Darkness Haunts

by Susan Illene

  Now to make it all work while being in front of Derrick’s too perceptive eyes. My plan depended on him not alerting his superior to the importance of this place. I tapped him on the shoulder and gave him the turnaround hand signal since we’d gone past the vampire’s location. Derrick indicated we should take our headsets off before leaning closer to me. Right—so the pilot wouldn’t hear us. Of course, mine caught in my hair before I could get it free.

  “Are you pickin’ something up?” He barely spoke loud enough for me to hear him.

  “Maybe,” I said. “It’s hard to tell, but something is underneath the ground back at the mine we passed a minute ago.”

  “You’re not sure?”

  I shook my head. “With all the earth in the way I can’t say what it might be. It feels like a vampire, though. We need to at least check it out.”

  He raked a hand over his own tousled hair, giving a nice show of his large bicep, before turning back in his seat. I breathed an inward sigh of relief that he didn’t question me further. With a word to the pilot, we flew back around.

  Once we reached the site, I told Derrick to have the pilot circle around to help give us a better view. We would have to go down into the shaft and, based on the setup, it would take some special equipment to lower ourselves in. Plus it might have been blocked off, but I couldn’t tell for sure from my angle in the air. I took a mental picture for later reference.

  Derrick raised his brows after my gaze moved from the site to him. A glimmer of hope reflected in his chocolate brown eyes. It almost made me feel guilty, but not quite. In the short time we’d known each other a sort of solid friendship had been built. We hadn’t made any real effort toward it, but it came nonetheless. I hated having to deceive him. The man didn’t deserve it, but his loyalty to Variola made avoiding the truth necessary.

  “This could be the one, but I’m not getting a good sense of who it is,” I lied. “I’m thinking it’s better if we come back tomorrow with the right equipment and go down there where I can get in closer and confirm it.”

  My military days had taught me how to keep my expression clear so my thoughts couldn’t be seen. You become skilled at tricks like that when you’re forced to do absurd things like spray-paint storage sheds in the pouring rain. Commanders don’t like it if you look at them like they’re crackpots, or so I discovered before mastering the art of non-expression. I’d done many push-ups before learning to cover up my emotions. The skill came in handy now.

  Derrick’s shoulders sagged at my less than positive report, but he agreed with my recommendation and let the pilot know he could take us back. We had gotten a late start today and would need time to make preparations. You didn’t go into a mine shaft without all the right gear or else you were asking for trouble. It didn’t take prior experience to figure out it was dangerous. The occasional news reports on collapsed mines and men killed in them were warning enough.

  ***

  I peered at the notebook paper before me, considering if the details appeared right. There had been a limited amount of time to study the mine shaft while flying in the Cessna. My drawing wouldn’t be a perfect representation. I had to consider the sketch gave a view from above as opposed to ground level, which would be the way we entered tomorrow.

  The shaft must have had a lowering device of some sort to take miners down, but I doubted it remained since the place closed. Some kind of rigging was still up top from what I’d seen, but the exact details were difficult to discern from so far above. They may have set up something to keep people out as well, but Derrick promised he would take care of it. He had a werewolf buddy who worked in mines as a day job and could help us out.

  The planning side of me needed to draw things out when the details might be important. I also enjoyed the way sketching could help clear my head and allow me to lose myself for awhile. With everything that had happened in the last few weeks, that was more important than ever.

  My pencil flew across the paper as nearby vegetation came to life on the page, making for a more complete scene. Sometimes adding those details helped give perspective. I wished I could have viewed the inside of the mine for a better idea of what we might be dealing with the next day. Somewhere below the place my drawing represented, an ancient vampire slept. Derrick didn’t know it yet, but I would be waking Nikolas up and there would be no telling how that would go. I could only hope we survived.

  “You have talent there.”

  I jumped when Derrick spoke over my shoulder. I had gotten so used to him being around that my senses were now dulled to his presence. He stood behind me where I sat at the kitchen table. Friends had complimented my drawings in the past, but something made me appreciate it more coming from him. When had his opinion begun to matter so much?

  “Thanks, it’s a hobby of mine.” I didn’t lift my head up as I spoke and let my hair keep my face curtained. He rubbed my shoulders and I tried not to melt into the soothing sensations. Derrick was a sup on a path for vengeance. There could never be anything more than friendship between us.

  “That’s the shaft we’re going to visit tomorrow. You did a good job of drawing it from memory.”

  “It’s not perfect, but close enough.”

  “Yes, it is. Would you mind if I took a look at that when you’re done? Could help me on my end, seein’ as how I got that friend I’ll be meetin’ up with for supplies in the morning.”

  “Sure, almost done with it now.”

  He watched me put the last details in, observing how it all developed. Having already studied the scene by drawing it, I didn’t need the sketch so much after finishing and figured he might as well have it. When I handed it to him, something outside pinged my senses. It startled me so bad I shot out of my seat, knocking my chair back onto the floor. Derrick picked it up and frowned at me. This was something I did not need to deal with right now.

  “Mel…” Emily called from the bedroom.

  “Not now, Em.”

