The Haunting (Immortals) (27 page)

“You came,” she said, holding up her arms, beckoning him to her.

“I wanted to be with you,” he said truthfully.

“Come lie with me,” she invited.

“Not yet, love,” he whispered, stroking the hair from
her face. Now that he knew who she was, he could see her features clearly. “Mai, we have to talk.”

“Later.” She looped her arms around his neck and drew him down to her. “I missed you.”

She was impossible to resist, but he knew he had to try. He brushed his lips against hers because he wanted so badly to taste her and then pulled away. “Mai, do you know me?”

“Of course,” she cooed.

He could see the way she looked at him, not really seeing him. He couldn’t convince her that she was his spirit mate if she didn’t even know who he was. It was much easier to pull her to a sitting position in the dream than it would have been in real life. He sat beside her and forced her to look at him.

“Who am I?” he demanded. “What’s my name?”

She peered closely at him for several seconds. Then a slow smile spread across her face. “Nick.”

He wasn’t prepared for how that one word changed his world. That she recognized him meant she really was his spirit mate. His heart swelled with love and he gathered her into his arms. “You know me.”

“Of course I know you,” Mai said, returning his hug.

“I have something important to tell you,” he said, and heard her sigh.

“It’s about earlier. You don’t think I’m crazy, do you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“I might be, you know.” She let her head drop to his shoulder. “I see things that aren’t there.”

“You’re not crazy,” he said firmly. “And you’re not alone. Not anymore. Not ever again. I’ll protect you.”

She raised her head and smiled at him. “From genies?”

He smiled back. “Yes, from genies.”

“And demons?”

“And demons,” he agreed.

“And the bogeyman?”

He heard the tremor in her voice. “Especially from the bogeyman.”

“What about leprechauns?”

“Leprechauns? They seem pretty harmless to me.”

“They are
not
harmless,” Mai assured him. “One tried to turn me into a vampire once.” She shook her head. “It’s always the ones you least expect.”

“Then let the leprechauns and the genies and all the others beware, because I will protect you with my life. I love you, Mai.”

“I love you, too, Nick.”

He kissed her brow. “Now relax and let me show you just how much I love you.”

And he did.

When Mai woke up later that day, Nick was gone and the only evidence that he’d been there was his folded blanket. It was hard not to be disappointed, although after the dream she’d had, she might have been too embarrassed to face him. Throwing back her covers, she slid her legs off the side of the couch and sat up. She could think better if she was sitting.

It was perfectly natural that she would have an erotic dream of Nick, she reasoned. He was extremely good-looking, she’d had fantastic sex with him once and, in true hero fashion, he’d once again been there when she needed him. He was like her own private knight in shining armor. Yes. It was all perfectly natural.

But it
had
only been a dream, she thought with disappointment. The memory of his rejection came rushing back. Just then, her bedroom door opened, saving her from spending too much time wallowing in self-pity.

“Hello,” Sarah said cheerfully as she walked into the living room.

“I hope you slept well.” Mai guessed the girl had a right to feel so happy. After all, for the last several days, she’d
been a prisoner in an alternate dimension. Escaping that prison was bound to put one in a good mood.

“I did,” Sarah said. She came over to sit beside Mai on the couch. “How about you? I didn’t mean to kick you out of your bed. We could have shared it.”

Mai patted her arm. “I’m fine. Don’t you worry.”

Sarah looked around the room. “And Nick?”

Mai absently followed her gaze as if Nick might suddenly appear out of nowhere. “He was gone when I woke up. I guess he had something else to do.”

“Oh.” Sarah hopped up, clearly too full of energy to sit still. Mai watched her walk around the room, touching the books on her shelf and the various knickknacks. She stopped when she reached the framed picture of Darius, Lexi and the baby.

“Are these your friends?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“I think I remember seeing them when you moved in. Do they live nearby?”

“No. They live in a place called Ravenscroft.”

Sarah nodded as if she’d heard of the place, though Mai was fairly certain she hadn’t. “Do they visit often?”

