Spectra: A Paranormal Romance Novel

by Ebony Olson

  Please don't be dead.

  I shook my head. “Not yet.” Mercury blew out a breath and said something to Calin, who pulled out his phone. I closed my eyes and focused on Bay. If Mercury was with Calin, then Bay was helping look for me.

  Bay

  I stood at my office window watching the city lights two hours after sunset. I received some credible leads from my sources, especially after the body of the Changeur was identified, but so far, nothing panned out. Mercury was with Calin and his group, still trying to track Spectra. In case she was injured, Mercury wanted to be on hand.

  Calin called over an hour ago to say they couldn’t find her. I'd tried tracking her drift, but whoever took her circled through the city several times and used the one intersection every time, so eventually I lost that too.

  “Are you staying here all night?” Luke appeared at the open door to my office, concern evident in his face.

  “I'll stay till we receive word.”

  “What about dinner?”

  “I'm not hungry.”

  Luke nodded as if he expected that answer. “Calin will be back soon. They've driven around a few more times to see if they can pick up her scent.”

  The phone on the desk started ringing. Luke picked it up. “Mr. Ryder's office. May I ask who's calling? I'll just see if he is available.” Luke stopped breathing. I heard him physically stop. I turned to look at him and watched the blood drain from his face as he pressed the mute button and held out the phone to me. “It's the call you've been waiting for.”

  I crossed the room in two steps, took a deep breath, unmuted it, and put the phone to my ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Bay Ryder?”

  “And you are?”

  “That's not important. What does matter is how much Spectra Michaels is worth to you?”

  “Put her on the line.”

  “No.”

  “Then you don't have her.”

  “Check your email. I can wait.”

  I took a restraining breath and moved to the computer, pulling up an unknown email. There was nothing written, just a photo. I opened it. Spectra lay unconscious on a bed, the sheets arranged just the right way so while she was covered, I could see she was naked.

  “You have my attention.”

  “Good. I want the antidote, and I will send her back to you unharmed.”

  I laughed, and I could tell whoever this man was, he hadn't expected that response. “You greatly overestimate Miss Michaels worth to me. Not to mention, I no longer have access to the antidote. You will need to negotiate with L'Ordre for that.”

  The man on the other end of the line cleared his throat. “So she means nothing to you?”

  “I like Miss Michaels, she is a very resourceful young lady. While I would hate to see her harmed unnecessarily, she is not worth the antidote. If you were asking for a simple ransom of a certain amount of cash, I would gladly pay that to keep her skills available to me. Would you like to reassess your request?”

  “No. If the girl can't get me what I want, I will take what I can from her and leave it at that.”

  “I'm sorry to hear that. I understand her husband loves her very much. If you could let me know where to find her body when you are finished, it would be a kindness to let her husband bury her.” I hung up.

  Luke stared at me. “Did you have to let that happen?”

  I blew out a breath. “If I showed I cared at all, they'd kill her for certain. She must have convinced them she can't cure the beasts or we would never have received that call. So we at least have that.” I picked up the phone. “Evan, did you get a location on that call? Okay, pass those details on to Calin. They sent me an email. See if you can backtrack that as well.” I hung up the phone and went back to the window.

  “Did we get a location?”

  “No. But we know the call came from the east side of the city. Calin will take his team and wait in that area until we get something new or they see something that gives them a lead.”

  “How do we know she's even still alive?” Luke stood by my computer, looking at the photo I'd left open on the screen. “She might even be dead in this picture.”

  “Could you kill her?”

  “I know her.”

  I watched over the city in the direction of the east side. “I could never have harmed a hair on her head from the moment I met her.”

  “You're hoping whoever this is feels the same way?”

  “Sorcerers spend their lives looking for their balance, Luke. If a sorcerer has her, he may not understand why, but he will find it hard to hurt her.”

  My mobile started ringing. I pulled it out and answered. “Henry?”

  “I just intercepted a call from the kidnappers to Alexander.”

  “And?”

