Lorehnin: A Novel of the Otherworld Read online

For the next several minutes, all the male zombies, ghouls and goblins that walked in through the front door changed direction as soon as they spotted Moira. Half an hour into my shift she was trading smiles with a pirate I suspected of being slightly intoxicated while his crewmates looked on in lascivious interest. I was about to say something to discourage them, but the familiar sound of the door chime refocused my attention.

  The first thing I noticed about our new customer was his height. For a split second my heart stopped dead in its tracks because I thought it was Devlin, finally returning to the mortal world. Upon second glance, I realized this guy had black hair and equally dark eyes. He wore a long, black leather trench coat and some heavy-duty boots in the same color. His stride was smooth and long, and as he brushed past my table, I got a full view of his face. And there went the air from my lungs. Dressed in that leather, with that hair, and freely airing the whole bad-boy image, the words tall, dark and handsome only scratched the surface when it came to describing him. All he needed was a motorcycle to complete the image.

  As I scraped my jaw up off the floor, Hot Guy made a move toward the front counter. Jonathon eyed him warily before his eyes darted in Moira’s direction. Ah, yes. This newcomer would definitely catch Moira’s attention. Jon took his order and then he turned, his eyes landing on me for several moments. And like a total dork, I glanced over my shoulder to see if Moira was standing right behind me. Nope. No biker chick to compliment this guy’s devious look. She was still distracted by the pirate. I turned back around only to discover him walking in my direction. Oh. My. God. He was going to come sit at one of the tables I’d just cleaned. I really hoped I’d managed to wipe up all of the grime.

  Before I could go into full-blown panic mode, something flew squealing across the tiled floor and threw itself onto the newcomer. I blinked as Moira gave him a huge hug. Wow. Just when I thought she couldn’t get any more brazen.

  “Mikael! What took you so long to come visit me?!”

  She pulled away and punched him in the shoulder. The guy, Mikael, grunted and rubbed the spot where she had hit him, then gave a small smile.

  False vampire teeth flashed, and he acted like he was going to bite her neck. Moira shrieked again as she tried to get away, and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. Or vomit in my mouth. Oh yay! Apparently we were getting a show tonight.

  Moira recovered from her near-death experience and straightened up. She glanced over at me, her eyes widening with surprise.

  “Oh, Robyn! You must meet my brother. This is Mikael.”

  She pulled him over, and a lazy smile graced his face as he eyed me from head to toe. The points of his fangs protruded from his lips, and those dark eyes told me they saw more than they should. And curse it, I actually blushed. I hadn’t blushed from a guy’s attention since high school. But this wasn’t just some guy. He was a walking sex symbol.

  Shaking myself out of my school girl stupor, I reached out a hand. “Robyn Dunbarre. Nice to meet you, Mikael.”

  He took my hand with lingering ease and my palm pressed against more leather. I glanced down. To complete the badass vampire look, he had painted his nails black and donned some leather gloves with the fingertips cut away. Almost tempted me to strip them off so I could see the rest of his hand. And that thought left me thinking about stripping away other things.

  Retrieving my hand from his grip, I batted those lewd thoughts from my mind and said, “So, are you visiting from Wales?”

  Mikael gave Moira a curious look and she smiled shyly. He returned his attention to me and said, “No. Moira and I moved here earlier this year. I’m merely dropping in to visit my little sister and to check out this new job of hers.”

  His voice was smooth and cool, with the same mixed accent as his sister.

  “Oh, that’s right, forgot she told me that. Are you still in school?” I pressed.

  Mikael stood up straighter, and I had to crane my neck even further to keep my eyes on his face.

  “No. I graduated two years ago. Now I own my own company.”

  “Really?” That was quite impressive. “What is it that you do?”

  He gave me a sly smile and perused me with his eyes once again.

  “Oh, I’m in the entertainment industry. I spend a lot of time recruiting new talent.”

  And by the way he kept looking at me, I suspected I might be a candidate. Fortunately, I knew better.

  “What sort of talent?” I asked, backing up a little against the nearest table as Mikael inched closer to me.

