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A cool, damp cloth wiped my forehead, dulling the throbbing pain. The minute it was drawn away, the pounding returned. I winced, wondering what happened to bring on this hellish agony. The cloth wiped again, slow and steady, reminding me of a mother doting on a sick child.
I forced my eyes open. Blonde hair hung in my field of view. I didn’t remember anyone with blonde hair, but my eyes wouldn’t focus. My eyelids dropped again. The soothing cloth continued to slowly mop my forehead.
A sigh followed.
“I know you’re awake,” a voice whispered softly.
It was familiar in an eerie way. I forced my eyes open again, focusing on the fawn eyes looking down on me. I tried to move away.
Fate whispered, “Shhh,” and mopped my forehead again with enough care to bring tears to my eyes.
“Why?” I blinked when the word actually came out of my mouth. My eyes widened, and I tried to sit up. “You gave me my voice back?”
Julia pushed me back on a bed in an unfamiliar bedroom. “Just lay back and I’ll explain as best I can.” She ran the cloth over my face one more time before laying the cool washcloth over my forehead.
“There wasn’t a way to break the contract.” She stood and crossed to the window. “So I asked if there was any way to void the contract.” She let out a soft laugh. “It’s amazing what the angels will tell you when you ask the right question, especially when their kin are knee-deep in the situation and Leviathan wants to tear each and every head off.” She turned back to me. “I can’t blame him. CJ knocked him halfway across the Atlantic.”
I let out a surprised laugh, the sound of it shocking enough to stall my brain for a moment. “You know CJ?” I asked, still stunned that my voice was back.
“Believe it or not, they used to babysit me.” She gave me a smile. “Nick and I are from York.”
I glanced at my hands.
“But you knew that, didn’t you?”
“I remember the old Fate mentioning that Death’s son was from York during one of her infamous rants.”
“Well, it was a smart tactical move on your part. Unfortunately, you left a map in your car, so we knew where you were headed. Your car should be here in a day or two.”
“Why? Why am I not chained in hell?”
She stared at me for a moment and then licked her lips. “You’re mortal.”
“What?”
“That was the only way to make your contract null and void.”
My hand dropped to my belly and my heart squeezed. “And my child?” I asked, praying whatever they did hadn’t terminated my pregnancy.
Fate took a deep breath. “The baby is fine.”
Relief flooded every cell, and I fell back on the mattress. I expected Alex to pipe in and tell me of course the baby was fine, but the utter silence in my head triggered a new set of alarms. I met Fate’s gaze.
“Alex didn’t want to go,” she said. “But we convinced him that he would better serve you and your child from heaven rather than become a bitter, angry ghost that was forever earth-bound.”
The pain in my head was nothing compared to the hurt in my chest. He was gone. Forever. Tears formed, blurring my vision. I didn’t know whether to be angry or not. At least he wouldn’t be sentenced to an eternity in hell alongside me.
“You’ll see him again someday,” she said. “As long as you don’t go on a murder spree.”
I slowly sat up, staring at her. “I’m bound...”
She shook her head. “Your siren was bound for hell. Another loophole that the angels told me about. I honestly didn’t know if the Ryan’s could do what I asked of them or not, but we had to try. Otherwise...” She shook her head, either unable or unwilling to finish that sentence. “Anyway, you will grow old, and when your time is up, I’ll be there with Nick to bring you home.”
She glanced out the window again. “You know, York is a wonderful place to bring up a family,” she said and turned, walking out the bedroom door.
I was flabbergasted.
Mortal.
I didn’t know what to do with the information, so I pinched my arm hard enough to draw a wince. A knock on the door drew my attention, and I looked into Michael’s kind blue eyes.
“Hi,” I said, my voice soft and scratchy.
His eyebrows arched. “Nice bonus,” he said and stepped inside the room. He waved at the accommodations. “I’m sorry it isn’t a five star hotel...”
