Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between (20 page)

“Go to the closet in my bedroom. You’ll need to walk all the way inside, to the back. On the top shelf, you’ll see a plain, brown shoebox. I need you to give that box to Gabriel, along with a message. Tell him I found it at a random pawn shop a few years ago and wanted to find the right time to return it to him, but”—he shrugged— “something got in the way.”

“I thought you were going to tell me to kill someone,” I said, nervous laughter escaping. “Delivering a shoe box is a piece of cake.”

He shook his head sadly, hazel eyes heavy with regret. “No, it’s not cake, but it’s something I have to do before I can leave this plane and move on to whatever it is that awaits.”

“I give you my word. I’ll get it to him.”

“Thank you.” He bowed his head, and hair tumbled around his face. “I’m in your debt. If are such things as guardian angels, I’ll return the favor.”

“Wait.” I lifted my hand to stop him. There was something I had to ask. “What’s it like, being a spirit?”

“It’s not so strange. You know what you need to do, and what you need to accomplish.”

“So, you’re aware… of everything after you die?”

“Are you aware? Of everything after you’re born?” he responded cryptically.

The pool hall vanished and I heard Disco’s voice, drowning out all the others. I was back inside the circle, slightly dazed but standing on steady legs. I blinked rapidly as I acclimated to the change in scenery. Goose and Sonja were pulling things out of several cardboard boxes, sorting through the contents frantically.

“You told her to go in there!” Disco screamed. “What were you thinking?”

“I found the thistle!” Sonja’s voice was thick with panic. “Where’s the sandalwood and yarrow?”

“We’ll get him out of her! I didn’t think Jacob would do that!” Goose screamed back, sifting through the box before angrily tossing it to the side. “Where the hell is it? The yarrow should be in there!”

I hid my grin, but allowed myself a huge, inward smile. Now they cared. Step in the circle Rhiannon. Go get possessed Rhiannon. I took a peripheral peek at Disco and Joseph. Joseph was watching, but it was obvious he didn’t give a shit. I didn’t mean squat at the end of the day.

Disco’s expression, on the other hand, made my heart ache.

Concern, worry, and anger marred his beautiful face. He would eat Goose’s goat when this was all said and done. I was surprised the revered necromancers didn’t notice Jacob had gone. The room felt entirely void of energy.

I took a deep breath and turned to Disco. His lids lifted in trepidation and doubt, his lovely eyes darkening. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, and the look disappeared. He started forward and then glared at the entranceway, unable to cross the threshold of the blessed room. Since he couldn’t come to me, I went to him instead.

Goose and Sonja were still squabbling with each other when Joseph saw me, green eyes flaring dangerously. “She’s been taken over,” he snarled.

“What?” Goose and Sonja asked concurrently. They whipped around and gasped.

“Don’t let her leave the apartment!” Goose shouted.

The minute I was clear of the barrier, Disco yanked me into his arms. His body stiffened and he held me at a safe distance, staring down guardedly. I tried not to notice the emotion inside their depths, but some of it seeped past anyway.

His voice mirrored his confusion. “Rhiannon? Is it you?”

“Yes, it’s me. If Ethan and Sonja would mellow the fuck out, they’d know it, too. Jacob left. He passed over to that bright shiny place in the sky.”

Disco glanced over my shoulder, body still tense. He didn’t totally trust me, but that was cool. I wouldn’t trust me either.

“He’s gone,” Sonja confirmed, sounding pissed. I’m sure she didn’t like being caught with her panties down—poor girl.

Disco yanked me to his chest, and I went into his welcoming arms without argument. It felt good to lean on someone else for a change. After tonight, I deserved the break. Let someone else be strong. Tomorrow I could return to being the hard ass bitch everyone expected.

The night wasn’t a total bust, but with my luck, that was bound to change. After everyone recovered from my Linda Blair stunt, and I explained what I had seen—sans the private discussion with Jacob—we called it a night. Everyone was anxious about the dark man, especially me.

