“What’s this thorn in my heel?” she cursed.
Had the storm outside gathered steam during her last appointment? The daylight streaming in through the window was dull, but not black. Tori peered through the glass. Still drizzling. She didn’t hear thunder or see lightning. Should she cancel her appointment? She stilled, waiting for the click and hum of electricity to return to the computer, printer, and lights, but the outer office remained silent.
Her inner office didn’t have a window. Without power, she would need to light candles to work. She stepped toward the desk to check for a contact phone number for the mystery client and realized she couldn’t check the computer. Duh. Where was her phone? Her calendar was connected to her email, and she could check it there. She hurried to her office and squinted in the gloom. Light the candles and find the phone, she told herself.
A knock reverberated through the walls. The client was outside, waiting to be let in. Tori rushed to answer it and bring whoever it was in out of the rain. They could wait on the couch while she prepared the room. Or they could use the outer office with the natural light. Willow wasn’t returning anyway.
She swung the outside door open, but no one was there.
“Hello?” she said.
Cars swished down the wet asphalt, but no pedestrians were anywhere near the building. Tori let the door swing closed and turned around to return to her office.
A sixth sense, or possibly a more basic survival instinct made her glance back in reflex. A confusing flutter of dark fabric made her gasp. Then Gerard’s arms wrapped around her. He pinned her to his chest. The smell of his tart aftershave engulfed her. Even though she never saw his face, she knew his scent, voice, and the strength of his arms. Tori’s scream was instantly cut off by a smothering hand. She whipped her head back hoping to catch his face with the back of her skull, but only struck his shoulder.
“Hi, babe. Sorry to surprise you like this. Stop screaming so I can talk to you.”
The calm, focused tone of voice curdled her insides.
Continuing to struggle against him was futile. It took every ounce of self-control to stop fighting, hold still, and stop her panicked screams.
“That’s better,” he said.
Suspended against him, in an awkward crushing bear hug, Gerard carried her toward the elevator.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
It came out as muffled noise, but he understood the gist of it.
“Let’s go to your apartment,” he said.
Gerard removed his hand from her mouth to push the button.
“How do you know where I live?” Tori spit out.
Over her shoulder, she saw him give her a look like the answer was obvious.
“Let go of me right now!” Her control only lasted a second before her fury rose to a head. She kicked at his shins as hard as she could. A satisfying grunt of pain followed.
“I thought you would like it rough, but just you wait until we’re upstairs. I don’t want to upset your neighbors.”
Speaking of her neighbors, Tori knew the chances of any of the tenants passing through from the front of the building would be slim to none. Everyone except her and Willow used the back entrance since it was connected to the parking area.
“Can’t you take a hint and leave me alone?”
They were inside the elevator and rising toward the second floor. Tori’s toes dragged against the floor, and her wrists were bound behind her back. If her hands were free, she could summon an object, or cast a freezing charm on him. No doubt Gerard knew this, and her hands were bound for that exact reason. He fidgeted and then she felt something thin bite into the skin around her wrists.
“If I hear you casting a spell, your mouth will be covered with this.” He held up a roll of duct tape.
He definitely hadn’t used tape on her wrists. When she yanked, it felt like wires cut into her skin. The elevator doors opened, and he shoved her ahead. He tried the doorknob, but it was locked.
“Open it,” he said.
“I can’t you idiot. You bound me.”
The corner of his eyelid twitched. “No matter, babe. I came prepared.”
Gerard let her go to reach inside his pocket. Tori didn’t hesitate to make a break for safety. One lurch down the hall and she landed hard on her knees, then plowed into the wood floor. Gerard tripped her up after one step.
Tori held in the whimper and took inventory of her bruised parts and pieces. Her knees absorbed the impact by going numb, but the crunch of her shoulder into the floor radiated a fiery jolt of pain down her arm and across her upper back.