  Lisette headed directly our way. Her supernatural signature was one I would recognize anywhere. Why had she come here? It couldn’t have been at a worse time. What if Variola found out? My panicked eyes settled on Derrick. I had no time to sugarcoat things. She was almost here. I grabbed the werewolf by both shoulders and gave him a pleading look.

  “Derrick, a friend of mine from California is here. I don’t want Variola using her against me like she is with Aniya. If you’ll go along with what I say, we should be able to get rid of her. You won’t have to worry about her being a problem. I promise. Would you please do this for me?”

  I rushed out my request in a low tone, not wanting Emily to overhear. Lisette was pulling into the drive. He had to go along with this or there would be no getting rid of her. She had to believe everything we told her.

  Derrick’s eyes bored into mine. “Melena, you know I have to report everything to Variola.”

  My fingers dug into his skin through his black t-shirt. “And you know she is already using one of my friends against me. If we can make this one go away, at least she’ll be safe. Please, I know you have a heart in there somewhere. I’m begging you to go along with this.”

  Whatever thoughts were going on behind his eyes, not even my senses wanted to figure them out. It seemed an eternity passed before he nodded his head. “I’ll do it, but she better not stay after this or it’s out of my hands.”

  “Thank you.” I said, pulling him into a quick hug. It didn’t even bother me to get close to him like it should have. He gave me a small pat in return, but didn’t relax.

  Emily popped out of the bedroom as we broke apart and moved straight for the window. New glass had been put in the day before while we were out shopping. She drew the curtains aside before I could stop her and peeked out. I grabbed her and pulled her away.

  “Who is that chick, Mel? She has blue hair.” She scrunched her nose.

  “A pixie friend of mine from California. There aren’t any of her kind around here.” Better to clarify before she a
sked the wrong kinds of questions around Derrick. At least he hadn’t noticed she’d picked up on Lisette’s arrival at the same time I had.

  Emily lifted her brows. “Is she going to be staying here with us?”

  “Um, no,” I said while ushering the teenager back to the bedroom. “She’s going to be leaving. You stay back here until I get rid of her.”

  “But, Mel…” She whined as I shut the door. There might have been a loud sigh of exasperation coming from her direction, along with some grumbling, but at least there was no more arguing.

  I grabbed Derrick’s hand and dragged him with me, yelling at Emily to stay put and not come out for any reason. She had my laptop in there so at least it would keep her entertained for the moment.

  “Just play along, okay?” I begged the werewolf.

  Derrick inclined his head, reluctance written all over his face as we stepped outside. I pulled him along and kept his hand in mine, knowing this had to be believable. He’d played up our relationship in front of Matt and could do it again for someone else.

  “Lisette!” I called out as she walked toward us.

  Sure enough, blue hair framed her face. It would have surprised me more if she hadn’t changed it since the last time I’d seen her. True to form, she’d chosen a small, flashy car instead of something more practical. The rental companies must see a lot of customers like her up here to bother having those types of vehicles in their stock.

  “Melena?” Surprise showed on her face as she glanced from me to Derrick. I had leaned in close to him as we walked up in an attempt to imply something more between us.

  “Hey girl,” I said, letting go of him to give her a hug. She appeared too shocked to do much more than squeeze me back before we broke apart.

  I smiled at my friend as if life couldn’t be any better and returned to Derrick’s side. He must have caught on to my plan because he put his arm around my waist and composed his face in an endearing enough manner that even I almost believed it.

  Lisette’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

  To be fair, Lucas might not have been that far off on my dating record. I’d never bothered to see a guy more than a few times and had never allowed one to get close. Seeing me hanging onto a man and appearing happy about it would send her into a state of major confusion, which was what I wanted—something to shake her up enough that she wouldn’t question my actions too much.

  “Derrick,” I gave him my most adoring smile, “this is Lisette. The friend from back in California I told you about.”

  Following my lead, he held out a hand to shake hers.

  “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you,” he greeted her in a pleasant tone. It was strange seeing him this way, like another man had taken over his body.

  She hesitated, eyeing him up and down. I had to assume she’d detected what he was because her little pixie nose flared. Her kind didn’t have a sense of smell like werewolves, but they could scent things out better than humans. She didn’t appear all that pleased by my choice in men, but my prompting look forced her to shake his hand in return.

  “And I’ve heard nothing about you,” she turned her eyes on me. “Mel, want to explain this?”

  I ducked my head and peaked at her through my eyelashes.

  “Well, you know, it just sort of happened,” I said with a timorous smile. “Things moved fast and I know you expected me to call, but it never occurred to me you would come up here. Especially with the shop and everything…”

  “Email,” she interrupted, putting her hands on her hips. “You could have emailed me. At least that much should have occurred to you after all this time. I got worried and so did Mrs. Singh. First her daughter, and then you, except now I see you’re fine. So wanna tell me where Aniya is because she has some explaining to do.”

  Crap, should have known she would ask about that.

  “Oh yeah, Aniya,” I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture. “That’s how I met Derrick. He knows her boyfriend, Phillip. She’s fine, so you can go back and let Mrs. Singh know she’ll be in touch soon, I promise.”

  Well, I hoped it would be soon anyway.

