Death at First Sight (Spero Heights Book 2) (7 page)

BOOK: Death at First Sight (Spero Heights Book 2)
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Chapter Twelve

 

 

Dr. Delph shut himself inside the community closet and pressed his back against the door. His heart refused to slow its tireless march.

What was wrong with him? He knew better than to invade someone’s mind so directly. Lia was a patient, and she needed serious help, but it had been all he could do to keep from pulling her into his arms. Surely the Fates hadn’t delivered her for his purposes. His mind was just clouded and projecting solutions to his problem where there weren’t any. But then why was Lia having this effect on him?

He’d gathered so much more in their second meeting. She was a sharp one, picking up on his reading within the first few minutes. Of course, her talent was a rarer variety than his own. It was more violent as well. And some creep had been keeping her locked up and doped to abuse that talent. She deserved better. Spero Heights could offer better.

Dr. Delph pushed away from the door and fingered through the hanging garments in the closet, pausing on a white sundress with a blue sash tied in a bow at the waist. It would look good on her, and it was perfect for a first date.

First date?
He shook his head and huffed out an embarrassed laugh. There were jeans and blouses in the closet too—along with riot gear that Selena had insisted he keep handy in case the humans discovered their secrets and stormed the town with torches and pitchforks.

He rolled his eyes and pushed the Kevlar vest and body shield further toward the back of the closet before hesitating on the dress again. He removed it from the hanger and laid it over his arm, rationalizing its selection by the fact that he intended to give her a proper tour of the town. That required dressing up, did it not?

He found a pair of matching blue flats and also grabbed one of the care packages from the top shelf before leaving the closet. Daisy surprised him in the hallway.

“Is that for the newcomer?” she asked, eying the lot tucked in his arms.

“Yes,” he answered curtly, still somewhat vexed with her over their last conversation.

“It’s beautiful,” Daisy said, taking in the white dress. “Too beautiful. Are you going to a party?”

“No.” He stepped around her, only to have her reappear in his path again.

“You fancy this one.” Daisy sounded alarmed. “What makes her different from the others?”

Dr. Delph pressed his lips together and looked into her black eyes. “She’s a seer of sorts, so she would be a very useful asset to the town—”

“Like you?” The ghostly wind in Daisy’s hair picked up, a sign that she was growing agitated. She lifted a few more inches into the air, her transparent nightgown whipping at her ankles.

Dr. Delph took a step back. “Not quite, but—”

“Just like you,” Daisy went on without hearing him. “She feels and breathes and eats and sees what’s to come. And I’m just a dead thing. Dead and gone and nearly forgotten.” Her voice echoed back from the opposite end of the hall, growing fiercer and rattling the walls.

“Daisy,” Dr. Delph snapped loudly, finally drawing her attention. “It’s Monday. Shouldn’t you be in summer school?”

She cocked her head to one side and blinked. “Oh. Yes.” Then she was gone.

Enrolling the poltergeist at Spero Heights Private School had been a productive move. There were only a few dozen youths who attended, but they were just unique enough to accept Daisy as one of their own. And the professors were creative and willing to handle a broody ghost in their classrooms. Her mood swings were apparently on par with most teenagers—even the non-supernatural variety.

Dr. Delph sighed and closed the door to the community closet before heading back to Lia’s room. He could hear the shower running when he entered, and quickly laid out the items he’d brought before retreating out into the hallway.

He sat down on the floor while he waited, his eyes closed and back pressed up against the opposite wall. Too many of his waking hours had been spent meditating lately, a vain mental quest for answers or absolution. He wasn’t sure which he needed most at this point.

His deflated mood was affecting his work even worse than the Fates’ absence, making him appreciate Orpheus House’s current low patient count. A half-demon suffering from panic attacks was staying in the room across from Lia’s, and a depressed nymph was further down the hall. There was also Mrs. Clyde, the cheese factory manager’s wife. She’d been there the longest—besides Daisy—and she had a special, more private room in the basement.

“Dr. Delph?”

He opened his eyes to find Nora standing over him. The cordless office phone in her hand was held far away from her pointed ear, and Selena’s voice blared from the speaker.

“It seemed like it might be important,” Nora said regretfully.

Dr. Delph grimaced as he took the phone from her. He held it just close enough to his ear to make out what Selena was saying in between her frequent strings of profanity.

“We just fixed one damn problem with the stray mutts.” She paused to growl through her teeth. “Delph, I’m getting sick and fucking tired of your bullshit.”

