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Copyright © 2018 Willie Dalton
No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database retrieval system without the prior written permission of the author. You must not circulate this book in any format. Thank you for respecting the rights of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Edited by Lessa Lamb
Cover & Interior Design by We Got You Covered Book Design
www.authorwilliedalton.com
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
The Story Continues…
About the Author
“Yes, death. Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forget life, to be at peace. You can help me. You can open for me the portals of death's house, for love is always with you, and love is stronger than death is.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost
I looked down at him. His beautiful black hair had been pulled back from his face, and I knew the blue shirt he was wearing matched the blue of his closed eyes. I didn’t think anything could be scarier than when I died, but this had me shaking to my bones.
Raphael, the man in front of me, had been my lover only weeks before I died at the hands of my psychotic ex-boyfriend. Now, here I am digging up the dead in the fields of the underworld as a reaper. I never expected to see Raphael again, even though my heart had ached for him like I had never imagined possible.
Soren (another reaper, and also my boss) and I had recently given into the feelings we had developed for each other in and out of the bedroom.
So now here I stand: looking down at the man I believed myself to be in love with, wondering what will happen when I attempt to wake him from this sleep of death. There’s a chance that when I shine the light in his eyes, he will simply disappear into whatever afterlife goes along with the religion that he followed. If that’s the case, I’ll likely never see him again.
Or, I’ll shine the light in his eyes and he’ll wake up—in which case I’ll take him to get assigned, and he will have a job somewhere in this world… with me.
Questions flooded my mind faster than I could hear them. Will he recognize me? Will he want to be with me? How did he die? Was it his time? Had he been religious?
My heart pounded so hard against my chest I felt like it was going to break my ribs.
Soren was only a few feet away, happily digging at the grave in front of him. We were supposed to have a romantic night tonight. I had a feeling those plans were about to hit a snag. I knew I needed to do something before he realized something was wrong over here.
No matter how much I wanted to shine that light and accept whatever happened, I just couldn’t get over the possibility that Raphael just might disappear—forever. So I kept staring at his beautiful face.
“What’s wrong, Hel?”
I knew the voice was Billy’s. He was another reaper, and had been the first one to be nice to me after Soren woke me up. He had taken me to get assigned, and was always trying to find ways to be helpful and keep the peace. He was tall, and skinny as a telephone poll. He was missing a few teeth, and looked like life hadn’t been all that kind to him. But he was kind, and you couldn’t help but like him, and feel better when he was around.
There was no use in trying to hide this from him, or Soren. This was too big, too much; I couldn’t do this alone.
“I know him,” I said, never taking my eyes off of Raphael in front of me.
“Oh wow,” Billy said, and it was the first time I had ever seen him at a loss. He narrowed his brow and wrung his hands for a moment. “What can I do—you want me to wake him?”
I thought about it: if I shined that light in Raphael’s eyes and he disappeared, I didn’t know how I could cope. But if he woke up and was staying, did I really want the first thing he saw to be someone else’s face?
“I think I need to do this.” I swallowed hard. “It might just take me a few minutes to build up the courage.”
“Was he important to you?” Billy asked.
I nodded.
“This is your Raphael.” Soren said the words with no question in his voice. I hadn’t even heard him walk over.
“It is,” I said.
I couldn’t recall if or how much I had told Soren about Raphael, but the way I had mourned for him, and for myself when I died, I wasn’t surprised I had talked without thinking.
My eyes moved to Soren. I had a look of apology on my face—this could change everything for us. And I did care for Soren, but I didn’t know if it was the same kind of feelings I had had for Raphael.
“Hel, do what you need to do. If it was my wife in front of me, I would not hesitate.” Soren’s voice was soft but firm.
Soren was tall, and wide with muscle. His eyes were the color of cold steel, and his nearly white blonde hair was cut short, but his beard was long and well suited to his face. To me, he was a Viking, even though I knew he lived after their time. Having an idea of where he was from and the life he lived, I was quite certain he was at least descended from Vikings. He was fierce and strong, loyal and loving. And he was right: if his wife, who he loved so dearly, was laying in the dirt before him, there would be no hesitation, or thought of me.
I picked up my flashlight and clicked it on.
Breathing was not necessary in this world, but it was a habit, along with most other living human behaviors. As I steadied myself to shine the light on Raphael, I held my breath. The sound of rushing water filled my ears and my vision was hazy in focus. I knew these were the signs of someone about to lose consciousness, and I fought with everything in me to stay present.
I swallowed hard and aimed the light at Raphael, doing my best not to close my eyes to whatever was about to happen.