Tori peeled her flattened cheek off the floor and looked back at what he was doing to her front door. Gerard held a short wand made of a dark stone or semi-translucent crystal in his beefy hand. Magic coursed through the wand as he held it against her door lock. He turned the handle, and the door opened. Gerard pulled her roughly off the floor and shoved her inside.
“This is a nice place, Tori. I’m disappointed you never invited me over.”
“Burn in hell.” She glanced around for any type of weapon, anything she might wield with her feet, mind, or mouth. That wasn’t too likely. It’s not like she could pluck a steak knife from the knife block with her lips and stab him with it…or could she? No, she’d end up choking on it. Damn him! Having her hands tied was infuriating.
“Take a seat, babe. And try to relax.”
The scorching glare she threw his way—with the hope of setting his crotch on fire—switched to incredulity. Try to relax? When she refused to move, he took her by the shoulders, guided her to the sofa, and pushed her onto it.
“You weren’t such a bitch when we first met. This morning was embarrassing. What was your problem?”
“My problem? What part of I don’t like you anymore is hard to understand? Is it your tiny bird brain? I don’t know how I missed so many obvious flaws before, but they’re clear as crystal now. You need help.”
“You’re right, I do. My last girlfriend tried to put me in prison. I don’t remember why exactly. Something about assault and rape. It was a bad time for us.”
Gerard opened and closed kitchen cabinets. He found the glasses and set two on the counter. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out the lemon-lime soda.
“Next time you stop by the store, make sure and grab some ginger ale. I like it. You don’t have any.”
“Thirsty?” she asked as she mentally calculated her chances of escape. He was deadly fast. He proved it downstairs by the entry door and again in the hallway. Running to the stairwell before he was on top of her was more than doubtful. How long before Willow returned?
“I am. Your bar is well stocked, and I need a drink. You don’t mind if I drink, do you?”
“Now you want my opinion?”
“I appreciate your ideas. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. A drink will help me relax. Then we can move on to the real reason I’m here.”
Screw this! Tori thought. Gerard’s psychopathic behavior had every nerve ending in her body screaming with alarm.
“Make mine a double shot of gin, okay hun?” she asked.
A pleased smile spread across his creeper face. He filled two glasses and took them over to the bar. As soon as his attention was on the bottles of alcohol, she bolted off the couch and flung herself at the door. “Aperi ianuam!” she hissed the command, and the door flew open. Gerard was ungodly fast. Yes, dating men with supernatural talents had its appeal and enticements, and it suddenly had glaring drawbacks as well. He slammed the door shut with one hand and pulled her away with the other.
“Ow! My hair!”
Gerard had slammed a substantial amount of her hair in the door. She looked back to check how much ripped out and was caught in the doorjamb. There were too many red strands to count. Tori wanted to rub her burning scalp, but the giant bouncer turned world-class asshole demanded her full attention.
“I thought we had something meaningful. You were the coolest witch I’d met in a
long time. Why did you have to ruin it?” He shoved her back onto the couch where she landed with the grace of a sack of potatoes.
“If I ruined us, why are you still pursuing me?” She wouldn’t cry, she told herself on repeat. But at the moment, there seemed like no escape and tears threatened to extinguish the heat of her fury.
Twisted and lying uncomfortably on her side, she wriggled to sit back up. As she did so, Gerard stripped off his coat and laid it on the back of her over-stuffed chair.
“Look what you’ve done. Now we have to do this without the drinks first.” He sat down next to her and reached out to touch her thigh.
“Go ahead and drink what you want. I’ll just wait downstairs,” Tori said, and tried to stand.
Gerard kept a firm grip on her. “We’re not done until I say we’re done. We never even had the chance to become more intimate. I need a life mate, but we must be compatible in all ways.”
Tori thought vomiting might deter him, but with his level of crazy, who knew. He might vomit on her in return. It was worth a shot and her stomach agreed. His hand rose, and he brushed thick fingers over her breast. She gagged and leaned toward him.
