Darktide Read online

  The force — or being, or whatever it was — had a strange resonance unlike anything Levi had ever encountered. It possessed a strange echoing thrum, almost as if there were two entities here, so tightly joined together that they at first felt like one.

  Not demons. While he certainly would not say that he cared for their company, at least they were recognizable creatures, beings who had their own lives and personalities and quirks. In a way, one could almost pity them for the unfortunate trait which allowed them to be bound and exploited by mortals, if the correct rituals were followed.

  At any rate, Levi knew at once he was not dealing with demons here. Of course there were other beings that dwelt in the spaces between worlds, or the planes that were separated from this one by strings of atoms thinner than the finest hair, but none of those entities had ever shown any interest in the corporeal world. There was certainly no reason for them to inhabit this shabby apartment, to tie themselves to a place that had no meaning to them.

  So did this thing — or these things — come from this world? They were not ghosts, that was for certain. Levi could almost fancy he felt them brushing against him, faint little ghost-whispers of touch, like the cool, deathly glide of a jellyfish as it brushes against one’s leg in open water.

  “Who are you?” he asked out loud.

  He hadn’t really been expecting an answer, and he didn’t get one. However, he had the sense that the silence was now a listening one, that whatever was here now knew he had detected it, even if it wasn’t inclined to respond.

  Still, he had no choice but to persist. Sometimes asking a question wasn’t enough. It also had to be the right question. “What ties you to this place?”

  The temperature in the room dropped at once, as though someone had just switched on an industrial air conditioning unit. In fact, the apartment’s A/C had been left on, but at a very modest level, so that it was still warm in here, even if not as scorching as the temperatures outside.

  This time he distinctly felt something brush against his hair and he tensed, wondering if he should raise the same invisible shield he’d used to protect himself from the demons when he was visiting their plane…and wondering if that shield would even be of any use here. However, he didn’t detect anything overtly hostile about that unseen touch. Rather, it was almost as if the entity — or entities — had reached out in such a way to reaffirm their contact.

  Then came a wave of sadness, of regret, so strong that tears began to sting at Levi’s eyes, even though he knew this wasn’t his sorrow, his remorse. Could something inhuman even experience those emotions? Possibly; after all, his own body was human, while his soul was not, and yet he knew he could love, could feel frustration and rage and despair.

  “Is it what happened here?”

  Again that brush against his hair, along with what felt like cold fingers clasping around his forearm. Just for the briefest of seconds, so quick Levi wasn’t sure he hadn’t imagined that touch, but it was enough to convince him that, despite what he might have thought previously, the thing living here must have once been human. Why it hadn’t revealed itself to Angela, whose talent was speaking with ghosts, he didn’t know for sure. But perhaps this wasn’t a true ghost, but only a tiny fragment of the person it had once been, a sliver of a soul and nothing more.

  When he spoke, he knew his voice sounded tentative, as if he’d already figured out that he was making a wrong guess. “Roslyn?”

  The wind whipped around him, icy, so cold it felt as though it would freeze him in that spot. He clenched his fingers with an effort, made himself visualize the shield of protection he’d conjured on the plane of the demons.

  However, he got no further than that, because the door burst open, and a group of men and one woman entered. Ordinary-looking enough, most of them Hispanic in appearance, wearing jeans and T-shirts, or a sleeveless blouse in the woman’s case.

  They weren’t ordinary, though. Levi was able to tell at once that they were all witches and warlocks — and although he hadn’t met that many of the de la Paz clan, he knew them well enough to tell when magical folk were from that family, and these people weren’t from Luz’s group. Another of his gifts, he supposed, to be able to detect the signature scent of a particular witch clan. The Wilcoxes were dark and woodsy, like the pine forests that surrounded Flagstaff, while the McAllisters always seemed clean and aromatic, like freshly cut rosemary.

  These were not de la Paz witches and warlocks. Which had to mean….

