Hidden Darkness

by May, W. J.

  “Well, maybe I can help you out with that…”

  Without another word, he walked around to the side of the tub and got down on his knees behind Rae. She tried turning, a little self-conscious as to what he might be doing, but his hands slipped down over her shoulders as he began gently rubbing her back.

  “That feels incredible,” she moaned, tilting her head forward as his fingers wound up into her hair. “Where did you learn to do this so well?”

  “Oh, you know,” he teased, “I’ve practiced on lots of women…”

  She splashed a handful of bubbles behind her and he laughed. “Lots of women, huh?”

  “Oh, yes,” his lips grazed the back of her neck and she shivered, “thousands.”

  The two of them lapsed into smiling silence as he pushed her gently forward and began working out the stress in the rest of her back. She couldn’t help but grin as his hands dipped lower and lower, gently caressing her skin with strong, but delicate, hands. When she finally sat back up, there was a cloud of bubbles on the tip of her nose. She turned around with a grin and he laughed, nuzzling his nose against hers to take some for himself.

  “Let’s see the beard,” he challenged.

  She dipped her chin forward and came up with something fit to rival St. Nick. “How’s that?”

  He frowned critically. “It’s not bad, not bad. But I think that I can do better, Kerrigan.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “You’ll see…”

  She burst out in peals of laughter as he began to climb, fully-clothed, into the tub. The water immediately soaked through his dark jeans and tee-shirt, but he pretended not to notice. Luckily, the space was big enough, and he settled in on the opposite side so they were looking at each other, their knees touching in the middle.

  “Let’s see then,” she said once she finally got a hold of herself.

  With the expression of an Olympic diver, he lowered his face to the bubbles, turning this way and that, before pulling up with a magnificent snowy beard. Rae applauded politely, wriggling around as his hands pulled her ankles closer under the water and began tickling her toes.

  “You know,” she giggled, “I could maybe get used to you with a beard.”

  His eyebrows shot up with a smile. “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yep. It’s…pretty sexy, actually. A goatee kind of beard, all smooth and sexy and even across you face. Very hot.”

  He shot her a wink as his hand travelled further up her leg. “I’d make sure to dye it white.”

  There was a bit more underwater adjusting as he reached forward and pulled her to his side of the tub, turning her around so she could lean back on his chest comfortably.

  “What a day…” he mused, gazing up at the ceiling.

  She sighed and pulled his arms tighter around her. “We’re having too many of those.”

  He leaned his head down to kiss the base of her neck. “This is almost done. We’ll be back in London soon. And if we can survive whatever round of Spanish Inquisition-style punishments Carter has in mind, we’re going to be fine.”

  “But what’s going to have changed?” she asked wearily. “We still have half a list to go and Julian can’t—”

  “What’s going to change is that we already did the first half. We have a whole list of people who can back up what we’re saying, and, tell you the truth, all I really think we’ll need is Mills. This had to have given him a scare. We’ll have him come back with us to London to give a full report.”

  Rae paused, thinking this over. “You really think the PC will believe us?”

  “We’ll make them believe us.”

  She shook her head doubtfully, and he tilted back her head.

  “Hey,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose, “you are the most beautiful, amazing, reckless, talented girl I’ve ever met. If anyone can make them believe us, it’s you.”

  She felt a warm blush blossom in her cheeks and she looked back down at the bubbles with a grin. “You’re just saying that so I’ll conjure you dry clothes.”

  He chuckled, hands reaching down to tickle her sides. “Yeah, dry clothes would be nice…”

  “Stop!” she shrieked, splashing water out of the tub as she writhed around, laughing. “Stop or I won’t do it!”

  “Rae,” he shook his head, “don’t be silly. I’m never going to stop. And you don’t have to do it. I’m perfectly content to walk down to Mills’ place without clothes.”

  “Without clothes?” she panted, trying to catch her breath, a mischievous grin on her face. “I can’t even imagine it.”

  He gave her a look of false concern, lifting his shirt off above his head. “You can’t? How careless of me.”

