Read A Wizard for Christmas Online

Authors: Dorothy McFalls

Tags: #paranormal romance, #wizard, #love story, #holiday, #christmas, #contemporary romance

A Wizard for Christmas (4 page)

Still, an ache had pulsed through his chest as he’d watched her. There was no family waiting for her. There was no one.

She was like them. But then, he already knew that.

Trouble was—she didn’t.

“Hey!” someone called out to Hadrian as he wandered through the park. Footsteps pounded behind him on the sidewalk. “Hey, wait up!”

He slipped his hands in his pockets and turned. Detective Newton caught up to him.

“Another body was found this morning,” Newton said, breathing hard.

“I know,” Hadrian said.

“Then where the hell were you?” Newton sounded as if he wanted to pound his fist against Hadrian’s face. Instead of hitting, he grabbed Hadrian’s arm and shook him.

“I had a more important matter to attend to.” He had to follow Holly around town—for all the good that did him. He still couldn’t believe he’d lost her.

“What’s killing these kids? Some kind of biological terrorism? An undetectable disease? I know you know.”

Hadrian calmly peeled Newton’s hand from his sleeve.

“Why the hell won’t you tell us what you do know?”

What could Hadrian say? What did the detective really want from him? Newton was a good detective. And like all good detectives, he wanted things to be cut and dry. Easy.

The shadowy world Hadrian inhabited was never easy.

Even if he told Newton the full truth, the man wouldn’t believe it. “It’s hunting right now,” he told Newton something the detective could understand. “Come morning, you’ll have another body. So far, the media has ignored the deaths. I doubt that’ll continue much longer.”

“Damn the media!” Newton shouted. “I don’t care about them! How do I stop him? Tell me that! That’s all I care about! How in the hell do I stop him?”

“You don’t.” Hadrian used his voice to push his power.

“What?” Newton blinked wildly, blocking all of Hadrian’s efforts to soothe him.

Admitting defeat, Hadrian stepped back. “No matter what you do, you can’t make it stop.” He jammed his hands back into his pockets. “Right now”—without Holly—“no one can.”

 

* * * *

 

She couldn’t go home. Holly wanted to. Even if it meant telling her friends the truth, she wanted to go home and get warm. But those weirdoes from the cult had admitted to watching her, which meant they knew where she lived.

After getting away, she’d run all the way into the heart of the downtown. She stopped at the giant Christmas tree set up in front of the local department store. It was as tall as her apartment building and lit up like a...well, like a Christmas tree. A gaudy, wonderful Christmas tree. Though she’d lived in the downtown for five years, this was the first time she’d come and seen the tree.

Underneath its branches a fantastic alpine village—all kid sized—was set up. There was a cobbler shop, a candy shop, a slide, and a miniature train. A live brass band pumped out happy Christmas tunes. And everyone appeared so bubbly, so content as they smiled at each other and made pleasant conversations with strangers.

It made her think of Priscilla.

She found a payphone and dug around in her pockets for loose change. When she realized she didn’t have even two quarters to make the call, she dialed her friend from the elementary school anyhow. Priscilla would understand and would forgive the collect call.

The phone on the other end rang several times before clicking over to the answering machine. The operator quickly disconnected before Holly could leave a message. No big deal, she told herself. It wasn’t as if she could give her friend a number where she could be reached. Since she wasn’t staying anywhere and had left her purse at the café, she didn’t have a phone number.

Holly shivered. The cold air was seeping through her sweater. She wasn’t running anymore and winter seemed to be making a strong statement.

She needed to learn to stop leaving things behind, especially her purse, when she dashed out of places. But it wasn’t as if she had a lot of experience running away from cults. She didn’t.

People generally didn’t notice her. While she’d never been popular, she wasn’t a loner. Didn’t cults target loners? And freaks?

Damn, she’d been stupid. How could she have believed Hadrian had been interested in her romantically? Sure, it had made her feel all warm and tingly inside. But really, no man had ever...

Oh well, she supposed she should go to the police and report him. A shame, really. He seemed like such a nice guy.

Like the village under the Christmas tree, the downtown police station was bustling with activity. Only here, no one was smiling or acting particularly polite.

