Forever: A Novel of Good and Evil, Love and Hope

by Jude Deveraux

  Darci’s head came up so quickly she almost hit his chin. Her face was level with his, her lips near his.”Promise me?”

  “Sure,” he said, but his voice came out raspy.

  “Swear it.” She grabbed the sides of his leather jacket and pulled on them, drawing his face even nearer to hers.

  Her breath smelled so good that for a moment Adam was dizzy.

  “Swear it!” she said. “Swear it on....What do you hold sacred?”

  “At the moment, my sanity.”

  “None of your dumb jokes now. This is important.”

  “I swear on my sister’s life that I won’t abandon you.”

  That statement made him curse under his breath, because he’d revealed something that he hadn’t meant to. Maybe she wouldn’t notice his slipup.

  But Darci’s eyes widened until he could see white all around them. “The Internet said that you’re an only child, so who is your sister?”

  “She—” Adam looked around Darci’s head. “The hotel people must have told him what kind of car I’m driving, because your father is coming this way.”

  “No!” Darci half squealed, and Adam nearly wept with relief when she rolled away from him to go to the other side of the car. Her anxiety about her father had made her stop asking questions about his sister. For a moment, Adam closed his eyes and tried to regain his equilibrium.

  When there was no sound from Darci, he looked at her sitting in the passenger seat. Her face was as white as a marshmallow. She wasn’t going to faint again, was she? he thought, and at the same time he wondered how much time he was going to have to spend acting as mediator between these two strangers. All he wanted to do was work on the problem at hand, but now he’d have to be a family counselor. The truth was, he’d been hoping that this man Taylor could baby-sit Darci for a day or two so he could go back into those tunnels. On his own, he could make a map. On his own, he could—

  When he heard Darci open the car door, he stopped his thoughts and looked at her. She was staring, with a look he’d never seen before, at the man walking slowly toward them. The man certainly did look like Darci, Adam thought. There’d be no need for DNA tests to prove paternity.

  Darci started to get out of the car.

  “Wait a minute and I’ll go with you,” Adam said. “I’ll— Damnation!” The seat belt lock was jammed, and though he pushed as hard as he could on the red button, the thing wouldn’t release. But after a moment, he stopped pushing the button and looked out the window at what was happening.

  Looking as though she were in a trance, Darci had gotten out of the car, leaving the door open, and slowly begun to walk toward the man as he walked toward her. His eyes were intent on the young woman coming toward him, and the closer they got to each other, the faster they began to walk. By the time they were thirty feet from each other, they were running.

  A car had pulled in beside Adam’s in the parking lot, and half a dozen people had climbed out, their arms laden with shopping bags, but when they saw Darci and the man walking toward each other, they halted and watched also. Adam had to admit that it was a sight to see, these two people who looked so much alike running toward each other, their arms outstretched.

  When Darci was about a yard from the man, she leaped off the ground.

  For a moment, Adam held his breath; then he jerked hard against the seat belt and it released. In one quick movement he was out of the car, ready to run to Darci’s rescue if this man didn’t catch her.

  But he needn’t have worried, because the man caught her against him and enveloped her in his arms. Darci’s legs went about his waist and her head buried itself into his shoulder, as she curled herself against him in complete and total submission.

  And love, Adam couldn’t help thinking as he watched them, and a white-hot emotion ran through him. The feeling was something like anger, no . . . actually, it was more like rage. But it also felt like....

  His thoughts were interrupted by the people standing by the car next to his. They were applauding! One of the women was wiping tears from her eyes; a teenage boy put his fingers to his mouth and gave a loud whistle, then he clapped some more.

  Adam was quite annoyed. His inclination was to snap at the tourists that this was a private reunion between a father and daughter who had never met each other, and therefore—

  But Adam didn’t say any of that. In fact, he didn’t say anything at all to the people, even though they were gushing about how “romantic” what they’d just seen was. After closing his car door and locking it, Adam went around to the passenger-side door, closed, and locked it. When he thought he’d delayed as long as he could, he turned and started walking slowly toward father and daughter, who were now standing close together, Taylor Raeburne’s arm around Darci’s shoulders, hers about his waist.

