Dead Spots (37 page)

“Johnny, I think you and I should go get some food from the café and let Mac freshen up.”

A door opened nearby and she could hear Lucas shuffling about. “Okay, the bathroom is set up, Mac.”

Turning her head, she saw Lucas setting fresh towels and Hello Kitty pajamas on the end of the bed.

“Did you make those?” She propped herself on her elbows and regarded him skeptically.

“Not a Hello Kitty fan, huh?”

She rolled her eyes.

Touching the tank top and drawstring pants set, Lucas said, “How about My Little Pony?”

Mackenzie lifted an eyebrow.

“Ah, I get it. You're a Disney Princess girl.”

“I think I'm going to punch you in the face,” Mackenzie said, but she felt a smile creeping onto her lips.

“Wonder Woman! She's Wonder Woman!” Johnny bounced on the bed enthusiastically.

The pajamas shifted in appearance. The pants were now blue with stars and the tank top was red with the golden eagle. Mackenzie thought the set looked cute.

“How's that?”

Mackenzie snagged the pajamas and looked at the label. “Ha. Ha.”

The label read:
DEAD SPOT DESIGNS
.

Her smile appeared to satisfy Lucas. “Okay, Mac, we're getting food. What do you want?”

“Hot dogs! Hamburgers!” Johnny said, continuing to jump on the bed.

“Pizza. Extra pepperoni.” She was incredibly hungry.

“Okay. We're on it.” Lucas snagged Johnny by the arm and swung him onto his back. The little boy hung on, excited to be on a new adventure. “Ready, little buddy?”

“Hi-ho, Silver, away!”

“I take that as a yes.” Lucas playfully galloped to the door, opened it, and disappeared outside.

The door shut behind them, the room feeling quite empty without all the boyish energy filling it. Gathering the things Lucas had made, Mackenzie entered the small bathroom and was surprised to find the bath running. Bubbles foamed on the surface and the sweet smell of lavender filled the room. Sliding off her clothes, she gratefully sank into the hot water. Flashes of the shark flitted through her mind, but she closed them off. She wanted to soak in the bubbles and not think of anything. The small white bathroom was a sanctuary from the insanity of the last few days and the hot sudsy water relaxed her aching body.

Even though she was determined not to think of Grant, her mind drifted over their journey. Lucas's assertions about Grant made a terrible sort of sense. Hot tears dripped into the slowly cooling bathwater. If Lucas was right, this world had taken much more from her than she had originally realized.

Yet, it had given her something unexpected. She was beginning to understand she was much stronger than she'd given herself credit for. Grant hadn't been able to completely take control of her, though he'd tried. Upon reflection it was clear how hard he'd tried to make her dependent on him and isolate her. If Grant was an incubus wraith and wanted her to himself, he must have been furious over Tildy. He'd known Grace was a wraith and allowed her into their haven with a purpose. Most likely he wanted her to be terrified of ever taking in other people again. No wonder he'd been so irate when he'd found her with Johnny.

Her emotions surrounding Grant bubbled beneath the layer of her exhaustion and she didn't want to give them attention until she felt ready to deal with the fallout. Again, she'd been stung by betrayal by a knight in shining armor. First Tanner and now Grant. It was time to stop waiting to be rescued and do it herself. How she was going to do that exactly she wasn't quite sure yet.

Mackenzie was glad for the time alone, but when Lucas returned with Johnny in his wake, their arms filled with all sorts of fabulous fast food, she was happy to see them.

“You look like Wonder Woman!” Johnny exclaimed as she slid onto a chair next to the table.

“I just need a magic lasso and a tiara.” Mackenzie gave him a wide grin, delighted to see the boy enjoying himself.

“Make it for her, Lucas!”

“Later. First we eat! Ta-da!” Lucas flipped open the pizza box to reveal a piping hot pizza pie made to her order. He set a beer on the table, popped the top, and slid it over to her.

“A feast for kings and queens!” Mackenzie inhaled deeply, the scent making her even hungrier. It was the first time in months she had actually craved food.

“For cowboys, too! I got a hot dog with extra onions,” Johnny informed her, showing off the foot-long monstrosity covered in onions, chili, and mustard.

