“Twice the opportunity to get it wrong.”
“Or right,” Aggie countered.
Eric winked at her and then turned his attention back to the crowd. “We all know that even though that piece of paper entitles her to half his shit, what’s important is that we all get to see the groom turn the color of cranberries as he tells this wonderful woman that he’ll never be worthy of her in front of God and everyone.”
Jace was turning the color of cranberries now.
“He’s worthy,” Aggie said. She squeezed Jace’s hand beneath the table.
“Raise your glasses in toast.”
Glasses were lifted.
“To the happy couple—Katherine and Thomas. May your love transcend time.”
Jace froze. Was he hearing things?
Rebekah slapped her husband’s thigh. “That’s not funny, Eric.”
“What’s not funny?”
“Saying their names wrong,” she whispered loudly through clenched teeth.
“I did?” Eric scrubbed at his mouth with his fingertips. “Maybe I should have stopped at four adult beverages. I meant to say: To Jace and Aggie. May it never come to her taking half his shit.”
Many of the onlookers laughed, but Jace didn’t and neither did Aggie. Saying their names wrong in jest wouldn’t have been a big deal, but why those particular names? Had Eric done it on purpose knowing how it would affect Jace after all the weird tricks his mind kept playing on him? What other explanation was there?
Jace downed his glass of champagne with everyone else, but inside he was rattled.
“Eric’s the one playing tricks on us,” Aggie said in his ear. “I’d bet my dungeon on it.”
It did seem like something he’d do, but the pieces didn’t quite fit.
Trey’s voice came over the sound system. “I think it’s time for the soon-to-be-Seymours to take a turn on the dance floor. What do you all think?”
Enthusiastic applause drew Jace to his feet. He hated dancing, but he loved being in Aggie’s arms, and this would fulfill his need to be close to her. Maybe he’d stop shaking with her to hold on to. He offered a hand to Aggie, but didn’t look her in the face. Part of him was afraid he’d see another woman in her place. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle it a third time. He felt like a complete coward—a feeling that did not sit well with him—but he had no experience with the weird and the creepy. He hadn’t figured out how to steel his emotions against all the strange things he experienced in and around this castle. But Aggie always gave him strength. He hoped she could lend him a little now.
Aggie took his hand and followed him onto the dance floor amid more applause.
“I dedicate this song to you two,” Trey said. “And my dog, Sparky. May he rest in peace.”
Sinners’ most famous ballad, “Goodbye Is Not Forever,” began to play. Jace drew Aggie into his arms and so he wouldn’t be reminded that everyone was watching them, he focused on the feel of her body against his. His hand rested against her lower back, and her breasts brushed his chest, but her skirt was too wide to allow him to hold her as close as he’d like.
As they swayed to the music, a different song began to play in his head, competing for his attention. A song he was pretty sure he’d never heard. A waltz played on the strings of a talented quartet.
I waited, a voice whispered to him.
“What?” Jace whispered aloud, his body suddenly cold. He shuddered, but kept his eyes closed. He knew he was hearing things. If Aggie found out he’d lost his mind, would she leave him? He tugged her closer.
“What what?” Aggie asked.
“Nothing,” he said, burying his face in her neck and inhaling her scent. It was familiar and calming.
I waited and waited and you never came, the voice said. Were your words a lie, Thomas? Did you never love me? Why did you reject our daughter? Why did you break your promises?
Jace answered her aloud, but wasn’t sure where the words were coming from.
“My world ended the day you died, Katherine. I could not bear to love anyone again. Not even our daughter.”
Aggie stopped suddenly. “Who is Katherine?” she asked, her voice hard and cold. “And what daughter? What the fuck are you talking about, Jace?”
“Actually, I didn’t say that,” he admitted. He almost wished he had said it. It would have been less weird than having to tell her that he was being haunted.
“You did say it,” she said. “Explain to me what exactly is going on with you.”
