Demonically Tempted (Frostbite) (13 page)

“Thank you,” I exhaled, but suspected she was saying that to be supportive and nothing more. It was obvious she didn’t
really
want to help, and I couldn’t blame her. I didn’t want to do it either.

“Let’s be off, then.” Dane turned on his heels, and headed toward the stairs.

I stepped forward to follow him, suddenly remembering Kipp was at the house with the demon and wanting to return to him, when Gretchen grabbed my arm causing me to glance at her.

“Remember,” she whispered. “You choose your life. Don’t let others tell you what is right. And don’t forget that voice of yours.”

I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Follow your heart, Tess Jennings, and you’ll do fine.” She walked by me, heading up the stairs behind Dane.

I stood stuck in the spot and mulled over her advice. Hadn’t I been following my heart? Hadn’t I told her as much when I said that I wanted to keep Kipp?

And why did I have the horrible gut wrenching feeling that she’d just given me a grave warning?

Chapter Fourteen

The plane touched down in Memphis just after midnight. Exhaustion weighed on me. Not only did my head throb from all the information suddenly thrust upon me from Gretchen’s teachings. But the rift between Kipp and Dane was worrisome.

I strode in front of Dane hoping to lose him in the crowd. I kept the bag of items Gretchen had given me for the spells I needed tight in my hand. I still hadn’t fully accepted that I had a magic wand in the bag. But at this point I’d believe anything to get myself out of this mess.

Dane had obliged me by staying quiet on the flight home since I wanted to try to sleep, which I did none of and what I really wanted to do right now. It was a blessing I couldn’t do the banishing tonight because I needed the rest.

As I pushed through the crowd, a firm hand gripped my arm forcing me to turn around. “We need to talk,” Dane said sternly.

I jerked my arm away from him. “We don’t need to talk about anything. I think I’ve made that quite clear.”

His voice was deep and held no compassion. “I was brought here to help you, Tess. You might not understand the implications of your actions, but I do. You need to stop this. Immediately.”

So he says.
“I don’t need to do anything. I like my life the way it is, thank you very much.” I glared at him, my fists clenched. “If you don’t like it then go home. No one, especially me, is begging you to stay.”

A self-righteous grin spread across his face. “You need me whether you like or not.”

I considered my options, wanting to smack that grin off his face, knowing that my options sucked at best. Sure, I’d learned a lot with Gretchen, but I had no doubt there was so much more I needed to know.

Seeing that things had taken a turn south, I did need to understand my abilities to keep me safe and understand what was ahead of me. Dane had those answers.

“Maybe I do need you—for now—but you need to stop this. Not only for my sake, but for Kipp’s too.” I stared him down. “I’m seriously concerned he’s going to possess you.”

Dane studied me for so long it became awkward and then said, “You do realize what you’re doing is unfair to him.”

“It’s only unfair if he doesn’t want it.” Right? That made sense, didn’t it? “If he wanted to leave me, he would. As much as you’d like to convince me otherwise it’s not going to happen.”

“But your relationship is forcing him to remain.” His shoulders squared. “You need to make some decisions. Do you want to help ghosts cross over or don’t you?”

I narrowed my eyes on him. “You know I want to help them. I’ve already made that decision and it’s exactly why you’re here.”

“Then you need to stay true to yourself and your purpose with the ghost. You should want to help him cross over. Nothing less.”

I parted my lips to defend my actions, but my breath caught in my throat. Dane was right. I should want that for Kipp. His existence wasn’t a desired one, but the result of what would happen if he left crippled me. My exhaustion just got a whole lot worse. “What do you want from me, Dane?”

“I want you to realize why you hold these gifts.” He shook his head in frustration. “There are few, if any, who have the gifts you do. Do you not ask yourself why? Do you not realize the huge responsibility you have here?” He gazed at me with a shrewd look. “He
will
cross over and then what will happen? You’ll be left devastated. I tell you this so you’ll see things clearly. You
can’t
be in love with a ghost.”

“Don’t
you
think I know that?” I snapped. “Don’t
you
think I’ve tried to stop it? But I can’t help that I love him. If he chooses to cross over then so be it, but I won’t push him to that conclusion.” I scowled at him. “So, you need to back off.”

