Dark and Dangerous: Six-in-One Hot Paranormal Romances

by Jennifer Ashley

  “Jim says the roof’s haunted. Says he can sense a definite cold spot near the eaves where someone leaped to their death.”

  Talia whirled at the sound of Spencer’s voice. He leaned against a gray-colored bulkhead of some kind, smoking. He tapped the tip of his cigarette with his thumb, ash raining down at his feet. Behind him, the roof angled upward in a picturesque sweep. Below them, the terrace rounded the base of the hotel so that the building appeared to be floating on a white disk suspended above the earth.

  She swallowed her surprise. “Ghosts have left me alone so far. I think I’ll risk it.”

  “I don’t believe in them either.” He took a long drag on his cigarette and let the smoke slither out of the side of his mouth. “Lovers’ quarrel? Looks like you two had a little falling out down there.”

  Talia’s face heated. She reached for the door. Damn hotel left her nowhere to run.

  “You know you have options, don’t you?” Spencer’s tone was friendly and helpful, but Talia still didn’t feel she could quite trust him. She couldn’t trust anyone.

  “What do you mean?”

  Spencer cocked his head. “I wondered if you knew. Adam’s got a file on you.”

  The word file bothered her, as if she were a specimen, a case under examination. But Adam had been aboveboard with his curiosity and questions. She’d shown him personally what she could do. She’d revealed her connection to Shadowman. Even the images of herself. Any good researcher would take detailed notes, and the notes would be kept in a file. So she pushed the bothersome term away.

  “Yeah, tests on your DNA, et cetera.”

  Talia felt the blood drain out of her face. She hadn’t consented to that.

  “But it’s the video surveillance Adam has on your apartment that would bug the hell out of me.”

  Now she felt ill.

  “You don’t believe me?” Spencer’s eyes glittered as he took another drag. “You sleep in a T-shirt, panties, and nothing else. And by the end of the night the sheets are all twisted up at the end of the bed so that your pretty bottom—”

  “Shut up.”

  “At least you believe me now. Things around here are never what they seem.” He stamped out the cigarette on the concrete at his feet.

  “Take you, for example,” Spencer continued, the volume of his voice rising as she moved away from him. “You look human and act human, but you’re not.”

  She squeezed her arms tighter around herself. He obviously had something to say. And, all things considered, she’d rather know.

  “As the SPCI liaison, I’m supposed to be privy to everything that goes on here. I gather Adam has been as secretive with you as he’s been with me.”

  Talia’s eyes pricked. Adam was sick. Twisted. He’d lived with a monster so long that he’d become one himself.

  “You don’t have to stay here. You have alternatives through SPCI. First of all, you’re not alone. There are others out there like you, housed at alternative facilities. We don’t have the frills that Segue does, and the furniture is seriously outdated, but at least you know how things stand. Your rights will be protected. Your privacy protected. It’s not the best life, but it’s an honest one.”

  Honest. What a joke. She couldn’t trust anyone.

  “You say the word, and you’re out of here. No confrontations. Just an easy transport to the SPCI compound.” Spencer waved his hands like a magician before the poof.

  Talia’s mind worked furiously. She could get out on her own. Give herself a head start. But not Arizona or Vegas. Find a little place out in the middle of nowhere, away from the flow of people. She was sick of people.

  “I’ll think about it,” she said.

  “Nah. You’ve already made up your mind. You’ll take the hard way.”

  Spencer strode toward her and stopped at her side. Too close. “Adam’s right about one thing. A wraith war is coming. There is nowhere on this planet that will be safe for long. Keep that in mind.”

  He yanked open the door to the interior and left her alone with the night.

  CHAPTER 10

  “We want the California.” Gillian held out her hand. “The salon is waiting for us, and Talia has asked to come along. So I am afraid the Diablo won’t do. We need a four-seater.”

  The trio of women stood in Adam’s office. Talia stayed back and let the other women do the talking. She’d had a long, sleepless night of deliberating, but her choice was made. First step, a lift to town.