“Wow. A kid who likes onions. I didn't think those existed.” Mackenzie snagged a piece of pizza and bit off the end.

Johnny giggled and made a mess eating the hot dog, smearing chili all over his face, much to her amusement. Though she'd just met the little boy, he had a firm hold of her heartstrings. A bit of guilt niggled at her, but she didn't allow it to take root. Johnny needed her, and taking care of him fulfilled a yearning inside her.

The conversation while they ate was lighthearted and steered away from the earlier traumatic events. Lucas and Johnny discussed the Lone Ranger and comic book heroes. Mackenzie ate heartily enjoying the banter and feeling more relaxed than she had in ages. The illusion of a happy family meal was both painful and consoling. She would never experience it with Joshua and Tanner, but she recognized that the future had yet to be written. Once she escaped the dead spots, there was still hope for a better life. She wouldn't even allow herself to consider not escaping, or despair would drown her again.

Later, after Johnny took a bath, he sat on one of the beds wearing pajamas and a robe that Lucas created watching the old black-and-white episodes of
The Lone Ranger
. While Johnny was occupied with his favorite television show, Mackenzie and Lucas sat side by side to review the maps Lucas had collected and discuss his observations.

“So each time I run into a real person, I try to talk to them about the dead spot they entered and get the details. Not everyone wants to talk to me, but they often do. Especially if I help them out in some way.”

“With your magic powers,” Mackenzie said with a slight smile.

Lucas chuckled. “Something like that.”

“You stopped on a country road yesterday looking for someone, didn't you?” It had been a question that was on the tip of her tongue for the last hour. She needed to know the truth.

Regarding her solemnly, he nodded. “It was you, wasn't it?”

“Yes. I heard the car and Grant pushed me into the ditch.”

“And covered you with his body?”

Mackenzie found it difficult to answer, her throat suddenly constricting with emotion.

“Johnny and I were cruising through the area when I saw the brightness of a living person. We pulled over, but I couldn't find it. It had just vanished. There was a lot of activity in the area, so it was hard to see clearly. I must have missed Grant's form in all the muck.”

“He said you were a killer.”

Lucas snorted. “Yeah. Right. He would.”

If she hadn't listened to Grant, what would have happened? Would Grant have revealed himself earlier?

“Mac … you okay?”

“I just wonder what would have happened if I'd pushed him off me. Would I still have died?” Though her death had been terrible, her thoughts drifted to the dream. Had Grant seduced her in her sleep because he was afraid of someone else taking her away?

“It's always dangerous here.”

“Grant let people into our haven last night. One of them was a wraith. He would have known that, right?”

Lucas nodded.

“Why would he do that?”

“Well, I can only guess, but I suppose so you'd be so traumatized by what went down that you'd be afraid of others and stick with only him.”

“He let me die,” Mackenzie muttered, anger burning in her gut.

Lucas leaned toward her, his gaze filled with compassion. “Yeah. He was at the graveyard waiting for you.”

“But I wasn't alone. I had Johnny with me. That must have really fucked up his plans.”

“And so he brought the shark.”

Sorting through all she'd suffered since entering the dead spot, Mackenzie could see now how much Grant had been manipulating the world around her to keep her afraid. Maybe he'd even clouded her mind. Away from him, her thoughts felt much clearer and she finally felt able to obtain an emotional balance she couldn't before.

Tapping the maps with a fingertip, Mackenzie decided to change the subject. “Are there a lot of us?”

“Well, yes and no. We don't age in here, so there are people from centuries ago wandering about. But a lot of us also end up wraiths. Also, the conditions have to be just right for someone to enter the dead spots, so we're not as numerous as you'd think.”

“Grant said the door has to be open in both worlds.”

“There's more to it, or otherwise people would be stumbling in here more often. Maybe it's an emotional thing, or being a certain frame of mind that allows you to slip through.” Lucas lifted a shoulder. “Or none of the above. I don't know. Most likely no one knows.”

“So once the people you meet give you their information, you just keep going?” Mackenzie couldn't resist asking. She'd been wondering what Lucas intended to do with her and Johnny. He was a man on a mission and she wasn't sure he'd want to be bogged down.