  “And I denied any interest in exchanging the antidote for some girl they kidnapped off the street.” Henry blew out a breath. “Alexander left for the evening with his assistant already, so he's unaware of what's happened.”

  “She's still alive, Henry.”

  “Then deal with it.” Henry hung up. I sighed and put the phone back in my pocket.

  “Ah, boss?” Luke called out as his phone started ringing.

  “What is it, Luke?” I was losing patience at not finding Spectra. I expected her to somehow reach out to me by now. I don't know how she could, but something told me if anyone could somehow communicate from a prison cell, it would be her. I was starting to think that was an unrealistic expectation.

  “You have a visitor.”

  I turned and found a faint version of Spectra standing opposite Luke at the desk, her finger pointing to the keyboard. Luke was scribbling on a pad as she indicated different letters.

  “Finally! I expected you hours ago.” I moved over to stand beside Luke as he wrote down her letters. She didn't smile. I quickly realized she couldn't hear me and she couldn't talk, so this wasn't her, it was a projection of herself.

  She stopped pointing and stood to look at me. It was only then that I realized the white dress she wore was a sheet wrapped around her and tied off like a toga. I looked at the pad as Luke drew slashes to indicate spaces to form words.

  “Paul Samus,” I growled. I grabbed the notepad and wrote on it hurriedly. I ripped the page away and held it up for Spectra to read. Her eyes moved over the page, and then she tried to cover herself more with the sheet. She was already scared, her eyes showed me that, and I doubt anything I could tell her now would add to that fear.

  She started pointing to letters again. I started writing it down.

  Luke picked up the phone. “Evan, we have a name. Paul Samus, he's a sorcerer.” Luke looked up at Spectra and then to what I was writing down. “Yes, she's managed to send us a message, but she's far from safe.”

  Spectra's hand stopped moving mid-word and started flexing and clenching. I recognized her nervous gesture and looked up. For a moment that seemed paused in time, her eyes met mine with the most intense fear. Her head turned to the side in a way that made me think an unseen hand was moving her head for her. When Spectra's expression turned to pure terror, I understood she wasn't alone. Her neck moved back at an odd angle, an angle I'd moved women's necks into too often not to know what was happening now.

  “Spectra, I'm so sorry,” I murmured.

  Her eyes squeezed shut, a single tear leaking down her face. Her mouth opened in a voiceless scream just as she vanished from sight.

  Luke cringed and looked away, swearing beneath his breath. He took several deep breaths before he pulled the notepad across in front of him, “No, we just lost her. The only other thing we got is that she thinks she's being held underground. The room looks recently renovated.”

  I stood there, watching the empty space where her apparition stood only moments ago. I closed my eyes and dropped my face down, praying for the first time in too many years that we could save her.

  “Let me know if it gives you
anything.” Luke hung up and stared at the empty space in front of the desk. “Will he kill her outright?”

  I shook my head and took a breath. “It's highly likely we just saw the last moments of Spectra's mortal life. Let's go.”

  “Where?” Luke queried, collecting his tablet from the desk.

  “You're going to dinner, you look famished. I have one more person to see.” I walked down the corridor to the elevator.

  Luke caught up by the time the elevator doors opened. “Who?”

  I licked my lips. “Remember when I signed the contracts with the NSIO?” Luke nodded. “Alexander warned me that Spectra was protected by people more powerful than him.” Luke looked at me, eyes narrowed. “Who could be more powerful than L'Ordre, Luke?”

  Luke shook his head. “His father?”

  The doors opened, and we stepped into the elevator. “That's what I thought at the time.”

  Luke's eyes went wide. “You think there is someone else?”

  “Yes, I do.” The lift opened on the ground floor. “Go eat. I'll meet you back here in an hour.”

  Luke nodded and left. He knew I didn't involve him for a reason. I waited for the doors to close, swiped my staff card through the security lock, and pushed a coded sequence in the lift numbers. The lift started its descent below ground to the crypt.

