Gwen thrust a tray of mummified pigs in blankets at the boys, and handed me a glass of cider. “Oh, hey, Alex. I see you’ve met Izzy’s cousin.”
“Cousin?” Alex’s tone was ripe with disbelief. “He seems like an awfully friendly cousin.” I flinched. He was right; Asher did stand too close, touch me too often, for that story to be believed.
“Second cousin. Once removed on her mother’s side. And he’s French; from Canada, actually.” Gwen never missed a beat. Just smiled and offered him the tray. “Weiner?”
He looked Asher up and down, his eyes hard. His gaze flicked towards me, and I felt suddenly guilty, but I’d done nothing wrong. Not really. Alex and I had been on a couple of dates, but they had led to nothing. “No thanks.” He waved Gwen and her tray of wieners away. “Izzy, can I speak with you, alone?”
“Um, sure.” I had a bad feeling about this.
“Perhaps you should seek conversation elsewhere, boy.” Asher spoke quietly, but there was an unmistakable threat in his tone. His accent was much thicker when he was aggravated, I noticed. The primitive part of my brain kind of liked that he would be jealous of Alex. The rational side said that I better get a handle on things quickly, before this got ugly.
“Asher, stop. It’s ok.” I put a restraining hand on his arm, instinctively holding him back when he took a step towards Alex.
Gwen pulled him back from the other side. “Easy, big fella.” She patted his shoulder. “Here, have a wiener.” She shoved the tray up under his nose, and the blank mask just stared back at her. The girl had no fear. No sense, either. I had to admire that about her.
“No, thank you.”
“Come on, Izzy.” Alex reached for my hand, intent on taking me away, on having an uncomfortable conversation about my ‘cousin,’ no doubt. It never happened. One second, he was holding my hand, pulling me along, and the next, he was pinned to the wall, with Asher’s hand wrapped firmly around his throat.
“Holy shit!” The tray of wieners went flying, then crashed to the floor as Gwen jumped back to avoid being run over. She had a real way with words, and that about summed up everything that I was thinking, at the time. Oh, no, this was not happening. The party ground to a quick halt as people turned and stared at the fight that had just broken out.
Alex turned a couple of shades of purple that I had never seen before. He started out trying to take a few swings at Asher, but he didn’t have the reach to do any damage. Finally, he resorted to trying to pry the hand away that was crushing his throat. And the strangest part was that the whole time, Asher seemed perfectly calm; his costume remained unruffled, and the mask stayed firmly in place. The hell of it was, nobody tried to stop him, either. Not one person.
Asher wasn’t trying to kill him. That would have been simple enough to accomplish, if he’d wanted to. A little surge of Will, and there would be no more Alex to annoy him. No, this was punishment. An extremely ugly, and brutal punishment, but he’d been greatly annoyed. For quite some time, apparently, and this was just the final straw.
“Asher, stop.” I said it quietly, but the faceless mask he wore swung towards me, anyway. It felt creepy; like he could see right through me, but I couldn’t see his eyes. “You’re acting like a damned lunatic,” I bit out.
“He tried to take you.” His tone was calm, mild even, and it scared the hell out of me. He could do anything he wanted to Alex, or anyone else, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
“And that pissed you off. I get it. I’m pretty sure he won’t try to do it again,” I said, harshly. Alex made some kind of odd squeak that I took for agreement. “Just drop it. And him. Please.” I was well on my way to being greatly annoyed with him.
He opened his hand and Alex collapsed in a heap on the rug, gasping for breath and probably thanking God he was alive. Missy shoved her way through the staring crowd as Gwen rolled him over to check his throat. He would be wearing Asher’s fingerprints for quite some time; the livid bruises had already started to form.
“Just what in the hell is going on here?” Missy was dressed as a tiny version of Lily Munster. Her hands were balled into angry fists and thrust against her hips. She was so mad I swear I could see steam rolling off the long, black wig she wore. “You two idiots can’t come into my house and start a fight.” Her voice hit a tone I’d never heard before. Come to think of, I couldn’t remember ever hearing her swear before, either. It was turning out to be quite a night.
