Simply Irresistible Part 28

"I say my car is still at your shop. I'll bet yours is too." Vivian shook her head. These new modes of transportation were so odd to her. She had been all over the city today, and she'd only driven her car to one place.

"I was thinking of spelling the boxes here. They'll probably be safer with us than at your apartment." He looked at her. "That is where they are, right?"

She nodded.

He clapped his hands together, and a bright light filled the bedroom. When the light faded, the three large U-Haul boxes Aunt Eugenia had used for her papers sat on top of Dex's clutter. One of the boxes tilted dangerously. It rested on two tennis shoes and a brown loafer.

Dex got out of bed and steadied the box. Vivian leaned against the pillows, watching him. He was all sinew and strength, his muscles rippling under his skin. His muscles didn't bulge like a body builder's. He was just so trim that they were visible.

Vivian had never seen a man quite so perfect before.

Dex looked at her over his shoulder and grinned. "I thought physical appearance doesn't matter to women."

Vivian shrugged. "It comes in third."

"After what?"

"Sense of humor and intelligence."

"In that order?" he asked.

She considered for a moment, then nodded. "In that order."

"So you'd prefer me to be funny over smart."

"I'd prefer that you keep me entertained. Didn't you know that a woman always expects a man to entertain her?"

"Hmm." He made it sound as if he was considering her statement, as if she was being really profound. She wasn't even trying. She was just watching him move, enjoying his grace and power.

"Viv," he said, "I can't concentrate when you think about those things."

She smiled. "Maybe you don't have to concentrate."

"Maybe I should." He was moving the boxes so that they all rested on the carpet instead of clothing, books, or shoes. "The fact that you recognized Erika O'Connell changes everything."

And then he stood suddenly. The movement seemed almost involuntary. He put a hand to his forehead, and Vivian felt a thread of panic run through her, followed by an exasperation she knew wasn't her own.

Neither was the panic. It had come from Dex.

"You saw her at Quixotic?"

Vivian nodded.

"With Noah Sturgis?"

Vivian nodded again. Her heart had started beating harder than it had been a moment earlier. She wasn't sure if Dex's panic had infected her or if she was responding to the sense of urgency that suddenly filled the room.

"She owns KAHS," Dex muttered.

"Yes," Vivian said.

"Not K-A-H-S, like we've been saying it," he said, "like G-N-N. All separate letters. Sound it out. Kay-ah-sss. Chaos."

"Chaos." Vivian felt the uncomfortable urge to giggle. "It almost sounds like something out of James Bond. What is that? Smurf?"

"You mean Smersh?" Dex asked.

Vivian nodded. One of the cats got up, circled, and laid back down, pressing against Vivian's thigh. "Why would anyone call her company chaos unless she was going for supervillain status?"

"It's a clue, Viv." Dex grabbed his jeans and slipped into them. "We don't use our real names, remember? But sometimes, we use things that are connected to us. A myth we created, or a work of art we've influenced. I'm sure the reason Blackstone called his restaurant Quixotic isn't because he liked the adjective. I'm sure it has something to do with Vari. Didn't you hear everyone call him Sancho?"

Vivian nodded.

"Erika O'Connell was in Quixotic," Dex said. "I didn't notice, but I wasn't there long. I'm not sure I would have sensed her, since there were so many other magical people around."

He picked up his s.h.i.+rt and slipped it on without b.u.t.toning it. Then he handed Vivian her clothes. His mood definitely had changed. He even seemed to have forgotten his real hunger--for food, not for Viv.

"I'm sorry," he said. Apparently she was broadcasting, and he knew what she was thinking, each and every word of it. "It's just that this situation is even more dire than I thought, Viv. If she was in Quixotic, then Blackstone and Vari had to know who she was."

Vivian shook her head. She had no sense that Blackstone or Vari had lied to her about knowing who was going after the Fates.

"Viv, they should have sensed her. They would have recognized her."

"Unless she was a regular customer."

"Why would she be?" Dex asked. "She's from New York--or so all the gossip rags say. She wouldn't be a regular in Portland."

"Maybe they know her from the past." Vivian still couldn't make herself say 'a few hundred years ago'.

"Maybe." But Dex didn't believe it. She could tell from his tone as well as his mood. "I'm so glad I didn't tell them where my cave is. They would have gone right there."

"I don't understand," Vivian said, slipping into her clothes. "If they were helping Erika O'Connell get the Fates, then why would they let the Fates out of their sight?"

"I didn't give them much of a choice," Dex said.

"Yeah, but they had a lot of chances to take the Fates away before you did, and no one took advantage of it." Vivian finger combed her curls. She adjusted her gla.s.ses, feeling somewhat put together, although not at all the same as she had been before. Her entire body tingled. Even her mind tingled, and all that tingling was wonderful.

"You have a point." Dex smiled. "And another one about the Fates."

Vivian grinned.

"But I'm not sure what to make of it. We recognize each other's magic. It's part of our abilities. We even recognize those who haven't come into their powers yet. They should have known she was there." Dex had his hands on his hips. He was staring at the boxes.

"You and Vari said that the magic she was using was advanced stuff," Vivian said.

