Second Skin (Skinned) (7 page)

She was so gothic, she looked dead.

When it came to this thing with Blake, I think she wished she was.

“Believe me, I’d remember if I’d run into them before,” Kate continued. “I was on my own. It’s not like I could call the cops.” She laughed. “You know what they’re like in this town.”

Boy, did I.

Only in Redgrave could you get attacked by pint-sized, cloaked paranorms, have them total your vehicle, and yet see no sign of the cops. Break curfew in Halloween costumes, however, and you were in for trouble. In just such a situation a few weeks before, I’d tracked what I thought was a lone rogue werewolf to Polly’s Pet Emporium, where he was chowing down on a few helpless bunnies. Store alarms screeching—
Hello! Werewolf busting windows on Main Street
—and not a cop to be seen. Still, I thought I had him in the bag, but bunny blood is a slippery substance. Thanks to Alec’s handy silver bullets and sharp marksmanship, I was here today.

Though he probably regretted saving my life after he learned I was the girl from his mother’s vision, one who was destined to kill him.

As though I’d conjured him with my thoughts, Alec’s hulking form filled the doorway.

“All clear outside. I did a quick pass around the block. Nothing unusual.” He examined Kate with assessing eyes and then turned to Matt. “How’s she doing?”

Before his brother could answer, Kate shot to her feet. “She’s just peachy, thanks for asking.” She took a few cautious steps, arms wide for balance. Assured of her steadiness, she grinned. “See?” Then she promptly toppled sideways onto Brit’s chair.

“Hey,” Brit cried, catching the witch. “If you wanted to sit here, you should have just asked.”

Matt sighed and crossed the room. He scooped Kate into his arms and deposited her back in her recliner.

“Now stay,” he ordered, trying to emulate Alec’s curt tone, but the smile on his lips ruined the effect.

“You shouldn’t be alone tonight,” Brit said. “Want us to call Whip?”

“Oh, I don’t want him to worry—”

“Already done,” Alec cut in. “I stopped at his shop. He’s getting a buddy to bring a tow truck, and he’ll give us a ride home. They’ll be here soon.”

“He didn’t come right away?” Kate looked miffed. From what I’d seen of the couple, Kate was holding Whip at arm’s length. She only let the burly tattoo artist into her life enough so that he knew a few things about her powers and the paranorms in Redgrave, but she didn’t tell him everything. The tinge of evasion, smelling of mold and damp clothing, clung to her scent whenever she was near Whip, or even just thinking about him as she was now. Like the rest of us—from Alec and his big reveal tonight to Wade’s disappearance and my own increasing bloodlust—Kate was keeping secrets.

Wasn’t everyone in this town?

I hovered by the sandwich board. To distract myself from our mutual discomfort, I grabbed the short stick of pink chalk resting on the lip of the board. I had a cop movie moment. Didn’t most gumshoes solve everything with whiteboards and string? Worth a shot. I jotted down characteristics of our new little foes:

Ghoul of the Day

•
Can fly

•
Short, small, but dense/heavy

•
Sour gas smell

•
Wear cloaks

•
Furry feet

“Red eyes,” Alec said at my shoulder.

I held the chalk, my hand hovering over the board as I had a flash of those very same evil peepers. Like a roach on a wall, fear crawled down my spine. I scrawled Alec’s words.

“Lots of teeth,” Brit added.

I scribbled down her suggestion.

“And what do we get?” Matt drawled. “A whole lot of questions, that’s what.”

I looked away before I gave in to my impulse and took a swing at Matt’s smug face. I spotted a small flat screen TV sitting at the end of the sales counter. Beside it was a pile of DVDs and among them a glitter of stars caught my eye.

I tossed Alec the chalk. He caught it, glanced at the pink dust now on his fingers, and hastily placed it back on the metal lip at the base of the chalkboard.

I picked up the top DVD case, black with a silver starry background. The case beneath it screamed high fantasy, and in the third one, hello, the dude could fly.

I held up one of the cases, blinking at Kate deliberately. “What?” she asked. “I watch movies when it’s slow. Or when

I’m cleaning.” She glanced at the others. Their faces slipped into shock as they, too, began to put it together. “The voices in the background are soothing.”

I nodded. “You watched this tonight, right? Maybe the scene with the sand people? The little dudes in robes? With the red eyes?”

Kate’s face was blank. She shook her head. “It can’t be…”

“They did have hairy feet. Just like hobbits,” Brit said. “If you’re right, Eryn, what does that mean? Kate’s creating film creature mash-ups? That come to life?”

Brit had summed it up pretty nicely. “Looks like,” I said on a shrug.

We all stared at Kate. She squirmed under our pointed looks and rubbed at her eyes like a tired child.

“I think I know what’s going on,” she said finally. I raised an eyebrow.

“I fell asleep on the couch tonight after the girls left. I haven’t been sleeping well, and I’m not used to functioning without my full eight hours. It’s just these horrible dreams. I dread going to sleep. I’m exhausted. Spells have been….difficult.” She fingered the metal ring pierced through her eyebrow, keeping her eyes downcast as if she were ashamed she’d been struggling with her magic. “I thought a few minutes of shut-eye would do the trick. I had the movie playing as I dozed off.” She bit her lip. “I’ve heard of this sort of thing happening, but never thought they could manifest in physical form.”

