Garner nodded, as if what she told him fell perfectly into place like the missing piece to a puzzle. “That’s why Andrei thought you could do something for Valonia. He thought you could heal her. But if you had tried, and you’d absorbed her wound, wouldn’t you have died?”
“Yes. Maybe. I don’t really know. I haven’t tried to heal more than shallow cuts and bruises. I don’t know if I would be able to heal anything serious. And I don’t know what would happen to me if I did.”
“You’re even stronger than I thought. You have a very powerful gift.” Reaching out, Garner ran a finger over the palm of her hand. “A powerful purpose.”
Yes. Maybe she did. But only if she could learn to use it. If she could learn not to be afraid of it. If she could believe in herself the way Garner believed in her.
Sabina laid her hand on his chest again, feeling the steady beat under her palm. “I wish I was strong enough to heal the pain in your heart.”
“If I had a fraction of the strength and vitality and love of life that you have, I could heal myself.” Tiny lines framed his mouth, and the sadness in his eyes was almost more than she could bear. “But I don’t have any strength left, Sabina. And I don’t want to hurt you. I couldn’t live with hurting you.”
______
Garner lay awake, staring at the ceiling of the bedroom he’d slept in as a kid. He’d known Sabina such a short time, but he didn’t need to know anything more about her to know he loved her. Loved her with all his heart and soul. Pushing her away tore him up inside. But if he let himself love her, marry her and cherish her the way she deserved, and then he lost her…
He rolled to his side and thumped his pillow with a fist. After they turned the evidence over to Leon tomorrow and mailed the other copies to Carlo’s attorney, the attorney general, the governor, the Les Baux Record, and the Times-Picayune, he would turn his father’s house over to a Realtor to handle and say goodbye to Sabina for the last time.
Garner would return to St. Louis. And Sabina would travel to the next town with the carnival. And then they would both be safe.
The creak of his bedroom door interrupted his thoughts. He jolted to a sitting position, squinting through the shadows, every muscle tense, ready to fight.
The door swung open, and Sabina slipped inside. Still in her Gypsy skirt and blouse, she glowed like an emerald in the moonlight falling through the window.
“Sabina.”
She held a finger to her lips. “Please. Don’t say anything. Just hear me out.”
He nodded, his heart beating so loudly he was sure she could hear it, too.
“I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about you and about me and about what is between us.” She paused, as if searching for the words to go on, the words to describe what couldn’t be described.
Garner sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Sitting on the edge, he said nothing, as he’d promised. He just watched her, soaked her in.
She took a deep breath, as if drawing strength. “I know we don’t have a future. But I also know we can’t waste what we do have. It’s too rare. Too precious.”
Now it was his turn to draw strength. What she said was true. Every word spoke to the longing in his soul. “But—”
She held up a hand, stopping his protest. “I need you, Garner. I need your arms around me.” Even in the moonlight he could see her body tremble. With need. With want.
Just as his own body trembled.
“I don’t want our memories of each other to be filled only with regret, Garner. I want to remember the feel of your skin on mine. Your hands touching me.”
Arousal pulsed inside him like an undeniable force. A need only she could satisfy. Night after night of loneliness stretched in front of him. Hours when he would have nothing more than the memory of her softness, her scent, her loving to pull him through.
“Please, Garner. Don’t throw away what is so good, so rare. Give us something to remember. Give us tonight.”
He stood up and crossed to her. He couldn’t refuse. He couldn’t even think. He didn’t want to. He wanted only one thing. To touch Sabina while he still could. To know her. Raising his hand, he traced a finger down the silken skin of her cheek.
She peeled the soft, gauzy top over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and her breasts hung free, breathtaking in the moonlight. She lowered her arms and dropped the top to the floor. Her necklace glinted from where it rested just above her breasts.
He reached out a hand, teasing first one nipple and then the other with his fingers until they puckered, hard and ready for the attention of his mouth.
