Entity Mine (10 page)

Chapter 14

Damn. Ethan changed position in the cramped back seat as they drove, massaging the pang which seemed to grow worse with each fraction they traveled, becoming actual pain.

Kyle finally spoke, pitching his voice above the hum of the tires eating the road. “Call John, please.”

Jake took out a cell phone and dialed, putting the phone on speaker.

A soft feminine voice with a charming accent answered on the third ring. “Hello.”

“Hi, Anjali.” There was something almost tender in the way he said the name and Ethan understood the woman on the other end meant the world to his younger brother. “Where’s John?”

“He went to check on the lioness. He left his phone in the lab. Do you want me to have him call you?”

Kyle turned his head toward the phone, his gaze still on the curving road. “Maybe you can help. Can you get Ethan’s file up on my tablet? It’s on the desk.”

What the hell?
Kyle had a file on him? And a lioness?

What was going in here? Buying papers, keeping files, wild animals? Fuck, his brothers seemed more and more shady every minute.

A brief pause and the sound of papers rustling crackled over the line, then Anjali said, “I’ve got it.”

“Go to the vital statistics section. What color do they say his eyes are?”

There was a brief pause, then, “Um, hazel-green.”

“Thanks, Anjali.” Jake thumbed the end button and hung up, pressing the phone against his chest, as if holding his heart.

Silence hung heavy in the car for a long moment. Ethan could almost feel his brothers thinking. Telephone poles spooled past outside as if ticking off the seconds, measuring the oppressive quiet.

Ethan’s mind wheeled through what he’d heard. What the hell was so important about the color of his eyes? And what did the answer mean? Everyone’s eyes stayed the same color. Didn’t they?

“So—” Kyle checked the review mirror, and threw a glance at Jake. “What do you think?”

Speaking of eyes, Ethan had never seen any as bright green as the ones in the mirror. They didn’t seem quite natural. Funny, his brother hardly seemed the type to wear colored contacts, but then who the hell could tell? They hadn’t even really met.

Jake slid up on the seat, no doubt stuffing the phone back into his jeans pocket. “I think the smell of chimera in the house was fresh.”

Chimera? Ethan glanced from Jake to Kyle and back. What the fuck was he talking about?

A mythical three-headed monster?

Or something else?

The only other reference he had for that word was from a movie. He remembered an action movie where chimera had been the name of a virus. But that was fiction.

Kyle nodded. Ethan could see a muscle in his jaw flex. “Yeah. I think he had to be there recently.”

He who? Ethan leaned forward, bracing his hands on the seat back, gauging the men, suddenly wary.

Was this chimera a drug? Were they looking for a dealer? Or were they making it?

Anjali had mentioned a lab.

But Jake had said he ‘smelled’ chimera.

Ethan had a very keen sense of smell and he hadn’t smelled jackshit out of the ordinary.

If it was a drug, why would they think he’d had it? Did this have anything to do with eyes changing color? He shook his head. His hadn’t changed.

This was maddening. As if he’d been dropped in the middle of an ocean without a chart or even the stars to guide him.

Jake sighed. “So we’re agreed.”

Kyle glanced at his brother, face grim, eyes screwed almost to slits. “Yeah, Ethan is alive.”

Jake’s shaggy head rolled back against his high head rest. He rubbed his face, massaging his eyes with his fingers. His hand fell and he turned to Kyle, his eyelids half-lowered and then glanced out at the green and gold studded landscape. “Then we may have to kill him.”

Chapter 15

“He’s gone.” Devon sank into the faded blue corduroy couch. The springs were shot and it almost swallowed her, but she didn’t bother to re-adjust. The malicious spring gouging her spine couldn’t compete with the hurt blooming in her chest.
God, how could she hurt so much?

Honey’s warm, soft head weaseled under her limp hand. The dog whined, brown eyes deep and sad as if she understood Devon, as if she shared her pain.

They were alone in the tiny house. Beth had left on the heels of the Mara brothers. Mistaking Kyle for Ethan had knocked the wind out of her usually bouncy friend’s sails.

