Entity Mine (18 page)

John smiled with his eyes as he watched the lioness approach the glass and rub her head against the plexi of the door. “Everything is not about you.” His words fell around them like dry snow, tiny pinpricks of ice with no real bite. “Devon is a medium. Chimeras may be triple natured, but their spirits are human. Ky is hoping you can sense something from her.”

Devon nodded. God, she hoped could help. She owed the brothers. If Jake and Kyle hadn’t come looking for Ethan, who knew what would have happened? He might have starved to death. Her vision blurred at the thought and she blinked to clear it. Here was a chance to repay them.

She considered the lioness. Her pale wheat hide faded to almost white on her underbelly and cheeks, black eye rims like crisp liquid eyeliner around melted honey eyes. From the tip of her tail to her whiskers she gleamed under the washed out sun, as perfect as a life-size figurine.

Devon shoved her distractions, the last twinges of her transformation, Ethan’s mysterious “talk,” her fear for Matt and Beth, into a far corner of her mind and opened her other senses, reaching for the human spirit John said should be there.

The world fell away. There were other spirits here. The warehouse was old and had seen it’s share of tragedy. Mostly, they were residuals, re-enacting moments in their lives, or deaths, no real awareness left. Intelligent hauntings were few and far between, no matter what the ghost shows said. Not many had a strong enough hold on this world once they’d passed to be anything more than faded echoes after all this time.

Rage or hatred, on the other hand, seemed to be like Super Glue, fixing spirits to this plane. Maybe because those with the capacity to love with their whole hearts moved on. Obsession, of course, was a whole other animal.

Devon ignored the extraneous spirits and sought the lioness, who’d flopped down on her belly, and washed her paws with her large, pink tongue. There was a spirit there. And John was right, it was human, but as hard as Devon tried to pierce the veil of wildness to uncover the essence beneath, she couldn’t get through.

Damn. Disappointment pressed down on her. Ever since Beth had been possessed, Jake and Kyle had taken control of everything. She released a frustrated grunt. She wasn’t used to others being in the driver’s seat. There went the opportunity to contribute.

She rolled her shoulders and stretched her neck. Damn, concentrating so hard had given her a stabbing headache above her eyes. “I’m sorry. I might be able to get through if I had more time, but right now. I got nothing.”

His eyes far away, John laid a hand flat on the scratched plexiglas beside the slot. “Thanks for trying.”

Devon nodded. “It’s the least I could do with what you’re doing for Beth.”

John turned back and gave his head a brisk shake. “Speaking of that, we’d better get back.”

Chapter 28

Ethan eyed Devon’s slender back as he followed her out of the elevator and into his brother’s penthouse. Time to face the music. All he had to do was get her alone and break the news. He sent a glance heavenward.
Please don’t let her freak out.

She’d been unusually quiet on the plane, not to mention in the car to and from the warehouse. Every time, he’d gathered up the courage to tell her, something had interrupted to stop him, a phone call, the flight attendant, the chauffeur of the town car, feral chimeras. Or maybe the truth was he hadn’t told her because he was afraid of what she might say. Her life had taken a detour into the twilight zone when she’d met him and this might be the straw that would drive her away.

He stopped short as he looked past her and saw Ky’s apartment.
Shit. Mythic, Inc. must be raking in the dough.

A small foyer area opened into a sprawling kitchen, dining room, living room and study, curtains or open bookcases dividing the space loft style. Anjali, sipping a steaming mug of something that suffused the air with the scent of ginger and cinnamon, propped her elbows against a gleaming expanse of granite counter topping a vast square island. Jake hovered beside her, his hand cradling her shoulder, as if drawing back from a kiss.

Damn, he craved that easy connection with Devon.

Jake grinned and came toward them. “Come in! Come in!” The warmth of his greeting released some of Ethan’s tension. “Ky will be down in a few minutes. He wanted a shower. I heard there was no luck with the lioness. Tough luck.”

Ethan drew up short. He’d been about to ask if they’d heard from the demon, now he focused on the second thing his brother had said. Worry clouded his mind. “You mean Ky flew here in the middle of the day?”

Jake closed his eyes and shook his head. “I didn’t like it either.” He glanced over his shoulder at Anjali, who ambled up behind him. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her temple. A move so casual and without forethought Ethan could tell it was a regular ritual. “Truth be told, keeping him in human form isn’t easy these days.”

