Adelaide Upset (34 page)

“Raulriech—”

“
Do not,” the creature
hissed. “I can give you many things—”

It was my turn to
interrupt, uninterested in hearing what he had to offer. I began
again, preparing to dismiss him. “Raul—”

“The curse!” he barked, hacking up the word.
“There is a way to unmake a curse.”

I couldn’t move, couldn’t
speak. I was caught. He had me. “What do you mean?” I asked,
thinking of nothing but Lucas.

His mouth was all slits and gash, the
corners turning up, a black smile. “Let me stay and we will talk of
it together, you and I, another agreement we will make, my little
peach.”

I might have done it, so great was the
temptation. But just then Bill gasped, and I came awake with him,
realizing the trap. This was how Anastas sunk under, lured by his
desires. Sure, breaking Luke’s curse was a worthy endeavor, but
demon dealing should be the last thing I try, not the first.

Bill muttered, twisting uncomfortably on the
bed.

“
Raulriechmydl, I dismiss
you.”

He hissed and sunk out of
sight, disappearing into thin air.

Bill was rubbing his head, moaning aloud.
His face was definitely swollen, the first blush of a bruise coming
in. He’d been used, hard. I couldn’t say that I was sorry.

I whistled on my way out, passing the
slumped officer, a bit of drool trickling down her lip.

I’d done it, destroyed the
book. If Lars hadn’t forced it from me I would’ve given it to Reed.
And I had to admit, it was better this way, gone for good. I didn’t
trust Reed with it, I didn’t trust anyone. For once it felt like
things turned out for the best, or simply as they should. As if I’d
done the world a favor.

I was jarred awake the
next morning, something slamming into my bed. Bang. Bang. I
shuffled under the covers, too tired to be properly
afraid.

“
Your door was unlocked.
It is inconceivable that you could be so careless after what
transpired yesterday.”

“
Like it makes a
difference,” I muttered, dragging the covers up over my head. If I
didn’t see him then the charm would be dampened.

He prodded me roughly. “Get up. I want to
hear what happened.”

I mooed, a pitiful sound
from deep in my throat. It was too early, I’d gone to sleep only
hours before. Not to mention the better part of a bottle I’d
swallowed, needing NyQuil to keep the demon at bay. I hadn’t read
the diary, but I’d touched it, and if Demidov’s aura, or whatever,
was still clinging then Raulriechmydl would be free to torment me
all night, promising things, offering hope. I’d just wanted one
night of peace, a solid eight hours to rest and relax, but
apparently that was asking too much.

He continued to prod,
poking me harshly in the ribs and thigh. I swatted back, groaning.
“Didn’t your man already tell you? What else is left to
say?”

“
He said you came face to
face with Lars, which I don’t doubt. I was a bit skeptical,
however, about the part where you claim to have handed over the
diary.”

Time to face the music.
“What’s so hard to believe? He tortured my boyfriend. I gave him
the book.”

He ripped the blankets off
me, throwing them to the floor. “You didn’t have the book,” he
ground out, glaring down at me.

My bravado died a bit,
eaten up by his anger. I swallowed, avoiding his ice blue eyes. “I
called to tell you yesterday, but Karen hung up on me.” I felt no
compunction foisting off some of the blame.

“How long?” he questioned, voice icy as his
eyes. “How long did you have the book?”

Shit. He was livid. I
tried to separate myself, but the strength of his feeling brought a
flush to my cheeks, and I lashed back, “Weeks! I had it for weeks,
Reed.”

He hauled me up off the
bed like a sack of potatoes, gripping my biceps. “Why?” he said,
giving me a shake. “Why did you do it? To punish me?”

“
It had nothing to do with
you!” I screamed. “You would have read his diary and gleaned only
the means to achieve power, but it meant more to me than
that!”

He shoved me hard, and I
tumbled back into the mattress. “I hope you found what you were
looking for.” His words were laced with bitterness. “I suppose,
having read it, you would know better than most what a mistake
letting it fall to Lars was.”

