Wicked Nights Read online

  An Imbolc Books Publication

  Wicked Nights © 2012 Diana Bocco

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Electronic book publication: October 2012

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher, Imbolc Books.® or the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real persons, places or events are purely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  Laurie Cole had had some strange assignments as an NYC police consultant, but this one surely beat all the rest.

  Unless Emily was playing a practical joke on her, which seemed like the most logical answer at the moment.

  “Alex Volman, the magician?” Laurie asked again, just to make she’d heard right.

  “Illusionist.”

  “And you think he’s responsible for the disappearance of these women?”

  “We think he’s involved somehow.”

  Laurie put her chestnut brown hair up in a ponytail and relaxed back into the sofa, crossing her legs. When she told her boss she would agree to one more case before taking some time off, she wasn’t expecting such a high-profile one. She hadn’t been on vacation for over two years, and she was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to be able to take one again.

  Still, she understood Emily’s urgency. The mysterious disappearance of three young women in less than a month had been all over the news. Front-page fodder for gossip, fear and speculation. The police had claimed they had no suspects, which made the current accusation all the more interesting.

  “Why isn’t this in the papers?”

  “Volman’s a celebrity. We really don’t want to accuse him unless we have something on him.”

  Laurie sighed. She remembered seeing pictures of Volman in gossip magazines and newspapers. Tall, dark, smoky handsome. Charming smile. And now a suspected killer. Why did she get stuck with all the complicated cases?

  “So that’s why you’re sending me instead of the police?”

  “Well, you’re technically a consultant, not part of the force, so it makes things less official.”

  Emily handed her a huge stack of files, and Laurie couldn’t help but groan.

  “And I am sorry about doing this right before your birthday,” Emily added.

  It was going to be a long week.

  ** **

  The guy was rich. She knew that, but seeing it in person was something else.

  Alex Volman had made a name for himself as the Houdini of the new century. His stage performances were all about endurance, jaw-dropping danger and breaking world records. He was famous for stunts that defied explanation. He didn’t just make people levitate off a table — he held them up in the air ten feet above the ground. No trick lighting, no loud distractions that could be hiding wires or harnesses. There were the usual shiny objects on stage, but the show was definitively about him and his incredible acts. While critics were quick to say it was all a cheap eye trick, the truth was that nobody had been able to duplicate the results, and so he was still the king of illusions.

  As she pulled into the driveway of his Hamptons estate, it was obvious that being the king of illusions was a very profitable endeavor indeed.

  The sprawling gated mansion sat on a large acreage of land right on the ocean. At least half of the windows had spacious balconies with dramatic southwestern views of the water, and almost the entire front of the house was covered in antique stained-glass windows. Laurie was sure she could hear horses somewhere on the property.

  The inside of the home was even more impressive, with refined artwork on the walls and sumptuous dark wood paneling in the entry hall. She wasn’t an art expert, but she could tell the two-foot bronze sculpture sitting next to the fireplace was probably worth a fortune.

  As she stepped into the study to wait for Volman, she couldn’t help but wonder who had decorated the place. If it had been him, he certainly had an eye for design. The dark wood floors were partially covered with a Kilim rug, and a matching love seat and sleeper sofa sat near a massive stone fireplace in a corner of the room. Above the fireplace was a hefty candlestick that looked like solid silver.

  “Detective Cole, I presume?”

  Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of the voice behind her. She turned around to face him and felt her mouth go dry at the sight.

  He was wearing a tight white t-shirt that revealed every single muscle and cut in his body. And boy, was he all muscle. His hair was wet, and Laurie had flashes of him stepping out of the shower wearing nothing but the wicked smile he was sporting right now.

  She took a deep breath and extended a hand. Her fingers got lost in his, and she realized just how big he was.

  And just how unprofessional she was acting.

  “Thanks for seeing me, Mr. Volman. And it’s actually just Ms. Cole. I’m sort of a … private consultant.”

  His eyes lingered on her lips a little too long before he motioned towards the chairs on her right.

  “Please sit down, Ms. Cole. How can I help?”

  She sank into a chair, and he did the same right across from her. She wasn’t sure how to start the conversation. How exactly do you tell a guy you think he might be a serial killer when he’s sitting right across from you? And when he looks like that. She almost had to laugh at herself, acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. Just get it out, she told herself. It’s not like it’s the first time you’ve done this!

  “Have you been following the news?” she finally asked. “The disappearance of the three girls?”

  Volman’s eyes narrowed, but the rest of his body remained relaxed. If he was somehow uncomfortable with the line of questioning, he didn’t show it.

