Mixed Feelings (Empathy in the PPNW Book 1) (15 page)

“What’s this,
pet?
”

Merrin handed the paper over
and Evadne looked at it, her lips curving. The temperature in the room dropped
abruptly and I let out a little yelp. Before I could ask what had happened,
Evadne threw back her head and laughed. Merrin stayed still, head tilted,
staring out the window above the couch, unaffected. Mel inched away, but Chloe
stayed where she was, watching with fascination as Evadne chuckled, crumpled up
the piece of paper in her hand
,
and then squeezed her fist
around it. Like magic—or maybe, not just
like
magic
—her
fingers uncurled to reveal that the paper had disappeared.

“It seems you are in a
predicament,” she said, pushing to her feet. “We will help, free of charge this
time. You seek foresight, yes?” Evadne was focused directly on me, so I gave a
minute nod. I had no idea what had changed the game, but her sudden cooperation
made me nervous.

“Yeah, we’re hoping to find
out where else our bad guy is going to strike.” An idea occurred to me and I
decided to go for it. “Do you know what’s been kidnapping children? Do you know
how to stop it?”

“
Not my place,
” Evadne sighed,
disinterested in the question, as her gaze dropped to Merrin. “Pet, are you
able to see the answer to their query? I’ll give you a treat.”

“I like treats,” Merrin said,
her eyes rolling upward until she was staring at the ceiling. Her hands lifted,
her fingers wiggling gracefully in the air like a hula dancer miming waves. She
turned her face to me, but her gaze remained upward. “The maiden will leave you
at the tea party. Be careful of the bugs.”

“
Is
…
Are
we
going
to—”

“
Don
’t mind that,” Evadne said, running her hand gently over Merrin’s long
red hair. “Pet, concentrate. What do you see in the here and soon?”

“
I can.
” Merrin gave a small nod, turned her hands upward and
put them together, cupping them like sh
e
’d scoop
water to her lips. “You must save a little boy. Car. Red sedan. He’s in the
back seat when the woman grabs him. There’s another. He is quite well. Don’t
look into the woman’
s eyes.
”

Merrin went quiet, reaching
up to put her hand over her eyes. She stayed still for a few moments
as
we all watched her. When she finally dropped her
hand, she looked directly at me, realization leaking in. I felt a tinge of
confusion in her.

“
Gwen
,
are you looking for the demon?”

“
Demon
?
”
I cried.
“There’
s a demon?
”

“
She
’s ugly, though you will not see her real face. I can get you to her.”
Merrin
’s voice went lyrical as she crossed the room toward
the tiny kitchen. “She comes soon.”

“How soon?”

Merrin didn’t answer me, just
took a pen and a notepad from off the bar between the kitchen and the living
area and started writing.

“We really appreciate this,”
Chloe said. I turned to find her looking directly at Evadne. “
I can
’t say how much.”

Evadne tipped her head at
Chloe
.

“Of course.”

“
Here you go,
”
Merrin
said, handing me
the slip of paper. “
You
’ll find them there. I’d like
my treat now.”

“Of course,
pet.
”
Evadne
didn
’t bother
with politeness, just moved to wrap her arm around Merrin and lead her toward
the
bedroom
.
“Your five minutes are up. See yourselves out.”

***

It felt wrong to spend the
rest of my day as we would any other, but we didn’t really have any other
options. We didn’t know enough about this creature to seek it out before it
struck again—which wouldn’t be until the next day—and we had no
other leads. So Chloe and I went into the office as we normally would and I saw
the clients I counseled every Friday afternoon
. We
figured Blondie wouldn’t attack me with so many people
around, so Mel headed up to his office
to
get
some work of his own done.

The day passed slowly, ending
after my last client at six. Chloe had gone downstairs and grabbed us lunch
from
T
he Internets earlier, but I
still
hadn
’t eaten for several hours. My stomach was definitely
letting me know how it felt about that.

“What are we getting for
dinner?” I asked as Chloe turned off the last of the lights and pulled her
jacket off the hook.

“You and Mel? I have no idea.
I have some things to take care of, though.”