  “There are six very nice cars in the Segue lot—what makes you think I’ll lend you one of mine?” Adam’s tone angled up with incredulity.

  Gillian didn’t back down. “Our shared joy of a luxury vehicle.”

  His gaze darted to Patty, who grinned in agreement with Gillian.

  Talia watched the byplay with resentful interest. She didn’t know what the California was, but the request clearly irritated him, which gave her less satisfaction than it should. She just wanted to get out of there. Being in the same room with Adam made her skin tight, her nerves edgy.

  Adam’s gaze finally hit Talia and rested there, as if he were considering something. Studying her, again. She struggled to keep her expression impassive. The Segue credit card was in her pocket, and she intended to charge everything she needed. Her escape from Adam Thorne’s specimen lab would be wholly paid for by him.

  “Fine,” Adam said. “But keep the speed down. If you get in an accident, our good doctor won’t be able to help you because she’ll be busted up, too. And I’ll be too busy cursing you to call for other medical intervention.”

  Gillian bounced on the balls of her feet. “Yeah, yeah. The key, please.”

  He opened a slim desk drawer to the right of his main work area, under his view screen of Jacob. Probably the same screen that had afforded him an unobstructed view of her apartment, of her bedroom. As if she were Jacob, a monster to be studied.

  How could she have been so stupid?

  “Are you okay?” Adam’s gaze was heavy on her face, searching. He couldn’t possibly care.

  Talia fought to keep her emotions under control, her bile down. She nodded with a fake smile. Salon! Fun! As if she’d ever let anyone touch her, repeatedly, for any length of time.

  Gillian snatched the key out of his hand, drawing Adam’s attention. The ache in Talia’s guts diminished slightly. She wouldn’t feel better until Segue was far behind her.

  “Our appointment is in twenty minutes. We better get going.” Gillian skipped to the door like a teenager. Talia followed, with Patty bringing up the rear.

  “Wait,” Adam said. “It takes thirty-five to get there.”

  “Not anymore,” Gillian sang, waving the key in the air and pushing out his office door.

  They bypassed the parking lot off the Segue loading dock and entered an immaculate garage. Four shining cars gleamed, diagonally situated, each a luxury vehicle, though Talia would have been hard-pressed to name any one. A black sedan, slightly old-world in its shape, but modernized in its aerodynamic lines, was parked farthest from the door. Next to it, a hulking SUV with dark windows and shiny chrome. Adjacent, two sports cars vied for attention, one black, shaped low, mean, and angular. The other was bold red, modern muscle tempered with sleek restraint. A silver stallion reared on the grille under a yellow insignia.

  “The Ferrari,” Gillian directed. She ran on tiptoes over to the red car and ran a hand along its hood. When she opened the door, she sighed in exaggerated ecstasy. “Thank you, Talia!”

  Talia brought her head up in confusion as she slipped behind the passenger seat into a narrow rear bucket.

  “We owe this to you.” Gillian’s eyebrows lifted up-up in suggestion, a smirk curling one side of her mouth. Then she gripped the wheel with melodramatic sexual pleasure.

  Patty and Gillian strapped themselves in. Talia followed suit, though she was so squished she doubted the seat belt would do anything.

  “I don’t get it,” Talia said. Did everyone know that Adam had ki
ssed her? Had everyone been watching? Or had he left some visible mark on her where he’d touched? The bitter truth was, she could still feel the heat of his hands on her back and butt, and other places she’d briefly hoped he’d reach.

  Gillian turned the key, revved the engine, and purred suggestively.

  The car felt like Adam. Power, beauty, and no fuss. Smelled like him, too, under the honey dusk of the black leather.

  “Oh, honey. The way he looks at you. I’ve been here years hoping for that gleam in his eye. He never, ever would have let us take out one of his babies if you weren’t coming along.” Gillian’s eyes twinkled. “I just took advantage of the opportunity.”

  “Leave her alone,” Patty said, but she smiled, too.

  Yes, please. Leave me alone.

  Gillian eased the vehicle out of the garage and onto the Segue turnabout. When she accelerated, the engine sang. Its building momentum forced Talia’s head into the seat.

