Deep IsThe Night: Haunted Souls

by Denise Agnew

  What are you goin’ to do?

  I’m popping into the house.

  What? Sorley sounded shocked.

  I won’t allow a woman to be hurt if I can do anything about it.

  The painted lady Victorian, a combination of blues and grays, looked dismal and a perfect setting for a haunted house movie. Lights blazed from a second floor window. Without waiting for Sorley to speak again, Ronan gathered his energy and directed his body toward the second floor.

  Ronan materialized in the bedroom where he sensed mortals, but kept his form invisible. He knew the popping noise would be audible to mortals no matter what, but by the sounds of the struggle going on, they wouldn’t notice.

  A tall man stood over a woman lying on the floor, his brutish features marred by three long, thin bloody slashes over his right cheek. The man wore a plain white T-shirt and red plaid pajama bottoms, his barrel chest heaving with angry breaths. Waves of malice rolled off the man as he looked at the crumpled form on the floor. The crude-looking bastard’s powerful arms and body had assured the woman didn’t stand much chance against him. Raking his hands through his short blond hair, the man licked his lips and looked down on his handiwork.

  A fast glance at the woman, her bloodied head lying near a bedside table, told Ronan she was in serious shape, if not dead. Vampire rage built in Ronan and he knew justice would be served far quicker by him than by the police.

  He returned to corporeal form right in front of the man.

  The man’s cold blue eyes about burst from his head. Taking two steps back, the asshole cringed. Ronan drew back his fist and hammered the man across the face. The creep went down and out.

  Sorley popped into the room a second later, his expression verging on fear. “Sure, and what’s goin’ on in here?”

  Ronan’s battle rage rolled off him in waves, and he could feel it filling the room and adding to the already thick atmosphere. He pointed to the man on the floor. “This asshole was beating the woman.”

  Stepping around the man, Ronan crouched down beside the female and checked her vitals. When he found a fairly strong pulse and heartbeat, he sighed in relief. “Call the cops and find some rope.”

  After Sorley put in an anonymous 9-1-1 call and they’d tied up the man and gagged him, they considered taking him to the crypt where Clarissa had fallen through to the tunnels.

  “Sure, and the bastard would think twice about hurtin’ a woman,” Sorley said.

  Ronan nodded. “He’d be dead. The ancient one would find him and kill him. We can’t.”

  Sorley looked disappointed for a moment. “Ah, bugger. You’re right.”

  Ronan put his hand over the woman’s wound, testing for how much damage had been done to her skull. “She’s going to be all right, I think. It’s not a fracture.”

  At that moment the man woke up and stared at his assailants. His eyes widened and he thrashed in his bonds as he lay on the floor. Ronan smiled down at the man with satisfaction as the bastard tried to speak. Sorley waved at the guy and as they disappeared, the man screamed against his gag. Sirens wailed in the distance.

  “Good riddance, you dip weed,” Sorley said.

  * * * * *

  Clarissa’s restlessness drove her out of bed when the sun still slumbered. But day would soon be here. She couldn’t sleep worrying about Ronan and Sorley. She dug some new jeans out of her suitcase, as well as a pair of panties. Smiling, she couldn’t help but admit the animal way he’d ripped her clothes off had made her sex throb and her heart pound.

  She headed into the bathroom and took a shower. As water slipped over her body she half expected the flesh between her thighs to be thoroughly sore. To her surprise she didn’t feel overused. Pleasantly used, yes, but not as sore as she should be considering how long and hard Ronan had made love to her. His lovemaking had been everything she expected and beyond.

  God, but the man could make love.

  She’d barely rinsed the soap off her body when a strange sensation echoed in her stomach. A fluttering. She put her hand to her stomach in surprise. The feeling built until nausea rose over her once in a sickening wave. She shut off the water and stood in the shower a moment until the feeling subsided. Sweat broke out on her forehead for a second, then went away. Stunned and concerned, she toweled off quickly and dressed. As she stood in front of the mirror and looked at her long, wet hair, another wave of crazy feeling slipped over her, but this time it came as a hot flash. She shivered in distress, not liking the sick wave of discomfort one bit. Dark circles also rimmed her eyes.

