The Haunting (Immortals) (3 page)

With the renewed sense of urgency came the rush of memories of why he’d been in the forest in the first place.

Representative Stan Gentry sat on the House Appropriations Committee and his current investigation was making someone very nervous. So nervous, in fact, that they were willing to kill.

When the first attempt was made on Stan’s life, he knew he needed protection. The problem was he didn’t know whom to trust. His enemies were men of power whose friends were also men of power. Stan needed someone the government couldn’t control—and so he’d hired Nick.

Nick taught survival training to the military’s toughest. Both hunter and strategist, he enjoyed pitting himself against Mother Nature’s fiercest challenges. The more rewarding challenges, however, he found in the city—protecting the innocent, tracking the missing and hunting the criminal. That was why he’d started his own security agency in New York City.

After weeks of trying to keep Stan safe by thwarting
various attempts, Nick came up with a plan to lure the would-be assassin out into the open by means of a well-publicized hunting trip in Nick’s own backyard—the four hundred acres of wilderness in upstate New York owned by Nick’s village—Los Paseantes de Espíritu, the Spirit Walkers.

Being a member of a race of human chameleons whose abilities, among other things, included assuming the shape of almost any living creature made Nick specially qualified to lure Gentry’s would-be assassin on a merry chase. The plan had worked, too, because right now Nick was lying on the forest floor slowly bleeding to death. The first bullet had lodged in his shoulder while the second had pierced his side.

He’d had enough sense to hide in the surrounding woods before a third shot found him, but he’d paid a high price for his effort. His head pounded in tempo to his racing heart, which was currently working overtime to make up for the blood spilling out of his body. After assuming Stan’s likeness, Nick had expected to get shot at, but he thought he’d be able to avoid actually getting hit. He’d been wrong. Gentry had been right to worry. The assassin after him was a true pro. But as long as the bullet missed Nick’s head and vital organs, his enhanced abilities gave him a good chance of recovering.

Nick closed his eyes and focused on the space outside his body. The transition to the spiritual plane took more effort than usual, but soon he felt his essence leave his body to hover overhead. He took a quick moment to assess the damage to his physical form. It was serious, but not fatal. Not if he hurried.

He turned his attention to scanning the spiritual plane around him. Like ever-widening concentric ripples in a pond spreading out from a single point, his senses touched the surrounding forest.

The first sign of the assassin showed up like a mottled red light off to the northeast. Behind it, fading light trailed off in the distance, evidence of the shooter’s progress through the forest. He was closing in. Time for Nick to execute the rest of his plan.

Nick focused on finding his father, letting instinct guide him.

“I heard shots.” His father’s image appeared before him and Nick heard his concern.

Emotion, more than words, were the mode of communication here; therefore Nick tried to project calm assurance. “My plan worked a little too well. I made it as far as the fallen tree where Dave shot his buck last season. From the aural imprints, I’d say this guy’s about 150 yards northeast of there.”

“Okay. Hold on, son. We’re on our way. Go back and slow your heart rate. This will be over shortly.”

Half a dozen specks of lights, each representing the aural imprint of a state policeman, began moving. If Nick were to look around, he’d see the other lights representing members of his tribe closing in from the other side.

Nick put a lot of stock in well-laid plans.

He returned to where his body lay and noted how weak his own energy light had become. He hoped the cavalry arrived in time.

He let his spirit be reabsorbed into his body. Searing pain shot through his shoulder and side, causing him to suck in a breath.

He levered himself into a sitting position, fighting a wave of dizziness as he braced his back against the closest tree. He hoped he had enough energy to see this thing through to the end.

The snap of a twig alerted him to the presence of the assassin.

Nick propped the barrel of the rifle on his bent knee.
“Hold it right there!” he shouted. The approaching footsteps didn’t even slow, and a second later a man dressed in camo stepped into view.

“Gentry, aren’t you dead yet?” The man aimed his rifle steadily at Nick.

“Put your gun on the ground,” Nick ordered, glad that his voice, at least, sounded strong.

“I don’t think you’re in a position to tell me what to do,” the man replied confidently.

“You’re right.” Nick pulled the trigger.

The bullet slammed into the man’s shoulder, knocking him around so that his own shot went wide.

