Mixed Feelings (Empathy in the PPNW Book 1) (27 page)

Chloe brought me hot
chocolate in a giant mug stamped with
Luke
’
s Diner
. Mel looked up at her with a frown.

“Where’
s mine?
”

“You can get it yourself,
you’re an adult
,
” she said as she settled in
next to me. Mel let out a small snort and the look they shared was friendly,
despite her rudeness. Getting to his feet like it was an incredible effort, he
moved to the kitchen, picked through Chloe’s rack of individual portion coffee
cups, and popped one into her machine. He leaned against the counter, arms
crossed as he waited for his
drink
to brew.

“That was some nice shooting
today, Tex,”
he
said after a bit. Chloe
shrugged like it was no big deal.

“
I
’m just glad Laurel and Hardy did most of the heavy lifting. Without
them, I can’t say rescuing our girl would have gone as well.” Chloe caught my
eye. “I mean, I don’t consider myself a demon expert and Mel wasn’t exactly any
help either, lying there on the floor, getting kicked in the face.”

“
I helped,
” he grumbled.

After a giant gulp of
chocolaty goodness, I nodded his way.
“The way you fell right on
your nose and hit him with the table? That was aces.”

Mel pouted in the kitchen and
I felt Chloe’s amusement mix with pity.

“Normally a vampire his age
wouldn’t be an issue to any of us, but Nysgrogh fixed that. I do feel bad about
the girl the demon’s possessed
,
but she was lost well before
I got there. Besides, my whole goal was just to get in, not die, and make off
with Gwen. Once Laurel and Hardy had the demon distracted, she wasn’
t my problem.
”

“Make out with Gwen, you say?”
Mel asked, coming back to the table. I rolled my eyes as Chloe took another sip
of her coffee, ignoring him. He plopped down in the chair across from me and
took a giant gulp of
his
coffee. On a sound of
disgust, he pursed and swished his lips, trying to overcome the taste before
popping back to his feet.

“We have to talk,” Chloe said
quietly, elbowing me gently. I cringed, mostly at the twinge of pain in my
side, but also at her tone. There was no threat of Chloe dumping me for another
cake addict, but nothing good ever came from that phrase.

“About how much you love and
missed me?” I tried for a grin, failed miserably. Chloe looked down into her
cup and let out a slow breath. Mel had started picking through her kitchen,
yanking open cabinets at random.

“The kids are still missing.”

“
So I
’m still on the hook with
Laurel and Hardy?”

“
I
’m not actually worried about them. They took care of Dirk and they have
the demon, but they don’t exactly have much power over her. They can’t cancel
out any enchantments she’s laid down, including anything she’s done to you and
the children. I brought you here to sleep it off, but you need to go back to
Merrin. We need to use you to track the kids again before we can truly stop
Nysgrogh for good.”

“
Doesn
’t sound so bad.” Mel had
found a liquor bottle that had been de-labeled and filled with cane sugar; he
upended it over the cup. I watched him dump a mountain of sugar into his coffee
and found myself grinning his way.

I scolded my brain as I
realized it was once again thinking pleasant thoughts about a man I had decided
long ago I despised.
Thankfully,
Chloe distracted
me from the slimy feeling of not disliking Mel.

“It might not be as simple as
it was before,” she said. “We searched the house where they were keeping you and
the kids weren’t around. Considering the fact that we were able to track them
through you, there’s a good chance that they used harsher enchantments when
they moved you all in order to guard them better. It may not be as easy as
kicking in a door this time. Though I guess it wasn't that easy last time,
either.”

I went quiet, considering her
words. It wasn’t that I had qualms about being used to locate the kids.
I
could suffer through floating about as a ghost and
getting slapped around a bit if it was for the greater good. But I wasn’t sure
how much use I’d be if things were as dire as Chloe suspected. Mel had come
back to the table, watching me carefully as he stirred his coffee. When I
didn’t say anything after a few minutes, he piped up.

“
Plus I
’m still weak as a kitten. It’d be nice if we could
take care of that.”

I didn
’t bother fighting off a smile. “Maybe my payment for
finding these kids can be to make sure you stay that way.”

Mel scoffed but Chloe jumped
in before he could pick a fight. “So you’re game? We can’t do this without you
agreeing.”

“We could,” Mel insisted
.
“I may not be myself, but I could still stuff her in a
sack, drag her there, and hold her down while Merrin does her thing.”

“
Mel,
” Chloe said, her expression a warning. He couldn’t quite manage to hide
a smile as he held his hands up in surrender.

