The Haunting (Immortals) (26 page)

He stopped speaking, but Nick knew there was more to the story. “Go on.”

“I didn’t expect it to work. None of my other spells ever did.” He looked at each of them, staring longest at Sarah. “But then the genie appeared in the mirror and told me that he’d grant my wish.” He shrugged. “So I asked for a big-screen TV and”—he waved to the television in the corner—“it appeared.”

“So you made another wish,” Mai said. “And then another. Before you knew it, you had all this stuff—”

“And one out-of-control genie,” Nick finished.

For the first time since they’d arrived, Will looked slightly unsure of himself. “I had things under control.”

“Sure you did,” Nick said without sympathy. “That’s why Sarah was kidnapped. But we’re going to change all that right now.”

“How?” Will eyed him suspiciously.

“You’re going to get rid of him.”

“No.” Will crossed his hands over his chest.

Nick’s temper snapped. He grabbed the super, shoved him up against the mirror and held him there.

“Let go of me,” Will shouted, beating his fists against Nick’s arms in a useless attempt to break free.

Nick held him easily and, finally sensing his efforts were gaining him nothing, Will stopped fighting. “Okay, okay. You win. Just get me away from the mirror.”

“I thought you said he couldn’t get out,” Nick echoed.

“That doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous.”

“Exactly my point,” Nick said, pulling him away from the mirror. “Now what are we going to do about that? And by ‘we,’ I mean you.”

Mai and Sarah stepped forward. “Can you do that?” Sarah asked, uncertainty edging her voice. “Can you really get rid of the genie?”

Will seemed to drag his gaze from Nick’s with effort and looked at her. “Yeah. Sure. I think.”

Mai didn’t think he sounded convincing. “How would you do it?” she asked.

“How?” He gave her a deer-in-the-headlights look as he seemed to focus his thoughts. “I suppose I would reverse the spell I used to summon him?”

“I think it’s more complicated than that,” Mai advised. She had seen both Lexi and Heather perform spells enough times to have picked up a basic understanding. “You’ll have to destroy it.”

Beside her, Sarah gasped and Mai felt bad for shocking her. “It’s the only way,” Mai told her gently.

“But what about the interdependency of the dimensions and all that?” Will asked.

“It could be lies,” Sarah suggested, surprising Mai.

“If it’s true, the worst that will happen is that your magic won’t work,” Mai said. “The balance between light
magic and dark magic that protects the dimension will also protect the genie.”

Nick listened to the exchange. “She’s right, so let’s do this. Get what ever you need.”

Nick let him go and Will backed away slowly, moving in the direction of his living room. “I’m not sure I have everything here,” he grumbled, opening the chest in front of the couch.

Nick said nothing, but it was obvious to Mai that he wasn’t leaving until Will had performed his magic.

Will must have realized the same thing because he pulled out candles and several bottles, which he then carried over to the dining table. He placed each of the four candles at opposite corners.

“If everyone will gather around the table with me,” he instructed. Mai exchanged uncertain looks with Nick, in essence asking if he was sure this was the right thing to do.

He nodded and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Sarah had already moved to stand at one end of the table, as far from the mirror as she possibly could.

“Take positions on opposite sides,” he instructed. As soon as they were in place, he picked up the knife he’d set before him and pressed its tip to the heel of his palm until several drops of blood fell into a bowl.

“I summon thee, genie.”

Mai turned toward the mirror expectantly, but nothing happened. Will heaved a sigh, giving Mai the impression this had happened before.

“I call on Apep, the Great Destroyer; 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 forth.”

The glass of the mirror misted over and when it cleared, Mai saw they were looking down a long, dark tunnel. A
shadowy form appeared at the far end and Mai tensed, wondering what would happen.

Will dipped his finger into the bowl of blood, then touched it to the glass. “I ask you to grant me the power of destruction that I might destroy
all reflected
—”

“Wait,” Sarah interrupted urgently, drawing three pairs of eyes. “All reflected? Are you sure about that wording?”

She was right, Mai thought, glancing at Nick. All reflected could mean the four of them looking into the mirror. Will had already bungled things enough. “I have a friend who’s a witch,” she quickly offered. “Maybe I should call her to come perform this?”

