“And you’re sure he doesn’t feel the same way, even though you kissed?”
Laughing, Lacey fought the frustrated tears in her eyes. “Oh, trust me, he doesn’t.”
“I have a cousin.” She grimaced. “You’re certain you don’t want a relationship? Because Richard doesn’t want one. He’ll love being your rebound but he’ll never call you again.”
It’d come to this, but she had to forget Tempus, or at least subdue his presence in her memory. Her mind kept conjuring up that one night and she’d imbued it with all sorts of sentimental value. It couldn’t have been that great of a kiss.
“Set it up,” she said.
A minute later, Candace called over the cube wall, “Not this Friday, but next Friday?”
“That’ll work.” She’d get her groove back next Friday.
The dating profiles were bad enough, but she was actually on a date now... apparently he was not a serial killer or his father would have notified him. Not that his father had notified him about the dating profiles, but it was plausible that they might be serial killers. One of them had looked shifty.
He’d played his hand too early, though, because this guy was a real creep. When her date had picked her up earlier, he kept checking out her ass.
Tempus had been pacing back and forth in front of the window facing her house for hours, trying to decide how to handle it when they came back here. They better come back here. If he took her back to his place after a first date, well, hopefully Lacey would slap him. She should. She’d slapped Tempus for far less.
If he froze time again and got rid of him, he’d have to have an explanation. How many times would she believe serial killer?
He called Zeit.
“Hello?” Hannah answered.
“I wanted to speak with my brother.” He wasn’t so great at this phone thing.
“Uhh. It’s kind of late, but I guess you guys don’t recognize time as mattering. Is this Vida?”
“No.” Vida had called Zeit?
“Ruin?”
“No.” Ruin too?
“Cronos?”
How many of his brothers were in regular contact with Zeit? “No. It’s Tempus.”
“Oh.” Then, she asked softly, “Is she dead?”
“No. She’s dating.”
There was silence on the line for several seconds. “And you don’t want her to date?”
“No. She shouldn’t. She’d said she wasn’t going to, but she’s changed her mind apparently and now she is.” He shouldn’t be telling his sister-in-law all this. He should wait and talk to Zeit.
“Have you told her how you feel?”
“How I feel? I don’t feel anything for her.” Not really. She wasn’t too bad for a mortal. He enjoyed talking with her, discussing books. He liked making her laugh.
“Mm hm. Nothing at all?”
“No. I just don’t think she should be dating.”
“Why not?” Hannah asked.
“Well, I have to keep saving her life. Sometimes that means I spend a lot of time following her. I don’t want to follow her on a date.”
“Is it that or does her being on a date imply to you that she isn’t... appreciating you being in her life and all that you’re doing?”
“That’s true. That is what she is saying by being on a date.” Like it or not, he was in her life.
“And you want her to appreciate you?”
“I am centering my life around keeping her alive.”
“Instead of?”
“What?” What was she talking about?
“What would you be doing normally?”
“Traveling. Going from place to place. Granting extra time when I’m in the vicinity of a worthy mortal. Attending sporting events.”
“So, indulging yourself and helping others when it’s convenient.”
“And when it’s inconvenient.” She made him sound self-absorbed. It was true that most of what he did—he did for himself, but he generally stopped time and helped out a mortal at least once a day... if he was around mortals. Some of his brothers were more helpful—it was true. It was also true that the plight of mortals had seemed somewhat boring and never-ending so he’d been spending most of the past six months by himself. Still, he did help.
“Fair enough. Your brothers haven’t gone into much detail on what you do day-to-day when you’re not trying to save someone’s life.”
“Wait. Are my other brothers in the same position I am?”
“Worried about the dating life of someone they were supposed to kill? Yeah, no. They aren’t.”
That didn’t feel like it entirely answered his question. He’d have to call his brothers and find out why they were calling Zeit.
Hannah’s voice interrupted his planning. “Are you interacting with her or just stopping time and moving her out of harm’s way? Because Zeit was doing the second thing and I started to feel like I was crazy.”
“Mostly the latter, but we agreed it would be a better idea if we didn’t interact because I’m going to have to kill her in six months.”
“You’re still planning on that?”
“Of course.” Lacey had never suggested otherwise. He’d never really considered not killing her. He hadn’t considered how hard it was going to be to kill her either. Actually, that sounded very difficult, if not impossible. Well, hell…
“She knows that? That you’re still planning on killing her?”
“Yes.” It would have come up if Lacey had changed her mind, wouldn’t it? Not that they’d had a lot of conversations.
Hannah sighed. “Did she ever suggest that maybe she wouldn’t mind interacting more with you?”
“She mentioned meeting sometimes for lunch to discuss books.” He hadn’t known what to say. It seemed like that might have been what happened to Zeit. Tempus tried not to interact with his mortal sacrifice at all prior to when he took their lives. It made things messy. Things seemed especially messy when it came to Lacey right now.
“What did you say?” Hannah asked.
“Nothing.”
“I see.”
What did she see? He’d never figured out what he’d done wrong on that meeting with Lacey.
