Misfortune Cookie (17 page)

I closed the panel and placed the book on the desktop. The cover material, slick and shiny, radiated with power. When I reached over to open the book, my hand sunk into it like taffy. I tugged it free, shaking out the pins and needles.

“No. God. Not more weirdness.” At the sound of my voice, the cover solidified and an image appeared. A large winged beast. It looked a lot like the one that saved me from the Jiang Shi.

“What are you?” I muttered, flipping through the pages. The book had been handwritten, probably over decades or even centuries. The script changed from person to person. Sometimes I could read the words and other times, they were in some language other than English. Instead of trying to read it, I examined the pictures. Many of the images I recognized right away. The vortex. Redeemers and Advocates. The word
Alkhari
.

I stopped flipping, stopping when a peculiar phrase caught my attention. “Blood price?”

My eyes widened. The more I read, the more concerned I became. Holy, fucking hell. This explained so much.

I brought the tome to the outdoor veranda. Luca was already seated at the table, scanning paperwork. Even in the warm afternoon sun, he looked pale. Now I understood why.

He gave me a broad smile. It fell flat the moment he noticed what I held in my arms.

“Care to explain?” I dropped the book onto the table with a heavy
thunk
.

Luca’s mouth tightened into a thin line.

“What? Cat got your tongue?” I flicked the pages. “The chapter on blood was worth the price of admission. It was fascinating to learn that only
Alkhari
blood can open the passage. I was fascinated to learn that all escaped souls, after judgment, are sorted and parsed through the underworld.”

When he remained silent, my blood pressure skyrocketed. “You know which part was the most interesting?” I flipped a few more pages, then aimed the open book in his direction. “Replenishment. Let me read this out loud to you.”

“Radiance. Please—”

“No. No, you’ve had your chance to speak.” I stabbed the words as I read along. “All
Alkhari
must recharge their power. To be fully healed and effective, the mated
Alkhari
receives his energy from sex with his or her chosen.
Alkhari
are free to choose their bonded mates, but will only do so if their chosen accepts them. Unbonded
Alkhari
never fully reach the peak of their power and eventually their blood weakens. Unable to open portals,
many die before their time
.”

I closed the book, sat down, and folded my shaking hands. After several deep breaths, I stared at Luca. “When. Were. You. Going. To. Tell. ME!” I wrapped my arms around myself so I wouldn’t go ballistic and overturn the table.

To his credit, Luca never once flinched or tried to placate me. If he had, I would have launched over the table and throttled him.

“
Annwyl
. . .” he said. Slowly, deliberately, he came around my side of the table. When he reached my chair he crouched down next to me. “Look at me.”

“No.” My throat closed. The storm of anger blew away, replaced by something much more raw and naked. Fear. Loss.
Love
.

“I can’t do this, Luca.”

“Do what, my love?” The tenderness, the understanding, in his voice only agitated me more.

“Feel this way.” Out of control. His nearness only stoked my heightened emotions. All I wanted to do was sink into him. It would be easy to let him soothe me. To let someone else worry about everything. To be taken care of.

That was the ice water to the face that I needed. I didn’t need anyone to take care of me. All my life, I’d fought well-meaning attempts and controlling interventions to manage my best interests.

“Is it all true, Luca?” I asked in a small voice. “Will you die without me?”

“Yes. But not because we aren’t bonded.” He reached over and stroked my cheek, his gaze seeking out mine. “What do I have to do to convince you that my feelings are my own?”

I looked at him. Really saw him for who he was. Not as the person responsible for my situation. Not as a guardian or an advocate. When I set all the supernatural bullshit aside, an earnest man knelt before me. A kind smile illuminated his face. That it was all for me sent heat throughout my body. Not sexual heat, although that was always there.

“What do you feel when you look at me?” He brushed my cheek with his petal-soft lips, sending a volcanic rush of fire into my needy center. “Don’t think. Just speak.”

“Home.” The word surprised me because until that moment, I had no idea I would say it. But it was true.

“Exactly.” He rose, tugging me from my seat. Instead of kissing me outright, he stood behind me, his chest pressed against my back. He wrapped his left arm around my waist and snugged me close.

The heat of his body coursed through me. With his right hand, he trailed his fingers across my shoulder then swept my hair away from my collar. I moaned when his lips nuzzled the nape of my neck. When he gently kissed his way to my throat, I arched my spine, rubbing against his hard body.

“Ah, darling . . .” He bent around, speaking against my skin, “I can’t get enough of you.”

