Wanting to give Ren more time alone with Lacey to hopefully flame the spark that he could tell was there, Nick glanced down at the time on his cell phone then back over at Gypsy, “Are you ready? It’s almost nine o’clock.”
Gypsy's eyes brightened and she smiled up at him, looking forward to her first day back in business. She was a little more than curious on how she was going to pull off inviting her nonhuman customers one at a time into her shop when they came in contact with her barrier. It was also going to be fun when someone she’d known for years tried to come in and couldn’t… giving themselves away as a paranormal. If nothing else… today would be very informative.
“Well, this should prove interesting. I’m glad the normal humans can walk in without an invite or I’d have to stand at the door all day like a greeter at Wal-Mart. ‘Good morning, won’t you please come in,’” she giggled as she swept her hand in front of her with the invite making Nick smirk.
Gypsy looked over her shoulder at Ren, “You two play nice now.” She quickly took off up the stairs before Ren could say anything to stop her.
Nick's lips twitched but he didn’t say anything either since Ren was now sporting a brooding frown. Shoving his hands deeper into his pockets, he followed Gypsy upstairs so he could put up the Halloween sign that he’d made. Most would think it was just a Halloween decoration but it plainly stated, ‘All Paranormals Must Ask Permission Before Entering’. He intended to put it on the door right at eye level so it wouldn’t be missed.
Ren rubbed his chin as he stared thoughtfully at the bathroom door. He’d been right in thinking Lacey had been wearing a scent masking spritzer when she’d broken in here last night. Now that she’d showered all of it off, he could smell her. That helpful little power was probably coming to him from the love sick kitty that had just followed Gypsy upstairs.
He could smell her fear now, coupled with the sound of her rapid breathing as she rushed to get dressed. She had lied to him again. Whatever she’d seen in that mirror had truly scared her and he was well aware that asking her would do no good. That was when he decided that enough was enough.
Pulling out his cell phone, Ren mentally dialed Storm’s number and waited, smiling when it was picked up in the middle of the first ring.
“I’ll see if I can snag Zachary for you,” Storm said and abruptly hung up before Ren could get a word in edgewise. It didn’t even faze him when the other two men immediately appeared in Gypsy’s living room with him.
“What the hell Storm,” Zachary complained while tucking his unbuttoned shirt back into his unbuttoned pants. He was going to have to have a talk with the Time Walker about winking in and out of his bedroom like that. It was bad enough that Nighthawk had a habit of pulling that little stunt. “I was in the middle of something very important as you could damn well see.”
“This won’t take but a minute,” Ren said and smiled deviously knowing exactly what Zachary had been in the middle of. He knew Storm’s sense of humor well enough to know that the way the Time Walker saw it… timing was everything.
He took his sunglasses off and slid them into his pocket knowing that for a moment he would have to look Lacey directly in the eyes while using the Phoenix’s power.
Chapter 4
Lacey finished getting dressed, avoiding the mirror as much as possible as she silently ranted to herself. Why the hell did that guy insist on coming to her rescue… she was just fine thank you very much. Sure, she’d had her moments of being scared out of her wits but nothing she couldn’t handle. Her irritation drained out of her knowing now that the demons had found her she wouldn’t be alive long enough to get even with him.
She closed the trunk and shoved it in the corner before skirting the wall so she could stay out of the mirror’s reflection on her way toward the door.
Ren’s smile became downright wicked when the doorknob began to turn and he teleported directly in front of the bathroom door. He didn’t let her take more than one step before quickly reaching out and palming her forehead, simultaneously cradling the back of her head with his other hand to keep her still.
Tilting her head up, he leaned forward and locked his mercury gaze with hers.
Lacey parted her lips to yell at him but her voice suddenly failed her when she saw dark flames erupt in his beautiful silver eyes. In an instant, detailed flashes of the past year began to race through her mind so fast that she could hardly keep up with them. The flood of emotions that followed the visions overwhelmed her.
Scared of what was happening, she tried to pull out of Ren’s tight hold, but with her mind going into overload her body went numb and she couldn’t move.
Ren held Lacey still as a multitude of memories flooded his mind letting him see everything and even experience some of the emotions that went along with them. It was pure stubbornness that kept him from falling to his knees from the impact. He took it all in, from the moment she had met Vincent up until the vision of the creature reaching through the bathroom mirror for her.
He breathed heavily through his nose seeing the intimate moments between Vincent and her and felt a near blinding jealousy tinged with hatred for the man that had gotten her in this dangerous situation. How dare he touch her so gently after showing such disregard for her life?
Having seen enough, Ren released her with a harsh growl which was immediately followed by a loud crack that echoed in the quiet room. His head snapped to the side when her palm struck the side of his face and he knew he deserved that, but there was no way in hell he would ever apologize for the invasion.
“How dare you do that to me you jerk,” Lacey quietly raged. Seeing the dark flames slowly vanish from his silver eyes, she knew without a doubt that he’d watched the memories along with her. “Who the hell do you think you are invading my private thoughts like that?”
“Yeah, that’s the reaction I normally get too,” Zachary managed with a wide smirk on his face.
Lacey peeked around Ren to see who’d spoken but only caught a fleeting glimpse of two other men as they vanished into thin air.
“Why?” Lacey demanded, completely dismissing the fact that she’d just seen someone teleport out of there like they’d been beamed up to the mother ship. That didn’t rattle her half as much as the fact that the man in front of her had just stolen all of her secrets. “And you have the nerve to call me a thief?”
Ren looked down at her with a stoic expression, “You wouldn’t have told me anything otherwise, and if you remember correctly… I was nice enough to ask several times. You left me no choice but to call on a very powerful friend to help me get the answers I needed. It’s a good thing I did too, because you’re in a hell of a lot of trouble.”
“The trouble is mine to deal with, not yours,” Lacey countered.
Ren leaned closer to her and smirked when she backed up against the door frame. “For your information, not everyone around here is a bad guy and might even be able to help you out of this mess your in.” He raised a dark eyebrow before slipping his sunglasses back on.
”I’m sorry if I’m a little skittish about trusting people right now… especially another demon,” Lacey said wishing he would take the sunglasses back off. “Surely you can understand why.”
“I’ll let you in on one of my secrets if it will make you feel better,” Ren offered quietly. “I am human, but I have the ability to… copy… take on the traits of other paranormals as long as they’re inside my succubus range.”
Lacey frowned, “Succubus? I thought a succubus was female… in fact I know they’re female. Wouldn’t that make you an incubus?”
Ren shook his head, “I’m not a real succubus, that’s just what we’ve always called it considering I seem to suck any power out of thin air when around anyone that has enough power for me to do so.