  “Yes,” she sniffed, eyes wandering down his bare chest as he reached for the buckle on his pants, “it is rather careless.”

  “Well,” his eyes sparkled with a grin, “let me help you remember…”

  * * *

  Rae woke up the next morning feeling alive and refreshed for what felt like the first time in a very long time. She lay in bed, running her fingers through Devon’s bed-tousled hair until he opened his eyes, and smiled.

  “Good morning,” she said warmly.

  He stretched with a huge yawn. “Good morning.”

  “We said we’d meet the others downstairs at eight, and it’s seven-forty-five. We should get up and get dressed.”

  “Yeah, or we could hop in the bath again.” He grinned, rolling on top of her and showering her with kisses.

  She giggled, hiding under her hands. “As much as I’d love to do that, we have a hospital to get to, a mystery to solve, and a flight back to London so we can get tarred and feathered.”

  He yawned again. “Just your average Wednesday.”

  “It’s Sunday.”

  “Close enough.”

  They met the others down in the lobby, and were pleased to find that everyone looked as bright and refreshed as they did. Molly and Luke couldn’t keep their hands off each other, and even Julian had recovered that long-lost spring in his step.

  “So,” Molly grinned smugly, “what did you guys do last night?”

  Rae and Devon shared a glance before he said, “Nothing much, just went to the gym.”

  “Yeah,” Rae added casually. “I took a bath.”

  Molly looked momentarily disappointed before her face lit up once more. “Oh. Well, that sounds nothing at all like our night, does it, babe?”

  Luke blushed but chuckled. “Remember that little talk we had, something about we never kiss and tell?”

  Molly flipped back her hair. “No. I must have been distracted.” Her eyes swept to Julian with a kind of gloating pity. “Sorry, Jules, guess you must have gone straight to bed.”

  His eyes sparkled. “Actually, I was up for a while. I decided to give Angel a call, like you suggested. Things are…good.”

  “Really?” She clapped her hands together, bouncing on her toes. “Jules, that’s so great!”

  “Who’s Angel?” Luke asked curiously.

  Molly gushed. “Just this blonde bombshell Julian was dating, and now it looks like he is again. She has this awesome tatù where she can, like, stun-freeze people in place.”

  Luke chuckled. “Another couple who both have ink? Geez—do you guys ever follow your own rules?”

  Rae shrugged, shooting Devon a grin. “We’ve set a bad example…”

  “It’s a terrible precedent,” he agreed, shaking his head with a smile.

  Molly ignored this, lowering her voice to a dramatic whisper. “Julian and she use the freeze tatù thing during sex.”

  “Molly!” Rae exclaimed, shooting her friend a chiding look as Julian blushed to the heavens.

  “How the hell do you even know that?” he asked incredulously. He shot a sudden mortified look at Rae, who threw up her hands in the air.

  “No! Gross! I know what you’re thinking, but I didn’t see a thing when I was inside your head. And by the way…again…gross.”

 
Molly shrugged unabashedly. “You kind of implied it once in an unguarded moment, and I read between the lines. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Jules. It’s actually kind of hot.”

  He shook his head with a long-suffering sigh. “How is it that you remember every single detail about my personal life, but when I ask you something basic, like, did you remember to get our parking validated, you look at me like I’m speaking Swedish?”

  “Julian,” Molly said with gentle patience, “I think the real question is why you keep giving me the tickets to get validated.”

  “You know,” Luke threw his arm around her shoulders as the five of them headed out the door, “sometimes I’m really glad I never went to school with you guys.”

  Chapter 11

  The five of them had made if halfway to San Francisco Memorial Hospital before Luke got a call, saying Mills had been released that morning and was already back at home. After handing the irritated cab driver a generous tip, they turned around and doubled back the way they had come.

  Rae had only been to San Francisco as a child, when she accompanied Uncle Argyle on a business trip, and she found the hilly roads and constant up and down movement almost nauseating. “I miss Guilder,” she leaned over and whispered into Molly’s ear.