I was only wearing a large
T-shirt, one of Luke’s. I combed it down over my thighs as I sought
to regain control, some of the anger having tapered off. “It was a
mistake,” I admitted, sounding plaintive. “But the demon came and
took it back, so now no one has it. Believe me when I say it is
well and truly destroyed.”

He laughed, a dry,
humorless sound. “I suppose you’ll claim you had nothing to do with
it.”

“
I would appreciate it if
you could convince Lars of that.” It had been worrying me since the
night before, the niggling fear that he’d seen me, just briefly, a
split second before the extinguisher came down. “He can’t know that
I read the book.”

“
You’ve grown quite
accustomed to my favors,” Reed said, straightening up. He buttoned
the front of his jacket with one hand, closing up his crisp suit.
“Let me be clear, Ms. Graves,” he said severely, his anger flooding
back. “You will have no more from me. I’m done interceding on your
behalf, with the police and with Larson Hurst. He can think
whatever he likes. I won’t speak for you any longer.”

He finished toying with his cufflink and
left, fixing me with a glare as he brushed past my bed.

“I did you a favor, you know!” I called to
his back. “You can’t rule the world and live in it.”

Of course he ignored me,
the ungrateful wretch. I climbed off the mattress and watched him
go from my window. He had a car waiting in my driveway, a limo,
actually. He bent down and slipped in back, so fluid and full of
power. I shook my head, as if I could shake off his lingering
charm. There hadn’t been much, his anger suppressing its touch.
Really, I’d never seen him so incensed. He would get over it
though, of that I was sure. And not because he cared for me a drop,
but because I’d admitted to reading Demidov’s diary. The power he
craved was not lost, it’d just changed position.

I sighed.
Good thing I kept my mouth
shut
, I thought.
It wasn’t the best time to press him about
Nancy’s convention.

I didn’t go back to sleep after Reed left,
my mind wouldn’t settle down and let me. I thought about Lucas, and
seeing as I had hours to kill before my shift, I got ready and
left, driving back to Brunswick to see him.

Lucas had been moved from the ER, and I
found him in a mundane room, much like Bill’s had been, minus the
handcuffs. He was awake, sitting up in bed, and I could immediately
see that he was restless and bored—neither of which required
emotions, just a lack of stimulation.

“Good thing I brought you this,” I said from
the doorway, waving an unopened puzzle.

He turned to look at me,
and for a minute we just stared. It was a confusing moment, my
emotions a tangled mess, but it didn’t last long. Elaine
interrupted.

“
There,” she said, not
noticing me as she swept out of the bathroom. She was carrying a
sunny bouquet in her arms. “I filled the vase, and I think it would
look best over here.” She set it on the bedside table, and then set
to work, arranging the stems.

“Someone got you flowers?”

He shrugged.

“
I did,” Elaine bit back,
glaring at me from over her shoulder. “Which is more than I can say
for you,
his
girlfriend
,” she stressed. Demanding,
“Where have you been?”

So, he hadn’t told her
that we broke up. Good. I doubt he told her the truth of his wounds
either, or anyone else for that matter.

Elaine didn’t like being
ignored and took her revenge. She decided the flowers had received
enough attention, moving on to Lucas. She leaned over him, her
chest stuffed under his nose as she fluffed the pillows bunched up
under his back.

“Leave for ten minutes,” I told her.

“
Leave?
I’ve been here since the moment they let me,
taking care of him, wh—”

“
Elaine,” Lucas said,
cutting her off. He didn’t have to add anything else, one look, his
face an enigma, and she huffed off.

I made sure the door was
shut tight behind her, and then I stood by it, unsure of what to
say next. Haltingly I began, “It won’t come as a surprise, but this
is all my fault.” My voice broke and the tears began to seep,
rolling freely. “But you— you should have answered them, or just
admitted that we broke up. It might have made a
difference.”

“It might have made a difference if you’d
told me what was going on,” Lucas countered. “Why didn’t you say
you were in trouble?”

