When they returned to the condo, Elena accepted Sebastian’s offer of a stiff drink, then crossed the shag carpet to flop on the leather sofa.
How did I get involved in this?
She had only intended to come to Stillwood to sell the house and had somehow been roped into investigating a murder.
Sebastian turned on the TV to the local news, lowered the volume, then joined her on the couch with two glasses of amber liquid. He stayed a respectable distance away, which both pleased and chafed her. After fighting the urge for far too long, she shifted closer so their thighs touched.
A smile flitted across his face. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her.
“We’ll figure this out,” she whispered.
His exhale ruffled her hair. “I know. I just wish you hadn’t gotten involved. Maybe then—”
“I’ve been through worse,” she interrupted, squeezing his thigh. “Trust me.”
Something soft brushed her hand. It was Silky, sticking her nose into the glass of whiskey. She downed the alcohol and then set the glass on the counter. “You got the cats?”
Sebastian kneeled and rubbed the Tiger’s head. “I would not let them go to the pound. They’re family. Though I didn’t know she had two. I’ve never met the orange one.”
“I call him Tiger,” she said, reaching down to touch the cat. He jumped out of her way, then hissed. The white tip of his tail swished back and forth along the carpet.
“They’re temperamental,” Sebastian said. “Don’t worry, they’ll get used to you.”
Silky peeked at her from behind the TV stand. Elena rubbed her fingers together. The cat ran away.
She loved cats, but they never took to her.
“I told you,” Sebastian said with a laugh.
Tiger flopped over on his side, exposing an extremely fluffy white tummy.
She ran her fingers through the soft fur. Then Silky startled her by jumping onto her lap and dropping something from her mouth.
“Hello, sweetie. What did you bring me?” She fetched the object from where it had slid between the cushions. An orange ball.
She stroked the cat’s soft fur. “What’s this for, huh?” She raised the ball, and Silky’s eyes followed it. “Where did you get this?”
Sebastian pointed to cardboard box in a corner. “It took them less than an hour to break into it and rip the catnip bag apart.”
Crafty buggers.
She palmed the toy, and it rattled. She inspected the ball and found small holes along its surface.
“Oh, no wonder you love this.” She popped open the latch and confirmed it was filled with treats. She dropped the ball, and Silky chased after it, batting it around the room before taking it into her mouth and returning to the couch, holding the large ball off the ground with her head in the air. Elena laughed with delight. “You can fetch!”
“Chloe probably trained them,” Sebastian said.
They looked at the box of toys in unison.
The perfect place to hide something you don’t want found.
Sebastian retrieved the box and put it on the coffee table. Toy after toy clattered to the ground, but there was no trace of a micro-SD card.
Damn.
Then Tiger padded closer, a deep purr reverberating from his throat.
“Come here, sweetie,” she cooed, rubbing her fingers together. Tiger stepped right over her and butted his head against Sebastian’s face.
Double damn.
“Why do they never love me as much as I love them?”
“Gotta play hard to get,” Sebastian said, extracting Tiger’s claws from his shirt. “They can sense neediness a mile away. Here, let me try something.” He pulled a large blanket over top of them, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and spread the blanket over their laps. Tiger obligingly jumped up and stretched out, and Silky followed soon after.
“Genius move,” she whispered. She fished through the blanket and found his hand, and then squeezed it. Then she turned her head and pressed her lips against his. The chaste peck deepened, and heat pooled between her thighs. Excitement thrilled along her nerves and raised the tiny hairs along her arms.
The cats scrambled off them, and they rose and stumbled into Sebastian’s bedroom. She focused on the feel of his mouth against hers, the seductive movement of his tongue. A premonition of what would happen next flickered through her mind and heightened her arousal. He broke from her mouth and trailed hot, open-mouthed kisses along her neck that sent pleasure coursing through her veins.
She shrugged off her clothes. A shushing noise told her Sebastian was doing the same.
“Wow.”