  When the lift arrived, I stepped out into the glass foyer and walked up to the reinforced glass doors. The three security guards sitting behind two different sectioned off areas watched carefully as I approached the security check, placed my palm on the print pad, and put my eye at the right level for the retina scan.

  The first set of glass doors opened, and I repeated the process at the second set of doors. Once through them, a fourth guard smiled up at me from his desk. “Evening, Mr. Ryder. We weren't expecting anyone tonight. Can I have your code phrase please?”

  “My first basic belief is that you first need to realize the usefulness of compassion.” I quoted the Dalai Lama. The voice scanner recognized my voice and matched it to the copy of me saying that phrase on file.

  The guard nodded. “How can we help you this evening, boss?”

  “I'm here to see Miss Miranda Jackson. She was brought in on the weekend. I'll need a hood. Miss Jackson might be vital to a case we are working tonight.”

  The guard stood up, and his handprint let us through the crypt doors, leading us down to the interrogation rooms. We didn't keep prisoners here long. Normally, just until their guilt or innocence was determined, and then they were dealt with. At the interrogation room that held Miranda Jackson, the guard swiped his card and put his palm on the scanner, opening the door for me.

  I stepped inside to find Miranda squatting in the corner, still wearing the cocktail dress she'd been wearing when she was picked up. She severely injured five guards when they captured her. Her strawberry blonde hair was straggly, and the dark sunken hollows under her emerald eyes showed me she wasn't being fed. She gave me a haughty smile. “I should feel honored, I guess. The great Bay Ryder has come to deliver me to the executioner personally.”

  “That all depends on the next few minutes, and I warn you not to delay. We are on a fragile time frame, if it isn't already too late.”

  Miranda's eyes turned dark. “The NSIO took her, didn't they?”

  I tilted my head listening. “Now why would L'Ordre take Spectra?”

  “The Williams are high up in the office, yes, but in the end, they don't make all the calls. There are some decisions made higher up, by people you really shouldn't trust.”

  “You were watching Spectra for years. Did we remove Spectra's protection when we captured you, Miss Jackson?”

  “Did you really think I would take her? After everything that girl has been through? She would be the first one to hand herself in for destruction.”

  “Who sent you to watch her?”

  Miranda leered at me. “Did you really think you were the first predator to want her?” She scrunched her freckled nose. “You were just the first we let have her.”

  “Why?”

  “Do we have time for this, Mr. Ryder?” Miranda tucked her long lean legs beneath her and stood gracefully. “Or would you like me to retrieve the woman you love?”

  I eyed her. “You couldn't know about us.”

  She laughed. “I didn't need to, Mr. Ryder. That you are here personally told me what I needed to know.” Miranda cocked her head and gave me a naughty look. “She must be a good fuck to bring you back from the dead. When was she taken?”

  “Just after lunch.” I pulled the information we had out of my pocket and handed it to her. “A member of Essence has taken her. They thought she could cure the Changeur de Corps, but when they discovered their information was wrong, they sought to use her as collateral. When that failed...”

  “You didn't negotiate for her freedom?” Miranda asked matter-of-factly, flicking through the reports I'd handed her.

  “Paul Samus is only interested in one thing, and I couldn't give him that.”

  Miranda froze. “Paul Samus took her and held her for...” she looked at her bare wrist and then scowled. “How long?”

  “We believe he's held her for nine hours.”

  Miranda flicked to the photo I was sent and swore. “Let's go. We're out of time. He'll take her soon.”

  “He's already started the process. I managed to warn her, and I'm hoping she will be able to delay him.”

  Miranda didn't ask how I warned her. She walked up to the door and held out her arm for me to escort her out. “She can do it, or she'll die trying.”

  I pressed the buzzer next to the door. The tray opened and I removed the cuffs, placing them around Miss Jackson's slender wrists. “You sound sure.”

  “My predecessor taught Spectra how to defend herself from attack.” Miranda met my eyes as I prepared the hood to cover her head. “If she is taken, the person who sent me here will kill anyone thought to have led to Spectra's demise.”

