The Haunting (Immortals) (11 page)

When there was enough of it, he pressed his palms together, coating them both before slapping them, open-faced, flat against the mirror frame. Pain shot through his hands and up his arms, fueling his anger.

“I call on Apep, the Great Destroyer, and Set, God of Evil, and Am-Heh, Devourer of Millions. I offer my blood as sacrifice and pray you grant me this boon. I call upon your powers of darkness to be my strength.” He turned back to the mirror. “Genie—I summon thee.”

This time, the mirror misted over, growing opaque. From within the depths of that cloud, a figure appeared. It moved closer until finally its features could be distinguished.

Will always thought the genie bore a strong resemblance to Hellboy at the end of the movie, when his horns had grown out and he wasn’t chewing on a cigar. He was a large creature with skin the color of molten lava, which had always intrigued Will because the genie, to his knowledge, didn’t have command of fire, nor did his dimension resemble the pits of Hell. Will figured the genie could assume any appearance he chose but chose to look like this just to intimidate Will. It worked, though Will would never admit it.

Will’s first summoning of the genie had been a complete accident. It had been the night after his grandfather’s funeral. Will, as the only living relative, had inherited everything—which hadn’t been much. Just the old book of spells and his grandfather’s ceremonial dagger.

The Johnson family was filled with generations of witches and wizards whose magical talent was more sham than genuine. Will had had no reason to believe his grandfather was any different than the rest of them. He’d been playing with the ritual dagger—running his thumb across the blade absently—while reading through the old man’s spell book. A drop of blood, the wrong selection of words and a portal had opened.

“What do you want, oh wise and powerful Oz?” the genie mocked him now.

“I want to know why the tenant in 14-B isn’t mine. I specifically
wished
that she notice me.”

“She did notice you,” the genie replied calmly.

“Then why was she out there kissing her boyfriend? If she noticed me, she shouldn’t be interested in him at all.”

“She
does
notice you—every time you’re around.” The genie smiled. “She just doesn’t like what she sees.”

“That’s not what I meant when I made that wish and you know it.”

“Then you should have been more specific,” the genie said patronizingly.

Will gritted his teeth. The genie was nothing but trouble. It would serve him right if Will were to banish him into nothingness—that is, if Will knew the right spell. Since he didn’t, he might as well make the most of the situation. “Okay—how’s this for specific? I wish—”

The phone rang, interrupting his wish. Sighing, he went to answer it, careful not to get blood on the receiver.

“Will?” a familiar female voice asked over the phone. “This is Mai. In 14-B?”

Her voice was like a gentle caress. He loved hearing her speak. “Hello, Mai. This is a pleasant surprise.” He was glad that despite the rapid beating of his heart, his voice sounded smooth and sexy.

“Are you going to be there for a few minutes? I wanted to come down and talk to you.”

“Now?” His heart skipped a beat. His gaze raked the room. He’d have to put a few things away, but it was basically clean. He shot a look at his bedroom. The bed hadn’t been made, but he supposed it was too much to hope she’d sleep with him this soon. Although…

“It’s important,” she urged.

“Okay. Come on down,” he said into the phone, and hung up. Hurrying back to the mirror, he saw the genie still waiting for him.

“I wish her to—”

“Uh-uh,” the genie interrupted. “Her? Which her are you talking about? Haven’t I told you—be careful of your word choice.”

Irritated, Will cast about in his mind for exactly the right phrasing. After all, he’d wished for her to notice him before and she had, but not in the way he’d expected. This time, he needed to be very precise. It would be nice if the wishes could involve formal names, but he’d tried that once and the genie had found someone else whose name happened to be the same to work the spell on.

He’d have to be creative, he thought. Mai was on her way down to see him, so perhaps he could play off that. “I wish that the next woman who comes through my front door wants to jump my bones.”

The genie rolled his eyes and waved his hand. “Wish granted.” Then he disappeared in a whirl of mist.

Soon there was a knock at the door.

“Just a minute,” Will shouted, rushing to the kitchen sink to wash the blood from his hands. He dried them, tossed the towel aside and hurried to the door. He paused, his hand on the doorknob, and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Then he opened the door.