Disco had a car at the ready to take him home, and he offered me a lift. I knew it was a ruse. Disco could run faster than the car would move down the street. He just wanted to get me alone again. Even still, I accepted. There was no time like the present to get my promise fulfilled. Jacob deserved to rest peacefully, and I wanted to see what was so important.

When I told Disco I needed to go to Jacob’s room, he was suspicious and asked questions that I refused to answer. He stopped speaking to me after that, and the drive to his home was agonizing.

We pulled into the gated drive and I could see the mansion in the distance. I wasn’t aware places like this existed in New York. It was enormous, with a red brick exterior and windows that gave the visage of watchful eyes.

The driver pulled up along the circle and I didn’t wait for him to open the door. I climbed out and raced up the stairs. One bonus with Disco, he was so fast I never had to be concerned about waiting for him to catch me. Nala opened the door before I reached it, that friendly smile welcoming inside her gorgeous face.

“It’s wonderful to see you, Rhiannon.” She greeted me and stood aside, smiling past my shoulder. “Welcome home, Gabriel.”

“Escort Rhiannon to Jacob’s room, please.” Disco strode past us, gliding down the hall to the left.

“What is that about?” Nala’s asked, frowning.

“We contacted Jacob. He had a request before he crossed over. I need to go to his room.”

She nodded to the stairs. “Follow me.”

She led me up the winding staircase and to the right, the wood barely creaking under our feet. Paintings, antique furniture, and tapestries adorned the painted walls. Heavy drapes along the hallway obscured the windows.

We passed two doors before Nala came to a stop. “This is Jacob’s room,” she said softly, reaching for the handle. Stepping inside, she flicked the light switch and waited for me before closing the door behind us. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are you looking for?”

“It’s back here.” I walked to one of the two doors in the room, hoping I didn’t accidentally pick the wrong one. Pulling open the door, I looked for a switch. My vision was finally beginning to fade, and I couldn’t see as well in the dark anymore.

“Here.” Nala brushed past me and turned on a light, flooding the room in a yellow glow. I hurried to the shelf along the back wall. The brown shoebox was right where he said it would be.

“I need that shoe box.” I pointed at the shelf. “Can you reach it?”

“Sure.” Nala motioned for me to step aside. She leapt on the pads of her feet like a large cat, grabbed the box, and landed quietly on the cream Berber carpeting.

She handed the box to me and I ran my hand along the cardboard surface. It was a plain old shoebox, nothing special. Yet something inside was so important Jacob risked being stuck between two dimensions to tell me about it, and that made the contents invaluable.

I carried the box into the bedroom, sinking down on the bed. Nala stood close by, watching. “I don’t know if I can open it,” I said, inhaling a breath of courage. I placed the box in my lap and lifted the lid. Various colored pieces of cloth were scattered inside. I pulled them out one by one, until I uncovered a rectangular blue velvet box at the center.

I lifted it carefully and popped open the lid. A bracelet was nestled inside, the platinum metal radiant and untarnished. The squares that made up each link held square blue sapphires with two tiny round diamonds flanking each one.

“Oh no.” Nala sank down beside me on the mattress.

“I don’t get it.” All of this to return a pretty piece of metal and gemstones?

Nala looked from me to the box and back again. She drew in a deep breath, exhaling softly. “Years ago, Gabriel met a young woman named Sienna. They were an item for several years before she got into trouble.” Nala smiled sadly, reaching to touch the bracelet. I handed her the box and she drew it into her hand. “Sienna became involved in very dark magic, conjuring and summoning demons. Before long, she was indebted to one.”

“Demons,” I echoed in disbelief.

“The world isn’t the place you imagined, Rhiannon. I’m about to tell you something that will get me into a spot of trouble with Gabriel. But you have the right to know, and I refuse to keep you in the dark any longer.” She lifted her head and met my eyes. I nodded, encouraging her to speak.

