Wicked Nights Read Free Page B

mother died a long time ago. My father…” her voice trailed off and there was a long pause. “Sorry, I haven’t talked about them in a long time.”
     
    He got up and took a faded black-and-white photo from his desk drawer. As he handed it to her, his fingers grazed her arm and she winced. He felt a shot of heat reaching down his skin and all the way to the pit of his stomach. It was easy to guess she’d felt the same thing. And that she was being very careful not to show it.  
     
    “That’s my grandfather.”
     
    He saw her eyes focus on the picture with more than just expert curiosity.
     
    “Is this…?” She pointed at the large chair floating in a corner of the photograph. It was almost a blur, but it was definitely there. “How old is this picture?” she asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice.
     
    “Almost a hundred years old.”
     
    “I didn’t know they had trick photography back then.”
     
    “We have a lot of family secrets, Laurie. This is just one of them.”
     
    He could see the conflict in her face and decided not to push it. He wasn’t even sure why he had shown her the picture in the first place. Except that he’d felt he had too. Just like he suddenly felt he had to kiss her. He was going to control that impulse for now, though. Going around kissing cops when you were a suspect probably wasn’t the best idea.
     
    He sat back down. “So, Laurie, I got the impression yesterday that you had more questions. Unless you’re here for some other reason.”
     
    Her eyes were boring into his. “Like what?”
     
    He could hear blood rushing in his ears. He was having trouble being objective right now. Hell, he was having trouble thinking clearly, period. All he wanted was to reach out and get his hands on her.
     
    He saw her hesitate and realized she was choosing her words carefully.
     
    “Is your family Romanian?”
     
    Or maybe she wasn’t.
     
    He thought for a second, trying to decide how honest he wanted to be with her. How honest he could be without blowing his secret.
     
    “Is that the word out in the streets?”
     
    “One of many.”
     
    “What if I said yes?” he teased her.
     
    “Then my next question is going to be who’s Corneliu and why do I know that name?”
     
    He studied her carefully. “When’s your birthday, Laurie?”
     
    He could see the confusion in her eyes, her mind reeling, trying to figure out what the question meant.
     
    “Why?”
     
    “Because that might change how much you get to hear from me tonight.”
     
    She readjusted her position on the couch, her back all of a sudden straighter and her chest rising swiftly. His original idea was to make this a light, relaxed evening, but that had gone out the window pretty quickly. Right now, the air in the room was tense.
     
    “I was born on Halloween. Do I get to ask questions now?”
     
    Alex let out a laugh. “Well, things just keep getting better around here. Go ahead and…”
     
    And then the whole left wall of windows exploded. Billions of tiny shards of glass flew directly towards them. Laurie’s scream was muffled by the explosion and the shockwaves that rattled the room. The air was alive with the humming and shimmer of flying glass.
     
    Alex jumped towards Laurie and pulled her to him. As soon as she was in his arms, he lifted his hand towards the glass flying at them. Every single piece stopped flat in the air and fell straight to the ground.
     
    “What the hell—?” her eyes went big with surprise.
     
    “Stay still,” he ordered.
     
    He closed his eyes and imagined a thick shield growing around them. Almost like an elastic bubble, hugging their form inch by inch, tight and steady. The shield embraced them, thickening by the second, until it was unbreakable. He could see the shimmer of the bubble around them, a slight flicker here and there as it moved around them like a mist. As long as she stayed against him, she’d be safe. His gaze darted around the room. And