The Haunting (Immortals) (31 page)

Lexi didn’t look like she was entirely convinced. “I
know you will, but how about if I stick around for a while anyway?”

Mai tried to smile, but found it harder to do than she’d expected. “One day. You can stay for one day, and then you and Darius need to go back to Ravenscroft. I have a godson who needs his parents.”

“We’ll see,” Lexi told her. “Do you feel like getting out of bed?”

“No.” Mai figured it was best to be honest because Lexi would know if she lied. “But I’m going to anyway.”

Lexi seemed to visibly relax. “It’ll get easier.”

Mai nodded as she threw back the covers and sat up, swinging her legs over the side. She stayed like that for a few minutes, gathering her strength. She’d been in bed a long time and knew her muscles would be stiff.

Lexi stood ready to help her as she finally pushed off the bed to stand. She was unsteady on her feet, but soon got her bearings. At that moment, her stomach growled and she realized just how hungry she was.

“I don’t suppose there’s anything to eat?”

Lexi smiled. “Eggs and bacon, coming up.”

“Great. Mind if I grab a shower?”

“Not at all,” Lexi said, heading out of the bedroom toward the kitchen.

Mai brought some clothes into the bathroom with her. It took a great deal of self-discipline not to think of anything in particular during her shower, but she managed. When she got out, her gaze automatically flicked to the mirror, but there was nothing scrawled in the steam. She wondered again if that had been something the genie had done. As soon as she formed the thought, she cut if off. She didn’t want to think about the genie. Or Nick.

Quickly dressing, Mai spent a little time doing her hair and makeup. There was nothing she could do for the dark circles under her eyes.

She went to the kitchen, where Lexi was still cooking breakfast. As she stood there, her gaze fell on the large mirror.

“Darius was going to destroy it,” Lexi said, noting the direction of her gaze. “I told him to hold off. I wasn’t sure if you wanted it around or not.”

Mai gave her friend a grateful look. “Thanks. I think I’d like to hang on to it for a while.” She looked around the room. “Speaking of Darius, where is he?”

Lexi smiled as she turned off the burner and picked up the skillet of eggs. “Sekhmet zapped him home to watch over Zach. But he left me a way to get in touch with him when you’re ready to get rid of me.” Her hand touched the lightning bolt necklace Mai had worn. “Turns out it’s a good way to communicate between dimensions. Now—are you ready to eat?” She scooped eggs onto two plates and carried them to the table, where bacon and toast had already been prepared and sat waiting. Mai joined her and for the first few minutes, they both ate in silence.

“How’s Jenna?” Mai asked finally, feeling a little guilty for not having remembered her earlier.

Lexi sighed. “She’s awake. After we introduced ourselves, we had to tell her about Sarah. She didn’t take it well, but at least now she knows that
she
didn’t kill her sister.”

No, Mai thought. She, Nick and Will had killed Sarah. Not that they’d known, but she still felt responsible. And poor Sarah.

It would be easy to blame the genie, but she wondered what she might be capable of doing had she been trapped there as long as he had. As long as Nick was going to be.

“What do you want to do today?”

Lexi’s question was a welcome distraction from the direction her thoughts were taking. “I need to get in touch with Nick’s father and tell him what happened. And then I could use your help with something.”

Lexi shrugged. “Sure, what?”

“I need to find a couple of missing persons.”

One day faded into the next until Mai wasn’t really sure what day it was. Thanksgiving came and went. Though Heather had invited her over for the holidays, Mai went home. She hadn’t seen her family in months and after these recent experiences, she felt a need to renew those bonds.

She had many things to feel grateful for—caring friends, loving family, her health and the firm offer from Tom to go back to work if she wanted it. She was still thinking about it, though she’d have to decide soon since she had bills to pay.

On top of everything else, she’d not had a vision or hallucination in weeks. Of course, she also hadn’t seen Nick and it was hard to appreciate the good things when her heart ached with missing him. Every night that he didn’t visit her in her dreams was a fresh reminder and so Mai found herself cutting back on sleep until she got so tired that when she fell into bed exhausted, she didn’t dream at all.