“Never thought
what
could?” I crossed my arms, adding a little foot tapping action. “No judgment here, Kate, but could you get to the point a wee bit faster? Just spill,” I said.

“Ever heard of a night mare?” She took a breath, waving a hand before any of us could respond. “Not as in bad dreams, although that’s a factor. I mean the demon, the night mare?”

“You mean a horse demon that comes out at night?” Brit hazarded a guess.

Kate sighed. “They’re not really horses. Night mares are nasty demons. They’re grotesque little monsters that sit on your chest while you dream.”

“I get it, like they’re riding you, hence the horse analogy.” Brit’s eyes brightened. “Word origins really are fascinating.”

“And a bit pervy,” Matt said with a smirk. “
Riding you
? That could be taken so many ways.”

Brit slapped his arm. Matt grimaced and rubbed the spot, before tugging her to his side. I glanced up to find Alec’s eyes on me. I couldn’t take the heat in his stare and lowered my lashes. His lips thinned before he turned away.

“I don’t know, Kate,” Alec said. “You’re saying some dream creature dipped into your subconscious and attacked you while you were awake? Then why could we see them? They were real. Did you see the damage to my truck? And not just from your little friends.” He shot a look at Matt who had the grace to look shamefaced.

“Sorry about the axe,” Matt said. He held up his hands in surrender. “Give me two days.” Matt’s healing abilities extended to automotive repair. He’d brought that truck back to life once already in the few short weeks I’d been with the crew. “Just two, and I’ll have her fit as your precious Métis fiddle.”

Alec flushed at the mention of a fiddle, and the thought of him playing one distracted me from Kate’s situation for a moment. The Métis were known for their particular brand of fiddle music, foot stomping jigs, and haunting reels. The image of big, hulking Alec playing the delicate wooden instrument while wearing the traditional Métis red sash wrapped around his waist was… shocking.

“That was when we were kids. I haven’t picked up a bow in years. Now can we hear Kate out?” Alec said. He rolled his shoulders, flashing me a quick glance, and then turned to our possibly bewitched witch. “I think Kate’s story is a bit more important, don’t you?”

Brit nodded. “Un-huh, but as head of the talent show committee”—her eyes flashed with suppressed laughter—“I’ll be talking to you later.”

The look Alec leveled at Matt would have flayed a lesser guy alive.

“This is a powerful demon,” Kate said over their razzing, the warning in her tone bringing us back to situation at hand. “It’s unusual for a night mare to engage another paranorm. Humans are their main source of sustenance. They don’t stick with any one victim for long, since that would drain them of their life-source before it had a chance to rebuild. Their goal is to have an ongoing supply, not to kill. This just doesn’t make sense…”

When her voice trailed off, I tilted my head, examining her face, the pull of her skin on the piercings through her bottom lip. Kate was holding back. “But…” I prompted. “There’s always a but.”

Kate lifted her head. “But if the night mare has gone power hungry, if its goal has changed, then with a source of energy such as mine, it would be easy for it to manifest in solid form. To manipulate my subconscious and project corporeal entities.”

At our exchange of doubtful glances, Kate continued, but much louder, as if volume would make us take her words seriously. “It feeds on high emotion, fear is the most base. If it brings our fears to life, it then has an endless supply. No need to wait for its victim to sleep. Everything—fears, fantasies, whatever your subconscious dreams up—would be fair game.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” I said. “Fantasies are good, right? Sexy?”

Matt snorted behind his hand. “No comment.”

Brit elbowed him in the ribs. “We all know about your supermodels obsession, so get over it.”

“Think about the population in Redgrave, Eryn,” Alec said, nodding. “What do werewolves, or dark sprites, witches, wolven”—he paused, his face hardening, his gaze cut to me— “even vampires fantasize about?”

Oh, I know the answer to that one.

A husky voice whispered in my mind. A cool rush feathered against the back of my neck on the exposed flesh between my pigtails. The warm caress of a seductive kiss. My entire body tingled.

Wade.

For a second my eyes fluttered shut. I fought for control, grabbing the back of a wood chair for support.

Damn, not now.

Alec cleared his throat. His dark eyes watched me from across the room.

A flush worked its way up my face.

I struggled to focus as Kate picked up the conversation. “They play with our minds, feed off dreams, discover our secret fantasies, our fears, and torment us with them asleep and awake.”

Sounded a lot like someone I knew.
Wade?
I sent out a call, but the feel of him, the sense of his presence had lessened. I shook my head, clearing out the smell of mint, and focused on Kate, aware Alec was watching me closely.

“In a town like Redgrave,” she said, “where not all the dreamers are merely human, the demons gain enough power to assume solid form. To project our suppressed emotions. This could be serious.” “How serious are we talking?” I asked, feeling back in the game. Wade really had to stop dropping in and messing with my

head.

She shrugged. “How bad are your nightmares?” A flash of me, gorging on a human.

The tang of blood in my mouth.

The words from that song we’d heard grinding out of that car earlier seemed suddenly too coincidental. Maybe something had been sending a message.

Maybe we
were
off to Neverland. I swallowed. Hard.

Oh, we were in for a world of hurt.

Iron never rests

I woke to the sound of rasping breath. Close. Above me. I feigned sleep, struggling to keep my breathing slow and relaxed. My skin crawled with the fetid weight of a ghoulish gaze that traveled along my shoulders bare but for the thin straps of my cami. Puffs of sour gas filled my nostrils.