Shadow Dancer

by Krysta Scott

  “Couldn’t wait to get my clothes off, huh?” Garrett chuckled.

  “What just happened?”

  “The mind knows what it wants. And it gets it.” Garrett thrust his rock-hard penis into her, his body building an incredible pressure. She shuddered, raking her fingers down his back. Gasping for breath. He pulled out, and with a groan plunged deep inside her. Blinding spasms erupted. She cried out.

  Garrett’s neck stiffened beneath her fingers. He gripped her hips hard against him…spilled himself into her…his own cries bounding against the walls in her head. His head fell into the crook of her neck, his ragged breaths searing her skin. Her body shook from the aftermath, a pleasant, relaxing sensation she wanted to savor forever.

  After a long moment, Garrett rolled off her. She stared upward, suddenly feeling exposed and unprotected. “We-we shouldn’t have done that.”

  Garrett laughed. A low guttural sound. “It’s a bit late to reconsider. Don’t you think?”

  She lifted onto one elbow and scrutinized him. “We’re enemies, Garrett. We won’t ever be on the same side.”

  He brought his face close to hers. “I’m not your enemy, and it’s not that simple.”

  She fell back down and ran her fingers through her hair. “It is that simple.” Even as she said the words, a cold emptiness filled her. She couldn’t undo what had happened. But no way would she allow Garrett to muddle her thoughts any longer. She needed to stay focused, free of distractions. “This can’t happen again.”

  “You still don’t understand—”

  Nikki put her hand over his mouth ignoring the soft tingle of his breath against her skin. “I may not, but whatever this is, is over.” She waved her hand. “Now, get out of my head.”

  With those words, he vanished. She had no idea what she was doing, but it was like…magic. Magic that now left a yawning ache deep in her soul.

  Fighting off tears, she sank into the ground and back into her body.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nikki woke with a start, unsure of where she was. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, the familiar shapes of her rag doll collection emerged. Over on the nightstand, Lori’s doll slumped over her clock. Three in the morning. Too early to be up. Her nerves prickled alerting her she’d left something undone. Memories of Garrett and their reckless abandon came back in a flood. In effort to distract him, she’d allowed herself to be blindsided. She’d gotten swept up in her own desire and need. Now she just felt stupid and empty. But she still had time. Garrett had only stalled her progress. He hadn’t stifled it. She thought of Parker Hanover. If she truly could alter the course of events in his life, perhaps she could change the outcome. How good it would feel make the bastard really feel remorse. Bring him to his knees. A heady sense of the good she could do surged through her.

  She yanked the teddy bear off the comforter. A sense of time and space crackled from her finger tips to her toes. The pressure built. Strong. Certain. She was ready. She reached. A suction pulled her into the slip stream. Excitement bubbled in her stomach. Nikki soared through the portal and landed on solid ground. Confidence seized her.

  She turned her head right and left. Alone. She bit back the acid taste of disappointment. Whatever she’d done to cast Garrett from her mind must have been very potent. There wasn’t even a twinge of his presence. Really for the best since she didn’t need his interference if she was to complete her task. Taking a deep cleansing breath, Nikki let the tension wane from her aching muscles and turned her attention to the layout of Parker’s mind.

  Like her mind, there were doors. But they were haphazardly placed. Unorganized. An indication Parker adhered to no structure or impulse control. That would explain the capacity to beat his wife senseless with no plan to escape the authorities. Each door was adorned with a primary color, red, blue, and yellow. But nothing solid. It was more like blotches of color as if the surface was hastily painted with no thought for uniformity or tidiness. No other ornamentation or design decorated the surface or knob.

  Nikki examined them but wasn’t sure that it mattered which door she entered first. Other than the colors they all looked the same. So the tint on each panel must be the clue. She considered each one, attempting to discern the entrance to the most volatile aspect of his personality. If he were like most parents of the children she represented, he had a great deal of hostility and paranoia thriving inside. Blamed everyone, other than himself, for his predicaments. He was caught in the cycle of pointing his finger with no understanding that the only behavior that needed adjustment was his. She grimaced. The crazy person was always the last to know. Nikki gravitated to the red door, the color of anger, and peered inside.