I thought about little Devon
and his parents, Ashley and hers. We hadn’t actually met the parents of the
third girl, Felicity, but that didn’t mean she meant any less to me. I nodded.

“Whatever you need, Annie
Oakley.”

Chloe grinned and yanked me
into a hug hard enough that I was briefly reminded of being in Dirk’s arms.
Chloe smelled much better, though, and had never once tried to bite me.

***

“What did they do to Dirk?”
Mel asked as Chloe started the car.

She shrugged.

“I didn’t really ask the
details, but they assured me he won’t be kidnapping any more children or
hanging around any more demons.”

“
Goddamn dick,
” Mel growled.

Chloe caught his reflection
in the rearview mirror,
eyebrow
up.
“You mean
Dirk?”

“I didn’
t stutter.
”

She snorted, but silence fell
over the car again. We were quiet for a few more minutes before curiosity got
the better of me.

“You said earlier that a
vampire
Dirk
’
s age
wouldn’t be trouble. If he were older, we’
d
have to watch our backs? Do vampires go through a
particularly bad mid-life crisis?”

Chloe was quiet for a second,
discomfort billowing out of her. After a moment, she nodded.

“Um. Yeah. Mel didn’t tell
you that?” Her tone suggested this was common knowledge, something you learn in
grade school around the time you hear all about how Batman smells.

“
No,
” Mel said, leaning forward. “My only vampire knowledge is through Dirk,
though.”

“Well, when they get to be
old—I mean, really old—they’re pretty impressive specimens. Evadne
and I talked about a vampire who was several thousand years old. I’m talking
B.C. here.”

“
Jesus,
” Mel mumbled and I wondered if it was intentional.
Instead of letting the silence fall, I spoke up.

“Will this be like last time?
With the fainting and the slapping? I don’t know if I’m in any shape for more
physical comedy.”

“It
was
pretty funny
when you fell into a heap and then started stuttering in the voice of a little
boy,”
Chloe
teased. When I
frowned her way
,
she let out a small chuckle.
“
I don
’t know what Merrin will do.
I just know that once she gets us a location, we’
re gonna go in
full
bore.
”

“Tusks and all?”

“If that’s your thing, sure.”

“I just mean, what are we
expecting? And how the hell are we supposed to be prepared for this? Is Evadne
coming with us? Laurel and Hardy?”

“I think it’s just the three
of us. I’m sure we can get hold of some gadgets that will help.”

“Gadgets? Like a
remote-control pillow and an electric back massager? I don’t think those will
do us much good against magic.”

“
Back
massager?
” Mel
asked, his voice low and throaty. Without hesitating, I reached between the
seats, whacked him in the chest. He grunted out a laugh and leaned out of my
personal space.

“
Just trust me, okay? I
’m confident we can handle this,”
Chloe insisted.

I tapped my foot impatiently.
She had saved my life multiple times already and
besides,
Chloe was nothing if not
competence personified. I considered the last few days and realized that the
only times I’d been really hurt or in danger had been with Mel or while waiting
for Mel. I nodded.

“I trust you.”

Chapter
Twenty

I
did
pass out, but there was no slapping involved
and we left Merrin’s armed with an address that Mel excitedly recognized.

“I know that place! It’
s a hotel.
”

“Why am I not surprised? Does
that mean you’ve slept with all the desk agents and we should hide you lest
they take a baseball bat to our windshield?” I asked.

Mel
just talked over me
.
“
I
’ll drive. We should be in
and out in a few minutes.”

“Merrin didn’t have a room
number,” Chloe pointed out.

“And this address is
downtown,” I reminded him. “I doubt it’ll be as small as the last place. I
can’t stand next to every room and see what I find through the doors; that’ll
take ages.”

“I got it, don’
t worry.
” Mel opened the passenger
side door for me, gesturing with a flourish. When I continued to
stare
in disbelief, he gestured again. “
I
promise
.
”

“
Just get in,
” Chloe said, opening the
back door and taking her own advice. I fought the urge to throw a little fit at
Mel’s lack of explanation but got in. Before long, we were on our way toward
downtown Seattle, Mel humming along to some song on the radio that I didn’
t
recognize. It reminded me of when we’d been driving to
meet the Carlyles.

“
Mel,
do you remember what you were humming when I got all, you know.” I
flailed my hand, unsure how to describe it. “
Melty.
”

“
Ah.
” Mel made a thoughtful sound, took a second to think
,
and then nodded. “Yeah, I had Aqua stuck in my head,
Barbie Girl
specifically.”
I gaped
at him, completely unable to decide if I was more
flabbergasted that Mel liked such saccharine music or that my mood had been so
warped that I’d not been able to recognize such a happy tune. “Why?”

