Haunted (24 page)

23

ONCE BELOW DECK, WE DID THE SAME THINGS WE’D
done almost every night for the past year—sat and talked. One would think that we’d have run out of topics months ago, but there always seemed to be something new to discuss, some subject, some opinion, some turn of mind left unexplored.

That night, a comment about the werewolf guard launched the discussion, which quickly led to an exchange of “werewolves I have known” war stories. Soon Kristof was telling me the long, convoluted tale of his encounter with a werewolf pack in Russia.

As I listened, my legs tucked under me and my head resting on my arm, the gentle rock of the boat and the familiar cadence of his voice conspired to tug me off to dreamland. Yet I resisted. Yes, my brain was in dire need of a sleep recharge. Yes, I could hear this story another time. And yes, it wasn’t even all that interesting, but I could have listened for hours, curled up, comfortable, and sleepy, watching Kristof, his hands and eyes moving animatedly, voice rising and falling as the story slowed and restarted.

There’d been a time when I’d have given anything to be right here, listening to one of Kristof’s stories. How many nights had I lain awake, just thinking of how good it would be to hear his voice? How many times had I considered picking up the phone and telling him about Savannah? Come morning, I was always horrified by the impulse, that I’d use my daughter as an excuse to get something I wanted. Now I could indulge myself without guilt or shame. So I stayed awake until the last bit of the tale was done, then let myself drift off to sleep.

When I awoke just past dawn, Kris was already on deck, navigating the boat to shore. We dropped anchor in a quiet cove and disembarked. We probably wouldn’t need to use the boat again—our travel incantations would get us off the island—but it never hurt to have a backup plan. My guess was that all the pirates were back in La Ceiba. I never did figure out why they were guarding Roatan at all. A pretty enough island, but no different from a thousand other pretty islands in the ghost world. Maybe there was a hidden cache of treasure here somewhere…although I couldn’t imagine what treasure ghosts would need to hoard. Or maybe it was simply a hideaway to protect, because that’s what pirates did.

Following my directions, we found a vine-choked path heading into the jungle. From the hills, we could see a gorgeous white-sand beach hugging an aquamarine Caribbean sea, pink coral reefs visible beneath the crystal clear water…but of course, our path didn’t take us anywhere near there. After about a quarter-mile of fighting through thick jungle, we came to an open stretch. I stopped and shaded my eyes to look south. There, on the other side of the clearing, was the next landmark, a huge slab boulder. An easier path wound past the boulder and through a semicleared gully.

A half-mile later, a simple white clapboard house came into view. Kristof waved for me to move in for a better look while he lurked in a coconut grove.

I circled the house and peered at the rear windows, invoking my built-in zoom. Once I was certain no one was watching from a window, I cast a blur spell and hurried onto the rear wraparound porch. With a combination of blur and cover spells, I was able to sneak a look in each window. It wasn’t until I hit the last one that I found Luther Ross.

I had no physical description to work with, but I didn’t need it. There were five people in the living room. Four of them were twentyish, female, and varying shades of blond. The fifth was a tall, dark-haired man in his early forties, with a Vandyke beard, mischievous gray eyes, and a hand planted on the ass of one of the blondes as he leaned over her shoulder and pointed at a vase. The girl’s face screwed up in concentration as she tried to displace the vase. When it didn’t so much as wiggle, he patted her rear and waved her to a chair.

Unbelievable. Give a guy the power to move objects across cosmic dimensions and what does he use it for? Screwing cute coeds. No wonder Ross hid out on Roatan—it wasn’t so much about evading the Searchers as limiting his classes to a select type of clientele, those he could handpick and give the transportation code. He probably took on the occasional legitimate student, to maintain his reputation, but if this was an example of his average class, then I understood why he hadn’t been more successful in passing along his skills. From the looks of these girls, they’d be lucky if they could pronounce telekinesis. Nymphs probably. If you’d asked me in life what a nymph’s powers were, I couldn’t have told you. And now that I’d met some in the ghost world, I still wasn’t sure.

