“You shouldn’t stay here,” Bryan said. “Why don’t you stay with us for a few days?”
“I’ll try and pack a bag, if there’s anything left.” Annette looked around at her shredded clothes. “When I get finished at Braelynn’s, I’ll come by.”
“We can finish another day,” Braelynn offered.
“No, it’s fine. It’ll give me something else to think about besides this mess.”
“Suit yourself, I’m not turning down help.” Braelynn shrugged.
“Ronan, by any chance did two dragon shifters come through you recently? Maybe in the last few weeks?” Bryan asked.
“As a matter of fact, I did have two Dragos brothers come from Nova Aurora last month. Why do you ask?” Ronan answered.
“Because we need to find Mara. She’s likely responsible for this. Mara said she’s staying with them for a while.”
“How can you be sure it’s the same ones?” Ronan asked.
“Do you get a lot of dragon shifter clients?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Their names are Thierno and Amadou,” Bryan told Ronan.
“Yeah, it was them,” Ronan said as they walked back out into the living room. “But I can’t give you their address.”
“Seriously?” Tony said as Ronan picked up one of Annette’s old bills.
“Like I said, I can’t tell you the address,” Ronan pulled a pen from his inside jacket pocket. “But if you just happen to come across their address laying around, then that’s on you and not me.” Ronan scribbled something on the back of the envelope and tossed it on the floor at Bryan’s feet.
“Thanks, man.” Bryan grabbed the envelope and flipped it over. He folded it and shoved it in his pocket.
“I didn’t do anything,” Ronan said and turned to Braelynn. “I have to go back to work, beautiful. I’ll see you at home later.” He kissed Braelynn. “Please be careful.”
“It’s okay, we won’t be here long,” Braelynn told him and gave him a hug. Ronan left through the open door.
“The police should be here any minute,” Annette commented.
“Good, we’re going to find Mara. Keep the door locked until the police show up.” Tony said stepping closer to her.
“I will,” she kissed him softly. “You two be careful.”
“Don’t worry about us, love.” Bryan stepped in front of her and claimed her lips. “We’ll see you later.”
She nodded as they walked out of her apartment. Annette closed the door behind them, and locked it. She looked around at the mess and sighed. It would take hours to clean the place up.
“We can’t touch anything until after the police come,” Annette stopped Braelynn from picking up a broken picture frame.
“Did you see anything missing?” Braelynn asked.
“It’s hard to tell. She broke everything.” Annette was near tears but managed to hold them back. “How did we not hear any of this? The walls are thin. I have to suffer through Ms. Miller having sex once a week, but she didn’t hear anyone smashing my tv?”
“She should have. The old bitty is always home,” Braelynn agreed.
“You want to come over for a house cleaning party?” She smiled.
“I’ll bring the trash bags, if you can talk Bryan into making a pitcher of that fabulous fruity cocktail.” Braelynn bargained. “He’ll know the one.”
“Deal,” Annette agreed. She could go for one of those cocktails right now.
There was a knock at the door and the police announced their arrival. Braelynn went back to her apartment after Annette promised to come over the second the police left. The officer took her statement while an investigation team snapped pictures and dusted for prints. They were all up in her things, putting black dust on anything that would hold a print. She walked through with the officer to see if anything was missing. Nothing appeared to be gone, just broken. Her jewelry had been thrown to the floor, necklaces broken, and rings bent.
“I think anything of value is broken,” she told him.
“If you do find something missing, let me know. Make a list of damages and we’ll get that logged in with the report. Do you have a place to stay tonight?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’m not staying here.” She wouldn’t be tackling this mess until tomorrow.
“Good. Herald will need your fingerprints to compare to the prints collected.” He told her.