“The fight’s over, Mom. I think Alex was just about ready to leave.” Gwen helped him into a sitting position. There were little pin prick-sized bruises around his eyes where blood vessels had burst under pressure. He looked stunned, and faintly sick, and he hadn’t deserved any of it.
I pulled Asher back as Missy turned and pointed an angry finger at him. “You should leave, too. I don’t know what happened, but you two idiots are not ruining our Halloween. This is a kids’ party, not a drunken rave.”
“Mom, wait, it was just a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding? He nearly took that kid’s head off! Get both of them out of here, Gwenevere. I mean it. Right now!”
Gwen looked at me, helplessly. Her mom hardly ever just lost her cool completely, but once she did, there was no reasoning with her. “You heard the woman. The show is over.” She leaned down and started picking up trampled mummy dogs off the carpet. “Go back to the party, everybody. Nothing to see, here.”
Gwen’s dad, better late than never, helped Alex towards the front door. I really wanted to go check on him, but felt that getting Asher out of there was the best thing that I could do, given the circumstances. I half pulled, half shoved him towards the back door in the kitchen when I heard Missy yelling for me. I glanced back over my shoulder in dread. And caught Alex looking at me from the doorway. He was propped up against the door, trying to catch his breath. The look on his face sent a chill through my gut. He looked like he wanted to kill me.
“Not so fast, young lady.” I flinched at Missy’s tone. “Get yourself back here. You and I are going to have a talk.” My heart dropped into my shoes. Could this night get any worse? Suddenly, everybody wanted to have a talk with me. I just wanted to tell them all to form a line.
Instead, I nodded at Missy and held up a hand, hoping she would give me a minute alone with Asher. But really, what do you say to scold the incarnation of Death? He’d behaved horribly, but I doubted that he cared.
“You should go.” He nodded towards Missy, who waited impatiently for me. “I have over-stayed my welcome, it seems.” Well, if that was his apology, it sucked. The party was pretty much ruined. Because of him. He pulled the Grim Reaper costume over his head, and handed it to me. “I will find you, later. We need to talk.” He avoided looking at me, I noticed. I wondered if he dreaded that conversation as much as I did.
“Ok.” I wadded the costume up in my hands. It smelled like him, but I refused to sniff it, no matter how much I might have liked to. He’d gone cave-man on me, and he was in the dog house. Poor Alex might have been really hurt, and for no better reason than stupid jealousy. Such a nasty, human emotion to have.
“Isabel!” Damn. Missy never called me that. I was in serious trouble.
“I have to go,” I said, miserably.
He looked at me then, and smiled. I would have to work on staying mad at him, if I weren’t careful. Alex. Concentrate on Alex, and his bruised throat. Alex was the victim, here; surely I had imagined that look of evil hatred he’d shot at me, earlier?
“Go, before you get into more trouble because of me.” Asher looked like he wanted to say more, but Missy was barreling towards us. I felt a brief touch of his hand against mine, and then he was gone.
I met her half-way. “In the den, young lady. Now.” She jerked her thumb towards the hallway, and I meekly followed where she led.
“Missy, I’m so sorry.” She kicked the door shut with her heel, sharply cutting off my apology. I felt like I was about James’ age, and was in danger of a ti
me-out.
She perched on the edge of the desk and stared at me over crossed arms. “Two things.” She held her hand up to stop me from apologizing again, even though I really wanted to. “First: I can’t have a teenaged boy getting strangled in my living room, whether he deserves it, or not.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I nodded quickly, and prayed that this conversation would be over soon.
“Second: there is no way that guy you were with is your cousin. I don’t care what Gwen says. I’ve known you since you were a little girl, and I know who your cousins are. Don’t you ever lie to me again, got it?” I swallowed hard and nodded again. I cringed inside; upsetting Gwen’s mom was the last thing that I ever wanted to do.
“I’m so—“
“Save it. That guy is too old for you. They don’t grow them that big in high school. And he’s obviously dangerous.” She had no idea.
