Magic & Mayhem

by Susan Conley

  Rejuvenated, Jasper faced the circle of lights squarely. She sensed his defiance at once and as if to prove her superiority and intent, she let a sprinkle of lights ripple. From the base of the cloud, a small stream of fire shot across the floor toward the base of the east wall. Striking the baseboard, the wall casing exploded outward, showering the main floorboards with white plaster. Jasper ducked but not before spying the gaping hole left in the center of the wall.

  A blood-curdling scream pierced the roaring din and Jasper swung around. Around him, one by one, the family of portraits began to topple from the wall with a thunderous clang.

  Chapter 26

  SATURDAY — 5:50 AM

  Adrian rolled over with a snarl.

  “Who took the sledgehammer to my head? Was it you?”

  The confirmation reply was swift and Adrian heard the strained curtness.

  “No. You hit your head when you blacked out.”

  Adrian attempted to sit up and the movement made his stomach roll and pitch. He fell back in self-defense. Sweet Jesus, what had happened to him?

  “I’m going to throw up,” he stated loudly. He forced his eyes open and then swiftly threw his arms up to cover them from the blinding glare of light. Holy Vegas, he felt like a hibernating bear, finally awake from months asleep in a darkened cave. He dropped his hands, his eyes finally adjusting to the light, which he realized wasn’t all that bright. It was just that his mind was choosing to creep back to reality at a snail’s pace while his body was screaming to get on with it.

  Raising his head quickly, he was sorry a second later that he had. Throbbing pain ignited along his temple and he reached up and brushed his forehead gently with his fingertips. His fingers collided with a knotted lump. Well, Janice was right. He had smacked his head against the atrium floor while trying to ward off the sprinkle of lights. Had he given himself a mild concussion? He lifted his head again, and this time, the ache was not so acute. Better. No concussion. His vision was clearing.

  His gaze strayed to Janice’s frozen form at the lower edge of the bed and sailed away again. Where in the hell were they? His gaze landed on a familiar set piece. He was in the solarium. In bed with Janice. He rolled to his side and studied the rumpled sheets. They had made love. And not so very long ago. Her fruity perfume still lingered on the pillow and his naked body. He’d recognize her smell anywhere.

  Adrian let his gaze rake Janice’s profile and noticed the tight lines of her posture. She was tense, biting her lower lip. And she was clinging to her slacks as if they were a lifeline. Was she scared of him touching her again? Why? Had he hurt her? The thought made him sit up rapidly and had Janice tossing her slacks across her naked thighs and scooting down the sheets away from him. Why was she so jumpy? She couldn’t be blaming him for what occurred between them, could she? It was no one’s fault. She scooted over again, to the very edge of the bed and Adrian found himself barking sharply.

  “Relax. I’m only looking for my clothes.”

  True to his words, Adrian looked down the length of the bed in search of his trousers. Nothing. Twisting around, he began to search the bed, his hand arcing across the silken sheets. A second later, his fingers collided with bits of white lace stuffed beneath his buttocks. He pulled out the offending fabric and found himself suppressing a chuckle. Well, these weren’t his. He hadn’t come to wearing bra and panties yet, had he? He tossed the undergarments across the bed.

  “Get dressed.”

  She didn’t move or comply with his command and Adrian wondered for a moment if she had gone deaf. Had she been hurt in the mind swap with Lisette? A grim thought sliced through that one. Had he forced himself on her? He had to know.

  Scrambling to the edge of the bed, he started up, teetered precariously and clutched the edge of the bed to keep his knees from buckling. So much for doing that. Firmly, he willed the room to stop spinning. When it did, the stage floor swam into view and he spotted his missing shirt and trousers.

  Quickly, he snatched up the pants and slid them on. Behind him, Janice remained poised like a statue on the bed, ignoring his movements. She was giving him the silent treatment on purpose. And it was starting to piss him off. Did she think to make him pay for what they had done by freezing him out? Well, let her. Though how in the hell she could be blaming him for what was neither of their faults, he couldn’t fathom.