  The memory before he’d been arrested.

  The moment Parker beat Amy wouldn’t help. By her calculations, that was too late. She needed to locate the motivation for his actions. She pushed further.

  There. He sat as an adult on a child’s full twin bed. A comforter covered in footballs and sports logos was draped over his hunched shoulders. Posters of sports stars, faded and worn around the edges, adorned the walls. The furniture was small and toy-like next to Parker’s hulking presence. At his age, his room should have reflected a more mature decor but maybe she was a little too harsh. Until recently, Parker hadn’t even lived there. And true, some parents kept their children’s rooms as a shrine.

  She wondered how the room would change now that Parker was living in his parent’s house again. Would he replace the juvenile twin in favor of a queen-sized bed, or tear down the posters and hang the artwork that resided in his marital home? She swallowed, realizing he wouldn’t be able to do any of those things if she failed to keep him from beating Amy senseless.

  Chin resting on his fist, brooding, he appeared more like a rebellious teen than a full grown man. She drew nearer, forced her mind closer. She needed to hear his thoughts, and he hers. She paused and just listened.

  Filthy bitch thinks she can keep my Lori from me. Better think again.

  The thoughts were intense and focused on Amy and her desire that he seek counseling before he returned home. Amy dismissed her case but wasn’t ready to let him live with the family. Rage radiated from him—all over his lack of control over his situation. Yeah, tough break. Nikki imagined that sort of injury went deep and festered. But was that enough to compel him to clobber his wife with the butt of a gun? Surely there was more to it.

  The door to his room opened, and Carolyn Hanover stuck her head in. “Parker, honey, you need to eat something. Keep up your strength.”

  “Not hungry.” The edge in his voice curdled the acid in Nikki’s stomach.

  “Now, Parker, don’t be that way.” Carolyn’s placating tone grated on Nikki. Cloying and meddlesome. Her syrupy sweet words disguised the controlling aspect of the woman. But Nikki saw it as clear as the sun in the Caribbean. The woman expected Parker to heed her word.

  “Go away.” He threw a basketball at the door. “This is all your fault. If you hadn’t taken my powers away, I wouldn’t have lost my family, my Lori,” he hissed.

  Instead of retreating, Carolyn stepped inside. She made her way to the bed and sat next to him. “Parker.” She patted his hand. “That’s not true. We did what was necessary. Darling, we aren’t responsible for what happened to you. Amy can’t keep Lori from you forever. She just wants you to get some anger management classes before you go back home.”

  He pulled his head from his hands, eyes filled with tears. His menacing gleam shook Nikki to her core. Carolyn flinched at his expression. The mixture of sadness and hatred was startling. “No one will help me.”

  “That’s n-n-not true.”

  Parker jumped to his feet, arms waving with vigor. “You don’t understand, Mama, Amy might be a liar but Lori isn’t.”

  “What?” Carolyn’s gasp sounded sincerely surprised.

  Parker’s eyes widened to the look of a caged animal. Caught in a trap of his own making.

  Until this moment, Carolyn hadn�
�t considered that Parker had harmed his child. “I thought it was an accident. How can you hurt your own child?”

  “Don’t you judge me,” he said harshly. “How else was I to reach her? I have no power.”

  Carolyn stared at him. Shocked at the monster before her. Nikki wasn’t surprised. Most parents had no inkling the part they played in their child’s evil behavior. How could they? If they looked close enough, they would be horrified to see their own reflection. It was always easier to blame others for one’s failings.

  Carolyn stood, her face contorting into a mask of disgust. “You’ve made your bed, boy. Your father and I can’t help you anymore. You’re on your own.” She marched from the room leaving Parker to stew.

  He sank onto the bed. Large gulping sobs erupted. Then stilled. From the depths of his despair, anger sprung forward to take root.