Come on. Where are they
? Nick thought as the forest spun around him. Through vision that was starting to blur and tunnel, Nick saw the man recover his stance. His heart slammed against his chest, trying to pump enough blood to his brain. The roaring in his ears was so loud now that he heard only a couple of the gunman’s words. “…kill you, mother fu…”

Nick felt himself fading, knew that in a matter of seconds he’d be dead. As time slowed, his vision suddenly grew sharp. He saw the instant the gunman’s finger started to squeeze the trigger, and Nick used the last of his strength to pull his first.

The roar of both guns was deafening—and then there was nothing.

“I thought you loved that apartment.”

“I needed a change,” Mai said, stepping off the elevator. “I’ve lived at this old place so long, I just wanted something different.”
Something safe
. “Besides, the new one has a much better location.”

“One that’s costing you twice the money for half the space.”

“I can afford it.”

Heather Barnes didn’t look like she was one hundred percent convinced, but she didn’t press the matter. Heather, who belonged to the Coven of Light, was one of the witches who had helped summon the Immortals to vanquish the ancient demon. That’s when Mai had met her and they’d been friends since.

“I really appreciate your help.” Mai was feeling a little nervous as they walked down the hall to her old apartment. Since the hallucination two days ago, she’d been staying at a hotel. This was the first time she’d been back. “There’s no way I could move all my stuff by myself,” she continued as she found her key and inserted it in the lock of her door.

“I hope you won’t mind, but I thought we might need more help,” Heather said. “So I made a call.”

Mai pushed open the door and saw a tall, slender woman with long black hair and light gray eyes. Beside her stood an even taller, muscle-bound man with shoulder-length dark hair and a sleeveless long black duster. His well-defined bare chest and arms were covered in tattoos.

“Lexi! Darius!” Mai rushed forward and embraced her friend. She might have hugged Lexi a little too tight and there might have been moisture in her eyes when she finally pulled away, but Lexi was nice enough to ignore it. “What are you two doing here?” She gave Darius a quick hug thinking again how lucky they both were to have found each other.

“Heather called and told us what was going on,” Lexi explained.

Mai looked at Heather in disbelief. “I thought the Calling spell was only supposed to be used in cases of real emergencies. Like the-world-coming-to-an-end-as-we-know-it kind of stuff.”

Heather and Lexi laughed. “That’s not how she called me,” Lexi explained. “She used her cell phone.”

Mai was sure she looked as confused as she felt.

“We weren’t in Ravenscroft,” Lexi continued. “We were upstate—at my parents’ place.”

“Sekhmet let you go?” Mai asked, knowing how protective the goddess was of her grandson.

“Not without some persuading,” Darius admitted.

“She means well,” Lexi put in.

Mai knew that Lexi had a fondness for her ultracontrolling mother-in-law.

“Anyway, we were already planning to drop by for a visit when Heather called.”

“But where’s Zach?” Mai looked around for her godson. She hadn’t seen him since his birth and wondered how big he’d grown.

“We left him with my folks.” At her frown, Lexi smiled and gave her arm a pat. “Don’t worry. When we’re done here, I’ll bring him by for a visit. Now, let’s talk about your move. Heather said you wanted out fast, so Darius and I started packing a few of your things while we waited. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Lexi took her arm and led her into the bedroom.

“I can’t believe it,” Mai exclaimed, looking around. “This is amazing.” The entire room was bare except for her stripped-down bed, her dresser and a dozen or more boxes. The doors to the closet stood open to reveal a lone twisted wire hanger dangling from the rod. “You packed everything? When did you get here?”

“A couple of hours ago.” At Mai’s look of disbelief, she shrugged. “What’s the point of having access to all of Darius’ superpowers if I don’t ever get to take advantage of them?”

“But even I can’t move all of this to the new place without help,” Darius added, coming in to join them. “So Lexi called a couple of people she knows and we’ve got a truck with movers showing up any minute, so let’s finish packing
the kitchen. Tonight, you’ll be sleeping in your new apartment.”

Mai felt almost giddy with relief. Starting tonight, she’d finally feel safe once again.

