Timeless Moon (31 page)

"You have a point."

"Thank you." She turned and walked down the corridor to their left, her rubber sandals sinking soundlessly into thick plush of the tan and turquoise patterned carpet. It was too thick to even allow the flips to flop. When she reached the fourth door she slid the card key into its slot. When the light flashed green, Rick opened the door, holding it open for her.

It was a nice room, not elaborate, but definitely comfortable. The walls were papered in textured linen, the carpet and drapes a deep tan. The furnishings were of heavy dark wood, polished to a warm sheen. The king-size bed took up most of the room. It's bedspread was tan, off white, and brown stripes that exactly matched the fabric of the chairs that flanked a circular table in the corner beneath the window.
Josette
crossed the room to look at the view. Rick, meanwhile, made his way to the bathroom.

"Do
you need
in here? I'm going to take a shower?"

"Go ahead, I can wait."
Josette
sprawled out on top of the king-size bed listening to Rick hum to himself as the water began running in the shower. There was a folder on top of the nightstand. She supposed it probably had the room service menu. She needed to eat. Rick needed to eat. The sun was going down on the first night of the full moon. She didn't doubt that as powerful alphas, she and Rick could control their beasts. But eating a meal heavy in protein would help. Unfortunately, she wasn't the least bit hungry. In fact, the thought of food was a little bit nauseating.

It was nerves. All the time and effort she'd spent, and here she was, back where she started. They were no closer to saving her friends, and they'd lost Ellen in the process. People could use every platitude they wished about it not being her fault, but she knew better. She should have removed Ellen from the home as soon as she met Ray. One call to
Angelique,
the head of the raptors, would have been all it would have taken. But instead, she worried about
appearances
and relied on the judgment of others.

Tears stung her eyes once more. She closed them, fighting not to cry because once she started she
wouldn't be able to stop. She was so afraid, and so unutterably weary. But from now on, she was going to rely on her own instincts
…
her own reaction to
—

—
reaction to the news.

He was standing in a greenhouse, hat in hand. Shifting nervously from foot to foot as his brother entered and spoke. "What do you mean, she escaped and cannot be found? " The words were spoken in Spanish, but
Josette
translated them in her mind. She couldn't see the face of the speaker, he had his back to the man whose mind she was in. He appeared to be busy tending an exotic plant of some sort. "You had the Sazi's
bruja
in the palm of your hand in the motel, you and
how many
of my men? And yet still, somehow, she survives. And she managed to kill Maja in the process!"

The body began to tremble, when he spoke, his voice was unsteady, "Paolo, brother
…
I
—"

"Do not call me brother, Ernesto." The man refused to turn and look at his sibling, and spat on the floor. It was as though he considered the other man beneath his contempt. "I will not have the shame you have brought on yourself spread to the rest of our family. We have a calling to serve her. To protect her is our sole purpose for living."

"I will go back
—"

"No. That job is for others now."

Ernesto felt the rush of power behind and above

him, heard the gentle rustle of leaves. He spun around, and might have cried out, but the giant anaconda had wrapped him in its coils quicker than the eye could see.

He tried to fight, but the coils tightened inexorably, crushing the bones and breath from his body. His vision narrowed, darkened. The last thing he saw was his brother casually trimming dead leaves from his favorite plant with a pair of garden shears.

Josette
sat upright in the bed, gasping for air. Her lungs burned as though starved for oxygen. It took a long moment before she fully recognized that she was in an elegantly appointed hotel room. She stared at the textured wallpaper and striped satin chairs, deliberately reminding herself that it had only been a vision. Another real-time one, it felt like. But she was in Albuquerque, not in the Colombian jungle. Yes, it was Colombia. She knew that now.

But
this
was reality. She was alive in this hotel, with Rick. She reached over to grab the television remote from the bedside table. With the press of a button she turned on the flat-screened television in its dark wood
armoire.
She entered the number for the weather channel, seeing for herself the date and time. But still the tears came. So many deaths, and all because of her damned
gift.

Rick stepped out of the bathroom, wearing only a
towel around his waist, using another to rub his hair dry. He stopped just inside the main room. Nostrils flaring, he turned to
Josette.

"Josie, are you all right?" He crossed over to the bed in two quick steps, letting the towels drop to the floor in his haste.

"A vision." She gasped out the words. "It was just a stupid vision." She looked up at him through tears.
Stupid, so stupid.
Ernesto had been her enemy
—had come in force to the hotel with the express purpose of killing her. She had killed so many snakes just like him just as casually as Roberto had in the name of self-preservation. It made no sense to be this upset by his death. And yet, she was. Rick had reminded her of what she'd lost.

"Mon Dieu
…
I
have
become a monster."

"What?" He touched her face gently. "You're not a monster."

She shook her head. "You asked at the gas station what I'd become
…
who
I'd become. That's my answer. I've become a monster. But I'm not willing to stay one."

Rick sat down on the bed beside her. Gently, he pulled her into his arms. She rested her head against his chest, small rough chest hairs, tickling her cheek as she breathed in the mingled scents of soap and skin as he held her close, stroking her hair with one hand.

She felt him lean down and kiss the top of her head. "Better?"

She nodded, still not trusting her voice.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

He nodded once, without pushing. "Okay."

Josette
wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug. His complete acceptance and kindness was exactly what she needed right now. She knew of no one else in her life capable of allowing her to talk, or not talk about the things she saw in her visions. Rick alone seemed to accept that for the space of the visions she
lived
that reality, the perceptions and emotions she experienced were just as intense and real as any she had in the here and now.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" She breathed the words against his drying skin.

