Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance (60 page)

Jordan laughed out loud. “I couldn’t even find the door! I was searching and searching, but it was nowhere.”

Rook was pretty damn sure that Jordan had opened the door as soon as it appeared. She must’ve been looking for something else.

“Oh my God! Will you
look
at this place!” Wild Child was gawking at the starry infinity drop.

Rook was more overwhelmed by Jordan.

She’d put a protective arm around her sister’s shoulders and was keeping her close, as if at any moment a tiger would leap out of the dark, and she would fight it single-handedly, putting her sister behind her.

He felt himself grow darker in comparison, his chest tightening with shame.

The woman deserved a good life, not one filled with nightmare after nightmare.

And yet, it was too late. Even now she was changing, and it couldn’t be undone. And if he’d scouted her, and Mr. Millions had scouted her, then the gamers on the
Envoi
who were behind the beach Rêve had, as well.

She wouldn’t last a week before she disappeared from her life. It was her own damn fault. Her instincts had said
no
—he’d caught that much from her nervous questions on the water taxi. She should’ve listened to them. Instinct was everything where Rêve was concerned.

“I want to dance!” Wild Child was trying to drag Jordan toward the tall, dark trees, where deep within, the club music pounded.

Jordan held back and kept her sister close. “Is it safe?”

Wild Child pulled out of her grasp, singing, “Safe and legal!” as she dove by him and into darkness.

Jordan looked like she was about to follow, but Mr. Millions suddenly appeared on the beach behind her. By her shoulders he turned her around—Rook took an angry step forward into starlight and watched as the man kissed her full on the mouth.

Son of a bitch.
This guy had to go, and Rook was just the one to boot him out into the void. The couple broke apart—shock on both their faces. Rook was sure Millions’s was fake. Interesting hunting technique, however.

“I don’t know what came over me,” he babbled. “Must be the dream. Not that I didn’t want to kiss you. I did, which is probably why it happened.”

Millions knew exactly what he was doing.

Jordan was shaking her head, basically saying it was okay. She was too damn trusting. She’d soon learn that the Rêve—pretty vacation beaches, gaming mazes, or even army war simulations—was full of liars. Rêve was
made
for liars.

“No no. It’s fine,” she said. “You just surprised me is all.”

“Surprised myself.” Millions did some bashful, aw-shucks crap, hand to the back of his neck. Might as well find an excuse to take off his shirt.

“Well, the place is surreal.” Jordan shrugged a little, bashful herself. “Interesting things are bound to happen.”

She
liked
him? It was the money, had to be.

Rook stepped back into the trees to watch.

The talent was there, but somebody had to clue her in fast that Rêve was the new hunting ground for predators who could do freaky shit for which there was no earthly explanation.

Rook was one of them, both by nature and by training.

“Hi,” said a female voice off to his right. The blonde from
Envoi
.

Rook set his teeth.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” She was looking for a fantasy hookup.

“No.” He was working.

He cast his gaze to the tacky sparkly steam far off to the right, where lava from the volcano met the water. He felt rather volcanic inside himself.

Gaze distracted, he sought through the miasma of energy for the concentration of intelligence that was Jordan. He touched her dream to get a taste of her distinctive essence, like a dog scenting before the hunt. A fingerprint. A hint of her soul.

If she had never entered the Rêve, he’d never have been able to find her.

And now he always would.

***

Jordan whipped around to glare at the guy in the trees. What was his name again?

He was staring at the volcano, of all things, but the dark stroke, definitively masculine, had come from him. Her nerve endings quivered still. He’d touched her somehow, though she could never prove it; the man was standing yards away from her.

Except—did distance really mean anything in a dream?

Vince had wheeled away momentarily to take in the amazingly clear sky. “I’ve never felt like this before. This is heaven.”

Jordan turned back to Vince. Who’d
kissed
her. Not that she minded, but she was still surprised. He hadn’t just been flirting before. Maybe he really liked her.

Wouldn’t take much to like him back, especially here.

