“There is something I need.” Lorna practically purred the words as she turned to face him, puffing out her chest as she regarded him with a bright smile. “I need you.”
Cooper was taken aback. “Excuse me?”
“I need you,” she repeated. “I have a certain itch, and I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who can scratch it.”
Cooper was horrified at the suggestion. “Um ... that’s flattering, but I’m in a relationship.”
“I know.” Lorna’s smile never faltered. “You’re with Hannah. She’s the reason I didn’t get the job. That made me lose the bet, which kind of makes me want to pay her back ... so here I am.” Lorna gestured toward the dress again. “Hannah didn’t make that, right? I’m totally going to change into it as soon as we’re done here, but it would be best if she wasn’t the seamstress.”
Cooper was completely at a loss. “I don’t understand. I ... .” Then realization dawned. “You’re one of them.”
“And you’re slower than you should be,” Lorna shot back. “I mean ... I wasn’t even trying to pretend I was anything other than who I am when I came in here. You’ve been beating around the bush for a full five minutes instead of actually asking the obvious question. What’s up with that?”
Cooper frowned, annoyance obvious. “Listen—”
“No, you listen.” Lorna wagged her finger, making a clucking sound with her tongue. “I’ve had a really crappy few days. You and your little blond friend have really fouled things up for us. We’re in something of a bind ... which is why I’m here instead of playing the game. It was one thing to lose Donny — I always knew he would be the one to fall by the wayside because of his appetite — but to lose Frank, too?
“We had contingency plans,” she continued, her expression plaintive. “Do you have any idea how much magic it takes to move between planes? We built this mythology for a reason. We wanted to be remembered ... and feared. We were having a good go of it, getting together every hundred years, and then your girlfriend came along.”
Cooper narrowed his eyes. He could feel the edges of his brain fuzzing, as if the woman was somehow casting a spell over him, but mention of Hannah had him focusing again. “Hannah isn’t to blame for this. You’re killers. She was trying to protect those she loves.”
Lorna cocked her head, as if trying to read Cooper’s demeanor. “That’s ... interesting.”
“What’s interesting?”
“Um ... don’t worry about it.” She plastered a bright smile on her face and moved closer to him. “Hannah has become a problem. I know you’re wired to take her side no matter what but that simply can’t happen in this particular case.
“She has completely screwed up our exit strategy,” she continued. “We can’t go home without a little help now. Personally, I blame Frank. He came here on his own because he thought he could save the day. He loved getting accolades heaped on him. Instead of that, though, he died. Now we’re down two ... and we don’t have the power to get back home.”
“That’s not Hannah’s fault.” Cooper was defiant. The more Lorna tried to exert control over him, the more his spine stiffened. He could feel her magic as it tried to invade his mind, but he put up a mental wall. There was nothing she could do to get him to turn on Hannah, and it was obvious that’s what she wanted. “You’re the ones who came here, killed people, and tried to ... what? I guess extend your mystique.”
“It’s not mystique. It’s tradition.”
“If you say so.” Cooper gave her a wide berth as he eyed the door. He wanted nothing more than to get away from her, but given the angle of her body, she would be able to touch him if he made a break for it. He couldn’t help but believe that would be a fatal mistake.
“I’m not being facetious,” Lorna countered. “Thousands of years ago we identified the seven basic weaknesses in human beings. We were trying to make them aware of the things they had to avoid if they wanted to live a pure life.”
“And you’re lust,” Cooper muttered.
Lorna beamed at him. “Why? Are you feeling lusty thoughts? I can’t really tell ... and it’s an interesting phenomenon. Frank mentioned the first time that he thought you were resisting but couldn’t be sure. Then I heard you couldn’t resist the second time, although he died anyway so that story is all muddled.
“Anyway, I was always offended by the idea of men losing their heads over women after they pledged forever to another woman,” she explained. “That was my ... thing. So what you call lust was born. It was around long before that, though, and I never chose that as a name.”
“What is your name?”
“Lorna Jacobs,” she replied simply.
“No, that’s the human name you took over.” He stilled, his mind busy. “Wait. Lorna Jacobs is a real person. We checked her credentials.”
“She was a real person,” the fury agreed. “Her boyfriend cheated on her with another woman despite the fact that she got these to keep him happy and faithful.” The woman grabbed her own impressive breasts for emphasis. “When we return to an area, we’re called by specific personality types. Lorna called to me, and since she was a bartender — a skill that could’ve
