Kiss of Souls

by Morgan Kelley

  The other part?

  Callen was dealing with two stubborn people who had both been hurt. One by Elizabeth’s past, and the other by Ethan’s explosion of vicious words.

  Neither was willing to give at that moment, and here was the outcome.

  “He promised Gabe he’d hold the FBI up until he was back.”

  “Fuck the FBI.”

  There.

  She said it.

  She also closed the box lid.

  Callen took her fingers in his hand. His thumb rubbed across the pink cast where he’d drawn a heart. He put his initials, and hers in it.

  And he’d left room for Ethan’s.

  Just in case.

  “You know I love you, right?” he asked.

  “Yes, or you would have left my sorry, weepy ass by now,” she admitted, as she sat on the bed.

  Callen knelt in front of her. “Angel, I won’t ever leave.”

  She’d thought that about Ethan too.

  See how that worked out?

  “He’s already moved on,” Elizabeth admitted. “That other woman is gorgeous. I’m…I’m nothing to him anymore,” she whispered.

  It killed her.

  Had she stayed, he might still love her—if he forgave her. Now some hussy had moved in, and Ethan was gone. Because of her past, and a relationship that ended before Ethan, she’d paid the price.

  She’d never lie again.

  Ever.

  “Lyzee.”

  She wiped her eyes.

  This whole thing was destroying her, and for the first time in her life, she was sliding into the darkness with no way out. Each day was simply about keeping her children distracted. Once they were gone, she’d be gone.

  After all…

  The FBI was gone.

  Ethan was gone.

  Love was gone.

  Not only had she lost her career and the first man she ever fell hopelessly in love with, but she was losing her identity. Elizabeth couldn’t be herself without all the components—and by components, she meant both men.

  They completed her.

  “I asked him about her.”

  “And?” she asked, trying to hold her breath so she didn’t say something stupid.

  He told her everything.

  “I hate DC.”

  He knew that wasn’t true. Elizabeth was in her element there, and she’d get back to that.

  He hoped.

  Tears filled her eyes. “Do you believe him, Callen? Don’t blow smoke up my ass. Do you believe he hasn’t moved on?”

  Callen knew his brother. He loved them far too much to ever give up on them. He also knew that he’d die before letting Elizabeth go.

  The battle was waiting.

  He’d wage it soon enough.

  Honestly, Callen was rooting for him.

  “I do believe him. Why you ask? He’s wearing his ring, angel, and yours is around his neck. Ethan hasn’t given up. He’s biding his time.”

  “This is a really bad time to be waiting,” she muttered, as she wiped her eyes on her other sleeve.

  He was aware.

  Ethan Blackhawk was all about duty, honor, and keeping his word—even if it cost him happiness. He’d get the job done because he’d made that promise.

  “He’s getting gray hair, and he’s dying inside. Ethan doesn’t lie. He’s being honest when he says she’s nothing to him. I could see who meant everything.”

  Her.

  “He’ll love you until the day he dies. He’s past the anger. Now he’s wrapped up in the pain. Give him time, Lyzee. If you really love him, give him the benefit of the doubt.”

  Did she love him?

  God!

  She was dying too.

  “He’s not cheating, and there’s no divorce. He mentioned if you filed, he’d never sign. So…”

  “So?”

  “Don’t file. Let him work this out the way Ethan always does. He’s got his checklist, and he’s doing his best.”

  Callen was playing both sides.

  Why?

  He loved both people.

  Elizabeth stared at him. “Is that what you think I should do?” she asked. Over the last few weeks, Callen had helped lead her. She couldn’t do it.

  Her thoughts were a hot mess.

  “Do you trust me?” he asked instead of answering.

  “With what’s left of my life.”

  “Then, yes, this is what I think you should do.”

  “When is he coming home?” she asked.

  “He promised Gabe, and then he said he’s coming for you. I believe him. I think you should, too,” Callen admitted. “Give him until that date, and if he doesn’t…”

  “I’ll go home. I’ll crawl over glass to get to him.”

  He laughed.

  Ethan had said pretty much the same thing.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked.

  “You two are meant to be together. I used to think you were the cream in our sexy cookie. I just realized I’m the cream in the crazy cookie.”

  She punched him with her cast.

  “Jesus! Sexy! I really meant sexy!”

  Elizabeth mustered a smile.

  For him.

  “You have time, and what better way than to help your friend?” he asked.

  She knew he was right.

  Besides, she needed a distraction.

  A HUGE one.

  Callen placed the box back on her lap. “Here.”

  “Cal,” she began.

  “Tori needs your help, and Ethan wants you to be safe while you’re out there doing it. Take your badge, use your side arm, and help your best friend. When she found out what happened, she came, right after she gave birth. She left Veronica at home to save you. It’s time we did the same thing.”

  He was right.

  Elizabeth opened the box and stared down into it. There sat the shield she’d worked so damn hard for, and the gun that she’d used to take lives and protect them.

  Reaching in, she pulled out Callen’s first and handed it to him.

