The Haunting (Immortals) (29 page)

“So the elevator falling wasn’t an accident?” Nick asked, though they’d known it wasn’t.

“No. Someone definitely tampered with it.”

Mai listened in a half daze as Nick spoke to the detective. When they finished, he took Mai by the elbow and led her down the hall on the far side of the mailboxes.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“The detective said there’s a service elevator around here.” They rounded the mailboxes and continued down the hall. Sure enough, there was a service elevator. She’d not had to use it when she moved into her apartment, thanks to Darius and Lexi’s help.

Nick pressed the up button, but when the doors opened, they both hesitated. Then, as if resigned to their fate, no matter what it was, they stepped into the car.

“They didn’t think you were with me,” Nick told her.

“How did they know
you
were on there?” she wanted to know.

“Sarah told them.”

“Sarah. Oh no. I forgot all about her alone upstairs,” Mai exclaimed. “She must be worried sick.”

The elevator stopped on the fourteenth floor and they hurried around the corner and down the hall toward Mai’s apartment.

They found Sarah pacing inside. As soon as she saw Mai, she gave a cry of delight and ran toward her. “Where have you been?”

“I was on the elevator with Nick when it fell,” she said.

Sarah stared at her with eyes round with horror. “You were on the elevator?”

“Yes. Nick and I were going to pick up some food,” she improvised quickly.

Nick watched the exchange between the women. There was something about Sarah that bothered him and he couldn’t ignore it anymore.

He freed his spirit to soar into the spiritual realm. Mai’s green energy was glowing brightly all around her. Beside it was a dark, cold energy that definitely didn’t belong to Sarah.

Nick looked around trying to find Sarah’s blue light and found traces of it, so faint that it had to be old.

Alarm rippled through him. He’d suspected something wasn’t right and now he had proof. What he didn’t have were answers. Or a clear idea of what exactly was wrong.

When he returned to his body, it was to find Sarah and Mai standing beside the kitchen table with Mai reassuring Sarah that everything was all right.

“Mai,” Nick said in a casual tone. “I need to talk to you in private—it won’t take long.”

Mai looked over at him in surprise. “What?”

He held out his hand to her, keeping a wary eye on Sarah. “Please, it’s important.”

“All right.” Mai looked from him to Sarah. “I’ll be right back.” She took a step toward him, but Sarah grabbed her arm.

“No,” Sarah growled.

“Let her go,” Nick warned.

“Nick, it’s okay,” Mai said, clearly confused.

Then his gaze fell on the mirror. What had once been a shattered mess had been completely repaired. “Mai, teleport out of here—now!”

He saw her confusion right before she closed her eyes to comply. Her momentary hesitation, however, was all it took. Grinning, Sarah held on to Mai with one hand and waved the other in the air.

There was a flash of magic that temporarily blinded him. When his vision cleared, Sarah and Mai were gone.

Nick rushed to the spot where Mai and Sarah had been standing, but there was no trace of the pair. It was foolish to hope for a clue, he knew. The two hadn’t run to hide in a corner of the apartment. They had gone into the mirror.

He looked into the increasingly cloudy glass and saw two dark figures moving within the mist. The smaller one struggled against a larger one and he knew instinctively that it was Mai.

He touched the glass of the mirror, praying his hand would pass through, but it didn’t. He knew that breaking it was not the answer to reaching Mai. He’d have to find another.

He railed against the fate that allowed him to find his spirit mate only to take her so callously.

Vowing he would find a way to save her, he raced from the apartment, hating to leave Mai but needing to talk to the one person who might be able to help him.

By the time he reached the basement door, he had managed to get his thoughts together. He needed to remain calm if he was going to help Mai.

He hurried to Will’s apartment and knocked on the door. There was no answer. He pounded on the door again, starting
to lose his tenuous hold on his temper. As far as Nick was concerned, this was all Will’s fault. If he hadn’t conjured the genie, Mai’s life wouldn’t now be at risk.

When Nick still got no answer, his patience ran out. Lifting his foot, he kicked in the door, sending pieces of it flying.

Inside, an unnatural quiet permeated the place.

“Will!” Nick shouted. “Where are you?”