  Lisette brushed her flat-ironed hair from her eyes and shifted her stance. “Mel, if she is fine then there should be no problem with me seeing her for myself. Where is she?”

  Time to take a page from the deputy’s playbook.

  “Well, that is kind of difficult to explain at the moment, you see. Niya and Philip went on a trip up north to some cabin a friend of his let him use. You can only get there by plane and there is no cell phone reception or internet. They should return in a week or two. I’ll have her call you when she gets back.”

  She twirled her hair around her finger. “A remote cabin, up north? Does it have electricity? Because we both know Niya is not an outdoor kind of girl.”

  “Uh, well…”

  “It has solar power and a back-up generator. She’ll be fine up there,” Derrick interjected.

  Lisette sighed and narrowed her eyes at me.

  “Are you sure you’re fine? This isn’t like you, Mel. Relationships have never been your thing and now I find you with…” She waved her hand around.

  “Derrick.” She could never remember names.

  “Right, so I find you with Mr. Macho here and I’m not getting it,” she put a hand up when Derrick tried to cut in, but her eyes stayed on me. “Maybe Niya might have fallen for a man up here, since we know she has a romantic heart, but not you. Is this for real?”

  I swallowed, not liking having to lie to her. Her voice had a note of hopefulness in it, as if she wanted it to be true. The one thing that kept me playing this game was if she didn’t believe me, it could be dangerous for her. I had to convince Lisette of the story I’d concocted.

  “It’s true, Liz,” I told her, using a high school nickname of hers she no longer used. “I’m happy with Derrick and there is really nothing to worry about. Please, go back and let Niya’s mom know she is fine. You have too much going on in your life back in Monterey to be hanging around up here.”

  Lisette studied Derrick and me, as if trying to gauge the truth. Mixed emotions crossed her face. I held my breath while waiting for her reply. When she relaxed her shoulders, I almost let out a sigh of relief.

  “Fine, I’ll get a hotel room for the night and head back tomorrow. Looks like it would be too crowded to stay here anyway.” An impish smile crossed her face. If her dirty mind had turned in that direction, she must be convinced.

  “I promise, everything’s okay,” I hugged her once more. “Sorry you had to come all the way up here. I really should have called or emailed, like you said.”

  When we pulled apart, her eyes looked misty.

  “It’s good to see you happy, Mel. I began to think you would never find a man who could hold you.”

  She narrowed her eyes at Derrick. “Take care of her for me, okay?”

  He gave her a solemn nod. “Will do.”

  “All right, well, guess I’ll hit up a bar or something tonight. I imagine this town could use someone like me to liven things up.” She giggled to herself and backed away toward her car.

  I shook my head, imagining the trouble she could cause. “Lisette, don’t go too wild, they might not be able to handle your kind of fun.”

  She grinned. “We’ll see.”

  Derrick pulled me close when she gave one last look back at us. She seemed pleased by the gesture…and that I didn’t fight it. Public displays of affection had never been my thing and she knew it. Despite the oddness of the situation, keeping up the act didn’t feel as awkward as it should have. Derrick’s musky scent surrounded me and I had to admit there were worse fake boyfriends to have. It was only once she was gone we each relaxed and separated. The alpha turned to me with a mystified expression.

  “Blue hair?”

  I shrugged. “She’s a pixie.”

  He grumbled about the oddness of fae as we went inside.

  Chapter Seventeen
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  The mine appeared dark and gloomy. None of the sun’s rays reached beyond the entrance. One touch of the walls let me know they were frozen solid, despite it not being winter yet. I pulled on some leather gloves to protect my skin. No need to get cold weather injuries this early in September.

  The narrow tunnel gave me a sense of impending doom and I wasn’t the claustrophobic type. Derrick appeared calm on the outside from what I could see of him when my head lamp flashed in his direction. His emotions revealed something altogether different. He was nervous.

  It had taken some convincing for him to limit his report to Variola so she wouldn’t come down here with us. She’d been informed of what we were up to, but believed we’d pull back if the vampire was down in the mine. At least she couldn’t come with us during the day.

  My senses told me Nikolas was somewhere ahead in the dark caverns. Too bad they couldn’t give me a handy map. I indicated to Derrick we should move forward. He led the way without needing his own headlamp. After a few minutes, he paused and turned back to me.

  “Can you tell if it’s him yet?” His voice came out gruff. The longer we walked through the tunnels, the tenser he got. Werewolves were resilient, but not immortal. If the place caved in, we could both die.

  “No, he’s farther inside. A lot of dirt and rock are in the way.”

  Derrick let out a heavy sigh and moved on.

  We had to take care with our steps. Some old supplies had been left lying around. I tripped over a pickaxe at one point and fell, making a bunch of noise as I slammed into the ground. The werewolf gave me a disgruntled look when a few choice words left my lips. I wondered if it was my cursing that offended him. He hadn’t used profanity once since I’d met him.

  Soon, a side shaft with a “keep away” spell on it opened up to our left. My senses revealed the vampire was in that direction. I turned to enter the tunnel. Derrick called out my name, trying to stop me. He hadn’t done so well the last time we ran into magic like this, but at least he could recognize the feeling for what it was now.