  “Damn it, you’d better not be coming down with something,” she muttered.

  She considered lying down again. To her surprise, though, the sickness left her and she felt wonderful. Energized, as a matter of fact.

  “How bizarre,” she said.

  A cup of tea might settle her stomach and wake her up. As she went downstairs she became aware of the entire house, the subtle noise here and there that spoke of old times and old timber. Her senses felt heightened. Taking a deep breath, she allowed her body to relax for the first time since Ronan had left her in bed. Images of him hovering over her, ready to thrust his big cock inside her, made Clarissa shiver in remembered excitement. She reached the bottom of the stairs and closed her eyes as another heat wave, this one more to do with arousal, swept her from head to toe.

  “Good grief,” she said and walked slowly to the kitchen.

  Digging around in the kitchen cabinets, she found a mug and made tea in the microwave. She settled down in the kitchen nook and sipped the drink. Relief settled over her as the tea warmed her and no more odd physical symptoms assaulted her. As she contemplated everything that happened between her and Ronan, she started to wonder when and if there would be any evidence that sleeping with him somehow helped their cause against the ancient one. Or had this whole thing been one big cosmic joke? Perhaps this seer and the man named Yusuf had lied.

  Before she could think about it too much, she heard soft footsteps coming her way. Erin entered the kitchen and smiled as she slipped into a chair across from Clarissa.

  “Good morning.” Erin nodded. “Couldn’t sleep?”

  Clarissa took another sip of her tea. “No. I hope I didn’t wake you up?”

  “No, I was awake anyway. I’ve had trouble sleeping on some nights since I came to Pine Forest.”

  “I can’t thank you enough for taking me in.”

  “No problem. It’s like a big family here now.” Erin shrugged.

  Silence passed between them for a few moments, and Clarissa took another slow sip of her beverage. “You’re handling all this strangeness very well. I’m impressed.”

  Erin appeared to go into deep thought a moment. “I guess you could say that with Lachlan beside me, I believe this is going to work out.”

  Clarissa put down her mug and leaned on the table. “So the visions I had don’t frighten you?”

  “Of course. But if we give up hope, what else is there but defeat?”

  Clarissa gathered her still wet hair and pulled it away from her neck, then let the strands fall to her shoulders. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be thinking of this in terms of the glass being half empty. I’m glad you’re all here together.”

  “And you’re glad Ronan is with you.”

  “Oh, yes. He’s… I don’t know. Extraordinary. There’s some sort of power that comes unleashed inside him. It’s so powerful. So…”

  “Arousing? I know. I get the same thing with Lachlan. But Ronan’s powers are more extreme. Even I can sense that.”

  Clarissa considered her statement. “Dangerous looking, dangerous acting. Just plain perilous all the way around.”

  The sparkling amusement in Erin’s eyes turned into a laugh. “That’s for certain. I’ve seen him in action fighting the ancient one. He’s incredible. Like a fierce warrior in battle. I’ve never seen or imagined anything like it. Don’t get me wrong. I love Lachlan. But any woman who didn’t respond to Ronan’s virility w
ould have to be dead.”

  Clarissa wrapped her fingers around the mug to keep her hands warm. She thought back to the life Ronan had described before he became a vampire. “He went from a blacksmith to a warrior in a heartbeat.”

  Erin frowned. “He hasn’t told us everything about what happened to him. I take it he told you?”

  “Yes. All of it.”

  Erin leaned back in her chair looking well-satisfied. “Good. That’s very good. It means he’s opened up to you.”

  “We…uh…talked. More than once.”

  As if sensing the nuance behind Clarissa’s allusion, Erin laughed softly. “I know. We could hear you.”

  Clarissa’s mouth dropped open and she felt the blush reheat her face. “I’m so embarrassed.”

  Erin laughed again, this time sounding a little like a schoolgirl giggling. She clapped her hand over her mouth for a second. “No, don’t be sorry. It—” She cleared her throat. “It gave Lachlan and I some ideas.”

  Understanding hit Clarissa between the eyes and suddenly she saw the kinky, hysterical side of it. She started to titter and Erin joined in.

