“I’ve been waiting for you,” he murmured. “Amusing myself until you arrived. Now that you’re here . . .”
“No!” Ramie screamed just as the woman’s eyes went glassy with death.
His laughter echoed in her tormented mind. Where was she? Why hadn’t she come back? The victim was dead, no longer holding the link alive through Ramie.
“I’ll keep collecting them,” he whispered silkily. “You can’t stop me. But you can give yourself to me. You for them. You would keep me entertained, Ramie. They can’t. They’re too weak. They give up too easily.”
“I’ll kill you,” she said in a savage whisper.
He laughed again and she felt the brush of his fingertips on her skin. Repulsed, she tried to withdraw, tried to sever the connection he was holding to her. Blood pumped through her head, pulsing violently at her neck as she fought back.
Pain assaulted her. She couldn’t breathe. Blood, there was so much blood. Everywhere, covering her hands, her clothing. She glanced down at the woman, at all the blood seeping from the still-warm body.
“Ramie! Ramie! Goddamn it, come back to me!”
So far away. Someone calling her name. It was a jolt to her system and she realized that she’d quit fighting. That she was slowly being sucked away from Caleb, dying inexplicably.
She was being shaken. Caleb was shouting at her not to go. Cold. She was so very cold.
She floated, buoyant, so light. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared into the face of death. He was strangely beautiful, not at all like the demon she imagined. He looked benign, his features sculpted like art.
His teeth flashed. Perfectly straight, impossibly white. This was not a man who blended in. He would draw notice wherever he went. How could he have escaped capture for so long?
“People see what they want to see, Ramie,” he murmured, his breath hot on her face. He tilted his head this way and that, sliding his finger gracefully down her jawline. His smile was gentle, a caress. Satisfaction . . . victory, shone back at her. She blinked and then closed her eyes, searching within herself for the power to fight back.
She opened her eyes, staring into his, mesmerized by the startling blue orbs.
“Fuck you,” she said coldly.
Rage clouded his face as he stumbled back. She was suddenly free, the oppressive weight gone. It was as though she’d been sucked down into water and suddenly turned loose. She shot upward, swimming back to consciousness. And Caleb.
Her eyelids fluttered open and she saw Caleb nearly nose to nose with her, his hands framing her face as he shouted hoarsely for her to come back and not let that bastard win.
“Ramie?”
Her breath escaped her noisily. She sagged, slipping from his grasp, hitting the floor. She lay gasping, weak and vulnerable, huddled there in a ball, shaking convulsively.
The others pounded into the room, their heavy footsteps vibrating the floor as they rushed toward her. Caleb leaned down, his own eyes closed, relief pouring from him in waves.
“Oh God, Ramie. I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered.
“Is this what you did to her before?”
The shocked exclamation yanked Ramie’s gaze up, Tori’s face going into and out of focus. She stood between her brothers, looking terrified and appalled, apology in her eyes.
“Did you do that to her when she told you where to find me?” Tori demanded.
Caleb slid shaking hands over Ramie’s shoulders, pulling her from the floor, into his arms. He pressed her face into his chest, heaving in exertion. His fingers flexed in her hair and then smoothed the tangles as he kissed the strands.
“Yes, I did this to her,” Caleb said wearily. “God help me, but I did.”
Ramie lay limply against him. She lacked the strength to even sit up on her own. She couldn’t force herself to open her eyes. Tears slipped endlessly down her cheeks. A sob welled in her throat and stuttered out against his chest.
“Do you know where she is?” Detective Briggs demanded. “Were you able to locate her?”
“Don’t cry, Ramie,” Caleb whispered. “Please don’t cry. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
“She’s dead,” Ramie choked out. “He killed her as soon as I established the link. It’s what he was waiting for.”
Detective Ramirez swore. Eliza knelt down beside Ramie and Caleb, her face drawn in sympathy.
“Where, Ramie? Can you tell us where she is? Don’t let her die in vain. If you can tell us where to find her, they may catch him.”
Dully, Ramie gave the location in a monotone, all the life sucked out as surely as the victim’s life had been.
Beau’s gaze flickered over Ramie, something that resembled remorse in his eyes. Quinn wrapped an arm around Tori, who was shaking, crying, as was Ramie, silently. The two women locked gazes, a moment of kinship before Tori glanced away, distress radiating from her. She ran from the room and Quinn swore violently.
“How could you have done this to her?” he said, raising his voice to Caleb. “The very last thing Tori needs is this, in her home.”
Ramie dropped her head, looking away from Caleb’s brothers. Exhaustion took hold and she drifted, uncaring, into the black void. There was peace in the silence. She reached for it, allowing it to suck her into its firm embrace. She was tired and there was too much pain for her in the present.
So she simply let go and let it swallow her whole.
Caleb felt Ramie go completely limp against him. Fear seized him, made him irrational.