Six Times a Charm

by Deanna Chase

  Did he feel used? Betrayed? The same way I felt with what Kane had done.

  The guilt weighed heavy on my soul. Suddenly, I had to get out of my apartment.

  Ten minutes later, the tension in my shoulders eased slightly when I sat behind my work bench in the studio. It was exactly what I needed, and I’d be safe from any unwanted company. Ready to be immersed, I turned the volume on my IPod to high and then lit my torch.

  It must have been late afternoon by the time I finished the last bead of the day. The air conditioner had been no match for the June heat. I was soaked in sweat, but I was calmer. Mission accomplished. After cleaning up, I splurged and called a cab. My ankle needed a rest.

  Chapter 12

  Emerging from the bathroom in old, faded jeans and a T-shirt, I crossed the room to shut the window. I pulled the latch closed and jumped at a sudden movement. Kane stood in front of me.

  “Feeling better?” he asked through the glass.

  “Jesus, Kane. What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” A thin thread of appreciation reached me.

  I scowled. What exactly did he appreciate? My fresh-from-the-shower look? My hands curled into fists. It was a damn good thing glass separated us. For him, anyway. “How long have you been here?”

  “A while.”

  I narrowed my eyes.

  “Can you open the window?”

  Feeling the urge to deck him, I ignored the request. How dare he intrude on my private space? “Did you come in while I was in the shower?”

  He shook his head slowly. “You weren’t here. I waited.”

  I laughed humorlessly. “Figures. What? Used your landlord key?” That meant he’d been on my balcony the whole time I’d been home. I felt violated all over again.

  He nodded.

  “Bastard.” I spat.

  “No argument here.”

  Anger boiled in my belly as I glared at him.

  “Jade, come on. It’s starting to rain. Could you let me in so we can discuss this?”

  A couple of fat raindrops splattered on the window. Then the skies opened up into a typical New Orleans afternoon downpour. A twisted sense of satisfaction grew from my aggravation as I watched the water stream down his face. Fully intending to leave him there, I started to close the curtain.

  Then the first booms of thunder rumbled.

  “Oh, all right!” I couldn’t be responsible for him being struck by lightning, could I? “Wait right there.” I pointed to the wall closest to the window. “Do not drip on my computer.” After he toweled off, I shoved a folding chair at him. “You can sit here.”

  He moved toward me.

  “No. You’re only allowed to sit there, or else you can leave.”

  Stepping back, he sat.

  “What exactly are you doing here?”

  “I was thinking you need a security latch on your door. Keep the underbelly out.”

  “Are you the underbelly?” I turned in surprise at his comment.

  He shrugged. “Strip club owner. I make my money off of naked women. Most people would consider me one of the underbelly. So yes, I guess so. Couple that with invading the private dreams of the women around me, and I think the jury would reach a unanimous conclusion.”

  I raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Women?” My voice rose higher than usual as anger coiled tighter. “Are you invading other women’s dreams these days as well?”

  “No, just yours lately.”

  “Lately. Lucky me.” I snorted. “Who else has had this pleasure?”

  “You know Pyper and I are old friends.” It was a statement, not a question, but I nodded. “She’s my closest friend. The thing is, the closer I am with someone the more likely it is I’d unconsciously slip into his or her dreams. I’ve learned over the years how to stop it, or to step out of the dream when it happens. I haven’t found myself in one of Pyper’s dreams in a few years.”

  “A few years?” An unwelcome image of him and Pyper together, intimate, in a dream flashed through my mind. I frowned and pushed it away. He’d just said they were friends. It could have been a dream about flying to the moon for all I knew.

  He nodded.

  “Wait,” I said, as my brain started to function again. “You said you learned how to step out of dreams. Why exactly didn’t you step out of mine? Didn’t you think what you were doing to me was a huge invasion?”

  He looked pained.

  “Not only that, but you seduced me in my dreams, letting me think it was my own subconscious. God! You had me thinking I have feelings for you. I feel like an idiot for jumping into bed with you.”