He received no answer. Storming into the place, he cast a quick glance in the kitchen on his way into the living room.

At first, the room looked empty and Nick wondered if the maintenance man had decided to move out. Then he saw a foot sticking out past the far end of the couch.

Nick hurried over and found Will lying on the floor. His body was twisted at an odd angle and his eyes were open, staring and lifeless. The carpet beneath his head was soaked dark with blood.

Though he knew it was pointless, Nick squatted beside the body and checked for a pulse. There was none.

Who had murdered him? Nick wondered. Sarah might have, but not the Sarah who had disappeared. The Sarah who murdered Will was the creature Mai had rescued from the mirror: the genie.

And now the genie had Mai. But why?

Nick knew that if he could figure that out, he’d know how to rescue Mai.

Mai was being dragged down a long dark tunnel lit only by floating threads of yellow light. When she looked more closely, she saw the threads were made of words written in every kind of language. At one point, they passed through one and Mai thought she heard the echo of voices. “I wish I could go to the…” “I wish he would call me…” “
Jevoudrai bonne chance…” “Querro una Mercedes…”

“Where are we?” she asked, struggling to sound calm even though fear clawed at her.

“In my world,” Sarah said, still holding her arm.

“Your world? Inside the mirror?”

Sarah laughed and the unpleasant sound echoed around Mai. “The mirror is merely a portal. My world is the realm of wishes.”

“You’re not Sarah.”

The creature impersonating Sarah came to a halt and met Mai’s gaze. “No, I’m not.” Sarah’s image grew fuzzy and when it cleared, a red manlike creature with full horns and a tail stood before her.

“Are you…?” Mai couldn’t bring herself to finish the question.

“I am Rafe,” the creature said, “the genie bound to serve this realm.”

“You kidnapped Sarah,” Mai accused. “I thought we killed you.”

“Not me,” he corrected. “Sarah.”

The news hit Mai like a punch to the gut. The genie might have been lying, but she didn’t think so. There’d be no point. It didn’t matter that they had been tricked. It made her sick to think she’d played a role in killing an innocent woman.

As Mai allowed herself a moment to mourn Sarah, the genie pulled her deeper into the tunnel.

“What do you want with me?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

The answer was surprising. “Then why did you kidnap me?”

He stopped and she nearly bumped into him. He stared down at her and then, in a flash, his hand shot out, closed around the lightning bolt necklace and yanked. The chain bit into the back of her neck, but wouldn’t break. Mai remembered that Darius had used a special chain that would
not come off unless she was the one to remove it. As the genie continued to exert his strength, she worried the chain would sever her head from her neck.

Then, to her utter surprise, it broke.

Rafe held the necklace in the air as they both stared at it.

“How did you do that?” Mai asked. “It’s not supposed to come off unless I take it off.”

The genie gave a snort of disgust. “Those kinds of enchantments don’t work in here.”

He held the necklace up so he could study it.

“Now that you have that, what do you intend to do with it?” Maybe she could trick him into throwing it. If she could summon Darius and Lexi, they might save her.

The genie looked at her from over the necklace. “I have waited centuries for a chance to be free.” He smiled.

“But you were just out.”

“A very temporary situation, I assure you. I once was a leech demon with the ability to take over another’s body. This impressive body you see before you once belonged to the actual genie who served this dimension. In a moment of weakness—mine, not his—he switched bodies with me and escaped. Now it’s time I carry on the tradition he started.”

“Don’t do this,” she pleaded, afraid he meant to switch bodies with her. “We’ll find a way to break your bonds.”

“Haven’t you been listening?” he roared. “This realm won’t survive without a genie bound in service to it. This isn’t a gesture I make to ensure the safety of the world. This is nature’s law that will not be broken. There will be a genie bound to this dimension for all time! And I’ll be damned if it’s going to be me.”

Mai gasped. “You want me to take your place?” She tried not to imagine what it would be like to live for eternity in service to the wishes of others.

“You?” Rafe gave a shout of laughter. “You have so little magic, you might as well be a null.”

It was absurd, but she felt insulted. “Then why the
hell
did you kidnap me?”

