Guild of Truth 01 - Silent as the Grave Read online

  Not without high heels, anyway.

  She had to be at least five-ten. Her shoulder-length, dark chocolate hair was cut in an edgy fashion with side bangs. Her eyes were polished onyx and her skin had a faint golden tinge, as if she’d just begun enjoying the So Cal summer sun. She had on a loose-fitting tee and jean shorts with sneakers. It emphasized her lean build. Felix’s whole body tightened. It looked as if she’d been made for him.

  Her eyes finished their own appreciative assessment of him. His appearance had caught her off guard. The thought made him smile.

  When she noticed his attention all emotion was wiped from her face. She regarded him coldly. “Who are you?”

  He gave a bow from the waist, making sure to keep his eyes locked with hers. “Felix Del Valle.”

  Her eyes raked him again. His blood rushed south.

  Calm. Stay calm.

  She took a step back from him and glanced down the hall toward the front door. “Did you kill that man?”

  He frowned. There was no man …

  Then he remembered. The Illusion.

  He ground his teeth. Niella was right. This was some kind of trap. Someone was setting her up. But for what, he didn’t know. “No, but I need to get you out of here.” Every instinct inside him raged for him to protect her. “You’re in danger. This is a trap, some kind of set up. There was a dark blue van parked two houses down. I thought I might have been too late, but either way I don’t think we have much time.”

  She looked at him like he was crazy and stepped back. He wanted to follow. He wanted to be near her, to smell her hair and touch her skin.

  She glanced over her shoulder. Felix followed the movement and spotted a man and a woman on the floor.

  Shit.

  “There’s no way I’m leaving my parents,” she said.

  He didn’t blame her, only now his chances of getting her to leave with him went from slim to none. There had to be something he could —

  His gaze shot back to the girl’s parents. He stared hard, knowing he hadn’t imagined it.

  It came again. The slightest shimmer along their shoulders, like an image struggling to stay in focus.

  An Illusion.

  The air left his lungs. “Son of a bitch.”

  That could only mean two things. One, the Illusionist was getting tired. Two, he was still close by.

  He swung his attention back to the girl. She jumped back.

  He ran a hand through his hair. How the hell was he supposed to explain this?

  “Look, your parents aren’t real.”

  Her eyebrows rose and her foot darted out behind her, seeking an escape.

  Great start, Felix.

  He took a hesitant step sideways, trying to ease his way over to where the Illusion of her parents resided. If he could get her to reach out and touch them then she’d see that they weren’t real. The Illusion was fading, the power draining, which meant they were going to lose their solidity.

  She watched his progress with blazing eyes, but she didn’t retreat. He took that as a good sign.

  When he got within a foot of the Illusion he stopped. She looked ready to strike if he so much as sneezed at the Illusion wrong. “I’m not going to harm them,” he tried soothing her. “But you have to believe me when I tell you they’re not real. If you’d simply touch them you’d know.” He started to lower himself. All he’d have to do was show her, then she’d see …

  “I’ve already touched them. I felt for a pulse. It’s there — faint — but there. And if you so much as harm one hair on my father I’ll make that trick you pulled with the stirring spoon on the man in the hall look downright enjoyable.”

  Felix halted his hand where it was inching out to touch the shoulder of her father. “Stirring spoon?” What the hell had been back in that hallway?

  She didn’t elaborate on what she had seen and Felix didn’t ask.

  There was no time. He could sense the minutes ticking by.

  There was another faint glimmer from the Illusion. Time was running out. If the Illusion dropped then he had a feeling their time was up.

  “Would you just watch?” he bit out. “Nothing is going to make sense to you right now but if you’d simply watch, it would really cut down on all the explaining I’d have to do.”

  He looked up and found she’d retreated a few steps.

  He lightened his tone. “Please.”

  He didn’t wait for her to respond. He eyed her father and slowly lowered his hand. If the Illusion remained solid, he was so totally fucked.

