Abra Cadaver (17 page)

Holly slung her purse over her shoulder, took the last sip of her wine, and wove through the crowd toward the front entrance. As she did so, she couldn’t help examining the people she passed. A table full of bleached blond middle-aged women. Another with four tattooed biker types. Still another with a set of couples who looked as if they were on a double date. Everyone was having a good time.

She glanced toward the bar where every stool was occupied and something caught her eye. Someone. Tall, dark hair, blue eyes. She blinked, not believing she could have seen who she thought she did. When she focused back in the same direction, he was gone.

You idiot. Now you’re picturing him everywhere. Pathetic.
It was one thing to fantasize about Keane in his presence while the temptation of his handsome perfection was right there in front of her. It was quite another to be imagining him in places he wasn’t.

She continued to the front door, but on her way, she spotted someone else she recognized. A blond-haired male with a mustache and scraggly beard. Close-set, dark eyes. The left eye stalked Holly from below a jagged scar across the eyebrow.

Hendrick.
The name filled Holly’s mind. She ran for the door, but he was closer to it. He’d get there before her, and with the next band already beginning to play on stage, no one would ever hear her scream for help.

Calm down, Holly. You’re in a public place.
People were around who would notice if Hendrick grabbed her. They’d stop him. Wouldn’t they?

At this point, she wanted out of the bar, but was too afraid to go out into the parking lot alone. It would be dark there and less populated. She hated it when all her choices sucked.

Hendrick’s thin lips were set in a smug smile. He leaned against the threshold of the bar’s front door now and tipped his head at her. He was definitely looking at her and knew she was trapped. Knew he had the upper hand.

Holly turned around to head back toward the stage where the crowd was thicker. As she did so, she rammed right into someone who was standing close behind her. She jumped back, but strong hands gripped her upper arms. Without looking up, she jerked her arms free, grabbed onto the man’s right arm, lifted it, and in a ninja-quick motion, she sent her right hand chopping into the man’s ribs.

He went down to a knee, groaned, and said, “A+, Holly.” Letting out a labored breath, the man shook his head, and slowly rose to his feet.

She looked up to see Keane’s sky blue eyes searching her face.

“What’s wrong?” He rubbed his ribs with his left hand.

“Shit, Keane, I’m sorry.” She put her hand over his. “I didn’t know it was you.”

“You did the right thing. Attack first. Assess later.” Keane straightened a bit more and took in several deep breaths. “Wonderful form on that move.”

“I didn’t break anything, did I?”

“No, but it hurt like a bastard, which is strange because I’m pretty indestructible. It’s like I’m more…human around you.”

Something lit up in his eyes, but then he shifted his gaze to look behind her, and the light was gone.

“Hendrick is here.” His voice had gone cold.

“I think he’s here for me. He must have seen me this morning at school.”

Keane maneuvered past Holly, but Hendrick slipped out the front door. Keane plowed through the crowd, and she trailed after him, not wanting to let him out of her sight.

Outside, the parking lot was almost totally black except for two floodlights on the front of the bar. Holly didn’t see any movement or hear any cars revving to life.

“Stay here.” Keane walked ahead a few feet.

“Don’t leave me.” She did not like the sound of her voice. Small and scared. Like a child’s.

Keane turned around and gathered her in his arms. She breathed in the scent of his leather jacket and pressed herself against his chest. Even in his embrace, a ripple of fear undulated through her body.

“Call 911. Maybe the police can track him from here.” Keane pulled back a bit and kissed her forehead. “You’re safe now. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know.” Holly searched for her cell phone and dialed. While she explained the situation, she watched Keane as he stood facing the parking lot. His legs were shoulder-width apart and firmly planted on the front walkway to the bar. His arms must have been folded across his chest, because all Holly could see were his elbows jutting out at his sides. His head moved from left to right, right to left as he scanned the darkness hanging over the parking lot. She got a quick image of what he must have looked like when he was targeting one of his kills. She knew she should have been afraid of that image, but right now, it was the one thing that was keeping her calm, keeping her protected.