  “Did you miss it?” she asked, as he ran his fingers over the gold.

  He smiled. “A little, but I didn’t mind writing and being a husband fulltime. That was a pretty spectacular gig. My girl is amazing.”

  Tears filled her eyes again. “Callen.”

  How would she have made it without him? He’d tossed his career to be with her. He walked away from his blood to have her back.

  She owed him so much.

  “Don’t say it. I know. I already know.”

  She touched his cheek. This man was amazing, and without him, she never would have gotten through this.

  Ever.

  “Go for it. You know you missed it,” he stated.

  She did.

  Elizabeth reached into the box and touched her gun and badge. Gently, she ran her fingers over it.

  “There’s something at the bottom,” Callen stated.

  He was right.

  There was a note.

  Hesitantly, she took it out. Her heart was thundering in her chest. Would it be the ‘Dear John’ letter she’d handed him?

  Could she handle it?

  “Open it,” Callen stated, when he noticed she couldn’t even move. Fear had frozen her, and she was needlessly worrying.

  She trusted him.

  ‘Dearest E.W,

  Here is your gun and badge. Be safe. I can’t bear to think of you hurt even more. If it matters, I love you. Go get them, Tex.

  E.B.’

  Immediately, she calmed down. He wasn’t telling her to kiss off, which is what she’d basically done in her letter to him. A part of her relaxed. Then she thought about how she’d hurt him.

  And how he took the first step.

  It was her turn.

  “Can I have my phone?” she asked.

  That surprised him, but Callen still handed it to her.

  She wrote a text.

  Then hit send.

  “Who was that to?” he
asked.

  “Ethan. I had to send it to him.”

  Yeah, someone would survive this. His wife was resilient, and she’d bounce back.

  Here was the proof.

  Callen watched her as she slipped her gun and badge onto her hip. The second she did, the transformation happened. The switch was flipped.

  Was she broken?

  Yes.

  But would that badge put her back together enough to keep her heart steady until Ethan got to her?

  It absofreakingloutely would.

  Elizabeth Blackhawk was back.

  Sort of, and she was ready.

  “Let’s get to ‘Littlemoon Investigations’. I have a killer to find, and then, I’m going home to wait for Ethan.”

  He was proud.

  “I love you, angel.”

  She kissed him like she meant it. It was the first time in weeks where Callen could feel the old Elizabeth coming back.

  She was healing.

  This was a good thing.

  Just maybe, he’d save their family yet.

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  Washington D.C.

  Deputy Director

  Ethan Blackhawk’s

  Office

  Ethan was sitting in his office with his morning appointment when his cell phone chimed. He nearly had a heart attack. It was the sound he’d set for Elizabeth, and it was one he hadn’t heard in…weeks.

  She was the only contact with that ring, and that meant she’d sent him a text.

  His heart started thundering.

  He pulled out his phone and read the message.

  Once.

  Twice.

  Three times.

  His heart filled with some warmth. For the first time in their weeks apart, she was actually communicating with him.

  ‘Thank you for keeping my gun and badge safe. I’ll be good. I know how you hate paperwork. I miss you, Ethan. I really miss you.

  ~Love, Lyzee.’

  He had to reread it again.

  The word love tripped him up. It gave him hope that, up to that moment, had been lost.

  “It’s from my wife,” Ethan said. “It’s from my Elizabeth,” he admitted, as he lovingly cradled his cell in his palm.

  Doctor Callista Gaines smiled at him. “Is it, Ethan?” she asked. “What does she say, if you don’t mind?”

  Ethan slid the phone toward the doctor. Since Elizabeth had left, he’d been seeing Doctor Gaines three days a week. Twice at work, and once at their home on the weekends. Callie was trying to help him work through his anger issues.

  He was trying to get help to fix what was clearly still broken in him.

  It was one hell of a battle too.

  Callie read over it.

  “That’s a good sign,” she offered. “Elizabeth is reaching out to you. What did you do differently?”

  “I sent her a note with her gun and badge,” he admitted.

  “It seems to have opened communication,” Callie replied. “It may be the beginning of healing.”

  God!

  He hoped so.

  Had he known a little note would do this, getting her to speak to him again, he would have done it sooner. Ethan didn’t know she was waiting for him to make the first move.

  Ethan wanted to kiss his phone.

  “What do I do?” he asked, suddenly very aware that he had no clue how to move forward. When his wife and brother were at his side, he had a directive.

  Now…

  He was lost.

  “What do you want to do, Ethan?” Callie countered, giving Ethan a way to figure this all out. With him, he didn’t do well with being TOLD what to do. With a strong-willed, stubborn man like this, you had to gently lead.

  “I want to get on a plane and leave this all behind to get to her.”

  She heard the hesitation.

  “But?”

  “I made a promise. I have to keep it,” he admitted. “I gave Gabe my word that I’d keep the ship afloat. That’s important too.”

  “More important than your wife?”