  “Get dressed!” He ripped the words out impatiently, defying her to cross him this time. When she didn’t move a muscle, Adrian twisted across the bed, grabbing her arm. “I said get dressed!”

  Her scream was ear-splitting and Adrian reeled back in astonished confusion. What the hell had he done now? His eyes followed her hands as she cupped her arm gently. Sweet Jesus, her wrist was twice its normal size. No wonder she had been sitting like a zombie. She was in excruciating pain and keeping it from him.

  Adrian’s throat constricted suddenly. My God, had he broken her bones? In a flash, he was around the bed and dropping to his haunches in front of her. She gave him a brief glance, sucking in her lower lip, and then rocked back and forth absently. Adrian studied her pale cheeks and the beads of perspiration coating her forehead. He didn’t know how she was managing to keep her cries concealed. Her arm was a hideous purple color. The skin was already bloating, would soon resemble stretched rubber. Infection would set in next.

  Unable to mask his inner torment, Adrian broke the silence between them.

  “For God’s sake, did I do that?”

  She looked straight at him finally, gritting her teeth.

  “I broke it when I blacked out, I think.”

  “You think?”

  Adrian felt the corners of his mouth twist in disgust. She stopped rocking then and they stared at each other across a sudden ringing silence. Like him, she wasn’t sure and he could see it in her eyes. Adrian’s head swirled with doubts and his heart refused to believe what his mind was telling him. He had forced himself on her. She had fought against him making love to her and when she had, he had broken her wrist to keep her subdued. Sweet Jesus, he hadn’t thought he could be such a bastard. To hurt a woman for not wanting him, refusing his advances? Had his subconscious wanted her that badly?

  A muscle tic flickered along his jawbone as his gaze took in her white face and clamped lips. Should he beg her forgiveness? Explain he didn’t remember hurting her? Would she believe him and accept his apology? Judging from the glassy tint to her eyes, she wouldn’t. He wouldn’t if he was in her place. If he were her, he would be compelled to seek revenge.

  Hell, he’d apologize to her anyway. He owed her that. Reaching out, he laid a hand on her right knee.

  “Janice, I’m … ”

  Her good hand came down on his rapidly.

  “Don’t,” she begged, “don’t say anything. I don’t think I can bear it.”

  Hearing the trace of tears in her voice, Adrian snapped his mouth shut. He looked down at her swollen flesh.

  “If you won’t let me apologize for making love to you, at least let me apologize for having to help you get dressed.”

  She colored up furiously at his words and it took all Adrian’s willpower not to sweep her into his arms and kiss her soundly. If she would just let him kiss her — give her one drugging kiss that would prove to her how crazy he was about her. Prove to her he loved her with a fierce, abiding devotion beyond the physical.

  A piercing scream shattered the air, startling the pair.

  “Did you hear that?” Janice asked, glancing up at him. An explosion of the wall next to the bed was her answer. She came up off the bed and into his arms so rapidly that they both shivered at the contact. Adrian was the first to move.

  “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  He bent down and pulled Janice’s leg through frilly lace. The scream doubled in pitch, redoubled again. Matching his motion, Janice h
auled the frilly lace up around her hips and into place. Just as swiftly, he had her slack legs in place and she was stepping into them. The scream switched to a heavy thrumming and to Adrian’s ears, it seemed to be nearing the solarium doorway down the room from them.

  Adrian gave a last upward tug and Janice’s slacks fell into place. Hastily, he struggled with the zipper, barely getting it in to the top before a second explosion rocked the stage floor and blew a hole in the solarium wall that housed the fireplace. The pair staggered back, stunned by the fire bolt singeing the wall and the acrid smoke billowing through the gaping hole. Around their heads, the air stirred and both anticipated the hideous shrieks seconds before they began.

  Thinking fast, Adrian captured Janice’s good hand and pulled her down the proscenium steps. Hitting the main floor running, they just managed to stay ahead of the showering fire bolts popping along the baseboards at their feet. The hideous shrieks were another thing. They remained unfazed by the pair’s rapid escape and took up the chase aggressively.