“The police are on their way.” She took a few steps forward to stand beside Keane.

“You were going to leave this bar alone.” His voice was low, and his arms released to hang by his sides, his hands balled into fists. “I told you to stick with someone.”

“I know, but Leora wanted to hang with—”

“I don’t care what Leora wanted.” He turned to face her. “It’s not safe around here with Hendrick running loose. You have to be smarter than this. He knows what you look like and is probably pissed that you helped that student this morning. One idiot move on your part and—”

“Excuse me?”
Did he call me an idiot?
“I was merely going to get in my car and drive directly home, Keane. I wasn’t going to wander the damn streets at night. I do have some sense.”

Three police cars screamed into the parking lot. How long would it take for the bar behind her to empty out? Nothing like the sound of sirens to draw a crowd…and alert a criminal.

“You should have never gone out tonight. Period. Totally against my better judgment to let you—”

“Hold it right there, buddy.” Holly held up a hand to shut Keane up. Who did he think he was? Yes, he brought her back to life. Yes, he killed demons to keep her alive. Yes, he waited for her to do something important so he could leave. But he would not, under any circumstances, make decisions for her. She didn’t care how un-freaking-believably hot he looked right now standing in the dim light with his leather jacket and jeans fitting his amazing body perfectly. She made all her decisions and that was that.

“Look, Holly, I want you to be safe, okay? Is that so unreasonable?” he said.

Not when you put it that way. Not when you look at me as if I mean something to you.
Holly let out a breath and toyed with the beads around her neck again.

“Why are you here?” A valid question.

“I was compelled to watch over you tonight.” He shrugged and rubbed the stubble lining his jaw.

“Compelled? Like you are compelled to save someone?”

Keane shook his head. “No. I think I had a choice whether I came here tonight or not.”

“Why did you choose to come then?”

“I wanted you to be safe.”

“Why do you care what happens to me?”

“Because…I do.” He took a step closer to her, but two police officers were making their way to the front of the bar. Most of the patrons had spilled out while Holly was questioning Keane, but she ignored them.

“Have you ever had a save die by some other means while you waited for them to achieve something?”

“No, but that’s not why I care about you, Holly.” He took another step closer and reached out to touch her.

She backed away. “You’re afraid if I die, you’ll be stuck or something. Maybe the curse will get worse somehow if you can’t be released from me.” She didn’t like this line of thinking, but it made sense. Why else would Keane be so mad that she could have fallen into Hendrick’s hands tonight? Sure, they had kissed earlier, but it couldn’t have meant anything serious.

Keane actually looked tired as he rubbed his jaw again. “Holly, you’re more than a save to me. Can’t we—”

“Miss Brimmer,” one of the police officers interrupted. He stepped into the light beside Keane and Holly recognized him from that morning at school.

“Officer McDonahue, right?” she said.

“That’s right. I’d say nice to see you again, but these are not the right circumstances.” McDonahue offered a slight smile, and that muscle in Keane’s jaw tensed as it had when he’d asked her about Luke.

Was he jealous?
She shook that thought right out of her head. How could he be jealous? He wouldn’t fall victim to something so mundane, so human as jealousy.
Would he?

Holly let that thought cycle around in her head as she told McDonahue what had happened at the bar. The officer informed her that a full-scale search was being conducted in the surrounding area. He explained that unfortunately Hendrick knew all the good hiding places.

When McDonahue turned to question Keane, both he and Holly were surprised to find him gone.

“Where did your friend go?” McDonahue asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. Keane had probably had enough questions. Why had she given him a hard time? He had said he wanted her to be safe. Was that so bad? Why hadn’t she accepted that as his answer?

“Well, what’s his name?” McDonahue turned to a clean page in a little notebook he’d pulled from his shirt pocket.

“Umm, why don’t I have him give you a call? Can I have your number, Officer?” Holly held McDonahue’s blue gaze for a second longer than was necessary, but achieved the desired result. His freckled cheeks pinked slightly as he dug a business card from his shirt pocket.