  He stared at her, so much emotion in his eyes. “This job made me. If I toss it, I become nothing. Then how am I deserving of her? What would I have to offer her?”

  And here was the main issue.

  Ethan and the job had to be separated—somehow.

  Callie had work to do.

  It was time to go back to baby steps.

  “Why don’t you send back a message?”

  His eyes filled with tears. “I’m afraid I’ll upset her, and she’ll run again. She’s already left.”

  Callie held up her hand to stop him.

  “You told her to get away from you, Ethan. She gave you what you wanted. You need to find a way to put Ethan and Director Blackhawk in two different boxes or you will lose her.”

  That frightened him.

  “I know your wife. She won’t take another freak out like this one. So, we fix you.”

  Ethan typed up a message.

  “How’s this?” he asked.

  “It’s good.”

  He hesitated to push the send button.

  “When you’re ready, send it. It’s okay. It’s fine that you can’t bring yourself to do it. Go slow, be sure, and heal the wounds inside you.”

  He was trying.

  God!

  He was trying.

  “Breathe,” Callie offered.

  He did just that.

  Why was this so hard?

  Why couldn’t he be that man? Why couldn’t he be Callen? He didn’t let Elizabeth’s relationship with Chris in her past faze him. He didn’t bat an eyelash.

  Why couldn’t he be like that?

  Oh, yeah.

  He was broken.

  Ethan stared at his cell. If he could have one wish, other than to get his family back, he wanted to be less of a control freak.

  So, he did the only thing he could.

  He pushed the button.

  “Why?” she asked. “Clearly, you weren’t ready.”

  “I let the cautious side take over my life,” he stated. “I let the part of me that controls my heart win. I don’t want to be that man anymore, Doctor. I don’t want to hesitate when it comes to Elizabeth.”

  She smiled.

  And here was the proof that Ethan Blackhawk was redeemable.

  He got it.

  He really got it.

  “Let’s finish, Ethan. We have only a few weeks to get you ready to go home.”

  He couldn’t wait.

  He missed his wife.

  Ethan only hoped she’d forgive him.

  Or all of this was in vain.

  He’d stay lost.

  Forever.

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  Littlemoon Investigations

  Wednesday Morning

  Delta Falls

  She was ready to start working.

  When they headed down to the office, the whole team was already there. What touched Tori the most was that on Lena’s desk, the team had begun a makeshift memorial.

  There were flowers.

  Candles.

  Photographs.

  And someone had placed a Voodoo doll there that Lena had liked to torment Justin with daily. It had been their private joke, and now it would be a reminder of what they’d lost.

  As she moved closer, emotion filled her. Pinned to the doll was a flower and paper heart.

  It was poetic, in some heartbreaking way. This had to be Justin’s doing. She’d kiss him later for being a sweet man—just like Julian.

  This whole thing made her want to cry.

  The people who worked for them were decent, good people, and here was the proof. This was family. She had a good support team.

  This was her core.

  “Whose idea was this?” Tori finally asked, looking around at the people behind her.

  “We thought she deserved to be remembered in the way Lena would have liked best,” Roman stated.

  Yeah, she wou
ld have liked it a lot.

  Crossing the room, she went from person to person, giving them each a hug.

  That was huge.

  She wasn’t one for PDA or anything that remotely made her look weak. Army had a soft spot, and it was coming out for her team.

  Why wait until someone was gone to share this? Tori wanted them to know how much she loved each and every one of them.

  So, she told them.

  They returned the sentiment.

  “Thank you for thinking about her,” she offered. “That was sweet.”

  Mattie hugged her boss. “Lena was a good egg. She was a little scrambled, but she was good.”

  Tori snorted.

  Yes, yes, she was.

  “She would have liked the doll the best. She cherished that Voodoo doll,” Tori stated, touching the rose.

  As soon as her fingers made contact, the room got cold, and the flower withered beneath her fingertips.

  Tori gasped and took a step back, as did the rest of the team.

  There was twisted laughter.

  Enough was enough.

  Tori was at her breaking point.

  “I won’t be afraid of you,” she said, standing her ground. “I won’t let you hurt anymore people we love!”

  Julian moved closer to his wife to protect her. He knew that the demon was unpredictable, and he’d like to keep his wife intact—minus being possessed.

  The cold whipped through the room, blowing the flowers off Lena’s desk.

  “We aren’t backing down, Evangeline. Do you hear me? We will get you out of our building!”

  There was more laughter as the icy wind grew even colder. It whipped around each of them, as if seeking the weakest in the group.

  It stopped at Mattie, who was standing beside her husband. Immediately, her hands went to her throat, and she dropped to her knees. It was clear that Evangeline was trying to end her life.

  Well, if she thought they were going to be easy targets, they had another thing coming.

  Tori threw a vial of holy water at Mattie, and it was enough for the hold to weaken.

  The radio chirped to life.

  “SALT. HER. WE. WILL. HELP!”

  Julian grabbed the bottle of sea salt and tossed it all over the woman.

  The cold broke, and the air in the room got visibly lighter within seconds.