  Instincts went into overdrive. No need to say the words of a spell when you yourself were magic.

  But the shield didn’t appear. Blood running cold, Levi realized that somehow even his own powerful magic had been blocked, could not function the way it was supposed to.

  There was only one person in the world who could prevent him from using his magic.

  One of the warlocks stepped forward. He was probably in his late forties, not overly tall, but with a commanding presence, and handsome, aristocratic features.

  “Hello, Levi,” said Joaquin Escobar. “How do you like our trap?”

  4

  Angela

  I kept expecting a phone call. Levi had said he would call as soon as he had any information. But my cell phone had remained frustratingly silent all afternoon, although Margot sent me a text a little past four, a text that was really just a picture of the three children playing together, Ian and Emily building what looked like the beginnings of a log fort in the expansive backyard of Lucas and Margot’s property, while Margot’s daughter Mia looked on, apparently supervising.

  Despite everything, I had to chuckle. Mia was that rare child who always managed to make things work so she never got dirty. Sometimes I wished my own daughter was even half as neat — it would have made my life a lot easier, especially when laundry day rolled around — but then, she wouldn’t be Emily if she had Mia’s fastidious habits.

  Six o’clock. I picked up my phone for what had to be the thirtieth or fortieth time, and still nothing. My stomach, which had been giving me grief all afternoon, felt even more acid. The sad thing was, I didn’t know whether to blame my queasiness on the early stages of pregnancy, or simply extreme nerves. If anything had happened to Levi….

  Connor came into the kitchen through the back door and paused at the sink to wash his hands. He wasn’t any happier than I about Levi’s continuing radio silence, but he’d decided to burn off his nervous energy by decluttering the garage. It was kind of amazing, the mountains of crap that could pile up in a place after you’d lived there for five years, especially when you put a couple of kids and their cast-off toys into the equation.

  “Still nothing?” Connor asked after taking one look at my expression.

  “Nothing at all,” I replied. Somehow I resisted the urge to pick up the phone and check it once again, just in case. I’d avoided calling to check in with Levi, because the last thing I wanted was to interrupt him while he was communing with the spirits, or whatever. “This just isn’t like Levi. He’s very conscientious.”

  “He’s probably fine.” After wiping his hands on the kitchen towel that hung on the oven door rack, Connor came over and started rubbing my shoulders, kneading the knotted-up muscles there. “Maybe he forgot to charge his cell phone before he headed out. Remember, that old truck of his doesn’t have built-in USB ports and all that other fun stuff like our cars do.”

  “Maybe,” I said, my tone dubious. What Connor had just said was true enough, but it seemed out of character for Levi to take off on a mission like this without making sure his phone was charged. Anyway, even if that turned out to be the case, he was in friendly territory. He knew where Alex Trujillo and my cousin Caitlin lived, could have driven to their house to use the phone once he was done at the apartment. Alex probably would still be at work, but Caitlin worked from home and could have helped him out.

  Connor’s fingers dug into my tense muscles, comforting, reassuring. I loved how he knew exactly the right thing to do to help a
ssuage my anxiety. Problem was, it was going to take more than a neck massage to make me feel better about the situation. “If he didn’t get much of anything, he might have just turned around and come home, in which case he should be back any time now.”

  “No,” I said. “If that’s really what happened, then he should have been back hours ago.”

  “Not if he hit traffic. Phoenix can be pretty dicey. Remember that one time someone had an accident on the connector road to the 202, and we sat on the damn freeway for almost a half hour before the state troopers got it all cleared away?”

  Unfortunately, I did remember. What a nightmare that had been, made all the more frustrating by the twins getting progressively more fidgety and restless the longer we sat there without moving. Maybe people in places like L.A. and New York and Chicago were used to craptastic traffic like that, but in my part of the world, we just didn’t have those sorts of problems.

