Hunter's Need (34 page)

The smear of blood Duke glimpsed on the knife didn’t do a damn thing to cool him down. In a harsh, barely intelligible growl, he said, “You’re the only one who ever hurt her, you stupid, crazy fuck.”

Kyle flinched. “That’s not true!”

“You hurt her.” It was Ana who spoke this time. “Just like you hurt the others.”

“I didn’t want to.” Kyle squeezed his eyes closed, knocking against his temple with the hand he still had fisted around the knife.

Duke tensed and edged a little closer. But like the bastard had radar or the hearing of a shapeshifter, the faint sound Duke made had Kyle’s eyes flying open while he edged farther away. “I didn’t want to hurt her. But she wouldn’t listen. Told me that she didn’t love me, and she laughed, told me I didn’t really love her. I couldn’t let her keep saying that. Marie—Marie, where are you? Help me find you and I’ll take care of you.”

For the longest time, it was quiet. Duke and Ana waited while the tension built and Kyle continued to drag Beverly around the house. Beverly stumbled along with him, not fighting, not speaking. She stared ahead with a flat, blank expression that warned Duke they didn’t have too much time, because the older woman was going into shock, in a big way.

“Where are you?” Kyle demanded, his voice growing angry.

“I’m right here
.
”

She drifted into view and to Duke’s surprise, she looked a hell of a lot more solid than she had the few times he’d seen her. Solid—almost real. Except she glowed. Except her body was a paler washout than she would have been if she’d really stood there.

“
Hello, Kyle
.” Even her voice sounded—more real.

Kyle stared at her, his mouth falling open. “Marie . . . ”

She glanced at Beverly and then looked back at Kyle. “
Why are you hurting my sister?
”

“Hurting . . . ” He looked down, staring at Beverly like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. “I’m not—I’m not hurting her. I think . . . wasn’t she trying to hurt you?”

“
No,
” Marie said, her voice oddly gentle. Soft. Completely at odds with what Duke glimpsed in her eyes. Completely at odds with the frigid temperature of the room. If it got too much colder, it was going to be dangerous for Beverly and Ana. “
She wouldn’t hurt me.
”

“Somebody hurt you.” Kyle lowered his gaze to Beverly’s head, staring at her dark hair. He rubbed the back of his hand against her cheek, then caressed it with the flat of the blade. “I know somebody hurt you. I can still hear you screaming.”

Kyle’s breath left him in foggy little puffs, but he didn’t seem to notice as he gazed at Marie with wide, worshipful eyes.

“
I’m screaming because I’m scared. I’m scared of what you’re trying to do to Beverly,
” Marie said.

“I won’t hurt her.”

“
Then let her go.
”

That confused look crossed his face again and he looked down at Beverly, stroked her hair. Then, carefully—as though he had to concentrate on each movement, he let her go and stepped away.

Beverly stumbled and swayed. As she took a step, her eyes rolled backward.

Duke didn’t wait two seconds. Before she could hit the ground, he caught her unconscious body in his arms and carried her across the room. The muscles in his back were tense, prepared and ready for a strike that never came. Laying her on the floor, he paused only long enough to check her pulse before he stood. Turning back, he stared at the scene before them.

Kyle, gazing at Marie, that empty, almost rapturous look on his face.

Marie staring at him.

And glowing . . . her body was rapidly losing its solid look, Duke realized. The gentle, understanding smile on her lips faded away, replaced by something hard and cold.
“You want me to stop screaming,”
Marie said, laughing coldly.
“Perhaps I could stop—once you start.”

Ana gasped next to him, her hand flying to grab his arm. Short, neat nails bit into his skin. He looked at her, watched as she stared at Marie and Kyle. “They want in.”

“In . . . ” They? Fuck. “They can do this without using you as a taxi this time.”

“Not me.
Him
. But his shields are too strong.” She shook her head. Mesmerized, she stared at Kyle. “So were mine. I had to lower them to let Leah in.”

“Whatever you’re thinking . . . don’t,” he warned.

A smile flirted with her lips and she looked at him. “His shields are stronger than mine . . . but there are more of them. So many of them.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth. “If I can blunt your abilities when I’m blocking, maybe I can block his.”