“The first vampire was created from a demon named Ahriman. He raped the human witch that summoned him using the guise of glamour. He appeared before her as a handsome, lost traveler, only revealing his true form after his evil seed found life in her womb. The witch died during the birth of her son, and Ahriman took the boy with him to hell. He shared his story with other demons whose names had been spoken, and therefore, were bound to cross dimensions to the people that summoned them.”

I waited while she paused, patient until she continued.

“Demons cannot cross into our dimension without just cause or conjuring, but the half-breed children possessed free rein to travel at will. Soon, they realized they could litter the world with their kind and started twisting conjuring contracts, using glamour and creating offspring to take over the world. It wasn’t long until half-breeds discovered that by draining someone dry, and exchanging some of their tainted blood, they could create a less powerful but equally dangerous hybrid. This new race still retained a soul, so they couldn’t bask in God’s sunlight to smite him, or visit the abyss of hell, but they still required blood to survive.”

“Vampires,” I breathed the word and she nodded.

“After several decades, priests started to battle the most unclean on earth, hunting them down. The smart ones returned to their dimension, the ones like us were left behind.”

She cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably on the bed.

“Sienna practiced black magic in secret, and her curiosity proved to be her undoing. Demons don’t normally bother with mortals. They find them too weak and too predictable. But when someone gains the name of a demon and summons them to do their bidding, they bring attention to themselves. The one Sienna got involved with was particularly nasty. Morax demanded her servitude in hell for his services after the fact. Demons love to spin deals, and you have to be careful with what you agree to. They will trick you if they can. You can count on it.”

“And she was tricked?”

Nala nodded. “She had no choice but to come clean with Gabriel. If he were any less of a man, he would have turned her away, but he didn’t. He loved her, even with all her faults. It took time and assistance from Marius, but we worked out a bargain with another demon named Zagan. Morax owed him a debt from years before, and he agreed to use that debt to wipe Sienna’s slate clean if one of us offered a favor of his choosing in the future. Gabriel accepted the offer, and agreed to a debt owed for a debt paid, sealing the deal.”

My stomach churned. “So where is she?”

Nala lowered her head, staring at her hands. “Paine never touched Sienna. Had he done so, he never would have allowed Gabriel to make that bargain. Sienna wanted to wait to become one of us, believing she had plenty of time. But she wasn’t like you, Rhiannon. She didn’t know how to protect herself or fight back. The men that abducted her made sure she suffered horribly before she died. When we found her body, all of her belongings were gone.” She nodded to the box, smiling broken-heartedly. “Including the bracelet Gabriel had given her.”

“The last few weeks have been the most fucked up of my life, and
that
is saying something,” I told Nala. I closed the blue box and returned it to the cardboard one. I left the pieces of cloth out, closing the lid, and ran a trembling hand over the top.

“I felt the same way when Adrian told me the truth. It’s a huge pill to swallow, and we all have been there—even Gabriel.” Nala touched my arm. “Just remember, anything is possible. Look who you’re talking to. Did you ever imagine you’d be having a conversation with a vampire?”

“No,” I laughed. “You said Gabriel owes a favor to the demon that cleaned the slate. What did he have to give up?”

I pictured Disco making the selfless sacrifice and felt terrible for judging him so harshly in the past. Nala stood and paced the carpet, her feet barely skimming the surface.

“The debt hasn’t been honored yet. We won’t know what price Gabriel will pay until Zagan comes to collect. Netherworld creatures don’t have a concept of material wealth or belongings. They derive pleasure from misery and chaos. That’s the only reason Zagan agreed to the bargain in the first place. The opportunity to spite Morax was too good to pass up. Whatever is in store for Gabriel will consist of those things, you can be certain of it.”

“Shit.”