After telling her story to the police officer manning the front desk, she was told to take a seat and wait. And wait. Over the next hour she drummed her fingers on the plastic chair’s arm and watched people come and leave. She supposed her case wasn’t an emergency, which was probably the reason for her longer wait time. Finally, a man dressed in a plain blue suit came out.

“Miss Post?” he called as his gaze searched the room. “Miss Holly Post?”

Grateful to be free from the limbo of the police station waiting room, Holly leapt to her feet and warmly greeted the gentleman who introduced himself as Detective Leo Newton. He led her down a long hallway toward a small conference room.

Newton didn’t bring a pad of paper, pen, or even a tape recorder with him, which she thought odd. Shouldn’t he record her statement?

He directed her to sit in one of the hard wooden chairs.

“The desk sergeant tells me you have a complaint against Hadrian Graham?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“He’s been stalking me.”

Newton raised a brow at that. “Are you sure?”

“His friend told me that he and his buddies have been watching me for years.” It was still hard to believe.

“His friend?”

“Frank Stone. That’s what he’d said his name was. He could have been lying. He seemed like the type.” Suddenly the rest of the story spilled right out. She told him in great detail all about the strange café and how Hadrian had lured her to there not once but twice. The only detail she left out was her fantasy family trip.

“Shouldn’t you be taking notes?” She tapped the table between them. It almost seemed as if the detective wasn’t listening. “He’s stalking me, and I’ve escaped from his clutches. Who knows what he might do the next time he finds me.” She huffed a breath. “I hate to admit it, detective, but I’m scared. I’m too scared to go home.”

Newton propped his shoe on a chair and leaned his elbow on the table. “Miss Post, I’ve worked with Hadrian Graham for the past five years. He’s many things—like a pain in my ass—but I assure you, he is not a stalker. I doubt he’s even dangerous.”

“Not dangerous!” She launched out of her seat. “How can you know that? He’s involved in some kind of crazy cult. They were telling me that I needed to become one of them. It was creepy. And I don’t have anywhere to go, at least not until I can get in touch with Priscilla or Karen. Don’t you people have safe houses for cases like these?”

“Please, Miss Post, calm down.” Newton rose from his chair and swung open the door, indicating the interview was over. He took her arm and led her down the hall. “I understand your concern. But I assure you, it’s unfounded. I don’t know who Hadrian works for, but I can tell you it’s not a cult. My guess? He’s with the federal government. CIA, perhaps? If he’s trying to recruit you, you might consider listening to what he’s got to say.” He crooked a finger in front of her nose. “Think of it as your patriotic duty, Miss Post.”

 

* * * *

 

Her patriotic duty? Pulh-leaze.

Holly beat her hands against her frozen arms as she plodded down the street. She supposed she should go back to her apartment. It was the only logical thing to do since neither Priscilla nor Karen were home.

She could put up a small tree and decorate it. She’d never done that before. It might be fun.

On the way home, she passed the spot where The Oblique Café should have been. It wasn’t there. She wasn’t surprised.

Could Hadrian be working for the CIA? Nah. Her life was boring. No one would be interested in recruiting a kindergarten teacher for anything...other than perhaps a cult or to make a charitable contribution. Why hadn’t she thought of that before? They might be working for a charity. But, then again, that didn’t explain the disappearing café.

“Excuse me,” a raggedly dressed man tapped her on the shoulder. Holly jumped.

“Oh! You startled me. I d-don’t have any money,” she said. “I lost my purse, you see. Otherwise, I’d...”

He took a step closer. “I’m awfully hungry.”

She tried to back away from him, but her feet seemed to be frozen in place. Terror coursed through her.

“So very hungry.” His strange, low voice rumbled through her body.

She tried to open her mouth. Tried to scream. Nothing happened.

He kept moving closer. Closer. She could feel his belly touch hers. His grimy hands pressed against her cheeks.

“So very, very hungry,” he whispered.

Holly noticed several people passing by her on the street. No one bothered to look in her direction. They just rushed by as if she’d become invisible.

“Hmmm...” A smile spread across his greasy lips. He flicked out his long, narrow tongue and licked her across her mouth. “You’ll fill me up quite nicely.”

