Magic of Three (27 page)

“It might block out the memories but it wouldn’t do much to help you. Believe me, been there, done that. Never works,” Julian murmured, sitting on her other side and wrapping his arm around her.

Won
’
t cry
.
Won
’
t cry
, she thought as she shook in the embrace of these two strong men.

“It’ll be okay,” Julian whispered into her hair before covering her cheek with what should have been light, electrifying kisses, if she could feel anything past the bone-deep cold.

“No, it won’t. It won’t ever be okay again. Why me? Why can’t they leave me alone?” Lisa sobbed, trying to hold it together but failing miserably. Vulnerability left an aching hole in her chest. So empty and so cold. “I don’t even know why they picked me.”

Tim pulled her across his lap and stared pointedly at Julian.

Julian sighed, running his fingers through his short dark hair. “I know why,” he muttered, unable to meet her gaze. “You won’t believe me. You won’t like it. You might even think I’m crazy. But I know why they’re targeting you.”

“What?” Lisa asked, struggling to pull herself out of Tim’s comforting arms. Tim held tight, anchoring her even as he forced her to listen. “You know? Your company must be even better than I thought. Do you know who they are? Have you told the police? Is that why Detective Ramirez was with you? Is this going to be over soon?”

“This will be over soon, one way or another,” Julian replied, still not meeting her puzzled stare. Something in his manner tugged at her heart at the same time. She’d never seen the man so unsure of himself, so insecure. What wasn’t he telling her? “But I haven’t involved the police,” he continued. “They would have less reason to believe than you.”

Lisa blinked, forcing her brain to process what he was saying and come up with some answer. But nothing made sense. And Julian looked worried, very worried. More worried than he had in the car, or even when he’d come over to check out her apartment. Almost afraid. His brow creased and she could see the lines of tension crinkling around his mouth and the bags under his eyes that she hadn’t noticed before, so wrapped up in her own fears. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Julian opened his mouth but Tim held up a silencing hand. “Maybe you should show her. I didn’t buy any of this shit, not really, until you showed me.”

Head jerking up, Julian’s mouth dropped open in shocked realization. “I didn’t show you until weeks after you moved in with me. Are you telling me you moved in with me thinking I was a complete nutjob?”

Tim gave a dark laugh, the sound grating against Lisa’s nerves in the somber atmosphere. “No. I moved in with you thinking you were a kind, hot as sin, loaded and generous nutjob. Your tight ass and six-pack abs had quite a bit to do with it too. Add to that the fact that you’re a maestro in the bedroom and I wasn’t budging. I figured I’d be the one keeping you anchored in reality. Then you pulled the big magic show and I realized I’d be doing a hell of a lot more than that. Not that I’m unhappy with it or anything.” Tim ran his hands up and down Lisa’s sides, barely grazing her breasts. “It definitely has its perks.”

Again Lisa tried to pull out of Tim’s embrace only to have him hold her tighter, rocking her against his body. She felt his arousal hard against her but didn’t stiffen or pull away. Deep inside she knew he wouldn’t do anything she didn’t want. It was a feeling of confidence in another person she’d never experienced before. She stopped fighting her feelings, relaxing into his hold as she asked, “What’s going on?”

“Do you trust us?” Julian asked, voice and face serious as he leaned toward her, reaching out to take her still-cold hands in his.

“I’m here, cuddling with you two, after being kidnapped and held prisoner in an empty warehouse for hours. I let you bandage my ankle and fix me cocoa and tea to make it all better. What do you think?”

Julian moved both her hands to one of his as he cupped his other hand around her cheek. He rubbed his thumb against her lower lip. “I think what I’m about to tell you is going to strain that trust. You might turn from us. You’ve done it before.”

Lisa rolled her eyes, snuggling closer to Tim’s warmth. “I know I don’t have a good track record with trusting you but I promise I’ll try.”

“You’ll see,” Julian whispered, uncurling from the couch and reaching for her hand.

Tim hopped up to take her other hand helped her stand, still clutching her blanket around her shoulders. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he promised, seeing her doubtful expression. With a single finger he tipped her face up to give her a gentle kiss. “It’s not as bad as you think. Creepy, a little world-altering, but not like you think.”

Lisa grimaced but took both men’s hands. She let them lead her down the hallway to the door Tim had said was Julian’s office. In the dim light, with the escort, Lisa felt like she was walking death row. The men’s heavy expressions did nothing to change the impression. She could feel the importance of the moment in the air.

What could they possibly know that had them so worried? The entire condo felt weighed down with their concern, it filled every crevice, pounded through her with each beat of her heart. Were they the reason someone was after her? Were her attackers actually after Julian and Tim, using her to hurt them? Could that be the answer?

Lisa almost felt relieved to realize there was a reason, nothing random to what happened. Random violence was worse, with no way to predict or protect against it. But that wasn’t enough to prevent the butterflies from beating against her stomach as Julian opened the door. At least she was getting some answers, some control of her life back.

As Julian opened the door Lisa caught her first glimpse of his inner sanctum. The room surprised her. After Tim’s tour of the other rooms she expected a theme den, despite the fact that this was Julian’s territory, not Tim’s. A Thirties art-deco office that reflected a sense of style and history came to mind, or a Victorian library with a faux fireplace and tumblers of port.

Warmth was the only unifying theme she could see here. Comfort. Dark, shiny wood lined the walls. Brightly painted landscapes brought out color and a sense of nature. A plethora of candles dotted every surface, their woodsy aroma lingering in the air. Crystals, different sculptured objects and a multitude of dusty books sat on low shelves along the far wall. A deafening silence enclosed the room as the door swung shut behind her, a testament to the miracle of soundproofing.