“She was dropped on our doorstep. What was I supposed to do with her?” He stood and walked further down the hall for fear Lia would overhear their conversation.

“Why didn’t you call me?” Selena barked in his ear.

“It was early. You probably weren’t even back from your run yet.”

“It’s nine o’clock. I’m back now!”

“Yes. I gathered that much,” he said dryly.

“Well?” Selena asked. “What needs to be done?”

Dr. Delph’s throat went dry. Usually, when Selena asked that question, she wanted to know if her
services
were going to be needed. Unwelcome outsiders were either scared away—courtesy of Daisy—or if they posed a significant threat, then Selena was called in to take care of them.

“Delph? Come in, Dr. Spacey.”

“I’m here.” He licked his lips. “Our new guest is fine. There’s no need for you to bother coming into town.” Then something occurred to him, a thought that wormed its way through his anxiety. “Who called you?”

“Ben, of course.” Selena snorted. “You think I’d answer the phone for anyone else? Hell, I don’t even like answering when it’s
you
.”

Dr. Delph smiled. That made two of them. Ben had likely crossed paths with Zelda after she left Orpheus House that morning—though he wouldn’t be the one to remind Selena of the gnome’s affiliation with the witch she despised.

“She’s a seer,” he confessed. A long pause followed. Then Selena cleared her throat.

“Well, guess I should stop planning her demise then. Can’t have her getting wind of that.”

“She’s no threat to us. I think she might actually be useful,” Dr. Delph said. It was the only legitimate excuse he could come up with, even though he had no intention of pushing Lia to offer up her gifts for anyone’s benefit. She’d had enough of that forced on her. But he couldn’t very well tell Selena Chase, the hardest of hardasses, that he had a
crush.
A shiver rolled up his spine at the thought.

“Fine,” Selena said. “Just as long as she doesn’t start harboring a bunch of ex-cons once she gets settled. You’ve already spent your one get-out-of-jail-free card on that
witch
.” Selena refused to say Zelda’s name.

“Deal.” Dr. Delph didn’t have to worry about Lia harboring fugitives, but he conveniently forgot to mention to Selena that she might be one.

 

Chapter Thirteen

 

 

Lia had thought to take a
quick
shower, but her fingers pruned before she realized how much time had passed. It was hard not to enjoy herself.

The tiled shower stall was clean as if someone had just scrubbed it before she arrived, and a little nook built into the wall displayed an array of fancy, organic soaps and shampoos. Saunders never brought her anything like that. He expected her to make a bottle of dollar store shampoo and a box of bar soap last three months.

Her stomach knotted when she thought of him, clenching even tighter when she remembered the pills waiting in the apartment back in St. Louis. Her mind hadn’t settled since she’d left. Since she’d
escaped
. It sounded so daring, and she guessed it was.
Daring
just wasn’t a label she was used to wearing.

A sharp pain in her temple pulsated, and she tilted her face up into the spray of the showerhead, a sparkling silver contraption the size of a dinner plate and with more pressure than she thought possible. It helped a little, but she couldn’t stand in there all day.

If she’d been a good girl and stayed put in the apartment, she would have already taken her pills by now. Saunders had probably stocked the cupboards with a box of pancake mix and a bottle of that fake syrup. She wondered if her morning soaps had started yet.
Would Danielle find the man who had run off with her baby?

She turned off the shower and shivered. There was comfort in the familiar, no matter how dangerous. But she couldn’t go back to that life. It was wrong. She knew that well enough. A sinking feeling in her gut told her that if Saunders ever saw her again, he’d put a bullet between her eyes.

Lia wrapped herself in a fluffy towel and poked her head into the room. It was empty, but she could tell someone had stopped by while she was in the shower. There was a white dress spread across the bed and a pair of blue shoes on one of the chairs at the small table.

Lia looked down at her bare feet, wondering what had happened to the new sneakers Saunders bought her. They’d been missing when she’d come to in the apartment. Maybe he was going to return them and get his money back. He had probably hoped she would wake up by the time they arrived, and she’d be able to walk herself into the downgraded prison. Bare feet might have looked a little too suspect.

She grinned at the thought of him having to carry her the whole way. Served him right. Though he could have been more gentle, she noted, taking in the bruises across her arms in the wide bathroom mirror. The bruise on her cheek wasn’t much to look at either.

She stepped out into the room and quickly pulled the dress over her head before using the towel to finish drying her hair. Then she slipped on the shoes. They were comfortable. She swished the skirt of the dress and a small laugh whispered past her lips. She hadn’t been this presentable since her father’s funeral. It was a sobering memory.

