The Haunting (Immortals) (32 page)

But there had been a voice, hadn’t there?

Mai
.

It came again—and she knew who was calling her name.

“Nick?”

Mai. Thank God you can hear me
.

“Where are you? Why can’t I see you?” To Mai, he sounded like he could be standing beside her.

I’m still in the wish dimension
.

“But I can hear you,” she said.

You hear my thoughts
.

But she was awake, so how could that be?
I don’t understand
. This time she thought it instead of saying it out loud.

We’re spirit mates
, he explained.
Our bond is spiritual first and physical second. No matter how far apart we are, we’ll always be able to speak to each other on the spiritual plane
.

She wasn’t alone. Knowing that helped ease her fear.
I
still wish you were with me physically
, she told him as the ache in her chest swelled.

Me, too. With all my heart
.

They fell into silence as they both worked to conquer their feelings.
Where’s Preston?
Nick finally asked.

I don’t know. I can’t see anything
.

You have to stop him
.

If the situation hadn’t been so dire, she would have laughed at the absurdity of his suggestion. If she was capable of stopping Preston, didn’t he think she would have done so by now?
No problem
, she thought with a healthy dose of sarcasm.
How do you propose I do that?

Yes. How?
Preston’s voice intruded. Then he laughed.
I’m just as at home in this dimension as you are, spirit walker. Maybe more so
.

Leave her alone
, Nick warned.

Or what?
There was more laughter when Nick didn’t reply.
That’s what I thought. Say good-bye to your girlfriend, spirit walker
.

Sarah’s mistake doesn’t have to be yours
, Nick said quickly, his voice fading.
I love you, Mai
.

Nick was gone and she was alone—except for Preston. Nick had tried to tell her something. Now she had to figure out what he’d meant. What mistake had Sarah made? When—

She bolted upright, sputtering for air as ice-cold water hit her in the face. Preston stood nearby, a metal bucket dangling from one hand.

“I just wanted to make sure you were fully awake,” he said with a smile.

“What are you going to do to me?”

“Kill you—as promised.”

His voice droned on and on as he told her just how he planned to kill her, but Mai had stopped listening. What had Sarah’s mistake been?

The sound of the bucket scraping across the floor snapped Mai’s attention back to the moment. “Time to go, princess,” Preston said. “Get up.”

“I don’t know if I can,” she said as she made a show of struggling. “My legs are stiff from lying on this cold floor so long.”

“Good news for you, then, that you’ll soon be too dead to care.” Despite his words, Preston came over to her and grabbed her by the arm. As he hauled her up, she wrapped her other arm around him and held on tightly because she’d just figured out what mistake Sarah had made.

Then she teleported back to her apartment, landing in front of the mirror.

Nick was waiting beside the portal and the instant Mai and Preston appeared, he reached out and dragged the Keltok demon through.

The portal closed behind them, but Nick didn’t let go of the demon until he had taken him deep into the realm. Above them floated the yellow threads of unfulfilled wishes, echoes of voices floating around them on the wind like the desperate moans of long forgotten ghosts.

“You can’t keep me here,” Preston growled, trying to free himself from Nick’s hold.

“You may be right,” Nick acknowledged. “But then, I wasn’t planning to hold you prisoner.”

Preston looked momentarily surprised, but then he gave a snort of laughter. “What? You think you can kill me?”

“I know I can.” Using the side of his hand, Nick hit him across the throat in a move that would have killed a human. Preston fell back, coughing, but still very much alive.

Recovering almost as fast as the genie had, Preston launched himself forward, faster than any opponent Nick had fought before. Preston came after him, tackling Nick
to the ground. Trapped beneath Preston, Nick struggled to turn himself. Using his legs for leverage, he flipped Preston into the air and over his head.

Instantly Nick was back on top, driving his fists into Preston’s face. They fought viciously, tirelessly. Nick’s entire body ached and he wondered how much more abuse he could dole out. Wondered how much more he could take.