  “I think I saw something about it.”

  “Did you know any of them?”

  The silence she got in response was deafening. He didn’t move a muscle, didn’t blink, and she wondered if he was trying to come up with the right answer.

  “Are you accusing me of something?”

  “Not exactly. We found something in the home of each girl after she disappeared. A stang, which I’m told is a magical tool.”

  He was either too smart or too innocent, because his immediate response was to smile. “And you think I’m the only one in town with the gift of magic?”

  “Mr. Volman, you don’t look like the psycho kidnapper type to me, but that doesn’t mean you’re not somehow involved. I’ve been told you use stangs in your shows. Or you did in the past. The ones left behind had some writing on them. Romanian, I think.”

  His face grew dark, but Laurie barely noticed because something else caught her attention. A humming sound. No, not humming. Some sort of vibration in the air, like the sound of a taut metal cable being snapped. The sound reverberated in the room, finding its way into her ears and down her chest and back. It was so intense she couldn’t help but shiver.

  Time seemed to screech to a halt, and the air around her became heavy with the smell of ozone, almost as if a storm were brewing inside the room. Behind the vibration, she could hear chatter, voices that seemed to dance and flow around her without making sense, like fragments of a movie reel playing out of order. What the hell? Was she going crazy? Maybe all the talk about magic and illusions had finally gone to her head, and now she was imagining things.

  Just then, a flash of light went off in her brain and the word “Corneliu” became clear. If she’d had any idea what it meant, it might have helped her, but she was only more confused by whatever was going on. It took her a second to get her focus back, and she realized Volman was looking at her intensely. She suddenly felt the need to apologize.
r />   “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day.”

  He readjusted his position in the chair. His movements were slow, like a cat stalking its prey. Every movement soft, fluid, elegant.

  “Romanian folklore is rich in superstition and magic, Miss Cole,” he said after a few seconds. “Not the disappearing-coin kind of magic. Real magic, with potions and spells. It’s a world you know nothing about.”

  “Are you telling me you believe magic is real?”

  Her phone went off, making her jump. Emily’s number was flashing on her screen, and she knew what that meant. She had something important to tell her about the case. Something she probably couldn’t discuss in front of the suspect. She cursed under her breath. More than anything in the world right now, she wanted to stay and find out what was going on.

  “Sorry, I have to go. Do you mind if we continue this some other time? How about tomorrow?”

  “Come over for dinner, Miss Cole, and I’ll explain a few things about magic.”

  She nodded and turned to walk towards the door. Before stepping out, she decided there was one more question she needed to ask. She turned around, and her eyes found his.

  “One more thing. Does the name Corneliu mean anything to you?”

  Silence took over the room. It seemed like minutes before either one of them moved or breathed. Her mind was lost in a snarl of thoughts, trying to figure out her next move, his next words. But when they came, they didn’t provide any answers.

  “I don’t think so,” he said.

  She hesitated for a second but decided against asking any more questions. Maybe because part of her realized he wasn’t willing to give her any more answers.

  Chapter 2

  Corneliu.

  It didn’t seem possible, but there it was. When the woman first mentioned the stang, Alex’s first thought was of his cousin Corneliu. Immediately after that, he felt the energy of the room change and the electric charge of the air swell. And then something happened to her. He could feel her own energy vibrating, increasing in some way. That connection was enough for her to somehow “hear” the name Corneliu.

  This was a complication he wasn’t expecting. He could deal with Corneliu if he was really behind the disappearances, but this was different.

  It had been a long time since Alex had been able to connect with an “ordinary” human. The human mind was too limited, too closed up to act as a receiver for a warlock’s energy. And yet, somehow, he’d been able to connect with this woman today.

  His mind was screaming “danger,” but the rest of his body and soul were just too curious about her to turn away. He had felt the attraction as soon as she walked into the room, but once he realized there was a bridge between them, curiosity turned into fascination.

  Still, it was dangerous. His kind had mostly escaped detection for centuries, and he wasn’t about to risk the secret just because she had all the right curves. Being a warlock in the modern world was tricky. He was human enough to lead a normal life. Hell, he was human enough to become an illusionist and pretend everything he was doing was just that, an illusion. It was easier for humans to believe in tricks and mind games than to allow for the possibility that magic was real, that he was really making things move and disappear using just his mind. But all that hiding in plain sight was possible because he was able to hide the other side of him, the truly magical one.

  So he had to be careful the next time he saw her. He needed to figure out how connected they were and why. But he also needed to figure what part Corneliu played in all this.