“No.” Will’s face turned red, whether with embarrassment or anger, Mai didn’t know. “I know how to do this,” he snarled.

Mai looked at the others.

“How soon could your friend be here?” Nick asked.

Mai thought about it. How long had Heather said she’d be out of town? The conference had only been for a week. She counted the days in her head and realized with a start that Heather had been gone only a few days. Could that be right? It seemed to Mai as if she’d moved into her apartment months ago.

“It might take a while,” she admitted.

At that moment, a keening sound erupted from inside the mirror, growing louder as the form moved toward them.

“I don’t think we can afford to wait,” Nick shouted over the noise. “Keep going,” he told Will.

With a final glance at Sarah, Will focused on the black candle in front of him. Mai thought she saw him swallow nervously and she understood. They were all feeling anxious.

“I ask you to grant me the power of destruction that I might destroy that which exists inside the mirror,” he
intoned, casting another glance at Sarah, who nodded in approval.

He dragged the dagger across his palm again and held his hand high above his head. “What is dark, be filled with light. Remove this spirit from my sight.”

An inhuman wail filled the room seconds before the dark figure in the tunnel burst into flames.

Mai watched in horror as the figure, waving his arms and screaming in pain, slowly burned.

Then the noise stopped and Mai held her breath. In the ensuing silence, the burning figure in the mirror toppled forward and lay still. The fire gradually died.

When it was over, there was nothing left. No body. No ashes. Nothing.

For a long minute, no one said anything. Then Sarah sighed. “It’s over. Your spell worked.”

“Oh,” Mai gasped as the silver glass of the mirror reappeared. She couldn’t help feeling enormously relieved.

Nick, however, still didn’t look happy. “Now the question is—what do we do with you?”

Will’s eyes grew suspicious. “What do you mean?”

“Sarah was kidnapped, Jenna was seriously injured and is still in the hospital and Mai has been terrorized.” Will opened his mouth to argue but Nick cut him off. “You can’t possibly defend your actions. Before you even think about casting another magic spell, find out what you’re doing first. There are several agencies you can go to for training. I suggest you contact either the Coven of Light or the Academy of Magical Studies. They’re both on the Internet.”

For a full minute, the men stared at each other, waging a silent test of wills. Nick won and Will finally agreed to seek help.

“Let’s go,” Nick said to the ladies as he headed for the door. “Stay out of trouble, Will. I’ll be watching you.”

Leaving Will alone in his apartment, the three returned
to Mai’s place. Nick desperately wanted a chance to speak to Mai alone. In the excitement of Sarah’s return and everything afterward, he’d completely forgotten about his own discovery.

He watched her now, saw how tired she looked, how slowly she moved. She was exhausted and he wanted nothing more than to climb into bed with her and hold her while she slept.

The elevator stopped on the fourteenth floor and the small group stepped off. As they approached Sarah’s apartment door, they slowed.

“I can’t begin to know how or what you’re feeling right now,” Mai said to Sarah. “If you want to stay in your own place, I think you’ll be perfectly safe. But you’re more than welcome to stay with me for a while.”

“Really?” Sarah asked eagerly. Nick could tell the offer appealed to her. Of course she’d rather be around people, he thought, but he couldn’t help being a bit resentful. After all, he wanted Mai alone to himself.

Mai reached out and gave the girl’s arm a gentle tug. “Absolutely,” she said. “Come on.”

Nick followed them in silence to Mai’s door. “Mai, I—” He stopped when she turned to him and he saw the dark circles under her eyes. “You should get some sleep,” he finished.

She didn’t even argue with him. “I feel like I could use a few hundred hours of it,” she agreed. “Thanks for being here.”

He rubbed his hand against her arm in an attempt to comfort her. “Nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“Yes, thank you for your help,” Sarah echoed as Mai opened the door.

