Breaking the Nexus (Mythrian Realm) (6 page)

Ian stepped forward and gave him a summary starting with the prelim report from CSU and ending with the revelation Sha had given about the two realms. Connor expected his superior to laugh off the notion, but the older man just grimaced. Unable to wait for answers any longer, Connor cleared his throat. “Sir, with all due respect, what the hell happened out there?”

“Just watch.” Captain Morrison turned on the TV and Connor swore he could feel his jaw hit the floor.

The video was grainy and jumpy, obviously shot by someone using a cell phone, but it was clear enough. It showed the alley from this morning, without Sha, the bystander zooming in to get a look at the body. Then, a deafening boom rocked the area, sending the amateur photographer stumbling back. As the person fell, the camera phone caught a glimpse of something falling.

Puzzled, Connor looked to the captain. “Can you rewind that a bit? To the part where something falls?”

The footage rewound to the frame where the explosion sounded then resumed playback, advancing a single frame at a time. This time, he watched as a dark oval formed out of thin air, the outline surrounded by glowing, pulsating runes. It grew larger and he could make out the outline of trees in the swirling dark mass within the shape.
Trees? In the middle of the sky? Holy hell!
In the next frame, a figure materialized within the bizarre opening and fell forward, tumbling several feet to the hard concrete and landing in the middle of the pool of blood. As the person fell, blonde hair streaked with blue captured his attention.
Son of a bitch
. There was no mistaking it, that was Sha who fell
out of thin air
.

“Holy shit! You mean she was telling the truth?” Ian’s eyes were the size of saucers, his mouth hanging open.

Morrison held up his hand. “I don’t know what this means, but it’s a PR nightmare. Whoever filmed this must’ve left the scene before the first responders arrived, and now this footage is spreading like wildfire. We have confirmation Ms. Phoenix isn’t the murderer, but God only knows what she is. The chief is trying to contain it and present a plausible explanation to the public. Don’t hold your breath that it’ll work.”

“What are we supposed to do with her, sir? We can’t just turn her loose after this, it’d be a toss up who’d get to her first, the reporters or the whack-jobs.” Despite his best efforts to push her from his mind all day, he couldn’t shake the attraction he felt and his protective instincts were kicking into overdrive. Connor’s gut tightened at the image of Sha being mobbed by people wanting to know who she was and where she’d come from.

“I’ve already thought of that. One of the female officers left a few minutes ago to get her some basic necessities. When she gets back, you’re going to take her out the back to a hotel. We’ll use a decoy at the front to provide enough distraction so you can slip through the media circus.”

“What happens after we get her to the hotel?” Ian asked, frowning.

“Find out everything she knows about that.” Captain Morrison waved at the frozen image of the hole in the sky, the runes glowing a pale green. “I want to know if it’s tied to the homicides and whether we need to brace ourselves for worse. Go back to Interview C and wait for someone to bring Ms. Phoenix her belongings then get her to the hotel. Understood?”

“Yes, sir. No problem,” Connor replied. He was about to be stuck in a hotel room with a woman who could wield crazy power and had magically appeared through a portal of some sort. What possible problem could there be?

It was torture being forced to stay in this tiny room when she was dying to know what was happening on the other side of the door. By this point, Sha figured she had memorized every questionable stain on the walls along with each scratch and scuff in the table. Never had she spent so much time sitting still, and she was fast approaching the end of her patience.
 

She’d tried to use the time wisely, scouring the details of the alley in her mind for anything she’d missed. It was semi-effective, would have been more so if she’d been able to keep Connor from entering her brain for longer than five seconds at a time. He struck her as determined, intelligent, and dominant, an attractive combination. She’d had fun sparring with him during her questioning and wanted more, especially now that they’d resolved the little issue of suspecting her of torturing and murdering someone.

Realizing her thoughts had wandered
yet again
, she shook her head. She hoped the men returned soon because she’d discovered something by replaying the fiasco from this morning.