  Damn him.

  If his cousin was involved, he was almost sure he knew why. Samhain was just around the corner. While “normal” people would celebrate Halloween by dressing up and going around collecting candy or playing scary games, Corneliu was probably planning a ritual. And not just any ritual.

  Alex had read the newspapers. All the women had birthdays that fell on one of the pagan holidays. They were all the right age, with the right look and the right energy. He hadn’t realized the connection then because he’d been missing one vital piece of information: the stang, that magical tool used to cast a circle before starting a spell … or a ritual. You weren’t really supposed to leave those behind after a ritual, but maybe whatever Corneliu was doing required just that.

  A ritual for the Samhain holiday, the night when the veil between the world of the living and the dead becomes thin. The only night of the year when something dark can step into the world of the living if the right invitation is extended. And if Corneliu somehow succeeded in completing the ritual without killing the woman involved first — or at least until it was the right time to kill her — Earth was in for a world of pain.

  He closed his eyes for a second and pictured the police consultant standing right in front of him. Her hair falling on her shoulders, her jeans just a bit too tight in all the right places. The curve of her hips inviting a look and intruding in his thoughts even now, when he should have been thinking about the danger ahead.

  Damn it. Alex picked up the phone and dialed. It rang a few times before somebody on the other end picked up.

  “Anton, buna ziua. I think we have a problem.”

  Chapter 3

  Emily half-smiled from across the desk. “You have a date with the suspect?”

  “No! Not an actual date, no. I mean, I told him I’d come over tomorrow so we could continue the conversation.”

  Emily had been Laurie’s friend almost as long as she’d been her boss. When she was assigned to the homicide department, she’d done her best to bring Laurie along. But Laurie couldn’t deal with being part of the force and all the rules and limitations that came with it. Being a private consultant made things a lot easier. It made breaking the rules a lot simpler. And breaking the rules usually got you the best results, which was why Emily always came to her when they were stuck in a case.

  “How good-looking is he in person?”

  Laurie glared at her.

  “He’s gorgeous, so I really hope he’s innocent.”

  “It’s against the rules to sleep with the suspects,” Emily said with a smile.

  “Funny.”

  Laurie hadn’t had time for a relationship — heck, not even for a fling — for a while. It was hard to form lasting bonds with somebody when you were always out chasing bad guys at ungodly hours. And then when you came home, you couldn’t even talk about your day. Guys got tired of it rather quickly. Or maybe they just couldn’t deal with being the ones waiting around.

  Laurie zipped up her jacket, ready to head out into the night again. “The files don’t show any connection between the women, but there has to be something, somewhere. Any ideas?”

  “No. We’ve been desperately trying to find any connection, but there’s nothing so far. We’re really lost here, Laurie.”

  “Do you think the girls are dead?”

  Emily paused for a second, her eyes never leaving Laurie’s. And before she said a word, Laurie knew what she was going to answer.

  “Yeah.”

  Home was just a few blocks away, so Laurie decided to walk instead of taking a taxi. The sharp night air was usually good for her mind, but tonight it did nothing to ease her restlessness. Her thoughts kept jumping to Alex and that weird moment when electricity seemed to be floating around in the room. There was some kind of connection between that electricity and the strange name popping up in her mind, but she couldn’t find it. Maybe it was so obvious that she couldn’t see it. Or maybe her mind just couldn’t grasp the enormity of it, whatever it was. She closed her hands into fists, her fingernails biting into the skin, and let out a soft growl.

  Although she’d hoped to go to bed right when she got home, things just didn’t work out that way. She turned on her laptop and did a quick search for the word “Corneliu.” Somehow she wasn’t surprised to find out it was a common Romanian name. Where exactly had it come from today? She scanned online newspapers for any mention of a suspect with that name, but nothing came
up. So it wasn’t something she’d picked up subconsciously somewhere and just happened to remember today.

  Her thoughts returned to Alex, and she suddenly realized she had an advantage in this case. Since he was famous, she could find out a lot about his life just by looking online.

  And boy, was there a lot out there.

  All the girls he dated, slept with, and left with a broken heart. A list of his many properties, a photo of his yacht, and a lot of pictures of him shirtless.

  Nothing useful, but way too distracting.

  As she starting digging deeper, she began to realize that there wasn’t much information about his family origins. If he was shooting for mysterious to enhance his stage persona, mission accomplished. A few gossip websites insinuated his family came to the States around the turn of the century, but there was nothing to be found about where they were from or how they left. Or why.