“No reason,” I said after a
moment, deciding that, of all the things I’d learned about Mel that week, that
was probably the least mortifying. Turning to Chloe, I looked her up and down. “
You bring your guns?
”

“
Today, no. I don
’t really want them around the kids.”

“But what if there’s an ogre
or a giant three-headed dog guarding them?”

“Then my tiny gun probably
won’
t help.
”

“So what will? You’re the
expert all of a sudden. What do we do in the face of an angry, three-headed
ogre?”

“We shove Mel at it and we
run,”
Chloe
suggested. Mel
’s
whistle faltered for a beat. She grinned,
jerking
her thumb at the back of the
car. “I got some stuff in the trunk that will help.”

“What did Evadne charge you
for it?”

“She didn’
t.
” Something about her inflection was odd, but she
wasn’t lying
,
so I just nodded.

“You think she will later?”

“
I
’m certain she won’
t.
”

Since my back was starting to
hurt from the
twisted
position, I turned to face
the front again. “
I
’m still going to maybe pray
a little that there aren’t any ogres in there.”

***

Mel pushed ahead of us into
the hotel, crossing the lobby quickly. When I attempted to match his speed,
Chloe grabbed my wrist.

“Let him go. If he knows the
women behind the desk, he’ll probably have better luck charming them if you’re
not around. Actually, even if he doesn’t know them.”

“What’
s
that
mean?”

“
You
’re not great with people.” I frowned, but she pressed on before I could
argue. “I know your empathy plays a factor, and I’m not saying you’re just an
asshole for no reason, but you’ve currently got chunks of a demon in your brain
and you’re stressed about saving these little kids. Let Mel do the schmoozing.”

I
grumbled but couldn’t actually argue with the points
she’
d
made. I’m good with my
clients—with one arthritic exception—but out in the real world,
it’s a lot harder to be decent. Any simple, everyday activity that takes place
outside my home can be like stepping into an emotional war zone. Just sitting
at a traffic light that’s too long can make me want to tear my hair out.
Between the blood loss and the itching vampire bites, I was even crabbier than
usual, and that was saying something.

Chloe and I stayed at the
back of the lobby, watching Mel chat up the two women behind the desk. Even
from where I was, I could feel how they were reacting to him and
,
to my surprise, it was all positive. Despite getting
to know him over the past week, I wasn’t sure I would ever get over my shock at
seeing him be
charming. He
’
d
admitted
to finding it funny that he
can so easily ruin my day; why did these women not get the same treatment? Even
with chunks of demon in my brain, I could feel their flattery and see the way
they looked at him. It didn’t seem right that the same man who made me feel
like I was being swarmed by hornets could smooth-talk a counter full of desk
agents.

Chloe and I watched him
follow one of the women behind the desk and through a door into the back.

“You think he’s paying for
this information with a quickie in the copy room?”

Chloe chuckled but just shook
her head. All in all, Mel was in the back for maybe fifteen minutes before he
came to us armed with a bright yellow key card and a giddy smile.

“Apparently our ingenious
kidnappers didn’t think to make sure the place they brought the kids wouldn't
have cameras. Lucy had checked Dirk in, so she knew who he was when we got to
the part of the surveillance that showed them smuggling in the kids. She gave
me a key to their room.”

“Because you asked nicely?” I
asked as Mel jerked his head toward the elevators and we all fell into step
toward them.

“Because I’m a successful
private detective with a trustworthy smile.” Catching my look, he shrugged
.
“We have a history.”

“Who
don
’
t
you have a history with?”

“
You,
” Mel pointed out.

“Oh, we have history. It’s
just vaguely reminiscent of one of the World Wars.”

We made our way up to the
tenth floor when it occurred to me how very strange and possibly illegal our
actions were.

I elbowed Mel.
“Hey, are the ladies downstairs gonna call the cops on Dirk and the
demon?”

“No, I assured them I’d
handle it.”

“They were just cool with you
taking on a possible kidnapper by yourself?”

“I didn’t exactly tell them
the whole truth, you know,”
Mel
said.
“
I
’m not an idiot.” Noticing my disbelief, he scowled
.
“
I
’
m not!
”

We were quiet as we made our
way down to the very end of the hall, but only because I was too scared to make
fun of Mel within earshot of something that might want to eat me. As Mel
stopped in front of the room, Chloe dug into the red backpack she’d pulled out
of the trunk. She came out holding a rock.