The beach was perfect. Except for that one hot touch, she felt perfect. The air was warm and soft against her skin, the faintly salty ocean breeze gently stirring her hair. No part of her body hurt; she wasn’t tired at all for the first time in years. The stress of life had evaporated; her heart was light. If she breathed in deeply enough, then yes, she might just be able to fly. Why not?

“I understand now why the lines are so long to get in,” she said. And this was only one very commercial Rêve. A simple vacationy beach retreat, designed to appeal to the masses. What other places could she go?

Vince had his hands in his hair, gripping his head, as if to force belief. “We could climb the volcano. God! Want to climb a volcano? Explore?”

There was something for everyone here: a little adventure, the music for dancing, the ocean—someone was actually stripping down to their shiny butt to go for a swim. And a couple had just paired off and headed into the trees.

“I have to find Maze. Make sure she’s okay.”

“She’s a big girl. She can handle herself.”

Jordan didn’t want to tick him off, especially if he was interested in her, but… “It’s why I came, and I see things through.” As in,
I’ll take care of your account just as well, should you bring your business to me.
“Go on ahead and I’ll catch up.”

“No, I’ll go with you.”

She waved him off anyway. “It’s our girls’ night. Just give me a sec to check on her.”

Turning away, she looked for Maze’s tracks in the sand and followed them. She passed that guy in the trees again. He was hot, no denying the flush of her reaction, but he felt…wrong to her. Something…dark about him. And that strange touch, now gone…she
knew
it had to have been him.

Maisie’s footprints went several steps deep into the trees, where the white sand of the beach gave way to darker earth and low-winding growth, first thin, tangled-hair roots, then green brambles that laced and twisted together. The scent grew pungent with growing things. Strange birdcalls sounded from the high reaches of the trees, and she wouldn’t put it past the
Envoi
to make the animals tame, so that she might pet a panther.

Silly, but cool. She was happy. Inexplicably happy.

Likewise, whoops and laughter punctuated the dance party’s music. Bright light pierced through the trees and she knew that she only had to go a little farther and she could dance the night away—with no aching feet.

But it didn’t feel like Maze was there.

No, not there.
Her tracks had disappeared, but Jordan could
feel
them anyway, and her sister’s steps led…

That way.

Everything was so
easy
here. A mere impulse and things happened.

As she followed the path, the trees seemed to open obediently before her. The shadows were spooky dark and deep, but that was okay, she wouldn’t hold a grudge against the night. Any moment now she’d see her sister. “Maze?”

Sure enough, Jordan heard her voice.

“I said I’m not going back there,” her little sister said.

“You will. It’s the job,” came an unkind response from a male. So mean. “It’s what you’re paid for.”

“Then I qu—” Maisie’s last word broke off into a squeak of a scream.

Jordan’s heart chugged, and the sense of wellbeing broke away like ice on a windshield. It slid right off her as she leaned into a run.

Danger. Maisie was in danger.

She ran forward through the trees, but she knew she was getting nowhere and would never reach her sister—how many times had she had this nightmare?—so for the first time in her life, Jordan changed it up and held on with her mind to the place she
wanted
to reach. At last she felt herself draw closer.

She broke through the trees to find her sister suspended five feet in the air, trembling in an unseen grip, her chest jerking as if she were attempting to inhale, but couldn’t. Her feet in her funky red heels hung limp.

“Maisie!” Jordan grabbed hold of her ankle and calf, but couldn’t bring her down.

And Maisie clearly couldn’t answer. She was suffocating.

“Help!” Jordan shouted, but her voice wouldn’t travel. “Help me!” she screamed. But no one could possibly hear.

The dark seemed to press in from all sides, now malevolent and cruel.
This is a Rêve,
Jordan told herself.
No one can get hurt in a dream.
They’d done studies. This was merely a manifestation of her own fears.

She wanted the Rêve to end now.
“Envoi!”

Distress was supposed to wake them up. And both she and her sister were most definitely distressed.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a rushing, dark blur. She heard fast breaths, not her own, not her sister’s, but definitely two, as if grappling.

A man’s voice cried out and Maisie fell abruptly to the ground, coughing and gagging.