  Taylor Raeburne was only about five-foot-six, maybe seven, inches tall, Adam saw as he drew closer. From the photo, Darci’s mother had seemed to be rather tall, so he’d wondered why Darci was so short. At the time, he’d figured that it was malnutrition. But now he saw that it was heredity. In fact, looking at them together, he didn’t think he’d ever seen a parent and child more alike than these two.

  “You’re Montgomery?” Raeburne asked when he saw Adam.

  When Adam looked into the man’s eyes, he knew that there weren’t many people who’d called Taylor Raeburne short and lived to tell about it. He reminded Adam of a gladiator of old: small but powerful. This man had an air about him that would make people notice him wherever he was.

  “Yes,” Adam said, trying not to look at Darci as she clung so closely to this man. “There’s no need to ask who you are.”

  At that, Raeburne just stared at him, blinking, as though he hadn’t understood the language Adam was speaking.

  “Don’t mind him,” Darci said. “He’s always trying to make jokes and failing. He just meant that he could see that you’re my father.” Darci gave the man such a look of love that again that feeling went through Adam, this time so hard that he had to look away for a moment.

  “So where do we begin to work on clearing out these witches?” Taylor asked.

  Adam looked back at the man, glad to be on familiar territory. “I thought that maybe you and Darci could spend some time together and get to know each other while I do a little ...well,mapping.”

  “Of the tunnels?” Darci snapped, taking her arm from around her father’s waist. “You can’t go without me!”

  “I’d do a great deal better without you!” Adam snapped back. “Look at what you did last time!”

  “I got you your dagger, that’s what I did. You couldn’t reach it, but I set off the alarm and that gave you time to reach in and grab the thing. Not that finding that knife has helped us any.”

  “You act as though you planned that,” Adam shot back at her. “You act as though—”

  “You two haven’t become lovers, have you?” Taylor asked, interrupting the two of them.

  “With him?” Darci said, almost sneering. “No, he’s saving himself for Renee.”

  “Very funny.” Adam looked at Taylor.”Renee is my dog.”

  Taylor Raeburne didn’t smile.”It’s a good thing that you haven’t become lovers because as I’m sure you know, my daughter must remain a virgin if she’s to read the mirror.”

  When Taylor said that, Adam could feel Darci staring at him. That’s why you hired me! she screamed in his head. You hired me because I’m a . . . a. . . . Even in her mind she couldn’t say the word.

  “Darci, I—” Adam said, turning to look at her. “Ow! That hurt!” he said when a sharp pain shot through his head. A pain like an ice pick went in one temple, straight through his brain, and out the other temple. “Stop it,” he whispered, putting his hands to the sides of his head.

  Through this Taylor had been standing in silence and watching, but now he understood what was going on. Grabbing his daughter’s thin shoulders, he stepped between her and Adam. “Darci,” he said, but the expression on
her face didn’t change. Her eyes were big, the pupils enlarged, and they were sightless. “Darci!” he commanded, then he gave her shoulders a shake. “Stop it! Stop it now or you’re going to kill him!”

  In an instant, Darci came out of her spell, looked at her father as though she didn’t know who he was; then she saw Adam behind him. Adam was on his knees on the grass, the palms of his hands pressed to his temples. There was a trickle of blood from his right nostril.

  “I did that?” she whispered, holding on to her father’s strong arms, because if she didn’t hold on to something, she was going to fall down. Her entire body was weak, drained. There was no more energy left inside her.

  “Yes,” Taylor said, looking at her intently, seeing the way the blood was draining from her face. “You didn’t know you could do that, did you?”

  She looked back at him. “That I can kill people with my mind?” she asked, because she felt that if she’d kept on blasting Adam with her rage, she could have made his head explode. Her voice was barely a whisper.”No. I didn’t know that I could do that. I don’t want to know it. I don’t want to be a freak. I don’t even want to be a ...a....”Her eyes filled ith tears, choking her.