Whatever special abilities nymphs once possessed had vanished generations ago, and they’d fully assimilated into the human race, where they could be found filling the ranks of cheerleader squads everywhere. Almost no one in the living supernatural world even knew they existed. Hell,
they
didn’t know they existed until they popped up here after they died and went, “Wow, we’re, like, magical.”

The supernatural dimensions of the ghost world were filled with extinct races like elves and dryads, beings who’d lost their powers centuries ago but came to our realms after death. I suppose it wasn’t easy, arriving here and finding yourself surrounded by people who could cast spells, change into wolves, manipulate the elements, and more. Not surprising, then, that these extinct races kept the ghost-world black market in business as they desperately tried to find some power, any power, to call their own.

I went back to Kristof and told him what I’d seen.

“Looks like a job for you,” he said. “I’ll stand guard out here.”

I changed into the short black dress I’d worn with the haunters, and left my hair straight. Maybe not Ross’s style, but at least he wouldn’t mistake me for one of his nymphs.

I walked to the front door, opened it, and strode inside. As I entered the living room, every nymph jumped. Ross looked over at me. Then he looked at me some more.

“Well, well,” he said. “A new student, I presume?”

I made a show of looking at each nymph, then cocked a “not likely” brow-arch at Ross.

“You can’t just walk in here—” the girl in the chair began.

Ross lifted a finger and she stopped in mid-squeak.

“It’s a business call,” I said. “I would have phoned but…”

He smiled. “Not that easy in this world, is it? So you’re looking for lessons? Maybe…private lessons?”

I turned a slow smile on him and shrugged. As I strolled closer, his eyes widened briefly, that look of surprise most men get when they realize how tall I am.

When he looked me full in the face, his lips pursed. “I know you, don’t I?”

“Do you think you’d forget if you did?”

He chuckled, and reached to touch my hair, but I swept it out of his reach. His smile only broadened. Around me, the nymphs fairly growled.

“Mind if I sit?” I asked.

“Please,” he said.

I walked to the nymph in the chair and finger-waved for her to get up. She glowered at me.

“Annette…” Ross said.

“Let her find her own chair.” She looked around the room, which had no empty seats, then smirked at me. “Whoops, guess you’ll just have to go home.”

I murmured a spell under my breath. When I finger-waved again, the motion yanked Annette out of her chair. I flicked my fingers and she tumbled to the floor. From the couch came a mixed chorus of gasps and giggles. I swept my skirt under me and sat, then looked up to see Ross grinning.

“Eve Levine, I presume?” he said.

I arched my brows.

“Your reputation precedes you,” he said. “It just took me a moment to make all the connections. Girls, this is Eve Levine. Aspicio half-demon and spell-caster extraordinaire.”

One of the nymphs from the couch crossed her arms and thumped back into the cushions. “That’s not funny, Luther. We aren’t stupid, you know. Half-demons can’t cast spells.”

“True,” I said. “But even half-demons have two parents.”

The nymph frowned as she struggled to digest this.

“You girls go on upstairs,” Ross said. “Ms. Levine and I have business to discuss.”

It took more coaxing than that, but he finally cleared the room. Then he took a seat in the chair across from mine.

“So, lessons…” His gaze traveled up my bare legs. “I believe that could be arranged.”

“There’s some other business I need to discuss first.”

“Ah.” A twitch of disappointment as he eased back into the chair.

“Have you ever heard of something called a Nix?”

He paused, eyes rolling back as if peering into his memory banks. “Demi-demon, isn’t it?” Another pause, lips pursing, then he shook his head. “That’s all I’m coming up with.”

I gave him a brief rundown. He listened, motionless, gaze on mine, never interrupting, never so much as blinking as he absorbed my words. When I finished, he stroked his beard.

“And do you know
why
she’d be looking for me?”

“No idea. Do you do anything besides poltergeist lessons?”

He shook his head. “My one and only claim to fame, I’m afraid.”

We talked for a few more minutes, but I could see no other reason why the Nix would come to Luther Ross. And why visit a poltergeist teacher when you can cohabit with the living?

When we finished, Ross thanked me for the warning. “So you expect she’ll show up here?”

“She was on her way.”

“In that case, perhaps you shouldn’t be in too much of a rush to leave. Why don’t you stay for a while? Pose as a student…if, indeed, you were serious about those lessons.”

