by P. C. Cast
“He comes, he comes, and he’ll be happy. Finally happy.”
Determined, Harper tried again. “Gloria. I know he hurt you. He hurt me, too, but we don’t have to be afraid of him any longer. We don’t have to do what he wants. We can stop him. We can—”
Peterson slid to the floor, out from under that dress. Her body writhed, her hands flat on her ears, her eyes squeezed shut. Her skin was devoid of color.
Harrowitz rolled on top of her, and Levi couldn’t tell whether he did it to guard her or because he had no control of his actions. His body was bowed as tight as a rubber band.
“Harper,” Lana said, her tone layered with foreboding.
“Gloria,” Harper pleaded. “Please, listen to me.”
“Harper,” Lana said again.
“Quiet!” Gloria demanded, and though Lana’s mouth moved, no more words escaped. “I’ve been around a lot longer than you and I’ve picked up a few tricks. You will do what I say. You will wait here, and you will give yourself to my baby. You will do whatever he desires.”
Tears pooled in Harper’s eyes. Levi knew what was wrong. She didn’t want to fight one of Topper’s victims, even one as disturbed as Gloria, but they were going to have to. Otherwise, Gloria would destroy everyone in this room.
Gloria glanced toward the door, smiled serenely. “He’s on his way. So close, finally so close.”
Levi tugged at his legs all the harder. When that failed, he bent down to untie his boots. “What do you mean, on his way?”
“He’s like you. He’s like me. The guards couldn’t stop him. I wouldn’t let them. He killed himself, and now he comes.”
No way. Just no way. Topper…a spirit, a bad, bad spirit…on his way here…but even with the laces undone, Levi couldn’t force his feet to move. Frustrated, he tangled a hand through his hair. He had to break free. Had to get control of this situation.
Harper wrapped her arms around her middle. “If…if you’re telling the truth, and he comes to this apartment, I can promise you he’ll never leave it. I won’t let him.”
“You will do what he says!” Gloria screeched. “You will.”
“I won’t.”
“You will. I’ll make you.” Gloria lurched forward, colliding with Harper. Because the two existed on the same plane, they were solid to each other. Gloria could not envelop her as she’d done the humans and the two ended up fighting like alley cats, Gloria clawing, scratching and ripping at Harper’s hair while Harper punched like a man.
Levi glanced over at Peterson and Harrowitz. They were no longer writhing, but they were no longer lucid, either. They would be no help. His attention moved to Lana. She was trying to speak, but couldn’t.
“Come on, princess,” he urged. If Harper could subdue the girl—if the girl had lied about Topper—they might walk away from this.
If not, and Levi couldn’t get free, Harper would have to face Topper all over again. And this time, Levi would have to watch every second of it. Helpless, useless.
Doomed.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Because of Lana, Harper was not a dainty fighter. She was brass knuckles and knee-to-balls all the way, as poor Levi knew so well. She swung a fist and nailed Gloria in the nose. No blood poured, but the girl’s head did twist to the side. She threw another punch and another and another, until the girl—clearly a novice, relying only on emotion—couldn’t recover from the impact.
Gloria’s legs buckled and she hit the ground. Harper leaped on top of her, threw a right, a left, another right, boom, boom, boom. The girl’s brain had to be rattling against her skull. All the while, the building continued to shake, and she wasn’t sure if Gloria was responsible—or her. Rage, so much rage, burned in her chest.
She had to get herself under control.
She wasn’t like Topper, wasn’t controlled by her baser urges. She could stop when she needed to stop. And she would.... Harper threw one last punch and lifted her arms in a gesture of innocence.
See? She’d stopped.
Gloria remained sagged on the floor, her eyes closed, her lips slack.
“Give me your shirt,” Harper said to Levi.
At first, she got no reaction from him. She glanced up.
He gave her a slow, proud grin. “Good job, princess. I mean, uh, hoss. I’ll never call you princess again, I swear.” He tugged his shirt up by the collar, revealing the most mouthwatering chest and stomach ever to be created. Hard-won muscles, row after row of strength.
She rolled Gloria over and used the material to tie her arms behind her back.
“I still can’t move,” he said.
“What did she do to you?”
“Have no idea.”
She straightened and walked to Lana, who had gone motionless, her eyes glazed over. A blackout? Harper waved her hand in front of her friend’s face. Again, no reaction. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Have to…send girl…away,” Peterson said.
Harper’s attention jerked to her. A pale, sweaty and shaky Harrowitz was stretched out beside her, gently stroking her cheek.
“Her evil…have to…get rid.... Move on…only way.”
Move on. Of course. Someone would have to force Gloria to move up…or down. Probably down.
“Well, that won’t be happening, because Daddy’s home.”
That voice! Dread washed through Harper as she spun toward the sound of it. Her eyes widened, and a tremor of fear swept through her. Gloria had told the truth. Topper had killed himself, and his spirit had remained on earth. She knew—because he’d just misted through the front door.
“Don’t you dare go near her,” Levi growled.