At the sight of Mai standing in the hall with her boyfriend and Jenna Renfield, Will’s good mood vanished. “What’s going on?”

“Jenna’s sister has disappeared,” the boyfriend said, putting himself a little in front of the women. All three pairs of eyes bored into him, making him uneasy.

“What do you mean, Sarah’s disappeared? I just saw her last night.” They didn’t look surprised at the news, and it occurred to him that they already knew he’d seen her.
“Wait a minute. You don’t think I had something to do with her disappearance, do you?”

“No one’s accusing you of anything—yet,” the boyfriend said. “Right now all we know is that Sarah is gone and no one has heard from or seen her since last evening. We thought she might have said something to you that might help us find her.”

“No. We didn’t talk much. I had just started on the closet door when she decided to go next door. I finished before she came back, so I left.”

The boyfriend gestured to Will’s apartment. “Do you think we could finish this conversation inside?”

Will didn’t have to look behind him to know the bloodied dagger still sat on the table and there was blood on the picture frame. Would they believe it wasn’t Sarah’s blood? Not likely. “I’m afraid my apartment’s a mess.”

“This won’t take a second,” the boyfriend said.

“Why? You think I have her tied up in back? She’s not here.” The boyfriend was really pissing him off. It was bad enough they had to compete for the same woman, but now the boyfriend was trying to accuse him of kidnapping Sarah? Ridiculous.

For a full minute, the boyfriend stood glaring, trying to intimidate him. Well, it wasn’t working. Will had seen much scarier things than this guy.

Finally, when Will thought the silence had gone on for an absurdly long time, the boyfriend took a step back.

“Call us if you hear anything.”

“Obviously.” Will rolled his eyes. He watched them move back down the hallway and only when they’d stepped into the elevator did he finally go back into his apartment and close the door.

“Bastard,” he swore out loud as he returned to the mirror. He hated that guy with all that was in him. “Genie—I know you’re still here. What happened to Sarah?”

“How should I know?” the genie said in a bored tone.

“Give me a break. You know everything that happens in this building.”

A slow smile spread across the genie’s face, annoying Will further.

“Do I have to force you to tell me?” Will threatened. “Did you do something?”

Before the genie could respond, there was another knock on the door. Hoping that Mai had come back to apologize for her boyfriend’s behavior, Will went to open it—and found the tenant from 10-A. “Oh, hello, Tiffany.”

“Hi, Will.” She greeted him with a tentative smile. She was about his age and had probably been a very attractive woman, two hundred pounds ago. “My sink’s clogged again. Would you mind fixing it?”

“Sure,” he sighed. “Let me get my tools.” He closed the door almost all the way, leaving it standing ajar so as not to be rude. He kept his tools in the second bedroom and hurried back there to get them.

Knowing Tiffany, she’d purposely clogged the sink just so she’d have an excuse for company. She tended to be a bit of a recluse—not that Will held that against her. They all needed their privacy. “You should have just called me,” he shouted to her as he strapped on his belt. “Could have saved you a trip downstairs.”

“Oh, I didn’t mind.” Her voice sounded from right behind him.

He turned around to find her standing in the bedroom doorway. She smiled suggestively. “Has anyone ever told you how good you look in a tool belt, Will? So strong and”—she gave what sounded like a breathless sigh—“so commanding.” She came up to him and ran one plump hand down the front of his chest as her tongue darted out to moisten her lips.

From deep within the mirror, Will heard the distinct
sound of a chuckle and knew the genie was laughing at him. His wish had backfired again.

Will wondered how he might reverse the spell; wondered if it was even possible. On the other hand, seeing the willing look on Tiffany’s face made him realize just how long it had been since he’d last had sex.

He let his gaze travel over her plus-sized figure and decided things could be worse. It could have been eighty-year-old Edna Lawrence in 5-B who came looking for him.

“You sure are looking good today, Tiffany. Why don’t you and I go back to your place?” he said, ushering her out of his apartment. “I’ve got just the thing to unplug your pipes.”