  Taylor drew her to him, hiding her face in his shoulder. “Are you all right?” he asked Adam.

  Adam had bent over to put one hand on the ground, the other was pressed to his bleeding nose, but he nodded at Taylor that he was okay.

  “What I’d like more than anything is to go somewhere and talk, but I don’t think we have time,” Taylor said. “Tonight’s the thirtieth.”

  Both Darci and Adam looked at him in question.

  “Please tell me that you two know what that means,” Taylor said.

  “He tells me nothing,” Darci said angrily.

  “And she tells me even less,” Adam said hoarsely, still unable to stand up.

  “I’m not sure of this,” Taylor said slowly, looking from one to the other, “but it’s my guess that neither of you knows much to tell.” He looked at Adam. “Did you tell my daughter”—Taylor had to pause, as those words made a catch come into his throat— “why you’re doing this? Did you tell her about the kidnaping?”

  “No,” Adam said, slowly standing up. He hadn’t yet looked at Darci. Part of him wanted to protect her, but part of him wanted to run away from her. Could she really kill a person with her mind? But, worse, she had turned her power against him.

  “And you?” Taylor asked, moving Darci to stand at arm’s length so he could look into her eyes. “What do you know about what you can do?”

  “I don’t think I know much of anything,” she said, also not looking at Adam. She could feel his anger, but worse, she could feel that he was afraid of her.

  For a moment Taylor stepped back and looked at the two of them. “Good hearts,” he muttered. “You two have good hearts but not many facts.” He gave a sigh, then said louder, “All right, let me spell it out for you: We have until the thirty-first, tomorrow, to get what you’re seeking.” He was looking at Adam.”Is it the mirror or the reader you want most?”

  “She is a rumor. No one is sure that she exists,” Adam said, eyes wide.

  “Oh, she exists, all right, and— Show me your chest. I want to see that you’re who you claim to be.”

  “How do you know about this?” Adam asked.

  “I have a woman who works for me, a Mrs. Wilson. The woman can find out anything about anybody in less time than it takes you or me to read our driver’s license. I drove up here from Virginia, and by the time I got here and had plugged in my fax machine, she had already found out a great deal.” He looked hard at Adam.”There’s been quite a bit written about you. If you’re the man you say you are, that is.”

  Adam took a moment to consider this. Right this second he had to decide whether or not to reveal who he was and what he was after to this man, to this stranger. But he had seen that Darci was part of this and by looks alone he could see that this man was part of Darci.

  And the man knew about the mirror. And about “the reader.”

  “Shall we go to the guest house?” Adam asked. “I think we’ve received enough public attention for one day.”

  “Yes,” Taylor said, “let’s go somewhere private.”

  As Adam walked past Darci, she whispered, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  But Adam wasn’t ready to forgive her.

  14

  ONCE THEY WERE INSIDE the guest house, Adam pulled his sweater over his head, then unbuttoned his shirt. On the left side of his chest, directly over his heart was a scar. No, Darci, thought as she looked at the place. It wasn’t just a scar, it was a brand. It had become distorted over the years, as it was obviously an old scar, but she could still see that it had originally been a shape. But she couldn’t identify the shape.

  Right now she could feel that Adam was still so angry with her that he didn’t want her near him, so she didn’t step forward to look closer at the scar.

  “Do you know what it is?” Taylor asked, not touching Adam but looking hard at the old scar.

  “A tower,” Adam said. “From the tarot deck. It’s the card of death.”

  “Yes. It’s her personal symbol. She must hate you a lot if she branded you with that,” Taylor said, then looked at Adam in speculation. “But you’re still living. How old were you when she did that to you?”

  “Three,” Adam said as he buttoned his shirt.”And it’s no use asking me what happened because I don’t remember. And, before you ask, I’ve been hypnotized several times— or people tried to put me under, anyway—but I still don’t remember what happened.”

  “If she couldn’t wipe that memory from your brain, she wouldn’t be worth much, would she?”

  “She! She! She!” Darci said. “Who is this she?!”

