Forever and Beyond (8 page)

“You gave me no choice,” Julie muttered. “You help me, and after this is over you won’t see me again. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.” I sighed exasperated. It was a great deal…for her because, the way I saw it, I was drawing the shorter straw either way.

“At least you’re not being possessed again,” Kieran said, inching closer until he stood inches away from my face, his eyes scrutinizing me. “Or are you?” He turned to address Aidan. “Are you sure it’s even her? Don’t you think she looks a bit grumpier than usual?”

I rolled my eyes. “How people could stand living with you for five hundred years is beyond me.”

“Whoa!” Julie gasped. “Five hundred years? Hot dude is a walking—What the hell is he?” Her forehead creased in concentration. She almost choked on her breath as she put two and two together. “He’s an angel, isn’t he?”

Kieran an angel? Seriously? I wanted to slap my forehead. Or hers. “He’s a vampire, Julie.”

“Oh.” I could tell from her incredulous expression she didn’t want to believe me. “But how can he walk around in daylight?”

I decided to ignore her because that’s what people in the paranormal forums instruct one to do upon meeting a ghost. So far that advice proved useless, but I figured I could give it another try. I turned my attention back to Kieran and Aidan. “Let’s talk about more important matters, like getting rid of Julie.”

“Yeah, well, I want to hurry this deal up too,” Julie said.

“You’re freaking me out whenever you stare into thin air like there’s someone there.” Shuddering, Kieran put some space between us, as though I wasn’t right in the head…and paced straight through Julie’s ghost.

I regarded him intently, waiting for a reaction from him that he at least felt
something
. He slumped into the plush sofa and placed his booted feet on the side table, unaware of Julie’s adoring stare.

“He’s so cute, Amber,” she said. “Did you notice how he tried to touch me?”

I shook my head. “He didn’t.”

“Oh, he so did.” She peered at me triumphantly. “You’re just jealous I got the hotter guy.”

There, she said it again. I couldn’t let this one slip by. “Julie, he doesn’t even hear you.”

“He’s so pretty, he’s so fine, I just
wanna
make him mine,” she began to sing, over and over again. I wanted to press my palms against my ears to tune out the high-pitched noise. Not only did I manage to pick up an irritating ghost, but also one who was bordering on the cuckoo side.

“What’s she doing?” Kieran asked.

“See? He senses me,” she exclaimed in joy. The girl was definitely living in a fantasy world.

“You don’t want to know,” I mumbled.

“She’s that bad, huh?” Aidan’s gorgeous lips curved into the most stunning smile. I rose on my toes to kiss him but only managed to reach his chin. Good enough for me. “What happened to her?” he continued.

I shook my head. “Don’t know. She can’t remember, which is strange because it’s about the only thing she can’t recall. The reaper turned up but never cut the life cord. Apparently she’s supposed to fulfill a purpose. She thinks it has something to do with her death, which is why she wants me to help.” I clicked my tongue, remembering I completely forgot to address the incident in the hall, think Aidan drawing his dagger at Blake. Aidan probably thought his behavior was justified, meaning a discussion would turn into a confrontation. I wasn’t up for it so I moved on to a more relevant matter. “Don’t you think it’s strange that something happened to Julie on the day of our arrival?”

“She died the evening
before
we arrived.” Aidan inspected the corridor, then closed the backdoor leading to the garden and sat down on the sofa opposite from Kieran, drawing me close. It was his way to signal we were about to have a private conversation. A dark shadow crossed his features. He moistened his lips and shook his head slightly. “The girl was murdered, there’s no doubt about it, and yet Blake insisted she died of a natural cause.”

“It seems like he’s trying to cover it up,” I said.

“Are you sure you’re not being paranoid again?” Kieran said with a smile, but his voice betrayed an edge that told me he trusted his brother’s judgment. He set his feet down from the table and leaned forward, listening intently.

“I smelled blood on her,” Aidan said.

I nodded. “Me too. It was the reason why I went to investigate her body in the first place. And that’s when I met the ghost. People don’t usually go around smelling of blood.”

