“Aria!” Ronan shook my shoulders. “Get a grip!” He jiggled me again and his mottled face wavered into view.
I focused on that ruggedly beautiful face as fragile life crept back into me. “It’s raining,” I stuttered, numb from my scalp to the soles of my feet.
“We’re sitting ducks and you’re worried about rain?” He shoved past me and flipped the door latch. The freezing numbness remained, but my mind raced into action, delving past the morass of that horrible night eight years ago.
Ronan cupped my face. “Baby, what’s wrong?” His thumb stroked my cheek, hot against my glacial skin. “You’ll get your powers back once we’re free of the dead zone. But we can’t sit here.”
“They’re moving in,” Jax said. “Hey, here.” Something hit my shoulder and Ronan caught it. He jammed a baseball cap on my head, yanking the bill low over my face.
The muck in my befuddled brain sluiced apart and feeling mushroomed in my pits of dread. I took several deep breaths to still my heart and locked eyes with Ronan’s perplexed gaze. “I’m okay.” I hoped. Only part of me knew the rain wouldn’t hurt me.
Ronan sprang into action. “Stay close.”
I stole one last dismal look at the slashing rain suffocating the earth, then plunged into it. We lunged across a short span of slippery lawn to a large sign staking the home of A Fantasy on Us, Inc. Adults Toys. Illuminated, animated purple and black penis-shaped vibrators danced on the left side of the sign. Rain buffeted me, and I dipped my head, my chin practically touching my chest. The comical sign returned a raindrop of normalcy to my bizarre new world.
Lightning lit up the churning dark sky, sizzling into the heavens. It struck the emerald grass, a spotlight on center stage, blinding me with its dazzling performance. Thunder rumbled so loud it shook the ground. I stumbled and grabbed hold of Ronan’s jacket to keep from slipping on the wet grass. Four more cracks answered in quick succession. Only that time it wasn’t thunder.
I flicked on my stun gun. Rain dripped down my neck, and I shuddered from the dampness penetrating the collar of my sweater.
Ronan peeked around the end of the sign. “Make a run for the walkway between the two buildings.”
We tore across the lawn to the buildings. Gunshots tracked us, but I knew empathically that murder wasn’t their top priority, yet they had no such reservations about shooting deadeners. Call it my thirteen spidey sense. We dashed between the one-story buildings. An overhang connected the structures, offering a break from the tortuous downpour. Sprinting to the rear, we rounded the far right corner the same time two of Dickie’s Douches reached the front.
My heart drummed against my chest, beating a way out. The building on the right housed four loading docks, locked steel bars across its doors. Ronan pointed to a narrow opening beneath one of the docks. We slipped through the three-foot-square doorway and scampered deeper into a crawlspace spanning the width of the loading platform. A mildew smell reminded me of dirty, wet socks in the laundry hamper. I scrunched my nose and crawled across pea gravel, praying I didn’t cross paths with any creepy crawlies. A hairy spider spaz attack wouldn’t be pretty.
Ronan scuttled around investigating. I hid behind a cement pillar, holding my fist to my mouth to stifle the rumbling sound of my breathing. Denim plastered my legs in a wet, heavy layer. Fortunately, my coat and leather boots were waterproof. I unzipped my jacket and wiped my face on my dry sweater.
The steel ramp above us softened the noise of the rain. Wind whistled and moaned a mournful, lonely sound between the gaps in the sheets of steel, the song of the dead zone, the weeping of emptiness inside me.
“Riley.” A voice with a New England accent floated closer. “Daddy’s looking for you, the girl too. Come out and we won’t hurt you.”
“We lost them. These detectors ain’t picking up shit,” a squeaky male voice intoned.
At least the dead zone had a positive benefit. I clasped my hands to keep from clapping.
A phone rang and one of Riley’s goons answered, his voice too low to hear until he said, “Today’s your lucky day. If you don’t show up at the compound tomorrow, we’ll be hot on your trail, sniffing your asses before you can say fart.” Rainfall muted the group guffaw.
“Lucky bastards,” New England groused loudly.
“Let’s get outta this cloud piss.” Muffled footsteps carried the voice away on a whistle of wind.
