Dark Promises 2: Demonic Obsession Page 7

  “What happened to you last night and this morning? You never came home.” Marco glanced at him, his expression worried.

  “I have to check in with you now? Why would it matter where I spend my time?” Last minute details before his trip had kept him out of town for most of the night, and his day had been spent sleeping in a hotel room to rest up so he could drive back home that evening.

  The worry on Marco’s face only increased. “This is serious, Royce, not some game.”

  “Sorry. Talk to me. Tell me what I can do to help.”

  “This whole thing with that murder has Amara damned near hysterical, and it’s driving me out of my mind. Now she thinks Ellie’s got some stalker after her, and she won’t let it go. She keeps telling me I have to do something about it, but what if she’s wrong?”

  With everything going on around here lately, Amara’s revelations wouldn’t surprise him in the least. “If she’s wrong, you’re going to have a couple of really pissed- off ladies around here.”

  “Don’t I know it.” Marco shook his head and let out a harsh breath. “I just don’t know what to think about this. Ellie says nothing strange has been happening, but I don’t believe her.”

  “Maybe she’s got a reason for hiding things from you.”

  “And maybe she’s just being her usual stubborn, independent self.”

  Royce glanced at his brother over the top of his sunglasses. “I think you’re missing a big point here. You’re not being up front with her, either.”

  “When did you become the morality police? I have my reasons. You know that.” Marco looked away, his gaze following the line of the ocean a few hundred feet away. “I decided—we both decided—not to tell either of them about what’s happening for their own protection. Amara has enough on her mind without dealing with an immortal killer. It’s been bad enough that she sits on the couch all evening, glued to the TV, watching the news. If she knew…well, Eric Malcolm is a dangerous man. We’ve got to find a way to stop him before he hurts someone else.”

  Or before Amara found out what they’d been keeping from her and decided to take it upon herself to confront the man. “Before we try to stop him, we need clear evidence that he’s the killer. He’s too powerful to go after just for the hell of it. He could seriously injure one of us. We need to be absolutely sure here, or we’ll just be wasting time.”

  Marco’s head snapped up, his eyes narrowed. “You sound like you’re not so sure it’s Malcolm anymore.”

  Royce shrugged, not sure how to explain what he was feeling to his brother. Marco didn’t know the guy, not like Royce did. Yeah, Eric was a killer, but this didn’t seem like his style. “I’d love to string that guy up for something, but I don’t want to take any chances. Panthicenos have a lot more power than we do. I wouldn’t want to risk anything, not until we’re sure.”

  “What if he’s Ellie’s stalker?” Marco asked. He stood up and paced the length of the porch, the old floorboards creaking under his weight. “I wish she’d at least listen to reason. This town has suddenly become a very dangerous place to live.”

  “Just what I need in my life. Another independent woman,” Royce grumbled, glad he’d be leaving soon. He couldn’t wait to get his life back to normal.

  Marco stopped pacing and faced him, his head cocked to the side. “I thought you and Ellie got along.”

  “We do.” Royce sighed and shook his head. He didn’t have time for this, not now. “She and I…it’s too complicated to explain. I’ve got a little more than a week before I leave for South Africa. I’ll see what I can do about Ellie’s situation before then, but after that you’re on your own.”

  First, he had to deal with Eric Malcolm. There had to be a reason he was in town—men like Eric didn’t just hang around a place like this for the fun of it. That meant Eric was probably working. The thought sent a shiver through Royce. He’d had Eric after him once, and the man was damned near relentless. Royce would be dead now, if he hadn’t found a way to bargain with the man.

  The bargain had cost more than he could ever reconcile. Just the thought of Eric courting Ellie made his blood run cold. Putting trust in Eric could be a huge mistake. Eric had taught him that painful lesson many years ago. Royce didn’t want to see Ellie hurt. Ellie, with her sweet, nurturing ways, had no business getting involved with a murderer.