  There was no court order keeping him from his daughter. He would go over there and demand to see her. Amy would be quaking in her boots. She didn’t have her jackass attorney standing between him and her tonight.

  His intent came through loud and clear. Nikki’s hands trembled.

  The right to see Lori overrode any rational thought. That she would be glad to see him. The slow smile that erupted on his face made him appear menacing.

  Alarm coursed through Nikki. This was it, the turning point. The moment things wrenched out of control. What he wanted was to see his daughter. Memories of the beating she’d seen from Amy’s mind came back in vivid detail, she knew Amy fought valiantly to protect her daughter. With the hair trigger on his emotions, Parker must have snapped as evidenced by the gun he’d retrieved.

  That one act changed the course of their lives. Nikki compressed her lips. She could switch it back.

  No Parker. Think of what you are doing. You are too angry to confront Amy tonight. If you go see Amy, it will only lead to disaster. Calm down. Wait a couple of days.

  To Nikki’s profound relief, Parker’s thoughts began to shift. He was too exhausted to think. He needed rest. Maybe things would look different in the morning. Things would be all right.

  Things will be better, Parker. You’ll see, she assured him. Inhaling deeply, Nikki slipped away.

  ****

  Parker shot up. His heart rammed against his chest. Terror? Or excitement? Every nerve ending trembled and twitched. Something had changed. He rubbed the last vestiges of sleep from his eyes, allowing time to adjust to the dark. For a moment he couldn’t recall where he was. Shapes began to form. A small dresser. A chair. The stupid poster he’d hung on the wall at seventeen when he thought he could do almost anything. Even get his powers back. But this room ceased to hold the promise of new awakenings a long time ago. His parents had seen to that.

  Last thing he remembered he’d been locked in jail. But the solid cinderblock walls faded and a different image began to form. He sat up messaging his neck recalling the most recent events in the Amy/Parker drama. It’d been a bad fight. Why couldn’t he control the rage that burned through him every time Amy defied him? All she had to do was look at him with that blank innocent look in her eyes. The ‘I haven’t done anything wrong’ pout. When it was completely evident she’d messed up big time.

  All he wanted was to come home to a welcoming family and not trip over Lori’s damned toys. That wasn’t too much to ask. But Amy wasn’t the kind of woman to feed that desire. She had to willfully defy his one simple request. His fingers curled as he recalled her response.

  “But Parker, I haven’t had time.”

  But there was no excuse for the utter chaos that reigned supreme in his absence. Toys all over the house. A laundry basket filled to overflowing. There was no reason she couldn’t keep the house clean. All she needed was a little organization. But she was so scattered, order was impossible without his guidance. Lori stepped in the middle of their fight. Her eye smacked into his elbow. And now Amy wouldn’t even let him move home. She sent him to his childhood room as if he was in time out. But he wasn’t a child. She should know that by now.

  He was charged up enough to teach her that lesson. Then it occurred to him to give it a rest. To step back and take a break. Which was odd because he hadn’t ever done that before. That meant only one thing. Someone had been in his mind. Altered him enough to make him think holding back was the right thing to do. So, he’d come back to his childhood room to think it over. Believing if he just gave it a little more time, they could work it out. He would convince her to be more organized. Once he was back in control of everything, they could be happy again. They would be the family he deserved.

  He laughed. Must be the work of that nosy woman sent to protect Lori. He knew she’d be handy eventually. The stupid twit had no idea what she was doing. That kind of ignorance could be very useful to him. On a whim, he expanded his mind but the familiar barriers clamped down on his efforts. Well, he was out of jail. That was nothing to discount. Ms. Angelus had figured out how to turn things around this much in a measly three days. It didn’t even matter that Amy had marched right back to court the next day after he’d blackened Lori’s eye and refiled for divorce. He’d overcome supervised visitation before. Maybe it was time to encourage the mighty protector of children a bit more. With a little nudge, Nikki Angelus would come through. Then everyone would know not to mess with him. He lay back down and went to sleep certain of his upcoming triumph.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Garrett woke to a sledge hammer hacking at his brain. Each dig sent an explosion of pain, followed by a blinding light behind his eyeballs. It took a second to remember. He held his head to quell the aftershocks of Nikki distracting him with mind blowing sex then slamming him back into consciousness.

