by Deanna Chase
“What the hell?” I cried as I ran to the wall, pressing against the smooth surface, looking for any crack or opening. Frantic, I moved along the panels, glancing up for an opening and checking the floor for some sort of access.
Nothing.
My breathing came fast, and I started to hyperventilate. How would anyone find me if there wasn’t any way in?
“I’m here,” a voice said from behind me.
I spun and let out a gasp of surprise. “Vienna.”
“I’m sorry. You should never have been caught up in this.” The ghost floated above the ground, wringing her hands.
“What are you… I mean, how are you here?” Her sudden appearance calmed me, and my panic subsided, especially since she was so coherent. All the other times I’d seen her on the ship, she’d either not noticed me or had been in a crazed state.
She shrugged. “We have some sort of connection. You can see me. No one else ever could, and it sort of drove me insane after a while.”
Sort of insane? I didn’t think sort of was quite the right description, but I kept that to myself.
“I tried every year to help Muse, but she could never see me or hear me. And now…” Her brows furrowed, and she frowned with worry shining in her eyes. “I don’t know if she’ll wake up.”
My questions no longer seemed important. She had information I needed, and I wasn’t about to let my curiosity derail her. “It’s true then? What Xavier said? She’s in a coma?”
She nodded. “Our only hope is your witch friend. She’s trying to heal her. And while I wish I could help, no one can see me or hear me. Not even Razer.” Pain flashed in her eyes at the mention of his name. “I don’t know why. I think maybe Razer used too much energy trying to save Muse. I’ll try later, try to let them know you’re safe for now. But I had to make sure you were here first, and I want to help if I can.”
“And where exactly are we?” I asked, glancing around at the desolate space.
“It’s his chamber, but since it has no doors, no one knows exactly where it is. Not even me. I can will myself to be where you are, but I never know where that will be until I show up. It was the same with Muse.”
I narrowed my eyes. He’d never get away with this crap. Not with me. Jade would find me and bust through his twisted magic in no time. Her or Julius.
She shook her head. “It’s not that easy. His magic is strong. It’s a curse that could kill—” Her voice broke on the word kill. She tightened her hands into fists as she went rigid with frustration. “We have to get you out of here before he curses you.”
“I’m on board for that. What do you suggest?” I waved a hand around my doorless prison.
“You have to convince him you’re not a threat. Don’t give him any reason to spell you right away. If his history is any indicator, he’ll want to banter with you before he spells you. Your best bet is to stall until I can reach Razer to let them know where you are.”
“How long will that be?” The panic was building in my chest again. Vienna was a ghost, and not a very stable one at that. At least she hadn’t been before. I wasn’t sure I trusted her judgement.
“I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait it out— Oh no. He’s coming. Remember what I said. Stall. Do what you have to.” There was a crackle of magic in the air just as Vienna vanished.
Xavier reappeared, holding a large bottle of whiskey and a leather whip.
I backed up, holding my hands out. “Whoa. Hold on just a minute. No one ever said anything about whips.” No one said anything about being holed up in a windowless room with a psycho either, but one problem at a time.
He set the whiskey down on the small round table and wrapped his hand around the whip, pulling it slowly over his skin as if savoring the sensation. “Don’t worry about this, love. This is for me. Not you.”
My stomach rolled. Of course it was for him, the sick bastard. I straightened my spine, glaring at him. “If you use that on me, I swear to the high heavens, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”
His face flushed with pleasure as he let out a soft chuckle. “That’s good. Tell me how you’d do it.”
Oh for the love of… This guy was a real kinkster. He was enjoying my defiance entirely too much.
We stared at each other until the smile melted from his face and morphed into a sneer. “That’s twice you’ve defied me. Once more and we’re going to have an issue.”
“Three strikes and I’m out?” I asked, my ire rising. “What then? You’re going to reshackle me?” The moment the words were out of my mouth, dread set in. Why the heck had I reminded him I was free?
His gaze darted to the manacles hanging along the wall, then back to me. That slow, sinister smile spread over his face as he stood and moved toward me.
I stepped back and stumbled over the boots I’d never put on. I fell to one knee, catching myself before I sprawled across the floor.
He bent and picked up the dress. “I told you to change.”
I said nothing as I stared up at his hardened expression and the three ragged scar lines marring his face. I hoped to hell Muse had given him those.
“I left because I’m a gentleman. But it appears you can’t be trusted to do as you’re told.”
Gentleman. Right. I snorted my disagreement. “Gentleman don’t keep their guests locked up against their will.”
“They do when their guests need to be punished.”
Bile rose up in the back of my throat, and it was all I could do to keep from spitting on him. Punished. Just let him try. I eyed the whip now lying on the couch. If he got within five feet of me with that thing, he was going to find out exactly what pain meant. I had zero qualms about turning the tables on him. The first time he tried to whip me, I’d show him what it meant to be beaten.
He tossed the dress at me. “Since you can’t obey, you’ll now have to change in front of me.”
I pushed myself to my feet and let the dress fall to the floor. “Then what?”