Diminishing sounds of rain engulfed us. Ronan slicked his saturated hair off his face. “Damn it. They have your magic footprint as well as mine. The SUV had impenetrable blocks on it and they picked us up before we hit the dead zone.”
My mind whirled around the numbing air. Melisande must have coughed up the goods. The best PSP gadgets couldn’t locate a body by their electromagnetic footprint; that was only possible by DNA and brain wave scanning. “Why would they give up on us so easily?” Something didn’t ring right.
“I don’t know. Dad’s up to no good as usual. Probably trying to make it look like he trusts us, or spying on us.”
We huddled beneath the dock for fifteen minutes before emerging under drizzling, thick clouds. Hiding in shadows, we worked our way toward the street, pausing in the corridor at the front of the building. The SUV had disappeared. Ronan tugged me into his side, surveying the street in both directions. Just as I yanked my phone from my pocket, a honk pierced the silence and the SUV raced up to the curb.
Jax drove us safely out of the dead zone. My power rushed out of hiding, filling me with the most incredible, delicious feeling of sweetness, desire, and heaven. I never wanted to return to a dead zone and miss the magic that had been a part of my life forever.
Shivers seized control of me and my teeth clattered. Miserable in my soaked clothes, I huddled against the door until Ronan pulled me into his arms, folding his own dampness around me. What cuckoo’s nest had we flown into? I derailed the incident in my mind, squinted at his face, my insatiable need for information putting him in a full court press.
I drew invisible shapes on his thigh. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” I began with the most innocent of questions.
A muscle flinched in his chest against my shoulder. “No.”
“Are you dating anyone?”
His hand crushed my swirling finger on his leg. His whole body tensed cadaver stiff. “I have no life. Haven’t you figured that out?” he said in the gruffest voice I’d ever heard. “Do we have to do this right now?”
I flexed my hand to escape his clutches. He held on, but relaxed his grip. “I’m scared,” I admitted. “I need something to kill a few rogue brain cells.”
Tension flowed out of his arms. “I know.” He kissed my temple and his fingers butterfly-danced across my cheek. “My father pressured me into doing things that kept me from a normal life. Things I’m not proud of.” His chest rose and fell heavily. “I never wanted to bring anyone into that life.” The heat of his anger expanded around us.
I inhaled a humid whiff of his cologne, fed the tiny fairies forming a dance line in my tummy. Sensing the heat of his disgust, I changed the subject. “Are you sure I negate you? How bad is your magic failing?” His laugh rumbled in his chest. “Okay. I know hell just froze over.”
“You still don’t believe in the whole negation thing, do you?”
“Why should I when it doesn’t affect me? I feel your aura.” I dusted his thigh with the flat of my hand. “Try it. Pretty please?” I lifted my head off his chest, landing sparkling encouragement on his face.
Annoyance set into the straight line of his mouth. “Feeling my aura has nothing to do with it.”
“Prove it.” I scooted out of his arms, into my seat.
The air between us wavered for a second, and gloom rained on my happy aura parade. My eager anticipation fell into a black hole. “What’d you do?”
“I put your brain to sleep.” The corners of his mouth ruffled. “Did it work?”
Unable to stop myself, I stuck my tongue out at him.
As though his words destroyed another barrier between us, I wound my arms inside his jacket and clutched him to me.
Chapter 18
I rucked up my damp sweater and examined my back in the bathroom mirrors. The welts traveling south toward my butt crack stung and itched like the poison ivy I’d fallen into on a camping trip a few years ago. I swore never to go camping again. Nature and I didn’t get along.
Ronan strode into the bathroom, wearing dry jeans and a T-shirt, toweling off his hair. Such was our newfangled relationship. He sucked in a sharp breath as he checked out my back.
He chucked the towel in the tub and grabbed the tube of cortisone off the counter. “Drop your pants.”
“Yes, doctor.” Careful not to scrape my raw skin, I undid my jeans and peeled the moist denim past my hips.
He crouched behind me and gently traced my new artwork.
“How bad?” I twisted to my side to see in the mirror.
“Stop wiggling.” His fingers dug into my hips to hold me steady. “It’s no worse, half-inch longer, if that.” He slicked the ointment onto the blistering tattoo. His touch and the soothing medicine left my insides dribbling into a pool of happiness.