Give us tonight, she’d said.
He’d do his best. For her and for himself. Because after tonight, memories would be all they had.
He lowered his lips to one breast. Littering kisses over the supple mound, he circled her nipple before taking it into his mouth. He suckled and nipped, reveling in the arch of her body and the moan of pleasure from her lips.
She reached her arms around him, trailing her fingers down his back.
Goose bumps rose on his skin at her touch. Her hands found the waistband of his briefs and inched the elastic down. The cotton caught on his erection. She followed the waistband with her fingers until her hands were between their bodies. She slipped the stubborn briefs over his hardness and down his legs. Once they were out of the way, she cupped him with her warm hands and stroked his length.
He gasped at the caress of her fingers and the soft tickle of her gauzy skirt on his skin. Abandoning her breasts for a moment, he lowered himself to his knees in front of her. Hooking his fingers in the waistband of her skirt, he inched it down over the curve of her hips. He caught her panties in his fingers, as well, pulling them down with the skirt until he exposed the triangle of soft hair nestled between her thighs.
He brought his mouth to her, kissing, caressing until she cried out.
Once.
Twice.
He lost count. But he couldn’t stop until his hunger grew so acute, he feared he couldn’t hold out much longer.
Standing, he led her to the bed and laid her down on it. Leaning over her, he lowered his mouth to kiss her breast.
She pulled him down to her. “Please, Garner. I want you. I need you now.” She wrapped her legs around him and drew him close.
He covered her mouth with a kiss. Expelling a shuddering breath, he eased inside her.
They moved as one, sensation, passion building with each thrust. Until she shattered beneath him. Until he couldn’t hold out anymore and he joined her in release. Until their sweat-slick bodies collapsed together on the sheets.
“Oh, it’s so beautiful.”
He nuzzled the shell of her ear. “What?”
“Our auras are touching and mingling. A kaleidoscope of color. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
He had to agree. As ridiculous as it sounded, he was sure nothing this dazzling, this earthshaking, had ever happened before. Not to anyone. And certainly not to him. He felt infused by color. Alive with color.
Without pulling away, he raised himself on his elbows and peered into her lovely face. “Yes. It was beautiful.”
“Did you see it?”
“I can see it in your eyes.”
They made love throughout the night, until they were both so exhausted, all they wanted was to sleep in each other’s arms. And after Sabina drifted off, Garner stayed awake, still nestled in her warmth. Still part of her. Until the sun inched its way over the horizon and its rays glowed through the dusty windows. He couldn’t let go, couldn’t give her up. Because once he did, she would be gone forever. Once he did, all that he would have would be memories.
Chapter Six
“I know who you’re looking for, and I know where he is.”
Sabina narrowed her eyes on Florica Vasilli. She and Garner had been waiting at the carnival office for Leon Thibault to arrive for more than twenty minutes, and despite his promises to show, he was nowhere in sight. “
Where is he, Florica?”
“He went to the fun house. The fun house. The fun, fun, fun house.” The girl swayed back and forth to the strains of zydeco coming from the office radio as she chanted the words, an ethereal smile curving her lips.
Sabina drew in a deep breath, striving for patience. She’d never been able to figure Florica out. Although the woman was only a few years younger than Sabina, she had the innocence and demeanor of a child. Even her aura was that of a child. A rainbow of color. Unspoiled. Unmarred. And also quite unreadable.
Garner stepped closer to Florica. “The fun house? Why is he in the fun house?”
Florica’s smile grew so wide her entire face was transformed into a mask of mischief. A musical giggle bubbled from her lips. “That’s where I saw him go.”
Garner frowned.
Sabina reached for his hand, lacing her fingers with his.
He looked at her, the bittersweet expression shadowing his eyes a reflection of her soul.
Last night had been more than she’d ever dreamed. Ever hoped. Garner was a wonderful lover. Passionate, considerate, just as she knew he would be. But it was the way their auras had touched that still had her senses reeling.