Anjali ducked her head a little, almost echoing her mate’s habit of hiding his eyes. “We’ll talk about that later.” She started back to the kitchen area. “We were just having
masala cha
, chai tea. Would you like some?”

“Mmm.” Devon headed to the island, falling in step with Anjali. “That sounds wonderful. But first, what’s the status? Have you heard from the demonic?”

The other woman shook her head. “Sorry. Not yet.”

Jake followed them, and Ethan, still hung up on his older brother’s stability, shot an uneasy glance his brother’s way.
Kyle. Jesus, Jak
e!
What might have happened?

Jake nodded, acknowledging his concern about Ky’s mental state, then shrugged as if to say,
What could we do
?

Ethan raised an eyebrow.
I’d be happy to dispense a beating.

Jake almost smiled.
If only that would work.

They shared a helpless glance, and if concern hadn’t been riding him so hard, Ethan would have relished the brief moment of camaraderie.

He turned his thoughts back to Devon. First things first.

Anjali poured fragrant, frothy tea from a pan into two mugs, returning the pan to the stove, then stretched in front of Devon to snag the sugar bowl, and froze, bursting into a beaming smile.

“Devon!” Anjali turned to her, dark eyes sparkling. “Congratulations!”

Ethan closed his eyes, biting back a groan, mentally banging his head against the wall, guessing what was coming.
God damn super senses.

Devon’s forehead wrinkled. “For what?”

Anjali’s dark gaze flicked at Ethan and Jake before landing back on Devon. “You’re pregnant.”

Ethan looked at the coffered ceiling. Damn it, he should have told her. Now he was in the shit.

Devon folded her palms over her slender mid-section. “I’m what now?”

Again Anjali glanced at him and his brother. She cocked her head, looking at him from under her dark eyebrows. “You didn’t tell her?”

Devon folded her arms, her brown eyes threatening as the Atlantic before a storm. “Tell me what?”

Ethan rubbed his forehead. He’d rather be under fire in an enemy compound right now.

A weapon in his hands. That’s what he needed. “Remember, I had to tell you something? The transformation you’re having . . . conception triggers it.” And while he was at it, he should shoot himself with it.

“But conception takes a couple days.” Devon’s disbelieving gaze swept from Anjali to Ethan and back.

Anjali’s shoulders lurched. “Not in chimeras.” She pressed her lips into an apologetic smile.

Devon buried her head in her hands while Anjali shoveled two spoonfuls of sugar into her tea, pushing it at her. Ethan ran his palms over his head.
Please, God, don’t let this send her screaming for the hills
. He sent his brother and his mate a pleading glance and the pair picked up their mugs and moved off to the living room area.

Devon’s gaze, wide and intent, found his. “I can’t believe this!” She brushed a lock of coppery hair from her forehead. “You might have warned me.”

To touch her or not?
Ethan folded his arms and planted his feet.
Better not risk it. It might spook her.
“I didn’t know until yesterday.”

She looked out the window at the checkerboard of the late-afternoon skyline. Reflected light turned her cheekbones to ivory marble and made mirrors of her eyes. “At the risk of sounding like a Victorian lady, this is all so sudden.” She sank onto a stool, seeming as far away as when he’d thought them separated by death, but just as before it was an illusion. A shudder ran through him. It had to be.

He braved a touch, sliding a hand over her smaller one and considered its fragility. She was no shrinking violet, far from it, but everything about her seemed to tweak his protective instincts. He couldn’t wait to see her round with his child.

He peered at the clock behind him on the microwave to hide the shit-eating grin lurking inside him. She knew the truth and she hadn’t taken to her heels screaming. Afraid to say something to frighten her off, he outlined her soft, warm skin with his thumb and let silence spill around them like the evening tide. He’d had time to process, now it was her turn.

They stayed like that for several seconds. Finally, she glanced at him with narrowed eyes as if she were wary. “How do you feel?”

Thrilled, ecstatic, terrified.
They all seemed appropriate, but how would she react? “I’m happy.”

She tilted her chin, eyes narrowed, as if reading the lines of his face like a chart. “You don’t
look
happy.”

“That’s because I’m terrified I’ll scare you away.” He scanned her pretty features, desperate for a hint of her emotions. “How do you feel?”