  “You do have feelings for me,” Kane said softly. I opened my mouth, a string of expletives poised on my lips, but his raw emotion stunned me into silence. Regret, shame and a trickle of loneliness punctured my defensive wall. “You do, and I have feelings for you.” His voice was low and rough. His vulnerability wrapped around my soul, and suddenly the spark fizzled from my anger. I still hated what he did, but I knew without a doubt it had been done with passion and something close to love. Even if it was wrong and twisted.

  Overwhelmed, I stared into his eyes and for once didn’t feel like melting. “I thought I did, but…I need time to process.”

  “I know.” Kane got up, moving toward the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Home. I thought I’d give you space.”

  “Space later. Right now I have more questions about your ability.” He wasn’t getting out the door until I had answers.

  Kane cleared his throat and reclaimed the chair. “Okay.”

  I sat on my couch facing him. “Tell me how it works. You said you just find yourself in other people’s dreams, and you can step out of them. How?”

  He took a moment, seeming to process my question, then leaned forward. “It’s easier if I realize a dreamwalk is going to happen. Then I can clear my mind and consciously will myself to ‘stay at home’ in my own head, if you know what I mean.”

  I didn’t but nodded anyway, encouraging him to continue.

  “It takes a lot more effort to step out of a dream. I have to realize I’m there and leave. It’s sort of like when you’re dreaming and you realize it’s a dream and wake yourself up. Of course, if I want to dreamwalk it’s pretty much the opposite. I envision myself in a person’s dream and will myself to go there.”

  “You do that often?” I said, in a more accusatory tone than I meant to.

  A weak smile lit his lips. “No. I haven’t consciously dreamwalked since college.”

  I bit back a snarky reply and continued with my interrogation. “You said you accidentally walked in both Pyper’s dreams and mine.”

  He nodded.

  “Anyone else?”

  He didn’t say anything at first. I started to get nervous. It wasn’t really any of my business and I didn’t have a right to ask, but I was anyway.

  “An ex-girlfriend,” he finally said.

  “Holly?”

  He jerked back and shook his head. “No. Holly and I have never dated. Where did you get that idea?”

  A bit of tension eased out of my shoulders. I shrugged. “I saw you two talking once and just had the idea in my mind. Sorry, it’s none of my business.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t it, though?”

  My heart squeezed at his question, but I ignored it. “What did Pyper and your ex-girlfriend do when they found out you were invading their dreams?”

  He winced at my tone. “I didn’t do it on purpose, you know.”

  Softening, I moved closer to him on the sofa. “No, I don’t know. Explain it to me.”

  He got up, pacing. Back and forth he strode, gathering his thoughts. Finally he stopped. “Pyper knew what it felt like when I was in her dreams. If I had to guess, I’d say you have an idea of what that means, even if you didn’t know it when it was happening.”

  I thought about that. Yes, I did know. There were times when I
dreamt of Mr. Sexy and suddenly Kane was there, as real in my dreams as he was in life. Heat inched up my neck, reaching my face as the intimate scenes flooded back. Then the emotions. The implications of what he felt for me were a lot to process. I decided to not think about it at all until I had time to examine what it meant. I cleared my throat. “Yes, I felt you.” My voice seemed far away, a little detached.

  He nodded. “I thought you did. Pyper knew in much the same way.”

  I blanched.

  He caught my look and laughed. “It’s not like that. It never has been.” Taking two steps, he reached my side and took my hand. “I know I’ve violated your trust, but please believe me when I say there is no one else.”

  Tears welled in the back of my eyes, and I did my best to blink them back. I didn’t know what to say. Yesterday I would have been thrilled to hear Kane say I was his one and only. Now I didn’t know what I wanted.

  I shifted, pulling my hand out of his. The love I’d felt the night before was now shadowed in pain. My rejection was hurting him just as much as he’d hurt me, Overwhelmed, I steered the conversation back to the dreams. “So what did Pyper do to stop you from invading her dreams?”

