I never gave a thought to Jenna’s need to recharge, and she’d just showed me some of her abilities, which took energy. What would happen to her as she grew weaker? Another thing I hoped Grandma could answer.
Tressa cracked the door. “You sleeping?”
“I’ll be right there.”
* * *
Derek
Ray stayed in the lobby, his car parked close for when Vinny and Misty departed. Tressa monitored all of the possible exits and would let us know if either left. Keeping a little distance from them, I followed their progress to the elevator. After the doors closed, floor numbers lit one by one from the display strip above. Most hotels no longer allowed this feature, for privacy sake, but we were in luck. It stopped on the penthouse level.
I spoke low for my com, “Tressa, do you have eyes on the penthouse level?”
“Nope. Everything is jammed on that floor, but I did see them inside the elevator until they reached that level. She stepped out of her dress before they got there. I’m not sharing what else she did, but I’m thinking you’re not going to see them again, probably not until morning. From the research I’ve been doing on her, she loves all-nighters.”
“Well, at least we know they have a deeper relationship than kisses at dinner.” I walked back to Ray. “We might as well call it a night. I understand they’ll be locked in for the night.”
We took the stairway, more or less to wake up. Ray ran up ahead of me. “I’m going to check in on Tressa if that’s okay?”
“Sure, I’d like to find out what she’s learned with the research, anyway. I’ll be swinging in there also.”
We reached the second-floor hallway and headed toward the girls’ room.
“We still have some appetizers left if you two are hungry,” Tressa said through our coms. “You do realize I can still hear you, right?” She giggled.
Ray rolled his eyes.
I knew about Ray and Tressa’s relationship. Hard to miss the looks they exchanged. I also wanted to check on Kendra, hoping she’d gone to bed yet wishing she would be awake. She’d worked her way under my skin and into all body parts. Thoughts of her resided in my head, all the time, starting with the moment I first saw her at Jenna’s accident scene. This must be what my sister-in-law, Sherry, meant by finding the perfect love to fulfill your soul. There’s nothing deeper than the feeling of love for another that’s reciprocated in kind, her words rattled through my brain.
Ray knocked on room 218 and Kendra opened the door. “Hi there, come on in.”
My breath caught as she stood in the doorway, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Her hair loose and a bit messy, like she’d been combing her fingers through it. I’d never seen her look so relaxed and so damn sexy. My blood boiled, searing my veins.
Ray walked passed her into the room. I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the hallway, allowing the door to close.
She tilted her head, a question reflected in her eyes, changing to something deeper, hotter.
I drew her into my arms, conforming body to body, and crushed her lips against mine in a desperate need for a response. Her little moan undid me. I wanted to devour her, something new for me. She didn’t push me away. Her lips and tongue dueled for control. A thought entered my head to take her into my room. My body readied to make a night of it. Her body trembled under my touch, willing me to follow through with my need.
I groaned and broke away from her.
She looked startled, her eyes wide like she’d done something wrong.
I wrapped her in my arms and held her close, feeling her heart thunder against my ribs as mine beat to the same drum. “I’m sorry, Kendra.” I kissed her forehead. “It’s become too easy to lose control when I’m with you. I’m not sure how to explain it because I’ve never experienced this before.”
“Well,” she whispered, her voice thick and throaty, “I’ve never experienced what I’m feeling either. I could say whatever it is has developed too fast, but honestly, everything about you resonates with me, like we are meant…” she paused for a moment, and then on a sigh said, “for something deeper.”
Tressa cracked the door open, her eyes narrowed as she studied us. “Are you two going to stand in the hall all night? Thought you were hungry, Derek. Plus, I have a few tidbits to share, more than the appetizers. Think you’ll find them fascinating.”
This was the second time Tressa called me out when I was with Kendra. Her eyes spoke volumes, either this was her protecting me from Kendra or her protecting Kendra from me.
Chapter Nine
Kendra
The city lights glowed with the action of nightlife, even though it was close to 2:00 in the morning. Ray sat in the chair nearest the window. Tressa perched on the arm of it.
Before the guys had returned, Tressa’s dazzling fast and efficient techie skills awed me, like a bright star blazing across the night sky. Among everything she had going on, she’d taken a moment to find a holistic store near where we would be shopping for disguise-wear. That had allowed me enough time to read a few more pages of Grandma’s journal, but I hadn’t discovered anything regarding Jenna’s situation of not being able to recharge. Which meant, I would need Grandma Ellie’s guidance.
Derek settled close to me on the couch. “So, Luke, what did Gimbel have to say about Tory?”
Luke parked himself at the table, eating the leftover appetizers. He swallowed, and then looked at Derek. “Gimbel said that Tory had contacted him right after you and Kendra met with her. She’d already checked out of her room. He was sure her cover hadn’t been compromised, but he couldn’t explain why someone tossed her room. Gimbel made a call to a small team of his investigators and had them check out the room for anything left behind by the perpetrators. He didn’t hide his concern when I told him about Vince being at the restaurant with Misty Lyndowl.” Luke dug around in the inner pocket of his suit jacket. He pulled out a small piece of paper. “Gimbel gave me a direct number to call if we found anything different regarding Tory. In the meantime, Gimbel said he’d have to wait for her to connect with him.” Luke got up from the table and stepped across the room to Derek. “Here. Think you probably want Gimbel’s number.”