“Tess—”

“I’m not holding him back on purpose.” I paused, considered that, then added, “At least I don’t think I am. Until you have proof that I am and that he’s suffering, leave it alone.”

His features hardened. “My proof is my knowledge and experience.”

“What experience?” I countered. “I know jack-shit about you except that ever since you’ve come into my life you’ve been a total pain in the ass.” I folded my arms. “What makes you so qualified to tell me how to live?”

“Because I’ve seen someone much like you be destroyed by the very ghosts she was trying to help.” Was that personal demons in his eyes? “She held the power to rid the world of so much evil, which is what we need, but because of her pain she refuses to.”

“I’m not
her
. Whoever
she
is. And I’d appreciate if you would let this drop.”

“I can’t do that.” That emotion vanished as he gave that hard stare he owned so well. “You’re too important and wasting your talents on ghosts who merely want to cross over. You have a purpose in life and that’s to destroy dangerous threats. Not spend your time fixing ghosts.”

My blood boiled. “I’ve already told you, I don’t want to hunt demons. I like my life how it is. I’m perfectly happy helping the way I am.” My fingernails dug into my palms. “Just because you think something is good for me doesn’t mean I have to agree with you.”

He arched an eyebrow so arrogantly. “Others would disagree with you.”

Not like I really cared, but I indulged him. “What others?”

He huffed an exasperated breath. “Do you really believe you are the only one with these special gifts?”
Until you came along, I did
. “I came here not because of Max and this ridiculous notion that you need help discovering your gifts. I came here because I was asked by someone who holds an interest in you.”

I blinked. Not at all what I had expected. But I realized this was the distrustful feeling Kipp had and what I now understood. “What kind of interest?”

“It’s not my place to tell you, but I came here to discover just how talented you are.” The hard set of his jaw intensified, which made my stomach drop. “And you
are
extremely talented. But what you’re doing right now is wrong. You have a responsibility.” He scuffed his shoe against the floor, raised his tone. “Dammit, Tess, I will get you to see reason.”

I shook my head, irritated with him and all of it. “I have no idea what you want me to see.”

“That the worlds—
this
world and the Netherworld—are not the same thing. You cannot intertwine them. You need to keep your distance and accept that your abilities are a serious responsibility. That you…” he pointed to my necklace. “Are taking over a fight that begun long ago.”

“You might think that way, but I never asked for any of this. I’m not on some mission to become something bigger with my abilities.” This talk unnerved me, and I sought an exit. “I work with the cold case squad and help ghosts. That’s it. Besides you do the same for the F.B.I., so I really don’t know what you’re going on about.”

“That’s only part of what I do and it’s about time you see there’s a higher plan at work.” He pointed at me and I wanted to break his finger. “These gifts have been given to you and you need to step up to the plate. And the first thing is cutting your ties to the ghost. Trust me when I tell you that others would frown upon what you’re doing.”

I scowled. “I don’t give a shit what others think.”

“You should.” He glanced over my shoulder, gaze attentive, and he drew in a sharp breath. “You might not see how important it is for you to believe me and that something greater is in store for you, but I have a responsibility to this ghost to see him cross over.”

He turned to me and looked so deadly, I took a step back. “You may not believe it, but I
do
have ghost’s best interests in mind. I won’t allow you to act selfishly any longer.”

Before I could respond, he pulled me to him and then, his lips were on mine. I gasped under the weight of his kiss, stuck in the sensation, unable to move from the shock of his embrace.

“What. The. Fuck?”

Ice coated my veins at Kipp’s low tone. I yanked myself away from Dane and spun around.

Kipp stood behind me, simmering with anger. His expression held so much rage, but beneath it, a world of hurt showed in the depths of his eyes. It snapped me out of my astonishment. I shoved Dane away with a hard push, but kept my focus on Kipp. “It’s not what you think.”

His gaze landed on Dane and if looks could kill, he’d be a ghost. “What I think is I came here because I wanted to be here for you when you arrived, and I find you kissing this mother fucker.”