  Talia left Gillian and Patty in the salon, trapped in their chairs by color massaged like mud over their scalp. Gillian had shiny foils tucked into her hair as well.

  “Talia. Really,” Gillian begged. “Just order some decent stuff online and have the clothes overnighted.” She looked like she wanted to expand on her reservations for shopping in Middleton, but with a glance at the stylist, politely kept her mouth closed.

  Talia wasn’t going to be here tomorrow. That was the point. She had the use of the Segue card for Middleton only. Whatever she was going to get, it had to be here, or Adam would be able to track her.

  Talia smiled, thanked them both, but went to check the local shopping for herself.

  She found a thrift shop, packed with knickknacks, dishes, dulling jewelry, and along the back wall, a rack of clothes. They were dingy from previous use, puckered and creased from hanging untouched on store hangers for who knows how long. Probably years. She selected clothes that looked like they’d fit, and was thrilled when she found a well-worn but sturdy backpack.

  The counter had been tended when she’d entered, but empty when she finished. She piled her stuff on top and got the credit card ready for payment. Waiting, adrenaline pumping, got her mind turning. Small town like this...

  She hesitated a second, then darted around to the other side of the register.

  And there it was, in an upper drawer next to a pile of old receipt booklets, a revolver, silver along the barrel and textured black rubber on the grip. A box of ammunition labeled .38 SPECIAL was tucked alongside. Adam did say that firearms were the best defense against wraiths. Certainly couldn’t hurt.

  She lifted the weapon and turned it over and around, then pocketed the box of ammo and put the gun in the waist of her pants under her shirt. Her heart beat wildly at her theft, though her two months on the run from wraiths had been filled with similar crimes.

  The gun felt cold and hard on her back. Unnatural, but remembering how Custo took down the wraith in the alley in Arizona, she also felt better prepared. Talia was back on the other side of the counter by the time the cashier—a young woman—emerged from a curtained hallway, vaguely surprised that Talia was still there.

  Purchases in hand, Talia headed for the busiest part of town.

  The Circle K sat on the corner of I-52 and Main and seemed to connect Middleton to the rest of the world. Talia entered the gas station, its door swinging wide, bell ringing overhead. She smiled at the acne-attacked boy behind the counter flipping though a magazine in his lap.

  With any luck, she could hitch a ride out of town before Patty and Gillian were done with their color. Where to? She swallowed a lump in her throat. She didn’t really care as long she was far, far away from Segue and Adam.

  Talia used the credit card to get cash at an ATM near the lotto stand. The machine ejected $500, the card’s daily cash limit, which was way more money than she’d had the last time she ran away. She tucked the cash inside a small pouch on the front of her backpack and hit the snack aisle. She selected energy bars and, from the glass-faced refrigerators at the rear of the store, a couple bottles of water.

  Items purchased and stowed, she took up a position in front of the magazines at the wide front windows. A woman in an old station wagon, toddler in a back car seat, pumped at the station marked one. A man in a red pickup with oversize tires humped station two. Given her options, the pickup probably would be game for a ride, and if the driver got any ideas, she could always scare the hell out of him.

  Time to go.

  Talia dropped the magazine, shouldered her pack, and pushed out the door. She was halfway to the pumps when a black Denali SUV slid into the lot. The tinted windows obscured her view of the interior and the glare from the overcast sky washed out the windshield, but the hair on the back of her neck tingled to attention with unprovoked anxiety.

  Danger, instinct warned, her heart tripping.

  Paranoid. She pushed the feeling down and continued to the truck. She made eye contact with the paunch-bellied driver, and then glanced over her shoulder when the doors of the SUV opened. She caught the smooth descent of a man moving with predatory fluidity.

  Oh. No. Where to hide?

  The trees along the highway beckoned and beyond that the blanket of forest covering the mountain ridges, an almost-unending shadowy canopy of refuge. So many dark spots to crawl into and wait out the threat, then creep from bush cluster to tree hollow and escape.