Devon had felt Ethan’s absence the minute Beth’s car had roared away. He was gone.

She patted Honey’s bony head with one hand. The dog still needed to fill out beneath her short red fur. She stroked one velvety ear, relishing the warm, silky texture.

“He must’ve followed his brothers. He couldn’t have gone into the light.” Devon palmed the area under her collarbone where a twinge of pain throbbed. “I wouldn’t hurt so bad if he had. Would I? I couldn’t be that selfish.”

A short dry laugh, almost a sob really, ripped from her tight throat. Of course, she could. Pathetic as it was, Ethan’s presence had comforted her, even made her feel protected. Now, she felt ridiculously abandoned, alone, and vulnerable. Afraid.

Honey whined again, her ears flattened down and back as if she shared Devon’s fear and grief.

Something warm tickled Devon’s cheek and she reached up. Her hand came away wet.

An exasperated rumble escaped her. She shook her head and stood, Honey’s head slipping from her lap and headed into the kitchen to start cleaning up. Honey trotted after her.

Devon picked up a flowered plate, put it in the dishwasher and glanced at the dog, who’d planted her butt on the mat in front of the sink. “I don’t need anyone. Certainly not a ghost.” What’s next? Imaginary friends?

Honey made a soft noise and peered over her bony shoulder at the front door.

Devon grabbed another dirty dish from the sink. Yeah, she didn’t believe herself either.

Shadows filled the room as Devon finished wiping down the counters. She peeked at the plastic wall clock over the fridge, only two, and glared out the window above the sink. The sky had grayed and hung like a slab of stone over the house as if positioned to crush it. A tiny rattle on the glass announced the first drops of rain.

Devon sighed and rubbed the pang in her chest. An afternoon like this was good for nothing but a nap, but with Ethan gone the idea felt more like a chore than a treat.

The linens were cool against Devon’s legs and she tugged the blanket tight around her shoulders, as if cocooning herself would stop the ridiculous feeling of loss pervading her body.

In her dog bed on the floor, Honey flopped onto her side with a groan.

Devon’s gaze flew through the dimness to the photo she’d re-hung on the wall for the time being.

The slight twinge she’d felt earlier had blossomed into a full-fledged ache. She swallowed. She’d spoken to the photo before she’d felt Ethan’s presence in the house, but now she knew he was gone, words refused to come. Stupid tears blurred her vision and she batted them away.

A cool draft from the air conditioner feathered against her nape and she shivered, reminded of the other presence.

Her heart tripped into a faster rhythm. She flipped onto her stomach, nestling her cheek against the plush pillow.
Don’t be silly, Devon. The inhuman spirit won’t be a problem for days. I’ll deal with it then
.

The soothing patter of rain on the low roof and the steady hum of the fridge on the other side of the wall calmed her jacked-up pulse. Despite the discomfort in her chest, she forced herself not to think about Ethan, emptying her mind, letting herself drift and slip beneath the veil of consciousness.

A foul odor dragged her from sleep.

Devon blinked into the darkness, confused. How much time had passed? Had she been asleep for seconds or hours?

The smell intensified, seeming to wrap around her, sticky and pungent like dead things preserved in formaldehyde.

Honey growled, low and menacing, and Devon froze, the hairs on her arms prickling, her pulse mimicking the tempo of the drumming rain.

Her face was toward the window, but a sticky sensation of malevolence crawled over her skin, as if she’d walked through a woman-sized cobweb.

She could hear Honey pace, whining and panting.

“Devon.” A raspy voice breathed in her ear.

Adrenaline shot through her veins and rebounded in a continuous loop. All the moisture in her mouth evaporated.

Her rational mind told her to turn and look, that she was probably imagining things. No spirit she’d ever encountered had been strong enough to be active two days in a row, but terror held her glued on her side.

Finally, through sheer force of will, she wrenched onto her back.

And found herself face-to-face with the black figure.