“Then we’ll see how you stack up to Muse and Vienna.” He backed up slowly, and when he reached the couch, he didn’t take his eyes off me as he sat and grabbed the whip. He ran his hands over the braided cord as if it were a lover.
My stomach turned. “What if I refuse?”
“You won’t.” He sat back and propped one foot on his opposite knee.
His smug confidence made me long to clock him upside his pale head. I might’ve done it too if it weren’t for Vienna’s warning still playing in my mind. She’s said to stall, to make sure he didn’t spell me into submission. The immediate problem was he seemed to enjoy our verbal battle. How much was too much, and what if I pushed him too far?
I wasn’t ready to give in just yet. If I was going to play this game, I had to know the limits. “You don’t know anything about me.”
That thin, almost white eyebrow of his rose again. “You think so? I know your name is Pyper Rayne. That you own a café in New Orleans but that your business partner, Kane Rouquette, owns the building. Your mother died shortly after you graduated college. Your father was an alcoholic; his whereabouts are unknown. He left one night after taking you to Dairy Queen to get your favorite ice cream. He just packed up and left. No good-byes, no promises, no contact.”
I sucked in a sharp breath but said nothing.
His creepy smile widened. “You’re a medium and are dating a man who recently got a new lease on life after being a ghost for almost a century.” He stood, swishing the whip around in front of him as he strode toward me. “And my favorite fact. You put yourself through college as an exotic dancer.”
Ice ran through my veins. Short of reciting my social security number and my limited list of actual boyfriends, he knew more about me than most of my friends did. But how? It wasn’t as if I’d poured my heart out on an Internet blog. There was no point in denying it. He was far too spot-on to not have done his homework. “How do you know all that?”
“Let’s just say it’s my special gift.” He r
eached down and grabbed the discarded dress. Holding it out to me, he said, “Take it.”
My arm lifted, and my hand clutched the lacy fabric without any help from me. “What the—”
“Pick up the boots.”
My lead feet shuffled forward until I was inches from the leather boots. Then my knees bent, and even as I tried to stop myself, I reached for them.
“Good, Pyper. Now change.”
“Stop!” I ordered even as I started tugging at my shirt. “Drop whatever spell you’re using. I’ll do as you ask.”
He lowered himself onto the couch once more, pressing his lips into a thin line, contemplating me. “I think I prefer my way better.”
I scowled, hating the way my fingers felt fat and clumsy under his spell. The truth was I didn’t give a rat’s butt about stripping in front of some strange guy. I wasn’t modest. Not in the least. I was far more uncomfortable with the fact he’d stolen my free will.
“That’s it,” he urged when I stumbled out of my jeans. “Make sure you take it all off.”
My hand immediately went to my bra hooks. Pure hatred consumed me. “You’re a sick son of a bastard.”
“There she is,” he said, his eyes sparkling with humor. “Tell me what you’re really thinking.”
“That you’re a sick pig who has to resort to curses in order to get a woman to show you her breasts. That once I’m finally free of this room and you, if Julius and Kane haven’t already ended you, that I’m going to junk-punch you so hard your manbits will never work again.”
“Bravo!” He clapped, beaming at me. “That was…” He sighed and pressed his hand to his heart. “Just what I was hoping for.”
My fingers finally managed to get the clasps free, and I let out a curse as my bra snapped open. Before I flashed him all my goods, I crossed my arms over my chest, my glare daring the creepy perv to order me to continue to undress.
“Oh, let’s save that reveal for later, shall we?” Xavier snapped his fingers.
Magic crackled over my skin, and suddenly I felt lighter, as if an invisible weight had been lifted off me. I quickly snapped my bra back into place and pulled the dress on.
“Slower,” he ordered.
His words didn’t force me to do anything, but I stilled my hands anyway. “Slower?”
“Yes. Take your time. I want to savor this.” His voice had gone husky, as if he were talking to a lover.
I suppressed a shudder and did as he asked. Gliding my hand up my arm, I slid the strap of the dress over one shoulder and then the other one.
“Turn around.” His breathing had quickened, and I had to fight the urge to hurl.
I still did as he asked and silently said a prayer that Vienna would hurry.
“Zip the dress up. Slowly.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, inching the zipper up.
“What is going on in here?” a familiar shrill voice demanded.
My eyes flew open.
Ida May.
Relief flooded through me. I’d been found.
20
“You have to get out of here,” Ida May said. “Julius is worried sick.”
How, I mouthed, fearing that Xavier would hear me or somehow stop our exchange.
“I don’t know. But strutting around for this pervert isn’t the answer.”
I wanted to scream. Had it really come to this? Putting my faith in Ida May, the ghost who’d spent most of her time talking about manbits and trying to hook up with other random ghosts whenever possible? I scowled at her. You’re not helpful.
She lifted her hands in the air, palms up. “I just call ’em like I see ’em.”
“Slip into the boots,” Xavier said from behind me.
Get Julius. Or Jade, I mouthed to Ida May and then turned and made a show of lacing up the torturous stilettoed boots. My toes ached in the too-tight footwear.
“Perfect,” he said, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. “Now stand on the stage in front of the microphone.”