“Unless a girl has that time of the month.” Kieran’s voice trailed off, embarrassed.

I shook my head. “She must’ve bit her tongue during the attack, which brings me to the question why there were no marks or any sign of a struggle on her body.”

Aidan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. A frown creased his forehead as he began to go through possible explanations. The moment he turned to face me I knew he had come up with a good one. “When you were possessed by Rebecca’s ghost you did things she wanted you to do.” I nodded, so he continued, “You said you had no choice. Do you think Julie was possessed and killed herself?”

I pondered his question for a few seconds. It was possible but not likely. Suicide usually leaves a trail behind, a last attempt to save oneself at the last minute, which I told him adding, “Unless it was odorless poison, in which case she could’ve died in her sleep and never noticed.”

“She could’ve suffocated after taking it,” Kieran chimed in.

“Suffocation’s not likely. You would’ve seen small red or purple blotches in her eyes or on her face,” Aidan said.

“Look who watched
Law And Order
!” Kieran winked at me.

I stifled a snort. “Nah, he wouldn’t be caught dead switching on the television set. Being born in the middle ages, he probably thinks a talking box is the devil’s invention straight from the pits of Hell.”

“Thanks for making me feel old.” Aidan grimaced and shot us an irritated look, his eyes sparkling. He looked so cute when he was wound up. I squeezed his hand.

“I say we get some swabs, skin cells, fingerprints, DNA, the whole shebang,” Kieran said.

“If this place had forensics, we’d be golden.” I heaved a sigh. “Until then you’ll have to make do with my immortal eyes. Unfortunately, they saw nothing.”

“An autopsy could pinpoint the exact cause of death,” Kieran persisted.

“Cut me up?” Julie hissed in my ear. “I think not!”

“Do you know any medical examiners? I asked Kieran.

A pause, then, “Well, no.”

I smiled. “Then shut up.”

We fell silent again. A grandfather clock struck a full hour, and then silence enveloped us once more. I realized even Julie had become quiet, meaning she was still listening to our conversation. As uncomfortable as that made me feel, I figured it might just kick-start her memory, so I didn’t try to send her away. I removed imaginary lint from my jeans, avoiding her wide-eyed, questioning gaze.

Kieran spoke first. “Maybe it wasn’t so much poison as something else that made her pliant.”

“I didn’t eat or drink anything out of the ordinary,” Julie said quietly, her thin voice startling me. My gaze swept over her stubborn expression. “Every night, we have bread, butter and water, which is served in the community room. It would’ve been hard to poison me and not everyone else in the room.”

I relayed her words to Aidan and Kieran.

Kieran cocked a brow. “Bread and butter? Where was she? Prison?”

“Focus,” Aidan said sharply.

Kieran cleared his throat and tapped a hand against his thigh, thinking. ““So, it wasn’t poison. Mind control, then. I really think she killed herself.”

Julie gasped. Hearing other people talking about her death couldn’t be easy, so I shot her a sympathetic look. “There’s something I need to do. See you later,” she said. Keeping her head high, she smiled weakly and floated past me through the closed door.

“Sure. Take your time,” I whispered after her.

“Is she gone?” Aidan asked. I nodded. “Poor girl.”

“I think the suicide part was a bit too much,” I said, “and I couldn’t agree more. We’re not in
Star Trek
.”

Aidan’s jaw set. And that’s when I remembered my first date with him. He was an immortal bounty hunter; I was a mortal unaware of the existence of his world so, naturally, I had been nervous, even scared because I somehow felt the danger around him.
And although I was both physically and spiritually drawn to him, I had no intention to hook up with the boss. So what exactly happened to my resolution? I tried my best to resist his good looks, but then he did something to me. I’m pretty sure he invaded my mind to soothe me, sending me into a deep sleep, from which I only awoke when his lips pressed against mine in the most tender kiss I ever had. I shuddered at the thought, and it wasn’t just with pleasure.

“Can a vampire influence your mind?” I asked, staring at Aidan directly in the hope he’d get the hint. He didn’t and I made a mental note to ask him when we were alone in our bedroom. That is, if Julie had a sense of privacy.