As they walked inside her apartment, Mai felt the excitement of the last couple of hours start to ebb. Fighting exhaustion, she tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn. She
wanted to go to bed and sleep for days. She glanced at Sarah and thought the young woman wasn’t looking much better. “Even though it’s morning, I think we could all use a nap.” She glanced at Nick. He looked exhausted, too, and she thought he’d probably want to go home. She didn’t like the idea of him leaving, though. Maybe…

“You’re welcome to stick around. Catch a few hours of sleep here,” she offered.

His warm gaze felt like a hug as it swept over her. “Thanks. I’d like that.”

He turned to look at Sarah, drawing Mai’s attention to the young woman. She seemed to be glowering at Nick, and Mai couldn’t understand why. Maybe after her experience, she was leery of all men. Who could blame her?

Mai considered the dynamics of having one bedroom and two guests. One person could sleep on the couch and her bed was big enough for two. The bigger question was—which two? Certainly not Sarah and Nick, but after his rejection of her earlier, Mai wasn’t sure sharing a bed with Nick was such a good idea. She supposed that meant she should share the bed with Sarah, but for some reason, that idea bothered her.

Trying to convince herself she was being silly, Mai headed toward her bedroom. “I’ll get some extra blankets and a pillow.”

Sarah followed her into the bedroom and immediately started to undress.

“Do you want to borrow a nightshirt?” Mai asked.

“I’ll sleep in this one,” she said, pulling off her pants.

Mai grabbed the extra pillow out of the closet as Sarah pulled back the covers of the bed and climbed in. Mai sighed. That pretty much settled it.

She carried everything into the front room where Nick stood waiting for her. “Sarah was pretty tired,” she said as
she set about making up the couch for him. “I think she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.”

She bent to tuck the edge of the bottom sheet under the cushion only to stop when Nick placed his hand on her arm. Straightening, she gazed into his face, waiting almost breathlessly for him to speak.

“Mai, I need to talk to you. It’s why I came back tonight.”

“Oh?”

“About what happened earlier today. Or rather, what happened yesterday.”

She sighed. Her hallucinations and the lies she’d told him were the last things she wanted to discuss. “Could we maybe talk about this after we’ve both had some sleep?”

He saw the exhaustion on her face. She was ready to fall over where she stood. “Sure.” He didn’t want her falling asleep in the middle of what could possibly be the most important conversation of their lives.

She finished putting the pillowcase on the extra pillow and laid it on the couch. “I hope you’ll be comfortable here. I guess I’ll sleep with Sarah.”

He heard the wistfulness in her tone and wondered if she’d even realized she’d spoken aloud. “Why don’t you take the couch? You’re too tired to stay on your feet much longer and the last thing you need to worry about is sharing a bed—with anyone.”

“What about you?”

He looked at the oversized chair and ottoman. “I’ll be fine right here.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ll be asleep before you are.”

She smiled, too tired to argue. “Thanks.” She took off her shoes and stretched out on the couch. Nick resisted the urge to kiss her cheek when he covered her with the blanket.
Then he picked up the extra one she’d brought, kicked off his shoes and got comfortable in the chair. It really wasn’t too bad.

“Good night, Mai,” he said softly.

“Good night…Nick.” He barely heard her response. He sat there listening to the sound of her breathing as it evened out and grew heavy. He scooted down in the chair so he could rest his head against the back of it and closed his eyes. He didn’t let himself fall asleep, though. For what he was about to do, he wanted to be in control.

He freed himself from his corporeal body and entered the spiritual plane. A quick look around showed him Mai’s green energy pattern. There was also a trace of his own energy pattern throughout the room, and Sarah’s. He was about to move on but hesitated, wanting to study Sarah’s energy pattern a little longer.

It still appeared like a pale blue light, but it was dimmer than he would have thought it should be. He wondered exactly what had happened to her in the genie’s dimension and made a mental note to talk to Mai later about getting Sarah counseling. The girl was going to need it after what had happened to her and her sister.

He floated over to Mai’s energy pattern and transcended the spiritual plane to reach the dream plane. As he moved into it, he assumed a corporeal dream form. He focused his thoughts on Mai and felt a compulsion drawing him forward. A door appeared before him, so he opened it and stepped into a bedroom. Mai was there lying on the bed. She was facing away from him, but as he entered, she rolled toward him and smiled.