Those beautiful ocean eyes opened and blinked at me. For a split second I believed I saw recognition on his face—and in the same instant, he disappeared before my eyes.
I had known there was a chance he would disappear. More people had a belief system than not. I hadn’t known him well enough to know what it was that he believed… And now I never would.
Once more, he was out of my life—this time probably for good, possibly forever.
I had cried for him ever since I died, never once imagining we could be reunited so soon in death—only to have him snatched away before I could even hear his voice. This had to be some cruel trick of God’s or the universe’s; sometimes I felt like this was hell. And if it wasn’t, I had to wonder how much worse it could possibly get.
I didn’t turn my head to look at Soren or Billy behind me, even though I knew they had witnessed the whole thing.
My heart was screaming inside my head, and soon the sound of the rushing water was back, drowning out the shrieks as the blackness was swirling in my eyes once more. This time I didn’t fight it; I let it take me, and I prayed to whatever god was listening that I wouldn’t wake up.
I did wake up. I woke up in my bed with my head against a thick, broad chest, and arms wrapped around me so tightly I had to struggle a bit to take a deep breath.
Soren eased up on his embrace when he felt me move. I looked up at him in an attempt
to convey gratitude for watching over me. After all, how many lovers would carry you to bed and hold you for who knew how long after you passed out from losing another lover?
When I rolled my eyes up to meet his I saw he was already looking down at me. There was so much pain and understanding in his eyes, and I knew that, of all people, he understood what I was feeling. It was easy for him to imagine that what happened with me could have happened to him and his wife.
I couldn’t stand people looking at me with pity, but right now I felt pitiful, and I was just happy he was holding me.
I laid there in his arms, but I didn't cry. I wasn't even sure I could have cried if I wanted to. But that was just it, I didn't know what I wanted.
He held me for what seemed like hours—maybe it was. He didn't push me to talk, he just held me.
I heard him talking to someone, and then I heard Billy's voice.
"How's she doing?" Billy asked. "Has she said anything; does she need anything?"
I opened my eyes and blinked at him, but I didn't say anything; I just wrapped my arms more tightly around Soren, and closed my eyes again.
"Thanks," said Soren. "We're okay."
Billy dropped his head. I could tell he was feeling a little hurt that there was nothing he could do to help. "Okay. I'll check back in later… just let me know if you need anything."
I felt Soren nod, and then he re-wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tightly against him.
More time passed, and I wasn’t sure if I was conscious for all of it or not.
“Hel, sweetheart… we have to move.” Soren’s voice was gentle in waking me from my state.
I shook my head against his chest in protest. I couldn’t face this.
“Yes. I know you, Helena. You are strong, stronger than this. You’ll go on, and you’ll be OK—you have to. I’ll help you; we all will.” Soren sat up more so that I was forced to do the same.
A part of me couldn’t believe this was the same hard Viking that had disliked me so much when I first got here. I wanted to get past this, but I didn’t know how… how to fight through that much pain—and believe me, I had fought through a lot.
I swallowed and realized how dry my throat was. Poor Soren had been ignoring his own needs to hold me.
“Water,” I managed to whisper.
Soren smiled and got up from my bed. He stretched and sighed, and I watched him step into the kitchen and get two glasses of water. He brought them back over and handed me one. I sipped mine slowly, while he finished his in one gulp.
He took my glass when I was finished. “Food now?”
I shook my head no. I wanted to lie back down and sleep. Sleep—unconsciousness—that’s all I wanted… forever.
“Please, tell me something I can do,” Soren practically begged.
“I’m trying,” I squeaked out. I really was. I was trying to think of something that could help me even begin to move past this.
The big man leaned over me and kissed me gently on the top of my head. “As long as you’re trying.”
The front door flew open, causing both Soren and me to jump.
“Hel!” Grace exclaimed, running over to me.
Completely ignoring Soren, she kicked off her black stiletto ankle boots and jumped into the bed beside me, wrapping her arms around me.
Grace—my best friend. I looked and her and she looked at me, and I could see that she knew what had happened. Her face was full of the empathy only a best friend could give. She had heard all my stories of Raphael, many, many times. She knew how much I loved him, and she knew how heartbroken I was.
“Who told—” was all I managed to ask her before she answered the question.
“BIlly came to the boutique to get me,” said Grace. She pulled me in for a hug.
“I’m going to go shower and give you girls some privacy,” Soren said as he stood to leave.
“Can you stay and just shower here?” I asked.
“Of course,” he said, and walked towards the bathroom.
Grace’s amber eye shined at me, and even though there was no pupil, I could still see the emotion in it. She was wearing a black leather eye patch to cover the hole of her missing eye, and the angry red scars down the side of her face were covered well with perfectly applied makeup.
