Omens (Dark in You 6)

She snickered. No. I’m going to ask you to help me get rid of a couple of corpses.

It took mere seconds for her brother to appear. After hearing her story and losing his ever-loving mind, he teleported Jolene and two of her sentinels, Orrin and Mitch, to the house. While her grandmother and the sentinels examined the bodies, Khloé told them what happened.

“You should have called for help sooner,” clipped Ciaran, standing in the doorway of her bedroom, his jaw clenched, his arms folded across his chest.

Khloé blinked. “Why?”

He gritted his teeth. “Because you were up against a Lazarus demon and two corpses, why else?”

“I’ve been up against worse.” It was the truth. “Besides, I figured I could take them. He was able to attack me with hellfire orbs through them, but he didn’t toss any of those black, smoky orbs.”

“There’ll be limits as to what he can do through his puppets,” Jolene told her.

“I don’t recognize either of the bodies; they definitely weren’t from our lair,” said Orrin.

Jolene cursed. “So Enoch’s now targeting the cemeteries of other lairs.”

“He might be hoping the disappearances of the bodies will be reported and that you’ll then somehow be held responsible for it all,” Mitch suggested.

“Possibly.” Jolene planted her hands on her hips. “I’m going to kill the bastard when I find him. And I will find him.”

“Did you manage to locate David Shore?” asked Khloé.

“Yes. He lives in Nebraska, but he’s on a business trip at the moment. We’ll have to wait a few days before we can pay him a visit.”

Orrin looked at Khloé. “Enoch likes to finish the jobs he started—it’s a matter of pride for him. He’ll be both embarrassed and furious that you thwarted him. He’s not going to let it slide, and I doubt it’ll be long before he strikes again. We had members of the Force watching your house, but they were distracted when two cars collided further up the street. They ran over to assist.”

“Enoch probably staged it,” said Jolene.

“It seems likely.” Rubbing her aching head, Khloé asked, “Hey, Grams, do you know if Enoch can dream-walk? I think he visited me in my dream, because it seems an awfully big coincidence that I just dreamed of him telling me that he’ll not only kill me but use my corpse to hurt you all in the name of revenge … then something woke me up, and I realized that I wasn’t alone in the house.”

“It sounds as if he can indeed dream-walk, but I can’t say for sure,” replied Jolene.

Well, that wasn’t good. “Can he hurt me through my dreams?”

“No. But he may be able to alter your dreams or drag you into a deeper sleep.”

Khloé felt her brows draw together as she remembered how the air in the dream had thickened and weighed her down. “I think he tried to do that tonight.”

“He most likely hoped to lure you into such a deep sleep that his puppets wouldn’t wake you.”

“Well, it didn’t work.”

“Probably because you’re resistant to most forms of mental manipulation. But he can hurt you in other ways, so be prepared for him. Have you told Teague what’s been going on?”

“Not yet. I was going to wait until he returned from his trip.”

“I’d call him and fill him in, if I were you. There’s a chance he could find out through the demonic grapevine, and then he’d be upset that you kept it from him. Plus, he has a right to know. And you’d want him to contact you if the situation was reversed.”

True, true. “Fine. I’ll call him tomorrow.”

Ciaran planted his feet. “I’ll move in here for a while and stay in one of your spare bedrooms so I can teleport you out of here if anything happens.”

Oh the hell no. She loved her brother, she truly did, but he was a nightmare for her to live with. Mostly because he ate like a horse, never tidied up after himself, “borrowed” her stuff, and thought he could tell her what to do.

“You can teleport to me in the blink of an eye—that means you don’t need to stay here,” Khloé pointed out.

“That would be true if I could trust that you’ll call me for help straight away, but I can’t,” said Ciaran. “You’d rather take him on alone than pull me into a dangerous situation.”

“Yeah, well, you pull the same shit with me.”

“Which is why both of you are going to promise me here and now that you will telepathically call out for help if Enoch attacks,” said Jolene. “Consider it an order.”

Ciaran let out a sigh. “I promise.”

Khloé hesitated, twisting her mouth.

Jolene took a step toward her, her expression grave. “Enoch wouldn’t just kill you, Khloé. He made it very clear that he means to reanimate your corpse and send you after someone you love. Do you really want that?”