A small, zippered bag on the bed caught her attention. That was new too. She picked it up and opened it, revealing a hairbrush, toothbrush, deodorant, and several other random hygiene items—all nicer than the stuff Saunders delivered. There was also a pair of new underwear. Lia blushed, recalling that she wasn’t wearing any under the dress.

A soft knock came at the door, and then it cracked open an inch. “Are you ready?” Dr. Delph asked.

“Ready for what?” Lia quickly stuffed the underwear down in the bathroom bag before he entered the room.

“I’d like to take you on a tour of the town. Then maybe we could talk some more over lunch.” He gave her a nervous smile.

Lia didn’t know what to think. She had expected a pair of strong-armed, uniformed nurses would come to assist the doctor if he intended to transfer her to a different room. But a tour of the town? Could he be serious?

Dr. Delph watched her a moment, his eyes more perceptive than they had any right to be. “Do you need more time?” he asked, nodding down at the bag in her hands.

“Yes.” She shook her head, clearing her suspicious mind. “Just five more minutes,” she said, turning for the bathroom.

“Take your time.”

Dr. Delph folded his hands behind his back and waited by the door, while Lia quickly brushed her hair and teeth and slicked on some deodorant. It felt weird on her skin. Saunders never bought it for her. She didn’t need to smell fancy for him, he’d say, as if he was doing her a favor by reducing her daily hygiene ritual.

It was hard to push him out of her mind. He had been the master of her universe for so long. She’d come to rely on the routine they’d established. She knew her lines and what came next. Now what was she supposed to do?

Every decision that she had to make on her own was terrifying, like her life was an endless madhouse of door A and door B choices. At any moment, she felt like she’d choose the wrong one and fall to her death. Why had she crawled through that hole in the apartment floor and ruined everything?

Dr. Delph smiled and gave her a once-over when she opened the bathroom door. “I hope you don’t mind the dress, but it’s such a lovely day outside. I thought jeans would be too warm for you.”

“It’s fine.” Lia tried to smile, but the expression felt awkward on her face. It wasn’t something she was used to doing often.

Dr. Delph opened the door to the room and motioned her through ahead of him. Lia froze at the threshold and glanced up and down the hall. It was empty.

“Were you expecting someone?” Dr. Delph asked.

Lia frowned at him, waiting for his telepathy to kick in.

“You won’t find any bodybuilding man nurses around here. I’m afraid it’s just me—and a few staff members who take care of the cooking and cleaning.” Dr. Delph nodded down the hallway, inviting her to walk with him toward a pair of double doors at the end. “I’m not in the habit of holding people against their will. Most of my patients check themselves in, and many of them only stay for a few months.”

“Where do you transfer them?” Lia asked.

“Transfer?” Dr. Delph blinked. “Nowhere. They usually find work in town and move into one of the surrounding neighborhoods, once they’ve saved enough money.”

“You cure them?” Lia raised an eyebrow. “All of them?”

Dr. Delph blew out a long, slow breath. “The only thing many of them needed cured was the way they viewed themselves and their place in the world."

He stopped in front of the double doors, and Lia lifted a hand up to shield her face from the sunlight streaming through the glass. Her eyes burned from the intensity of it, and her head began to throb again.

Dr. Delph opened a door along the interior wall of the hallway and pulled a floppy, blue sunhat off a shelf. He set it on her head, and then gently tucked her hair behind her ears. “We’ll stop at the pharmacy first and pick up some ibuprofen.”

“You’re joking, right?” Lia remembered when Saunders had tried to pacify her with over-the-counter meds. That was before he started rationing them out. He’d left a bottle of acetaminophen in her cupboard. She’d taken them all and spent the rest of the day puking blood. When Saunders showed up the next morning, he was pissed. It was the one time he had hit her.

Dr. Delph’s hand found hers and squeezed. “You haven’t given me permission to access your medical records or run any tests, so I cannot in good conscience prescribe anything stronger. But—” he added, seeing her dismay, “I’m very well versed in holistic treatments. The best cup of peppermint tea, among other delights, await us.”

“Peppermint tea?” Lia was skeptical.

Dr. Delph shrugged and offered her his arm. “What can it hurt?”

She wondered that herself as she timidly slipped her hand under his arm and rested it on his bicep. Her heart hammered out a foreign tune as she swallowed her fear. Then Dr. Delph opened one of the double doors, and they stepped out into the world.

BOOK: Death at First Sight (Spero Heights Book 2)
6.93Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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