  Kane sat back on his heels and ran a hand through his hair. “There are a few precautions one can take to keep others out of their head, but it wasn’t necessary for her to do that. I worked harder on keeping my distance. It usually only happens when something intense is going on or my defenses are down. Once we started working so closely together, the dreamwalking began. I just strengthened my defenses, and it stopped.” He sighed and in a husky voice said, “This time my defenses have been blown away. Everything I’ve done to try to stop the dreamwalking with you has failed. I’m sorry, Jade.” With his shoulders hunched, he looked miserable.

  Fighting the urge to reach out to him, I asked. “How long?” As he lifted his face, I clarified. “How long have you been fighting it?”

  He grimaced then said a little sheepishly, “A few days.”

  The dreams had been going on quite a bit longer than that.

  “I know it doesn’t mean much, but I really am sorry. I know it’s an awful thing to do. I just…” His face turned a rather dark shade of maroon. “It’s just, I enjoyed your dreams…unless he was starring.”

  “Jesus, Kane,” I said. Irritated and embarrassed, I got up and moved to stare at the rain.

  “It was driving me crazy.” He followed me.

  “I told you to sit in that chair or leave.”

  Ignoring my statement, he stepped in front of me, locked his eyes on mine and stared. Golden glints sparkled from rich chocolate irises.

  He reached out and stroked my cheek. I clasped my hand over his, wanting to stop the motion, but Kane took it as an invitation and leaned in. Just as his lips met mine, lightening flashed and a loud crack sounded, jolting us apart. Another bolt struck, illuminating a dark shadow darting up the walls. It circled us then hovered over my computer.

  It grew larger, glowed red and flew at me as if to attack. I screamed in terror as my insides ripped apart, just as they had in my dream the night before. Falling to my knees, I clutched my stomach, gasping for breath.

  The apparition disappeared just as the tray with my glass beads rose in the air. “No!” I shouted as I watched them tumble out and rise toward the ceiling, hovering high above our heads. Kane knelt next to me, his arms covering my shoulders and head protectively.

  “Get off,” I huffed, pushing him away. Jumping up, I took a deep breath and said in my most commanding voice, “You put those beads down right this moment. I won’t stand for your scare tactics. How dare you treat me this way!” My voice echoed off the walls, slightly muffled by the thunderous storm. The beads rotated, inched higher then fell.

  “Gently!” I yelled. Just before they would have crashed, all of them came to a sudden stop, less than an inch from the floor, and tumbled softly.

  I stood in the center of the room, my chest heaving. The next thing I knew, Kane grabbed my hand and tugged me out the door.

  “Where are we going?” I gasped, trying to clear my head.

  “Out of here,” Kane said, his voice muffled.

  He was right in front of me but I couldn’t focus. His lips moved, but I had trouble hearing him. “What did you say?”

  “I said, you need to be somewhere safe. Let’s go.”

  Too tired to protest, I weakly muttered something about clothes.

  Kane positioned me outside the door. Through a distorted hazy consciousness, I watched him open my drawers and throw some garments in a bag. In seconds he returned and picked me up. That’s the last thing I remember.

  ***

  A chatter of voices pulled me from my slumber. Disoriented, I sat up and through blurry eyes, I spotted rich, heavy velvet drapes. Pyper’s apartment. Again. I needed to get out of this habit. The silver crescent moon shone through the window. How long had I been here?

  “No, she isn’t going back up there tonight,” Kane said.

  “Isn’t that up to her?” Ian said.

  “Not when she’s passed out.”

  “I’m up,” I said from the doorway, leaning against the jamb to steady myself.

  “Honey, are you okay?” Pyper rushed toward me, led me over to the couch and gently pushed me down. “I’ll be right back.” She disappeared into the kitchen.

  Ian and Kane both turned toward me.

  “Go where?” I asked

  “Nowhere,” Kane said.

  Ignoring him, I turned to Ian. “Where do you want me to go?”