“Is that to throw at the
ogres?” I asked. Chloe smiled but didn’t answer, holding the rock out and
waving it in front of the door like a stud finder. Mel and I exchanged a look,
though I wasn’t sure his said the same thing as mine; he looked eager and
intrigued.

“Nothing on the door,” Chloe
said, grabbing the key from Mel without asking. He let her and we both watched
as she opened the door, pressed it back against the wall, and looked in
.
“Nothing set to jump out and eat our faces.”

“We should send Mel in first,
just to make sure.”

Chloe ignored my comment,
dropped the stone back into her bag, and stepped inside. I tried to control the
worried tension singing through my muscles.

“
I
’m going to check it out, stay out here for a second,” she
said.

“
Are you
—”

“
She
’s the one with the bag of goodies,” Mel said, putting a hand on my arm.
I didn’t like it, but he had a point. I leaned as far toward the doorway as I
dared without actually crossing the line of it and watched Chloe. The room was
small, typical of every reasonably upscale hotel room I’d come across. Chloe
walked it briskly,
stopping
at the end of the bed where
the three children lay, asleep and still like the last time I’d seen them. My
heart started pounding at the sight of them. They had no idea how close they
were to being safe.

The memory of when I’d channeled Devon’s panic wavered
through my mind and I swallowed hard, tensing with the need to go to him, scoop
him up, and rush him home. Chloe waved another item from her bag over the kids,
but I couldn’t see what it was with just the light from the doorway. When she
turned to smile and beckon us in, I was the first over the threshold. Mel went
straight to the kids, but I slid my hand along the wall until I found the
switch and flipped it.

Immediately, all worry for the children disappeared
from my mind and the only thing I could focus on was a fork on the dresser. It
looked clean but out of place. Who would leave a fork just lying around? There
was no plate to go along with it, no spoon or knife. It was just a metal fork
alone in a hotel room with no kitchen, begging to be put away.

Naturally, in that moment I understood that the
proper place to store a fork is in an electrical socket.

“What are you doing?” Chloe asked as I moved to the
dresser, picked up the fork, and looked it over. Two of the four tines had been
bent down, making it the perfect shape to fit where it belonged. “Gwen? Come
help. Mel can’t carry all three kids by himself, not in the puppy-weak state
he’s in.”

I wasn’t concerned with what she was saying or in
Mel’s bristly response. The kids were not a priority; putting away the fork was
the priority. I knew just where it needed to go, too; there was an alcove above
the sink at the back of the room, and while one of the outlets was taken up by
a lighted mirror, the other was free and clear. It was the perfect height to just
stride over and shove it in: no muss, no fuss.

“What are you doing?” Mel called from behind me. I
couldn’t see him anymore; I was too deep into the room. The closer I got to the
light socket, the more content I felt. The very idea of shoving two of the
tines into that shocked-looking plastic face made me almost weak in the knees.
In that moment, I was in love with the idea. It was perfect in a way I could
never be. Nothing could compare to the ecstasy I knew I would feel in just a
few seconds.

“Would you put that—” Mel cut off, shock
strangling his voice as I lifted my arm. The back of my jacket shot back,
pulling the front with it, and I gagged as fabric cut off my air supply.

My feet left the floor but I barely had the
self-awareness to reach back in an attempt to break my fall. My butt hit the
carpet first, then my shoulders and my head. My left arm felt bruised, as it
had briefly considered breaking my fall but not quite made it a reality. My
right arm, however, still held the fork triumphantly in the air. Time passed as
I tried to figure out what had happened, why I still held cutlery. Where had
the outlet gone?

Was I lying on the floor? Unacceptable.

“Don’t touch the fork,” Chloe warned as Mel stepped
into view. “It’s got to be enchanted.”

“What do I do?” he asked.

Hacking out a cough as my body realized what my brain
didn’t, I struggled around my heavy lungs and attempted to get back up. I had
to work pretty hard to move my left arm properly. Finally, I made it to my
feet, my breathing recovering as I started to feel steadier.

“We’re gonna have to get her wet,” Chloe said. There
was a deliberate silence followed by, “Don’t look at me like that. Running
water. It helps.”

Chloe put a hand on my back for all of a second
before making a thoughtful sound. Realizing I could breathe normally, and
therefore probably walk, I turned to face the socket again. Chloe took the fork
out of my hand, moved ahead of me.