My palms flat on the marble vanity top, I studied my face in the mirror. I knew my name, but barely recognized the reflection. Pain dulled my usual sparkling teal irises. Seriously, people with paranormal abilities had an extra sparkle to their eyes. It’s not overly noticeable except to the trained. My complexion had colored like death warmed over and then returned for a second helping.
“Why did you freeze in the SUV?” Ronan’s question came out of the blue yonder and incited a mini panic attack in my chest as my heart tried to detach.
Breathe. Breathe. I didn’t care to explain my unnatural rain phobia to Ronan and make him think even less of me. “I don’t want to talk about it.” I inspected a bullet-shaped glop of aqua toothpaste in the sink. So not a sign I cared to see after our day from hell.
Ronan’s fingers ceased moving for the span of an eye blink before resuming their slow massage. “Better?”
“Mmmm.” Eyes closed, I was drowning in his calming touch.
His lips brushed my skin above the brand, soft and sensuous on my back, sending a tingly jolt through my legs. He began kissing a scorching trail northward as he shoved my sweater higher, and I shivered from the impact of his soft caressing lips. A tainted barb pricked my skin, and my hip froze against the vanity. The sensation trickled into dancing butterflies, and an ecstatic moan slipped out. His flaming mouth and tongue continued to create amazing sensations on my skin.
“Ronan?” I pushed out the one breath that refused to budge.
“Hmm?” He spanned his hands over my hips and pivoted me around, his lips working magic on my stomach.
Desire streamed molten liquid through my blood, and I slumped against the vanity. My body might as well belong to someone else for all the restraint I had over it. “What if the bad magic returns? It affects us when your emotions flip out.”
He raised his head, his eyes half-lidded chinks of charcoal. “Or when my doppelgänger’s around.”
I gasped. So much crud going on, I hadn’t noticed. And speaking of doppelgänger, I pushed against him. “Stop, Ronan. I can’t do this—” I wanted to cry, scream, and rage. He froze, a black scowl working across his face. And the bottom fell out of his seduction.
White-hot ice picks poked me. Fire scorched the brand on my back. His aura turned ugly and mine scurried away. It was that bit of Adam’s leftover contamination from earlier that dominated us, as though Adam’s tainted magic gloated in triumph.
“No!” Ronan slammed his fist into the marble wall.
“Go.” I shoved at him. Sharpened nails replaced the wire brush scraping my skin. He shook his head, cupped my cheek. I kissed his palm. “I’ll be okay.” I fell back against the mirror.
Alarm raced across Ronan’s hard expression, and he stalked out of the suite leaving the door jarring in its frame.
Thunder boomed in my head. Anger, dismay, and uncertainty all fought for the crown inside me. Guilt swept another blast of fire over my physical pain. I needed to figure out the weird doppelgänger connection to both Ronan and Adam. Man, I’m totally embracing my crazy in a Defcon wake and bake.
Groaning, I buried my face in my hands, suffering the receding pain. My life was too complicated for man troubles. I had too much to accomplish, too much to discover to allow a love triangle in the middle, or any boyfriend for that matter. If we didn’t fix the Rift, none of it would matter. There wouldn’t be a life for either Ronan or Adam. Nor me, because I couldn’t imagine any existence without either of them.
Pinpricks continued a light assault on my skin. I rubbed my arms, soothing my ravaged flesh. My phone rang in the other room, and I darted to answer it, needing a break from myself. Relief traveled down my back as I clicked on video.
Distress knitted Ronan’s eyebrows into unibrow territory. “I just want to see you,” he said. “Hear you. Are you okay?”
“I’m good.” I’d already told him what had happened during the last time his magic attacked, but I withheld the one oddity that made no sense. Neither Ronan nor Adam knew about the small piece of Adam’s magic embedded in my core, so completely different than the magical energy I absorbed and assimilated into good energy. Although I had absorbed it the same way I absorb aural energy, it mimicked a fiery leaden ball of electricity, pulsing and ricocheting in my bloodstream.
Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.
“We can’t do this.” I sat heavily on the couch, clutched my jacket over my chest.