  Molly shook back her crimson hair and patted her friend’s knee. “I do, too. I feel like, maybe, if we’d stopped for a traditional fish and chips somewhere between the Azores and St. Petersburg, we could have wrapped this thing up already.”

  Rae glanced around the strange streets with a grin, feeling exactly the same way. They were on unfamiliar ground here. Shoot, they had been for a long time. It was going to feel good to get home. “Well, I can always conjure us up some fish and chips,” she offered graciously.

  Molly made a horrified face, probably remembering the cookie Rae had tried to conjure in Texas, before quickly catching herself with a casual smile. “Oh…that’s okay. You, um, save your strength. We don’t know what Mills is going to tell us when we get there. Best to do it on an empty stomach.”

  As if on cue, the cab suddenly cut across three lanes of traffic and rolled to a stop along the curb. They thanked the driver profusely and piled out onto the sidewalk, staring up at the tall building, with rather anxious expressions. It was so strange to think that Cromfield had been here just two days before. He’d actually been standing in this exact same spot.

  Rae shuddered and Devon’s hand automatically found hers. Their eyes met, and in his she found nothing but calm reassurance. Without saying a word, she nodded her head, and the five of them headed inside.

  If Mill’s trigger-happy security team recognized them from before, they certainly didn’t let on now. They were distracted and demoralized, having let their building’s prize customer be taken down by some middle-aged man.

  Middle-aged, Rae thought with a derisive snort. Middle Ages is more like it.

  They piled into the elevator and headed to the top floor, each one looking a bit nervous as to what exactly they were going to find. The obvious questions weighed heavy on them all.

  Why had Cromfield left this man alive when he’d killed all the others? What the hell was so special about Benjamin Mills? And, then, of course, there was always the good old standard: Was this some kind of terrible trap?

  As usual, Devon seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Rae. Without saying a word, he reached out and pressed the ‘stop’ button to pause their climb.

  “Listen,” he said quickly, “I think we should maybe have some kind of strategy for when we go in there. Cromfield talked to Rae on the phone about Mills himself. There’s a good chance he guessed that she’d be coming back here to check in on him. This could be a set-up.”

  “Or he could have just seen it in my thoughts,” Julian muttered.

  Devon looked up at him sharply. “Did he?”

  Julian paused uncertainly, but Devon didn’t give an inch of ground.

  “You felt it all the other times he did. I mean, you really felt it. That hasn’t happened again, has it?”

  “No,” Julian admitted. “I’ve been trying to keep him out, but so far it’s been really easy; so, realistically, he probably hasn’t even tried yet.”

  “Good.” Rae took over, saying a silent prayer of thanks that Cromfield’s ‘inside guy’ approach was at least temporarily out of service. “So here’s the plan. I go in first—”

  “Absolutely not!” Devon and Julian and Luke all cut her off at the same time.

  She looked up at their stern faces in surprise before turning to Molly, who simply shrugged obliviously. “I thought it was a good start. You can’t die.”

  “What?” Luke murmured, but one look from Molly shushed him.

  “Thank you,” Rae said gratefully before turning to the guys. “Alrightie. Think about it, boys. This is no time to play ‘who’s got the bigger tatù.’ Hate to break it to you, but I do. By a long shot. I’m going in first.”

  “Yeah, you’re also the one who this whack-job wants to turn into some kind of child bride,” Luke countered. “You should be the last one in. Or, better yet, you should stay invisible.”

  Devon actually turned to him with great appreciation before saying, “My thoughts exactly.”

  Rae cocked her head impatiently. “Do I have to light myself on fire again? Prove my worth or something? We have no idea how he’s been subduing all these hybrids. There could be some serious firepower on the other side of that door.”

  “All the more reason for you to stay behind.”

  “All the more reason for her to go in first,” Molly piped up. The boys glared down at her, but she held her ground. “I’m sorry, but it just makes sense. We didn’t make it this far by keeping Rae on the sidelines; we’re not going to start now. If it makes anybody feel any better, she and I can go in together. She’ll be invisible out in front, and I’ll provide cover fire.”