He left after confirming her contact information, leaving the investigation team to finish with the pictures. An hour later she was alone in her apartment, finally able to touch her stuff. There’s not much she would be able to salvage. Hopefully some of her clothes made it unscathed. She went down the hall to her bedroom. The door was closed, and she hadn’t shut it. Maybe one of the men on the team closed it behind themselves. She shrugged it off and opened her door. She groaned looking at the disaster in her room. Her bookbag was lying near the dresser, one strap ripped clean off. Is there nothing Mara left untouched? Her dresser drawers were empty. All her clothes were scattered on the floor, most ripped to shreds. She sat down, trying to find something that would cover her body tomorrow. She’d have to buy everything all over again. She did manage to find an old t-shirt and a pair of shorts that survived the attack. Out of the corner of her eyes she spotted her driver’s license laying under the door.
“How the hell did you get there?” She crawled over to the door, closing it to pick up her license.
Could it have fallen out of her wallet when her purse fell in the restroom? Who ever trashed her apartment must have been at the club last night. Mara didn’t go in the restroom after her because she was escorted out, and she didn’t see Mara in the restroom with her. Could it have been someone else who just happened to find her license? Annette still firmly believed it was Mara. Any one else would have stolen things, not trashed everything. Annette reached for the door knob to help her up. Her hand landed in something wet. She jerked her hand away.
“What the hell?” She looked at her hand. It was coated in blood.
She grabbed a torn-up shirt and frantically wiped the blood from her hand. She stood up, looking at the door. Strange symbols were drawn in blood forming a circle on the back of her door. Annette had a terrible feeling about this. How could the police have missed this? The blood was still wet, it couldn’t have been put here too long ago. Not wanting to stay in her apartment a minute longer, she grabbed her book bag. Using the cut-up shirt, she opened her bedroom door. As she was leaving something wrapped around her neck jerking her back. Her first instinct was to fight back. She kicked her foot behind her, connecting with a shin. Jerking away from her attacker, Annette spun around ready to punch. No one was there. Frantically, she spun around looking for a target but she didn’t see anyone. Suddenly a necklace was placed around her neck with a large jewel pendant dangling down.
“Now my pet, stop fighting.” Annette heard Mara’s voice.
Instantly, her hands went to her sides. She tried to punch out but her hands weren’t moving. She tried to kick but her feet stayed firmly planted where she stood.
“What did you do to me?” Annette demanded to know.
“I can do anything with a little of your DNA,” Mara grinned. “Your brush provided all that I needed.”
“He-lp,” Annette screamed.
“Don’t scream,” Mara ordered.
Annette’s throat closed like someone had their hands around her neck.
“See? That’s better,” Mara said, smoothing Annette’s hair down beside her face. “Nice and quiet. It’s not like anyone can hear you. There are charms spread out keeping all sound from escaping.”
“What do you want?” Annette’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Same thing I wanted yesterday.” Mara said. “I want Bryan to come home and I’m going to use you to get him there.”
“He won’t go back to Nova Aurora,” she told Mara.
“He will if you’re there. Of course, I could just kill you and make it look like you’re n Nova Au
rora, but where’s the fun in that?”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You will the second I tell you to,” Mara stared at her. “What? Don’t believe me? Jump on one foot.”
Annette’s body followed Mara’s demand. She hopped on one foot and continued to hop even though her calf muscle ached. Maybe Ms. Miller will hear her and complain about the noise. Sadly, with Mara’s charms chances of someone hearing her were slim.
“You can stop, now that I proved my point,” Mara said. “We need to get moving.”
“I won’t help you.”
“I don’t need your help.” Mara laughed. “Move over there by the bed. I need to prepare for our trip.”
Annette’s legs moved on their own accord, taking three steps over to the bed. Mara turned her back to Annette and closed the bedroom door. Annette tried over and over to move her body. She tried to scream but her throat tightened once more.
She didn’t want Mara to get her nasty hands on Bryan. Not wanting Bryan or Tony to fall for Mara’s trap, she tried to block the mental link between them. Even though she didn’t have the faintest idea how to do that. It was important they didn’t come. If they knew what was happening, she knew they would follow in a heartbeat. What would Mara do if Bryan didn’t come? She was willing to take whatever the risk if it meant she could keep them safe.