It was noon when Mai took a cab back to the apartment building with Jenna and Nick. They’d gone to Sarah’s school and walked around campus. While Nick had checked for any lingering signs of Sarah’s residual energy, Mai and Jenna had questioned as many of Sarah’s classmates as Jenna could find. The only thing they’d discovered was that Sarah hadn’t been seen around campus since her last class the day before.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help,” Nick apologized.

“No, I appreciate everything you’ve done,” Jenna said. “Both of you. I guess knowing where she isn’t does help some.”

“There was nothing in the spiritual plane of the apartment to suggest a struggle,” Nick continued. “I didn’t pick up her pattern in Will’s apartment in that minute or so I took to scan it. The patterns on campus are days old. Everything points to Sarah leaving of her own volition. Maybe she just needed a little time to herself and will return home when she’s ready.”

“I hope so,” Jenna said, clearly unconvinced.

“She seemed burned out on studying,” Mai offered.
“Maybe she went to see a movie…?”
and ran into trouble
. Mai sighed. “We could call the local hospitals again?”

They’d already called them once, earlier that morning, and left their name and number in case a woman matching Sarah’s description was brought in.

Jenna didn’t respond and the three rode the rest of the way lost in their own thoughts.

“I’ll come by later—for dinner,” Nick told Mai as she followed Jenna out of the cab. She’d forgotten that she’d promised him dinner, but apparently he hadn’t. She tried to ignore the way her heart jumped at the prospect of seeing him again.

“Seven o’clock,” she told him, wondering what in the world she’d cook. She watched the cab drive away and then followed Jenna inside. Fortunately, the lobby was empty, which was a big relief. The last thing Mai wanted to do was run into Will.

Neither woman spoke much on the elevator ride up to the fourteenth floor and a few minutes later, Mai was waiting anxiously as Jenna unlocked her door.

“Sarah? Are you here?” Jenna shouted, hurrying inside. Mai followed more slowly.

The apartment was utterly silent.

Mai waited in the front room while Jenna quickly searched each room. “I’m so sorry,” Mai said when it was obvious Sarah wasn’t there. “Maybe we should try calling the police again?”

Jenna only shook her head. “They said they’d call if there was any news.” She pointed to the answering machine, which showed no new messages with a bright, flashing “0.” “It’s making me crazy to wait. I need something to take my mind off worrying about her all the time,” Jenna said. “Maybe I should go to the office.”

Mai understood. “Call me if you need anything.”

She left and went back to her place, thinking that Jenna’s
idea of staying busy was a good one. She still needed to track down Lenny if she wanted to finish her article. Getting a message to him wasn’t going to be easy, though. She wasn’t even sure if he was still in town.

For the next two hours, she made calls to every place she thought Lenny might be. Always in the back of her mind was the worry of how she was going to tell him she’d lost his information. He’d risked a lot to give it to her and she had either misplaced her notes during her worst hallucination yet, or the information had been stolen from her pocket by an invisible attacker after he’d beaten her nearly senseless with meaty fists that left no bruises.

Yeah—she was going to get a lot of understanding on this one.

By six that evening, she was tired, frustrated and more than a little concerned. After exhausting all possible leads on Lenny, she’d done a final search of her apartment for her notes—and come up empty-handed.

Wondering if Jenna had heard from Sarah, she went to check. When Jenna didn’t answer her door, Mai assumed she was still at work.

Just then, Mai’s stomach growled and, returning to her place, she wondered if Nick had been serious about coming back for dinner. If he had, he was going to be disappointed because a quick check in the pantry showed her ill prepared to entertain. Pulling open the refrigerator door, she speculated on her culinary ability to turn leftovers into a fancy meal. Not likely.

“Maaaiiii.”

Mai cocked her head to one side and listened. Had she heard her name? Thinking someone was at the door, she went to check. There was no one there.

Strange, she thought.

“Maaaiiii.”

Mai whirled around, her gaze darting about the room.
“Who’s there?” She felt foolish talking to an empty room but there had definitely been a noise coming from inside her apartment.

“Maaiii.”

Pulse racing, she clutched the lightning bolt Darius had given her. What was going on? Where was the voice coming from? Was this another hallucination?

She pressed her hands against her head in frustration. “There’s no noise. It’s not real.”