“He’s just a friend, Missy.” I looked down and found that I was actually wringing my hands, and had to force myself to stop. Guilty conscience? Nah, of course not.
“Unh, hunh, but it’s pretty clear that he wants to be more than your friend, and that’s where it has to end. Older men only want one thing from young girls.” Their souls? Oh, no, if I giggled at my own stupid thoughts, she would kill me. I bit down sharply on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from sniggering. A little too hard. Blood came instantly, and a few tears, too. That had freaking hurt.
“I understand. I’m so sorry if the party was ruined.” The tears in my eyes were real enough, but not caused by what she thought.
Missy sighed as she hopped down off the edge of the desk. She wrapped me in a warm hug and I relaxed into it and hugged her back. “It’s ok, honey. I bet this is one Halloween party that no one will ever forget.” I certainly wouldn’t.
A soft, hesitant knock at the door broke up the hug. Missy stepped back and wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. “Be careful, honey, or you’ll ruin your make-up.” I nodded. “Come in!” She yelled towards the door.
Gwen poked just her head through the door, like a frightened turtle. “Um, hey there. I hate to bother you, Mom, but—“
“Spit it out, Gwen. I’m over it, now. You’re not to blame, so you aren’t in any trouble.”
“Oh, good, I mean, I’m glad you’re feeling better about everything.” She opened the door and came in. Her eyes darted back and forth between me and her mom. “There’s a phone call for Izzy.” She held her phone out to me.
Warning bells began to go off inside my head. Why would anyone call Gwen’s cell phone for me? I took the phone. “Hello?”
“Izzy?” It was Sylvia, the hostess at my dad’s restaurant, and she had tears in her voice.
“Yeah, it’s me. What’s up?”
“It’s your dad, hon. He collapsed at work. He’s on his way to the hospital right now.” I didn’t need to ask which hospital. Our town is so small, there is only one.
Logically, I knew I should be going into hysterics, but strangely, I just felt numb. This seemed like it was inevitable. I wet my lips. The room grew hotter by the minute, or maybe it was just me. I’m pretty sure my blood pressure had spiked.
“Do you know what happened to him?” Not that it really mattered. I already knew what had happened. Fate had happened. The crazy bitch was tired of waiting for me to deliver her revenge, and this was my final warning.
“Do you know if he’s going to be ok?” The phone felt slippery in my sweaty hand.
“I don’t know. I’m sorry, but I don’t know if it was a heart attack, or what it was. He just went down.” Then she just started crying harder and the phone went dead.
Gwen took her phone back as I turned to her, and her mom. “Gwen, I need to borrow your car. And can someone please go get my cat? I think I may be gone for a few days.”
Gwen’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What’s going on, Iz?”
I took a deep, steadying breath. “My dad’s in the hospital. Sylvia said he just collapsed at work, and she had no idea why.” It was amazing how calm I sounded, when inside I howled with rage and wanted to destroy something.
Missy patted my back. “We can get your kitty. That’s no problem, but what about you? Surely you shouldn’t go alone?”
“It’s ok, Missy. You can’t kick all of these people out. The party’s already been messed up because of me. I don’t want to ruin what’s left of it. I can call you from the hospital once I know what’s going on.” To my relief, she nodded her agreement. If she didn’t have a houseful of people, it would have been another story, I was sure.
I turned to Gwen, ready to beg, if I had to. “Can I borrow your car? Please?”
She’d started shaking her head before I even finished speaking. “Not a chance. You aren’t ditching me with all of these people; I’m driving.”
***
I turned to Gwen as we sped along as fast as her little yellow Bug would go. “Gwen, I need you to do me a huge favor.” My stomach was in knots already, as fear and adrenaline raced through me. That blessed feeling of numbness had worn off quickly. Shock does have some value, after all. I was starting to miss the feeling.
I didn’t know what I would find at the hospital, but I was sure that I didn’t want Gwen near any of it. As she tilted her head in my direction, air from the heat vent blew wisps of blonde hair blew back from her face. Thank God the Bug had a great heater. I didn’t feel the cold the way I used to, but the tiny little Halloween costumes weren’t meant to hold up against cold weather, either. I pulled my jacket a little tighter around myself, more for comfort than anything else.