As if she’d conjured them, the door swung open. Without giving them a chance to say anything, she blurted out, “What was the problem? Anything to do with this morning?” It dawned on her that maybe they’d found something incriminating, though she couldn’t fathom what that would be.

Connor laughed, the sound bringing an unexpected warmth to her. “You could say that. Someone videotaped your entry into this world.”

“I’m sorry, what?” There was no way she’d heard that correctly. She’d read about video recorders, although they weren’t that common. At least she didn’t think they were.

“There’s a video of you tumbling out of the sky from some sort of opening. I never thought I’d say this, but you may have been telling the truth about the…what was it called again?”

“The Nexus. How did someone record me coming out of the Gateway? I don’t understand, are recorders that commonplace?”

“Almost everyone has a cell phone equipped with a camera.” At her blank look, Connor’s lips twitched. “I’ll explain later. An officer is out getting you some clothes and essentials then we’re going to take you to a hotel. Your face is plastered across all the news stations and the video is going viral online. It’s not safe for you to be out on your own, so for now you’ll be under our protection until we can sort everything out.”

“I assume I have no say in the matter?” Sha wasn’t sure if she should be happy or annoyed at the arrangement. She didn’t need a nursemaid, but it did mean spending more time with the detective, and that might not be so bad.

“Ma’am, it’s for your protection,” Ian said.

“Fine. Oh, I have information. Since you’ve been so kind as to leave me in solitude for much of today, it gave me time to sift through my memories of this morning. I think I can confirm your killer used magic during the crime. After someone wields power, for a short period of time it leaves a signature of sorts that I’m able to pick up. I can’t describe the sensation, but it’s distinctive.”

Their twin expressions of discomfort were priceless, sparking the sudden desire to tease them about it. She knew they wanted to toss aside the implication that someone else could work with magic, but at least they were trying to keep an open mind.

A knock sounded on the door before she could continue. “Don’t worry, Detective. We’ll talk about it later,”
 
she promised.

A wave of relief washed over Connor’s face. “Uh, yes. Later is good.” She got the impression never would have been even better. He rose and greeted the pretty woman who handed him a medium-sized, black bag. “Thanks for doing this, Officer,” he said.

Sha noted with amusement the look of disappointment in the woman’s eyes. She probably wished Connor had kissed her judging by the infatuation Sha sensed. Jealousy swept through her at the mental image.
Nobody was going to kiss him.
Her fierce reaction wasn’t a total surprise; she was resigning herself to wanting him, and she was a possessive woman by nature.

“Here’s what’s going to happen next, Sha. A female officer with a build and coloring similar to yours will be escorted through the main entrance by Ian. Meanwhile, I’m going to take you out through an alternate route and hopefully we’ll avoid some of the media circus camped out front.”

“You think they’ll fall for the decoy?”

“Probably not for long, but we just need a minute or two to get you into the car. I’ll take you to a hotel for the night and Ian will meet up with us later. Any questions?”

She rose, stretching her stiff limbs and grateful to finally escape this dingy, depressing room. “Not that I can think of. Lead the way.”

*******

Connor stared, transfixed by the sight of Sha stretching her arms behind her, arching her back to loosen the kinks of sitting in the uncomfortable chair for hours. His mouth went dry. At the hospital, she’d been given a set of scrubs so the crime scene techs could process her clothes. The shapeless, utilitarian garb shouldn’t have been sexy, but his body tightened to the point of pain. Well, this was awkward. And they were supposed to spend the rest of the evening and night alone
in a hotel suite
. This was going to be a long night.

Ian coughed, the sound strange. Connor glanced over, eyes narrowing with disgust. The bastard was
laughing
at him, enjoying his predicament. “I’ll go get the diversion ready,” Ian said, shoulders still shaking with barely suppressed laughter.

When they were alone Connor turned back to Sha, wrestling for control over his libido. She opened her mouth as if to speak, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips, the simple movement sending another spear of heat straight to his groin. The fact that she seemed to be oblivious to her allure somehow made him want her more. He wondered how she would taste.
 

