Demonically Tempted (Frostbite) (16 page)

I leaned up, brushing my lips over his and met frosty air with no pressure. “And I promise you that one day I will.”

I tore myself away from the memory and the lump in my throat grew thicker. I turned my head into the pillow and cried into it. How could Kipp be gone? His promise, his words of love to me, now lost in a faint memory like it’d never happened.

A pain so profound sank into the pit of my stomach. I gasped, trying to breathe, yet merely let my sadness flow. Kipp hadn’t returned. Not the morning after I’d searched for him. Not later that night. And not now into the next morning.

I’d slept the better part of yesterday morning away after tears forced me to sleep. I’d woken to call Zach to tell him what happened with Kipp, and do the magical ritual Gretchen advised. From all appearances, it seemed to work. I’d left the jar of cream in the circle I cast with the wand by the air conditioning units at the side of my condominium. Hidden, but exposed to the moonlight like it needed.

After which, I cried more, then slept again.

Now the sunny morning greeted me, but even the sunshine couldn’t brighten my mood. I wiped my face on my pillow to dry the tears from my face when loud bangs on my front door erupted.

I didn’t have the strength to move from the couch, and in fact, hadn’t moved since I plopped down on the spot that I’d made my home the last day. Each hour that passed dragged on feeling like a lifetime.

Part of me was so angry with Kipp. He should’ve known that I’d never kiss Dane. That I loved
him
. But the other part of me, the one weighed down in grief, missed him terribly.

The hard thumps sounded again, beating at the door, which made it rattle on its hinges. I heaved a sigh. Only one person would bang on my door like that and demand entrance.

I pushed the knit blanket off, approached the door, wearing my fleece pajama bottoms and cotton t-shirt. At the front door, the thumping continued, as I unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door.

Caley was just about to issue another round of hard knocks, but yanked her hand away and gave me a full once over. “You look like absolute shit.”

I left the door open and returned to the spot I was sure was now indented from the contours of my body.

She shut the door behind her, then approached me scanning my coffee table. “This is worse than I thought. How much ice cream have you eaten?” She picked up one of the movies. “The Notebook?” She raised her gaze to mine and arched an eyebrow. “You’re in bad shape, huh?”

I pulled the blanket up to my chin and held it in close. “Did Zach send you?”

They’d been an item since I’d met Kipp. I should’ve felt happy since Caley’s longest relationship before Zach had been a week. Now only anger burned that she had him and I didn’t have Kipp. No matter how wrong that was.

“You haven’t been answering any of his calls.” She moved one of the two ice cream containers out of the way to sit down on the coffee table. “You’re damn lucky he hasn’t come here with a battering ram and knocked down your door.”

I stared at my best friend and spoke a truth that had captivated my mind over the last twenty-four hours. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

She scrutinized me then finally said, “But what about all those people—ghosts, I mean—what will happen to them?”

Tears welled and I let them flow freely. My broken heart was exposed, and in the comfort of my friend, it bled. “I only care about one ghost and he’s gone.” I sucked in a ragged breath. “Why hasn’t he come back? He didn’t even let me explain. He just up and vanished.”

Caley dropped to her knees in front of me and pulled the blanket back to hold my hand. Her blue eyes that were normally so full of zest were troubled. “I can’t answer to why he’d do something so cold, but it’s exactly that.” Her tone became curt. “He’s a damn bastard for doing this to you. Even Zach said so.”

I sniffed. “He did?”

“Of course. After all you’ve done to help Kipp, he shouldn’t have left you like he did without any explanation. Who breaks up with someone that way?”

A ghost would
. My chin quivered, but I forced my voice to work even though it sounded shaky. “But he was so mad. You should have seen him.”

“I have no doubt he was.” She squeezed my hand, her tone softened. “You were kissing another man. I can only imagine what that would be like for Kipp. But that still gives him no right to just up and vanish without a single word.”

I snuggled into the pillow as pain tore through me. “I can’t believe he’s gone. I miss him, Caley. I miss him so much.”