She smiled. “Like what you see?”
Sebastian ran a hand along her thigh. “You are beautiful.”
“Less looking, more kissing.”
Soon they were laying on the bed, and the hot, rigid length of him pressed against her stomach. She wiggled her hips and elicited a low moan.
He grasped her bottom in his hands and anchored her in place. “Quit that, you minx.” He pushed aside her hair to whorl his tongue in the space where her neck met her shoulder. The sensation curled her toes, and she tilted her head to give him better access.
“Oh, oh yes. Right there. Keep doing that.” He rasped his tongue up her neck, nipping and sucking. His hand left her ass, and she was about to complain when he brought the hand back in a spank that shocked through her like electricity and startled a gasp from her lips.
He chuckled and kneaded her sore bottom. “Like that, did you?” He took her earlobe into his mouth and bit down. “Do you want more?”
“No,” she replied, smiling. “It’s my turn. Protection?”
He jerked his head toward the table. She searched the drawer and took out a strawberry-flavored condom. She unwrapped it, found the correct orientation, and with the condom inside her mouth, leaned forward and unrolled it over the rigid length of him until he pressed against the back of her throat. One hand pushed the rest of the contraceptive down to the base of his shaft. She closed her lips and sucked, smiling as he uttered a curse and threaded his hands through her hair.
“Oh, God, Elena.” He panted and squeezed his fingers against her scalp.
She held his hips down and continued to lavish attention on his cock, increasing the pressure as he grew thicker in her mouth. The feeling of him was fascinating, silky smooth and rock hard at the same time.
****
She was alive against him, a writhing siren of a woman calling forth carnal desires he had thought long dead. As her mouth worked, he struggled to keep an iron grip on his passion, keeping himself right on the edge of climax without falling over. When he could bear it no longer, he lifted her head and looked into passion-filled eyes that tightened something in his chest.
“I’d like to come while inside you,” he said.
Elena’s lips parted, and she nodded. She crawled on top of him and, with excruciating slowness, guided him to her entrance, coating him in her essence. The motion sent shocks of pleasure through him, and he had to resist the urge to thrust before she was ready.
“You’re killing me,” he said, clenching his hands in the sheets.
After a lifetime of tortuous sliding, her lips pressed around him. He forced himself to stay still and moaned as she lowered herself down, her velvet folds clamping around him like a vice. She was so tight he feared he might hurt her if he moved too fast, so he let her set the rhythm until she grabbed his hands and placed them on her hips.
“Guide me,” she said. Then she held up a small vibrator he kept in the side table. “I hope you don’t mind if I use this.”
Sebastian took over, pushing her hips up and down, increasing the speed of their joining and allowing his climax to build. He jerked the moment she put the vibrator to her most sensitive area. Then he slowed and thrust deeper, noticing she preferred him deep and slow rather than shallow and fast.
A few minutes later, she climaxed. He stilled, waiting for her to relax, then thrust twice and joined her.
****
Elena cuddled closer to the warm expanse of man and had a flash of self-consciousness. Once the shudders stopped, she grabbed the vibrator from where it fell and turned it back on.
“Thanks for letting me use this,” she wiggled the vibrator. “If you don’t mind me using it again, I always orgasm in threes.”
He chuckled, and she murmured her appreciation as firm hands ran up her thighs. His fingers flicked against her entrance, then slipped away.
“Can I help?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, please,” she said as her second orgasm spiraled closer.
Fingers speared through her, curling upward and sending waves of pleasure from her pelvis and up her chest. Seconds later, her orgasm hit and shocked her with its intensity, rippling down from the tip of her head to her toes.
His fingers slowed, then stopped, but remained inside her. Once her shudders stilled, he guided her to a third orgasm that rolled over her in bursts of heat.
Spent, she dropped the vibrator. Sebastian raised his fingers to his lips and sucked the remains of her essence from them. He settled against her back, one arm wrapped around her middle until his warmth seeped into her bones.