I rose, and although I was normally an expert at walking in high heels, I stumbled across the small stage, my feet screaming in protest.
“You look like you’re dressed up for Halloween. All you need is a pointed hat and a black cat.” Ida May floated beside me, casting her glance up and down in judgement.
“Go away,” I whispered through my teeth. “You’re not helping.”
“Geez. Touchy.” She gave me an irritated look. “I was only trying to lighten the mood.”
“If you want to help,” I continued in a whisper, “find Julius and let him know where I am.”
“I would, but I actually don’t know where we are.” She floated near the wall and flattened her hand against the metal. Instead of gliding right through like she normally would, her hand was blocked, effectively trapping her in. Just like me. She froze, her eyes filling with the same panic I’d been fighting off all evening.
“I’m trapped! What the hell? One minute I was promising Julius I’d look for you, and the next I was here. Now that pig has us both.” She buried her hands into her dark unruly hair and started to spin around in a tizzy.
Son of a monkey! All my hopes of utilizing Ida May vanished. She was useless if she couldn’t get word to Julius.
“What did you do to this room?” I yelled at Xavier, beyond caring what I might reveal of Ida May’s presence. If he hadn’t heard her or seen her yet, he likely couldn’t at all. And since she was trapped too, she was hardly a threat to him.
He stopped fiddling with his music docking station and turned to stare at me. “Excuse me?”
I waved a hand around. “No doors. It’s like a tin can. I’m sealed up in here. What kind of twisted person does this to someone?”
His face went blank, all humor gone. “It’s only temporary, Ms. Rayne. You and your friends interrupted a sacred ritual that only happens once a year. Someone had to take Muse’s place. And who better than the one who looks most like Vienna to fill her shoes?”
“What?” I clutched the microphone stand just to have something to hold on to. I didn’t look anything like Vienna. She was elegant with long blond hair. I was petite, dark-haired, and alternative. “You mean Muse, right?”
He shook his head. “No. Vienna Vox. She was always experimenting with her look. I liked it best when she was goth. She was my soul mate, and once a year she put on a show just for me. Or she did until she started dating that dirty rocker.”
The picture of Vienna with a shaved head flashed in my mind. That part of his story rang true. But a private show just for him? Had he hired her? Or had he spelled her like he had with Muse? How long had this twisted a-hole been living this fantasy?
His eyes crinkled with sadness. “Everything was fine until the dragon came along. If he hadn’t—” He shook his head as if dislodging the thought. “Never mind. That’s all old news. All you have to do is stay here with me for the next two days, then you’re free to go.”
Right. With a lovely spell that would keep me from talking about whatever we were going to do over the next thirty-six or so hours. And would I be required to come back to this ship every year for the rest of my life? No freakin’ way. He was delusional if he thought my friends weren’t going to bring him down.
Ida May floated across the room and hovered over him with her hands fisted on her hips. “He’s not very attractive is he?”
I had to fight back a startled, humorless laugh, not only because her comment was out of the blue, but because she was right. His eyes were too far apart, his ears slightly too big, and his shoulders had a permanent hunch. The scars on his face didn’t help matters. But even so, if he’d been any sort of decent human being, all that could be considered interesting. Instead, all I saw was the ugliness of a selfish man who forced women to participate in his weird fetishes.
Ida May tapped a finger on her thigh. “I’ve seen plenty of his type before. The type that wouldn’t have been welcome in the grand mansions in Storyville.”
In other wor
ds, even if he had all the money in the world, he wouldn’t have been welcome at the higher-class brothels on Basin Street. Just perfect. There was nothing to do but humor him, get as much information as possible so that once I was freed from this cage, we’d find a way to stop him for good.
“Why did you do it?” I asked.
He tilted his head to the side, curiosity replacing his blank expression. “Bring you here?”
“No. I’ve already figured that part out.” Mostly. “I mean Vienna. If you loved her so much, why did you attack her?” What I really wanted to ask was why he’d thrown her overboard, but that might push him too far.
“That is none of your business.” He sat up straight and leaned forward, peering at me. “How did you know about that?”
I shrugged, figuring there was no point in lying. “I’m a medium. I saw the echo of the altercation on the pool deck last night.”
“You saw her?” There was longing in his tone now as he glanced around, a crazed look in his eyes. “Is she here now? Can you call her forth?”
“No. I just saw an echo,” I reiterated, certain the last thing I wanted to do was let him believe I had any control over when she appeared and when she didn’t. Who knew what he’d try to make me do then? “Like an imprint of a memory. Neither of you were actually there.”
“Oh. I’ve seen her every now and then, but it never lasts. If I could just talk to her…” He stared past my shoulder, lost in thought.
The hair stood up on the back of my neck. The obvious disappointment in his tone gave me the creeps. This man had killed her, and yet he was desperate to connect with her again. He was one sick son of a bastard.
He reached over and pressed a button on his MP3 player. Slow, soulful music filled the room. His expressionless eyes met mine. “You will sing now.”
A spark of energy skated over my skin, followed by the desire to hum a few lines of Vienna’s most popular ballad. I gritted my teeth, knowing I’d been compelled to do just that.