“Bad idea, Ana.” Duke shook his head. She’d have to lower her shields, and he wasn’t taking a chance with a bunch of vengeance-hungry ghosts hovering around them. If they decided to hitchhike a ride in her . . . no fucking way. “Besides, you don’t even know if it will work on somebody who’s got a gift like yours. And what if he fires it back at you?”

Ana slid a look toward Kyle. “He’s a little preoccupied.” Then she closed her eyes.

Duke felt something shift around her and he growled. “Ana, don’t!”

She wasn’t listening, though and he grabbed her, hauled her against him as the moans in the air rose. From the corner of his eye, he could see them. Insubstantial, wavering shadows, pressing close and closer, bearing down on Ana.

“Not her,” he snarled.

They stilled. Oddly enough, they stilled. He felt their hesitation and he cut his eyes toward Kyle. “Isn’t
he
the one you want?”

They swarmed toward him and Duke could only hope it worked. Ana shuddered in his arms and lifted her head just as the first shadow drew close. Kyle was still staring at Marie, although she became harder and harder to see with every second that passed. But then he flinched.

Duke’s breath hissed out between his teeth as he watched.

One after another, the shadows descended on Kyle and his body began to spasm and shake. Four . . . five . . . eight . . . nine . . .

Kyle’s head jerked back, the cords in his neck standing out in stark relief. His eyes were wide and his mouth was opened in a silent scream. And Marie stood in front of him, staring at him.

Spittle sprayed out of his mouth as he reached toward the ghost. “Help . . . help me!”

Marie ignored him, turning to look in Ana’s direction. She turned her back on the man who’d taken her life and drifted toward them in a graceful, eerie glide.
“All these years, I thought I’d laugh. Thought I’d dance. If I ever had the chance to see this end, I’d want to celebrate.”
As she sighed, her form wavered in and out of view.

Behind her, Kyle’s body, still upright, jerked about, seizure-like. He stared at them, helpless, confused . . . and aware. “Help . . . ” he whispered again.

Duke drew Ana close. When Marie came back into view, they focused on her, ignoring the man behind her. “It’s over,” Duke promised. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Marie smiled.
“No. They are making sure of it.”
Even as she spoke the words, Kyle sagged to the ground, swaying on his knees for a few moments before crashing backward.

His color was bad, going gray quick. His breathing began to hitch inside his throat, and Duke could hear the man’s heart as it started to falter.
Death by ghost
—that’s a new one.

It seemed to last forever. And no time at all.

Duke heard it when the man’s heart beat its last. His eyes stared lifelessly up at the ceiling and one by one, the souls that had settled inside him came drifting out. They hovered around his body in a shifting, insubstantial circle.

“It’s done now,”
Marie said, her voice flat.

They echoed her in whispers and sighs—sighs that ended abruptly. As one, they looked up. A ring of light hovered above them.

Ana wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight. Duke bent his head and pressed his lips to her crown, squeezing his eyes shut. Done . . . it was done. Through their clothes, he could feel her heart slamming away against her ribs—beating every bit as fast as his own, he figured. Yeah, give him a psychotic feral vamp over ghosts any day.

“They’re leaving,” Ana whispered, awed.

Startled, Duke looked up. “Son of a bitch.”

They
were
leaving. One by one, each of them drifted into the circle of light until only Marie remained.

She lingered next to Ana for endless moments and then she sighed and started forward.

Behind them, there was a soft moan. Then Beverly’s voice. “Marie?”

Such a familiar voice. Marie didn’t know how much time had passed since her death—time lost meaning once the heart stopped beating. But it had been a while, a long while, she decided as she turned and faced her sister. Years upon years, because Beverly looked old.

She summoned up every last bit of her fading strength and focused. Bit by bit, her body became more substantial—or at least, she knew it looked that way.

“
Hi, Sis,
” she said, and she was startled at how
real
her voice sounded.

“My God, how can this be?”