  “What’s so funny?” Lachlan’s Scots accent broke through their laughing as he stepped into the kitchen.

  “Nothing, nothing,” Erin said.

  This time Erin blushed and Lachlan’s gaze latched on her with an intensity that went straight to the heart. Clarissa could see the love in his eyes for the petite woman and it made Clarissa wonder if Ronan could ever feel that way about her.

  Oh, damn. It’s true. I want Ronan to fall in love with me. I do.

  Before Clarissa could form another thought, a different wave of heat passed over her. She put her head in her hands and closed her eyes. “Oh God.”

  “What’s wrong?” Erin said quickly.

  Clarissa pulled her hands away from her face and managed to speak through a second onslaught of nausea. “I feel like hell. When I was in the shower this morning I felt hot and cold and then nauseated.”

  Lachlan immediately went to Clarissa. He put his hand on her forehead and frowned. “You don’t have a fever.”

  Clarissa willed the sick feeling into abatement. “Maybe it’s just something I ate. I had tea thinking it would do me some good. Now I’m not so sure.” Then a horrifying thought came to Clarissa, one that didn’t bear thinking about. “Wait a minute. You don’t think that this sickness is the result of…”

  She couldn’t say it.

  Lachlan, apparently, had no qualms. “Sex with Ronan?”

  Clarissa couldn’t even nod her agreement.

  Erin’s eyes went wide and they all just stared at each other.

  * * * * *

  Ronan and Sorley rushed through town toward the next possible trouble scene.

  As they crossed Main Street toward the restaurant where Micky had first met Jared, Ronan noted the police cruiser sitting in front of the all-night diner.

  Sorley’s voice slid into Ronan’s mind. Where are you goin’? That’s a cop car.

  What of it?

  I don’t know about you, but I’m not to happy about gettin’ close to the police. Didn’t you say we need to keep away from them because that Fortesque creep is suspicious of us?

  If someone needs help I’m not withholding it because they’re a cop. Besides, what can they do to us?

  No sooner then Ronan had spoken when a shot rang out from inside the building.

  Sorley let out a grunt of surprise. Holy shit.

  Ronan didn’t wait for Sorley’s astonishment to fade. The scene looked surreal, almost like a police drama come to life on television. A trembling waitress stood behind the diner counter. An emaciated man with long stringy blond hair and torn jeans held a gun on Fortesque. Sorley popped into existence behind the skinny man a second later. Fortesque looked stunned as he gaped at the vampires. The waitress fainted with a sigh.

  In that second Ronan felt everything in the room. Dark emotions jumped from the feral man to Ronan, the sensation of the evil inside the man almost staggering. Ronan took a deep breath and closed his eyes for one second. He visualized mirrors surrounding his body so the malice pouring off the skinny creep would come right back at the guy. With a gulp loud enough to hear, feral man swallowed and stepped back against a stool. Testosterone was alive and well, pulsing from the skinny man, Fortesque and himself. Ronan could smell, feel it, taste it. He detected the fear in the cop, and the ready to jump into action that might cost the police officer his life.

  For an instant uncertainty showed on the sweaty, drawn face of the long-haired man. “Fuck me. Who the hell are you?”

  Ronan forced a smile and made sure to keep his voice light. “Your worst nightmare.”

  Long-hair’s gaze darted from the cop to Ronan and back again. Finally his gaze settled on Ronan.

  Good, Ronan. Draw his attention away from the cop.

  Ronan took in Sorley’s encouragement, aware the skinny guy hadn’t seen Sorley quite yet.

  Ronan put up his hands. “Sure and it’s a fine mornin’. No need to get all excited.”

  “Bullshit. This cop here was going to arrest me. That ain’t gonna happen, man.”

  “Then what are you going to do?” Ronan asked.

  “I’m going to shoot him and you. Then I’m going to leave,” the man said as his gun-toting hand started to shake.

  Fortesque, looking beyond his realm, kept his hands up and didn’t move an inch. At least Ronan could give the officer points for sense.

  “Well, you see,” Ronan said, keeping his voice calm, “I can’t let that happen.”