He pulled her against him, hoping that somehow her proximity would put an end to the strangeness surrounding him. At least the only music he heard now was the aching melody of “Goodbye Is Not Forever.” Maybe it was just the stress of the wedding making him certifiably crazy. And when it was over, he’d stop hearing voices and seeing the ghost of Katherine Parr.
“Just dance with me,” he pleaded. “Just dance.”
Her arms tightened around him as she swayed with him.
“Jace, I know something strange is happening to you,” she whispered in his ear. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. You can trust me.”
He did trust her, but he wasn’t going to tell her. What could he say? Hey, baby, I’ve completely lost my mind. I hope you don’t mind participating in conjugal visits in a padded cell.
“Jace? Please don’t shut me out again.”
He couldn’t bring himself to put her fears to rest with words, so he kissed her, hoping that the press of his lips to hers would soothe her. A chill raced up his spine, and the chandelier overhead rattled. Jace deepened his kiss, hoping it would center his attention on Aggie enough so he could ignore the weird things going on around him. When he’d been fixated on her in the cottage earlier, he hadn’t heard a single voice, felt any cold chills, or witnessed any object move on its own accord. Aggie had chased away the figurative ghosts of his past, so a few literal ghosts shouldn’t be a problem for her.
Apparently Aggie wasn’t too keen on his methods of avoidance. She pulled her lips from his and caught his face between her palms.
“We don’t do this anymore, remember?” she said.
“What?” he said gruffly. “Kiss?”
“No, we will do that plenty,” she said with a smile. “But we don’t hide things from each other.”
“You hid Starr from me,” he reminded her.
She ducked her head and stared at his chest. “That was a mistake,” she said. “I hope you won’t make the same one I did. Whoever this Katherine is, you should tell me about her.”
Uh, no. He should not. Not entirely. But he didn’t want to worry Aggie, so he settled for half-truths.
“This isn’t what you think it is. I don’t love Katherine, Aggie. I never did.”
There was a loud creak overhead. Jace caught the downward movement of the chandelier in his peripheral vision. He shoved Aggie as hard as he could, and she stumbled backward, falling unceremoniously on her ass as the chandelier smashed to the floor between them.
Aggie stared at him in wide-eyed shock for a heartbeat and then scrambled to her feet before dashing from the room among the startled gasps and whispers of the guests who’d witnessed the near accident.
Jace raced after her, his heart thudding in his chest.
“Is she okay?” he heard Eric call after him, but Jace didn’t stop long enough to answer.
I can’t lose her. Not again. I’ve been searching so long, unable to find my way back to her.
Jace stopped in the long corridor, looking in either direction for a sign of his lady, and spotted the hem of an elegant green ball gown disappear around a corner down the hall.
A cool breeze blew over the back of Jace’s neck, propelling him forward.
I have to explain. Have to see her again, have to hold her. I’ve been wandering alone for far too long. I need her in death even more than I needed her in life. Don’t let her get away.
Jace drew to a sudden halt. Where were those thoughts coming from? He pressed h
is hands to his skull and tried to force them out.
“Shut up,” he growled.
Thomas! The name echoed through his mind.
His legs started to move again, carrying him down the passageway he’d seen her take, out a side door, into a garden. Flurries of snowflakes fell from the dark sky, melting as soon as they landed. His breath billowed like a cloud before him as he panted to catch his breath.
“Katherine?” he called.
Stay away! He heard her wrath within himself. Felt it even.
He caught a motion up ahead and his heart stuttered. Aggie stood in the garden with both arms wrapped around her body as she tried to hold in wracking sobs.
“Aggie?” He stepped closer. “You okay?”
She shook her head and headed farther into the garden. Running from him. Aggie was never supposed to run from him.
“Aggie, don’t run. I need…” He swallowed and started after her. “I need to tell you something.” He gained on her rapidly, chasing her through the garden and toward the chapel. Toward the tomb of Katherine Parr. He wasn’t sure why she was headed in that direction, but he had to stop her before she reached the building. After her near miss with the chandelier, he was starting to believe that ghosts could harm a person. And he could not let that happen.