Derek looked at it and then folded the paper, slipping it into his shirt pocket. “Tressa, want to share what you found out about the dead truck driver?”
Tressa nodded, and then said, “The driver’s girlfriend admitted he was supposed to drop the sealed container somewhere in North Carolina. It was found outside of D.C. because he’d decided not to make the delivery. He’d told his girlfriend that he heard girls crying every time he stopped for gas and figured out the little girls were inside the container. By then he was close to his drop point. His girlfriend told him to leave the truck parked where it would be discovered. He was scared, feared for his life, and drove without sleep to gain some distance away from his original delivery location.” Tressa stretched her back, sitting taller. “The driver’s girlfriend didn’t know the exact North Carolina warehouse destination, but she had remembered that he mentioned it wasn’t far from the Atlantic.”
Ray wanted to hear what Tressa saw in the elevator with Misty and Vinny. Luke appeared interested also and walked over, stopping next to their chair.
Derek clasped my hand and nodded toward the bedroom. A rush of heat waffled down my middle.
I leaned into him and whispered, “Your whole team is here.”
“I want to talk with you in private. Would you rather go to my room?” His smile warmed my whole body.
I glanced toward the others. Tressa was sharing something, the guys listened intently, but she was studying Derek and me. Then she winked at me. I took it as a sign of her approval for Derek and me together, even though I hadn’t talked with her about it yet.
“Oh,” I jumped off the couch. “I have something to show you.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him to stand. “Follow me.” Anticipation roared along my veins. My ears blazed, pricking to hear if the others commented on me walk
ing Derek to the bedroom door. My bad acting stunk and made me feel like I might burn in hell for the little white lie, even though I did have things to tell Derek about Jenna. We made our escape into the bedroom.
Derek closed the door with a quiet click. He grinned. “What is it you want to show me?” his voice went all throaty. My body tingled. His hands folded around my face, his blue eyes smoldered. “I have some ideas on what I’d like to see.” He leaned in as if he would kiss me, but then redirected. His lips gently left a warm moist mark on my forehead. “I know you called me in here for something legit, even though I’d rather play at passion.” He chuckled for a moment, and then stopped when he noticed I wasn’t laughing. “What’s happened with Jenna? You mentioned earlier there was something you needed to share with me.”
“I’m not sure if I ever mentioned her safe place to you. A place she goes to recharge her energy, sort of like the sustenance of food for us mere mortals. In her place, other than charging her energy, there are doors that lead to family and friends. She can visit them in their dreams.”
His brows furrowed into a frown. “You did mention Jenna’s safe place to me, and that she got locked in it. You called her out of it with the help of your rose quartz. But, you didn’t tell me about her getting recharged there or that she visits people in their dreams.”
“Her safe place actually exists on an ethereal plane, which interweaves with the earth plane. I went there when I was unconscious in that warehouse last week.”
His eyes grew wide. “I think Jenna took me there also when I was unconscious from the beat-down by Merretti’s thug. She kept slapping me, right?”
“Yes, she attempted to wake you. I thought my head would snap off with her slap-happy hands.” We both chuckled. I looked around expecting to see her.
“Is she here?” Derek scanned the room.
“No. That’s what I’m talking about. It takes energy for her to make an appearance.” I took a deep breath and walked to the window. Lights glowed, but the traffic had dropped off. “That place is no longer safe for her and I don’t know how to help her. I’m not sure what happens when her energy level reaches zero.”
Derek checked his watch. “What can I do?”
I glanced at the clock on the nightstand, 2:30 in the morning. “This is another thing that will sound strange. I’m going to connect with my grandmother during sleep, with any luck. Sort of like what I explained about Jenna and her room of doors. These allow her to visit people she loves in their dreams or when they are unconscious. I’m hoping my grandmother will visit me tonight.”
His lips tightened together and his eyes closed for a moment. When he looked at me, he said, “I appreciate your sharing, but I have to tell you…” He shook his head. “That shell of encoded info refuses to crack open for me. It isn’t that I don’t believe you, it’s just…what you’re saying is somewhere beyond my comprehension.”
“I’m not sure why I’m driven to share everything with you, Derek.” I went to him, his gaze heady. “Guess I don’t want secrets between us. If we are to have any sort of a relationship, you should know everything about my ability.”
“Like I said, I believe in your ability, but I’m still working on comprehending it.” He drew me to him and we simply stood together, arms around each other. He kissed my forehead again, and I relaxed even more into his body. “You’re already inside my heart. I don’t think there’s anything that can pull you out of there.”
I tilted my face upward, he leaned down and sealed that statement with a heart-throbbing, bone-tingling kiss.
A knock on the door and Tressa said, “I’m tired. I want my bed. The other guys left about ten minutes ago. Can I come in?”
Derek opened the door for her. She came in and we went out.
