“No!” Gavin raised the gun to shoot at Thaddeus’s head. Thaddeus pounced and grabbed at the gun. A gunshot sounded and the glass from the ceiling light exploded. The room went dark.
Aribelle dropped to the floor, frozen, unable to move a muscle as she heard noises of the men struggling, her eyes adjusting to the dark. Then rough hands grabbed her and pulled her hair, forcing her to stand up. “Don’t move, or she’s dead.” Gavin pressed the warm barrel of the gun to her head.
In the dim light from the window, Aribelle saw Thaddeus’s muscles bulge as he grew taller. He growled, a low, menacing sound. His teeth grew into fangs and claws emerged from his fingers.
“See?” Gavin said, hysterically. “See what he is?”
“Yes, I see.” She tried to speak calmly but wasn’t very successful. “Please let me go, Gavin.”
Thaddeus roared and Gavin pointed the gun at him. Two shots rang out and Thaddeus fell to the floor. Aribelle screamed and Gavin let go of her. She ran to Thaddeus, tears welling in her eyes as he transformed back to a man, lying still with a pool of blood forming under him.
“What did you do?” she shouted at Gavin, her hands shaking violently.
“I saved you. Didn’t you see? I saved you from him.” Gavin’s eyes were wide, his face desperate to convince her that he was the hero.
“No, you didn’t. He wasn’t going to hurt anyone.” She pressed on one of the bullet wounds in his chest, trying to stop the bleeding. “He’s a healer.”
“No!” Gavin pressed the palms of his hands to his temples.
Tears streamed down Aribelle’s face. “He was kind. He healed me.”
Gavin’s mouth went up and down without any words. He took a step back, confusion on his face. “I saved you.”
“You shot an innocent man!” Aribelle pressed her fingers to Thaddeus’s throat, trying to find a pulse. “Please don’t die,” Aribelle whispered. “I love you.”
“No,” Gavin said again, weakly this time. He lowered the gun and shook his head.
“The police will arrest you. You’ll go to jail for murder!”
Gavin’s face drained of color. “What did I do?” he mumbled to himself. He seemed in a daze. “I have to get out of here.”
Yes. Please leave. Aribelle held her breath while Gavin looked wildly around, then headed toward the door. She heard it slam and then the house went still. Gavin had left.
Aribelle sobbed. She couldn’t find a pulse on Thaddeus’s neck but didn’t want to believe that he was truly dead. He could heal himself, right? He had healed from worse. But those injuries had all been gotten from his powers. What if he couldn’t heal from a normal injury? She didn’t have the strength in her to think he was gone.
The blood pool grew, and she had a sickening feeling inside of her. She couldn’t just let him bleed to death. If there was any chance at all he was still alive, she needed to get him help. The hospital was out. The only person she could turn to was…
Catherine.
She was the only person who could save him. Aribelle had no other choice. She’d drag his lifeless body there if she had to.
Aribelle stood and grabbed Thaddeus’s arms. He was heavy. Too heavy to lift. She braced herself and pulled with all her might. He moved an inch. Trying not to get discouraged, she pulled again, telling herself she was his only chance at survival.
She tugged and pulled until she’d gotten him to the door. She swung it open. As she pulled, she tried not to look at the blood smears on the floor. He was bleeding out. She had to hurry.
When she finally got him outside, he slid easier on the snow, but she still fought with all her might to drag him. She managed to get Thaddeus to her car and heave him into the back seat. He didn’t move. His chest didn’t rise and fall. She slammed the car door and ran to the driver’s seat. He couldn’t be dead. He would make it.
She started the car and shoved it into drive. “Come on, Bugs,” she said out of habit.
It was late enough that traffic was light, and she was able to make it to the older neighborhood in record time. She turned onto Ash street and stopped in front of Catherine’s house. Before she could allow herself to get nervous, she leaped out of the car and ran up the steps. She pounded on the door.
The younger woman opened the door, her eyes wide as she looked at Aribelle. “What do you—”
“Please, help me!” Aribelle wrung her hands and more tears welled up in her eyes. “Thaddeus has been shot. I need Catherine to heal him.”
The woman turned around. “Mother!”
Catherine joined her daughter at the door. “You again,” she said, disdain in her eyes.
“Please, help.” The words would barely come out of Aribelle’s mouth. She buried her face in her hands. “He’s going to die.”
Catherine stepped onto the porch. “Where is he?”
Her head snapped up. Was she really going to help him? “In the car.”
The three of them rushed down the steps, and Aribelle opened the back door where Thaddeus lay. Catherine frowned. “He’s barely alive.”
Hope filled Aribelle. He wasn’t dead, as she feared. “Is there anything you can do?”
“Let’s get him inside.” She pressed her lips together in a tight line and grabbed his ankles. “Each of you grab an arm.”
They pulled Thaddeus from the car and managed to carry him up the walkway and into the house. Catherine motioned to an oversized coffee table. “Set him down there.”
The living room was stuffed with eclectic furniture, and every free space was filled with bottles, containers, glass jars, and other strange items. Aribelle knelt beside Thaddeus, smoothing his hair out of his eyes. “Please don’t die on me,” she whispered.
