by Tefft, Cyndi
“You never told me you could play the guitar,” I said.
“You never asked.”
I raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously. “What else haven’t you told me?”
He smirked and replied, “What else haven’t you asked?”
I smacked him on the arm and mumbled “smartass,” pulling ahead of him on the path. He increased his stride and easily caught up, grabbing my hand and pulling me around to face him.
“Such foul language shouldn’t come from a lovely mouth like yours.” He drew me close and I could feel his warm breath against my face in the cool night air.
Give me that lovely wee mouth.
His lips toyed with mine, nibbling, tasting, teasing. I pressed against him, wanting more. Needing more. Waves of longing ran down the length of my back and curled between my legs, twisting into a tight knot. Knowing he’d received clear instructions to take me home, I broke away from him, panting, and resumed walking toward the car.
“I don’t know how we’re going to plan a wedding by December,” I said, the desire to rip his clothes off nearly eating me alive. “I wish everyone knew that we’re already married. I don’t want to have to pretend and I don’t want to have to go back to the dorm. I hate leaving you.” He offered once again to find a priest to take care of it.
I stopped in the middle of the path, thunderstruck.
“What is it, lass?”
“Ranger Jim’s not the only person in the world who knows we’re married. There’s one more. Come on, I want to introduce you to someone.” I grabbed his hand and practically ran the rest of the way, trying to think of what I’d say to him once we got there.
Chapter 16
Stay here and don’t say anything until I tell you, okay? We don’t want to give him a heart attack, at least not here in the waiting room.
Aiden’s eyes told me he’d understood. He sat down and began thumbing through a magazine, though I could tell by the stiffness of his shoulders that he was nervous about this meeting. He’d asked if I thought this was a good idea on the drive over, but I told him Father O’Malley was the one person I trusted to keep our secret.
I walked up to the counter and asked the nurse if the hospital chaplain was in. She made a phone call and then nodded, her face a practiced mask of compassion and calm.
“Yes, he is available. He’ll be down in a few minutes.” She started to pull out some paperwork for me to fill out, but I assured her it was just a social call. She looked at me doubtfully, her eyes flickering over to Aiden, who looked like he was going to be sick. She shrugged and set the paperwork aside, no longer interested.
I paced nervously in the waiting room until an eyebrow from Aiden made me drop into a chair, fidgeting.
Are you sure you want to do this? he asked and I gave him a barely perceptible nod, hoping no one would see. He sighed and turned back to his magazine, though I knew he wasn’t reading it. I vividly remembered sitting in this very room waiting for the priest on that awful night when I’d kissed Ravi and felt like the world was falling apart around me. The memory made my stomach turn over.
“Lindsey?” Father O’Malley’s voice made me jump in my seat, since I hadn’t seen him come in. A flood of emotions poured over me at the sight of his kind smile. He held out both hands to me in greeting. “It’s wonderful to see you again. How are you doing?”
Humming with excitement, I could barely keep the words from bursting out, but I took a deep breath to steady myself.
“I’m doing great, Father. But, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to speak with you privately in the chapel, if it’s free. I have some news to share with you.”
He nodded, his eyes scanning mine for a moment to try and discern the nature of my news, but then he turned down the hall, beckoning me to follow. I glanced over at Aiden and he fell into step behind me, ignoring the curious look from the nurse. Father O’Malley raised his eyebrows in surprise as Aiden followed, but he said nothing.
The chapel was empty, though candles had been lit at the altar, infusing the room with a warm glow. I let out the breath I’d been holding, unsure of exactly where to start. The priest looked at me with his trademark gaze of quiet expectation and acceptance, waiting for me to begin.
“Father, I think you’d better sit down.”
He thought for a moment, but did as I asked, again without a word. Aiden stood next to me, his face unreadable, though I could feel the tension radiating from him.
“Father O’Malley, I would like to introduce you to my husband, Aiden MacRae.” I bit my lip as I looked from Aiden to the priest, my heart hammering in my chest. The chaplain’s expression was one of confusion and concern, and it occurred to me belatedly that he probably thought I’d gone off the deep end.
“Lindsey?” he asked, trying to strike the right balance between kindness and concern.
Aiden saved me having to explain. “I understand it comes as a shock to you, Father, but ‘tis true. Lindsey has told me all about you, how you cared for her after she came back to earth, and I want to thank ye. I owe you a debt I can never repay.”
The priest’s mouth went slack and his eyes grew wide with shock and a hint of fear. He touched his head, chest and shoulders in the sign of the cross and turned to me. “How can this be? I… he…” he stammered, trying to get the words out. I sat down next to him and took his hand, explaining about the cabin and the fire, and how Aiden had come forward with a new chance at life with nothing more than the clothes on his back.
“Lindsey…” Father O’Malley began. The tone of his voice slapped me across the face.
“You said in the hospital that you believed me,” I said, my voice no more than a whisper. “Were you lying?”
Silence choked the air out of the room, as skepticism and hope warred across the priest’s features. Candlelight flickered on the hollows of his face and a lump formed in my throat.
