The impact threw Elena against the wall. A sharp pain jabbed her leg, and her ears rang. She moved her body one muscle at a time.
Seconds later, the muted cry of sirens filled the air. She struggled to her feet. Sebastian stepped closer, and she grabbed his arm.
“Out!” she yelled over the noise of the fire. Her arms trembled, and she pushed through the exhaustion. Together they scrambled onto the fire escape.
Arms enveloped her, and she panicked for a moment before realizing it was a firefighter. They pressed a plastic mask against her face, and clean air filled her lungs.
“Thank you,” she rasped.
Sebastian guided her to an ambulance, where a paramedic draped a blanket over her shoulder. For shock, they said. Across the street from the ambulance, the tall building they’d escaped from blazed. The flames licked the roof of the apartment building next door. The fire had singed her hair, and streaks of soot covered her body. She’d been lucky. Her lungs ached from the ash and smoke she had breathed in, but she would live.
The next few minutes passed in a haze. A plaintive meowing from the corner of the ambulance told her a kind soul had gathered the cats. She glanced over to see a crude box with a few holes poked into it.
She made to rise, but her legs were rubbery like a newborn calf.
Then Sebastian was in front of her. His face was stained with soot, and there were bags under his eyes. She’d never seen anything more beautiful in her life. His lips moved, but a high-pitched note drowned out his voice.
She seized his arm and squeezed, willing blood back to her hands. She was so cold. He pulled her close, wrapping the edge of the blanket around them both. Shielded from the outside, she pressed her face into his shoulder and tried not to think about what they’d lost. Sebastian’s home, his clothing, countless mementos. Her anger burned with the same intensity as the inferno. He squeezed her tight, and she closed her eyes, letting the warmth of his chest sink into her chilled skin.
We’re both alive and together. That’s all that matters.
“What now?” she whispered. Her eyes were dry of tears. The fire had taken them, too. Was it time to give up? Retreat and fight another day?
“Now we find the son of a bitch who did this,” he said. Then he pressed his lips to her forehead in a gentle caress. There was no use pretending the fire was an accident. There was no way Sebastian had trapped her inside the closet.
Although she had a sneaking suspicion the report would list the cause as unexplained or electrical.
The wind shifted and drifted ash and smoke over them, making her cough. Sebastian pulled her into the relative safety of the ambulance. He tilted her head toward him with one blanket-enclosed hand and searched her eyes. They met in the middle with a kiss that sent electricity sparking through Elena’s veins. She relaxed into his embrace and enjoyed a lazy duel, surrendering to his dominance. His large hand moved around her shoulder, down her back, around her hip. He squeezed, and a liquid heat pooled and spilled over. A fit of coughing interrupted the moment, and Elena hacked up a black substance onto the metal floor.
“You need a doctor. I’ll be back.” Sebastian ran out into the crowd.
She shivered in delayed fear. Great plumes of smoke rose into the sky like black clouds, staining it an inky black.
“They won’t give up,” she whispered to herself. “They’ll keep coming after me until I am dead.”
“Unless you do something about it.”
She jumped at the voice. A man stood in the shadows. Most of his body was hidden beneath a large trench coat, the hood pulled up over his head.
“Who—”
With a pop and a rush of air, a shade manifested on her stomach. She peeked beneath her clothing. It was a wolf spider, the same shade she’d seen on her attacker at Chloe’s house.
“It’s you!” she cried. “You attacked me!”
She pushed herself deeper into the ambulance, ready to scream or barricade herself inside.
“Relax. I’m not here to fight,” the man said.
A pins and needles sensation began on her back, but she ignored it. The spider wouldn’t get the best of her, not when she was so angry.
“Well, what the hell do you want, then? To kill me, like you killed Chloe?”
She glanced over his shoulder, but Sebastian was nowhere in sight, and the police and firefighters were too far away. She searched the metal floor of the ambulance behind her with her fingertips. If she could find something to strike him with, distract him, then maybe there was a radio inside she could use to call for help.
The man laughed. “Me? A killer? No. I was trying to get you to leave, to get you out of my way, but apparently, that hasn’t worked.”
Get me out of the way?
“The goggles and the phone call? That was you?”
The man nodded. “You didn’t take the hint. Now the man who killed Chloe is after you, too.”
Elena’s heart thumped in her chest. “You know who killed Chloe?”
“Unfortunately, no. I thought she might’ve hidden her research in her house, but it wasn’t there. Then you showed up.” For the first time, the man’s voice sounded angry. “I couldn’t have you blabbing to the cops. Not when I am so close.”
She remembered the description of the man Chloe met at the bowling alley. “You were her contact. Is that what you were doing, trying to catch the murderer?”
Thumping footsteps drew closer. The man tensed. “You really need to come with me.” He checked his watch. “Last chance.”
Elena closed her fingers around something long and smooth, with a sharp tip. A discarded needle. It wasn’t ideal, but it was a better weapon than her own nails.