  When the strung-out man pointed the gun at Ronan’s head, Ronan knew the time had come. Take the guy down or get shot.

  Taking him down sounded a lot less painful.

  With vampire speed he moved toward the criminal. Skinny dude didn’t have a chance as Ronan ripped the gun from his hand and delivered a punishing chop to the side of his neck. The man’s eyes rolled up and he slumped to the floor.

  “Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” Sorley said. “If that wasn’t a clean take out.”

  “Damn,” Fortesque said, his voice strangled as he leaned over the man and handcuffed him. He checked the guy’s pulse and looked satisfied.

  A woman and a man came out of the kitchen area. Apprehension and terror marred their faces.

  “Is it over?” the woman cook asked.

  “Yeah.” Fortesque looked at Ronan with disbelief. “I think so, anyway. What are you two doing here?”

  Oh, good, Sorley’s voice spilled into Ronan’s mind. You take the junkie down and Fortesque wants you to take it up the ass.

  “I’d like to be able to tell you that but—” Ronan started.

  “But then he’d have to kill you,” Sorley said.

  Ronan glared at his friend, then looked back at the cop. Fortesque’s frown faded into bewilderment.

  Ronan cleared his throat. “Sorry Fortesque. It’s just that Sorley expects to be arrested every time a cop sees him.”

  This statement seemed to make the police officer relax. For a moment Ronan wondered if Fortesque planned to arrest him anyway. Instead the cop called for backup at the location and relayed details to the dispatcher.

  “We have to go,” Ronan said and started to move away.

  Fortesque put up one hand. “Wait.”

  Ronan turned back around, his apprehension in full force.

  Keeping his hand on his holster, the cop surveyed Ronan and Sorley with skepticism. “Are you staying with Erin Greenway and that boyfriend of hers?”

  Before Sorley could speak, Ronan said, “We have accommodations of our own.”

  When Fortesque scowled, Ronan asked, “What? Do I have something stuck between my teeth?”

  Ronan smiled, aware his canines might be the tiniest bit longer. Though time and practice assured Ronan’s canines wouldn’t grow too long during battle or lovemaking, he knew sometimes he couldn’t stop it.

  Fortesque stared at him, then blinked. “Uh, no.�
� He put his hand out to Ronan. “I don’t know what the hell just happened, but I think you saved my life. Thank you.”

  While he’d never expected the police officer to react this way, he shook hands.

  Sorley sauntered up to them. “I’ll bet that killed you to say that.”

  Fortesque’s lips twitched and he raised one eyebrow. “Almost. Look, with all the weird crap going on around here right now, I’m not going to ask if what I just saw really happened. And if what I saw did happen, that would explain a lot.” Deep inside the cop’s eyes, trepidation lingered, as if he half expected Ronan and Sorley to create mayhem on their own. “I knew there was something not quite right about you two.”

  Sorley grinned and slapped the cop on the back. “Oh, we’re quite right, most of the time.”

  They started to leave again.

  “Wait.” Fortesque surveyed their cloaks. “Are you guys going to a Halloween party?”

  “Of course,” Sorley said. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  Fortesque’s puzzled air made Ronan grin. Instead of going invisible and popping from the room, Ronan walked out. Sorley threw a comment back as he followed. “Have a good day.”

  Sorley smiled at Ronan as they walked along the street in the emerging morning light. “Hey.”

  “What?”

  “That was fun.”

  Ronan chuckled. “Yeah.”

  They hadn’t gone far before Ronan felt an odd, unusual foreboding. Deciding where to go next wouldn’t be a problem. “There’s significant tension on the south side of town.”

  As they continued their patrol, they headed into the more residential area in the south section beyond Main Street.

  Do you think the cops have noticed somethin’ wrong yet? Sorley asked.

  If they haven’t, they’d better do it soon. Not that it’ll do them much good. They can’t fight this.

  Why are we trying to? We’ve failed twice already in the last month.

  I can’t believe you’re asking me this.

  Sorley subsided into quiet.

  A block later Ronan saw a man being held at gunpoint at an ATM machine connected to a bank. “Let’s move.”