He smiled, turning my insides to warm honey, and gently grazed my cheek with his fingers. “You need sleep. You need to dream, I do understand that much.” He grabbed my hand and we walked to the suite entrance door. “We’re going to have a big day tomorrow and an even bigger night,” he said. “I want Jenna with us. You definitely need that chat with your grandmother.”
“Thank you for your understanding, Derek. You have no idea how much that means to me.”
His expression turned serious. “I know exactly how much it means to you.” He leaned toward me and then straightened. “I want to kiss you, Kendra, but I’m afraid this time I won’t be able to stop myself from totally devouring you.” He took a deep breath and then sighed. “Definitely, something about you brings out the animal in me, and I didn’t even know I had one of those.” With that, he walked out the door.
* * *
Derek
My mind and body screamed to go back to Kendra, especially the rock-hard body parts. I had acted like a high school boy. With all of the importance of our case and the fear of Jenna fading away, my personal needs should take a backseat. But thoughts of Kendra consumed me. As an FBI Special Task Force agent, I trusted instinct and my decision-making skill, but my state of mind crept into a critical status level from my distraction with her. How can I change that?
I had instantaneously developed a full-blown relationship. Not my intention.
My craving for her overwhelmed me. My God, I am a schoolboy.
* * *
Kendra
After Derek left, I turned off the lights of the living room area and sat on the couch. The city lights shining through the window cast a subtle glow for a quick meditation. I closed my eyes, took three deep breaths and exhales, and then voiced a call to my grandmother. I requested her presence and wisdom in the dream plane. I repeated it three times to make sure she got my message.
I navigated into the bedroom easily from the soft lighting through the windows. Tressa was already asleep, her breathing a relaxed rhythm. I went to the bathroom, changed into my pajamas, and got into bed. The moment I closed my eyes, Grandma Ellie entered my dream…
“I brought someone with me.” Grandma moved to the side and Jenna appeared. Both of them hugged me. I loved visits to the dream plane, for this reason, we could make physical contact. “I plan on visiting Jenna every night she needs a recharge. Since I’ve crossed over, I have the capability to share my energy.”
“Grandma, thank you for coming.” I turned to Jenna. “Are you in any pain?”
“No, but when my energy wanes, so do my abilities to appear or speak out loud. It has become a very lonely state-of-being, not being seen or heard.”
Jenna told Grandma what happened in her safe place, how all of the doors locked and she couldn’t leave. Both of us explained Buster and Bertellia’s visit, how he left to consume the souls of the girls from the sealed container. We mentioned our idea of blending some holistic ingredients together to burn, absorbing the smoke through our bodies, while we chanted a few words. Those done together should hide our marks from detection.
Grandma agreed that both in unison should work perfectly as if closing an open blind. “He shouldn’t be able to see your marks, which means he also won’t be able to find you. But, if he’s near enough to you, he will detect your presence from the burn you feel in your hearts. That sensation you feel, he senses and like a magnet, it calls him to you.”
“What about Jenna’s safe place? How can we get it back for her?” I asked.
Grandma appeared thoughtful, and then said, “Something dark is at work with both of you. With the dark tattoo on your souls, there may be more happening. You’re on the right track with destroying Buster. It all started with him and should end with his destruction.”
“Bertellia also made a comment to Jenna about using her for a handmaiden, but her tone made it sound more like an erotic concubine. She told me there is something she’ll need from me when the time is right.” I couldn’t imagine how I would be able to help her with anything. “Once we get rid of Buster, there’s no way she’ll be able to connect with me, right?”
“She’ll do her best to gain leverage on you, Kendra. I’m not really sure how that wo
rks as far as her connection to you. Be careful,” Grandma said. “Jenna, dear, don’t underestimate her. Once you get your safe place back, you can evade her best there. For now, I’ll be watching over you and defending you as much as I can.”
“Jenna told me that Lisa knows of a voodoo priestess we can use for Buster,” I said.
“Make sure this priestess works with the light side of the arts, and that she has knowledge of the dark side. She’ll need to call upon the dark as Buster is a product of it, but she’ll also need protection and strength from the light arts of voodoo. Kendra, you can help with the protection as you’ve worked with angel energy most of your life.”
I hugged my grandmother again and then gave a hug to Jenna. “Grandmother, help me to remember my dream.”
“Of course, dear. Jenna will help with that also. She’ll be reporting to me every night that I share my energy with her.”
Grandmother and Jenna vanished together, leaving me near a babbling brook. I sat on a flat rock, and the sun warmed my skin. Derek waved from across the narrow width of water. He waded toward me, pulling off his shirt…
Chapter Ten
Kendra
Tressa woke me with a shake. “The guys are on their way over with breakfast and coffee. They want a quick meeting before we head off shopping.”
I blinked my eyes open and studied the clock. “It’s only five-thirty.” My usual time for waking up, but not when I went to bed at three-thirty. “I definitely need some coffee, a direct line of it force-fed into my brain, please.”
Tressa laughed. “Hey, get dressed. I can hear the guys in the hall already.” Her make-up looked fresh, so did her short angle-cut hair…all bouncy and shiny.
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