“Why don’t you come to the club tonight?” Ricco suggested when he called some weeks later. “I’ll even pick you up so you don’t have to come over by yourself.”

“I don’t know,” she hesitated. “I’m not really in the mood.”

“Come on. It’ll do you good to get out.”

“You’re probably right, but I just don’t feel like it.”

She heard Ricco heave a sigh and since vampires didn’t breathe, she knew how frustrated he must have been with her. She hated that all her friends were so worried. She injected some enthusiasm into her voice. “Tell you what. I need to do a little work on my next article, but if it’s not too late when I finish, I’ll come over.”

“Call me and I’ll come get you,” he offered, probably knowing she had no intention of doing either.

“That won’t be necessary,” she assured him. “I’ll teleport.”
At least that’s working
, she thought.

They talked a few minutes more, then said good-bye.

Afterward, Mai sat in her living room contemplating her next story. The Preston story had finally run and the buzz around it had exceeded Mai’s expectations. Since her source was already dead, Mai had willingly shared her information and all her notes with the police for their investigation. Unfortunately, Preston had conveniently disappeared before they could arrest him.

In the world of investigative reporting, Mai had made a name for herself. Her next story would prove that she was either a serious player or a flash in the pan.

Mai’s head jerked and she realized she’d fallen asleep sitting on the couch. It was late and she was clearly exhausted, so she headed off to bed for another night of dreamless sleep.

She felt like she’d only shut her eyes for a second when she heard someone call her name.

“Mai.” It was just a whisper, but she recognized the voice.

“Nick?”

She’d wanted to hear his voice again so badly, she nearly cried with joy at the sound of it.

“Wake up, Mai. There’s someone in the apartment.”

It was the last thing she expected him to say. At the warning, her eyes flew up and she was instantly awake. Nick’s voice was now only a shadow in her mind. She wasn’t even sure if she’d really heard it.

Careful not to move or change her breathing, she focused on listening to the sounds around her, trying to determine if she really did have an intruder. As tired as she
was, it could just as easily have been her mind playing tricks on her.

Then she heard the footsteps.

She eased out of bed, careful not to make any noise. She slipped to the floor on the far side of the bed, trying to hide from whoever might come through the open doorway.

She began crawling toward her purse, hoping to get her can of pepper spray. She had almost reached it when she sensed someone else in her room.

Fear skittered down her spine as she looked behind her. She experienced an eerie sense of déjà vu when she spotted the black-clad figure standing in the doorway. Before she could scream, he rushed forward and with a single hit, knocked her unconscious.

Nick threw himself against the glass of the portal, hoping to shatter it. Mai was in trouble and he had to save her.

Movement in the hall caught his attention and he stopped long enough to see the figure reappear. He’d pulled off his mask and Nick recognized Bill Preston.

“Next time anyone sees you,” he muttered, dragging Mai’s unconscious body out of the bedroom, “it’ll be when they drag your decomposing body from the river.”

Hang on, baby. I’ll find a way to save you
.

Nick was so focused on trying to figure out what he could do that he almost missed the faint sound.

Nick
.

It was Mai. Of course. Because she was unconscious, he could go to her.

He escaped his corporeal form and entered the dream realm. He found her standing in a dark room, looking lost. “Mai, I’m here.”

“Oh, Nick. You came.” She hurried to him and he welcomed her with open arms.

“Mai, honey. You have to wake up now.”

“No. I want to be with you.”

“You’re in danger. The man who broke into your apartment is Bill Preston.”

“Bill Preston. Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. Now wake up.”

“It won’t do you any good,” Preston’s voice boomed from much too close. Nick turned his head at the sound and saw the man standing there.

“How…?” Mai asked, clearly confused. She turned to him. “Nick?”

“I see him,” Nick said. “I’m guessing that in addition to being less than ethical, you’re also less than human,” he said to Preston. “Am I right?”

Preston laughed. It was a mocking, grating sound.

“In fact,” Nick continued, “you’re not human at all, are you?”

“What do you mean?” Mai asked.

“Mai, meet your hallucination. Preston is a Keltok demon. Or, in more familiar terms—he’s the bogeyman.”