  His hand slid right through the back of her father’s shoulder blade. He sighed in relief and kept his hand where it obviously sat in the middle of the Illusion’s body.

  He looked up to explain. “I know it looks — ”

  She’d made a break for it.

  He exhaled. “Fucking hell.”

  • • •

  Cali didn’t wait. As Felix’s hand reached out for her father she took it on blind faith that he bore no malicious intent toward her dad. Besides, it was the perfect opportunity. Felix was distracted, and Cali had spotted the portable phone on the bench by the front door. As much as it pained her to turn her back on her parents, she had to contact the police. Her parents were unconscious and defenseless, and she was alone with a murderer.

  And just what the hell had happened back there when she’d first laid eyes on him? God, when he’d introduced himself with that elegant bow, his brilliant blue-green eyes locked with hers … the effect had been positively electric.

  Her fast-acting lunge only carried her as far as the hall before a pair of warm, firm arms wrapped around her waist. “Yeah, I don’t think so.” His breath brushed against her neck, causing a shiver to run down her body. Her knees buckled.

  Felix’s arms locked around her as they went down with a grunt. He twisted at the last minute, his firm chest cushioning her fall. One of her hands landed on his sternum. She felt his heart kick start beneath her palm.

  She snatched her hand back as if burned.

  His eyes locked with hers. “You don’t understand — ” he started to say but she refused to listen. She needed to get out of his arms. His touch did something to her, made her feel things best left unnoticed.

  That strange prickling at the back of her neck started up again.

  She’d never been very good at fighting, but she’d spent a lot of time with her older brother when she was little. He’d been a wrestler, and she’d been famous for her flexibility that allowed her to maneuver out of his holds.

  Felix must have seen the determination in her face because he quit talking. His arms wrapped tight around her back. She ignored the flutter in her chest and twisted her limber body out and under his arms.

  He swore. “Look, I don’t want to hurt you,” he pleaded as Cali shot to her feet. He was behind her in an instant, his fingers curling around her wrist like a vise. She ducked the left side of her body, going down to one knee while simultaneously turning her torso and arm out and around, breaking his grip. His other hand shot out in an attempt to make up lost ground. She pushed up with her bent leg, throwing her right shoulder back to pivot out of his reach.

  She collided with the stair banister, and pain spiked up her spine as the wood hit one of her vertebrae.

  Felix winced, hesitating in his pursuit.

  It was all the opening she needed. She dove for the phone. Her fingers closed clumsily around it as her momentum drove her into the living room. It was one of those sunken rooms that she swore she’d never get in her own home specifically for this reason. She’d forgotten the drop-off was there. She tried to stop herself from landing on her face but her foot met nothing but air.

  A yelp whooshed out of her as her stomach smashed into the hard back of her dad’s favorite leather chair. She took in a pained gulp of air and rolled as Felix grabbed for her.

  “Would you stop already?” He sounded beyond frustrated. “You’re my Mirror Mate. I’m not going to harm you.”
/>   Ignoring him, she hit the talk button on the phone, her finger shaking over the 9. The button gave the appropriate beep before Felix caught her in his arms again. Cali swirled around, having no qualms about fighting dirty, and kicked him in the shin as hard as she could. His blue-green eyes widened in pain.

  She expected him to release her, but instead her kick must have disrupted his equilibrium because he lost balance, and together they fell onto the beige leather couch.

  She kept the phone above her head to keep it from getting crushed between them. She squirmed against him but only succeeded in pressing her body closer to the hard planes of his.

  Heat pooled low in her gut.

  She brought the phone close to her face and hit the 1.

  “I said stop.” One of his arms snaked out from under her, giving a showy wave, and just like that the phone vanished.

  “Holy shit.”

  Cali stared at her hand, waiting for the phone to reappear. It didn’t. Her shock started to diminish as the realization that Felix was still atop her sank in, his tall, powerful body pressing hers into the material of the sofa.