  Rounding the doorway into the corridor, Adrian could only hope history wasn’t about to repeat itself. If it did, this time he was sure he and Janice would not get through it alive. A moment later, Adrian was forced to slide to an abrupt halt with a heated curse. Janice careened into his back, almost toppling them both. Righting herself, she peered over his shoulder at the small puffs of smoke filtering through the baseboards, blocking their way.

  “We haven’t a chance,” she stated a second later.

  “We’re not out yet,” Adrian replied. Now, if he only believed it.

  Chapter 27

  SATURDAY — 6:00 AM

  The air shifted overhead and the shrieks became clotted jargon, inhuman screams that hung like strips of cloth above their heads. Adrian scanned the charred streak of black lining the corridor wall, wondering what they did now that they were boxed in perfectly. One forward step and the wall would blow. He felt a light tap on his shoulder.

  “We’ve got to chance it, Adrian. The Grisombs need us.”

  Adrian nodded, tapping into the same sense of foreboding that she did. It was payback time and Lisette’s murderer had summoned all the dominions of evil to her side. Survival was now the name of the game. Janice’s fingers slipped into his palm in a gesture of encouragement and Adrian took heart from it. She didn’t hate him, at least not totally. His gaze found hers.

  “We go on three. Ready? One … two … three!”

  Adrian took off, charging into the billowing smoke with Janice tightly in tow. To his amazement, the walls around them stayed intact, making their race through the scrim of smoke seem almost ludicrous. That is, until they reached the gallery doorway and the walls behind them blew out in a series of popping explosions.

  Looking back at the showering plaster, Adrian realized nothing had been left to chance. They had been allowed to pass unharmed on purpose. And now, the gathering forces meant to box them in further. Force them into the gallery room to accept whatever fate awaited them.

  Straightening his shoulders, Adrian took a deep breath. Beside him, Janice did the same. Together, they dove into the room. Adrian ducked immediately, barely dodging the flying debris soaring in the air above him. Across the way, he could hear the gutted strings of a harp as the catgut was rapaciously torn from its frame. Anger! Sheer, white, hot anger. An anger so consuming it was burning away the very room around them.

  Adrian cast a glance to his left, searching for the cause of the angry tirade. His gaze settled on the swirl of dark lights. Like a tornado straight from the bowels of hell, the mass of darkness hooted and bawled. The shrieks above their head shot in to the cloud core, releasing a fetid stench that reached Adrian’s nostrils and had him drawing back from the festering mass. His eyes scanned the space around the cloud.

  He spotted Lloyd and Jasper at once, both dodging a hurled candelabra. Adrian grasped the situation immediately. Both men had obviously tried to oppose the dark cloud and their insolence was being neatly rewarded. But where was Muriel?

  His mind connected with hers at once. From inside the avenging cloud she called to his mind. Save Janice. It wants Janice. Beside Adrian, a portrait skidded across the floor wreathed in flames. He side-stepped its path with a lumbering hop. Before his eyes, the dark swirl of lights turned opaque, revealing Muriel’s dainty features and plump body.

  Adrian heard a gasp from beside him and barely managed to hold onto Janice as she made to rush past him. She had every intention of helping Muriel and he couldn’t let her. To do so meant instant death for her.

  “Let me go,” she hissed, struggling against his stranglehold. “I can save her. I know who holds her prisoner.”

  “You can’t save her,” Adrian growled, “she’s beyond help.”

  “Not yet. I know who holds her and what she wants.” To Adrian’s amazement, Janice called out to the swirling transparency. “I’m here, Simone. It’s me, Izzy.”

  Beside Adrian, another fiery portrait careened and skidded. Another harp string twanged from its confine. The dark cloud mushroomed outward and moved forward, bringing Muriel’s captive form with it. It swirled toward Janice, and Adrian pitched himself in front of her. A reedy laugh burst from the central core of the cloud. Muriel’s lips began to twitch.