The radio was blaring from earlier, so she reached over to turn the volume down. Gwen’s eyes never left the road, but I had her full attention. “And what might that favor be, Cupcake?” So, she was still mildly annoyed that I had tried to ditch her, earlier.
“I want you to drop me off at the visitors’ entrance, and then leave. Go back home. Keep your mom away, too. I know how she is; she will shut the party down and come try to manage everything. This is something that even she can’t manage. As soon as I know anything, I swear I will call you with all of the details. Oh, and make sure she gets Jazzy, too, please.” I didn’t want to worry about my poor cat starving to death without me, and I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t be home for quite some time.
She turned to face me, for just a split second. One perfectly groomed brow was arched in disbelief. “Oh, you must be shitting me.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to say no to that, Iz. Yes to babysitting your demon cat, but no to leaving you,” she clarified.
“Please, promise me, Gwen.” I wasn’t above begging. Picking a fight with her wouldn’t work. Gwen loved to fight, just never with me.
“Nope. No can do.” Her hands flexed on the steering wheel, smooth and graceful. She was acting all cool and calm, but she wasn’t fooling me. Her knuckles were white from the death-grip she had on the wheel. Bless her little heart, she was trying to hold it together. For me.
Gwen braked for a red light. “Relax, Iz. I know why you don’t want me to stay with you.”
I stared at her profile, incredulously. “Other than the obvious reasons?”
“Of course. You’re afraid that if I hang around and help nurse your dad back to health, he will finally get around to that midlife crisis he’s been putting off. Then, of course, he’ll realize that he’s been madly in love with me this whole time. And then things will get awkward between us, with me being your new step-mom, and all. But don’t worry; it will be ok, because in ten years your dad will dump me for someone younger and hotter. Then, we will hate that skanky ho for stealing him from us, and then we will best friends again.”
I just stared at her slack-jawed. “You are completely insane.”
Gwen pulled neatly into a parking spot between two giant gas guzzling trucks, and cut the engine. She smirked at me, and then winked. “Quite possibly, I may be insane, but you should practice calling me ‘Mommy,’ just in case.”
Unbelievably, almost painfully, she surprised laughter out of me. It bubbled up like water struggling out of a dry tap. It came in fits and starts, taking my breath, and choking tears out of me. My sides ached by the time I calmed down. I needed that.
“You really are crazy,” I said, as I wiped tears from the corners of my eyes.
She shrugged. “Maybe, but I got you to laugh, so I’m happy.” She pocketed her keys. “Come on. Let’s go see how my future ex-husband is doing.”
“Gwen, wait,” I hurried after her. “Please don’t go in there with me. There’s more to this than you know.” I hadn’t told her the whole story; not the part about Fate using me to get back at Asher.
She hiked her purse up a little higher on her shoulder and started walking towards the entrance. “I already know plenty, so I suggest you make it quick, and don’t leave out any of the good parts.”
I made it quick, and she got the whole, sordid story on the ride up in the elevator.
***
This mess had just about come full-circle. It had started in a hospital, it only seemed right that it be finished in one. That sharp, antiseptic hospital odor brought back unpleasant memories of pain and sickness. I stood in the doorway and just looked at my father, for a moment. Watching him made me want to break down and bawl like a little kid, but my eyes remained dry. The impotent rage I felt had burned away all of my tears.
My dad looked so frail lying in the hospital bed. He seemed diminished, somehow, and much younger than his forty-one years. I was so used to him being up and on the move that watching him sleep seemed like the ultimate invasion of his privacy. There were tubes coming out of him in all directions and a ventilator hissed and breathed behind him.
It was all so damned unfair. My dad had never done anything to deserve this. He’d never done anything bad in his entire life, as far as I knew. An act of Fate. If it was the last thing I ever did, I would find a way to make her pay for this.
Wings of Darkness: Book 1 of The Immortal Sorrows Series Page 28