“So now she’s on a date and you don’t like it so you called Zeit for what?”
He shrugged even though she couldn’t see it. “I don’t know. A reason to end her date. I already used the ‘serial killer’ excuse.”
“The serial killer excuse?” This time her sigh was deeper. “Stupid immortal. I’ll go get your brother, but let me tell you something, Tempus. You’re falling for her. You can’t recognize it because you’re an idiot. She’s falling for you, but you’re blowing hot and cold. Your ‘cold’ consists of talking about killing her so of course she is going to date other people.”
No. She was wrong. On all counts.
“Here’s your stupid brother.”
“Hello?” Zeit asked.
“Hey, it’s Tempus.”
“Is she dead?”
“No.” He didn’t like that everyone kept assuming that. Of course he was going to be able to keep her alive. Anything else was impossible. He’d never let her die before New Year’s. If anything happened to her… Tempus rubbed his chest where something unfamiliar felt lodged there. Nothing could happen to her.
“Oh. That’s good, I guess. Wait, why did my wife just bring me a pillow and blanket and point at the couch?”
“I have no idea.” He may have had some idea, but he wasn’t about to share it with Zeit. He cleared his throat. “She sounded…”
“Cranky? It’s the morning sickness.”
“But it’s night.”
“She’s pregnant. I’m going to be a father. Around New Year’s Eve actually.”
“That’s... good news, I guess.” You had to be mortal to father children so none of his brothers had ever had a child. “Wait, Lacey’s home from her date. I should go.” He wanted to make sure her date didn’t try anything.
“She’s
dating?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I guess I thought you’d end up together. Hannah kept saying that you have chemistry and she thought you’d give up immortality for her. I guess she was wrong. Maybe that’s why she is stomping around right now.”
“Probably. She probably doesn’t like being wrong.” And she was wrong.
He peeked through the window. It was fairly early for them to be home. It was only eleven. That jackass was still checking out her body.
“You’re sure she’s wrong?” Zeit asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Have you considered it might be less cruel just to let the Fates take her if the other option is that she lives with a noose around her neck?”
“That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?”
“Is it? Hannah didn’t know until the final week that I was waiting around to kill her and I only let her think that for a few days. An entire year of knowing that you’re going to die and being in touch with your executioner—that has to take a toll. She’s only mortal.”
“I can’t let the Fates take her.”
“Why?”
His brother even had to ask? “It’d be wrong. We talked about it. It’d be a waste of her life.”
“Yeah, but I hadn’t really thought about it from her perspective. I mean, I guess she gets a year to do everything she’s ever wanted to do.”
Lacey’s bucket list. “No, she can’t. She wants to go skydiving and things like that. I can’t save her life if she’s making it that easy to kill her.”
Zeit was quiet for a while—long enough for Lacey and her date to reach the front porch. Her date leaned over and was talking to her from inches away. He clenched his fist, digging his fingers into his palm. Finally, Zeit asked, “So, she’s trapped into doing tame things, knowing that they’re leading to the end, and knowing that you don’t care enough about her to give up your immortality—in fact, you’re perfectly willing to kill her?”
When he put it like that…
That pressure was back in the center of his chest.
“Why did you call?” Zeit asked softly.
In this context, it sounded ridiculous to complain about her dating. “She’s out on a date.”
“And?”
“I don’t want her to date.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Zeit sucked in a breath. “You should know. By New Year’s Eve, you should figure that out.”
He should.
“Tempus, you think you have all the time in the world because you can control it, but what if you’re too late—what if you get there too late? Can you live the rest of eternity knowing that you had a chance to save her from the Fates and you let it go?”
“I won’t get there too late.”
“I almost did. Things spun out of control there at the end.”
“I’m not you.”
Zeit sighed. “No, but you’re still too much like me. I should go try to talk my wife into letting me back into bed despite me being a moron.”
“When were you a moron?”
“No idea. I’ll have to find that out too.”
“Okay. Night.”
“Be careful and be on time.”
“I will.”
He watched as Lacey’s date leaned in to kiss her at the door. Tempus fought the urge to stop time and go kick the guy in the privates. He shouldn’t be kissing Lacey. Lacey deserved better.
She deserved better? Where had that come from?
Lacey’s fist tightened in the guy’s shirt. Was she pushing him away or pulling him closer?
Tempus dragged both hands down his face and forced himself to turn away. If it wasn’t going to kill her, she had the right to do what she wanted. He just had to tell himself that a dozen times.
It probably didn’t compare to the kisses they’d shared, though.
It couldn’t.
This wasn’t working. Richard’s lips were all rubbery and too wet, and she was comparing their kissing to kissing Tempus six months ago in this play-by-play that left tonight’s seriously lacking.
It wasn’t a bad kiss.
It wasn’t a good kiss.
Sometimes a kiss was just a kiss... just like the song said.
Compared to that New Year’s Eve kiss, this felt like groping and slobber. Worst of all, the last kiss she’d ever receive would be the one she’d regret. She pulled back with a ready smile.
