Page 96 of Soul Sucker

“At least he’s honest.”

She slid off the desk and headed for the door. “Tell Alexei I was looking for him, will you?”

“I will.” Vadim settled down to research the SBLE files for little green men. Ella might not want him there, but he was determined to be as well prepared as he possibly could.

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“Okay,this is how we’re going to proceed.” Ella looked at the two men. “The three of us are going to stake out the kitchen. When the creature emerges, I will be the one to engage it. Got that?” Sam and Vadim nodded obediently. “If I am in trouble, please feel free to help out.”

“What kind of trouble?” Sam whispered.

“Don’t worry, you’ll work it out. Remember, the aim is to capture the creature and persuade it to go back to Otherworld, not to kill it.”

Sam’s face fell. “Why would it want to come back?”

“Did you read the file I sent you? If what I suspect is correct, this creature has been living quite happily in the pipes for almost a hundred years. Now, along come these humans and break up the creature’s nest. It’s not pleased about that.”

Sam nodded. “Got it.”

Vadim didn’t say anything, but Ella could tell he was listening intently. He’d changed into black jeans and a long sleeved gray T-shirt that blended in with the gloom of the kitchen. The jeans fitted him really nicely. She’d almost salivated when she’d seen his tight, neat denim-clad ass.

For some reason, her eyes had adjusted more quickly than usual to the dark. Sam was the only one of them who was still stumbling around finding his way. Vadim always moved as lightly as a cat and was just as sure-footed. She pointed at a good hiding spot for him. He nodded and disappeared silently from view, a complete professional to his fingertips. After his earlier lapse he’d returned to treating her with a precise courtesy that bordered on uncivil. She wasn’t sure if she was pleased or irritated that he had the ability to compartmentalize like that. That was supposed to be her specialty.

She indicated another spot to Sam, and waited until he had subsided rather noisily into the cramped gap between the workstations. She patted his knobbly bare knee, and moved closer to the industrial kitchen sinks where she intended to sit. It was cold in the kitchen, the tang of disinfectant cutting through the lingering smells of cooking oil and grease.

Ella licked her lips and thought longingly about a plate of sweet potato fries sprinkled lavishly with salt and topped with a serving of ranch dressing…

“I have a protein bar if you need one.”

She jumped, expecting Vadim to be by her shoulder but he wasn’t there. She concentrated hard.

“Are you talking to me in my head?”

“Obviously.”

“You can do that?”

“What’s the problem?”

“Is this part of the mating thing?”

“It might be easier because of that,but I’ve always had this ability.Do you want the protein bar?”

“No thanks.They suck.”

“Okay,then.”

He disappeared from her thoughts as swiftly as he had arrived. She’d had her shields up, and yet Vadim seemed immune to them. How come he could get into her head so easily when she couldn’t get into his? But then, she hadn’t really tried, preferring to pretend their relationship was just about sex. She didn’t do the emotional stuff. It never worked out well for her. She’d tried to date shapeshifters and Fae who didn’t care about her extra abilities, but she’d never been able to get close to any of them. Not that those species were very interested in long-term relationships anyway. The werewolves eventually settled down when they mated, and the Fae would fuck anything without a single qualm. She should be comfortable with just fucking Vadim, but something inside her wanted more… With a sigh, she returned her attention to the kitchen and settled down for a long wait.

After what felt like hours, and probably was, Ella was startled from an uneasy doze by the subtle hint of Otherworld power seeping through the air. A thin trickle of green mist was coming out from the cupboards and she checked her weapon. Suddenly, the door creaked open, and what looked like a small typhoon swirled out into the kitchen making the stacked piles of crockery shudder and the glass tinkle.

Ella concentrated on the center of the storm and made out bony arms and legs that looked like green spiky thorns. When the disturbance came close, she reached out a gloved hand and grabbed hold of whatever it was. With an unearthly shriek, the thing stopped spinning, almost pulling Ella off her feet and into the turmoil. She held on, aware of the rose-like thorns sticking into her skin through the leather glove and the inhuman screeching that rattled around her oversensitive empath’s brain like an exploding bomb.

“Stop it.” She tightened her grip on the bony arm. “I’m from the SBLE. I have the authority to send you back to Otherworld if you continue to create unnecessary disturbances in the human world.”

“What is SBLE?”

The thing stopped spinning and faced Ella. Three green spikes adorned the top of its head like the diadem on the Statue of Liberty and it had wide-spaced black eyes, no obvious nose and a mouth full of spiked teeth. Its body was composed of sharp multi-jointed green limbs, a small torso and strands of green plantlike hangings that reminded her of vines or ivy. According to her research, a variety of female sprite.

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