“Here you go, Miss Brimmer.” He held out the card.

“Please, call me Holly.” She took the card and ran her fingers over the printed side.

“Holly, okay.”

An awkward moment of silence stretched between them as McDonahue grinned at her. She knew she’d done something truly horrible. Leading the officer to believe she was interested in more than reporting suspect locations to him was low, but she couldn’t give Keane’s name to McDonahue. A guy as old as Keane probably didn’t need a police officer nosing around. She was sure Keane probably had to get creative with things like a driver’s license.

She cleared her throat, and Officer McDonahue finally blinked.

“Give me a call then if you…need anything, Holly.” He looked over his shoulder toward the parking lot where the flashlights of the other officers reflected off windshields. “Do you want me to walk you to your car?”

She nodded. The sooner she got to her car, the sooner she could get to her home.

And the sooner she could apologize to Keane for giving him the third degree.

Chapter Twenty-One

The night air rushed over Keane as he sped down the street on his bike. His ribs hurt as if they were bruised, and despite his frustrations, he had to smile at how expertly Holly had executed the move he’d taught her. Her body had moved like a fine-tuned machine in that bar, and she hadn’t hesitated a moment. He would trust her to watch his back.

Why he had gotten so fired up about her leaving the bar alone tonight he couldn’t fathom. He had downright insulted her with his overprotective bullshit.

“Smooth, Keane. Real smooth.” Sometimes he forgot how modern women operated. There was a fine line between chivalry and being a prick. He’d definitely stepped on the prick side of the line tonight. He let out a growl as he maneuvered around a corner and continued down the road. His emotions were running wild, and that was not something he was used to. His life was routine. Save someone. Kill demons to keep them alive. Wait to be released from them. Repeat.

With Holly, everything was different. He could smell and taste around her. He could feel pain around her. He worried about her. He wanted to be wherever she was. Keane feared he was becoming a bit obsessed.

He turned another corner, and in the glow of a streetlight, his sharp eyes picked up movement. Something had scurried between two buildings ahead. He rolled to that alley and flicked on his headlight. In the beam, a shadow ran away.

He rode his bike into the alley and caught up to the person. When the runner turned around, Keane recognized the face he’d seen on that wanted poster, the face he’d seen tonight by the bar door. The face that wanted to hurt Holly.

He powered his bike down and wheeled it near a dumpster. The alley got narrower as Hendrick ran deeper into it. On swift feet, Keane caught up to Hendrick and ripped him off the fence he was trying to scale.

“Get down here.” Keane used his body to muscle Hendrick to the ground.

“Only if you’ll join me.” Hendrick kicked up a leg and hit Keane square in the chest.

Keane’s body rolled off Hendrick’s. Pieces of broken glass in the alley dug into his palms. He held one of his hands up into the dim light and a trickle of blood snaked down his wrist. He never bled. His opponent never got in a shot. It was what made him so good at killing.

“You got in my way tonight.” Hendrick landed a fist into Keane’s jaw. Keane’s teeth rattled against one another, and he tasted blood. His blood. Flowing from his lips.

He was too late in blocking the next jab in which Hendrick’s knuckles connected with cheekbone. Pain exploded on Keane’s face, and he tried to make sense of what was happening, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been hit. The last time he’d bled.

Get up
, a small voice in the back corners of his mind said.
You can take this guy. Then Holly will be safe.

Keane sent two uppercut punches to Hendrick’s jaw, and the shorter man stumbled back from the blows, spitting out blood along the way. Green blood. Before Keane could get to standing, however, Hendrick grabbed his shoulders. Hendrick rammed his knee into Keane’s gut, and Keane struggled to take in a breath. Gods, he felt as if he were going to die.

Then it occurred to him that perhaps he was.

In all his years of saving and killing, no one had been able to overtake him. No one had beaten him, drawn blood from him, broken anything. Tonight, however, the rules had changed. The game wasn’t the same. Hendrick was hurting him, and if he didn’t do something fast, he might not walk away from this encounter.