A scream beat against her control, but she gulped it back.

She sat up and the nasty spirit vanished. Her hand rose to her collarbone. For a second, her heart slowed, marching back toward its normal beat, then something grabbed her throat, shoving her back on the bed with bruising force.

She flailed, grabbing the slippery edge of the bed for leverage, digging her nails into the mattress. Her airway constricted. She fought to suck air past the demon’s manacle-like grip and clutched the collar of choking pressure around her neck, scrabbling to get under it, but only scraped her own skin.

Honey barked, black lips drawn back to display sharp white teeth.

Barking and the sounds of her own choking reverberated in her ears, drowning out the cadence of the rain. Her vision frayed around the edges.

She gasped, to no avail, fighting to draw air, but the apparition’s punishing grip tightened.

There was nothing she could do. She heard roaring in her ears. The sound grew louder.

The inhuman spirit was too strong.
Oh, my God!
She was really going to die.

Then, with an audible wheeze, her straining lungs filled with air. The unnatural pressure was gone, but the roaring continued.

It took her a moment to realize the roaring wasn’t in her head.

Whatever had made that noise had materialized in the half-darkness in front of her, but rather than having human form or shape, it seemed to have the head of a lion and pieces that looked partly human and partly . . . some gigantic lizard.

Honey yipped and bounced from side-to-side, but the high pitch of the bark and her posture shouted that she was far from afraid of this odd creature.

The roaring faded and so did the creature. When it was gone, Devon just sat there panting, shaking. Sweat chilled her forehead and she mopped it with a trembling hand.

What’d just happened?

Her stomach lurched and Devon ran to the bathroom, bracing her hands on the toilet, and unloaded the rolling contents of her stomach.

She levered herself to her feet and after rinsing her burning mouth, she stared at her shocked reflection in the mirror, fingering the red and purple ring forming around her neck.

She’d never encountered such a powerful evil force. The bizarre entity that’d appeared was new as well. Whether the creature had stopped the apparition or the interruption had sapped it’s energy, she couldn’t say, but whatever the thing’s nature, she owed it her life.

Jake flicked ‘answer’ on the ringing phone, settled back against the cotton pillows, and stretched his legs out on the bed. He and Kyle had rented a house on a lake not far away so they could begin the search.

He smiled when he heard Anjali’s voice, but she didn’t bother with a greeting. “I think there’s one possibility you and Kyle haven’t considered.”

Jake frowned and pressed the phone closer to his ear. “What’s that?”

“You’ve considered he might have turned lion or dragon, but what if he’s neither?”

Jake sat straighter on the bed. He held his breath, a jolt of hope zinged through him.

Anjali paused, and he imagined she sucked her lush lower lip as was her habit. “We’ve learned to hold the flash long enough to dress and I moved through the bars at the Kincaid Group while—well, disembodied—for lack of a better word. But I’m not sure I could have done it if Kincaid hadn’t drugged me.” The whisper of a sigh ghosted over the line. “You said Ethan was drunk?”

There was a knot in the pine paneling across the room that looked like a bull’s-eye. “Yes.” He had a feeling he knew where she was going with this and he closed his eyes. The afterimage of the target was still there.

“As far as we know, Ethan has no idea he’s a chimera. With his reactions slowed by alcohol, a surge of emotion—”

Jake couldn’t help nodding. “If someone broke into my house, I’d be pretty pissed off.”

Anjali stopped talking for a moment and he grinned, almost seeing the dirty look she was no doubt giving him.

“As I was saying, a surge of emotion could have driven him into the flash with no idea how he got there.”

Jake blew out a long sigh. “Or how to get out.”

“Yeah, but—” Her voice trailed off.

He waited for the other shoe to drop. When she didn’t speak, he prodded. “But?”

“But, Jake, if we’re right. He hasn’t had a drop of food or water in three months. Probably, only his chimera strength is keeping him alive. Feral question aside, if he doesn’t re-form, like, now, you might not have to kill him.”