“I’ve seen them more in the last week than the past six months,” Mai admitted. “The last time was…” She thought about the incidents leading up to Darius’ and Lexi’s last visit. “It was when I heard someone calling me just the other day. It was you, wasn’t it?” Mai didn’t need to see Sarah’s nod to know it was the truth. “You were trying to get my attention.”

“Sorry I scared you.”

Mai smiled. “No need for
you
to apologize. I’m just sorry I didn’t know it was you. Maybe I could have gotten you out of there sooner. As it was, I think my friends thought I was touched in the head.”

“Invite them over. I’ll be glad to tell them the truth,” Sarah offered.

“Thanks. I appreciate that, but don’t worry about it. I’ll explain it to them the next time I see them.”

Sarah looked like she wanted to say more, but just then, there was a knock on the door. Mai hurried to answer, hoping it would be Nick. Instead, she found Will. He looked sullen and Mai waited impatiently for him to tell her why he was there. After an extended period of silence, she grew impatient.

“What do you want?”

“I came by to see how Sarah was doing,” he said.

“Why?”

“I guess I feel a little bit responsible.”

“You should,” Mai told him. “To answer your question, though, she’s doing fine. Thanks for coming by.” She started to close the door when he put up his hand to stop her.

“Would you mind if I talked to her myself?” he asked.

Mai wasn’t so sure that was a good idea. She was on the verge of giving Will an excuse that Sarah was indisposed when the girl suddenly appeared at her side.

“You wanted to see me?” she asked.

“Yes.” He studied her closely. “I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for what happened to you and your sister. I promise that I would have destroyed the genie a long time ago if I’d known what he had planned. I—”

He stopped short at the sound of Sarah’s laughter. Or was it crying? Mai couldn’t tell.

Even Will appeared dumbfounded. “I’m sorry,” Sarah apologized, wiping tears from her eyes. “I was thinking about the ritual and…” She made a hiccupping noise. “It was all so frightening. Excuse me.”

Overcome with emotion, she covered her mouth and
hurried from the room. Will looked at Mai helplessly. “I didn’t mean to upset her.”

“I know,” Mai told him. “Maybe you should go. I’ll make sure she’s all right.”

“Thanks.” She’d started to close the door when he put up a hand to stop her. “Can I ask you something? Has she been acting different?”

Mai tamped down on her growing irritation. “I don’t know, Will. She was kidnapped and held hostage in another dimension by a genie. How’s she supposed to be acting?”

He didn’t have an answer for her, so after giving her a brief nod, he turned and left.

Mai closed the door and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. That’s where Sarah found her a minute later.

“You think I hurt his feelings?” Sarah asked, coming in to lean against the counter.

Mai waved it aside. “After what he did? Who cares?”

Sarah nodded and smiled. “That’s what I thought.” She reached a hand into her pocket and pulled out a key. “Look what I found.”

“Your apartment key?”

“Yeah. It was still in the pocket of my jeans. I’m going to run next door to shower and change clothes.”

“Want me to go with you so you don’t have to be alone?”

“No, I’ll be fine. But if it’s all right with you, I’d like to come back. Just for a little bit. As long as it’s no trouble…”

Mai thought she detected a note of fear and hesitation in the girl’s voice and hurried to reassure her. “Absolutely. It’s no trouble at all. Whenever you’re done, come on back. I’ll be here.”

Shortly after the girl left, Mai went back to the kitchen and opened a cupboard, hoping to find at least a package of crackers—or something.

Nothing. There was nothing to eat. Mai tried to remember the last time she’d been to the store. It had been a while ago. As soon as Sarah got back, maybe they could go out and grab a bite to eat.

A knock sounded at the door. It hadn’t been that long since Sarah left and thinking her neighbor might have changed her mind, Mai opened the door. “Nick!”

“Hi. I just saw Sarah. She said you were awake.” He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “How did you sleep?”

Her entire body came alive at the contact, but it was the memory of the dream that caused her to blush. “Fine, thanks. And what happened to you? I thought you’d still be here when I woke up.”

“I wanted to take care of a few things at the office so I could spend the rest of the day with you. Didn’t you get my note?”

“You left a note?”

“Yeah, in the kitchen.”

She eyed him warily. “I was just in the kitchen and there was no note.”