And left her with a hole in her heart.
She pushed away the thought. She couldn’t focus on what it would be like when Garner was gone. This morning he’d told her of his plans to leave immediately following their meeting with Leon Thibault. She only had a few hours left with him. A few hours to touch his hand, to lace her fingers with his. And she wouldn’t waste it. Not one second.
But she couldn’t concentrate on that now. Now they had to find Leon Thibault.
Sabina narrowed her eyes and gave Florica a gentle but firm smile. Judging from Florica’s mischievous giggle, Sabina wouldn’t be surprised if she’d directed Thibault to the fun house herself as a prank. “We’ll go look for District Attorney Thibault at the fun house, then, Florica. But if we miss him and he comes back to the carnival office, I want you to tell him to stay put. Do you hear me?”
Florica shifted her weight from one foot to another. “Do you hear me?” she mocked in a schoolmarm’s tone, then broke into giggles that looped and danced in the already steamy morning air.
Garner turned to Sabina and shook his head. “Let’s go to the fun house. If we miss him, we’ll track him down ourselves.”
______
Fingers tightening around the ivory handle of his knife, he pushed open the door of the fun house and let himself inside. He’d seen how Sabina had narrowed her eyes at Florica. Just as he’d heard her pressing Florica for information, all the while watching and assessing.
Sabina King had powers. Powers he didn’t understand. Powers that frightened him.
He pulled the blade from its sheath and ran his thumb across the edge. Razor sharp and ready. Just as he always kept it. He’d tried to warn Sabina away from digging where she didn’t belong. God knows he’d tried. Just as he’d warned her sister and Wyatt Boudreaux. Just as he’d tried to warn the old woman.
Guilt plunged into his heart.
He hadn’t planned to kill the old woman. That had been unfortunate. But it couldn’t be helped. She’d put it all together. She was going to tell.
And he couldn’t let her tell.
She’d tried to get away from him, knocking over a table in her haste, scattering candles and velvet across the rugs. He’d had no choice but to grab her, to pound her head against the table’s steel edge until her life slipped away. Just as he’d had no choice when he’d tried to kill Alessandra and Wyatt with the fire and tried to run down Wyatt Boudreaux with the rental car.
And he had no choice now but to kill Sabina King and Garner Rousseau.
He’d do whatever he had to. And this time he wouldn’t fail.
______
Sabina usually loved mornings at the carnival. The freshness of the air. The quiet before the activities kicked into full gear. But this morning was different. This morning, the air seemed to carry a clammy chill despite the already building heat. And the quiet set her nerves on edge.
The fun-house entrance yawned in front of them, a large painted mouth framed with white teeth and bright red lips. Later in the day, it would be filled with children and their parents laughing at their distorted images in the mirrors, trying to find their way through the dark mazes, shrieking with fear when the unexpected popped out at them from behind a wall. But now it was silent except for the sound of Sabina and Garner’s footsteps on the wooden ramp.
“Leon?” Garner shouted. “Are you in there?”
A muffled thump and a curse filtered through the fun-house walls.
Garner chuckled and shook his head. “I’ll bet Florica told Leon to wait for us here.”
“I thought the same thing. It’s just her style.”
“She must think we gadje are a gullible lot. First she led me on a chase last night. And now she has Leon lost in the fun-house maze.”
Sabina paused. “Maybe we should make him promise to consider our evidence before we let him out.”
Garner gave her a smile. “Not a bad idea.” He pushed at the center of the huge lolling tongue and the mouth squeaked open.
Sabina followed him through the frame of teeth and lips. The maze was dark. Lights flashed ahead, illuminating moving eyes and wicked clown faces that watched from the shadows. Sabina and Garner approached the hall of mirrors, an attraction no good fun house was without. Mirrors of all shapes and sizes loomed around them. Sabina watched their distorted images move through the hall. Short and fat, thin and tall, and serpentine, but always hand in hand, together.
