He steepled his fingers beneath his chin as he waited for Hayden to settle in. “You’re out and about late. Are you just returning from the cemetery?”
“I didn’t go out there tonight,” Hayden said. “Something came up. Which is why I’m here. I’m hoping you can give me some advice. I think my friend is being haunted by the ghost of a woman who was committed to a psychiatric hospital over eighty years ago.”
One brow rose ever so slightly. “I’ve always found that mental patients make for some of the most fascinating cases. Please go on.”
Quickly, Hayden told him everything Ree had experienced, starting with the Oak Grove episode and ending with her attack earlier that night. When he was finished, Dr. Shaw sat pensively for a moment.
“Where is your friend now?” he asked.
“At my place. She’ll be physically safe there, but I want to know how I can protect her from the ghost.” It was ironic, Hayden supposed, that he’d dedicated nearly ten years of his life to searching for spirits and now that he’d found one, he hadn’t a clue what to do.
“You could try a cleansing.” Hayden gave him a look and Dr. Shaw nodded. “Yes, my feeling precisely,” he muttered.
“Ree still isn’t convinced, even after everything that’s happened. She wants to believe it’s her imagination.”
“Have you seen any evidence of possession? Personality changes, addictions, depression? Not that these signs would necessarily indicate ghost or demon possession. They could also be symptomatic of mental illness.”
“I’m aware of that,” Hayden said quietly.
“Yes, of course, you would be.”
Dr. Shaw was one of the few people who knew about Jacob’s suicide, and how it had led Hayden to ghost hunting.
“As to a personality change…I haven’t known her long. I might not even notice. But my guess is, the sleepwalking episode was the first manifestation,” he said.
“A trial run, so to speak. Perhaps testing Ree’s limitations as well as her own. From what you’ve told me of Ilsa’s history, I’m afraid the likelihood of cohabitation is strong. Ghosts that invade—not just attach—are usually those spirits that were addicted to earthly pleasures.”
“So how do I protect Ree?” Hayden asked impatiently. “She’s not going to protect herself.”
“Make contact. Assuming the ghost is looking for a vehicle and not a host, you have to find a way to communicate with her so that you can determine her ultimate goal. Then you either appease her or thwart her. And if you can, locate the obstacle that’s keeping her earthbound and remove it.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It can be, but doing nothing would be far riskier. As long as the ghost hovers in your friend’s orbit, her strength will grow as Ree’s diminishes.”
Until she becomes nothing but a shell, Hayden thought. He remembered those last days with Jacob. The sunken eyes, the hollow cheeks, the pallor of a walking corpse. And he knew he would do anything to keep that from happening to Ree.
“It may even be helpful that your friend is a nonbeliever,” Dr. Shaw said. “A negative ghost can feed off fear and make itself stronger. That’s where you come in. If Ree is the ghost’s conduit, then you must be her buffer.”
“How?”
“By drawing the entity’s attention onto you, thereby dividing her strength.”
“How?”
“Ghosts are attracted to human warmth and energy. The stronger the energy, the more irresistible the lure. In other words…” Dr. Shaw’s eyes gleamed as he leaned forward. “Generate enough heat and the ghost will come to you.”
When Hayden got home that night, Ree was so happy to see him, she threw her arms around him without thinking. “Thank God. I was worried something might have happened to you.”
“Was I gone that long?” He hugged her, too, but he looked a little taken aback by her enthusiastic greeting.
“It probably just seemed like forever.” She stepped back from him. “I took a shower. I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to get out of those bloody scrubs. This was all I could find to put on.”
His gaze dropped, taking in the cotton shirt she’d dragged out of his closet. The hem hit her below midthigh, longer than some of her skirts, but for some reason, Ree felt exposed in it.
“I don’t mind.” Now he was staring into her eyes. He had the strangest expression on his face. Bewilderment? Astonishment? She couldn’t quite read him.
“What is it?” she asked in alarm.
“I was just thinking about that night in Oak Grove Cemetery.”
“What about it?” The way he kept looking at her—as if he didn’t quite know how to read her—was a little unnerving.
“Do you believe in fate?” he asked.
“Fate?” She hadn’t expected that question.
“Do you believe that out of the entire population of the world, there are two people who are meant to be together?”
“I don’t know. I guess I never thought much about it before.”
“Think about it now. What were the chances that we would both end up in an abandoned cemetery at exactly the same time?”
“When you put it that way…”
His arms were lightly around her. Ree could have stepped from his embrace at any time, but his eyes—as dark as a midnight sea—held her enthralled. He seemed so…different.
“I think I was meant to find you that night, in that cemetery. I think the past ten years of my life led up to that exact moment.”
“You’re scaring me a little,” Ree said. “You seem…I don’t know.”
He bent and put his lips to her ear. “Don’t be afraid. This is meant to be, too.”
As his warm breath feathered over her, Ree went very still. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. Could barely even think.