My stomach clenched as if he’d punched me in the gut. “I didn’t…I don’t—”

He raised his hand and I froze. “Don’t fucking bother, Tess.” Sadness filled his gaze. All the anger faded away showing only a broken heart. “You didn’t pull away from him. What else do I need to see?” Pain seeped into his features. “I knew this was coming.”

I tried to keep up, but the world spun around me. I couldn’t get a hold on anything. I lurched forward, heaviness weighing me down, but I fought against it to get to him. “No, Kipp, wait…”

My words hit air as he vanished from sight. I blinked, scanned the busy airport, but he was gone. I gasped on a sob, my muscles unable to hold my weight, and I crumbled to my knees.

I had nothing to be guilty for, but my heart wouldn’t hear it. Sure, I’d seen Kipp’s anger before. Not like this. This didn’t feel as if we were about to have a fight.

It sounded like goodbye.

I replayed the scene in my mind knowing how it must have looked. The shock of Dane’s kiss held me frozen, which in turn did make it appear like I wanted Dane. Had Kipp really been worried that I wanted Dane? Apparently so. And from the way it looked, he was right.

But he was so entirely wrong.

“It’s for the best,” Dane said softly. “Now the connection of love is broken and I hope that’ll force him to cross over. I didn’t want to hurt you. But I’ve been doing this longer than you and I do know this is better for you and for the ghost.”

Sickness rolled through my stomach as I tried to get a grasp on what had just happened. Within one second, the world as I knew it had ended. Had Kipp crossed over like Dane had said?

He better not have.

The reality of that was so horrifying I couldn’t even accept it as a possibility. I lifted my head. “Did you know he’d come into the airport and that’s why you kissed me?”

Dane hesitated then finally said, “You can’t have a relationship with a ghost.” He bounced from foot-to-foot. “You’re new to this. And I’m saving you a huge heartbreak that in the end would only hurt you more.” My hands trembled, as I soaked in his words. “He needs to cross over, and if you loved him, he’d never want to leave. Always linger to stay with you. That’s not fair.”

I drew in a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, “Answer the question.”

Another pause. “Yes. I sensed his energy here.”

Rage made a nasty taste form in my mouth. I rose to my feet, sucked in a harsh breath and approached him. He appeared somewhat regretful with dark eyes, yet determined. “What you just did can never be forgiven, not by me.”

“Tess—”

I closed in on him and stood on my tippy toes. “You don’t know him. You don’t understand what that must have been like to see me kissing you since he’s wanted to do that same thing to me since we met.”

His powerful gaze did nothing to intimidate me and I continued, “You have
no
idea how much pain you’ve caused him. I never asked you to come here. Never asked you to figure my life out for me. Consider this a warning to stay the fuck away from me.” I brought my leg back and with all the power I could muster, I kneed him in the junk.

He dropped to the ground, groaning. Gasps filled the space around me as people in the airport watched Dane roll in agony.

What Dane hadn’t known was what he’d done was the gravest of all mistakes. Maybe for some, Kipp’s strong reaction would be brash. Not Kipp. Not when he had wanted to kiss me from the moment we met and the hard despair knowing that he never could.

I’d seen him lose it once when I kissed Zach—as a decoy, no less—and that was his partner. Someone he trusted and cared for. That heartache in his eyes proved that my kissing another man was the worst thing he could’ve ever seen.

And I could only hope he hadn’t done something stupid, or that Dane was wrong and the loss of connection between us wouldn’t force him to cross over.

The latter I couldn’t accept. No matter that I cared nothing for Dane. This wasn’t
really
about him. This was about Kipp’s anger at his situation and the reminder of what he was.

A ghost.

I just needed to find him and remind him I didn’t care.

Chapter Fifteen

The abandoned house looked exactly as it did the last time I’d been here. Deserted. I knew better. A man—demon—was trapped in that house. I glanced at the front door and the salt still lined the doorway, but there were also some medallions placed there too.

Two hours had passed since I started searching for Kipp, leading me to believe that Dane had come here and put that extra little bit of protection Gretchen had offered on the home.