  Rae’s heart warmed with gratitude as she and Molly shared a quick smile. Her best friend might be an over-talkative shopaholic, but, on days like today, there was no one she’d rather have by her side.

  The ‘Devon and Julian’ super-hero team might be legendary around school and with the Privy Council, but it was time for the boys to step aside. There was a new dynamic duo on the rise.

  If it was possible, this plan seemed to make the fellas even more upset, but Rae and Molly ignored their protests completely, pulling out the ‘stop’ as they flew once more to the top.

  The second the doors opened, Rae vanished from sight. Molly kept one extended hand discreetly on the back of her coat to keep track of where she was, and then the two of them launched themselves into the apartment.

  Rae had expected an army, a battalion, for Cromfield to slowly spin around on a leather recliner, wearing a monocle, with a white cat perched on his lap.

  Instead, a rather confused-looking Benjamin Mills stumbled in from the kitchen.

  “Oh, hey, Molly,” he said, rubbing his head but walking forward with an eager smile. “Did you finally agree to take me up on that coffee date?”

  Molly’s cheeks flamed an incriminating red as the boys poured out of the elevator. Luke, in particular, looked rather aggressive as he strode forward and placed his arm firmly around Molly’s tiny waist.

  Benjamin studied them for a moment, before pursing his lips. “So…that whole flirting act? Just a sad attempt to get inside my apartment, was it?”

  “Sorry,” Molly cringed, “but it was for your own safety.”

  He laughed, waving his hand dismissively. “It’s okay; I kinda figured. It seemed a little too good to be true.”

  The whole time they’d been talking, Rae had been studying Benjamin, with a critical eye to rival that of Madame Elpis. He didn’t look hurt, he didn’t look traumatized. In fact, other than being a bit unsteady on his feet, he looked perfectly normal.

  “So what the hell happened to you?” Rae asked pointedly, reappearing into view.

  Benjamin fell back with a cry, clutching h
is chest as she appeared, sitting on his sofa. “How did you just…? You can disa…? How long have you been here?!”

  “Oh, relax,” she said dismissively, “I just came in with Molly a second ago.”

  “Why, Benjamin?” Devon was watching him with eyes just as intent as Rae’s. “Doing something you weren’t exactly proud of?”

  Julian stepped forward, finishing his thoughts. “Something you’d maybe rather hide?”

  Rae glanced confusedly between them, before, all at once, it clicked. Of course! They had to consider the possibility that whatever Cromfield was up to, Benjamin could be in on it; the only hybrid in hundreds of years not to be murdered by the man. There had to be more to that story than met the eye.

  Benjamin threw up his hands. “Hey! I know what you’re thinking. You said this guy was a real monster, right? That he was some kind of killer?” He shook his head innocently. “But I’m telling you guys, except for kind of drugging me at the end of the evening, he was a perfect gentleman.”

  As Rae watched him, wondering what to believe, a sudden tentative buzzing floated up to the edges of her skin. Curious, she momentarily relaxed and let her body choose whatever tatù it was wanting. Much to her surprise, it was Ellie’s. She considered this with a small frown. Ellie was gifted with both knowledge and understanding. That meant that she not only had the greatest photographic memory in the history of the world, but she also knew the intentions behind everything she learned. She understood its truth or sincerity. That being said, Rae had only seen it applied to written texts. It wasn’t like Ellie was a human polygraph machine. But who knew; maybe there was more to the ink than met the eye.

  With a little frown, she crossed the room to where Benjamin stood, pushing him firmly down on the couch. Then, keeping him fixed in her gaze, she sat down on the accompanying chair and took his hand, hoping the shared physical connection would help her make sense of what was going on.

  “Uh, Rae,” Devon ventured tentatively behind Benjamin. “Whatchya doing?”

  Benjamin looked just as confused to be holding her hand. “Yeah, um, no offense, I’m really flattered, but that flirting trick won’t really work on me twice. I know what you girls are—”