As he struggled back to his feet for the hundredth time, he wondered if perhaps he’d overestimated his ability to hold Preston. Fear for Mai spurred him on. If he didn’t kill Preston, then he’d failed his spirit mate and put her life in danger.

Another set of wishes floated by, this time lit with the deep, dark yellow of powerful desire. Its rumbling noise vibrated across the fighting men.

“I wish Nick were free.”

“I wish for Nick to be safe.”

“I wish Nick to be with me.”

Accompanying these wishes was a softer litany of words running beneath them all. “I love him. I love him. I love him.”

As Nick drew closer to the portal, the yellow threads of wishes grew into a large, dense cloud that expanded downward, settling over Preston.

“No.” Preston’s protest was faint as the thrum of the wishes grew louder. “No. Let me go.”

Nick stepped away, unsure what was happening.

As he watched, the cloud took on the shape of golden coils. They wrapped around Preston like ropes and despite how he struggled, Preston couldn’t break the bonds.

He was lifted into the air and carried by the yellow cloud back into the tunnels. Unsure what magic was at work here, Nick turned and watched him go. Once Preston was out of sight, Nick turned back to the portal. Mai was
there, tears running down her cheeks, her lips moving in a silent prayer.

Nick moved closer and when he reached the portal, he reached out. Unexpectedly, the mirror opened at his touch and his hand slipped through. At the sight of him, Mai’s lips stilled. On a soft gasp, she rushed forward, threw her arms around his neck and pulled him forward for a kiss.

She tasted like warm honey and he knew that he’d never experience anything sweeter than this moment. He wished with all his being that it could last forever.

He deepened the kiss, unwilling to let it end. How long he kissed her, he had no idea, but eventually Mai pulled back and smiled. “Welcome home,” she whispered, her voice breaking with emotion.

“Home?” He was confused.

“You’re free.”

Startled, Nick looked around. She was right. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but he was standing in her living room. Behind him, the portal had closed and the only faces he saw when he looked in the mirror were his and Mai’s.

“It seems the dimension has a new genie.” She smiled and kissed his cheek. Then she thought of something. “What if Preston starts haunting the apartment building?”

“We’ll make sure he doesn’t, starting by taking down all the mirrors. Then we can ask your Coven of Light friends to cast a spell to keep him inside the dimension.” He hugged her to him. “But in any event, that’s not something you’re going to have to worry about.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you won’t be living here.”

She looked up at him. “And where will I be living?”

“With me.” He was dead serious and before she could say anything, he turned her so he could see into her face.
“Move in with me, Mai. Right now. We’ll get married as soon as we can arrange for the wedding and live in my apartment with Dave until we can find our own place.”

Mai leaned away so she could see his face. “You’re serious?” She sounded surprised and that worried him.

He’d been so sure about how he felt that he’d just assumed she felt the same. Had he been wrong? “If you need time to think about it—”

“No.”

“No?”

“Nick, while you were trapped in the dimension, all I had was time to think. I know my answer. Yes—I’ll marry you. I love you.”

At that moment, the phone rang. “Ignore it,” Mai said, leaning up to kiss him. Nick’s world tilted off its axis once again—but in a good way. In the background, he became aware of a man’s voice coming across on the answering machine telling Mai he’d read her article on Preston and had a lead on a possible story if she was interested.

To her credit, she didn’t answer the phone, but he could tell she’d listened to the message and had no doubt that they’d soon be chasing down the facts of a new story. Nick realized that with Mai, his life would never be peaceful and quiet, but he’d never be bored.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Dave asked Nick as they stood in the groom’s dressing room a week later.

“You make it sound like I’m getting ready for my funeral instead of my wedding.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

He didn’t need to say the words out loud for Nick to know the rest of that sentence was “like me.” “One day, you’ll find her.”

“Who?”

“Your spirit mate. The one worth risking your heart over.”

Dave scoffed. “Been there, done that. Still have the burn marks to show for it.”