When she was finally within reach, he grabbed her from behind and encircled her body, wrapping his arms around her waist, pressing her back securely to his chest. He tried to inhale her, pull her inside him where she’d be safe. Protected. Warm.
She didn’t struggle, just sagged against him.
“Why did you run from me?” he asked.
“I wasn’t running from you,” she said. “After the chandelier fell, I saw someone—someone who wasn’t you—standing there looking at me.”
“Thomas,” Jace guessed.
“You don’t sound surprised,” she said. “Why don’t you sound surprised?”
“I don’t think it’s Thomas you need to worry about.” He was pretty sure it was Katherine slamming doors and ripping light fixtures from ceilings.
“He scared the shit out of me. Do you know what’s going on? Am I losing my mind?”
“If you are, we both are,” he said, pressing his forehead to her shoulder. “Aggie, I think I’m being haunted.”
“Well, that makes two of us,” Aggie said. “Any idea what we should do about it?”
“Not a clue.”
Chapter Ten
Aggie rubbed the stiffness from her icy fingertips. She’d almost shit a brick when she’d seen some stranger standing in Jace’s place on the dance floor. Almost being beaned on the head with a chandelier had been nothing compared to that.
“Do you think we should leave?” she asked. She hated to cancel their wedding, but this was some freaky shit they were dealing with, and she was not keen on being the mark of some crazy, dead Queen of England.
Jace sighed and his arms tightened around her. He felt so good behind her. So solid and real and… and un-ghost-like. She shuddered at the thought of what she’d seen back in the castle.
“Maybe we need to help them reconcile. That should make them leave us alone. I think I’m the one who brought Thomas here from the Tower of London, and she’s been here waiting for him all this time.”
Aggie shook her head, glad her senses were returning. She’d completely freaked out in the ballroom, but now she was half-convinced that she hadn’t actually seen Thomas Seymour’s likeness. It made a heck of a lot more sense to think she’d just imagined it.
But Jace was talking about both of them—two ghosts—as if they were real.
“Okay, this is just too bizarre,” she said. “I don’t believe in this kind of thing at all.”
“Me neither, but it’s kind of hard to deny it’s happening when you’re living it.”
She begged to differ. “I am perfectly capable of remaining in denial, thank you very much.”
“Have you heard the voices too?” He squeezed her as if trying to force agreement from her lips.
“No, I just see things. You can hear them?”
“Unfortunately. I hear him a lot. I even hear her. And I see her sometimes. In you. I thought I was losing my mind.”
Aggie shuddered. “Maybe you are.”
“Maybe.”
“Then I am too.” Aggie turned in Jace's arms and clung to him. “I don't have much experience with this kind of thing."
He snorted through a small laugh and nuzzled her neck. “Does anyone?”
“Maybe the guy from Crossing Over.”
“I always thought that was fake.”
“Me too.”
“I don't think these two intend any harm,” he said, pulling her tighter. “Or I didn't until that chandelier came crashing down. It could have killed you.”
“I'm okay,” she assured him. “Not something I'd like to repeat, however. Maybe we should let them talk this out.”
“And how do we do that?”
She shrugged. “No idea. Like I said, I don't have much experience with this kind of thing.”
“Where's a good ghost whisperer when you need one? Or maybe an exorcist is better qualified for the job.”
She chuckled and pulled away so she could turn to stare into his eyes in the dim light of the lanterns that lit the garden. The snow had changed over to a dreary drizzle, and she began to feel the cold seeping into her skin. Before, she'd been too freaked out and juiced up on adrenaline to notice the temperature. She snuggled close to Jace again, telling herself she just wanted to be next to him for warmth, not because she was afraid of things she didn’t believe existed and because Jace made her feel safe.
He seemed to be more sensitive to this bizarreness than she was, so she asked, “When did you first hear the voices?”