Marie shot a look over her shoulder, staring at Kyle’s body. Kyle—she cut her thoughts off before the pain could rip through her. It was over. It was done. He couldn’t hurt Marie anymore. But this would continue to hurt Beverly. Poor Beverly . . .

“
I don’t know,
” Marie said. She didn’t, not really. She knew it had to do with how she’d died, but she didn’t understand why she’d lingered for so long. Why she hadn’t been able to move on. That was done though. Without understanding how, she knew it. Something was calling her. Pulling her. And faintly, she thought she heard another voice, whispering her name. “
And I don’t really think I have the time to explain.
”

Beverly’s face crumpled and she looked beyond Marie to stare at Kyle. “Kyle. It was really him?”

“
I’m sorry.
” Another pull, this one harder, stronger. Commanding. She shuddered and felt it as she started to fade away again. With one desperate attempt, she pushed herself back and faced Beverly. “
It’s over now, Sis. Over and done . . . don’t let this tear you apart now.
”

And then she couldn’t fight it any longer. The warmth drew her and after being cold for so long, she didn’t even
want
to fight it.

 

 

A
NA nibbled on her thumbnail as the cop continued to speak with Beverly. Duke sat next to her, silent, and listening to the conversation taking place fifteen feet away.

So far, the older woman hadn’t said much of anything that could cause problems, but Duke wasn’t going to bank on their luck holding there. Already, he had a plan. If they got arrested, they’d get a call. One call was all it would take and this whole mess would be done.

But if it happened, Ana would have to leave Alaska. If she disappeared from jail, her face would be everywhere. The Council could and would clean the mess up but still, Ana wouldn’t be able to come back here for a good long time.

Oddly, he couldn’t find a whole lot of joy in that, though. She loved it here. He didn’t want her to lose that.

Behind them, the door to Beverly’s house was closed. The house was empty and silent. The oppressive weight that weighed down on his shoulders was gone, and so was the edgy, driving need that had been shouting warnings at him. Warnings he hadn’t focused on, because he’d been too convinced he knew who the killer was.

He hadn’t expected to see a threat here and Kyle had made damn sure that nobody could sense anything. Thank God the bastard hadn’t counted on Ana and her ghostly accomplices.

It really was done.

He reached up and rested a hand on Ana’s back, stroking it up and down. She leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. He needed the contact just then. Needed to touch her.

“What’s going to happen?” she asked quietly.

Duke glanced at the back of the ambulance, watching as one of the EMTs hopped out. “The EMTs think it was a heart attack. Makes sense that’s what they’ll find. His heart just gave out—I could hear it. It’s not like he’s young. Heart attacks are pretty commonplace. So it all depends on Beverly.”

“I don’t know if that’s good news or not,” she muttered. Her shoulders rose and fell on a sigh as she stared at the emergency vehicles parked in front of the house. “Either she lies or she tells the cops that her husband was killed by some angry ghosts because he was a killer.”

Duke rubbed his cheek against her head. “It will be okay. Just do me a favor—
if
by chance she mentions anything about ghosts, psychics, that sort of thing and the nice police officers decide we need to go in for questioning—play dumb. Act like you have no idea what they are talking about. And don’t worry. If this ends up causing problems, I’ll take care of it.”

“Go in for questioning—that’s something I don’t even want to think about.” She stirred in his arms and looked up at him. “Exactly how will you take care of it, though?”

“Remember that clandestine, uber-rich assembly of superheroes?” he asked teasingly. “They come in handy from time to time. We get tripped up from time to time. They won’t leave us hanging because we got in trouble doing what we’re supposed to do.”

“I’m not part of that, Duke. They’ve got no responsibility to me.”

He cupped her chin in his hand when she would have looked away. “You really think they’d leave you hanging, Ana?” There were other things he wanted to ask, wanted to say . . . like,
You’re part of me, does that count?
But this wasn’t the place. Wasn’t the time.

“Probably not,” she said, her mouth curving in a bitter smile. “Although I doubt any of them will be real happy that I’m causing them even more problems. After all, I’d probably be considered one hellacious liability if I ended up in jail.”

“You’re not a liability.” His hand tightened and then fell away. “And
you
didn’t cause this. I won’t let you catch trouble over it.”