Preston laughed. “So you’ve figured it out at last.”

“I didn’t think there were any who could leave the dream realm,” Mai argued.

“Yeah, well, news flash,” Preston sneered. “There’s at least one of us.”

“You’re the one who attacked me in my old apartment.” Mai sounded both surprised and shocked.

“Guilty, I’m afraid,” Preston said. “You were asking too many questions. I had to stop you before you ruined my campaign.”

“By killing me?”

“No.” Preston sounded offended. “Well, not at first, anyway. I thought I might offer you a job. It never hurts to have a reporter on your team.”

“I would never work for someone like you.”

Preston shrugged. “So I gathered from talking to your therapist.”

Mai gasped. “
You
killed my therapist.”

“Yes, and just before he died, he was very forthcoming about your problems, the vivid hallucinations and your inability to teleport. I found them most useful.”

“You almost killed her when you attacked her in the dream realm,” Nick accused.

“I admit that I got carried away,” Preston said without the slightest remorse. “And you are obviously the one I fought.”

“Did you leave the messages in the mirror?” Mai asked.

Preston laughed. “A nice touch, don’t you think? And very entertaining.”

“But how?”

“That’s simple,” he said. “My natural form is invisible to the human eye.”

She frowned. “And later. The hallucination about being trapped in a river of molten lava?”

“Yes, I’m particularly proud of that piece of work. Still trying to make an impression at that point, but we’re past that now, aren’t we?”

“I won’t let you hurt her,” Nick threatened, stepping forward.

Preston merely laughed. “You can’t stop me.” In a blink, he was gone.

Nick turned to Mai and saw her image beginning to fade. She was waking up. “Mai,” he shouted, trying to keep her with him.

“Nick!”

He heard her cry long after she disappeared and his sense of helplessness was overwhelming. Trapped as he was, there was nothing he could do. Reluctantly, he returned to the wish realm and watched through the portal. Preston hefted Mai over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing and headed for the door. Right before he left, he cast a glance at the mirror and Nick could have sworn the man looked directly at him.

The moment passed before Nick could think what to do and a second later, Preston and Mai were gone.

In complete despair, Nick placed his hands against the glass and tried to resist the urge to bang his head against it. He had to exert great control to calm himself enough to think rationally.

As he leaned against the glass, it began to vibrate. For a second, Nick thought that New York might be experiencing a rare earthquake. He went to push himself away from the glass—and almost fell through.

Experimentally, Nick stretched out his hand and found that it passed right through the glass. He couldn’t help getting excited. He leaned out farther, his pulse racing. If he went slowly, maybe he could escape.

He bent forward and found that his head slipped through as easily as his hands and arms. He knew he wouldn’t be able to escape totally, but wondered how far he could go. He lifted a foot, wanting to see if he could step out, but the invisible tethers that bound him to the dimension tightened their hold. So that was it. He could touch the physical world, but that was all.

Frustrated, he turned and headed back into the wish dimension. Somewhere out there, Preston was going to kill Mai and there wasn’t a damn thing Nick could do about it.

Mai
.

Startled awake by the sound of her name, Mai looked around. As far as she could tell, she was alone in a dark room. Her head hurt like a son of a bitch and she couldn’t shake the pressing feeling that there was something she needed to do—only she couldn’t remember what it was.

Mai
.

She looked around, trying to identify the source of the voice calling her name. It was familiar and yet, when she heard it, a sharp ache squeezed her chest.

Mai
.

“Go away,” she shouted. “Leave me alone. I want to be alone.” It wasn’t true. She was tired of being alone. What she wanted more than anything else was impossible—because Nick was gone.

The sense that there was more to it worried at her until the events of the evening came back in sharp relief. Preston had broken into her apartment, knocked her out and now she had no idea where she was.

She looked around to see if she recognized her surroundings but saw only darkness. A tremor of fear worked its way past the rest of her worries. Was she dead?

No, she hastily reassured herself. She wouldn’t be able to think if she was dead, would she? So she was alive—and obviously awake—and possibly blind? Why else couldn’t she see? And deaf, too, because when she tried to listen, all she heard was an eerie silence.