Catherine stared at her. “You love him.”
It wasn’t a question, but she answered it anyway. “Yes.”
“How can anyone love—” Catherine stopped, her eyes narrowing. “What is this?” She bent over Thaddeus, examining his face. “What are all these scars from?”
Catherine’s daughter backed up, her face white.
Catherine lifted Thaddeus’s shirt, revealing more scars littered across his skin, plus the two bullet holes. “What is the meaning of this?” Catherine shouted, turning to her daughter. “Elizabeth?”
Her daughter’s gaze fell to the floor. “I’m sorry, Mother.”
Aribelle didn’t know what was going on, but she really didn’t care. All she wanted was for Catherine to heal Thaddeus.
Catherine turned to Aribelle. “How did he get these scars?”
How could she not know? “Healing others.”
Catherine made a scoffing noise. “He took these upon himself?”
Why was Catherine questioning her? He was bleeding to death! “Yes,” she said, trying not to sound short with the woman who could save Thaddeus’s life.
Catherine turned back to Elizabeth. “You gave him this power?”
Once again, Elizabeth simply said, “I’m sorry, Mother.”
Aribelle wanted to shake Catherine. “Can you heal him?”
Catherine looked at Aribelle like she was just now seeing her for the first time. “Yes. I will heal him.”
She rushed around the room, mumbling to herself and picking up items. Then she picked up Aribelle’s hand and stabbed her finger with a pin.
“Ouch!” Aribelle pulled her hand back, but Catherine took it again.
“I need a drop of your blood.”
Aribelle nodded and let Catherine squeeze out a drop. When it looked like she had what she wanted, she motioned to her daughter. “You’re going to have to undo what you did.”
Elizabeth nodded and joined her mother, standing over Thaddeus. Catherine started speaking in another language, and Elizabeth was mumbling something under her breath. Aribelle stared at Thaddeus’s face. His skin started to
glow, dim at first, but then it grew brighter until she had to close her eyes against the light.
When the intense light faded, Aribelle couldn’t believe what she saw. Thaddeus lay motionless on the table, his skin smooth and perfect. The bullet holes were gone, as were all the other scars. Aribelle caressed his cheek. Could it be true? Had Catherine removed the curse?
Thaddeus took in a breath, and his eyes opened.
Tears blurred Aribelle’s vision. “You’re alive.”
He blinked up at her, confusion wrinkling his brow. “Where am I?” Then his gaze landed on Catherine, and he stiffened.
“I’m sorry, I had to bring you here,” Aribelle said. “You were shot.”
Thaddeus sat up and looked around. “Gavin?”
“He’s gone. He thinks he’s a murderer and is running from the police. I don’t think we’ll see him again.”
Thaddeus held his hand out in front of him, his eyes widening. He looked to Catherine. “You took back the curse?” He felt his chest and looked down at his skin.
“I took back my curse,” Catherine said, giving Elizabeth a pointed look.
Elizabeth squirmed. “I took back part of mine.”
Catherine’s eyes widened. “What?”
She pointed to Thaddeus. “You saw that. He healed so many people. I couldn’t take that from him.”
Thaddeus shook his head. “I’m confused.”
Catherine sighed and sat down in a Victorian style chair. “That night you came back, screaming at me to undo what I had done, I was at my wit’s end. I saw nothing good in you. I cursed you to become the monster you were inside.”
Thaddeus frowned. “I know. I remember.”
“But what you didn’t realize was I wasn’t the only one who cast a spell that day.” She pointed to her daughter.
Elizabeth fidgeted. “I didn’t think it was fair for you to be cursed like that. Without any way to redeem yourself. So I gave you the power to heal and take others’ injuries upon yourself.”
Thaddeus’s mouth fell open.
Elizabeth continued. “I knew you were angry, but I also knew you had good in you.”
“How?”
Pink touched her cheeks. “I knew you from school. You hung out with the ‘in’ crowd, but I watched you. I saw you be kind to Trisha Fox when she fell and scraped her knee. Everyone else was laughing at her sprawled out on the concrete, but you bent down and helped her up.”
“I don’t even remember that,” he said, scrubbing his hand over his face. And the way he stared up at her, it was obvious he didn’t remember Elizabeth either.
“I know.” Elizabeth touched the hem of her shirt. “But I remembered.”
Catherine sighed. “I guess my daughter is a better judge of character than I am.”
Thaddeus shook his head. “No, you were right. I was a horrible person. Insolent and conceited.”
“And with a terrible temper,” Catherine added.
He nodded. “Yes, that too.”
“But he’s not that way anymore,” Aribelle said, unable to sit quietly any longer. “Well, he still needs to work on the temper thing, but he’s grown into a caring person.”
Catherine nodded. “I could tell by the sheer number of scars on him.” She looked him over. “You healed a lot of people.”
Thaddeus dropped his gaze. “It helped me keep myself under control.”
No one spoke for a moment, and Aribelle began to grow anxious to leave. “I’m sorry I barged in on you guys on Christmas Eve. We really should go.”
Catherine stood and extended her hand to Thaddeus. “I’m glad things have changed.”
He took her hand in his. “Me, too.”