  A surge of hot anger ran through him, and he fought the need to hurt something. Just because he couldn’t give her what she needed didn’t mean he’d stopped caring. He’d do whatever it took to keep Eric Malcolm away from Ellie, even if he had to kill to do it.

  Chapter 6

  After a very unproductive morning in the studio, Ellie packed up her paints and washed her brushes before she headed outside. She worked in her garden, hoping weeding and planting would help get her mind off her confusion with Eric.

  Confusion, in this case, was an understatement.

  She had no idea who he really was, or what he really was, and he seemed intent on keeping her in the dark on both counts. That made her angry, but intrigued her at the same time. Who was he? Was he one of the good guys, or not? She’d find out, even if she had to do some digging on her own. No matter how he affected her, she wasn’t about to let him get away with hiding so much from her—not if he wanted anything to come out of what was growing between them.

  She sighed and ran a hand over her face, not caring if she streaked her skin with dirt. He hadn’t called, and maybe she should take that as a sign. He’d sent flowers, but that didn’t mean anything. For all she knew it could be a brush-off. He hadn’t exactly been clear with his intentions. Yes, he’d kissed her, but she’d been around long enough to know that it might not have meant the same for him as it did for her.

  For her, his kiss had awakened something inside she’d tried to lock away after her divorce. She’d let herself go, given in to what he’d asked for with his actions, and she’d enjoyed every second. To Eric, it might have been just something to do to pass the time. She’d lived in the same small town for most of her life, done the same things. A woman like her couldn’t possibly hold his interest for long.

  “Ellie?”

  She glanced up sharply, sure at first that she’d imagined his voice, that she’d been so engrossed in analyzing the situation that she was hearing things. But there he was, on the flagstone path, standing over her. In her crouched position, he towered over her, looming like a giant stone statue against the backdrop of the sun. A chill ran through her as her eyes took in his tense stance.

  “What are you doing here?” she blurted, squinting to see him through the bright afternoon light.

  “I think we need to talk.” He spoke softly but confidently.

  She bit back the urge to tell him to leave. “So talk.” She waited as patiently as she could, almost certain the words that would come out of his mouth would be lies. She hadn’t met a man yet who didn’t lie to her. Even Marco, who told her the lies were “for her own protection”, occasionally had a problem with the truth. She wouldn’t let Eric get away with it. She wanted honesty from everyone in her life, especially a man who’d had his tongue down her throat in a public parking lot!

  When he spoke, his answer surprised her. “I got called away on business. I would have called to let you know, but it was a sudden trip, and I didn’t think you’d even notice I was gone. I’m sorry if I upset you, but I had to go.”

  She frowned at what sounded like the truth mixed in with excuses. “It would have taken just a minute to make a phone call.”

  “Yeah, but once I got you on the phone I would have wanted to see you, and that wasn’t possible at the time.” He sighed heavily and shifted his stance.

  Her mouth went dry at the sight of his powerful thigh muscles flexing under the fabric of his tight black jeans.

  “Ellie?”

  She blinked up at him, just realizing he’d said something else. “Yes?”

  “Carol says you should probably get out of the sun before you get sunst
roke. You’ve been out here all afternoon and she’s worried about you.”

  “You talked to Carol again?” Did he really have to be so friendly with her family? It was one thing for her to put herself in possible danger, but she wasn’t comfortable with him spending time with her grandmother.

  “When you didn’t answer the door, she came outside and told me you were out here.” He paused and shoved his hands into his pockets, pulling the fabric taut across the front placket.

  Oh, boy. She looked him over, her gaze tracing every line and angle of his body. His shirt fit snugly, outlining his muscled torso and narrow hips and…parts of his body she really shouldn’t be thinking about when she still didn’t know if he was some kind of psychotic killer. She cleared her throat and spoke, hoping to find the strength to send him away before she did something really stupid. “You seem to have escaped her relatively unscathed.”