“Come here,” Mara pulled a strange looking knife from her waistband. “Hold out your hand.”
Annette’s body obeyed Mara. She walked up next to Mara holding out her unwrapped hand. Mara raised the knife and sliced down Annette’s open palm.
“Shit, what the hell was that for?” Annette hissed.
She wanted to close her hand and pull it back to her, but it stayed open. Mara caught the dripping blood on the blade of the knife. She dipped her finger in Annette’s blood and turned back to the closed door. She drew another symbol in the middle of the circle. Mara chanted in a language Annette couldn’t understand.
Light pierced through the center of the door, circling around it and creating an opening. Annette’s eyes widened with shock. Her bedroom door was no longer there. In its place was a doorway size portal made of dark swirls and bright lights.
“This will be fun, for me not you. Who knows, maybe the trip will drain all your weak human life force.” Mara shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter though. I’ll still have control over your body. You’ll still serve your purpose, dead or alive.”
“You’re one evil bitch, you know that?” Annette gritted out.
“Thank you,” Mara looked her over. “Wrap your hand. I don’t want you bleeding all over my place.”
Annette couldn’t help but do as she was told. She wrapped her hand in one of the ripped shirts lying on the floor.
“Come on,” Mara grabbed her arm and pulled her into the portal.
Annette tried to scream but was sucked into the portal before her throat even had the chance to tighten. She was plunged into darkness. A bright light would flash by her but she couldn’t pinpoint it. She felt her body being pulled and her eyelids grew heavy. When she woke she was laying on the ground in a wooded area. Her head was pounding.
“Damn, you did make it.” Mara sounded disappointed. “Get up, it’s time to go.”
Annette’s body moved no matter how hard she fought it. She felt tired and weak but her body kept pace with Mara. As they walked away from the portal, Annette glanced back.
“Won’t the portal close?” Annette worried that Bryan and Tony may follow through it.
“Why would I close it?” Mara laughed. “Leaving it open will lead Bryan straight to me. Don’t worry about your human friend. Only Bryan can come through the portal.”
That’s what Annette was afraid of. They came to a cliff, just past the trees. It was steep and Annette didn’t see a path to follow.
“Halfway up this cliff is a cave. It has a large entrance. You can’t miss it.”
“You want me to climb that cliff?” Annette asked in disbelief, looking up at the cliff. “I’ll never make it.”
“Your body will, and that’s all I need.” Mara shrugged. “Now climb.”
Annette moved to the cliff. She didn’t even know where would be a good place to start, but her body led the way. As she began to climb, she looked back down at Mara. She had changed into a long-bodied creature. Annette couldn’t tell if she was a dragon or a giant lizard. Mara didn’t have any wings like the dragon emblems at the penthouse. Mara climbed the cliff effortlessly. Annette watched as Mara entered the cave. She still had a long way to go. Blisters were already forming on her hands. She felt her knee scrape the rock and hissed out in pain as her body forced her higher.
Eleven
“Why would Mara destroy Annette’s place?” Bryan asked but didn’t really expect Tony to answer.
“Are you serious? Did you see her last night? She was furious,” Tony replied. “I bet she would have trashed our place, too, if she were able to get in.”
“She’s up to something. I know it,” Bryan said. “Mara doesn’t do anything unless she has a plan.”
“Yeah, her plan was to destroy everything Annette has,” Tony grumbled.
“She still has us,” Bryan pointed out.
“You damn right, she does,” Tony agreed. “Turn here.”
“Remind me to get Ronan a bottle of our best scotch,” Bryan said as they pulled into the long driveway that led to the brother’s estate.
“Someone’s home.” Tony pointed to the car sitting in the circle driveway.
Bryan parked behind the car. They kept an eye out for Mara as they walked up to the front of the house. Bryan pressed the doorbell. Loud chimes sounded on the inside. One thing’s for sure, everyone in the house knew someone was at the door. Bryan was determined not to leave until he had some answers out of Mara. One of her brothers answered the door. His expression changed when he saw Bryan.