“
I think we’re a little
past that, don’t you?” I couldn’t tell him everything, but I could
at least be honest, brutally so. “We didn’t confide in each other
when we were together, and now we’re not even that.”

He looked away, leaning
back into the pillows. My sadness was leaching. “Yes,” Lucas said,
his deep voice sounding oddly hollow. “You’re right.” He paused,
then, “I was awake, you know.”

“What?”

“
I went to your place,
thinking maybe I could change your mind, and that’s when they
grabbed me,” Lucas explained. “But I didn’t pass out, not until the
knife.”

“But, why—”

“
I knew that I couldn’t
stop them. I tried, but it was three to one. They tied me down, had
their fun,” Lucas said casually, so uninvolved. “And I just kept
thinking about what would happen when you got home. I considered
shouting, trying to warn you, but it wouldn’t have made a
difference.”

“I know, Lucas. I know.”

He didn’t seem to hear me, droning on, as if
to get it all out. “The only thing I could do was pretend to pass
out. I thought it would make things easier for you, thinking I was
asleep, that I couldn’t feel much.”

“It did help,” I said, weeping quietly
beside his bed.

“
Maybe,” he answered,
staring straight ahead, eyes boring into the wall. “But that’s not
the point. I should have been going out of my mind at the thought
of them hurting you, but I was the opposite. In fact, my head was
clearer than ever, calculating and cold. You deserve better than
that.”

“
I don’t think that,” I
said, grabbing his wrist. I squeezed him hard, as if I could force
the truth into him, and maybe I did, my emotions flowing over the
both of us. “That’s
not
why I broke up with you.”

“
I know, but you were
right to do it. I’m not good for you.”

I wiped my face fiercely, annoyed by his
talk. “Don’t ever say that to me again.” I sniffed. “It makes you
sound stupid.”

Sensing my want, he
finally looked at me. His eyes were shrewd and removed, and I knew
what he meant. There was a keen intelligence behind them, and it
ruled over him, picking up the slack that was his lack of
emotion.

“
I thought it would be
easier if we didn’t see each other,” I admitted. “A clean break and
all that... But I want to see you, if only as friends. And maybe we
can start being honest. I’ll tell you of my troubles and help you
with yours. And, Luke, I do think I can help you.”

He turned his eyes away,
pulling back from me. “No. Elaine has been trying for years. I
won’t have you wasting your time like that.”

“
Well in case you didn’t
notice—I’m not Elaine.” And because I couldn’t resist, I leaned
down and kissed his cheek, whispering my next words to him there.
“I will break the curse.”

I retreated from the room,
leaving the puzzle for him, the box right next to Elaine’s
unsuitable flowers.

“I noticed,” he called after me, his deep
voice reaching me all the way down the hall.

Ben was under the big oak
when I got to Sterling’s, busy picking seeds out of a piece of
watermelon. He watched me pull up and park, probably expecting me
to come over and chat. I didn’t, thinking it was best to make this
quick.

I stashed my purse inside
the office, grabbing the spare set of keys before going back out. I
kept a quick pace, marching under the overhang, not hurried but
sure. I stopped at room seven, letting myself in with nary a
knock.

Tim was out, his stuff
strewn about the room, totally disorganized. His guitar was on the
bed, unusual, as he had a habit of carrying it everywhere, but
lucky for me. Grabbing his bags, I stuffed them full, clothes,
shoes, knick-knacks and hats. Everything was gathered up and
carried off. I took it all out back, heaping a pile beside the
shed. Ben kept a can of gasoline in there, and that was what I used
to liberally douse Tim’s belongings. I knew how much his guitar
meant to him... so I gave it an extra splashing. Ben found me just
before I lit the match.

“
What the hell are you
doing?” he asked, sounding much less concerned than I would’ve
imagined.

I fished Tim’s wallet out
of my pocket and tossed it over. “Best bill him now,” I warned. “He
won’t be around for much longer.”