I turned my head so my lips brushed his. His left hand skimmed under my T-shirt, the pads of his fingertips dancing across my skin. My nipples hardened forcefully, anticipating his caress.

“Luca, please,” I gasped when he stopped short of my aching breasts. Those talented lips nipped my throat, while his right hand cupped my ass before traveling between my legs. He rubbed the seam of my jeans against my throbbing clit in slow, deliberate circles. Not too hard, but enough to make me pant.

He wasn’t getting off the hook so easily. I grinded against his erection with the same easy rhythm, pleased when he responded in kind, his own hips moving in time.

Releasing a throaty sigh against my skin, he palmed my left breast, caressing my taut nipple. “I love how soft you are. I could touch you all day.”

“I want to kiss you.” My head kicked back against his shoulder, my breath short and shallow. I bit my bottom lip in anticipation.

Butterfly kisses landed on my nose, throat and cheeks. I was about to protest, when he tweaked my left nipple. Fiery pleasure pulsed through me. Before I could catch my breath, he shifted his right hand, unbuttoned my jeans, and slipped his fingers between my legs.

“Oh God!” I shivered as his fingertips rubbed my core using my underwear to heighten the sensation. My legs quivered under his masterful command of my body. Tension built inside of me. A dam that wanted to burst.

“
Annywl
. . . let go.” He ran his velvety tongue down my throat, heat blazing a trail across my collarbone.

I was so close. Small spasms built inside me. His fingers slipped underneath my panties, touching my bare flesh. With short, firm circles, he rubbed around my opening. My hips rocked against his hand.

“Luca,” I whimpered.

He slipped his two fingers inside and moved them with sustained, erotic strokes. I came hard and fast. For a moment, I was pure sensation. All white-hot heat, radiating from my waist up through my limbs. Unable to stand anymore, Luca held me upright, whispering lyrical Welsh phrases against my throat.

Hot tears spilled out of the corner of my eyes. I’d never felt so damn good before. I reveled in the aftershocks, my inner muscles jumping against Luca’s fingers. I was temporarily robbed of speech.

“I love you.” Luca brought my mouth to his and kissed me deeply.

I tried not to whine when he carefully withdrew his hand from between my legs. I twisted around and put my arms around his neck, drawing him close against me. His hard length pressed against my abdomen.

Poor Luca. I dropped my hands to the waistband of jeans and tugged at the top button. I peered up at his face. He looked down at me with hooded eyes. I slowly ran my tongue over my lips in anticipation of tasting him.

“Pardon me,” Meadows cleared his throat.

I’m sure if I turned around, my cheeks would be fire-engine red. I froze in place, finding no good way to extract myself from Luca’s pants without announcing that my hands were on his penis.

Luca handled the situation deftly. He pulled me tighter against his body, angling me so Meadows wouldn’t see my unbuttoned jeans.

Of course, Meadows must have known we were getting it on. We were out in the open, for Pete’s sake. He was too professional to even acknowledge the situation.

“What is it, Mr. Meadows?” Luca voice was polite, even though I could see his jaw clench.

“Ms. Evans is here. And she is adamant that you meet with her.” Meadows hesitated, then added, “She refused to take no for an answer so I asked her to wait in the movie theater.”

I smiled broadly and looked over my shoulder. “Good thinking.”

Meadows smiled back. “My pleasure. Shall I tell her you’ll join her momentarily?”

“Yes, please,” I said. When Meadows turned away, I reluctantly removed my hand from Luca’s pants. When I reached down to fix my own jeans, he swatted my hands away.

“Allow me. I insist.” Before I could argue that I could dress myself, he teased my lips with his. “Next time, when you come, it’ll be with me inside of you.”

Oh. My. God. My body burned at the seductive promise in his voice.

Luca chuckled. “I enjoy rendering you speechless. Best not to keep the boss waiting.”

I nodded. “Uh-huh.”

While we ensured our clothes were in proper order, Luca paused and asked, “What’s so funny about making her wait in the theater?”

“Is this your idea of a joke?” Joanna glared at us when we entered the home theater’s vestibule. She made an angry motion toward the screen visible through the open double doors. “I don’t appreciate being subjected to your uncle’s porn collection.”

I suppressed the smile twitching to escape. Sebastian definitely had some bizzaro tastes. He’d collected some really kinky shit. Meadows and I got an eyeful during one of my early tours of the place. Needless to say, after the initial shock, I thought it was hilarious.

Luca gave me a cross look. “We’re very sorry about that. What can we help you with today? I trust you saw my report.”