  The wire frame of my fairy wings pressed into my back, but I ignored the uncomfortable pinch. Those precious, fragile wings that I’d been so worried about ruining became an afterthought as Moira’s brother gave me his full attention. Everything in the tea house faded into oblivion and it was just me and Mikael. Suddenly, I was one of the damsels in distress from Sophia’s vampire novels, and I couldn’t wait to feel Mikael’s teeth sink into my neck.

  The loud clamor of silverware crashing into the sink broke me out of my momentary hypnosis. I blinked several times and shook my head as Mikael slowly eased himself away from me. Whoa. What had just happened? I glanced up at him, and his eyes were bright with some emotion. Man, I could usually handle myself around attractive guys, but something was very different about this one. Maybe he had the same aura with women that Moira had with men. That could not be good.

  “What’s going on over here?” Kelly asked.

  She must have been the one to dump the dishes in the sink because she came waltzing out from behind the counter with a towel in her hand.

  “Kelly, this is Mikael my brother,” Moira said, stepping aside to make room for our co-worker.

  Was it just me, or did Moira seem annoyed at Kelly’s innocent intrusion?

  Kelly eyed Mikael and quickly fell under the same spell that had overtaken me: wide eyes, slightly slack jaw complete with a stream of imaginary drool. Yep, this guy was definitely the male version of Moira.

  “Pleased to meet you Kelly,” Mikael said, extending one of his leather-clad hands.

  “Please, yes, thank you,” Kelly mumbled as she continued to stare.

  Her hand lingered in his, but he didn’t seem to show the same interest in my co-worker as he had in me. I had to fight the tiny prickle of triumph that shot through me. Honestly, this wasn’t a competition. I was not going to turn into one of those women who fought like a feral cat over a hot guy who could care less about who won in the end. Besides, Kelly was my friend.

  Moira pulled Mikael away and introduced him to Jonathon. Naturally, he didn’t have the same reaction as us girls, and he was thoroughly relieved to hear that this newcomer was Moira’s brother and not her boyfriend.

  Mikael stayed in the cafe until Moira’s shift ended, about forty minutes later. As I attended the constant flow of customers, it was hard not to glance in the vampire’s direction every now and then. And Kelly reminded me every chance I got how lucky I was to be working the floor so I could accidentally bump up against Mikael any time I wanted. I promised to keep my distance for her sake.

  When it was time for her to leave, Moira grabbed her purse and met her brother at the door.

  “We’re still on for this Saturday, right?” she asked me.

  I glanced up, needing a few seconds to figure out what she was talking about. “Oh, yeah, right. The Samhain bonfire.”

  “Mind if Mikael comes with me?”

  She pressed a hand to his biceps, and he gave me a charming smirk.

  My bones started to melt. Oh boy! A whole afternoon and evening with hot vampire guy!

  I grinned. “No, I don’t mind at all. And don’t forget it’s the north end of Avila Beach, where the fire pits and volleyball nets are.”

  Moira beamed. “Great! We’ll see you there!”

  She joined her brother at the door, and the two of them headed out into the dark night, blending well with the other masked and costumed college students.

  “If I hadn’t previou
sly promised my family I’d help them out with a wine event this weekend, I’d so be tagging along with you.”

  Kelly’s voice just behind me made me jump. I turned to look at her only to find her shaking her head in severe disappointment.

  I adopted a pained look and patted her shoulder. “I’ll be sure to enjoy him for both of us then.”

  Kelly sighed and rolled her eyes before disappearing behind the counter. We still had over two hours before closing, and I could see a large group of revelers headed for the front door.

  Half an hour later I was making my rounds at the tables once again. Business had slowed down for the moment, so I let my mind wander. And naturally, my thoughts headed straight for Mikael. Of course he was good-looking; he was Moira’s brother after all. I had become so lost in my own daydreams that I didn’t notice a customer standing over me until I almost bumped into him.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I grumbled. I glanced up to make sure I hadn’t offended him, and my eyes went wide with surprise. “Evan! Hey, what are you doing here on Halloween night?”