Six hours later, Mai was standing in the kitchen of her new apartment pouring cold drinks. There was nothing left at her old place now but some bad memories and a bag of trash that the landlord had promised to take out.

She picked up the glasses and carried them into the living room where Lexi and Darius waited. Heather had already left for the airport to catch a flight to Seattle for a Coven meeting.

After handing out the drinks, Mai sat in her oversized chair and took a swallow of Diet Coke. For several seconds, no one said anything. It was Lexi who finally broke the silence. “Do you want to tell me what’s really going on?”

Mai almost spilled her drink. “What do you mean?”

Lexi set her glass down on the coffee table and gave Mai one of those looks. “I’ve known you a long time. You can be impulsive at times, but suddenly changing apartments? In the middle of a lease? Come on. Something’s up. Why don’t you tell us about it? Maybe we can help.”

Mai considered what to say. She could tell them about Preston and Perone, but she didn’t even know whether the attack on her had been real.

“You’re not alone, Mai. You have friends who care what happens to you.”

They might care what happened to her, but they didn’t live here anymore. They weren’t around all the time. Besides, Mai didn’t like the thought of not being able to deal with this problem herself.

But she knew Lexi and Darius would never be satisfied if she didn’t tell them something. “All right. I think someone
broke into my apartment. The only thing they took were some notes on a story I was doing, nothing else.” She took a deep breath. “I couldn’t go to the police because I have no real proof, but it freaked me out a bit.” She didn’t have to fake the quaver in her voice. “So I decided to move.”

Lexi studied her closely for several seconds. “Okay. I can understand that. Are you sure there’s nothing else going on?”

No, nothing much—other than my getting beaten to a bloody pulp by an imaginary man. You can’t see the bruises because…well, I don’t know why. Maybe because they’re not really there. I’m still trying to decide if this is some form of death magic at work or a recurrence of my PTSD problem
. Yeah, that sounded much better, didn’t it? “Really, that’s all it was,” Mai said, shrugging as if to dismiss the entire thing, hoping Lexi wouldn’t press.

She looked like she wanted to, but then her cell phone rang. With a muttered oath, she gave Mai an apologetic smile, mouthed “I’m sorry,” and answered the phone.

“Hi, Mom, wh—” Lexi started, and then fell silent as she listened. Lexi’s mother began ranting loud enough that even from where Mai sat, she could almost make out her words.

“But, Mom, he’s a werewolf,” Lexi said patiently when she finally got a chance to break in. “He’s supposed to shift.”

There was another long silence and then, “I can’t help that my son is more advanced than the rest of the kids, Mom. No, I don’t think it’s unusual that he can shift at nine months when the others don’t shift until they’re toddlers. Okay, so maybe it’s a little weird, but Darius’ side of the family has lots of early developers.”

The voice on the other end grew louder, more frantic.

“I’m sorry if he’s frightening the other kids.” Lexi rolled her eyes and lightly punched her husband, who had started
laughing out loud. “I do take this seriously, Mother, but I’m not sure this is as big a problem as you’re making it out to be. I mean, he’s immortal, so how much trouble can he get into?” She sighed. “Really? That much. No, I think that’s a bad idea. It’s probably best not to make her mad.” She paused and listened. “I know. Nobody worries about making you mad, you’re right, but, Mom, you’re not a goddess. You didn’t make the Nile run red with the blood of those who pissed you off.” This was followed by an even longer silence. Then, “Fine. We’ll be there shortly.”

Lexi disconnected the call and put her phone back in her pocket. “Sorry,” she said. “I guess we won’t be staying as long as I’d hoped.”

“What was that bit about my mother?” Darius asked, looking amused.

“My mother doesn’t think it was smart of Sekhmet to give Zach his own set of tattoos. Apparently, when he’s not shifting into a wolf and running after the other kids, he’s playing with the knives or freeing his dragon to fly around.”

Mai smiled, imagining the home life Lexi must have. She was sorry that Lexi’s mother was having so much trouble with Zach but hoped the baby would distract Lexi enough to stop her from asking any more questions. No such luck.

Lexi grew serious and turned to Mai. “I still think there’s something else going on, but if you don’t want to talk about it right now, that’s fine. I just want you to know that I’m here for you if you need me.”