Joanna eyed us both, displeasure etched on her face. Her rigid arms and stiff back reinforced the notion that she was about to snap. Probably at us. She glared before regaining her composure. “I’m here about the Jiang Shi.”

“Don’t tell me it escaped,” I blurted out.

“No. It most certainly did not.” She handed Luca a newspaper. “This is from today’s headlines.”

Luca cursed, then handed the paper to me. The headline screamed “Massacre at Chinese Restaurant.”

“I don’t understand. This happened in the early-morning hours. We caught the Jiang Shi that night. Are we sure it’s the same creature?”

“Yes. Forensics and the exorcists have confirmed it. Same MO.” She gave me a hard smile. “Looks like you two have more work to do. The crime scene reports are in your e-mail Luca.”

As soon as she left, I turned to Luca. “I don’t understand. Maybe the murders happened before we caught it and they are only finding them now.”

He scanned the paper. “I don’t think so. Look at the photograph.”

My stomach turned over. “Those are Allen’s employees.” The same scared bunch we’d seen before encountering the Jiang Shi. “Damn it all. Those poor people. They were so scared.” My body trembled.

“Hey. This is not our fault. We are not omniscient. Obviously, there is more going on than we realized.” Luca plucked the paper out of my hands and gathered me into his arms. I breathed in his comforting scent. Vibrations rattled against my hip.

“Wow. That’s different. Happy to see me,” I quipped.

“Smart ass.” Luca extracted his phone from his pocket and answered it. “We’ll be right there.” He frowned. “That was Gabriel, over at Soul Kitchen. Seems he has a patron rather keen on speaking with us.”

“Who?” A dull headache formed between my eyes. I knew I’d hate the answer, whatever it was.

“Tien Shaw.”

Man, this day just kept getting better and better.

Chapter 11

He who laughs last, laughs hardest.

“Would you all care for some pie?” the waitress asked, pouring us cups of coffee. She didn’t bother to find out if any of us wanted one first. Not that it mattered. I never said no to a good cuppa.

“How about Lemon Meringue?” Luca suggested.

When I didn’t say anything, she nodded and left.

“Pre-emptive strike?” The thought of needing to use my power again so soon didn’t really thrill me.

“I hope not.” He sipped the coffee, black. No sugar, no cream.

“Where is he?” I glanced around the room again for the tenth time since we’d sat down minutes earlier.

“Relax. He’s here.”

“How do you know that?” Irritation oozed forth. I hated being in left field all the time.

“I see him exiting the kitchen with Gabriel.” A muscle twitched in Luca’s jaw and his eyes narrowed at Gabriel’s approach. Seriously? What was wrong between those two?

Tien sat at the table eyes cast downward. Tension radiated off of Luca. The careful angle of his chair, not too far under the table, legs free to move, and the illusion of laid back calm didn’t fool me. I knew the lawyer face when I saw it. The proverbial iron fist under the velvet glove.

Gabriel clearly knew it too because he glared at Luca before sitting on Tien’s other side. “Nice to see you again, Radiance.” His generous smile reached all the way up to his eyes.

“Tien,” Luca said, tone low and deadly, “you had better start talking.”

The ghost flinched, hands trembling visibly.

“Don’t scare him,” Gabriel warned. “He’s under my protection.”

Of course it made sense that he’d be more afraid of us in death. We could send him to some really bad places in the Hereafter.

“I’m seriously brassed off at you, Tien. Don’t keep me waiting,” Luca said. I reached under the table and rapped his knee.

Tien swallowed with an audible gulp. “I’d like to make a confession.”

“We’re not confessors.” Luca slammed his hand down on the table. “I don’t take kindly to anyone harming my partner.”

I covered his fists with my hands and turned to Tien. “Don’t mind him. He is very passionate about his job.”

“More like passionate about you,” Gabriel murmured, arms crossed over his chest, biceps bulging.

I shot him a sharp glare. What? He had to act up too. “Maybe you two manly men should sit somewhere else.”

“Fine.” Gabriel stood. “Coming,
Alkhari
?”

Luca screeched the metal legs of his chair across the floor. Half a dozen patrons cringed at the nails on chalkboard noise. He couldn’t resist a parting shot. “I’ll be right over there. Give her a hard time, and I’ll be back. You can’t hide here forever.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said through gritted teeth. When they were far enough away, I opened my hands and placed them on the table. “I’m so sorry, Tien. I wish we’d learned what was happening sooner.”

He shook his head, eyes glistening with tears. “No. It’s my fault. I should have been honest with you that day you came to the factory. Now, my daughter has to grow up without a father and my wife is a widow.”