He frowned. “I wonder what happened to it. Well, I guess that explains why you didn’t call me like I asked. Wow. I hate to think what you must have thought.”

She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, though she was surprised. He was still holding her and it was causing her stomach to do somersaults. “I’m glad you came back.”

He dipped his head and kissed her, taking his time to do a thorough job.

Wrapped up in the heady emotions he was creating in her, Mai took a minute to collect her thoughts. She broke the kiss and pushed him away. “I thought you were seeing someone,” she accused.

“Not anymore.” He sighed. “Look. We need to talk.”

She folded her arms across her chest, feeling confused and a little sick. She’d expected him to break up with her, but now—she didn’t know what to expect. “Okay.”

He smiled. “Great, because I don’t want to put this off any longer.” He glanced around the apartment. “Actually, that’s not true. I do want to put it off just a little longer—can we go someplace else to talk? Someplace where we won’t be interrupted?”

Mai wanted nothing more than to get out of the apartment and spend time with him. She wasn’t sure it was such a good idea, though. Her feelings for him were still raw. “I told Sarah I’d wait here for her. I’d hate for her to come back to an empty apartment.”

“Leave her a note and tell her you’ll be right back.”

“I don’t know…”

Nick came up to her and ran the back of his fingers down her cheek, awakening desires that she’d finally managed to get under control. “Mai, I’m begging you to come with me.”

It was impossible to resist him. “Give me a second to find paper and a pen.”

Will stood in front of the broken mirror in his apartment, wringing his hands.
Destroy
that
which exists inside the mirror?
He stopped. Was that right? Or should it have been
destroy
the genie
which exists inside the mirror?
Or
destroy
the evil
inside the mirror?

He started pacing around the table, unable to shake the feeling that he’d screwed up. He just couldn’t put his finger on how.

He went back over the words of his spell.
Destroy the genie of the mirror
. Yes. That’s how it should have gone, but that’s not what he’d said, was it?

He knew that spell, had studied it time and time again. He’d known he’d have to use it one day. The genie
had been growing defiant, had started turning Will’s wishes against him. Will had known there’d come a time when he’d have to give up the wishes and put the cork back in the genie’s bottle. But when it came time to do it, time to utter the words to the spell, he’d messed it up.
Why? Why? Why
?

He felt like beating his head against the wall. It was important that he remember.

Someone knocked on his door, but he ignored it. He couldn’t deal with tenants at the moment. It was far too important that he figure this out.

He started pacing another circuit around his living room when his visitor knocked again, this time more insistent.

“Will? Are you there?”

He recognized the voice and hurried to the door. “Sarah.”

They stood staring at each other for several long seconds. Finally Sarah heaved a sigh. “Are you going to invite me in?”

“Yes, of course. Come in.” He stood back.

She walked past him and when he turned, he saw her studying the mirror. He knew it must remind her of the time she spent behind it.

“I’m glad you came down,” he began, wanting to distract her. “I wanted to tell you again how sorry I am for conjuring that…that monster. I should have found a better way to control him.”

He thought she looked irritated and couldn’t blame her. It was his fault she’d been taken. “I don’t expect you to forgive me,” he continued. “I just wanted you to know how sorry I am.”

“You’re a pathetic excuse for a man,” she snapped, turning on him. “Do you really imagine that you were ever strong enough to defeat me?”

“Excuse me?” Will stammered, surprised by the vehemence in her tone. When she glared at him, it sent chills down his spine. “Sarah?” She simply stared at him, waiting until the truth slowly dawned. “You! Oh my God.”

“Finally,” the genie said with Sarah’s voice. “I was beginning to think you were too stupid to figure it out.”

“What have you done with Sarah? If you’re in her body…” He glanced anxiously at the shattered remains of the mirror as the horrible truth came crashing down on him. “You killed her.”

The genie laughed. “
I
didn’t kill her.
You
did, with that idiotic spell of yours.”

The entire episode replayed itself in Will’s mind, the casting of the spell, the genie’s wretched cries that hadn’t been the genie at all. They’d been a young girl’s last cries for help. “Oh God.” Will fell to his knees. He’d cast that spell. He’d killed Sarah.