It was infinitely easier to talk about it if it was his problem, not hers.
“When we stepped out of the car five months ago.”
She stiffened. “You heard them the first time we visited? Is that why you were acting so strange that day?”
“Yeah.”
“And you agreed to come back to this place? I'd have run for the hills.”
“I felt drawn to this place. I still do.”
“So have you been possessed by the spirit of Thomas Seymour your entire life?”
Aggie felt the lift of Jace's shoulders as he shrugged. “Never met him before that last visit. I think he's using me as some sort of guide. He can't find this place unless I'm here.”
“But why you?”
“Hell if I know. It isn't as if he tells me his plans or how these things work.”
“And you see her too?”
“Sometimes,” he said, “when I look at you. And I'll be honest, it freaks me the fuck out.”
“I still think maybe we should just leave. It isn't as if Thomas bothers you when we aren't here, and our chandeliers at home are brand new.”
“You don't think we should try to help them? They want to be together, but they suck at communication.”
Aggie laughed and gave Jace a squeeze. “We used to struggle with that.”
“Are you guys out here?” Eric yelled from the steps of a side entrance.
“Yeah,” Jace called.
“Is she still breathing? We banished the evil chandelier from the dance floor. You can come back now.”
“We’re sort of busy at that moment,” Jace returned.
“Are you two having sex out there?” he asked. “Can I watch? It's been a while since I’ve watched anyone but myself and Reb.”
“No and no,” Aggie yelled.
“Dammit,” he muttered before turning away. “You should come back inside soon. It's cold.”
Aggie covered Jace's chilled ears with her hands. “I hardly noticed,” she whispered. “I'm kind of afraid to go back to the ball. People must think I’m crazy for running out like that.”
“I’m sure they just think you were rattled from a chandelier attempting to kill you.”
“We
ll, I guess that’s better than what really has me rattled,” she said.
“Let’s walk the gardens for a bit. I’m not ready to face the crowd or the questions.”
He was staring at her with a rare intensity. If she wasn’t mistaken, his eyes were misty.
“What’s wrong, baby?” she asked.
“When that chandelier came crashing down, I thought…” He swallowed. “I thought I might lose you.”
“The night before our wedding?” Aggie said. “You should be so lucky.”
Aggie moved away from Jace and took his hand. She could definitely feel the cold now that he wasn't pressed firmly against her. She couldn’t believe he’d been suffering with this in silence. Actually, she could believe it. And she suddenly felt like a complete jerk for intentionally messing with him earlier.
“Jace, I have a confession. And an apology.” She squeezed his fingers. “I’m sorry I tried to scare you. If I’d known that you really were hearing things and seeing ghosts, I wouldn’t have done it.”
“Scare me? When did you scare me?” he asked.
“I wrote that message on the mirror. A kind of Halloween practical joke. I figured we’d get a good laugh out of it tomorrow, but I don’t think it’s funny anymore.”
Jace kissed her soundly on the lips. “Thank God it was you. I was starting to think these ghosts could do real damage. Maybe that chandelier falling right after I said I didn’t love Katherine was just a coincidence.”
“Maybe,” she said, but she kind of doubted it.
“But we need to make sure,” he said, drawing her to a halt at the steps of the chapel.
“Why are we here?”
“We’re going inside. To visit Katherine’s tomb.”
Aggie stopped in midstride. “Oh no, we’re not,” she said, shaking her head vehemently. “I’m not going in there on Halloween night.”
“Why not? You don’t believe there are really ghosts in there, do you?”
“Maybe. I’d love to say we could explain all this away, but if they’re talking to you and you’re seeing things…” She patted his shoulder. “Let me put it this way, I’d rather believe in ghosts than believe you’re crazy.”
“Good. Because I need to deal with this, this haunting or whatever it is,” he said. “Now that you know what’s been happening to me and you haven’t called the loony wagon yet, I feel like I can face the problem head on. I want to face it. With you. Does that make sense?”
Sinners at the Altar Page 43