****
Elena lay in the bed, cuddled in layers of thick blankets. Sebastian snored beside her with one arm splayed over her hip.
I wish we could stay like this forever.
Being with him was everything she’d wished for, and more. He was kind, sensitive, and protective without being possessive.
He deserves better.
Her chest itched, and she absently scratched with one hand. The itching got worse, and she peeled the blankets away to see the boa staring up at her from between her breasts.
“What?” she whispered. “Do you actually want to help, for once?”
The boa flicked its tongue, and the itchiness on her chest crept up her neck until she had to crush her hands beneath her back to keep from scratching like a flea-ridden stray. She wasn’t surprised when the pressure came, starting in her throat like she’d swallowed a water balloon.
She searched out the boa in her mind. The spark was there but dim. She tried to connect to it but received only gentle whispers in response. She closed her eyes and reached for the spark again.
Images bloomed into her mind, one after another in layers, faded and watery like the reflection in a pond. Too fast to follow. She grasped Chloe’s essence and wrapped her in a warm embrace, soothing the swirling mass of energy.
The images slowed, transparent and hard to grasp, but if she focused, she could make them out.
No, a voice whispered in her mind. Don’t fight it. Let me in.
For once, she didn’t resist, and instead of being held by invisible bonds in the darkness of her mind, the shade slipped in beside her. She experimentally wiggled her fingers and toes, confirming she hadn’t lost control. Rather than being ousted, it felt more like someone was sharing her mind with her.
Hello, Chloe’s voice whispered in her head. I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out. You were always so stubborn, Ellie.
Elena’s eyes burned with tears, and her throat worked.
“I’m so sorry, Chloe,” she whispered. “If I had gotten there sooner, you might not have—”
Enough of that, Chloe interrupted. As cool as it is being dead, I’d really like to move on. Edward says the afterlife is amazing.
Her heart skipped a beat. “Edward?”
He insists on staying with Sebastian until this is all over.
The python. Of course. The memories she’d received from it were of his time in the hospital.
We don’t have long, Chloe said. I can’t maintain this forever.
“Of course. I understand. You want us to find who killed you, right?”
A swell of anger made her skin flush.
Sorry, Chloe said. This sharing thing is weird. Yes, find him and stop him before he kills again. He won’t stop. He can’t.
Elena had read enough about serial killers to understand, but even if she hadn’t, she’d experienced their memories. She knew the compulsion to kill, the addiction. It was irresistible.
“Who is it?”
I don’t know. Ugh. I keep trying to remember, but the memories are hazy. I remember it was a man, and that it was someone I knew, but that’s all.
No more than Elena had already surmised from experiencing Chloe’s memories herself. Not that she’d expected anything else. That would’ve been too easy.
One more thing. Chloe paused. You won’t like it.
“Just tell me,” Elena said with a sigh. “I’m already neck-deep in trouble.”
Muted laughter, then Chloe’s voice again, more serious this time. Tell my brother everything.
“What!”
Elena slapped a hand over her mouth.
Sebastian murmured and shifted, turning away from her.
I said you wouldn’t like it. But he has to know. It’s not safe keeping him in the dark.
Chloe’s words twisted her up inside, but her friend had a point. Telling Sebastian about the real enemy they faced gave him a fighting chance.
“Okay.” She swallowed the moisture in her mouth. “I’ll tell him as soon as he wakes up.”
Thanks, Ellie. You’re the best.
With a sound like air escaping from a balloon, the other consciousness in her mind drifted away. Then Sebastian rolled to face her. “Who were you talking to?”
“No one,” Elena said before remembering what she’d promised Chloe. It was instinctual to always protect herself. Then she glanced down. The boa curled above her breasts, tongue flicking in and out. She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.
You have to tell him.
Sebastian wrapped his arm around her waist. “You know you can tell me what’s bothering you, right? You don’t have to hide things from me.”