  He was a magician.

  It was the only explanation her mind could come up with.

  “How — ?”

  Her mouth went dry as her eyes bored into his oceanic ones. The prickling on her neck increased as all sound seemed to fade from existence except theirs. Her breathing was loud and harsh, and she could’ve sworn she heard the pounding of Felix’s heart like thunder.

  A look of awe came over him as his gaze fell to her lips. She licked them instinctively but they continued to tingle. “What’s your name?” he asked her.

  In the strange stillness of the house, his words reverberated in her ears louder than normal.

  She found her own gaze dropping to his mouth and forced her eyes back up to his. They met with a spark.

  “Cali Crazar,” her traitorous mouth spoke.

  A boyish grin tugged at his mouth. “Cali.” He seemed to test her name on his tongue. “Cali from Cali-fornia.”

  She glared daggers at him and he laughed.

  “How did you make the phone disappear? Are you a magician?” A murderous magician, she tried to remind herself. Don’t forget you still have no idea who this man is. But she couldn’t dispute the fact that if he wanted to hurt her he would have done it by now.

  Amusement sparkled in his eyes. His thumb reached out and brushed her lips. Her heart pounded against her ribs, her nipples hardening where they were pushed against his firm chest. “No, I’m most definitely not a magician.”

  She didn’t believe him. He had to be. Phones didn’t simply vanish, and dimly in the recesses of her mind she recalled that there had been no sign of the dead body in the hallway when she’d gone for the phone.

  Strangest. Day. Ever.

  Felix’s head dipped close to hers.

  Alarms shot through her brain.

  Pull away. Spit in his face. Do something!

  She couldn’t, even if she wanted to. Something inside her simply responded to him. She couldn’t resist. She’d wanted him as soon as she’d laid eyes on him, and that want frightened her.

  The warmth of his lips ghosted over hers. Heat rolled through her body.

  The front door burst open.

  Chapter 2

  In the silence of the house the crash sounded like an explosion. Cali winced as pain tore through her ear-drums.

  Above her, Felix’s face contorted with agony. Like a picture returning to focus, regular white noise flooded the room. Felix rolled off her.

  She went to sit up but the room started to spin. She lay back down. She was tired, as if she’d expended a large amount of energy in only a few seconds. She turned her head. It was about the only thing she could still do. Two bulking men in black flanked a thin, regal-looking woman with delicately waved hair.

  She spotted Cali instantly, her grayish-blue eyes holding no emotion. “Get the girl.”

  Cali’s jaw clenched. She was not a girl. She was twenty-four and lived on her own. Sort of.

  Her temper was short-lived as the two men started into the living room. They lacked any sort of grace as they lumbered toward her.

  And where the hell was her knight in shining armor?

  Gone, she decided. She swallowed the sudden stab of disappointment. Fine. She didn’t need that murderous bastard anyway.

  The shorter one reached her first. He took hold of her right ankle, giving her an opportunity to gather her strength and kick out with her left leg. She nailed him in the face, but it was like hitting a brick wall for all the good it did.

  My strength is obviously lacking today.

  Now with a bloody nose and a pissed expression, the man nodded to his partner. “Take her arms.”

  Panic started to set in. If they took hold of her arms, there’d be no way she could squirm from their holds. She needed to get up. What had zapped her energy?

  The taller of the thugs came at her with a grim determination. Cali balled her fists, prepared to go out fighting.

  She never got a chance.

  Felix sprang from the archway that connected the living room to another section of the kitchen. One of her father’s bookends rested in his hand, and he slammed it down right at the base of the man’s skull. The thug went down with a groan.

  He didn’t release the bookend, but eyed the man who was holding her ankle. Felix radiated protectiveness, and Cali tried not to stare. But it was damn hard not to. He was like some pissed guardian angel. Dark, slightly curled hair fell into those beautiful eyes that glittered against the bronze of his skin. His five o’clock shadow added an edge to his appearance, and he looked even taller from her vantage point on the couch, his wide shoulders and well-muscled frame taking up what felt like all the space in the room. Her body clenched in response.