  “And still the man thinks to protect the woman from me. You cannot. She will sacrifice herself for the woman I hold prisoner. Do you not see that?”

  Adrian did see that. He also saw clearly that Janice’s sacrifice would be useless. If Muriel was not already dead, she was nearing it. Her body was nothing more than a puppet for the dark mass to threaten them with. Adrian scoffed openly.

  “What I see is a spirit so cowardly, it preys on old women because it does not have the courage to drain the life from strong ones.” He spoke contemptuously, hoping to gall the spirit’s vanity. The spirit he was facing down had once been a beautiful woman consumed with jealousy. She had desired the baron for her own and Lisette had gotten in the way. Adrian felt a sudden spasm of relief wash over him at the knowledge. If, after all these years, she still clung to that jealousy, he could bring her down. Her vanity was the key.

  A vase hurled itself from the side bar at Adrian’s head. He and Janice both ducked, the porcelain whizzing past their heads and crashing to the floor with a huge splatter. It was clear by the misdirected impact the cloud was confused by his verbal attack. His mind connected again with Muriel’s. Though barely alive, she was mixing his thoughts with the cloud’s, infusing it with the disturbing, erotic image Adrian had seen once before across the rim of a shattered glass. Now, Adrian saw it in full, understood it in full. Legs intertwined, Janice’s body vibrated with liquid fire under his steady thrusts of possession. With each deepening thrust, Lisette’s soul was being set free. Adrian pulled his mind from the image, determined to show no sign of relenting.

  “I wanted the woman and I took her,” Adrian stated. “You are too late.”

  At his words, a keening wail spiraled from the cloud.

  “You lie! The woman hates you. She would never submit to you.”

  “She had no choice. I forced her.” Adrian swung about, seeking Janice’s wrist. He prayed God would forgive him for what he was about to do. Grabbing her swollen arm, he held it up to the shimmering spirit, ignoring Janice’s tortured outcry. “See for yourself. Her wrist broke in the struggle.”

  A mewling wail whimpered and Adrian knew the spirit was confused by the swollen proof.

  “I will hear it from the woman’s own lips.”

  Adrian stepped into Janice at once. He knew she was angry with him. He could sense the fury behind her tears of pain as she opened her mouth to seal his doom with the cloud. He edged closer, lowering his voice.

  “You tell her the truth and you will have killed Muriel as surely as if you took a knife and plunged it through her heart.”

 
His threat stung and Adrian saw Janice’s mouth snap shut. Her gaze scoured his face.

  “You’ve touched minds with her and the cloud. I can sense it.” A frown saturated her brow. “Muriel’s dying, isn’t she?”

  The question was frank and Adrian answered with a ring of finality.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “You arrogant sod,” Janice stated simply.

  The air around their heads crackled and a last fiery portrait sledded by their toes, startling them both. Janice whirled, studying the transparent cloud. Adrian didn’t think he would ever forget a single detail of her face as she cloaked her feelings and challenged the spirit with deceptive calm.

  “I resisted. He broke my wrist and then he took me. You are too late. Lisette’s soul is free.”

  A terrible, keening moan sprang from the cloud and Muriel’s lips. Beneath their feet, the floor shook with the cloud’s fury. Turning dark again, the cloud shielded Muriel from their sight.

  Willfully, it began to spin once more, whirling like a tornado and sending an intense level of noise from its central core. Hateful words were hurled at the group, bouncing off the gallery walls and sounding like the desecration of a temple. Next to him, Janice covered her ears in self-defense.

  Soon, the voice became many, hideous in pitch and suddenly there was only a single laugh and the laugh became a soft ghost thing in the distance. The swirling lights gave one last flash and then vanished abruptly, leaving Muriel to crumple like a tossed away rag doll.

  The men dashed across the space in an attempt to catch her up. Jasper was there first, lowering her into the cradle of his arms. Janice fell to her knees, placing her good hand lightly on her chest.

  “Muriel!” The call was urgent and Adrian felt his heart skip a beat as Muriel’s eyelids flickered open at the call.