“What will you do if I do?” Topper grinned his smug smile as he surveyed the room, but his gaze quickly returned to Harper. “My sister has been so much more useful in death than in life. First she watched you, reporting your every move, and I must say, I was quite happy to hear you were with the cop. I mean, how thrilling will it be to tear the two of you apart? Then, of course, she disabled you.” His gaze landed on Gloria, who had yet to awaken. He shrugged, unconcerned. “I told you we would be together again, little Harper.”
Of course he remembered who and what he was in death, she thought. As wicked as he was, he loved the life he’d lived, had no regrets. There wasn’t anything he’d wanted to forget or apologize for.
“Harper,” Levi said.
Topper ignored him. His gaze remained on Harper as he reached out to play with a lock of Lana’s hair. Lana gave no reaction. “This is going to be fun, don’t you think, my darling?”
Fear bloomed in Harper’s chest, joining what remained of the rage. Must stop him.
She stepped forward, only to stop as a realization formed. Topper could touch Lana. Could touch Lana as Gloria could touch Harper.
Lana was a spirit.
Lana had died, sometime between when she’d left their apartment and when they’d reunited. No wonder something had been off inside their old home. For the first time in weeks, Harper had been able to touch her, too.
Shock and grief joined the other emotions, but she brushed everything aside. They would get in the way, hinder her, and even delight Topper.
“You and me,” she said to him. “Here and now.”
“No!” Levi roared, jerking at legs that refused to obey him. “Why don’t you try me? I’d love a chance to thank you for my current condition.”
Again, Topper ignored him. “You think you can take me?”
&nbs
p; “You don’t have a Taser and I’m not drugged,” Harper said. “I’m not restrained, either. So yeah, I think I can take you. You always thought more highly of yourself than you should have,” she added, mimicking what he’d once told her. “A trait taught to you by your sister-mom?”
That wiped the amusement from his expression. “She was never my mother! My mother was beautiful and wonderful, and I was her very special boy. She loved me more than all the other boys, I don’t care what my sister says.”
Harper didn’t waste another second. While he was distracted and emotional, she launched at him. The action was unexpected, and she was able to knock him back into the door. Air seemed to push from his lungs. Air…breath…as warm and fragrant as before, in that cold, bright room of horror.
Logically she knew he couldn’t possibly be breathing, that her mind was simply playing tricks on her. But the memory trapped her for a moment, allowing Topper to grab her by the hair, swing her around and slam her into the wood. Stars winked before her eyes. He fit his body against hers, no gaps between them.
“Fight!” Levi called. “With everything you have, fight!”
“Fight. I like that idea,” Topper said against her ear.
With everything you have.... She’d never gone looking for this battle, but it had been dropped on her, anyway. She would fight. And this time, she would win.
Harper elbowed him in the stomach. He hunched over. She spun around and kneed him in the chin. He flew backward, landing on his back.
She jumped on him, straddling his waist. “Not so cocky now, are you?” Punch, punch, punch. Each blow filled her with new strength, empowering her. How many times had she longed to do this? Countless. How many nights had she lain on that cold slab of metal and dreamed of doing this? Countless more.
He fought back, punching her and bucking to dislodge her, but she kept at him. Finally he managed to work his legs between them and shove her off. Before she could regain her footing, he crawled away—right in front of Levi.
“Much obliged. You just made my job easy.” Levi bent over and punched, punched, punched, doing to Topper what Harper had done to Gloria.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Harrowitz crawl to Gloria. Saw Harrowitz place a hand just over Gloria’s heart. Saw a bright light spark between them and leap to the floor, growing and tracing a line around Gloria’s body. Gloria’s now-writhing body. Flecks of black sparked from her. Harrowitz said something, but Harper couldn’t make out the words. A moment later, Gloria’s body was sucked through the floorboards, vanishing.
Harrowitz sagged onto the floor, even the light disappearing.
Harper rushed to his side. “Come on. You have to do that to Topper. Please!”
His eyelids were slitted, his eyes rolled back, revealing only the whites.
“Come on!” She tried to slap him across the face, but her hand went right through him.
Still, he blinked as if he’d felt something, sharply drew in a breath and frowned. “Do that again, and I’ll return fire.”
His voice…he’d never spoken before and now she knew why. He’d either been choked and his voice box broken, or he’d been slashed across the throat and hadn’t healed right.
He dragged himself up and crawled to Topper.
She followed.
“Stop,” he told Levi in that damaged voice. “You can move now, Levi, so move away from Topper.”
“Can’t.” Punch, punch, punch. “Feels too good.”
Understand that. “You have to stop, Levi,” she said. She wanted this over. One way or another. “If you don’t, this can’t end.”
Surprisingly, Levi obeyed her. He stopped. Teeth bared, he looked up and caught her gaze. She knew how hard that had been for him, and realized in that moment just how much she loved him. He’d do anything she asked, she realized. He wanted her safe, he wanted her happy. A woman couldn’t ask for more than that.