  I had seen my friend at school earlier that week, but he had been in too much of a hurry to chat after class. In all my time working at the Green Tea Leaf, Evan had only come in a handful of times before, early on in our friendship when his attention had been a little suffocating.

  Now he stood before me looking like a zombie. I’m sure that part of it was his costume, but something seemed off about him tonight.

  “What’s up?” I asked. “Want to order a drink and hang out for a bit? I know it isn’t a raving party, but we’ve got great decorations and tunes.”

  He seemed to awaken a little from his trance, giving me a watery smile and saying, “Okay.”

  Evan turned and shuffled over to the cash register, and my concern spiked. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have said he was the victim of a drug deal gone wrong. His attire suggested he was some sort of zombie mummy, and the fake blood on the gauze wrapped around his wrists and arms looked disturbingly real. Even the false lacerations on his face and neck made me uneasy.

  After placing his order, Evan returned to the table I had just finished cleaning. He plopped down in the chair and sighed heavily. Yup. Something was definitely wrong.

  I dropped my washcloth on a neighboring table and sat down across from him. “All right, spill. What’s up with you?”

  Evan stared at his coffee for a whole ten seconds before looking up at me. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin was pallid under the Halloween makeup.

  I reached out and placed a hand on his wrist, causing him to hiss and pull it away from me. Okay. That wasn’t normal.

  “Evan, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

  Fear pooled in the pit of my stomach, and I was about to insist that he go see a doctor when he bolted up out of his chair.

  “No. No! I’m fine, okay?”

  He forced his fingers through his hair and began pacing erratically, like a cornered tiger who couldn’t decide which way to run.

  This wasn’t good. I shot my eyes toward the front counter and noticed Jonathon and Kelly watching us carefully. Jonathon gave me a look and inclined his head toward the telephone. I held up a hand. No, don’t call the police yet. Wait a little bit longer.

  I turned back toward Evan. “All right Evan, calm down. You look worn out.”

  I gave him one of my sassy grins, the one I reserved for my closest friends. “Come on, it’s me, Robyn, your friend. Maybe you just need to go home and get some rest.”

  I reached up for him, but he jerked his arm away before I could make contact.

  Abruptly, his crazy, irrational behavior came to a full stop. He stood still, looking relaxed and a bit dazed. Then he turned and stared out the window at nothing, saying in a bland voice, “I’ve got to go. See you in class.”

  Without a second glance, he started for the door, his steaming cup of coffee forgotten on the table top.

  I released a shaky sigh, my throat tightening a bit. What the hell had that been about? Kelly and Jonathon must have been wondering the same thing because they asked about it as they came to stand beside me.

  “Dude, I know you’re trying to be nice, Robyn, but that guy is unstable,” Kelly said as she glanced out the window, trying to see where Evan had gone. She turned wide eyes back on me. “He couldn’t be the guy who killed those people, could he?”

  No. Evan might be unstable, but he wasn’t capable of murder. I gave Kelly a sharp glare, and she had the decency to look abashed.

  “Well you never know,” she grumbled under her breath.

  “Should we call the police?” Jonathon wondered. “Murderer or not, he looks like he might cause some damage tonight.”

  I thought about that. He had a point. Evan looked volatile. But he wasn’t a violent person, from what I knew of him. And I’d known him for over a year. I bit my lip, tasting the gold lipstick I’d reapplied earlier. Finally, I took a breath and shook my head.

  “No. I don’t think he’ll hurt anyone. He’s probably just going to head home.”

  “Are you sure?” Jonathon pressed.

  I nodded. “Yeah. If he comes back we might want to consider it. But knowing Evan he probably just needs to take a walk and blow off some steam. I don’t think he did very well on his term paper last week.”

  At least, I hoped that was the only thing bothering him.

  -Nine-

  Ambush

  It took me fifteen minutes to regain my composure, and by then we had another flood of customers to keep me distracted. Sophia and some of my other Earth Bound friends dropped by and I was almost disappointed that Mikael hadn’t stuck around. Almost. I think seeing him would have given Sophia a fit of hysterics. About a half an hour before closing I was back to my cheerful self. The coffee fiends seemed to be satisfied for the evening so I took advantage of the relative calm by volunteering to take out the trash.