I said a silent prayer, hoping they never saw the carnage I witnessed. “Do you know who was controlling the Jiang Shi?”

“I was trying to discover that before I died. There was a list on my desk of possible families who could have summoned it.”

“Well, that could be dozens and dozens of families, right?” There was a large Chinese population in Jericho. Not to mention, it could be someone outside of the community.

“One would think. Except the dialect, the lingo, it all points to a limited pool of candidates.”

“How do you know that?”

“Like I said, its speech pattern is similar to the immigrants who came here at the turn of the twentieth century.”

“I remember the accented English. But how does that narrow down the pool. A lot of people have migrated here.” I relaxed against the seatback. Out of the corner of my eye, Luca’s body shifted.

“Ahh, not the Chinese. US officials had limited the number of Asians allowed into the country. When I first saw the jar, I spent weeks researching local history and archived records. Then I remembered this.” He fished a ghostly newspaper article from his pocket and smoothed it flat on the table. I guess you can take things with you when you die.

He pushed it toward me. Tentatively, I reached for it with my index finger. The paper became sold at my touch. The by-line read, “Local Museum Gifted with Chinese Artifacts.” A photo accompanied the article. Front and center, shaking the museum director’s hand—Allen Chen.

“What does Allen have to do with all this?”

“He donated the items. I verified the collection’s manifest and it was mostly vases and jewelry. The night before your visit, I broke into Allen’s office and took the jade jar you were admiring.”

“Why?” Tien didn’t strike me as the vigilante type let alone someone who’d break into someone’s office.

“Because I figured I could stop the spirit on my own.”

“Nope. Not buying it. You have to do better than that. If you want to cross over, you have to come clean.”

Tien licked his lips and drew an imaginary circle on the table. “I grew up hearing stories of Jiang Shi. I didn’t believe it was real until I started seeing the news reports. Then you came in asking about custom fortune cookies and I remembered Allen. We’d grown up together so when he came to my factory asking for special cookies I didn’t think anything of it. Until he insisted that
I
make the cookies. The moment I touched those papers, I sensed something was wrong.”

He shrugged and sipped his ghost coffee. “I told myself to quit acting paranoid. I knew Allen had been unhappy. Last autumn he’d tried to run for city council and the old school moneymen made it difficult. Said he was too young. Too Chinese.”

Yeah, I knew how that worked. You were either in with the Good Old Boys’ Club or you weren’t.

“Allen was so angry. He wasn’t going to let anyone stop him. He ran his campaign, convinced that the world of our forefathers was different, had changed. Instead he lost. After, he withdrew from everyone. I figured he’d lick his wounds then snap out of it.”

It wasn’t hard to see where this story was headed. “Except, he couldn’t let it go.”

Tien laughed, the sound bitter and sharp. “He decided to get his revenge. Only he went too far. He must have summoned the Jiang Shi. I tried to stop him. I even enlisted help from a friend at the temple. When that failed, I stole the jade vessel and hid it hoping to catch the demon and banish it.“

Obviously that plan hadn’t worked. “Did you summon the Jiang Shi?”

“No. It found me first.” He stared, eyes blank. “I can’t believe Allen would send it after me.”

“I don’t think he did.” I placed a plastic zip bag on the table, the bloodied paper inside. “Do you recognize this?”

Tien studied it closely. “It’s a spell.”

I added the fortune cookie to the pile. “What about this? I found this with one of the victims.”

With a sharp hiss, Tien ran his spectral fingers through his hair. “Oh, Allen . . .”

“I’m sorry. I hate to ask, but what does it mean?”

He looked up at me, tears streaking his cheeks. “Whatever you do, don’t open it. Not unless you want the demon to find you.”

An awful realization grabbed me. “Would it work without being opened?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. It depends on the spell.”

Luca’s hands rested on my shoulders. His fingers caressed the skin of my neck, relieving some of the strain. He said, “I banished the Jiang Shi, yet the murders keep happening. Do you know why?”

“I’m sorry.” Tien stood, his gaze distant, attention fixed on something we couldn’t see. “Please tell my family I love them.”

He straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin as if a huge weight had lifted off of him. He headed to the door. With his hand on the handle, he turned and said to me, “Save Allen if you can. He’s a good man.”

Without another word, he went outside. The sun blazed brightly, whiter and hotter than I’d ever seen it. So intense I threw my arm in front of my face and squeezed my eyes shut. Chimes tinkled and the door clicked shut. The light was gone and so was Tien.

“I knew Allen was hiding something.” The weasel. Of course, I would’ve never guessed he’d unleashed a pissed-off, angry spirit. We said our goodbyes to Gabriel and returned to the waiting car.