Hayden turned her and pulled her against him, one arm wrapping around her breasts as the other hand lifted her hair. She felt his lips against her neck and everything inside her stilled. She recognized the moment. It was time to move forward or take a step back.
Her head fell against his shoulder. “Are we crazy? We barely know each other.”
“Time is a relative concept,” he murmured.
Ree turned, wound her arms around his neck and they kissed for the longest time. When they finally broke apart, she saw that he was looking—not at her—but at something beyond her shoulder. With a shiver she glanced back. They were standing in front of a window and she could see the barest hint of frost creeping over the glass.
She could feel something in the air, too, but Hayden was lifting her so that her legs were around him and they were pressed so intimately together, she could hardly breathe. He carried her into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. Her legs were still locked around him as she fastened her mouth to his. On and on they kissed, Ree’s fingers threading through his hair, his hands sliding up the shirt to grasp her hips. She began to feel anxious and feverish and she thought she might shatter into a million pieces if he didn’t stop kissing and touching her. And if he did stop, she would die.
“No,” she whispered in protest when he lifted her off him.
He went to open the window and a breeze blew in, cool and moist and feather-soft. She lay back on her elbows, letting it skim over her as Hayden began to shed his clothes.
He came to her and she sat up, resting her cheek against his hipbone. It was so marvelously sensual, being so close but not touching him, not yet. His hands curled in her hair and they stayed that way for the longest moment. Then very lightly Ree traced a fingertip along the length of him. He shuddered, said her name. And shuddered again as she encircled him.
They fell back against the bed and she saw the gleam of silver around his neck as he rose over her. She reached for it, but he dropped his head to kiss her, tugging on her bottom lip with his teeth. Then nuzzling her head to the side, he tasted the side of her neck, first with his tongue, then with his teeth. The sharp sensation shocked Ree at first, evoking som
ething foreign yet familiar, something a little unsettling. But already the sting had subsided, and she could feel him between her legs, pushing into her and she turned dreamily toward the window. Above the open sash, the glass had frosted and for one eerie moment, Ree could have sworn she saw a pattern start to form.
But Hayden was moving inside her and with very little effort, Ree found his rhythm. It went on for a very long time. Impossibly long, it seemed to Ree. So many times she found herself on the verge, only to have him pull back, making it last and last as she dug her nails into his flesh.
The room grew cold but their bodies were molten. Mist crept in through the window. Ree felt a prickle of fear, but Hayden gathered her up in his arms and held onto her tightly as his movements became more urgent. The mist seemed almost alive now, coiling and writhing and pulsating with energy. Something told her to stop, push him away, but she couldn’t. The pleasure fed on her fear. She opened herself to him and he pressed more deeply into her, against her. With a gasp, she closed her eyes and clung to him as the mist began to envelop them.
And then it was over. An explosion of white light, and Ree was spiraling back to earth as Hayden collapsed against her with a shudder.
When she opened her eyes, they were swathed in nothing but moonlight.
Ree awakened to sunshine. She bolted upright and glanced around. It took her a moment to remember where she was. Then she saw Hayden. The bathroom door was open and he stood at the sink. He wore jeans but no shirt and his hair was still damp from the shower. She thought for a moment that he was shaving. She swung her legs over the bed and walked over to the door to watch him.
He wasn’t shaving. He stood with his hands propped against the sink, staring into the mirror. Just…staring…
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“Wrong?” He was still studying his reflection. “I feel a little strange.”
“Strange how?”
“Like I just woke up from a dream.”
Was that good or bad? she wondered.
And then she saw the silver medallion dangling from his neck. Not the one she’d grabbed from her attacker last night because that medallion was in the pocket of her scrubs.
She gasped. “Oh, my God. You’re one of them.”
His gaze met hers in the mirror and for a moment, he seemed to snap out of his lethargy. “I can explain.”
Ree took a step back from the door. “What’s to explain? Are you or are you not a member of that despicable group?”
“It’s a legacy thing.” He turned to face her.
There was something so different about him. Something so odd about the way he’d been staring into that mirror…
If Ree didn’t know better, she’d swear he was a different man than the one she’d met in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Her scalp tingled in apprehension. “What does that mean? A legacy thing? You were automatically recruited because of your family’s history?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t have anything to do with us. You and me.”
As he moved toward her, sunlight sparked off the medallion. Ree averted her gaze and took another step back from him. “It doesn’t have anything to do with us? After what I told you about Ilsa? And you didn’t say anything?”
“It was so long ago, Ree.”
“What about your family? What about other initiation rituals?”
His voice turned cold. “You’re making a lot of assumptions that I don’t much care for.”
“And I don’t like that you lied to me! You know you should have told me.” She drew on the bloodstained scrubs she’d discarded the evening before. “I have to get out of here,” she muttered.
“Where are you going?” He followed her into the living room. “Come on, Ree. It’s not safe for you out there.”