"Oh, about half as much as I love you." He reached down to take her chin in his hand. Ever so gently he tilted her head up so that he could claim a kiss. "Let's order some food and rent a movie on pay-per-view. It'll take your mind off things."

"All right." She agreed. "But first I have to call Raphael and let him know where we are."

She used the hotel phone to dial the number. When no one answered after the third ring she left a message for him, just Cerise's name and the name of the hotel.

They chose a cartoon from Pixar and were cuddled up together naked under the covers laughing when the food arrived. Giggling,
Josette
ducked into the
bathroom, leaving Rick to wrap himself in the sheets and deal with the room service attendant.

The almond trout was heavenly. It had been cooked to perfection, and the tastes melted on her tongue. She was savoring a large bite, her mouth full, when the phone rang.

Rick reached across her to pick up the receiver. "Hello? Oh hi, Raphael."

Josette
set down her fork and moved her tray to the table. Coming up behind Rick, she snuggled against his back. She could hear his heartbeat speed at her touch. She could also hear every word of the telephone conversation.

"I've got someone dealing with your paperwork issue right now, Rick, but it's going to take a few hours. We've arranged for your tickets on Delta, leaving at 9:00
a.m.
tomorrow. I know I said this evening, but we couldn't nail down the connecting flight. You'll have a short layover in Atlanta. You should get to Daytona Beach at around 5:30."

"5:30
tomorrow?"
She couldn't keep her voice from cracking. They would be cutting it so terribly close. Especially since they had to find the fourth book, buried a hundred years ago beneath the bricks of a lighthouse.

Raphael sighed. "I know. I know. It's later than I'd like, too, but I swear it's the best we can do. You wouldn't believe the hell I had to go through just to manage that."

"I'm so
rr
y."
Josette
spoke up, knowing he'd be able to hear. "I don't mean to criticize. It's just that
—" She stopped, unsure what to say. She didn't need to worry people any further. They'd just have to get the book quickly.

"I know. I'm worried about them, too. Cat even offered to
buy
a frigging jet if it would help, but Tatya swears that they've got everything under control for now, that we just need to get you there before sunset tomorrow." He continued. "Amber says to thank you
—the siphoning worked perfectly. They've been able to maintain an acceptable level of power by constantly pulling and then feeding it back to them. Antoine's wife is a little tired, but is hanging in there. The main thing is to make sure that you're rested up and at full strength when you arrive. So, stay at the hotel tonight. Get a good night's sleep. I'll send Carly over in the morning."

"Raphael,"
Josette
spoke softly. "I can't thank you enough for everything you've done."

"You'd do the same for me. Hell, you practically
did
by putting me in touch with Carly. I figure we're even."

"Not even close. But thank you."

"No problem. Now you two get to bed, and try to get at least a little sleep. Otherwise Amber will have my head."

He hung up while they were laughing.

Josette
and Rick finished their meals and left the
trays in the hall for pick up along with their completed breakfast selections. Unfortunately, the clothing shop closed before they could buy anything, so they'd have to rely on Raphael coming through in a pinch. Rick decided to watch one of the many CSI shows on the television.
Josette
took a shower. The two of them were cuddled together in bed by nine and asleep by ten with a wake-up call scheduled for 6:00
a.m.

Josette
woke at
5:00, spooned tightly in Rick's arms. His breath tickled where it ruffled the hair by her ear. His heart beat slow and strong against her back. Moving carefully so as not to wake him, she shifted out from beneath his grasp. He made grumbly noises in his sleep, but settled down deeper beneath the covers.

Stifling a chuckle, she padded over to the bathroom. She made use of the facilities, then started running herself a hot bubble bath using the bottle provided by the hotel. She did it not because she needed to get clean, just because she wanted one. The past few days had been incredibly long and stressful. The day ahead promised more of the same. While she had the luxury of time and unlimited hot water, she wanted to do something nice for herself.

She'd settled in nicely, submerged up to the neck in bubbles, when she heard Rick climb out of bed.

"Josie?"

"I'm in the tub."

"Shit." She heard him mutter under his breath.

"It's all right. You can come in if you need to. The door's unlocked." She pulled the shower curtain
closed to give them each a bit of privacy. Yes, they'd been married. She had seen Rick going to the bathroom before. But still, they were just starting to get reacquainted. She wasn't in any hurry to have the "newness" wear off.

He pushed open the door with an apology and took a deep breath of the steam-filled air. "Wow. That actually smells like
…
mango and grapefruit instead of chemicals."

"I know. It's one of those aromatherapy blends that's supposed to be energizing and invigorating." She ducked under the water to get her hair wet, and also so she wouldn't hear what he was doing. When she emerged a moment later she heard him turning off the taps of the sink.

He pulled the edge of the shower curtain aside to peek through. "I don't suppose you'd like some company in there?" He wiggled his eyebrows lasciviously. "I could use some invigorating."

"The tub's not that big." She observed. "And I'm sensing a certain amount of vigor from you even without the bubbles."

"Ah." He pulled the curtain fully open and sat down on the edge of the tub. "Can I at least scrub your back for you?" He reached over to pluck a washcloth from the rack mounted on the wall. He tried for an expression of helpful innocence, but she wasn't buying it. Not with the way his eyes were dancing, and the muscle at the corner of his mouth twitching.