Chapter 27
Thaddeus wrapped his arm around Aribelle’s shoulders as they walked to the car. He marveled at the silence of the night. He could no longer hear for blocks. He inhaled, enjoying the cold night air without all the overpowering scents. Except he could still smell the faint coppery scent of blood. He looked down at Aribelle. “You have blood on your clothes.”
“And it’s all over my hands. I’d better not speed. I’d hate to get pulled over by the police looking like this.”
Thaddeus chuckled, marveling at how good it felt to be with her. How unencumbered he was without the curse. They got to her car and he pulled her to him. She looked up at him with her big brown eyes. He brushed a strand of hair from her face. “I think we were interrupted earlier. You were making a proposal.”
She swallowed, and her gaze flickered to the side. “Yes. I thought maybe you could hire me back.”
He stroked the side of her face, the feel of her skin sending small zaps of electricity through him. “You said something about helping me heal people?”
“That may be an outdated suggestion.”
“Not too outdated.” He picked up her hand. She had a tiny pinprick on her finger. He placed his hand on top, letting the warmth flow into her. The pinprick closed over and disappeared.
“You can still heal?”
He pulled her to him and nodded. “Elizabeth said she took back only part of my curse. She left me with the power to heal. To heal, and not have to take the injuries upon myself.”
“So, you’re still going to go out at night and heal people?” She stared up at him, and he wondered if that would bother her. She slowly smiled, showing her approval. “Does that mean you want to hire me back?”
Hire her? Heavens, no. But he could think of some other things he’d like. “No.”
“No?” Hurt flashed through her eyes.
He smiled and leaned down to brush his lips across hers. “I don’t want to hire you. I want to marry you.”
She smiled again and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her lips firmly to his. He wasn’t sure if that was a yes, but he returned the kiss with everything he’d been holding back. He didn’t care about anything else. All he wanted was her.
She broke the kiss and grinned up at him. “Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you, Thaddeus Walker.”
He picked her up and swung her around, making her laugh. He set her back down. “I love you, too.”
After they broke apart from another kiss, she brushed her fingers along his stubble. “Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“What were you going to say to me, after I practically begged you to let me come back? Would you have let me come out at night with you? Or were you going to turn me away?”
He gazed into her eyes. “I was never any good at saying no to you.” He cupped her face and put his forehead to hers. “I was going to protest, and then give in.”
Aribelle smiled. “I hope you never get good at saying no to me.”
Epilogue
One Year Later
Aribelle hung the last of the ornaments on the gigantic tree Thaddeus had chopped down and set up by the fireplace in the living room. She stood back to survey her work. Thaddeus walked up behind her and put his arms around her, splaying his hands over her baby bump. “Looks good.”
A shiver of pleasure from his touch went down her spine. “Did you get the lights hung up outside?”
“All done.” He turned her around and planted a kiss on her lips. Then he chuckled. “Not that anyone will see them driving by.”
She placed a hand on his cheek. “I don’t care. I’ll see them. And they make me happy.”
“Then standing on a ladder in the cold for an hour was worth it.”
She smiled at him. “Thank you.”
The baby kicked, and his mouth popped open as he backed away from her and looked down at her middle. “Was that the baby I just felt?”
She giggled. “Of course.” She took his hand and placed it on her belly where the movement was. A small protrusion stuck out. “I think that’s a foot.”
“Wow, our baby girl is
strong.”
“Like her daddy.” Aribelle placed her hand on his, overwhelmed at the happiness she felt. When he had suggested they elope, she’d been delighted. A big wedding wouldn’t work for them. They had no family and only a handful of friends. And it ended up being perfect, just the two of them, making vows. And then they’d driven to Florida and had a wonderful honeymoon on the beach during the off-season.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Thaddeus went to the dining room and picked up a package from the table. “This came for you.”
“What is it?” she asked, smiling as she opened it. A black graduation cap slid out, a red tassel attached.
“I thought you deserved one of these.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. She’d figured since she was graduating online, she’d have to forego the whole cap and gown thing and live with not having a tassel or anything as a keepsake. She threw her arms around him. “Thank you.”
“I’m proud of you, sticking it out like you did. You worked hard and deserve your diploma.”
She wiped her cheeks. “It means a lot to me to have your support.”
He tilted her chin up and kissed her lips. “And I’m proud of you for starting that book.”
She laughed. “I’m only on chapter seven.”
“But you’re writing every day. That’s what matters.”
“Even though it’s not very good?” She didn’t want to kid herself. She knew it needed a lot of work. But through his encouragement, she’d been able to get farther on this book than any others she’d started. She was no longer afraid to fail.
He shrugged. “I’ve heard writing is like playing the piano. No one expects you to be a master at it the first time you sit down. It’s the daily practice that makes you better.”
“Have I ever told you how wonderful you are?”
He chuckled, a sound that always made her stomach flutter. “I don’t mind if you repeat it.”
She put the graduation cap on the table and walked to the other side, where a large jigsaw puzzle lay strewn about. The day after Christmas last year, Thaddeus had purchased another 2,000 piece puzzle, and they’d made it a tradition to work on it a little each day, in memory of her father.
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