“I’m sorry, Tess.” She wrapped her arms around me, her chin rested against my neck. “I seriously have nothing to say here and I’m not going to feed you any bullshit about it being all right, because I know for you it’s not.”

I moved away to see tears in her eyes and knew she understood the gravity of my heartache. I could count the times I cried in front of others on one hand, but at the moment I had no strength to hold back. I wrapped my arms around her, hugged her as tight as I could, and allowed myself to collapse into my sadness. To be comforted by the one person I knew would never leave my side.

How much more can I take?
First, the death of my family, and now the one man that I’d ever truly loved had not only been complicated at best, but he had also…left me.

Caley said nothing more, merely embraced me, as sobs poured from my throat that spoke of the pain in my soul.

Why?

The question echoed in my mind. But no answer came. Just the hard truth that I now found myself in this situation and no dreaming for a different life would change my reality.

After a long while, I took a deep breath and willed my emotions to exhaust themselves. I wiped my tears and she cleared her own.

“Better?” she asked softly.

“I needed that.” My emotions were more in control than they had been in hours—days—and the release was enough that it settled the overwhelming urge to breakdown. But the heartache remained close enough to know how raw it was.

Leaning away from her, the softness in her expression remained and in this moment, she appeared so unlike herself. Caley was overbearing to extremes and that brought a thought to the surface.

“I’m a bit surprised it took you so long to beat down my door.” When had Caley become patient and knew that I needed to be alone? The Caley I had known from the age of four would’ve been at my house, in my face, an hour after it happened.

She flicked her long flowing blonde hair over her shoulder. “Zach told me to give you some space.”

“And you listened to him?”

“Stop looking at me like that. So I took his advice because I thought he was right and gave you some time alone.” She cocked her head. “Was it the right thing to do?”

A new Caley kneeled in front of me now. I liked this Caley. “If you would’ve come over any time before now, I might have either killed you or disowned you as a friend. I needed this time. So, thank you.”

“See, it was the right decision then. Maybe I should listen to him more often.” She grinned in the classic Caley way, full of spunk. “Or maybe not.”

She slapped my leg returning to her typical pushy attitude. “Get up and go get ready. I know Zach wants to talk with you.” She covered her nose with her hand. “And seriously, you stink.”

I thought too quickly. This was my best friend in spades. Instead of arguing that I wanted to stay on the couch and wither away from existence, I pushed the blanket off knowing she’d win anyway. If I didn’t go into the shower, she’d place me in there, so why fight it?

Maybe it was time to pull myself out of my slump, no matter what my heart told me. And as much as I hated admitting it, Dane had been right.

This hell, heartbreak, and sadness could’ve all been prevented. I shouldn’t have fallen in love with a ghost. I knew it when I met Kipp, and knew then the trouble that came along with it. Those were the repercussions of
that
choice and no matter where I ran they’d always follow.

But Caley was right too. I had a job to do. A demon to banish, even if that was crazy. I might want to hide from life, but life wouldn’t hide from me.

Chapter Eighteen

After my shower, I dried off, threw my hair up into a ponytail, and dressed in a pair of jeans and button down cotton t-shirt. I strode out of my bedroom and spotted Zach the minute I entered the living room.

“She lives.” He grinned, but beneath that smile held obvious sadness.

I returned the smile, hoping mine showed a little more oomph in it than what was going on inside. “I’m returning from the dead.” Not only returning from my mourning, but in truth I meant it. I was pushing the memory of Kipp aside. Leaving the dead behind me—for now—and returning to the real world.

Kipp had made his choice. I couldn’t control that I hurt him because he didn’t give me the chance to explain. I dropped down on the couch across from Zach and stuffed away the remaining despair that could very well cripple me forever.

Zach studied me for a long moment before he said, “Are you all right?”

“No.” Why lie? Everyone knew I wasn’t.

Zach paused, glancing at Caley, and they shared a troubled look before he turned toward me. “He’s an asshole for leaving you like he did. But I know Kipp. He’ll come back and have a good reason for the time away. Trust in that.”

Tears threatened to rise, but I fought against it. I needed—wanted—to be stronger than this. “No reason he gives will ever be good enough.” I glanced down at my hands, as the truth stared hard at me in the face. “I would
never
have done this to him. Left him like this, regardless of the situation.”