  Taylor looked shocked at Darci’s question. “The hotel staff said you two have been here for five nights. Have you even spoken to each other?”

  “She never stops talking,” Adam said, but he didn’t look at Darci. “But what she talks about is mostly Putnam— man, boy, town.”

  “And my True Persuasion,” Darci shot back. She wanted to feel sorry for Adam, for what had been done to him when he was only three years old, but right now he was so angry at her that she couldn’t feel anything at all for him.

  Taylor was looking from one to the other, then back again. “I’m guessing that neither of you has any idea what’s going on. It seems that what little bit you do know, you’ve kept to yourselves and not shared it. I guess that you don’t even know the connection between you two, do you?”

  “If you mean that she shouts things into my head, yes, we found that out last night.” Even to himself, Adam sounded like a sulky little boy.

  “Darci, dearest, hold out your left hand to me,” Taylor said as he took a pen from his jacket pocket. “Seven moles. Didn’t you tell me that she has seven moles on her hand?”

  “Yes, that’s how many I counted. I don’t think she’s ever counted them.”

  Holding his daughter’s hand, Taylor gently rubbed her palm with his fingers. “I didn’t think I’d ever have children of my own,” he said softly. “I was in a car accident about two years after I met your mother. Like all men, I thought I had all the time in the world to have a family, but I was injured in that accident, not horribly, but enough that something was damaged, and even though I’ve been married twice, I’ve had no children. One wife left me because of it. But then, this morning, that call came, and....”Whenhe looked into her eyes, he sent love to her.

  Still holding his daughter’s hand, Taylor looked at Adam.”My daughter is descended from a long line of powerful women. I’ve written about my female ancestors and what they could do, but I thought that there would be no more of these wonderful women. I thought that I’d stopped the line. Did you know that she can sense people’s happiness or their unhappiness? She can feel what you feel about her right now.”

  Darci pulled her hand out of his grasp. �
��I don’t like this. I don’t want to be some weird, strange—”

  “Then don’t try to kill people!” Adam snapped at her, but when he saw tears gather in Darci’s eyes, the anger went out of him. “Oh, hell,” he said.

  “Don’t curse,” she said, beginning to sob.

  Adam took a step toward her, his arms open, ready to comfort her, but Taylor stepped between them. “Not yet,” he said. “Two more days, then I’ll walk her down the aisle to you, but not yet.”

  “Aisle?” Darci said, her eyebrows raised.

  “She’s engaged to somebody else,” Adam said, “and, besides, she and I aren’t— I mean, we don’t—”

  “I can see that,” Taylor said, and he was obviously highly amused at Adam’s statement. He couldn’t keep himself from openly chuckling. “Yes, I can definitely see that you two are ‘not.’” Still smiling, he turned and picked up Darci’s left hand again and began to draw on it. He was connecting the moles on the palm of her hand.

  “Ducky Doodle,” Adam said softly, making Darci smile.

  When Taylor looked at her in question, she said, “Sometimes his jokes aren’t so dumb,” then she let out an “Oh!” of surprise.

  “That’s what I thought,” Taylor said. “It’s nine moles, not seven. The second two are lower down on her wrist. See?”

  You better catch me, Darci said in her mind to Adam as she looked down at her palm, because her knees were giving out on her once again. On her palm was the exact same shape, the tower, that had been branded on Adam’s chest.

  Pushing Taylor aside, Adam swept Darci into his arms and placed her on the couch. “Get her some water,” he ordered the older man—and was ashamed at how good it felt to put himself between Darci and her father. “In a glass. With ice.”

  When Taylor returned with the glass of water, he said, “Are you sure she’s not just hungry? She’s awfully thin. Do you ever feed her?”

  It was what was needed to break the tension. Adam looked at Darci lying on the sofa, once again halfway to a faint, and he started to laugh. And his laugher started Darci’s. As Adam plopped down on one end of the sofa, Darci pulled herself up to a sitting position and began to laugh harder. And the more they laughed, the more they kept on laughing, until they were reaching for each other and were soon collapsing in each other’s arms.