Then a ball of fire erupted from the building, and the man flinched. Elena lunged forward, but before she could get within a foot of the man, a fierce pounding began in her head, and she was ripped out of her body. The restraints coiled around her, pulling her until she could see only a dim view of the world outside.
“Suit yourself,” the man said. “I’ll come for you when it’s over.” Then he stepped back into the shadows.
The ambulance door swung in the wind, and she caught a glance of her face in the glass, the jagged teeth in her mouth.
The Harvester had found her.
Then her body turned, and she realized Sebastian was running toward her.
No! Sebastian, run away! Don’t come near me!
Even without a physical body, she soon tired of thrashing. She watched, helplessly, as Sebastian wrapped her in a hug.
The shade lowered her hand holding the needle, tucking it behind her back.
“You shouldn’t be walking around,” he said. “The paramedic said you inhaled a lot of smoke.”
The creature inside her body didn’t respond.
Run. Please run. Her heart ached at the thought of what was coming.
“There’s something I have to show you,” the shade said. “Come on.”
As Elena watched, screaming at the shade to leave, it led Sebastian into the back of the ambulance and then closed the doors.
“What is it? Are you hurt somewhere else?” The concern on Sebastian’s face ripped at Elena’s heart.
“It’s the cats,” the shade said, pointing to the box in the corner. “I think Tiger was hurt.”
“If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll take a quick look,” Sebastian said. Then he fell to his knees in front of the box.
The shade raised the hand holding the needle.
No!
****
Sebastian spun around just in time to dodge the strike. Elena stumbled past him and slammed heavily into a cabinet. Bandages and bottles fell from the shelves and shattered onto the ground, spraying liquid that had a strong astringent smell, like cleanser.
“Elena, what—”
She pivoted toward him and lunged again; an uncapped needle clenched tightly in her fist. The whites of her eyes were stained with black, and she panted like a dog. She bared her teeth, and for a second, they were jagged and sharp.
She’s possessed by a shade.
Except instead of Chloe, this was a much more terrible creature.
He grabbed for her hand holding the needle, but she twisted out of his grip.
“Almost, but not quite,” she said. Then she uttered a cackling laugh that made the hairs on the back of his neck rise. “If I’d known this would be so fun, I would’ve done it ages ago.”
“I know you’re in there, Elena,” Sebastian said, meeting her eyes. “Fight, damn it! Don’t let this thing control you.”
“Oh, that’s good,” the creature crooned. “What next? How ’bout a nice long cuddle? We can all sit down and talk about our feelings.” It cackled again as if entertained by its own taunt, and then bounced from foot to foot like a maniacal jester, tossing the needle from one hand to the next.
Sebastian darted forward, but the creature danced away, hopping onto a stretcher, then back to the floor. “Not a chance, not a chance,” it said in a sing-song voice. “Now that I’ve got control, she’s all mine. Won’t be letting go, no thank you. Never going back again.” Then it slashed with the needle, nearly skewering him.
Time for Plan B.
He snagged the heavy blanket, the one the paramedics had wrapped around Elena’s shoulders, with his toe. When the creature moved next, he jerked forward and enveloped Elena’s upper body in the fabric, then slapped his hand over her mouth and nose. The creature struggled, bucking and screaming, but Sebastian held tight. No matter the paranormal nature of the possession, it was occupying a human body, which meant finite strength. Maybe if it had taken over a bodybuilder or another cop, then he’d be in trouble, but Elena was no match for him.
The creature’s struggling slowed and then stilled.
Thank God.
He carefully lowered Elena’s body to the floor, being sure she didn’t hit her head. He didn’t have long, maybe a minute, before she revived. There had to be something in the ambulance he could use to knock her out or restrain her until Elena regained control. He shoved open drawers and threw supplies onto the floor until he finally found a pair of zip ties.
He spun around and removed the blanket. The creature grinned with its awful, sharpened teeth.
“Missed you,” it said, with a wink and a kissing face.
Before he could react, the creature smashed a heavy object against his temple. He crumpled to the ground and clutched his head. When he lifted his fingers, they were coated in blood.
“This was fun, but I’m more of a ladies’ man,” the creature said. “So, it’s time to end this.”
A blanket fell over him, the same one he’d used to restrain the creature. He raised his hands, but it was too late. The creature clamped its hands over his nose and mouth until his vision went black.
The next thing he knew, he was sprawled on the floor of the ambulance, his head aching, cocooned in a blanket. He threw it off and pushed to a sitting position.
Elena stood near the door, her face pale. “What have I done?” she whispered as if she didn’t realize she was speaking. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Sebastian struggled to his feet. “It wasn’t you. It was that thing.”
Elena wiped away her tears. “It doesn’t matter. I almost killed you! If it weren’t for me—” she broke off, shaking her head. “Now you know why I can’t stay with you.”
He reached for her hand. “Elena that’s not—”
But she was already gone.