“Not any vampire. Only the first or second generation after a master,” Aidan said.

I did the math inside my head. “You’re a second generation. Rebecca was a first since she turned you. And she was turned by—”

“Her master, Flavius,” Aidan said.

“He’s dead,” Kieran whispered. “And Rebecca’s a ghost.”

Aidan hesitated, considering his words. “But they will rise. Once all four shards merge, the mirror can turn anyone into flesh and blood. That’s what the prophecy’s all about. Three races fighting for supremacy, of which the vampires could be the winners. And by vampires I mean Flavius, Rebecca, and their army. They’re about the last people you want to win a war.” Aidan shut his eyes as he spoke, his memory traveling back. Because of our bond, pictures flooded my mind: pictures of pain and tears, of death and destruction washing over the world. I shook my head to get rid of the disturbing images but only managed to intensify them, until Aidan opened his eyes again. There was urgency in them. Whatever Rebecca’s plans were, recent events had shown that she had come a lot closer to her goals when she found fragments of the mirror that could entrap souls and release those trapped. Aidan had one shard of the mirror, Rebecca the other three. I had no doubt she’d attack us to get her hands on the last fragment. And then her master would return to claim the world.

“That reminds me, did you get a meeting with the Council?” I asked Aidan.

He shook his head. “Blake’s trying but it’s as though they’re avoiding us.” He spat his former friend’s name like it was poison.

 
I sighed. “I know you’re still mad at him, but can you please try to put it all aside, at least until this war’s won?”

He squirmed in his seat, hesitating, which made me groan. Aidan was as stubborn as a mule. Cass claimed it was a trait Scottish men are known for but, usually, he was also known for being the sensible one. That he wouldn’t budge in this particular case made no sense.

“What’s wrong?” I brushed his hair out of his eyes, ignoring Kieran’s warning look.

Aidan turned to face me but didn’t answer. His grim expression reflected the way he felt inside: torn, unsure what to do. I tuned into our bond and let my mind reach out to his, fighting layer of layer of emotional fog and secrecy, when the telltale barrier hit me with full force. He wasn’t ready to share whatever bothered him.

“You’re keeping secrets again,” I said, pushing him away angrily.

“He’s not the one keeping secrets,” Kieran whispered. “It’s Blake. So don’t be angry at him.”

I narrowed my gaze. “What secrets?”

“Secrets that can cost him his life,” Kieran said.

“I don’t understand. Whose life?” I asked, confused.

“Blake’s,” Kieran elucidated.

My thoughts began to race, putting two and two together. In my twisted reasoning, all I understood was that my boyfriend wanted to kill Blake for keeping secrets. I shot Aidan a glare. “And you’re considering telling on him, maybe even killing him.” I shook my head vehemently and yanked at his arm to get his attention. “No, Aidan, you can’t do that. He was your best friend. If I can forgive and forget, then so can you.”

He frowned, his expression brooding, intense. A shadow crossed his features a moment before he realized the meaning of my words. “What? No. Of course I’d never betray my brethren. An oath stays an oath. Kieran wasn’t talking about me. We think someone found out Blake’s secret, but they don’t know how to prove their claims. So they might be trying to blame him for Julie’s death to get rid of him.”

My mind wandered back to everything I knew about Blake. I didn’t get it. What secret could he possibly have that someone would want to frame him for a murder he didn’t commit?

Aidan inched closer and whispered in my ear, “He’s different.” I raised my brows, signaling I still had no clue. “Do you remember when I told you I saved his life?” I nodded so Aidan continued, “Without me he’d be dead.”

“Like in cold as a stone,” Kieran chimed in.

I waved my hand about. “Yeah, I know Blake’s a vampire.”

Aidan cocked a brow meaningfully. “Yes, but his people don’t know it.”

Did he say
his
people? And that’s when it dawned on me. Blake wasn’t just a vampire, he was also a male witch: a warlock—and the people of
Morganefaire
had absolutely no idea about it. I shrugged. “So what’s the deal? They’ve welcomed your kind for hundreds of years.”