“And that’s what makes this all the more strange,” Zach said softly. “He wouldn’t have either.”

I lifted my head. “What do you mean by that?”

“Kipp might have been pissed off because he saw Dane kissing you, but he’s not the type to run and hide.” He stared at me pointedly. “Have you ever seen Kipp not confront anything?” No, in fact, I hadn’t. “If Dane pissed him off, he would’ve somehow confronted him, I’m sure of it.”

“He was so mad, though.”

“I have no doubt he was,” Zach countered. “And
that
makes sense. Why he left you when he did, but the Kipp I know wouldn’t have left you like
this
. He would have returned and fought for you.”

That’s exactly what broke my heart. “But he didn’t.”

Zach’s lips thinned, though, he did nod in agreement. “That’s what I find so strange. Something doesn’t seem right. He would’ve come back for you, Tess.”

“He didn’t,” was all I said again.

Silence fell between us. What else could be said? Zach might think he knew Kipp. Even I thought I knew him. But he had in fact walked away from me, went into the Netherworld, and hadn’t returned.

I drew in a deep breath to gather myself, and pushed the broken pieces of my heart down inside of me needing to move on. “I assume you’re not here to talk about this and I’m guessing you’re here to talk about the demon.”

I quickly glanced at Caley, but no emotion showed on her face besides compassion for me, which meant Zach had told her about
our
situation.

Zach hesitated in obvious reluctance to change the subject, but he eventually said, “After Dane returned to the station and told us what happened, he returned to the house and provided more solid protection to keep the demon locked down.”

“Yeah, I noticed that when I went there.”

“As far as Dane said, the demon can’t get out, and won’t be able to unless someone removes his spells.” He shook his head. “Whatever the hell that means.” His gaze lost its glossy shock and he became engrossed. “Max said you can take as much time as you need, and while I agree with him, I do think we should get this dealt with.”

“Max actually said I could have time off?”

“He’s been worried about you and wanted to give you time to recoup. Besides, Dane said the demon wasn’t going anywhere. But I’m thinking we should get this demon out of here and I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

Shame made me sick. Everyone was looking out for me and I was simply too stuck in my own despair to think of anyone else. Even if I hated to admit it, this all fell on my shoulders. “There’s nothing you can do. Though, it’s nice of you to offer, it’s me that has to deal with this.”

Caley’s eyes went huge. “You’re going to
deal
with that demon
alone
?”

I nodded, somewhat reluctantly. “Appears so.”

“But that’s crazy.” Her voice lifted in near hysterics. “We don’t know what it will do you, and frankly, I don’t want to know.” Her hands came to her hips. “I’m not letting this happen.”

Best friend to the rescue. Too bad, she didn’t have a choice in the matter. I focused on Zach. “Where’s Dane now?”

“Home.”

A relief to know he meant what he said, but yet, not so much of one to know I’d be facing this without him. As much as I hated him and I did certainly loathe him, not having him around worried me. But hell would freeze over before I picked up the phone to call him back. “All right. What’s done is done. And I want this to be over with, too.”

Caley was on her feet in two-point-two seconds and glared down at me. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“I’m thinking, yes,” I murmured.

“You’re
not
doing this, Tess Jennings.” She gave Zach the same glare she offered me. “You can’t allow this. Are you all crazy?” She waved her hands in pure dramatic Caley fashion. “This isn’t a ghost that wants to cross over and is looking to find their peace. This is a
demon
that wants nothing less than to destroy lives.”

I stood, took her hands in mine and squeezed. “Listen, I get that you’re worried and you know I love for you for it, but I’m protected. The spell I did last night will keep me safe. Besides, I have Michael to help me.”

“What spell did you do?” Her gaze darted around, as if looking for an answer. “And who the hell is Michael?”

“It’s a cream of sorts that Gretchen—this…um…witch—gave me that repels evil spirits.” I reached into my shirt and pulled out the medallion. “And this is Michael. I’ve got my own personal Archangel to watch over me. So, really, what could go wrong?”