“Like what?”

“Unlike you, I have an actual
life.
Besides, we can
’t
do much of anything right now, can we? We’ve got no leads except Merrin’s note
and that says we don’t have to be in Everett to stop a kidnapping until
tomorrow.” She patted my shoulder and ushered me through the door. “
You
’ll be fine. Make him buy you dinner.”

“
Then he
’ll think it’
s a date.
”

“
So starve.
” She locked the door, hooked
her arm around mine
,
and led us down the
stairwell to the first floor. Mel was waiting there, leaning against the wall
across from the windows to The Internets. With his leather jacket and perfectly
coiffed hair, he looked like he’d strolled off the set of
Grease
.
Chloe swung around in front of me, grabbing my hand
and folding a square of paper into it.

“
Don
’t do anything I wouldn’
t
do!
” Without
giving me a chance for a snappy comeback, she headed out the side door. I watched
her go and sighed after her, annoyed that she’d just leave me in such a
situation. Forget the missing kids and mistaken identity; now I was expected to
spend an entire evening
—
and night
—
alone with Mel? It was too early to avoid him by
going
to bed like I’d done the night before and I was too
hungry to take that road anyway. As well as we’d been getting along, as decent
as he’d been, I was no longer in the mood to ignore a whole year of experience
telling me that Mel was
Mel
and that it wouldn’t last.
 

“What’s that?” Mel asked,
stepping uncomfortably close. I lifted my hand,
finding
that Chloe had pressed a hundred
-
dollar bill into my
palm
.

“
Cash.
”

“I think Chloe means for you
to pay me for sex.”

“What if she’s paying me for
sex?”

“
Then I
’ll pay you to watch.”

“Because you figure she’s
better than you are at pleasing a woman and you want tips?”

“Exactly. I can videotape the
whole thing and watch it later for research.”

“Research
,
my ass—
no!
” I
hopped back, knowing in an instant I’d said exactly the wrong thing. “
Don
’t even think about it!”

Mel
laughed and gestured toward the front door. “Come on.
You’re probably hungry.”

“What makes you say that?”

“
You
’
re
always
hungry.
”

“
Ah,
” I said, falling into step with him. “That.”

Chapter Twelve

“I am beginning to think you’
re kidnapping me for my kidneys.
”

“Nonsense. I can kill a deer
if I’m craving organ meat.”

I made a vomiting sound,
which wasn’t uncommon around Mel. Sometimes it just c
omes
out at the sight of him.
We
’d been on the
road for a while and the small talk had veered away from the supernatural
problems we shared; you can only say so many ways that you have no new ideas or
suggestions.

Mel was horrified by my lack
of musical obsession and I was a little sad that he seemed mostly unaware of
the internet. We learned we had practically no interests in common, except that
we both lo
ved
pizza.

“Seriously, this is
ridiculous. There hasn’t been a house or driveway for—oh, speak of the
devil.”

Mel slowed and the headlights
of his car lit up a loose collection of gravel that could have been considered
a driveway if you were feeling generous. As the car turned off the paved road
onto the death trap, I noticed a dilapidated sign that threatened trespassers
with death.

I
shifted in my seat, suddenly wondering if I should rip
Merrin’
s
necklace off
Mel to
see what his emotions were
saying and if they would tell a different story than this horror movie cliché
into which I was being driven.

“
Mel?
”

“
One sec,
” he said, pulling over and fiddling with something on
the driver’s side door. As the car slowed, out of line of sight from the main
road, I considered my options. The smart money was on trusting that I’d known
Mel for over a year and he’d never shown signs of wanting to hurt anyone.
Besides, despite irritatingly bragging about being a massive slut, he’d never
lit up my lizard brain with feelings of, “
Danger! Danger!
”

After a moment
,
the car began to move again, turning onto the path.
Within seconds, our ride changed dramatically. We’d transitioned onto another
well-paved road far enough back from the main road that it wouldn’
t be seen.

“
We
’re not going to a restaurant, are we?” I asked. Mel grinned at me and
it was shark-like, all big teeth and taut lips. Sighing, I crossed my arms over
my chest.