  Adam’s firm voice sounded in her head, Find the largest concentration of people.

  But...she looked longingly at the trees. She even had food and water. She could last...

  The wraiths will not risk public exposure. The force of will in Adam’s words anchored her.

  And she couldn’t bear being hunted a second time. She knew that now.

  Talia angled away from the pumps and increased the momentum of her stride to intersect with Main Street. The largest concentration of people would be the mom-and-pop diner next to the beauty salon.

  She cut across the street diagonally, not looking back. Not moving too quickly. Not drawing attention. Nothing to see here.

  She rounded the corner to the line of businesses just as Patty and Gillian pushed out of the salon some doors down.

  Be natural. Be ordinary. Just one of the girls.

  “You look great!” Talia called, stretching her mouth into a smile as she picked up her pace.

  “Did you buy anything?” Gillian asked as Talia approached.

  Wraith, Talia mouthed.

  The smile dropped off Gillian’s face. Patty’s red lips turned down, gaze darting beyond Talia.

  “Let’s just stay calm,” Patty said, “and get in the car.”

  The California screamed for attention across the street. Not too subtle. Gillian pulled out the keys and beeped the lock. From the doorway of the hardware store, on the other side of the vehicle, a man appeared. His city slacks and urban T-shirt were incongruent with the small town. He pocketed his hands nonchalantly in an unassuming stance, but his eyes were hungry, potent with menace.

  The three women halted in the street, midstride. Patty gripped Talia by the elbow and pulled her back, shielding her with her body as if she were a child.

  Talia allowed the protection only because her attention was drawn to the right.

  The SUV swallowed the street, doors already open, two shining young men standing on the running boards at the sides, as if on a joy ride. Both bounded down to block the street.

  “Adam said they wouldn’t risk public exposure,” Gillian said.

  Talia blanched with realization. She should have known. For everyone else, they wouldn’t risk exposure. But if she were a real threat to them, as the images she’d found suggested, then they might risk anything. Too late now.

  “Talia, go get help,” Patty said in a voice far too calm for the circumstances. “Middleton didn’t sign on for this. Someone needs to get help or the town will be torn apart, and the only person who can get through the wraiths is you.”

  If Talia wanted a
way to bolt out of this mess, this was it. A neat excuse prepackaged, well reasoned, and very tempting.

  “I’ll drive,” Gillian said. She wanted to live, too. “I’ll get help. I can get through just as easily...”

  “We can’t let them have you,” Patty answered, ignoring Gillian. “Think, Talia.”

  Talia’s mind took one second to consider the option and had her decision: if she left Patty and Gillian to the soul-sucking attentions of the wraiths, she might as well cough up her own spirit, because it would be dead and useless thereafter.

  Talia shook her head, no. She was going to stay. The choice went down her throat like a rough brick.

  What she needed was something that approximated courage, a little bravado maybe. Then, when the opportunity to run had passed, an instinctive will to live would kick in, and she’d fight for real.

  The gun pressed into her waist in cold comfort.

  “I’m not going anywhere.” Talia managed to keep her voice respectably steady, considering acid burned up the back of her throat. She tensed her dread-weakened knees and slipped the backpack off her shoulders to drop with a soft smack on the street.

  Talia’s fear intensified with her resolution, and the world shifted in front of her. Shadow. Where before the thick trees and old brick buildings were crisp and mundane, the reds and greens dusted with street dirt and time, now darkness cloaked them and softened their edges.

  “What the hell...?” Gillian shrieked.

  “Stop, Talia,” Patty said, edging her voice with authority. “We can’t risk you when a war is coming, and it’s going to take your whole bag of tricks to get out of here, regardless.”

  “War’s here, Patty,” Talia said. “Just ask Adam.”

  “Damn it Talia, run,” Patty said, spinning slowly to position herself behind her.

  They stood back-to-back in the middle of the street with no fewer than three...Talia glanced to her left...make that four wraiths bearing down on them.

  “I can get us in the car. You just have to hold on to me.” Talia chewed her lip. “Then we’ll draw them after us to Segue, where there is more help.”