She whirled at that. “I’m not sure it’s safe for me in here. How do I know you’re not the one who told Devlin where to find me yesterday? How do I know you’re not the one—” Her gaze dropped to the blood on her shirt and she shuddered.
He looked suddenly furious. “Is that what you think of me then?”
“I don’t know what to think about you, Hayden. And that’s the problem. I barely you know you.”
Ree didn’t want to believe it, but her mind was racing and things were starting to click into place. How he’d wanted to go with her to see Amelia Gray. How Detective Devlin had known she’d be at the library when she’d told no one but Hayden. On and on it went.
As she hurried out to her car, the tears started to flow. That was her only excuse for allowing danger to creep up on her. He must have been waiting for her to leave. Maybe Hayden had called him.
By the time Ree sensed his presence, it was too late. He’d seized her around the neck, pricked her with a needle and pushed her into the backseat of a waiting car.
A blinding headache awakened her. She opened her eyes and lifted her head, but a wave of nausea flattened her. She lay still for a long time before she felt strong enough to try and get up.
Panic mushroomed in her chest as she realized her arms and legs were constrained. She couldn’t move at all except for her head, which she swiveled from side to side, taking in the details of the small, antiseptic room in which she found herself. After a bit, she tried to call for help, but her tongue was too swollen. She could barely muster a groan.
She had no idea how much time had gone by before the door opened and Dr. Farrante entered. He came to the foot of her bed, hands clasped behind his back, observing her as passively as he’d studied Miss Violet’s corpse.
Ree opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
His smile was patronizing. “You can’t speak, but that’s a normal side effect of the medication. I’m afraid we’ll have to keep you sedated for a little while longer. It’s for your own good.”
He came around the side of the bed to check her pulse. When he turned, Ree saw the bandage at his neck.
His smile turned cold. “You’re in the north wing of the hospital. I’m sure you understand what that means.”
The north wing was reserved for those patients perceived to be a danger to themselves or others. For those patients that had to be physically restrained behind locked doors.
An image of Ilsa Tisdale in the dungeon came back to her and Ree wanted to scream. She turned her head from side to side in panic.
“You should have minded your own business, Miss Hutchins. None of this would have been necessary.”
None of…what?
“I can’t let you ruin things. You do understand that, don’t you? My work here is too important.”
You won’t get away with this! Ree silently raged. Her family wasn’t perfect by any means, but they were not the Tisdales. Her parents would tear this place apart until they found her.
And Hayden? Oh God, was he in on this?
She wouldn’t think about him. Not now. Maybe not ever again.
A tear seeped from the corner of her eye and ran back into her hair. She couldn’t even lift her hand to wipe it away.
Dr. Farrante meant to keep her here. Like Ilsa Tisdale, she would not be leaving that hospital alive.
A little while later, a nurse came into the room with another dose of medication. Ree could do nothing but lie there helplessly while the nurse injected her. Afterward she drifted in and out of consciousness. When her head finally began to clear, she thought that hours must have passed. It had to be dark outside because she could see the hallway through the glass panel in the door and the lights had been dimmed.
She had some feeling in her arms and legs, but she knew better than to struggle against the restraints. That would only sap her energy and she needed whatever fortitude she could muster in case an opportunity for escape presented itself.
As she tried to formulate a plan, the door opened and an orderly pushed a wheelchair through. Where were they taking her? What were they going to do to her?
Ree braced herself. This might be her only opportunity. Once the restraints were rem
oved, she’d have her chance.
The orderly left the wheelchair and came to her side. Bending over the railing, he checked her pupils.
“Ree? Can you hear me?”
That voice!
“It’s Hayden. Are you okay? Have they hurt you?”
She shook her head.
“I’m going to get you out of here. Just hang on…”
Ree didn’t even question why he’d come for her. That would come later. Right now, she’d never been so happy to see anyone in her life.
He unfastened the straps and helped her into the wheelchair, covering her legs with a blanket. Then he wheeled her into the hallway.
“Here we go,” he muttered and began the long trek down an endless corridor.
With every step, Ree thought they would surely be stopped. Her nerve endings tingled with sensation, a good sign, but she knew she would never be able to outrun a guard or orderly. She doubted she could even stand.
As they came to the end of the hallway, the door opened and someone motioned them through. It was Trudy. “Hurry,” she said. “We don’t have all night.”
Ree glanced up at her, a question, but Trudy merely patted her shoulder. “Don’t you worry, honey. You’re in good hands.” To Hayden, she said, “This exit is always kept locked. Once we open the door, the alarm will sound. That only gives you a matter of minutes to make it to the car, much less through the front gate. I’ll try to divert them for as long as I can, but my best advice is to haul ass.”
“Thanks for all your help,” Hayden said.
“Honey, when I caught a glimpse of her in that room, I knew something was up. Lucky my cousin’s a cop. Now go.”
And then they were through the door and the wheelchair had to be ditched on the rough terrain. Hayden swept her up and carried her at a dead run as she buried her face in his neck.
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