  He laughed. “You think so? She held me hostage in her kitchen for twenty minutes. I didn’t think she was ever going to let me come find you. I probably know more now about your family history than you do.”

  That was an unsettling thought. If he knew as much as he thought he did, why wasn’t he running in the other direction? “What can I do for you?” she asked, turning her attention back to her weeding. “If you just came here to check up on me, you’re wasting my time. I have a lot to do.”

  “Ellie?” This time his tone bordered on angry. Good. Let him be mad. He deserved it for what he’d been putting her through with his secrecy.

  “Yes?” She kept her gaze glued to the flowers, not allowing herself to look up at him again. If she’d stared for another second she would have begged him to strip her naked and take her in the middle of the flowerbed. Not a good thing for a woman trying to assert her independence.

  “Can you look at me for a minute?”

  She didn’t even glance up, just continued to pull at the weeds. She yanked a particularly tough one hard and it popped out of the ground, a clump of dirt smacking her in the face. She sighed in annoyance. “Why would I want to look at you? I have better things to do with my time. I want to get this weeding finished while the weather is still good. New England weather’s not exactly stable.”

  “Are you afraid to look at me?”

  He didn’t know how close he was to the truth. What scared her, really, was that if she looked, she might just give in and believe everything he said. His gaze held enough power that it could make her forget her reservations. That was a dangerous thing. “Of course not. Why would I be afraid of you?”

  “You shouldn’t be, but you are.” Frustration hung heavy in his tone. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but I would have thought you’d know by now that you can trust me. I would never hurt you. I’d never hurt your grandmother either, and I think deep down inside you know that.”

  She set her trowel down and looked up at him. “I never thought that.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  “How could you know that? Are you reading my mind or something?” Her jaw dropped at the look in his eyes, the one that told her exactly what he’d been doing. “Oh, God. Have you been able to do that the whole time?”

  “Do what?” He shrugged, his shoulders moving up and down in a deceptively casual motion. He took a step closer and she rocked back on her heels, ready to run if it came to that.

  “Read my mind. Please tell me you haven’t been.” Her heart stopped while she waited for his answer. With the thoughts she’d been having about him, she’d never be able to look him in the eye again.

  “Not exactly. I don’t read minds. It’s more like reading emotions.” He shook his head and knelt down next to her, so close her heart sped up and a thin layer of sweat broke out over her forehead. She blamed it on the heat wave, because there was no way she could be reacting to Eric this strongly. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that, from this position, she had a clear view of the way his pants stretched tightly over his impressive erection. She was supposed to be mad at him.

  She had to take a deep breath before she could speak again, and even then her voice wavered. She felt weak and detached, like she might pass out. “What do you mean?”

  Eric leaned closer and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You have a little dirt here.” He brushed his thumb across her cheek.

  She shivered and bit down hard on her lower lip, and at his touch, her senses went wild. Her body was morphing into a big bundle of nerves and it took every ounce of concentration she had to keep from melting into the ground. “Please answer my question.” She sucked in a sharp breath when his teeth grazed her earlobe.

  That did it. She pushed up into a standing position and walked a few steps away to put some distance between them. She knew his actions were to distract her from her questions, and it was working better than she’d ever tell him. “Are you going to answer me, or do you want me to guess?”

  He stood and snagged her wrist, pulling her back to him and laughing softly. “We should talk about this. Why don’t we walk for a while? I can explain things as we go.”

  A walk? Here she was trembling with aggravation and arousal, and he wanted to walk? “Are you serious?”

  “Well, yeah. I thought maybe we could walk through the woods and get away from your grandmother’s prying eyes for a few minutes.” He gestured toward Carol’s apartment, and sure enough, the woman watched them intently through partially drawn curtains.

  “Okay. Fine. A walk.” She pulled away from him and wiped her hands on her shorts. She’d take a walk with him, but she wasn’t going to stop asking questions.