  “Don’t let any Otherworldly creepy crawlies get you,” Kelly teased.

  Her comment froze me in place and, for a moment, the memories of my few encounters with such things boiled to the top of my mind. The last thing I wanted was to be mauled to death by a creature from the Otherworld on Halloween. What a way to go.

  “Yo, Robyn, I was kidding. Thought you might appreciate the reference to Samhain.”

  She was right. I was being silly.

  Shaking myself out of my slight stupor, I laughed off Kelly’s comment and said, “No worries. I know a special fairy spell to keep them at bay.”

  I wiggled my fingers and flashed an impish smile before dragging the trash bag through the front door. Unfortunately, the easy way around the building involved bypassing a horde of drunken wizards, skeletons and a whole flurry of costumed characters I couldn’t quite name, so I was forced to go through the alley around the front. Setting the garbage bag down, I pulled the latch, and the old wooden gate barring the alleyway from the rest of the world squeaked open on rusty hinges. Several feet down the dark tunnel, my bike rested in the shadows. The trash bins were located behind the building, so I had to sidestep broken bottles, old boxes and other refuse before I could complete my chore and get back to the warm safety of the cafe. Ugh, why had I agreed to take out the trash? The alley stretched maybe fifty feet before opening up onto a weed-choked patch of degraded blacktop that served as a parking lot for the restaurant three stores down from the Green Tea Leaf. Behind the lot the earth angled downward, eventually meeting up with the San Luis creek. As I peered through the darkness toward an empty space bathed in orange light, I noticed something moving in the trees and bushes choking the slope.

  Great, I thought as I took a tentative step into the alleyway, thanks for getting my mind on the subject of Otherworldly monsters again, Kelly.

  I was halfway down the lane when the yowl of a feral cat cut through the air. Some hissing, followed by two battling fury shapes, one black, one grey tabby, reassured me that the nightly activity was limited to the living, breathing variety. I exhaled wit
h some relief. The cats had startled me, but at least I knew I had nothing to worry about. Feeling a little less wary, I picked up my pace and made it to the dumpsters in no time. Lifting the lid with a grimace, I heaved the trash bag inside.

  Dusting off my hands as best as I could, I stepped away from the dumpster with every intention of returning to work. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it very far. In the span of three seconds, I went from being slightly spooked to full-blown terrified. Without warning, a hand clamped over my mouth just as an arm snaked around my waist. I was jerked hard against a solid chest and dragged to the other side of the trash bins. My captor pressed his back flat against the grimy wall, taking me with him as the shadows hid us.

  As shocked as I was, it didn’t take me long to react. I bit down on the foreign hand while at the same time jamming an elbow into the solid stomach just behind me. My captor grunted and hissed at the pain but didn’t let go. A hot mouth pressed up against my ear and my panic swelled like a balloon.

  “Shhh,” my abductor whispered, “Robyn, be still. It’s me, Devlin.”

  Instantly I went limp with relief. Thank the gods. But then my mind started to short circuit. I hadn’t seen or heard from Devlin in weeks. What the hell was he doing lurking in the dark behind my work place, and why had he pounced on me like that? Of course, imagining Devlin doing any type of pouncing just sent my thoughts entirely in the wrong direction and I had to give myself a mental slap. Pay attention Robyn! He just practically assaulted you, after disappearing without a trace, and you're fantasizing about him? After spending half the evening daydreaming about Moira’s brother? What is wrong with you?!

  Honestly, my conscience could be such a prude sometimes. But it did have a point. What was Devlin doing here, and what was with the cloak and dagger routine?

  As if he could read my thoughts, he spoke again, his breath tickling my skin, “You need to be quiet and still. There is a faelah in the alleyway. It was sleeping when you entered, but now it’s awake.”

  Before I could so much as nod my head, a rattling snarl greeted my ears. I froze instantly, the sound crawling up my spine like the fingers of the undead. I could barely hear the muffled laughter and shouts of those still out enjoying this haunted night on the other side of the building, but in the darkness of the alleyway there lurked something sinister. How had I made it through without noticing anything?