  Ian frowned. “I know you’re wiped out, but if you have any energy at all, the best thing to do—if we want more clues—is to go back up to the apartment. I need another reading with you.” He glanced in Kane’s direction. Reluctance penetrated my awareness when he added, “and Kane too.”

  “No,” Kane said.

  Pyper appeared with hot tea and a few cookies. “Here, honey, this should help.”

  “Thanks.” I took a bite, sipped my tea and looked over at Kane. “I can speak for myself.”

  “Of course you can,” he said. “But I’m still not going to let you go back up there.” His voice was tender now, losing some of the authoritative edge he’d used with Ian.

  With a faint smile, I asked, “Let?”

  He shrugged as he raised his hands, palms up. He glanced at Pyper, found no help, and then sat on the sofa.

  “Anyone care to fill me in on the details I’ve missed?” I glanced around at each of them.

  Kane spoke up. “You haven’t missed much. You passed out. I brought you here and called Pyper, who then called Ian. Ian’s been here for about an hour. We’ve been discussing a course of action to rid you of your ghost.”

  “An hour?” How long had I been asleep?

  “You’ve been here for about three hours.” Pyper patted my hand. “We didn’t think you’d suffered any physical damage, judging by what Kane said, so we let you sleep. Does it hurt anywhere?” She peered at me, checking for nonexistent bruises, I guessed.

  I smiled at her mothering. “I’m fine. Just feel like my insides have been ripped to shreds, is all.”

  “Really?” Ian’s eyes went wide. “Did it happen upstairs?”

  I nodded.

  “Can you tell me exactly what happened?” He dug around in his canvas bag and pulled out a notepad.

  “Do we have to do this right now?” Kane sounded impatient. He slid toward me on the sofa and brushed the hair out of my eyes. “You don’t have to do this now, you know.”

  I caught Ian watching me. He was also doing a fair job of suppressing the jealousy that had bubbled up when Kane touched me. With a grim smile at Kane, I said, “I know, but somehow I think I need to get this out.”

  He let out a long breath then acknowledged my statement with a nod.

  “Kane told you what we saw?” I asked.

  “Yes, but I’d like to hear it from your perspective.” Ian made small fast circles with his ballpoint p
en, trying to get the ink to flow.

  “Okay.” I launched into my version of the events. Ian scribbled intently as I recounted the haunting. When I got to the part when the shadow disappeared, I paused. “I felt like something in my gut shattered like the red image. Not like a stomachache or anything like that. More like my soul was being torn into individual little pieces. It happened just like that in my dream last night, too.”

  Ian took in a sharp breath.

  Kane clasped his hand over mine. “Damn it, Jade. The ghost is haunting your dreams. You aren’t just dreaming about him.”

  “Right, I told you that this morning.”

  “No, you said you were dreaming about him.”

  “No, you interpreted it that way.”

  “Jade—”

  “Can you two work that out later?” Pyper said.

  Kane sighed and leaned back. “Fine.”

  Ian finished scribbling some notes then looked up, focusing for a second on my hand clasped in Kane’s. “This is very unusual, especially considering the sexual content.”

  “I thought you said ghosts haunting dreams weren’t unheard of,” I said.

  Ian leaned forward. “They aren’t, but I’ve never heard of someone being attacked in one. That, plus the intimate nature, makes me uneasy.”

  Ian’s troubled expression unsettled me more than his words. “So what do we do now?”

  “I have a few ideas, but I’d need to get you back up there—”

  Kane let out an audible grunt, cutting Ian off.

  “—when you think she’s up to it,” Ian finished, eyeing Kane.

  “It’s not up to him to decide.” Feeling smothered, I lowered my voice. “Look, Kane, I know you want to protect me, but this is something I have to deal with. I have a feeling the longer it goes on, the worse it’s going to get. I need to do what I can, even if I have to endure more encounters with the ghost. Plus, he invaded my dream at your house last night. I’m not so sure location matters anymore. If Ian thinks he can help, I need to trust him.”

  Kane searched my eyes for a moment, kissed my hand and said, “Okay.”