“I was. And that might not be a bad idea. What would you take in exchange for lessons? Transportation codes, contact names—”

“I was thinking of something more”—his teeth flashed against his dark beard—“personal.”

“Oh, I’m sure you get enough of that from your nymph harem. No room on the mattress for me, I’ll bet.”

His smile broadened to a grin. “Some nights it can get a bit crowded. But for you, I’d clear it out. Even put on fresh sheets.” He caught my look and sighed. “Or I suppose I could settle for a few prime transportation codes.”

24

“
PSST!” SOMEONE HISSED AS I STEPPED ONTO THE
front porch.

I looked to see a girl with a heart-shaped face, long blond hair, and doelike brown eyes. Typical nymph. She looked as if she should be sprinting through the woods, clothed only in a few strategically placed leaves.

“Yes?” I said.

She motioned for me to follow, then scampered off to the woods, as silent and nimble as a deer. I looked around. Kris hailed me with a raised hand. I gestured toward the nymph. He nodded, and I took off after her.

When I got to the edge of the woods, I slowed. Last thing I needed was to get attacked by one of Luther Ross’s jealous students.

I found the girl hovering by a tree. She looked around nervously.

“He’s lying,” she whispered. When I frowned, she hurried on, “Mr. Ross. He’s lying about the Nix. She was here. I saw her. I heard them talking. Is she really—” She shivered. “Is she really as bad as you said? She kills people?”

“’Fraid so. Is she here now?”

“She left last night. I can’t believe I was in the same room as her. I talked to her! Do you think—do you think she might have done something to me? Made me evil, too?” A whimper. “I’ve never killed anyone. I did some bad stuff when I was alive, but it wasn’t my fault. I always picked the wrong kind of friends. Do you think she infected me? Turned me into a murderer?”

“She can’t turn anyone here into a murderer.”

The nymph turned her wide eyes up to mine. “Are you sure?”

“The only people in the ghost world are dead, hon. You can’t kill them.”

“Oh, right.” Her shoulders relaxed. “That is such a relief.”

“I’m sure it is. Now, you overheard Ross and the Nix talking…”

She nodded. “They were discussing a plan. Mr. Ross said—”

Something crackled in the undergrowth. The nymph jumped like she’d been shot. I scanned the jungle, but saw nothing.

“No one’s here,” I said. “It was probably an animal.”

“What kind of animal? Oh!” She shivered and looked back to the house. “I shouldn’t be doing this. If Mr. Ross found out he could—he knows some scary stuff.”

“So do I. Now, you were saying?”

Her fingers wrapped around my forearm, tugging me farther into the jungle. When I hesitated, her lower lip wobbled and her eyes filled, as if she might cry from sheer terror. Obviously she wasn’t talking until she felt safe, so I let her lead me. After a few steps, she mumbled something.

“Hmm?” I said.

She kept muttering, her face forward as she pulled me into the forest. I caught a couple words of Latin and knew she wasn’t talking to herself. She was casting.

I yanked my arm back. Her grip only tightened.

“Hey!” I said.

I tried to shake her off, but she just looked over her shoulder, fixing me with eyes that had lost every trace of girlish innocence. Her lips kept moving in their cast. Once more I tried to fling her off, unable to believe this sudden show of bionic strength. She yanked back, and I flipped forward, nearly falling.

As I twisted up again, I snarled my own cast. A binding spell. I finished it…and she only smiled, her own incantation still flowing. I started a knock-back spell, but the first words had barely left my mouth when the air around me started to shimmer. The unmistakable first sign of an opening portal. Shit! Again I struggled to pull my arm from her grasp, but couldn’t budge. Demonic strength. Only thing with demonic strength was a demon. Or a demi-demon.

I mentally shouted for Trsiel. While I’d have loved to hog-tie the Nix myself and present her to the Fates, I knew better. A demi-demon was too strong, and immune to spells and demonic shows of power. This was a job for an angel.

The portal split open, a black hole to nowhere.

I threw myself in the other direction, but the Nix jerked me back, and I flew off my feet. I saw the portal. Saw it yawning before me, knew I was about to fly into it…and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it.