“We shouldn’t have come,” I said, rising to go. “Forget you saw us.” I grabbed Aiden’s hand and headed for the door. A storm cloud of grief was welling up inside me, threatening to spill out in heaving sobs of betrayal.
Father O’Malley’s voice echoed in the small room and I stopped cold.
“If this is true, then you’ve seen Saint Peter.”
Aiden turned slowly and nodded, his eyes still wary. “Aye, I have, many a time.”
The priest’s eyes locked onto Aiden’s.
“Tell me, please. What is he like?” he asked breathlessly, as if his curiosity was a sin but something he could not help. The coil of anger and hurt within me loosened and I coughed out a trembling laugh. We walked back to the front pew and sat down. Aiden smiled, describing the many times he’d taken souls to meet Saint Peter on their journey from earth to heaven. Tears pooled in Father O’Malley’s eyes, then spilled onto his cheeks. His mouth moved soundlessly in a prayer, his breathing shallow as if he were afraid to miss a word. Looking from one man to the next, I felt the two pieces of my life click together into one, and began to cry myself.
“Praise the Lord. What a miracle. Oh, Heavenly God.” The priest’s cries were full of awe as he tried to absorb what he was seeing and hearing. He clasped my hands tight and I instinctively pulled him into a hug. He reached one arm out to Aiden, who joined us in the embrace, and the three of us sat huddled together crying and laughing and praying for a long time.
Chapter 17
I strolled through the college campus on my way to the music building. The sun had chased the rain clouds away, revealing a beautiful expanse of blue sky. The crisp autumn air smelled of earth and moisture, an altogether familiar scent in the Pacific Northwest. It was the smell of home. The thought made me smile. After introducing Aiden to Father O’Malley the night before, I felt like life was settling down. Aiden had a job, school was going well, and now I didn’t have to bear our secret alone. The priest’s acceptance of Aiden, of our story, healed an ache inside I didn’t even know was there. Life was good.
When I arrived at the mu
sic building for our first band practice of the school year, I found the room dark and empty, which was weird since Ravi usually got there before anyone else. He spent hours at the piano each day, working on homework for his music theory class as well as writing upbeat tunes for the band. He decided to major in Engineering because he was responsible and practical, but piano was his true calling.
I flipped on the light and dropped my backpack against the wall, thankful to be relieved of the burden. The books I was forced to haul around were not only more expensive than a used car, but weighed just about as much. Stretching my sore shoulder muscles, I turned on the sound board, then wandered over to the piano and pulled back the cover from the keys. I didn’t know how to play. I could never stick with something long enough to learn. Mom always said I had the attention span of a gnat. She was right, though it irritated me to admit it. Running my fingers over the perfect row of ivory keys, I felt the indentations between each one and thought about the night Ravi had played my song.
It was after our band had taken second place in last year’s talent contest. We’d spent the evening celebrating our success by partying at the drummer’s apartment. The keg of beer he’d provided ensured everyone was feeling no pain and for the first time in months, the ache of losing Aiden had released its strangle hold on me. Ravi was everywhere I looked: smiling, laughing, making sure to touch me lightly each time he passed by. It felt like... before. Before the accident. Before I lost my heart and broke his.
Losing Aiden was like ripping a lung from my chest and I wanted so badly just to breathe freely again. Ravi had taken the poem I wrote and put music to it, unaware that I’d written it about Aiden. And when he brought me to the music building after the party and played the song for me, I couldn’t help but get lost in the moment. The music covered my wounds like a healing salve, the love and beauty in Ravi’s gift more than I could contain. When he kissed me, my body responded before my mind could object.
But when he asked to see the necklace he’d given me, the one I used to wear Aiden’s ring close to my heart, I freaked. Horror swept over me at what I’d done. Dead or alive, I belonged with Aiden. And I’d kissed Ravi anyway. Shame pierced my soul with a thousand tiny needles and I ran.
I ran to Father O’Malley and he believed me. And he believed us still.
My heart swelled with emotion just thinking of Aiden and the priest, huddled together, talking excitedly. I started to reach out to Aiden in my mind, just to check in, when the wind started howling outside.
That’s weird. It was so nice before. I pulled my arms across my chest and shivered.
The door rattled against its hinges, then burst open and crashed against the wall.
My head snapped up. “What the—“ A rancid stench snaked down my throat, choking off the words. A swirling black mass appeared in the doorway, twisting tighter and tighter into a coil like a tornado until it touched the ground.
And became my worst nightmare.
Reptilian skin stretched tight across its skeletal face. Blood red eyes flashed from gaping sockets in its skull. The beast pulled back its lips in a wicked grin that turned my veins to ice. A slimy tongue slithered over its fangs as if to signify how good I would taste.
I stumbled backward, knocking over a music stand that clanged against another, setting off a chain reaction. My feet wouldn’t obey me, tripping over one another in a frantic need to escape the horror in front of me. There was no way out of the room except the door behind the creature. A scream ricocheted in my head but no sound came out.
Long, vicious claws pressed against the floor as the hell transporter sprang forward. Its slender frame soared through the air and landed atop the piano. Terror reverberated in my chest and scraped down my back. I scrambled behind the drum set in the corner and mentally cried out to Aiden, hoping he could hear me.