  Anyway, I supposed it was remotely possible that Levi might have encountered a traffic jam along those lines. And I supposed it was also possible that, because he got stuck someplace with a bad cell signal, his phone could’ve drained faster than he’d expected it to.

  All the same, I couldn’t get rid of the queasy sensation in my stomach. It would have been nice to be able to pour a glass of wine, sit down in the living room, and let Connor try to soothe me with more plausible explanations. Unfortunately, wine was out of the picture, and I somehow doubted a cup of hot tea would provide the effect I was looking for.

  The doorbell rang. Connor and I looked at each other, both of us with lifted eyebrows. In general, we really didn’t get that many visitors, since it was the elders who handled the day-to-day issues of the clan. We were only called in when a problem arose that they couldn’t solve.

  “It’s probably Levi,” Connor said, letting go of my shoulders. “His phone died, but he came here straight away to give a report.”

  I hoped that was true. “Only one way to find out.”

  We both headed out of the kitchen and went to the front door. When Connor opened it, however, that wasn’t Levi standing on the front porch. No, it was his girlfriend Hayley, her arms crossed and her blue eyes shooting fire.

  “Have you heard from him?” she demanded, clearly too upset to worry about being polite and offering any sort of greeting.

  “Come in,” I said. I figured it was probably better to have this discussion behind closed doors.

  From the way Hayley’s chin tilted up at me, I could tell she noticed my lack of an actual answer to her question right away, and wasn’t very happy about it. Without answering, she stepped into the foyer, and Connor shut the door behind her.

  “Let’s go into the living room,” he suggested. “Can I get you a glass of water or something?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  There didn’t seem to be anything to do except head into the living room and have all of us to take our seats there, Connor and I next to each other on one of the couches, Hayley sitting on the other, facing us across the coffee table of carved juniper that separated the two sofas.

  “So you haven’t heard anything,” she said, her arms crossed, her slender form rigid with anger and worry. She was one of the fairer McAllisters, with her bright golden hair and clear blue eyes.

  “No,” I replied. There wasn’t much point in dancing around the issue. “But Connor and I were just talking about that. There are a lot of reasons why he might not have been in contact. His cell phone could have died — ”

  “No,” she cut in. “He left it charging all last night, and he has one of those cigarette lighter USB adapter thingies in his truck. There’s no reason why he couldn’t have called.”

  Unless something terrible had happened. I cast a helpless look at Connor, hoping he would step in.

  Which, being Connor, of course he did. “It’s still the most plausible explanation. Cell reception for a good chunk of that drive is pretty crappy. He might’ve tried to call and couldn’t get through.”

  Hayley tapped her fingers on the knees of her jeans. Her fingernails were painted a bright coral pink, and looked freshly done. Well, of course she could keep up a manicure — she didn’t have to worry about chasing after a couple of five-year-olds. I pushed the petty thought aside. I wouldn’t trade Ian and Emily for all the painted fingernails in the world, and I knew it.

  “Even if he didn’t have a cell signal for part of the drive, he could’ve called when he got to Phoenix. I kind of doubt they have cell issues in a city that big.” She didn’t bother to hide the skepticism in her voice, and I couldn’t blame her for it. What she’d said was only the truth.

  “We can call Luz and have her people follow up,” Connor suggested. “I’m sure someone will be willing to drive over to the apartment and check things out.”

  “Would you call?” Hayley asked. All her boldness of a moment before seemed to evaporate, and I saw the very real fear in her eyes. She might not have been with Levi for very long, but I could tell she loved him with all her heart.

  “Of course,” I said. “Let me go get my phone.”

  I got up from the couch, went back to the kitchen, and retrieved my cell phone. Still no missed calls or text messages. I expelled a worried little breath and typed in my security code, then navigated to the contacts list and located Luz’s entry. A push of the button had me connected to her, and her phone ringing. She picked up almost at once.

  “Angela?”