“Lana was never your spirit mate,” Nick said sharply, daring to bring up the name neither of them had uttered in years. He knew the memory of her was painful for Dave and he didn’t want either of them to dwell on it tonight of all nights. “In the meantime,” he continued, attempting to steer to safer ground, “there are plenty of women still out there. Not even you could’ve slept with all of them.”

Dave grinned. “True. Did you see Mai’s third cousin out there? She’s hot.”

Just then, the door to the groom’s dressing room opened and Nick’s father stuck his head in. “It’s time.”

“All right,” Nick said. “We’re coming.”

Nick’s father retreated and after the door closed, Nick turned to Dave. “How do I look?”

“Like a man who’s found his purpose for living.”

Nick smiled. “I have. Now let’s get out there.”

They stepped out of the room and walked the short distance to where Nick’s father, who was performing the ceremony, waited for them.

Mai’s extended family filled one half of the church while Los Paseantes de Espíritu filled the other half. Lexi and Heather had decorated the church with white and pale green ribbons, flowers and magically produced glittering lights that bathed the otherwise dark room in their warm glow like hundreds of lit candles. None of it took his breath away as the image of his bride did when she appeared at the end of the aisle and started walking toward him.

“Would you like to dance?”

Jenna looked up into the too-handsome face of Dave Runningbear wondering what his agenda might be. They’d sat beside each other at the table reserved for the bridal party and eaten an entire meal without saying a single word to each other beyond “pass the salt, please.” Not exactly stimulating conversation. Now he was asking her to dance?

She knew better than to think he was trying to flirt with her. Maybe it was a pity dance because she’d been sitting by herself for some time now. She didn’t like being anyone’s charity case. “Thanks,” she said. “But you don’t have to.”

He extended his hand to her. “I know.”

It had never occurred to her that he might actually want to dance with her. She quickly squashed the thought. She’d seen who he flirted with and she was not his type.

Still, she placed her hand in his and let him guide her onto the dance floor. The music that was playing transitioned to a slow tune and when Dave pulled her into his arms, Jenna felt a moment of panic.

“Relax,” he told her. “I don’t bite.” When she tried to put some space between them, he simply pulled her closer. “Just listen to the music. Feel the rhythm.” He put his hand against her lower back and pressed her hips into his as he moved to the music. It was deliciously erotic and Jenna let him sweep her away in the moment.

When the music stopped, it took her a moment to realize that they had stopped moving and she was standing here with her arms around Dave with her eyes closed. She opened them and felt the blood rush to her face. Dave was staring down at her with a bemused, curious expression on his face.

“I should go,” Jenna said, sounding breathless. “Thank you.”

She pulled out of his arms and disappeared into the crowd. Under other circumstances, she would push the entire embarrassing episode from her mind and move on with her life. This time, she didn’t have that luxury.

She went to find Mai and Nick, and congratulated them once more. “You leaving so soon?” Mai asked.

“I thought I’d try to get up early and start looking for a job.”

“You know you’re welcome to stay at the apartment with us for as long as you need to,” Nick told her. “And don’t worry about Dave, he won’t mind.”

“Thanks, you two. I appreciate all you’ve done for me. Now, go enjoy your reception and don’t worry about me. Congratulations again.”

She left them then and hurried back to her room. Tomorrow was another day and she’d face it when it came.

“Finally, I have you all to myself,” Nick said as he carried Mai across the threshold. They were spending their wedding night in a bed-and-breakfast not far from Nick’s village in upstate New York.

At one point in the ceremony, Darius’ mother, Sekhmet, had dropped in unexpectedly. Since Mai was godmother to Sekhmet’s grandson, the goddess had a vested interest in Mai’s well-being—which meant she was also interested in checking out the man who had won Mai’s heart. Mai assumed she approved of Nick because she hadn’t struck him dead.

The ceremony had proceeded smoothly and for hours afterward, Mai and Nick had visited with their family and close friends. Now it was late and Mai wanted nothing more than to be alone with her new husband.

Husband. She couldn’t get over it. When she thought back to how lonely she’d been just months earlier…

“Why the frown, love?” Nick asked, releasing her legs so she could stand without letting her out of his embrace.