“Are you not well? I can wait.”
“You’re insane.”
“I’ve wanted to bed you since I first saw you,” he said and fell on top of her, his mouth pressed against hers, his body keeping her pinned.
Instead of fighting, she kissed him back. She moaned into his mouth and pressed her breasts against him. He fell for her fake compliance and spread out on top of her. His hand snaked up her shirt, and he fumbled with her bra. Tori drove her knee into his jewels as hard and fast as she could.
Fight or flight? Flight had been a terrible failure. Now she relied on fight. The next few seconds passed in a blur of biting, flailing, and kicking. Before she knew how it happened, she was on her knees, face against the couch, and a knife at her throat. Her pants were being ruthlessly tugged down from her hips.
“I love your spunk, Tori Morgan. You’re the sexiest bitch I’ve ever met.”
“Let her go right now, or your head is going to explode into a million pieces.”
Willow!
“Drop the knife and move away!”
Gerard must have taken the threat seriously because he backed off Tori.
Willow had never sounded so frightening—except for maybe the time when Skyler gave Igor an inverted mohawk with the electric razor and painted his fur pink. Tori scrambled to her feet and moved to Willow’s side. Her best friend held a Glock in one hand and a wand in the other. Goddess bless her! Tori thought. Her heart and level of respect for Willow grew larger than she thought witch-ly possible.
“Tori, my phone’s in my back pocket,” Willow said.
“Forget the cops. Free my wrists and hand me the wand,” she said.
Willow glanced down at Tori’s wrists. Gerard took the opportunity to lunge for the gun, or the wand. Tori couldn’t tell which. Girlie screams mingled with the electric blast of a stunning spell and the gun went off like a grand finale. Glorious it was not. Chaotic mayhem was a better description. Tori didn’t think she was injured, but the rush of adrenaline and the heart pounding in her temples masked all her other senses. Gerard let out a blood-freezing screech before snatching his coat off the chair and darting toward the windows. As he fled, his human form dissipated into a flapping apparition, and Gerard took flight. The window slid open with a horrible bang and he disappeared before either of them could tell up from down.
“Exactly what kind of were-creature is he?” Willow asked.
Tori braced herself against the back of the living room chair as she fought to control her heart rate and heaving breath. Coherent thoughts hadn’t caught up with her just yet, and she found it difficult to organize her mind.
“A were-asshole,” she said.
“Right. Of course. A bunghole with wings. They aren’t as rare as the name would make it sound,” Willow said. She skirted across the room, closed and locked the window, checked the balcony door, and then locked the main door.
Tori watched her best friend turn all the locks and cast a spell to seal them with extra protection. She’d done the same thing the other night. But, her spell kept intruders from coming in, not from going out when they were already inside. Weariness settled over her like a lead blanket. To keep from getting too depressed, she made herself move. Do something. Do anything. If the body kept moving, then energy moved through her. Her shoe rolled over something thin and hard on her rug. She bent down and picked up a strip of plastic. It looked like a freaking zip tie, something you would use to seal a stinky bag of garbage. And it was what Gerard used to keep her wrists bound.
“How did I get free?” Tori realized she didn’t have the answer. During the confusion, she went from tied up to punching Gerard’s throat.
“I did that,” Willow said. She walked over and took the broken zip tie from Tori’s fingers. “Freak,” she said about Gerard’s methods.
“I need to get out of here.” Tori glanced around her loft. The space suddenly felt insecure. The thought was upsetting enough to cause a ripple of panic through her blood. Her gaze landed on Willow. Her hair was askew on the right side. She gripped her wand in a tight fist. The gun was in some kind of holster on her waist. “You need to go, too. He’s been following me, and he forced his way inside the building. We’re not safe here. Oh, Goddess, where’s Skyler?”
“Settle down, Tor. Sky’s fine. She’s watching cartoons in our loft. And she’s with Igor. Igor is the best guard cat around.”