“Obviously.” His thick voice shook.
I hunched forward. “What I meant was…you and me.”
Ronan flicked off the video. “Adam’s not for you, Aria,” he said with difficulty.
“That’s not what I meant,” I shot out. “Wait! What’s that supposed to mean?” I bolted upright on the couch. “So you think I belong to you?” Indignation rallied my spirits and drove off the last of my pain. I envisioned his scowl and wanted to smack it off his arrogant face.
“Don’t you feel it?” Emotion lay heavy in his voice. “I have, for every damn moment since I walked into your condo. I didn’t ask for this. I hate it.” He paused. “I want you so damn bad. It’s killing me that Adam—”
My throat constricted. I clicked off the phone and studied the paisley pattern on the carpet, trying to wind my thoughts around my too-bizarre-for-words life. For the first time, my love life was as complicated as the maze of endless paisley.
The suite door opened and I smelled Ronan’s cologne. The irritated flare of his sick aura grazed my naked flesh.
I scratched the last few tingles on my arm and said softly, “What I meant was that it’s not the time to hook up until our lives are on solid footing.”
Ronan didn’t move from his rigid stance in front of the door. “Okay.” Some of the anxiety fled his taut body as his shoulders slumped forward.
“I won’t deny the connection I have with both you and Adam.”
“I’m a Thirteen sorcerer, Aria.” Triumph sparked in his eyes.
“And Adam’s your doppelgänger.”
“You’ll have to make a choice.”
Even though my emotions scurried all over the map, I shrugged nonchalantly. Slowly, I walked to him. Rising on my toes, I brushed a soft kiss over his mouth. “I need time, okay? We all need time. You have no idea how that doppelgänger bond affects me.”
The thought of my boring, loveless life roared to the forefront of my mind. My inner fire glimmered, and then winked out. Lack of trust and fear of abandonment weren’t terms in my new Wiki. How far I’d come in a couple of days. But I couldn’t go back to that life ever again. The problem was I didn’t know how to go beyond it.
Chapter 19
Foamy clouds splashed night�
�s ink over twilight. Once again, rain slicked the streets and headlights bounced off puddles. Shivering, I adjusted the heater vents. Ronan maneuvered Seattle’s busy streets toward Washington Park, the site of the Rift, along the shores of Lake Washington. Excitement railroaded my fear to connect with the mysterious source of ancient magic that seemed to grant me my identity. I wanted to find myself so badly. It was my life now and I needed to live inside it, for better or for worse.
The steps for closing the Rift revolved in my mind. At the hotel, while we’d waited for dusk, Ronan warned me what to expect from when he’d tried the ritual using a page from the Illuminaria. Apparently, only one Forbidden Thirteen was needed to close the Rift. Go freaking figure. I finally showed Ronan and Adam a few of the secret pages I possessed. They’d already guessed I carried the pages in the tote bag. My doom and gloom face had given me away.
We still didn’t know what would happen to Adam or other doppelgängers who may be alive. All Ronan remembered reading was that the sorcerer-created doppelgängers possessed no magic of their own and they shared their sorcerer’s magic. To what extent remained a mystery. We had no legit clue where they came from since the twelve “created” doppelgängers had supposedly abolished themselves. Then we found an obscure passage in Mom’s pages that the Forbidden sorcerers created the doppelgängers based on even older magic from a time when many magical beings roamed the earth. The Illuminaria detailed nothing about sorcerers and doppelgängers not being able to live together on Earth’s side of the Rift. Apparently, way before the Abolishment both had lived on our side of the Rift before the doppelgängers replaced the sorcerers in the banishment.
On the other hand, everything we did could bite us in the ass and we’d all wind up dead. Releasing further forbidden magic caused a slew of illegal activity. I wanted the laws changed and I’d accept the gamble if it came down to it. I’d fight to end the government’s long-term experiment in artificial stupidity. The world had no right to banish the Forbidden. What if there were other beings alive in the Void? The Illuminaria indicated that only sorcerers, fairies, and the twelve doppelgängers lived to the end of the Abolishment because they were the strongest to survive decades of culling by humans. What if they were wrong? Enough what ifs crammed my head to lay down tracks to the next century.
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