Damn, what the hell was he thinking? Bad enough she was a witness in an active crime, but they were in the middle of the freaking station. The captain would have his head, not to mention his badge, if he acted on the images emblazoned on his brain.

“Detective? Should I change now or when we get to the hotel?” Sha’s voice penetrated the sexual haze, the husky tone ratcheting the pressure up one more notch. Her deep blue eyes bored into his, a matching desire smoldering in the depths. “Detective?”

“Uh, sorry. We don’t really have time for you to change now. We have a few techs who work down in autopsy that wear scrubs, so you shouldn’t look out of place if anyone spots you leaving. Check the bag, hopefully there’s something you can use to hide that hair of yours.”

She frowned and brought her hand up to touch a lock of her hair. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing, it’s just distinctive and we don’t want people to recognize it from the video.”

Nodding her acceptance, she rifled through the contents of the duffle bag, pulling out a thick hoodie with a triumphant grin. “How’s this?”

“Perfect.” A sharp rap on the door signaled everything was in place. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Luck was on their side and they were able to avoid detection as they left the precinct. The sun had just started to dip below the horizon, the sky filled with the deep hues of the sunset and the waning light worked to their advantage. Connor took the precaution of taking the scenic route to the hotel, making a number of unnecessary turns and doubling back several times to throw off any potential tails. When he was sure nobody was following them, he relaxed a fraction. Sha was staring wide-eyed at the streets of Denver, her full lips parted in awe.
 

As they halted at a red light, he decided to break the silence. “Don’t you have big cities where you’re from?”

“Oh we do, but it’s so different. I’m not used to such height and all that glass. We have tall buildings, though nothing on this scale. Part of it is to allow plenty of sky space for our flying creatures.”

“You mean birds?”

“Birds, gryphons, dragon—all sorts of creatures really.”

Despite all he’d seen this morning, he just couldn’t wrap his head around that. “Gryphons and dragons…seriously?”

“Yes, I—” Sha’s words cut off, her body tensing as if to prepare for an attack. “Something’s coming,” she warned as a piercing shriek reverberated through the air.

“Do you know what that was?” He scanned the surroundings, looking for the source of the scream. It was like nothing he’d ever heard and had chilled him to the bone. It sounded neither human nor animal; whatever it was, he doubted it was friendly.
 

Another shriek, this one louder, longer…closer. People on the streets began running, fear stark on their faces. A black mass blocked one of the street lamps that had turned on mere minutes earlier, but he couldn’t distinguish any features. “Sha! Do you know what’s out there?” She sat frozen, her eyes closed in intense concentration.

“Mother Night, it can’t be.”

Another shriek, even closer, this time accompanied by the terrified shouts of innocent bystanders. Connor reached over and shook her shoulder in an attempt to break through to her. “Now’s not exactly the time for disbelief. What the hell is coming for us?”

Her eyes met his, outward calm masking a hint of fear. “A banshee.”

Oh, shit. So much for luck being on their side.

Horns blared as frantic drivers tried to escape the gridlock, desperate to put distance between themselves and that
thing
. Connor understood their panic, but didn’t they realize they had nowhere to go? They were only going to make the situation worse. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when screeching tires followed by the crunch of metal upon metal signaled several cars had just collided.

At least nobody was hurt. The drivers had already exited their cars and were alternating between yelling at each other and scanning the sky for the creature. He couldn’t offer his assistance without leaving Sha alone in the car, so he settled for calling the crash into dispatch.
 

“What are we up against, Sha? I thought the legends were that banshees came around when a loved one died or something along those lines.” The logical part of his brain rebelled at the idea that banshees existed, but there was no disputing there was something out there.

Her eyes locked onto the black figure darting from shadow to shadow over the street, following the movement with unerring accuracy. He had no idea how she tracked it; the only time he could tell the location was when a light was momentarily blocked.
 

She was silent for so long, he thought she hadn’t heard his question. Finally she answered in a distracted tone. “The tales you heard must’ve left out the part where the banshee isn’t just the harbinger of death; she’s also the killer. She’s hunting someone right now.”