Jordan wrapped her arms around her sister, while trying to scootch her back from whomever or whatever was scrambling in the dark. How to get out of here? How to wake up?

She wanted her money back.

The dark flashed, and this time she saw it had a human shape.

Blink. To the right.

Blink. Higher to the left.

Blink. That guy again!

Blink. Definitely fighting something.

Static roar filled her head and then in a sonic gulp—silence.

And that water taxi guy—the one from the beach—was left over.

He was a dark man-shape looming above her. “Is she okay?”

Right. Jordan wiped Maze’s dark pink hair from her face to check.

“I’m fine,” she croaked, pushing back, and wiping under her eyes.

“What’d he want?” the guy asked her sister.

Maze shook her head. A shudder ran through her. “I don’t know.”

Which lit Jordan’s fire. She’d
heard
Maze talking to the guy. She’d heard her say, “I quit” to him. Lil’ sis was lying. Oh, this was just classic. She knew, all right.

“Did you let him into the Rêve?” the beach man demanded. “He wasn’t an
Envoi
guest.”

“I—I went for a walk,” she said. “And he came out of nowhere.”

Typical Maisie bullshit. There was no knowing what to believe with her. If she hadn’t still been trembling, Jordan would’ve shaken her.
This
was exactly why Jordan had emptied her savings account so that her little sister wouldn’t go alone. She was always in some kind of trouble.

Jordan bit down on her anger, addressing the man before her. “Is he gone now?”

The hot water taxi guy—guess she’d have to like him now—nodded.

“I woke him in the waking world. He shouldn’t be able to find his way back without help.” He added a pointed look at Maisie.

Everyone knew she was lying, then.

“Thanks.” Jordan stood up. Left her sis in a ball on the ground. Reached out to shake his hand. “I thought Rêves were supposed to be safe.”

“Would’ve been,” he said. Then cursed. “Looks like I’m out, too.”

And his body caved, the color of him sucking out of a single point, like a minute black hole, right in front of her. Spectacularly bad special effects.

Jordan was left gaping at nothing. She guessed that meant he’d been awakened as well, and eventually—when the party was over—she and her sister would be, too.

Not what they’d signed up for.

She turned on her sister. “What the hell?”

“God, it’s nothing.”

“I
also
heard you say you’re not going ‘back there.’ Where’s there?”

“Nowhere.”

“You’ll tell me.”

“It’s none of your business.”

Jordan put her hands to her hips and bowed her head to cool off. Deep breath. Count to ten. Call her bluff. “Someone attacked my sister. Of course I’m going to have to report it.”

Maze stood, eyes wide, shaking her head. “No, you don’t.”

“Then start talking. Like now.”

Her sister fumed for a moment, then held out her hands as if to say,
Don’t freak.

Too late. “I’m waiting.”

“It’s my job. And it pays well.”

This was getting worse and worse. “What’s your job?”

“I deliver packages across Rêve.” She dropped her hands, now saying,
There. Totally okay.

“You deliver—?” Seemed someone had already found another way to monetize Rêve beyond the fantasy dreams that were so popular. Of course they had.

Jordan was going to be sick.

“It’s totally cool,” Maze said. “I get to cross dreamspace. I’m in the middle of it all.”

“What do you deliver?”

“It’s not my business what I deliver. Does a bike messenger open his packages?”

“You’re a bike messenger?” In Rêve?

“
I
am a courier. I get unlimited access, whenever I want. They paid for me to come here, and you had to shell out, like, thousands, right? I play in Rêve every night.”

Uh-huh. Maze had lied about this being the first time. Faked her reaction upon entry. But that was a secondary concern. “Do you know what you’re transporting? And for whom?”

Baby sis’s back went straight, chin up. “It’s
proprietary
information.”

Yeah, ’kay. Her little sis had been suspended in the air, choking and unable to move. That kind of violence— “How do you know you’re not a mule?”

Maze took offense. “Are you calling me an ass?”

Good God. “I mean, how do you know you’re not carrying something illegal?”

Maze folded her arms and looked off into the trees, refusing to answer because she didn’t have one to give.