  I nodded and slipped the hood over her pretty face. I took her upper arm and pressed the buzzer twice in succession. The guard opened the door and walked behind us as we moved back to the elevator. At the desk, I signed Miranda out, no one talking through the exchange. When we stepped into the elevator, I pressed the return sequence and took us to the car park. I sat Miranda in the car, walked around to the driver's side, and made for the east side of the city.

  “Do you know where to find Samus?” I asked reaching across to pull the hood from her head.

  “Essence has several safe houses in this city. Your guy said east side, which only leaves one choice.”

  “I have a team ready, they'll go in with you.”

  “No. I'll call you when it's done, and your team can go in and bring her out.”

  I pulled up behind one of our Range Rovers and parked it. I unlocked Miranda's cuffs before I got out. Calin hopped out of the driver's seat, coming back to see what I wanted. “Boss?”

  “Give Miss Jackson whatever she needs. She'll call us once she's secured Spectra.”

  Calin nodded and opened the back of the car for Miranda to take her pick of his arsenal. She looked at another member of Calin's crew. “You look my size. I need your clothes.”

  The guy looked at Calin. Calin nodded, and the guy stripped out of his gear right there on the sidewalk before hopping back in the car so as not to be seen. Miranda changed out of her cocktail dress and pulled on the black ensemble before selecting a minimal number of weapons and piling her hair under a black cap. I noticed a tiny tattoo of a lily on the inside of her wrist as she tucked the last strand of hair away. It pulled at something familiar in my memory, but I couldn't place it.

  Miranda turned back to me. “So, it goes without saying that once this is done, I'll be reassigned.” I nodded, understanding I wouldn't be seeing her again. “Someone will be sent to replace me. If you discover who that is, don't lock them up.”

  “I'll try my best.�
��

  Miranda smiled. “I was doing you a favor recruiting her. I never expected you two to meet, though. Even if you don't hire her, don't let her work for the NSIO.” Miranda turned and walked down the street, disappearing as soon as she crossed the road.

  “We're trusting a Fantôme to get Spectra out?” Calin queried quietly.

  “You got a better idea?”

  “No, just checking. What now?” Calin shut the back of the car.

  “Where's the Angelis?”

  “Inside, why?”

  “I fear we're going to need him.” I sat back on the bonnet of my car.

  Calin turned to one of his team still dressed. “Go get Mercury.” Calin assessed me quietly for a moment. “How do we know she's injured?”

  “She's being fed on and possibly taken as we speak.” I looked at my watch. “We lost contact with her twenty minutes ago.”

  “Please tell me you are not talking about Spectra?” Mercury jogged to where we stood.

  “I wish I wasn't.” I stood straight. “Will the priest sanctify my place so Spectra can move there?”

  “Perhaps, but why would she do that?”

  I unfolded my arms and shoved them in my pockets. “Because when you two get married this week, you'll both come live with me. You will have your own wing of the house, we'll even set up a nursery for you. That way Spectra is close to her work, and she just has to come upstairs to my bed in your absence.”

  Mercury considered me. “Has Spectra agreed to any of this?”

  “I need your answer now. If it's yes, I'll collect your priest and have the place sanctified while you retrieve her. That way, you can bring her straight there and the place will be ready for you both.”

  Mercury looked to Calin. “Is he on the level?”

  Calin shrugged. “He's in love with her but knows she needs you, and you're definitely the better choice over Williams.”

  Mercury lifted a brow. “Yeah, well, I won't argue with that.” Mercury pulled out his phone and dialed. “Mathew, it's Merc. We think we've found her but not sure what state she'll be in. Bay Ryder is coming to get you. We need you to make his house a safe place for us.” Mercury listened. “I share your concern, but it's time we moved on. Okay. And Mathew? Once this is over, you're going to marry Spectra and me.” Mercury smiled at whatever Mathew said. His eyes flicked up to me, mischief in them. “Actually, Bay Ryder will give her away.”