Willow’s reassurance did nothing to settle Tori’s runaway nerves. Gerard was dangerous. She didn’t want them exposed to him. Who knew what he would do next?
Tori shook her head, mild annoyance mixed with doubt. “Igor? And what are you doing with that gun?”
“Yes, Igor. He’d risk his life for Skyler.” Willow lifted the gun out of its holster. “My dad didn’t raise no wussies. This?” She held the black handgun up between them. “Just saved our butts.” Willow clicked on the safety switch and slid the gun back in place.
“We better go check on Skyler and Igor anyway.” Tori moved toward the door.
“And I protected the apartment before I ran over here. I heard you scream.”
“You’re much more on top of self-defense than I am.”
“Of course. I’m a single mom and a woman. We don’t have any other choice.”
Tori never thought of her life like that before. Now she understood the necessity of safety and self-defense with newfound perspective.
Skyler sat in a nest of pillows and blankets on the couch when they walked in. As Willow said, she was watching television and utterly oblivious to the gunshot or the chaos that ensued five minutes earlier. Igor, on the other hand, let out a garbled meow from the edge of the cushion the moment they entered the loft apartment.
“We’re fine. Thanks for keeping an eye on our girl,” Willow said.
The oversized fur ball gave a solemn blink and Tori swore that he nodded his head in acknowledgment. The cat rose, circled and lay down within petting distance to Skyler.
Tori followed Willow into the kitchen and lowered her voice. “I’ll be right back. Stay with Skyler.”
“Wait. Where are you going?”
Tori was already halfway out the door and didn’t answer. She practically flew downstairs to the office, grabbed two things, and was back upstairs in a minute.
“Here.” She thrust the envelope of money from Baxter Montenegro at Willow.
When Willow eyed it cautiously and didn’t take it, Tori set it on the counter. Willow had started boiling water in the kettle, but Tori didn’t want tea.
“There’s a crap-ton of cash in there. Take Skyler somewhere private. Go home to your parents’ house or on vacation. This is a surprise bonus. Or guilt money. Whatever. Take it. I don’t need it or want it. The money’s yours. Get out of here for a few days. I’m going on vacation too.”
“You’re what
?” she asked over the steaming kettle.
“I’m getting the heck out of Dodge. And so are you. Did I actually use that phrase aloud?” She shook her head to help clear it. “We’re not sleeping here until I figure something out.”
“Why don’t you call the police to start with and file a report?”
“I can’t. It’s…it’s complicated. They're already questioning me about Delana’s death.”
“What? You didn’t tell me that. Questioning you? You mean the cops think you’re involved?”
“No. I don’t think so. Maybe. I’m working with Leif to find Weston.”
“What about Gerard? You need to file a report with the police about this attack. He’s dangerous, which is why you’re insisting we leave.” Willow whispered so Skyler wouldn’t overhear.
Tori sucked in a long breath and nodded. She began gnawing her lower lip.
“Tell Leif what happened and ask him what you should do,” Willow said.
“Okay, I will.” She held up her phone, which was the only other item she had grabbed from downstairs. “But first, he has to buy a new phone. His died after going to get coffee.”
The kettle began to emit a low whistle. Willow flipped off the burner. She turned around and leaned against the counter, crossing her arms over her slender chest. “Skyler’s sick today. I don’t think we’ll be going anywhere anytime soon. We’re fine here. I’ve got protection spells on my house that will keep out the Goddess herself.”
“There’s probably a few thousand dollars in that envelope. You can’t have it unless you promise me you’ll leave for the rest of the week.”
Willow didn’t look at the envelope, but she blinked rapidly. If Willow had one weakness, it was money, and Tori knew it. Cash flow was the reason Willow worked two jobs willingly. The toe of Willow’s shoe began tapping against the floor. Tori watched her friend process the ultimatum. Her eyebrow rose in question as she waited silently for Willow to take the cash bait.
A Witch's Fate: Witches of Lane County Page 10