For now, together.
A creak of floorboards caught her ear. She glanced in the direction of the sound.
A blur of movement emerged from the darkness. Dark feathers. A hawklike beak. Fingers as strong as talons dug into her arm with bruising force. A flash of steel came out of the darkness, swooping toward her. A scream erupted from her throat.
Garner spun around. He grabbed the hand with the knife, stopping its downward assault.
The birdman slammed him back against a mirror. The glass splintered and broke, showering to the floor.
Garner’s grip slipped.
The birdman wrenched his wrist free. He jabbed the blade at Garner.
No!
Sabina rushed the man. Leaping on his back, she grasped his throat with one hand and clawed at his face with the other, trying to gouge her fingers through the holes in the mask and into his eyes.
Garner lunged at the man at the same time. The attacker pushed Garner back into another mirror. His fist shot toward Garner’s stomach. The fist gripping the knife.
Please, God, no.
Garner stood still for a moment, staggering against the mirror, leaning against it. A red stain began to spread down his shirt. Blood.
The man rushed backward, driving Sabina into another mirror.
Air exploded from her lungs. Glass shattered behind her. She released his throat and fell from his back, gasping for breath. Just then a voice yelled from outside the fun house. Andrei. She could swear the voice belonged to her cousin.
“Andrei!” she screamed.
The birdman leaped over Garner and thundered down the fun-house hallway, disappearing into the maze.
Sabina scrambled to Garner’s side. Shards of glass from the broken mirror cut her hands and knees. “Garner! Please, Garner!”
He didn’t answer. A rasping breath came from his lips.
Sabina clawed at his shirt, ripping the fabric wide to expose his wound. A deep gash slashed across his stomach, blood pulsing from it.
She looked into Garner’s face. His pale, strong face. His eyes were already growing glassy, unseeing. His breath sputtered, shuddered. Darkness surrounded him. The black aura of death.
Oh, God, Garner was going to die.
Sabina leaned him back against a mirror and held her hands up in front of her. Her fingers stretched out, steady and strong. Garner couldn’
t die. He couldn’t. Whatever it took, she’d save him. She would, because she was strong. Powerful. And she didn’t want to live without the man she loved.
She pressed her palms to his wound. Blood oozed between her fingers, hot and sticky.
Garner’s eyes widened. Understanding dawned across his face. “No. Sabina, no.”
He clawed at her hands with his fingers. He tried to push her away, but his strength had drained away along with his blood.
She pressed her hands harder against his wound. “I love you, Garner. Always remember I love you.”
Slowly the blood flow lessened, to a light stream, to a trickle, then stopped. She could feel his cut flesh coming together, mending under her fingers. Just as pain ripped into her own flesh, and it seemed as if her blouse was wet with blood.
Strength seemed to pour out of her with each beat of her heart. She gasped, the roar of breath deafening in her ears. Raising her eyes, she looked at her own distorted image in the mirror. Her eyes grew sunken, her cheeks drained of color, of life.
And all around her hung the black aura of death.
Chapter Seven
Garner fought through the fog in his mind as if waking from a horrible dream. Sabina. He had to reach Sabina. He had to stop her. He forced his eyes to focus.
Sabina was crouched next to him in the narrow hall of mirrors. Shards of broken glass glinted all around her. Her fingers pressed his stomach, cold against his skin. She stared past him and into the mirror behind him. Her breathing rasped and gurgled in the silence, fast and shallow.
A chill penetrated his bones and froze his heart.
She’d saved him. She’d healed him. She’d placed her hands on him and absorbed his wound, just as she’d described.
And now she was going to die.
“No.” The word exploded from Garner’s lips again, from his heart, from his soul. She couldn’t die. She couldn’t. He loved her.
Just as he’d loved Mary Ann. Just as he’d loved his mother and even in some strange way, his father.
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