Dex nodded.

"Couldn't this be advanced too?"

He looked up at her. "You're saying she's hiding who and what she is from us?"

Vivian nodded.

"I don't think that's possible."

"I saw her," Vivian said. "And I almost didn't remember it. I even had trouble remembering it here. When I saw her in the restaurant, it was like we knew each other, like we were past enemies or something."

"Future enemies," Dex said. "Given what your aunt said."

"Why would Erika O'Connell kill Aunt Eugenia?"

"I don't know," Dex said, "but the answer's in those boxes."

Vivian sighed. Toto had sat down near the door. He was watching her. Sadie was in the room too, near the pile of clothes. Vivian hadn't noticed that before.

"You're going to have to look through the boxes sometime," Dex said. "Let's do it now, when it might make a difference."

Vivian nodded. "Here? Or in the living room?"

"Neither," Dex said. "I'm taking you somewhere new."

"New?" Vivian asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Don't argue with me about it. We're in big trouble here and we need a lot of protection."

"You have another cave?" Vivian asked.

"Not like the ones the Fates are in, but I--" He stopped, put a finger to his lips, and then frowned. "Forget it. Let's just take them to the bas.e.m.e.nt."

Vivian felt an odd disconnection, as if Dex weren't even speaking to her. Then she realized what he was doing. He was lying in case Erika O'Connell was monitoring them somehow. "Bas.e.m.e.nt?"

"Yeah," he said. "I have a family room down there. We can spread out."

"All right," Vivian said, hoping she sounded convincing.

But Dex didn't pick up any of the boxes as he walked out of the bedroom. Vivian followed, knowing they weren't going to any family room, though she was uncertain where he was taking her.

How many hideaways did this man have? And how many did he need?

'Just two', he sent back to her. 'I made a few enemies who are long-lived and probably won't forget'.

Vivian's heart was still pounding too hard. She wondered if Erika O'Connell ever forgot.

Then Vivian remembered the look on O'Connell's face as she used her magic to attack Aunt Eugenia. Somehow, Vivian sensed, O'Connell never forgot.

And that was part of the problem.

*Chapter Twenty*

It wasn't the hidden panel in Dex's linen closet that unnerved Vivian. It wasn't even the fact that the hidden panel opened to reveal a state-of-the-art elevator. What unnerved her was the way all Dex's animals responded when he yelled, "Bas.e.m.e.nt!"

Pets ran toward the linen closet from all corners of the house. Sadie stayed beside Dex, as if waiting for the others to show up. Even Toto, who had been lumbering along behind Vivian, waited beside Dex as if he were afraid of losing his only family.

Nurse Ratched scurried past both dogs and stopped in the back of the elevator. The other cats followed, until a dozen of them covered the elevator's floor.

More cats waited outside, along with a rabbit Vivian hadn't known was in the house and a ferret that only had three legs. One more dog showed up, its head bandaged and its back covered with scars. It was the last creature to arrive.

Vivian had never seen animals behave like this.

They weren't fighting, and yet they were in close quarters. If they weren't on the elevator, they were waiting to get on.

Dex reached inside, pressed the b.u.t.ton marked BAs.e.m.e.nT, and slipped his hand out as the door closed. The group of cats disappeared, and after a moment, the elevator whirred.

"This house doesn't look big enough--" Vivian started, but Dex put a finger to her lips.

"Wait here," he said. "I'm going to get a couple of boxes."

He slipped past her and headed back to the bedroom. Her stomach growled. She wondered if there was food in this second hideaway, and then decided it wouldn't be a problem. Dex could probably conjure up food whenever they needed it.

She sighed. She wondered what it would be like to have that kind of power. To make anything appear when you wanted it to, and to make it disappear if you didn't want it there. To make yourself vanish.

Someday she would know what it was like. Someday she would be able to do what Dex did and more.

She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Her psychic gifts had been difficult enough. Adding real magic on top of them wouldn't be the free ride a lot of people seemed to want She knew that much.

The animals were still waiting patiently in line. Sadie and Toto remained in front of the elevator door, as if they were guarding it, although Toto kept peering down the hall, looking for Dex.

Finally, Dex reappeared in the hallway, carrying two of the boxes. Together, they were taller than he was. He staggered beneath their weight.

He arrived at the elevator door just as it opened a second time. He set the boxes inside first. Then most of the remaining pets got on. All of the cats squished toward the back, not seeming to mind the close quarters. The ferret joined them. But the rabbit hung back, and so did the injured dog.

Dex reached inside and pressed the bas.e.m.e.nt b.u.t.ton again.

Of all the strange things that had happened that day, this had to be the strangest of all. But Vivian didn't say that.

"Who's this guy?" She nodded toward the injured dog. She didn't pet it because she was afraid she'd hurt it.

"Mmm." Dex peered down. His look was fond. "That's Portia. She's another one the vet gave me. Just last week. She's doing a lot better."

"What happened to her?"

"Don't ask." He crouched, held out a hand, and let Portia sniff it. "Good girl," he crooned. "I know how hard this is for you. I'll make sure you have an extra-comfortable bed downstairs."