“So should we confront him?” I asked, checking my cell phone for messages.

“He won’t be at the restaurant. We’ll have to track him down. But we’ll have to wait until the human authorities are done at the crime scene.”

“And in the meantime, we hope that whatever killed those workers doesn’t strike again.”

Luca raked his fingers through his hair. Dark circles sat under his eyes. “I’m waiting for Joanna to call me about the timing. The Jiang Shi didn’t find us that night right away. It could have killed them before attacking us.”

Man. Those poor people. Sadness settled inside me, an increasingly familiar feeling. “Then what do we do now?”

“Wait.” He pressed his fingers against his eyelids. Tiny worry lines appeared around his eyes and mouth.

“Are you okay?” In all the time we’d been together, I’d never seen Luca appear anything less than perfectly put together. Fatigue etched his features making him seem almost mortal.

“I’m fine,
cariad
.” He leaned over and planted a light kiss on my cheek.

My cell beeped with a text from Meadows. Earlier, I’d asked him to order me a few items to aid me in soul catching. They’d arrived at the house.

“We have a stop to make before returning home.”

I gave Luca a blank stare. “For what?”

“A ball gown.”

Shit. No. I covered my face with my hands. It couldn’t be that time of year already.

“You forgot, didn’t you?” Luca asked, eyes crinkling with amusement.

Yup. Other than the brief mention when we sampled fortune cookies, I’d firmly blocked out the dreaded event.

“Can’t we cancel this year?” I already knew the answer. A big fat no. The Ashworth Charity Ball raised millions of dollars for a variety of worthy causes, including hospitals, animal shelters, and safe havens for abuse victims. Those entities all depended on the money.

“It’s only one night.” This time his phone chirped, signaling a text. He scanned it, then pocketed the phone, directing his attention back to me.

“The ball may only be one night, but my family will be there all weekend long.”

My stomach sank to my toes. The car seemed to be closing in on me. The family would be staying at the mansion with me.
All weekend
. Despite the size of the estate, it wouldn’t be big enough. It hadn’t been that long since I’d seen them all. This was too much too soon. But I couldn’t turn them away. Charity weekend had been a family tradition since before Sebastian’s time.

“Grace and Selene will be there.”

Normally, I’d be delighted, frothing with anticipation to see them. Another emotion filled me instead. Dread. “No. They won’t be safe. I don’t want them anywhere near my fucked-up life. Grace, she’s—”

“—don’t say it. Never aloud. Even with me.” Luca stroked my cheek. “It will be fine. That was Joanna. She’s personally confirmed the Jiang Shi is imprisoned. In fact, she’s contacted the Higher Power to take him to the Underworld’s lowest level. Super max for bad demons. And she is allowing us to postpone our duties until after the weekend is over.”

I relaxed into his embrace. “That was kind of her.” Until that moment, I hadn’t even considered that I might have to capture a soul in heels and a ball gown. “What about Allen and the jar?”

“I have that covered too. I’ve got eyes and ears on his home and other businesses. If he shows up, we’ll grab him. Party or no party.”

Smiling, I snuggled against his chest, marveling over the rush of heat that pumped through my veins. Even nicer, for the first time in ages, I relaxed and enjoyed his company. I peppered him with questions about his childhood. He obliged, telling me stories about the mountains near his home in Wales.

“I’d love to go there someday. I’ve never been to Wales.” The only time I’d been in the United Kingdom was with my parents on a movie set. I was ten and spent the entire trip under the thumbs of tutors or bored assistants. I’d hated every moment. Selene and I got into trouble as much as possible. Instead of getting our parents’ attention, they hired an English nanny.

Luca laughed when I told him. “I bet that nanny had no idea what kind of trouble she was in for.”

“No, she didn’t. But in the end, we came to a happy truce. I think she felt bad for us. Two rich kids with parents even more spoiled and self-indulgent that their own children.”

“Ah, love, you turned out rather well.”

“What about you, Luca? Were you a bad boy?” I kissed the hollow of his throat, enjoying the taste of his savory skin against my tongue.

He purred, “Not until I met you.” He stroked my back while I loosened his tie and unbuttoned the collar.

“Why are you always wearing so many clothes?” I grumbled.

“I’m on the clock at the moment. I do have a professional image to maintain.”

The car stopped. I blew out a disgruntled breath. We’d arrived at the boutique. “Hey. Did you actually choose clothes for me?”

The mischievous glint in his eye told me the answer. “I hope you approve of at least one of the dresses.”