Lana suddenly appeared at her side and kicked Topper in the teeth. One of them went flying like a piece of candy. “That for hurting my friend.” Another kick, another lost tooth. “That for breaking my heart.”
Levi grabbed the man’s arms before he could retaliate, and Harrowitz was finally able to place his hand over Topper’s heart. He glanced up at Lana to make sure she was done, and when she nodded, he closed his eyes to concentrate.
Harper grabbed her friend’s hand, watching as the same thing happened to Topper that had happened to Gloria. A bright light sparked, forming a ring around the body. Black flicked up. Topper writhed and kicked, screamed and pleaded, and at one point, Harrowitz looked ready to topple over, but in the end, Topper was sucked under the floorboards, disappearing for good.
Harrowitz passed out.
Lana released a cry of relief.
Harper let her go and threw herself into Levi’s waiting arms.
“It’s over,” he said, hugging her tight. “Finally over.”
“I love you.” She couldn’t keep the words inside. If he freaked, he freaked, but he would learn to—
“I love you, too. So much.”
Thank the Lord! “Are we going to disappear, too?” she asked, pulling back only enough to peer up into his eyes. “We did what we stayed here to do. Well, most of it.” They hadn’t protected Lana, but they had protected others from Topper’s evil.
They both stiffened, waiting, expectant, gazing around the room.
“I told you,” Peterson said, making her way to Harrowitz. She was the one to stroke his cheek this time, surprising Harper with her gentleness. Clearly, the two had feelings for each other. “Some people stick around for years, even after they’ve done what they originally set out to do. Or did I not tell you that? Whatever. The stronger the spirit is, the happier the spirit is, and the happier the spirit is, the more likely it is to stick around.”
And Harper was happy. Happier than she’d ever been. “Is Harrowitz gonna be all right?”
“Yeah. He just burned through all of his energy. All he needs is time.”
She was right. A short while later, he was working his way to his feet. He swayed and paled, and had to hold himself up with a hand on the wall, but he was back in control.
“Thank you,” she said. They couldn’t have done this without him.
He nodded.
Peterson helped him lumber out of the apartment, turning to look at Harper and Levi. “See you tomorrow?”
As Harper moaned, Levi slammed the door in the woman’s face…but not quickly enough for Harper to miss the wink Peterson shot them over her shoulder.
And okay, with the immediate danger of losing her life and her love over with, and their audience gone, she had some business to take care of.
“You!” she said to Lana, spinning to face her friend. “You’re dead.”
Lana backed away guiltily. “Not my fault. I was poking around the gallery, trying to find out how Topper had gotten you. Cliff caught me. We fought. I was injured. He knocked me out.”
Her poor Lana! “Where’s your body?”
“I don’t know. A ditch probably. When I came to, I knew immediately that I was dead and that he had done it, but not how.”
“Why was there blood in the house, then?”
“Cliff was covering his tracks, is my guess,” Levi said. “Planting evidence that would lead the cops in the wrong direction, just the way he gave a false lead when Harper disappeared after her showing.”
Lana nodded. “Your man has to be
right. That’s what the bad guys do in the movies.”
“Argh! I hate that you suffered like that.” Harper threw herself into Lana’s arms next. They hugged and cried, and then Levi joined them, hugging them both, as well.
“All this death,” Lana said. “But Cliff will get what’s coming to him.”
“Sooner or later, people always do, don’t they?” Harper said. “Look at Topper.”
“And now, we’re safe. We’re happy,” Levi said.
And they were one weird family, Harper thought, grinning. “So what do we do now?”
Lana clapped with enthusiasm. “Now we find me a date, of course. I need a happily ever after, too.”
“Speaking of dates,” Levi said. “I owe Bright a blind date for his undead stalker.”
“Trolling for spirits, you two? Really?” Harper laughed.
“Maybe. I feel bad for everyone else, not having what we have.” Levi leaned down to kiss her. “You are happy, right?”
“Very much so.”
“Aw, how disgustingly sweet,” Lana said, wiggling her brows. “Here’s a thought. Maybe we could just share Levi.”
“No,” Harper and Levi shouted in unison.
“Okay, okay. Geez.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve already got the perfect guy in mind for you,” Levi added. “He’s in 409....”
* * * * *
If you enjoyed HAUNTED, you won’t want to miss two fabulous new paranormal series from Gena Showalter, available now!
Turn the page for sneak peeks of WICKED NIGHTS (Harlequin HQN) and ALICE IN ZOMBIELAND (Harlequin TEEN)....
ONE
“How does that make you feel, Annabelle?” The male voice lingered over the word feel, adding a disgusting layer of sleaze.
Keeping the other patients in the “trust circle” in her periphery, Annabelle tilted her head to the side and met the gaze of Dr. Fitzherbert, otherwise known as Fitzpervert. In his early forties, the doctor had thinning salt-and-pepper hair, dark brown eyes and perfectly tanned, though slightly lined, skin. He was on the thin side, and at five-ten, only an inch taller than she was.