“Hey, if you were really
bothered, you’
d
’ve asked more questions.
You’
re just
hungry
and
clearly you trust my superior pizza instincts.”

“
We
’ll see how superior your instincts are,”
I said,
instantly annoyed that he had a point. I hadn’t asked
any questions because once it was clear food was imminent, I’d gone mostly on
autopilot. But we were far enough away from my car and civilization that I was
effectively trapped
unless I wanted to spend a
fortune on a taxi.

I considered the money Chloe
had given me and it bolstered my mood slightly. If something really went
wrong—for instance, if Mel tried to feed me something healthy—I had
my escape. The road curved and then the forest opened up on a small home that
looked much too modern for its location. Mel pulled in under a high awning and
lights burst to life as we came to a stop. Turning off the car, he angled
himself to give me an excited look. Whatever we were in for, he was pretty
happy about it.

“Come on!” Without waiting
for me, he climbed out of the car,
strutting
up a stone walkway along the side of the house. I sat
in the quiet car, staring at his closed door and wondering if I wanted to go
inside and see what he had planned.

With a shrug
, I mumbled,
“What the hell,” and followed
Mel.
I saw light come through an open doorway and I
followed it, noting that the recent snow was still clumped around the grounds.

I have no idea if I had any
preconceived notions about what
I
’d find when
entering Mel’s home but
if I did, they were probably
similar to what I saw when I got there.

The interior was a lot of
deep colors, red woods, granite countertops. A state
-
of
-
the
-
art entertainment and sound system made the living room look high-tech,
while a closed laptop sat alone on a desk in
an
alcove to the right. The kitchen was huge and looked
professional-grade. From the layout of the place, it seemed the door we’d come
through was meant to be at the back of the house. Between me and an ornate
glass and wood front door were the impressive kitchen and heavily furnished
living room.

As I shut
the door
—and my dropped
jaw—I noticed Mel had already gotten to work in the kitchen. He was
laying opaque glass dishes on the gigant
ic
black
granite island, leaving the refrigerator door open as he bustled around. An
incredible brick oven had been built into the left wall just past the stove and
fridge; its metal doors were open, revealing a low flame. Wood was stacked in
the storage alcove underneath and Mel pulled out three more logs and set to
building the flame in the oven.

“Whoa,” was all I could say.

“
Best pizza you
’ve ever had. Take a seat.”
Throwing a look back at me, he gestured with his elbow toward the living room. “Or
put on music if you think you can figure out what that is.”

“
I don
’t know if I want to risk it. You’ve probably got
Barry White queued up to lull a woman’s underpants right off.”

“Please,”
he spat, still arm
-
deep in the oven.

Before checking out the
little office nook, I went to what I figured was the front of the house. I
peered out the window but only saw a large porch and another walkway that
disappeared into the dark of the forest. Nothing explained what we were doing
in the middle of the woods, alone, about to share pizza.

I turned and frowned at
Mel. I hadn
’
t
even
taken my jacket off, but
he
had disrobed down to a white undershirt. His coat and
button-up shirt were draped over one of the chairs set under the bar side of
the kitchen island and he’d moved on to opening the containers he’d set out.

“This is weird,” I announced.

“What is?”

“All of this. I don’t like y
ou,
”
I
said.

Mel grinned.
“
I
hadn
’t noticed.”

“That’s part of what I don’t
like about you.”

He chuckled this time and
leaned back to grab a knife off the magnetic strip along the wall.

“
I
’m not kidding, Mel. This, among many other things,
isn
’t something I ever saw happening between us.
You don
’t offer to make me pizza or invite me into your home.
Your bed,
sure,
but not your home.”

“My bed is in my home,” he
said, pausing in the chopping of mushrooms to smirk at me. “In case you hadn’t
noticed.”

“See, stuff like that,” I
said, deciding I might as well resign myself to the fact that Mel and I were
acting friendly. He was okay with the situation, completely at ease even though
I wouldn’t have been surprised to find out it was all a
hallucination. Mel
and me getting along like grown-ups
?