“I've traveled with a few people, but they often get tired of the quest and bail. It can get really disheartening when you keep coming up empty. People want immediate results. When that doesn't happen, they move on. A lot of times they often decide just to go home.”

“Go home?”

“Ever wonder about ghosts? They're trapped people like us haunting their old homes, hoping to somehow reach the real world.”

“That's a creepy thought.”

“But it makes sense, doesn't it?”

“Sadly, yeah.” Mackenzie pointed to a bright pink spot on one of the maps. “So what's that?”

“A dream palace. I mark those in pink. That particular dream palace belongs to a teenage girl with a princess obsession. At some point, someone coined the name dream palace for impenetrable havens, and everyone stuck in here learns it eventually just like they do the other terms.”

“‘Wraiths,' ‘shadows,' ‘dead spots,' ‘shapers,' ‘seers,' ‘havens'…”

“Exactly. Kinda like learning a new language, huh? Did Grant tell you about the dream palaces?” Lucas cocked his head, staring at her curiously.

“No. Not deliberately. A woman I met mentioned the dream palaces before she … died.” Mackenzie hesitated. It hurt to think of Tildy. “Last night Ted also said something about them before the wraith that was traveling with his group tore off his head.”

“Tore off his head?”

Mackenzie slightly shrugged. “Yeah.”

“And you've only been in here three days?” Lucas raised both his eyebrows.

“Have I had it easy? Or really rough?” She almost dreaded the answer.

“I'd say you've had a very intense induction. Then again, a wraith found you right away. He got really lucky. You, on the other hand, not so lucky.”

Mackenzie crossed her legs, uncomfortable with the sting between her thighs at the thought of Grant. Lucas's speculative gaze made her uneasy. She felt as though he could peer into her thoughts and see her discomfort. Returning his attention to the maps, he pointed at one pink circle.

“Anyway, this dream palace is where my friend Seth lives quite happily with the apparition of his dead wife that he created. They're a really sweet couple.”

“Dead wife?”

“Yeah. He created an apparition of Rosita. He missed her.”

Mackenzie could understand how terrible loss could be. Immediately she thought of how wonderful it would be to hold a living Joshua in her arms while Tanner doted on both of them. Uneasy, she pushed the thought away. It felt like madness.

“Seth lets me stay there when I pass by. He doesn't often let people in, but he knows about me.”

“That you're a seer?”

“That and also the fact that I'm pretty much immune to this world.”

“Why is that?”

With a grin that flashed his perfectly white teeth, Lucas said, “Because I'm not afraid of anything.”

“I call bullshit.” Mackenzie gave him a doubtful look.

“No, honestly. My whole life I've not been afraid of anything. Instead, I get curious. I want to know what's the truth of the situation.”

“So you weren't afraid of the giant shark?”

“That giant shark was the manifestation of a wraith.” Lucas gave her a jaunty smirk.

“It still could eat you,” Mackenzie pointed out.

“True. But I would rather figure out how to make sure it doesn't.”

“You're weird.” The teasing words slipped out easily. The peaceful aura of the motel room was soothing and she was more relaxed than she'd been in months.

“I'm from Austin. What can I say?”

“‘Keep Austin Weird,' huh?”

“I had that bumper sticker and the T-shirt.” He winked at her.

“If you're from Austin, I guess that explains all the ink.” Mackenzie had noted the ornate tattoos covering both of his arms and peeking out from beneath the collar of his black T-shirt when he had taken off his leather jacket. “So were you a tattoo artist or something?”

“I was the owner of a mechanic shop,” Lucas answered.

“That explains the car.”

“The car is awesome, isn't it?”

Mackenzie chuckled while nodding her head. “Yes, it is. It suits your whole bad-boy look.”

“I'm so not a bad boy,” Lucas assured her. “I'm one of the good guys. I just look bad.”

“So, bad boy, how did you end up here? In this world?”

“Want the full story? Or the short one?”

Craving to know Lucas a bit better since her life was now entangled with his, Mackenzie said, “The full story.”