She faced me and said, “You needn’t worry about things you cannot change or prevent. Fearing the future won’t make anything different. It will merely ruin time that could be better spent. Gabriel deserves to be happy. After Cash disappeared, we feared he might leave us as Marius did, but he didn’t—because of you. Somehow, I don’t think you’re the type to allow fear to keep you away from the things you want most.”

“No.” I cracked a smile. “I don’t let anything run me off once my mind is set. Thanks for telling me this, Nala.”

“If you ever need to speak to someone, my door is always open. And I will never relay anything that we talk about to anyone without your permission. Gabriel isn’t the only person that is happy you joined us; so am I. Adrian is a wonderful companion, but sometimes I long to speak to someone else about things he wouldn’t understand.” She pointed at the box. “Will you give that to Gabriel tonight?”

“A promise is a promise.”

“Then let’s go find him.”

We left the bedroom and walked back down the hall. Nala stopped at the top of the stairs, looking left and right, nose flaring briefly. Before long, she relaxed, and we descended the staircase to the right, past the entranceway and down another hall. The tiled floor matched throughout, a stark white with tiny black squares in the middle. Nala walked silently, but my sneakers squeaked each time my foot lifted into the air.

We stopped in front of a set of huge wooden double doors at the end. I recognized them immediately.

“I’ll leave you two,” Nala said. This time, her smile wasn’t real, and she rushed past me in a blur too fast to perceive.

Grasping the long golden handle in my fingers, I created a crack to step through. Disco was waiting on the loveseat, in the same place he had marked me just days before. One look in my direction told me he was still angry, but he didn’t say a word, giving me the silent treatment. The chairs Paine and Peter had used were gone, leaving an open path.

I crossed the room and sat beside him, holding the box in my lap.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly and got the response I was hoping for, gaining his attention. I extended the box to him. “I would have told you everything in the car, but since this was about you in particular, I was afraid to say anything until I actually had what Jacob wanted me to give you.”

He frowned as he accepted the box, blue eyes cautious.

“Jacob wanted me to tell you he found it a few years ago in a pawn shop and was waiting for the right time to give it to you.”

I could see his chest still as his breath caught. He flipped the lid off the box and let it fall to the floor. He stared at the velvety blue box inside, and my heart ached. His mouth tightened, drawn eyebrows nearly touching. He pulled the box free and lifted the lid, closing his eyes after one glimpse of what lay inside.

I didn’t say anything, unwilling to interrupt his grief. The only thing that remained of the girl he once loved could fit inside a tiny blue box. I was sure the pain was incredible, especially after thinking the bracelet would never be found.

He closed the lid and placed it back inside the shoebox with trembling hands. “Did Nala tell you?” he asked hoarsely.

I nodded. “I hope you don’t mind. When I asked her, she couldn’t exactly say no.”

“No.” He cleared his throat, staring straight ahead. “I don’t mind.”

“Would you like me to go?” I shifted on the cushions, prepared to leave and give him time alone.

“Don’t go.” His right hand came out and touched my thigh. “I want you to stay.”

“All right.” I settled back, glancing around the room, biting my lower lip.

“How did Jacob tell you where to find this?” Disco placed the lid back on the shoebox. “I thought you only saw how he died.”

“He decided to venture inside my body so we could have a little chat. As weird as it sounds, it wasn’t that bad. He said he couldn’t cross over until this was given to you and asked me to take care of it.” I paused and tried to find the right words to convey how badly I felt. “I’m really sorry, about not telling you… and about having to be the one to give you this.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you were the one to give it to me.” He leaned over and plopped the box onto the floor, turning to face me. “Living an eternity means you never get used to death, but you learn to accept it.”

“You must miss her.” I offered a weak smile, my gaze drifting away from his.

“I did,” he admitted, “and I regret the harm that befell her that I feel responsible for. But Sienna is gone. Nothing I do will reverse the past. And I’m fortunate, because someone else has come into my life.” He leaned across the sofa, moving closer. Then he whispered, “If her death taught me anything, it’s this. Cherish the time you have. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Right now is all we are promised.”