The very concept was nearly
Greek to me.

Before pulling off my coat, I
checked all the pockets for notes, wondering if the candy thief had left any
explanation of what
I
’d let the evening come to. I
found nothing and wondered why the thief had gone radio silent. It had warned
me before about Mel, trying to get me to put up my shields so I wouldn’t fry my
brain. Maybe it foolishly believed that the necklace not only blocked Mel’s
emotions from me, but also made him completely tolerable.

Or maybe it hadn’t warned me
off of spending the evening with Mel because it was holed up in my house eating
all the food I’d risked my life to buy from the mini-mart.

“
Goddammit,
” I murmured.

“
Pondering your
own mental shortcomings?”

“What?” I asked, only
half-sure he’d said something insulting. My mind was busy conjuring up images
of a giant cartoon mouth—
I
can
’t even
fathom what this candy thief looks like—chomping its way through piles of
my
sugar.

“The music, genius. You’re
just standing there when you should be picking out something to listen to.”

“
Shut up,
” I snapped. “
I
could be
a genius.
Maybe I
’m
solving complex math equations and calculating the exact square footage of your
house.
You don
’t know.”

Mel wisely didn’t address my
comments, though I could see his
lips
fighting with a smile. I
watched him chop vegetables for a few moments,
worried
that I was hungry enough to
eat even those if it came to it
,
and then sighed, giving in.
He had promised me pizza, after all, and I didn’t want to ruin my chances at
that.

“Where’
s your stereo?
”

“
It
’s the digital age, babe.” With the knife,
Mel
pointed at another cabinet set into the side of the entertainment
center. I opened it and found a slick monitor and a tray that slid a keyboard
out toward me when the door opened completely. The screen flashed to life and I
was greeted with an iTunes so packed with playlists I thought I’d never stop
scrolling.

I picked one of the two
dozen cooking playlists Mel had created and music floated out through
the room from everywhere and nowhere; apparently he had hidden speakers. T
hen
I
decided I was going to snoop some more. Mel ignored me
when I headed straight for the darkened hallway. I felt around for a switch and
flicked it on to find that I was facing the bathroom door. The guest bath was
long, narrow, and made up to look like a fancy hotel bathroom. It was very nice
,
but something about it clearly said, “Your visit here
is temporary
.
” Individually wrapped soaps
and expertly folded fluffy towels were laid out on otherwise empty shelves. I
wondered if Mel had a Zorg-esque army of tiny robots that did his bidding
,
since it all looked too well-maintained for me to
believe he’d fancied the place up himself.

At the end of the hall was a
closed door that I, of course, couldn’t resist opening.

Mel
’s bedroom looked similarly inviting
,
without
actually
inviting anyone to stay. It
had the same high ceilings as the rest of the house, as well as a lot of square
edges and
dark colors.

“What kind of meat do you
like?” Mel asked, startling me into wheeling around
.
Normally
you can
’t sneak up on me unless I’m
eyeballs deep in pastry, because my empathy makes a sort of mental map of those
around me
. Merrin
’s necklace seemed to be
affecting much more than I’d anticipated, though, and I realized I was going to
have to learn to deal with the sort of blindness it imposed on me.

When I didn’t answer
immediately,
Mel
began thrusting his pelvis
toward me to the beat of the music. “Because I have
all kinds
.
”

“I think you have one kind
and I don’t want it.”

Mel laughed, taking my joke
better than I took most of his, then stopped thrusting and gestured back down
the hall.

“Come choose your toppings.
Unless you’d rather we stay in here.”

“
No,
” I assured him, squeezing
past
when he
continued to block most of the doorway rather than let me pass easily. I kept
my gaze off his so he wouldn’t see in my
eyes
that
I was finding his behavior sliding down the spectrum away from objectionable
and toward entertaining.
I
refused
to
consider that it was just because he was promising me pizza. I mean, I look at
sex like I look at cupcakes and if great sex was as easy to get as great
cupcakes, I would have it all the time. But this was still Mel and
,
necklace or not, I couldn’t take that chance.