“For this.” He held up her necklace with the lightning bolt.

Slowly understanding dawned on her. “You want Darius?”

He smiled. “Of course. No creature in the universe has greater magical power than a son of the Mother Goddess. His spirit will be strong enough to replace mine in the tethers that hold me prisoner and in return, not only will I have his freedom, but I will have his Immortal body.”

“Darius will defeat you. He’s much too powerful.”

He smiled. “Not in this realm.”

Mai was already shaking her head. “No. I can’t let you do that.”

Before she could think what to do, he threw the necklace to the ground.

A burst of light exploded from it accompanied by a clap of thunder. Mai cringed and threw up her arm to protect her eyes. When the light faded and the smoke cleared, Darius stood there. Clad in leather pants, his bare chest and arms covered in tattoos, he was fierce—and the look he shot the genie was one of barely suppressed anger.

“Careful, Darius,” Mai shouted. “It’s a trap.”

Darius’ expression didn’t change and his attention didn’t stray from the genie, though his words were directed to her. “Are you hurt?”

“No. He isn’t interested in me. It’s you he wants.”

“And now you’re here,” the genie gloated. “This is going to be easier than I thought.”

“Don’t count on it,” Darius warned him.

The genie laughed. “You have no power here. Your magic is tied to the physical world; it won’t work in this realm.”

“Unless you plan to talk me to death, let’s do this. Show me what you’ve got.”

In the blink of an eye, the red devil flashed across the space separating him from Darius. He brought his great arm down in what had to have been a crushing blow. Darius barely staggered beneath it, grabbing the arm instead and falling back, jerking the genie off balance. As the monster crashed to the ground, Darius rolled out of the way. He was on his feet in a flash, bringing his elbow down on the genie’s back. The genie howled in rage.

Darius backed off, giving the genie a chance to regain his feet. Mai wondered why Darius wasn’t using his magic or his tattooed weapons—then remembered what the genie had said. Darius’ Immortal powers wouldn’t work here.

With a mighty roar, the genie attacked. Darius threw his fist, trying to catch the genie in the jaw. It was a glancing blow that didn’t slow the beast’s charge.

The meaty fist that struck Darius drove him back as Mai watched, feeling helpless. Against a foe as powerful as the genie, what could she do?

Darius fell to one knee under the next blow and the genie seized the opening, moving in close and laying his hands, palm open, on Darius’ head and shoulder. Darius’ body began to shake and she heard his groan of pain. The beast’s body seemed lit from within, growing brighter until even the air around him glowed.

Leech demon
. The words echoed in her head.

With growing horror, Mai realized that the genie was using his magic to trade bodies with Darius—and the Immortal seemed unable to stop him.

She had to do something.

She considered beating him with her fists, or rushing him like an inside linebacker, driving him to the ground—but knew the reality was that she would bother him about as much as a gnat bothered an elephant. Of course, maybe that’s all it would take to break the genie’s concentration and give Darius the break he needed. With
a mighty yell, she rushed forward and delivered three rapid round house kicks to the demon’s head, snapping it back.
Thank you, Billy Blanks
, she thought.

The bright light faded and the genie turned his horned head in her direction, his molten lava gaze touching hers. She hit him in rapid succession with her closed fists in another of her exercise moves. It hurt like hell, but it worked because the glow around the genie was gone. She only hoped she hadn’t been too late.

Then Darius was rising like the superhero she’d always considered him to be, strong and proud. He slapped a hand to his forearm and lifted the dagger tattooed there. It came away in his hand, the metal glittering in the otherwise dark arena where they fought.

“How?” the genie gasped, clearly stunned. “An Immortal has no powers here.”

“But Los Paseantes de Espíritu do.”

Mai’s attention, which had been focused on the genie, turned sharply to Darius. “Nick?”

“No,” the genie said, his tone full of disbelief. “It can’t be.”

“It can and it is.” Darius’ face blurred like a television picture going out of focus. When it cleared, Mai was staring at Nick—but with Darius’ tattooed torso. “Two things you need to know about me,” he said to the genie.

“What’s that?” the genie snarled, rising to his full height, which was significantly taller than Nick’s.