  Damn her. He rubbed the back of his neck massaging the stiff muscles. The tension didn’t ease. Shit! There wasn’t enough aspirin to cease the pain. The last time his head felt like a disaster after a train wreck was after an especially rigorous training session as a teenager. Had to give her credit, the woman dealt a hell of a whollup. No novice could inflict this kind of agony.

  What was he going to do about her? On one hand, she cared about the children she represented, truly wanting to help them achieve a healthy adulthood. That much was obvious when he’d gained access to her mind. Those actions demonstrated compassion. Her intention to do the right thing was admirable. He wished more than anything he was in a position to help her. Unfortunately, while she’d been trained in the arts of casting, she hadn’t been taught to respect the laws of the Guild. That meant she was dangerous.

  Garrett took a slow deep breath. The steady throb in his head increased. He squeezed his eyes shut. An inkling there was something up with Parker Hanover bobbed to the surface of his thoughts. What was it exactly? His wife had filed for divorce. Garrett was hired to represent him. The child had a bruise. The realization clocked him sending another surge of pain hammering through his consciousness. Parker had been in jail three days ago. Today he wasn’t.

  There was no longer any doubt Nikki was the Shadow Dancer. That meant she could forage farther back than any other caster he’d come across. Beyond the forty-eight-hour window. As a child, he’d heard tales of others with the same ability, but that was hundreds of years ago—before the Guild slammed on the breaks and curbed those abilities for the good of mankind.

  Now here she was, a rogue caster with the capacity to change more than allowed. He rolled his head from side to side. It only succeeded in increasing the surge of echoing pain. His insides churned. Nikki was trouble. If she wasn’t stopped she could bring down the whole culture in one fell swoop. Changing history despite her good intentions. That wasn’t going to play well with the elders and it certainly placed him in a tenuous position with the council. He groaned. She didn’t trust him and she certainly wouldn’t listen to him.

  He sat up, curling his toes along the cool wooden floor. He had to stop her. But without access to her mind he couldn’t do it in the traditional fashion. And that was just fine with him because he didn�
�t want to cripple her mind. He would have to find some other way for her to see reason.

  Unlike Nikki, he wasn’t able to lock his mind. That was the first thing the Guild prevented. A mechanism to curb the power hungry. Now the very measures designed to protect him left him vulnerable to her attack. He could forgive Nikki’s transgressions. None of this was her doing. It was her grandfather who disregarded the Guild’s checks and balances. Garrett dropped his head in his hands. His fingers twisted and pulled their way through his hair. What exactly was the old man up to? He couldn’t fathom any one of his kind wanting a dream caster to go unchecked let alone one as powerful as the Shadow Dancer.

  The ceiling spun. A wave of nausea descended. He rolled over on his side and curled into the fetal position. He held onto the edge of the bed, waiting for the room to return to normal. He was in no state to figure out William Songe’s motivation. When the room stilled, he looked at the clock. Five a.m. Another early morning with no hope of sleep returning. Letting out a long tortured breath, he stood on unsteady legs and fixed himself strong coffee.

  He sipped the bitter liquid then rummaged around in the cabinet for aspirin. Grabbing the bottle, he yanked off the lid that sent little pellets skittering across the kitchen counter. He scooped up three tablets and popped them into his mouth relishing the acid taste while he contemplated the turn of events. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. If he couldn’t get through the front door, he would go through the back. That path led him directly to William Songe. It was time to pay him a visit. All he had to do was find him.

  Garrett pulled out his cell and dialed Mark. Thankfully, he picked up on the first ring. “It’s early. This better be good,” Mark barked.