She pressed her ear to his chest to hear the even thump of his heart. “I know. I’m just scared.”
His palm stroked down her back. “Scared of what?”
“Scared you won’t believe me.”
He kissed her neck. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together. Trust me.”
Elena blew out a breath. “Okay.”
****
Sebastian waited in the kitchen, preparing himself for the worst.
A thousand scenarios flitted through his mind. The most prominent of those was that Elena had a mental illness, such as schizophrenia. Such things were hereditary, or at least ran in families. And there was no doubt Elena’s mother had been ill.
It doesn’t matter. She’s still Elena. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.
Even if that meant doctor’s visits, time in treatment centers. It didn’t matter. He’d stay by her side, come what may.
But when Elena sat beside him, he realized he hadn’t prepared enough.
“I was talking to a shade,” she said. “They’re like moving tattoos. I can see them on my skin and on others.”
He stared at her, speechless.
She laughed nervously. “They used to be living people like you and me.”
“You mean ghosts?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
He was silent again, then frowned, “You see them all the time?”
“Yes.”
“How long have you—”
“Since I was a kid.”
He shook his head. “I can’t imagine what it’s like.”
“It’s like being in Vegas. Moving advertisements and billboards everywhere. It’s overwhelming. But you get used to it.”
She thinks she can see ghosts.
It was worse than he’d thought.
He sighed. “You’re not well, Elena.”
“I knew you couldn’t handle the truth,” she said. Her shoulders drooped, and he cursed himself. This was the girl he’d skipped stones with and kissed under a full winter moon. The girl who braided Chloe’s hair and helped them build a snow fort every winter. He had to give her a chance, no matter how incredible her story sounded.
“You understand why I’m having a hard time believing this,” he said.
She sniffed. “This is why I didn’t want to stay with you. I’m not normal.”
“I’m sorry,” he said and meant it. He watched the play of emotion across her face. “Chloe,” he said, finally. “That’s who you think you were talking to.”
“Yes.” She rubbed her hands together. “I didn’t know she could talk to me, not until today.”
His heart ached at the thought of his sister sticking around like a guardian angel. Then he mentally shook himself. Ghosts weren’t real. Elena could believe whatever she wanted, but he would not encourage her.
“I guess I’ll have to show you,” she said. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Her skin paled until it was almost transparent. He shook her. “Stop this, come back!”
Her head lolled to the side, and he only just caught her as she crumpled. He laid her on the floor, cupping her neck with his hand and willing her to move until her eyelashes fluttered open.
“What was that?” he whispered. “What happened?”
She pushed his arms away. “Jeese, you really are dense.”
An ice-cold electric current shot through him. The voice was different from Elena’s, pitched higher.
“C-Chloe? Is that you?”
She rolled her eyes. “Who else would it be, dummy?”
Sebastian pulled his sister into his arms against her snarling protests. He rose and twirled her around three times before setting her down.
“What happened to Elena?”
Chloe wrinkled her nose. “She’s still here, listening. She let me in, but I don’t think she knows how to kick me out.”
Sebastian squeezed his sister once more, ignoring her feeble attempts to push him away. “God, Chloe. I thought I’d never talk to you again.”
“Jesus, Bast, I get it. Can you let me go before you crush the rest of the bones in this body?”
With a significant force of will, he let her go. She settled on the other side of the couch, crossing her legs and pushing the hair out of her face before leveling him with an even stare. It felt so wrong, like Elena was doing a disturbingly accurate impression of his sister. He flopped into a chair.
“This feels so strange,” Chloe said, twisting her wrists around and around. “It’s like I’m wearing her as a costume. I can move her body, but it doesn’t obey me perfectly.” She picked up her shirt away from her chest and looked down. “But it’s better than being a snake.”
“You remember that?” What else could she remember?
“Bits and pieces,” Chloe said. She ran her palms down her thighs. “Elena still has a terrible sense of style, I see.”