  Caller I.D. made it so easy to dismiss all the time-consuming preambles. “Hi, Luz. Levi went down to check the apartment today, but we still haven’t heard from him. Has he been in contact with any of the de la Paz clan down in Tucson?”

  I could almost see her frown. “No, I haven’t heard anything.”

  “Is there someone you can call to go over and take a look?”

  “I’ll have Alex do it.”

  Yes, he would be home from work by now. However, a little pang of worry went through me. I hated to put Alex in harm’s way if something bad had actually happened to Levi.

  But then I realized Alex had means of protecting himself that most other warlocks and witches didn’t, thanks to his inborn ability to cast a bubble around him that was impervious to magic and just about anything else. Also, Alex was right there in Tucson and could probably get over to the apartment in fifteen or twenty minutes at the most. “If it’s not too much trouble — ”

  “It’s no trouble at all. You sent Levi down here. It’s the least we can do, to make sure he hasn’t come to any harm. And Alex knows how to handle himself.”

  I supposed he did. After all, if it weren’t for Alex Trujillo, Matías Escobar might never have been caught in the first place. “Thanks, Luz. Caitlin has my number, so they can call me directly whenever they have something to report.”

  “I’ll let them know.” A pause, and Luz added, “Do you really think something has happened to Levi? I thought he was so powerful.”

  “He is,” I said firmly, refusing to use the past tense. “I’m sure it’s nothing — a dead cell phone, or something like that. But I figured it’s better if we make sure.”

  “Of course. I’ll call Alex and have him head out at once. You shouldn’t have to wait for than a half hour or so to get some answers.”

  “Thanks, Luz. I appreciate it.”

  “It’s nothing. We all have to work together now, more than ever. You take care.”

  She ended the call there, and I stood in the kitchen for a moment, staring down at the phone in my hand. Yes, it was true. We did all have to work together, no matter what our differences might have been in the past. Our very survival depended on that cooperation.

  I went back into the living room. Hayley and Connor looked up at me expectantly; I could tell they hadn’t spoken in my absence, had only sat there and waited for me to return with my news. “Luz is going to have Alex head over to the apartment and take a look. She figures he’s probably the best equipped of the clan members in the area to investigate wha
t’s going on.”

  “He’s Luz’s son, right?” Hayley asked.

  I supposed I shouldn’t be surprised by the question. After all, Hayley had grown up in Payson, not in the thick of things here in Jerome. While she probably got some news and gossip through the clan grapevine, it wasn’t exactly the same as living here and learning this stuff firsthand.

  “Yes,” I said. “His gift offers him some protections that a lot of other people don’t have, so we’re hoping he’ll be able to handle whatever he might encounter at the apartment.”

  “If there’s even anything to encounter,” Connor put in quickly. “We still don’t know that anything’s wrong.”

  “I know,” Hayley said. She put one hand on the center of her chest, about where you’d place it if you were reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. “Something has felt off all afternoon. I can tell he’s in trouble.”

  Connor and I exchanged a glance, one of his dark eyebrows lifting ever so slightly. He gave the most infinitesimal of shrugs, as though he wanted to make sure Hayley couldn’t see anything of his doubt. That was kind of him, but I was feeling the same way. I knew Hayley’s gift was a prodigious one, but she wasn’t psychic. She wasn’t Caitlin, who could see both the present and the future. No, what Hayley was feeling right now was probably worry more than anything else, most likely mixed in with a good helping of resentment toward Connor and me for sending Levi down to Tucson alone in the first place.

  Well, I couldn’t really blame her for that, since I was already beginning to experience a healthy chunk of guilt for doing exactly that same thing. One could argue that Hayley probably couldn’t have done much to help him if he really did come up against some kind of strange supernatural being, one determined to haunt the apartment. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that for sure, one way or another.

  No one did.

  “We’ll just have to sit tight and wait to hear what Alex finds out,” I said. “And you’re welcome to stay here with us, Hayley. We were thinking about ordering a pizza.”