  She checked to make sure her cell phone still hung from her waistband—just in case—and turned to face him. “Let’s go.” She took off toward the path that led into the woods behind the house, not waiting to see if he followed.

  She walked ten feet down the path, just out of Carol’s line of vision, before she spun on him, her hands on her hips. The confrontation to come would be so much easier without an audience. “Okay, Eric. No more lies. I want the truth, and I want it right now. Why are you really here?”

  “I told you. I wanted to see you.”

  “Sure you did.” He told the truth, she could see it in his eyes, but why? He’d disappeared off the face of the earth for the day, and now the urge to visit suddenly struck him? She nearly laughed at the thought. He didn’t seem like the type to make casual visits. He was up to something. She just wished she knew what.

  She walked a few more steps down the path, watching out for roots and other objects on the ground that might trip her. The trees were thick and someone could get lost if they weren’t familiar with the area. She knew the place well, but Eric didn’t. He’d have to stick pretty close to her.

  Or she could lose him, and let him find his own way back. She smiled to herself at the appealing thought. It would serve him right for the way he’d treated her.

  “You wouldn’t dare.” He grabbed her arm and hauled her back against him, gazing down at her and shaking his head slowly from side to side.

  His response caught her off-guard. “How do you know? Maybe that’s exactly what I’d do.”

  “Then I’ll just have to keep you close to make sure you won’t leave me.” He loosened his grip on her arm, massaging the inside of her elbow with his thumb and sending a tingling sensation down to her wrist. “Now you can’t get away.”

  She nearly bolted at that thought. Was she an idiot for walking through the woods, alone, with a man she barely knew? Probably, but she had her phone with her and Carol knew where she was, so she’d most likely be fine. She had to put at least a little trust in the protection spell she’d cast the night before.

  They walked silently for a few minutes before Eric spoke. “Carol told me you work too hard. She thinks you need to get out and date more often.”

  She shuddered at what else Carol might have said to him. “Right. Carol is trying to marry me off. She’s old and getting senile. Don’t pay any attention to h
er.” She stole a glance at him and saw the curious expression on his face. “Don’t worry. I’m not looking for a husband. I’ve been there before, and I’m not planning on going back. Ever.”

  He smiled. “I’m sure she means well.”

  “Of course she does. She just has a little trouble understanding why I’d prefer to remain single.”

  Eric stopped, his grip tightening on her arm. “Just out of curiosity, why is that?”

  She shrugged. “It’s not worth the trouble, I guess. I do better on my own.”

  “Does it have something to do with your ex-husband?”

  She closed her eyes momentarily and let out a frustrated breath. “Did Carol tell you about that, too?” When she let her eyelids flutter open, she caught a worried look pass over his face.

  “Yeah. She mentioned that he didn’t accept you for yourself and you deserve someone a lot better.”

  Leave it to the woman to butt into every aspect of her personal life. “My ex- husband was a lying, cheating, dirtbag. Most men are. Happy now?”

  “Not all men are like that,” he said so softly she had to strain to hear. “Sometimes you have to go with what you know inside, and forget what you’ve been taught.”

  “I wish it were that easy. This is the real world, not some fantasy in my mind. My actions, and the actions of others, can have some pretty bad consequences.”

  “Sometimes.” He regarded her with a mix of longing and curiosity, his gaze sliding over every inch of her. “Tell me something, Ellie. Why are you suddenly so uneasy around me?”

  She didn’t want to talk about the murder. She wanted to forget, to pretend it had never happened. She wanted to go on playing make-believe, convincing herself that, no matter what, she’d be safe. But she couldn’t. She had to confront this now, once and for all, and let fate take its course.

  She took a good look at Eric, trying hard to read the expression in his eyes. Did he kill that woman? A voice in her head said no, but she couldn’t tell if it was his voice, or hers. Was he inside her head, thinking her thoughts as well as reading them? A chill ran through her as she thought that was exactly what he was doing.