Chapter Four

 

A near-blinding headache struck Hadrian. He covered his eyes with his hands and sucked in a deep breath.

“What is it?” Kara demanded.

After a long, unsuccessful search for Holly—Hadrian had even tried to create a psychic link—they had all gathered back at the café to discuss what to do next.

“It’s close.” Hadrian tried to fight his way through the blinding pain. “And it’s feeding.”

“You can feel it?” Jake asked.

“Can’t you?” He couldn’t be the only one of them so closely connected to the soul eater. That wouldn’t make sense...or be fair. Not that he wanted his friends to be in pain. Not like this. But why should it be connected to him and him alone?

“You have to block it out,” Stone warned. “Or else it will sense you. Hunt you.”

“I can’t.” Cradling his head, Hadrian sank into a chair. “I can’t.”

He vaguely heard Stone biting off a string of instructions to the others. Soon, a frosty dishcloth was pressed to his head. Another was laid across the back of his neck.

“Concentrate,” Stone said. He placed three smooth stones in the palm of Hadrian’s hand and closed his fist around them. “Squeeze.” The stones were fiery hot. Hadrian tried to drop them. They were searing into his skin. But Stone kept Hadrian’s fist trapped between his hands.

“Concentrate,” Stone demanded.

Steadily, the stabbing ache in his head was pushed away, replaced by the throbbing heat in his palm. And that’s when it happened. That’s when he understood. His psychic connection with Holly had worked after all.

“It’s got her.”

 

* * * *

 

Everything was fading from gray to black. Holly felt light. Like she was floating. Floating away. She could barely see the man holding her captive anymore. And the city sounds all around her were muffled. Blurred. She didn’t mind. It was kind of peaceful that way.

Everything would be okay as long as she didn’t fight the—

“Stop.” The command cut through the warm, fuzzy haze.

“No.” She didn’t want to go back to the cold.

Hadrian stepped toward Holly through the fog, while the world all around him remained gray and unfocused, he seemed to glow with his hard edges. He pulled the homeless man’s hands away from her cheeks.

“Be gone,” Hadrian’s voice boomed through the air.

The ragged man hissed and slashed out at Holly as if his hands were a pair of claws, but Hadrian blocked him.

“Be gone,” he boomed again. The raw power in his voice sent a shiver down Holly’s spine. The ragged man must have felt it too. Though he hissed again, he raised his arm over his face and backed away, disappearing into the night.

“Can you hear me?” Hadrian wrapped his arms around her waist to support her wobbly legs.

“Cold,” she whispered.

“Can you hear me?” he asked again as calmly and as patiently as the first time.

She nodded. Slowly. Carefully.

“Good.”

He shrugged out of his heavy overcoat and wrapped it around her shoulders. Its heat...his heat...enveloped her. The enticing scent and heat of his coat made her want to snuggle up against Hadrian. Before she knew it, she was doing just that.

“We really need to get you off the street,” he said. “Do you think you can walk or do you need me to carry you?”

She wasn’t sure. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if she was up to answering him with more than a nod, and since he hadn’t asked a yes or no question this time a nod wouldn’t do.

She wiggled her toes. They seemed to be working.

“Walk,” she whispered. Oh good, her voice was working. “You stopped him. Thank you.”

He snarled and his eyes grew dark and dangerous. “I didn’t stop anything. I merely switched victims.”

She didn’t understand what he meant and didn’t have the strength to ask.

“Let’s get you inside,” he said.

He helped her up the steps to her apartment building. The front door, which should have been locked, opened for him with a light touch. She was still gaping at how easily he’d opened the heavy door when he hurried her inside. With his hand steadying her, they made it up the three flights of stairs to her floor where they met Karen, Holly’s neighbor, on the landing.

There must have been a dozen shopping bags hanging from Karen’s arms. She looked as if she’d bought out half the city.

“Holly!” She dropped the bags and rushed over. “What happened? My goodness, you were supposed to leave today. Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?”

Hadrian rudely pushed by her. “She’s okay,” he said. “I’m taking care of her.”

“And who are you?” Karen demanded, her gaze narrowing. “I’ve never seen you around before. Who is he, Holly? Are you really okay? I think I need to call the police.”

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