  “Felix?”

  Cali’s attention was ripped from Felix at the sound of the lilting feminine voice.

  The woman stared transfixed at Felix. His face held the exact same confusion. “Collette?”

  Too many expressions crossed his face for Cali to read any of them, so she summed it up to something like motherfucker.

  There was history here between them. She could all but feel it. Her stomach lurched as if she’d swallowed something vile.

  Felix’s fingers tightened around her father’s bookend. “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.

  “I could ask you the very same question. You weren’t scripted into this performance.” Those blue-grey eyes speared Cali right through the chest before settling back to Felix. “I’m simply following orders. So tell me, Felix, what exactly are you doing here?” She looked positively eager to hear the answer.

  Felix didn’t budge an inch.

  His silence only made the curl to Collette’s lip grow. “Protecting your interests perhaps?”

  His knuckles went white around her father’s bookend but still he didn’t answer.

  Collette’s second assessment of Cali was done with narrowed eyes. She was searching for something, but what that was, Cali had no clue. “No bother then. What the hell are you waiting for?” she snapped at the man holding Cali’s ankle.

  The thug’s fingers tightened instantly.

  Cali winced as he dug into her bone.

  Felix took a step toward them, voice fierce. “Don’t.”

  Collette turned on him like he was nothing more than an annoying gnat. “You never did learn your place.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

  White cloth appeared out of nowhere like a nest of angry snakes. With a snap like thunder, Felix was encased and dropped to the floor.

  Cali blinked.

  What. The. Hell?

  Fear gripped her. She searched desperately for Felix over the coffee table but the thug at her feet gave a pull on her ankle, causing her to slide halfway across the sofa toward him. A startled gasp escaped her. She grabbed blindly for the sides of the couch while at the same time she kept an eye trai
ned on Collette. Her mind stuttered to try to make sense of what was going on around her. What the hell had Collette done? How could she possibly have done it?

  Felix picked himself up off the floor, not a trace of the white cloth in sight. “And where exactly was my place, Collette? At your side like some lackey?” He paused. “Like Kevin?”

  Rage flooded Collette’s face, a truly terrifying expression that held a pinch of madness.

  Her fingers turned to claws, and she lunged for Felix’s throat.

  His eyes widened in genuine surprise, and for a moment he looked at a loss for what to do.

  Cali tried to call out to him, but another pull at her ankle had her collapsing back on the couch. She lost sight of them. Her focus turned to the man who was reeling her in like so much fish. He leered down at her with a sardonic smile, enjoying her poor attempts at rebellion. Bastard. She felt like kicking him in the face again. But she knew that wouldn’t work. Instead she eyed the hand around her ankle. Taking a gamble that he wouldn’t catch her intent and move his hand, she brought her left leg up and drove the heel of her foot as hard as she could toward her own ankle.

  He didn’t react fast enough, and the thick heel of her shoe smashed into the top of his hand. His fingers shot open like she’d pulled a release lever. Cali turned on her side to grab the large picture book of castles that her mother kept on the coffee table. With two hands, she swung for all she was worth and smacked her attacker across the side of his face. The hit disoriented him. His hands shot out as if to grab something but they met with nothing. The sudden shift in his weight caused him to overcompensate, and he went down. The side of his head met the edge of the sharp coffee table.

  She stared down at him. “Shit,” she breathed. She’d never knocked anyone out before.

  A strangled cry of frustration had her rearing up. Collette stumbled back from Felix who was engaging three — four? — men.

  Cali blinked, not quite able to follow what was happening. For every step the men around Felix took toward him, he took one back and waved his hand. Poof! They were gone. Stranger still was when he didn’t react fast enough and the men that hadn’t vanished yet threw a punch. A punch that never landed as their hands seemed to shimmer out of existence and pass right through him.