  "It's easy, and this is something you can use everyday when you feel like your emotions are getting out of hand, especially if you're frustrated or angry, which is bound to happen when you own your own business. I do this all the time at The Book Shelf.” She enlisted Josh and Aidan to help her push the heavy oak desk against the wall to free up the space in the middle of the room.

  "Okay,” she said. “I need everyone to stand in a circle.” McKenna opened a small pouch, pulled out a handful of milky white stones and gave each person one of their own. “This is moonstone,” she told Aidan. “This can help keep you grounded and dispel negativity. Hold it in your non-dominant hand.” She watched as he fingered the smooth surface with a dubious look on his face. “Trust me,” she laughed as she closed his fingers around the stone. “Everyone take off their shoes.” All of them but Aidan slipped their shoes off. “You, too,” she said. “It helps you ground and send roots down into the earth if you don't have shoes on.