Sebastian clenched his hands and almost laughed at the familiar jolt of frustration. Chloe had a way of getting under his skin. Siblings were like that. He pushed away his emotions and asked the most important question.
“Do you remember who killed you?”
She folded her hands in her lap and looked at them. “My memories are foggy. I know I was at the Cain house, but that’s all.” Chloe jerked her head up, her eyes wide. “I can hear Elena’s voice. She’s telling me it’s normal because of trauma.”
Sebastian sighed. “I guess it was too much to hope it would be that easy. What do you remember?”
“I remember doing research. I wanted to know what really happened to Edward.” She shot him a glare. “Because you refused to listen. I found out something. What was it?” She slammed her hands on the couch. “I can’t remember!”
She looked so anguished. He slid closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay, don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”
She shrugged off his embrace. “I hid something. I remember that. Something important. My research.” She clutched her head and whined. “This hurts, Bast. Everything hurts.”
“You can rest soon, I promise,” he soothed. “But we have to know so we can find your killer. Think, sis. Where is it?”
She scrunched up her face. “I think I left it with an animal. A bird? There were sticks. A lot of sticks. And a tree.”
Sebastian straightened. “You gave something to a bird to hide?”
“Maybe?” Chloe tilted her head to the side. “Elena says it’s time for me to go.”
Sebastian’s heart lurched. There was so much he wanted to tell her. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I wasn’t there to protect you. I didn’t get your message in time.”
“Don’t you dare.” She punched his shoulder, hard. “Don’t you dare blame this on yourself! You get all weepy over me, and I’ll come haunt the shit out of you.”
Sebastian brushed tears from his eyes. “You promise?”
Chloe rolled her eyes, then Elena blinked and looked at him. “I can’t hear her. I think she doesn’t have a lot of energy left.”
The thought of his sister leaving, or never being able to talk to her again, hit him like a weight in the chest. He sat heavily on the couch, digesting what he’d seen. Then he looked at her. “Thank you. For giving me another chance to say goodbye.”
Elena shrugged. “I am glad I could help. For once this gift is useful, rather than a nuisance.”
That’s when it clicked for him how drained she seemed. Her skin was pale, the bags under her eyes prominent. She hadn’t yet moved from the couch, and he wondered if she even had the energy.
What does the possession do to her?
He was impressed all over again at her strength. How had she managed for so long?
Something clicked in his brain, and he hissed in a breath. “The research Chloe was talking about, it’s at the Cain house, isn’t it?”
Elena nodded. “One of the nests near the porch.” The shadows grew longer on her face. “But before we go, there’s one more thing I haven’t told you yet.” She explained about the creature that had been following her, how she’d been seeing it around town.
“I think I saw it too,” he said, remembering the woman at the hospital.
“Bast, this shade, it’s not like the others.” She worried her hands together. “I’m not completely sure, but I think it’s the same one that possessed my mother.”
Edward.
He’d always wondered what had pushed Mrs. Cain over the edge. She’d never shown any real predilection for violence before that night.
And now I have a chance to catch the creature that was responsible.
A newfound sense of determination filled him. This was the chance he needed to make up for failing his siblings.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you all of this sooner,” Elena said. “I share my mother’s gift. I’m equally as susceptible as she is to the shades.”
It was easy to read between the lines.
“You don’t want what happened to Edward to happen to me,” he said.
She kept all this pain to herself because she was protecting me.
He imagined her as the last warrior standing amid an army, covered in wounds, her armor dented, but refusing to yield.
My beautiful, brave warrior.
He sat beside her on the couch and pulled her into his arms.
“You don’t have to do this alone,” he said.
She shuddered, and then she was sobbing into his chest.
“That’s right,” he murmured. “Let me be strong for both of us.”
Her sobs continued for what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes. He didn’t care. For the first time since he’d seen Chloe’s dead body, he felt like he was on even footing. Whatever else happened, Elena needed him.
And he would do whatever it took to make sure it stayed that way.