He won’t save you, bitch. The hiss burned through my mind.
The transporter jumped down and flung a guitar out of its path. The amplifier’s screech pierced my skull like a railroad spike. My eyes darted around the small room for anything I could use as a weapon. I grabbed the microphone stand and swung it back and forth like a light saber.
Resting on its hind legs, the fiend just stared at me. And then it laughed.
The toxic sound ate through my skin like battery acid. Despair swept over me in a devastating wave. The silver stand shook in my hands until the beast slithered forward and mercilessly yanked it from my grip.
I’m going to die.
Panic took over and I started flinging instruments forward to keep something—anything—between me and the transporter. Drums, keyboard, cymbals, everything went crashing to the ground.
Aiden! I screamed for him just as the demonic creature intercepted my path and struck me hard across the face. My head slammed against the wall and I crumpled to the floor. The world slowed down to the space between heartbeats as the transporter gripped my throat with its claws. Pain sliced through me and my stomach heaved at the rank breath fanning over me.
Leave him now or die.
My foggy brain could not process the command. Fear clogged my lungs like an oil slick, suffocating me, drowning me. The claws sank farther into my neck. Lights flickered at the edge of my vision. The creature shook me, rattling my head against the concrete. My lungs burned with unspent breath as oblivion beckoned.
Leave him now or die. This is your last warning.
Warning?
A shove from behind propelled me forward onto the piano keys, the discordant sound ringing in my ears. I stared down at my fingers, unable to comprehend how I’d gotten from the floor back to the piano.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Micah sneered from behind me. I whipped around to face him, my eyes wild with confusion and fear.
The hell transporter was gone. The foul scent of the beast no longer pervaded the air. The room was immaculate, all the instruments in their proper places. Music stands lined the wall, stands I know I’d knocked over in my desperate need to escape.
My hands flew to my throat where the beast’s claws had sunk in. Blood should have been flowing down my neck, but it wasn’t. It was as if...
As if none of it had happened.
Leave him or die. The warning was stuck on replay in my mind.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Micah said as I gaped at him, shaking uncontrollably. “Doesn’t she, Derek?”
The guy next to him was covered in black from his leather jacket to his clunky army boots. Stringy dark hair fell past his shoulders and piercings dotted his features like he’d gone bobbing for nails. His eyes took a lazy stroll over my body. With a step forward, he got right in my face.
“Boo,” he whispered, then broke out laughing.
His voice slapped me back into reality. I shoved away from him and ran for the door, his mocking laughter chasing me. Straining against the chaos in my head, I wrenched the door open and tasted a freedom I thought I’d never see again.
I bolted around the corner of the music building and barreled straight into Ravi.
“Woah!” he said, grabbing me by my arms to keep us both from falling. I twisted free of his grasp. “Lindsey, what’s wrong? Are you all right?”
I couldn’t speak. I just shook my head.
Mona appeared from behind him. “No band practice today?” she asked with a smile that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
I ran.
And kept running until my sides ached and I was bent over, gasping for breath. I didn’t know where I was going. I just knew I had to get away.
I had to get to Aiden.
Where was he? I’d called to him twice and gotten no response. Did the transporter block my messages? Could it do that? Did it even happen at all? Was I losing my mind?
A car careened into the parking lot and came to a screeching halt, crossing three spaces and filling the air with the stench of burning rubber.
It was my car.
Hope flared to life within me.
Aiden came shooting out the car door, looking like an avenging angel bent on mass destruction. A force field of fury moved with him until his eyes met mine and his whole body reacted in a wave of relief.
I raced toward him.
He clutched me to his chest and I dissolved into him, shaking like a newborn kitten. The strength of his grasp was the glue that held me together.
“The hell…trans…” I gasped, unable to get the words out. He pressed his lips to the top of my head.
“I know. I saw. “ A tremble in his voice hinted at the emotion underneath.
I pulled away just enough to look up at him.
“You did?”
His eyes swept over me like he was looking for damage. “Some, not all.” His gaze flickered across the expanse of the commons. We were starting to draw a crowd. “Come, we can’t talk here. Let’s go home.”
Chapter 18
Aiden didn’t speak until we’d made it back to his place and he’d shut the door. I couldn’t decide if the murderous look on his face frightened or comforted me. My mind whirled, trying to come up with an explanation for what had happened. He’d seen it? But he hadn’t responded. And from what I saw in the music room, none of it was real. It was all in my head.
But if it was all in my head, how could he have seen it?
I stumbled to the bathroom and grabbed a handful of ibuprofen to try and ward off the migraine I could feel coming.
Aiden was at my heels. “What do you need? What can I do?” he asked. I shook my head and immediately wished I hadn’t. The hammering inside my skull worsened and my stomach churned with nausea. He guided me to the couch and fetched a cool washcloth for my forehead. He knelt beside me, stroking my hair until I was able to speak again.
“I don’t understand,” I said, feeling pathetic and angry and confused and in pain and overwhelmed and afraid and—