In the center sat a round table covered with dark blue satin trailing the floor. Only a crystal ball graced it, with three chairs completing the tableau.

“Okay,” Lisa said as Julian stared at her expectantly. “Not what I expected. A little Romanian Gypsy chic. Into the whole New Age stuff, huh? Pagan, Wiccan, something like that?”

“Yes and no,” Julian replied, pulling one chair out for her as Tim helped her sit without tripping over her blanket. The two men tucked it neatly around her and scooted her in as Julian continued. “My beliefs are a bit older and not as well-known. But if you’re asking whether my religion is a bit left of the norm the answer is yes. Much of my belief system goes against the Christian majority. I find some similarities in the Eastern religions, reincarnation being the strongest one.”

Lisa raised her eyebrows. Vegas was close to California and its flighty wackiness but flaky hippie stuff hadn’t bled over. Too much blatant capitalism and self-interest to get a foothold in. Julian was the first person she’d met who actually confessed to believing in reincarnation and wasn’t Hindu or Buddhist. “You think you’ve lived before? Alexander the Great or King Richard the Lionheart?”

Julian grinned at the image, puffing up slightly at her assumption even as he denied the connection. “No, no one a historian would know of but thank you for the compliment. Two of history’s greatest warriors. I like your image of me. No, the first life I remember was that of a priest.”

That finally dragged a grin to her face. Priest. Right. This from the man who’d ridden her ass so hard the night before that she had trouble sitting without twitching. “I’m in a threesome with a priest? I’m either going straight to hell or I’m building up some serious time in purgatory.”

Tim snickered, his mischievous mind easily following her train of thought. “He wasn’t that kinda priest, sweetheart. Think pre-Christianity. No celibacy required.”

“Oh.” Lisa nodded, playing along. Julian looked so sexy when he got all huffy, his strong jaw tightening and his eyes darkening. It made her want to lick those tight lips into submission. “Fertility rites. Standing over steaming bowls of entrails and speaking to the gods of nature. That kinda priest.”

Julian rolled his eyes. “Spare me from bad B movies. But for lack of a better definition we’ll go with that.”

Looking around at the suddenly ominous-seeming candles and paraphernalia, Lisa couldn’t prevent her snarky side from coming to the forefront. Her eyes locked on the clear crystal ball. She reached out and tapped the surface. “So is someone’s disembodied head gonna appear in there and intone great and ancient wisdom for us?”

A frown flickered across Julian’s face. “You know, you don’t have to be so snippy.”

Lisa crossed her arms beneath her blanket and glared up at him. “After my day I can be whatever the hell I want to be.”

Tim laughed as he flopped into his chair. “She’s got ya there.”

Julian gave a long-suffering sigh, eyes rolling. “You know this isn’t easy for me to do with someone else in the room. You’re not making it any easier.”

“Just get on with the magic show, Houdini,” Lisa teased, crossing her arms and legs. “Make a believer out of me.”

Julian opened his mouth but snapped it closed as he thought better of whatever he’d been about to say. He turned to the shelves and started pulling out three short, chunky white candles and multiple sticks of incense. Lisa just shook her head. Stereotypical after all. She’d hoped for a little originality, especially since this was Julian.

“Do we join hands and start chanting odes to Hecate now? Or maybe we strip down and dance naked for a while. I wouldn’t be against that.”

“Damn, Julian,” Tim snickered, rocking his chair on its back legs with an irritating squeak. “She’s worse than I was. Least I acted like I believed you. She’s not even going to pretend you’re not crazy.”

Julian ignored their banter, concentrating on setting up whatever show he had in store for her. He lit the incense, leaving it in a dish on the bookshelves. He then turned to make a perfect triangle around the crystal ball with the candles. When everything was placed to his satisfaction he sat down and stared into the orb.

Minutes passed in silence. Lisa yawned and wiggled in her hard seat. Sharp needles tingled through her butt as her circulation came back. “Isn’t the table gonna levitate or the spirits start rapping? I mean, this isn’t very impressive. Not even any chanting or flickering lights. If you wanted to bore me into a coma you coulda done it while I was on the couch. More comfortable there.”

“Why didn’t you tell us what you saw in the warehouse?” Julian asked.

“I told you, two crazies having an orgy before they killed me,” Lisa replied, ignoring Julian’s blank, entranced expression. The very thought of the warehouse had her pulling her blanket tighter. “What more do you need to know?”

“What about the ritual?” Julian continued asking, voice locked in monotone and eyes glued to the crystal and sights no one else could see. “The blood pooling around the summoning marks, being absorbed by them? The trembling earth and the opening of the portal?”

Lisa sat up straighter, gripping the edges of her blanket. The hair at the back of her neck prickled and her stomach turned cold. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You saw the opening, the portal,” he continued in a monotone, never looking up from the crystal. “You saw the hand of the master, their Demon Lord, clawing his way into the mortal world through a breach in reality. You caught a glimpse of what the future holds for this entire city.”

Shaking her head, Lisa scooted her chair back, her legs too weak for her to stand. “I had a hallucination. I saw a drug-induced illusion.”

Finally Julian looked up at her, refusing to allow her denial. “The past is clear to me. If that’s true, how do I know about it, details happening in your mind that you never told anyone else? How could I know if it wasn’t real? If my powers aren’t real?”

The room wavered in front of Lisa’s eyes. Her skin grew clammy and her stomach rolled. The electric taste of utter fear coated her tongue. How could he know? It hadn’t been real and she hadn’t said anything. So how?