“What has she done?” Thierno asked.
“Plenty,” Bryan replied. “Where is she?”
“Not here,” Thierno said. “Come in, I don’t know what she’s done, but I promise you we had no part in it.”
They went inside, and followed Thierno to the den. Amadou stood as they walked in.
“Mara did something, didn’t she?” Amadou asked, shaking their hands.
“Were you at the club last night?” Bryan asked.
“Mara came by yesterday. She wanted to go out to dinner and talk. We took her to your restaurant. It’s the best in the city,” Amadou complimented.
“Thanks,” Bryan and Tony said in unison.
“She promised she would stay with us. We were stupid enough to believe she’d stand by her word,” Amadou said.
“She’s not the same. She’s been dealing with dark magic. Has been since you left. We didn’t realize her obsession with you had only grown,” Thierno informed them.
“Somehow, while we were at dinner, she managed to steal my membership card. I was about to corner her in the restroom. When I went in there, she wasn’t there.” Amadou told them.
“Maybe you saw the wrong person slip into the restroom,” Bryan suggested.
“You don’t understand, Bryan.” Amadou sat up straight and looked at him. “I know it was her going into that restroom. Yet, no one was in there when I checked. Someone went in but there was no one there. No one came out between her and me.”
“We think she’s using some type of magic to either transport herself or go invisible,” Thierno theorized.
“We need to get back to Annette’s. She doesn’t leave our sight until Mara is found,” Bryan told Tony.
“You didn’t tell us what she did,” Thierno said, holding out his hand.
“We ran into Mara last night and our girlfriend ended up hitting her,” Tony started.
“She hit Mara?” Amadou asked in disbelief. “That’s not good. Don’t leave her alone with Annette.”
“We don’t plan on it. Mara was escorted out last night. Today, Annette’s
apartment was broken into and torn apart. Mara said she was staying here with you.” Bryan looked at the brothers.
“Hell no! That’s what she wanted at dinner. We told her she couldn’t stay with us. We don’t want to deal with that level of crazy. I thought that was why she stole my membership card,” Amadou admitted.
“Sorry Mara is causing all this trouble. We’ll let you know if she comes back here.” Thierno shook their hands.
“Oh, Bryan!” Amadou called out. “She still has my card. Might want to cancel that membership.”
“Consider it terminated.” Bryan walked out with Tony.
They were silent walking back to the car. Bryan wanted to get back to Annette fast. If Mara was invisible there was no way for Annette to tell that she was there.
“Call Annette.” Bryan got in the driver’s seat. “See if she made it back to Braelynn’s.”
Tony took out his phone as Bryan pulled away. Bryan tried to open a link between him and Annette, but there was nothing there.
“Anything?” He asked Tony even though he already knew the answer.
“Nothing,” Tony replied. “Each time it goes to voicemail and I can’t leave a message. Remind me to get that woman to delete some messages. I have a bad feeling about this, Bryan.”
Bryan pressed his foot on the gas, ignoring the speed limits. They made it back to the city in record time. It still wasn’t fast enough for him.
“I don’t have a link with her,” Tony said. “You don’t think she learned to block us, do you?”
“Why would she block us?” Bryan asked. “More likely Mara is stopping her somehow. It would take a lot of mental strength to block us without the power of the claiming.”
“She’s surprised us more than once,” Tony reminded him.
“Then I hope that’s what it is,” Bryan admitted.
He didn’t see any police cars when he pulled into the parking garage of the apartments. He had hoped they would still be there. They didn’t waste any time after he parked. They ran inside to the elevator. Tony impatiently pressed the button until the elevator doors slid open. The ride seemed slower than it was just hours before. When the doors opened they rushed down the hallway to Annette’s door. Tony tried opening the door but it was locked. Bryan knocked on the door. When no one answered he knocked louder.
For the Love of Fire and Ice: Paranormal Dating Agency (Heads N’ Tails Series) Page 7