Grace had recently become a vampire, and had gone on an expedition to save another vampire, Rasputin, who had been trapped in the living world. Once released from his chains, Rasputin had attacked Grace for blood, because she was so recently turned that she still smelled like a living human. This was the same vampire who had attacked me before, as well. I didn’t trust him a single ounce, and I still wasn’t sure how I felt about my best friend being a vampire. But right now, I was beyond happy to see her.
“Tell me what you need, Hel,” Grace said. “We can go out and get trashed; you can come stay with me and Boude; I can lie here with you, and we can cry, and you can talk about him all you need to—just say it and I'll make it happen.”
Since I wasn’t a fan of the Vampire Quarter where she lived, and Boude (her boyfriend) was my old lover, that did not sound comforting.
I took a deep breath. “Grace, I have no idea what I want or need to do. I’m afraid to move or breathe! I thought I had experienced enough loss in life to understand it better than anyone. I just can’t understand how it keeps happening like this.”
“I know.” She squeezed my hand. “It’s so not fair.”
“I just wonder where he went. I didn’t think he was religious,” I said, scanning all of our past conversations through my head.
“There has to be a way to find out, doesn’t there? Through the assignment board or something. You know they must keep records of souls,” Grace suggested.
“That would make sense. But don’t you think Soren would have tried looking there in all of his searching for his wife?” I asked.
“Maybe, but who knows how he approached them. It’s worth a try, don’t you think? But then again, I…” Grace hesitated to say whatever it was she was wanting to say next.
“What?” I looked at her.
“Don’t get mad at me,” she fidgeted.
“Spit it out.”
“I know you love Raphael, and I know the two of you had big plans in life, but when you died, you didn’t plan to ever see him again. You still tried to make something of this: you still tried to find happiness and fulfillment with work, and more recently with Soren. If you want to scour the underworld for Raphael, I will come along every step of the way. But just remember: there is a guy in there that cares for you, that just hours ago you believed you could love and be happy with. You might be careful about throwing him away.”
Grace was younger than me by a few years, but her living days had been bad—bad enough that she ended her life, and woke up dead in tears of joy. She was more mature and insightful than most people I had met.
I thought about her words and knew she was right. Before I dug up Raphael I had been planning a romantic night with Soren, and the feelings we were falling into with each other were mutual. Maybe I could pretend that digging up Raphael was a bad dream and go on with this life like I had planned. Did I really want to waste the time I could be working off searching for a man I might never find? Or should I honor that by giving everything I could to the man in front of me, who had tried so hard to take care of me?
I nodded at Grace and said, “Thank you.” I felt more awake and more capable after talking to her. I still ached down to my very soul, but now I could ignore it—a little. It was like a breaking a bone, the initial break hurts more than anything in the world, then the inflammation makes the pain linger. Even after it heals, an old break can hurt at times, and I knew the break in my heart would hurt forever. But just maybe it could become bearable—one day.
“Do you need me to stay with you? I don’t mind at all,” Grace said.
“I think I’m as OK as I can be right now. If I need you, I’ll come get you, though,” I said.
Grace hugged me and kissed me on the cheek, and I watched her leave.
Before I could think it through, I got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom, where I heard the shower water still running. I tried the door knob and found it unlocked. I went in quietly and undressed. I pulled back the corner of the shower curtain, and Soren turned to look at me. His face didn’t hide his shock: he was not expecting to see me.
“Can I join you?” I asked.
“Of course,” he answered, and held out his hand to help me step into the tub. “Do you want some help with your hair?”
I nodded and forced a small smile at him.
He got some shampoo in his hands and worked into my scalp and down my back. The feel of his fingers massaging my head helped some of the tension I was holding melt away. He turned me around, so that I was under the water but facing him, so I could rinse out the shampoo.
He was taller than me, but not by too terribly much. It was easy for me to tilt my head up to meet his gray eyes.
He stared into my eyes as the water poured over me.
“Soren, thank you,” I said. I hoped he knew I meant “for everything.”
“You are very welcome.” He started to bend to kiss me, but seemed to think better of it and stopped himself.
I leaned into him and came up just high enough for my lips to meet his. The kiss was meant to be sweet and chaste—sex was the farthest thing from my mind—but that kiss was enough to make my body get other ideas.
I pulled back, a little breathlessly, and smiled at Soren. He looked incredibly confused. I couldn’t say that I blamed him.
Trying not to make matters more confusing, I reached around him to pick up the conditioner and began to work some through my hair.
Three Witches in a Small Town Page 1