“Can I come in?” he asked, his voice thick.
She wrinkled up her nose. “Not... tonight. I’m... I don’t feel well.” She felt disappointed, sad, and generally miserable, in fact.
He nodded and gave her a knowing look. Luckily, he was so confident in his abilities that he assumed she really wasn’t feeling well. “I’ll call you.”
Richard strode down her sidewalk and the most awkward date in the world was over, and she did not get her groove back.
After locking up, she immediately brushed her teeth—brushing as much of that kiss away as she could. Then, she dressed in the comfiest pajamas she owned before dropping onto the couch, facing the street and the full moon.
“Explain to me how I got into this nightmare.” She pulled out her keys and flipped through them until she got to all the ones from her childhood. She ran a fingertip along the one from her father’s house. “Maybe Tempus shouldn’t be saving my life. Maybe I should have let him kill that old man.” She set the keys to the side, wrapping her arms around her legs. “Maybe I should have done a lot of things.” Tipping to her side, she curled up into a ball on the couch, closing her eyes, and letting the tears drip down onto the fabric of the couch.
She was nearly asleep when she felt the tentative touch of his lips on her cheek. Maybe she was asleep.
“Is this a dream?” she whispered.
“Do you want it to be?”
“Yes.” Reality was too complicated. She just wanted these moments where she could pretend everything was okay and simple.
“Then keep your eyes closed,” he breathed against her cheek before brushing her lips with his own.
A man. A woman. And a kiss was just a kiss.
Except it wasn’t.
It wasn’t a simple kiss. Tempus didn’t kiss simply. It was a possession. Her time ghost pressed his lips against hers, pulling and tasting and tormenting. Her heart pounded and she clenched her eyes to keep them shut as she opened her mouth. His tongue swept inside, tangling with hers. It was so good. She pulled her hands up to cup his cheeks and a snap of his fingers later—he was gone and she was left with the faint smell of his cologne and empty arms.
He’d come to prove something.
Oh, he’d proven it. She’d kissed two men tonight and only one of them broke her heart.
He shut the door and leaned against it. What was that? He’d meant to check that she was okay, but she’d been crying and he couldn’t seem to resist her. Then a wave of emotion overwhelmed him and Tempus had to get free before it swallowed him, so he’d left. He swore he’d never kiss her again, but he had.
“You are a moron.” Tempus pulled both hands through his hair and shook his head. He went to read a book to forget that he’d probably just dug a deeper hole for both of them.
Damn.
CHAPTER SIX
Lacey had always loved the Fourth of July the most of all holidays. She had no bad associations with it related to her dysfunctional family. Her dad loved buying things to blow up. This year she had no one to light fireworks with, and with her record for near-fires, it wouldn’t go well. Oh, it would bring Tempus to her side... guaranteed. It was the closest to a sure thing she could think of. But she wasn’t doing that anymore. It was just torturing herself. Besides, he’d probably just take away her fireworks, without talking to her.
One minute, she’d have a paycheck’s worth of fireworks and the next, nothing. He might even light them without her.
No. Not anymore.
Lacey drove to the peak of a hill and wat
ched other people light fireworks. Her last Fourth of July left her cold and lonely, and missing Tempus more than ever when the night passed and she regretted not buying fireworks.
It was like she was dying a little every day despite there being no time blips for the rest of the summer. Either the Fates had lost interest or Tempus had become more stealthy in his intervention.
Books went missing from her house though, no matter where she hid them. He wasn’t gone. It would be easier if he was. Knowing he was living next door was torture.
She couldn’t get that kiss out of her head. Why couldn’t she? He stole her books. Half of her cookies went missing within minutes of her taking them from the oven. Tempus even left her a giant order of kung pao chicken once—which should have made her happy—but really it just reiterated his desire not to have any conversations with her. Lacey shouldn’t want anything to do with him, but he haunted her. Tempus was her terminal disease. She wasn’t going to recover and eventually he’d kill her.
When A Time to Kill disappeared from underneath her mattress the first week in September, Lacey broke down in tears... and it wasn’t because she was only halfway through.
It was pathetic. She was ridiculous. But she didn’t have the heart to attempt to get over him a second time with another worthless dating experience. Richard had called, but she’d never returned his call.
In October, her Halloween lights nearly caught her house on fire. Twice. Tempus took them down after the second time. He also nixed rock-climbing with some old college friends. One moment, she was in the harness about to climb—the next, she wasn’t. It was so utterly baffling that she suspected her friends would think twice before asking her to go climbing again. Not that there’d be time before her death in January.
It’d been months since she’d actually seen Tempus. She was tempted to go knock on his door but if he turned off the lights and pretended not to be home now—it’d crush her.
In November, there were, by her estimation, a dozen near-fires related to cooking. The time blips happened all the time. When they ended, she’d feel the faint impression of his kiss on her cheek sometimes or the imprint of his hand on hers. It tempted her to start fires, but, once again, she didn’t want to take a chance. Not again. Not anymore. She was done living recklessly in regards to Tempus Halt.
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