Her laugh sounded as sharp and dry as a hull in dry dock. “Pretty stunned, but . . . happy. I think.”

Ethan let out the breath he’d been holding and pulled her into his chest. She nestled against his ribs, a perfect fit. He had to kiss her.

He drew back and lowered his head, but before he could taste her lips, Ky stuck his head around the divider from the office. “Everything okay?”

Ethan shot him a wry look and moved back. “As if you couldn’t hear the whole conversation.”

Ky rubbed his chin. “Well, it’s polite to pretend anyway. I hate to interrupt, but I got a call from John. Harvey came back.”

“Shit.” Jake and Anjali entered the kitchen. “What did he say?”

“He’s moved up the deadline. He says if he doesn’t get the seal in forty-eight hours, Matt’s toast and he’ll kill Beth.”

Back in New York, mated, and knocked-up, oh happy day.
Devon opened a carton of delivery Chinese. The scent of pork-fried rice filled Ky’s luxurious dining room. Ethan, Ky, and the others were all in the process of serving themselves.

At least, being back in NYC meant she could get delivery from her favorite Chinese place. She scooped some rice onto her plate. Too bad she wasn’t really hungry.

She resisted the urge to check the time again. It was probably no more than a few seconds since the last hundred times she’d looked. Funny that, since the meager hours they had to retrieve the seal seemed to be flying away.

Ethan sent her a worried look. After Ky’s announcement, she’d volunteered to get the plans to Laird’s building from the Department of Buildings, leaving him closeted with his brothers and Anjali, discussing the situation with John on speakerphone.

As soon as they finished eating and had emptied the table, Devon brought out the plans, weighting the curling edges with heavy crystal whiskey glasses from a bar along the rough brick wall.

No one had said much while they ate and Devon cleared her throat to break the heavy silence. “Doesn’t John need to be here?” She glanced at Ky. “I mean he’ll just phase in, or whatever, and get the seal, right?”

Ky shook his head. “I had Thalia, my private detective—she’s a powerful witch—try to astral project to the building, but she couldn’t. Apparently, there’s a witch-owned business on the second floor and they’ve warded the whole property, lock, stock and eye-of-newt-filled barrel. Thalia could break the wards, but it would take longer than we have.”

“What about going in incorporeally?” Jake leaned in. “I don’t know of any wards to keep shapeshifters out.”

Ethan shook his head. “The problem isn’t getting in. I can go disembodied, but then I would have to be solid to take the seal. I think someone would notice a naked man leaving the building with a gold object the size of a training wheel under his arm.”

The group shared a reluctant smile and the mood in the room lightened a hair.

Ethan palmed his scalp. “I’m going to have to go in alone and steal it the old-fashioned way.”

“No way!” Kyle almost stood.

Swallowing, Devon lifted an eyebrow at Ethan.
Over her dead body.
“Are you now?”

He slanted a hard glance her way at her skeptical tone. “I was a SEAL.”

“Which makes you qualified to be a cat-burglar how?” Devon pushed back from the vast table to glare at him. “You planning on being a father from jail?”

Ethan growled in frustration, the gold flecks in his eyes dominating the green.

She folded her arms, glaring back, her urgent pulse loud in her ears. So she was getting to him.
Good
.

Jake held out a large hand. “The important thing is to get in and get out with the seal without being caught. If someone was going to go in alone, it would be me. I’m the thief.”

Anjali jumped to her feet and the room became awash with voices as everyone talked over the other. A roar ripped through the cacophony. Kyle gripped the table, half-changed.

Devon hid a shudder. Even knowing it was Kyle, her instincts shouted for flight.

Jake grasped his oldest brother’s still-human shoulder as if he could physically pin him in human form. “Calm down, Ky. I wasn’t finished.”

Shaking, Kyle took huge panting breaths. It seemed to take forever to Devon, but slowly, he straightened and his features smoothed into their normal scary-handsome human shape.

“Okay?” Jake wrapped his arm around Kyle’s broad shoulders and peered into his face.

After a long moment, he nodded and mopped his forehead with his hand. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Ethan said. “We were all running hot.”

With uneasy looks in Kyle’s direction, everyone settled back in their chairs.

“Actually . . .” Devon threaded her fingers together to quiet the urge to chow down on a fingernail or dry her palms on her jeans.

She had a plan, but none of these lone lions were going to like it. “None of you men can go in alone.”