“It’s not a prison cell or a hospital bed, so...” I picked up the washcloth that had fallen into my lap and set it on the bedside table. “I assume I’m in CJ’s house?”
“Safe assumption.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Can I get you anything?”
“Do you have anything for a headache?”
He turned and disappeared from the room, coming back a few minutes later with a glass of water and two Tylenol capsules. “Val said you can take this. She also said the headache may last for a few days.”
I took the pills and downed them with the water.
“I’m supposed to give you this,” Michael said, pulling a folded paper out of his pocket. He handed it to me and gave me a nod. “If you need anything, just yell.”
I unfolded the paper and stared at the handwriting. A lump formed in my throat, and my vision blurred under the sudden barrage of tears.
* * * *
HEY BABE,
First, let me tell you how truly strange it is to be using someone else’s body to write this note. But it was the only way I was going to agree to let go. I wanted to say goodbye in my own words, in my own way.
You gave me light when my world was dark, and I loved you with everything I had, despite how infuriating you could be. You were not the reason why I died. Please don’t blame yourself for that monster. I was the one who erred. I didn’t plunge the blade in the right spot. Hell, I should have listened to you and stayed in San Diego, but the thought of you being hurt never settled well with me. Call it macho bullshit if you’d like, but that is how I am wired.
Besides, if I hadn’t gone to Las Vegas with you, we would have never married. I’m not sure how far along you are, but I’d like to think maybe the little he or she in your belly is our Vegas miracle. Take care of our little bundle.
One more thing. Don’t spend the rest of your life mourning me. I don’t want that for you or for our child. There is a light out there for you. You will know it when it comes along. Even if the timing seems inappropriate, know you have my blessing.
Live and love in my honor and remember, you don’t have eternity to let go this time.
Don’t waste the moments away in sorrow.
Smile for me, even through the tears.
Love and light, until we see each other again...
Alejandro.
* * * *
TEARS OVERFLOWED IN a torrent. I held the paper to my breast wishing for his voice in my ear one more time. I curled my knees to my chest and let the fountain go until it ran dry.
When I looked up, Tom stood in the doorway. He handed me a box of tissues. “It may be the wrong time, but we’re looking for another partner at our firm. I could always use someone with your skills.”
I laughed. “My skills were solidly built around my siren.”
“That’s not what I understand. What I was told is you took down all manner of beasts without your siren.”
I wiped my face. “I was, however, immortal, so that gave me an edge I no longer have.”
“I’ve agreed to help Fate chase her rogue monsters down,” he said.
I huffed and swung my legs over the side of the bed. “You must be daft,” I muttered under my breath.
Tom laughed and took a seat next to me on the bed. “I’ve never professed to be the smart brother,” he said. “But I can wield angel fire, and I did close all of hell’s portals. Unfortunately, I’m also the one who harbors the devil’s grace.”
I glanced at him and then back down at the letter in my hand. “Can you do that same memory thing your brother does?”
He nodded.
I held the letter up. “Show me this.”
“Kylee...” He sighed.
“You’re the ghost whisperer. Show me my husband’s goodbye.”
His lips twitched at the tag I gave him, and he rolled his eyes. Before I could insist, he tapped my forehead.
* * * *
“NO!” ALEX BELLOWED and grabbed for me.
A host of ghosts with broken tethers rose above me as I sank to the ground, paralyzed by the pain of their release. I seized, and Alex threaded his hand through mine, holding fast while the rest of the dead were ushered out of the room. His severed tether waved on the air above us.
Valerie dropped to her knee next to me to roll me on my side as my body jerked on the ground.
“You’re killing her!” Alex yelled, his ghostly essence turning red with aggravation.
“No, we’re not. We’re trying to save her,” Fate said as she stepped through the door.
Death waited on the back lawn with a very unsettled Leviathan pacing back and forth.
“You want to bring her back to hell!” Alex argued, trying to block her advance, while clinging to me.
Tom stepped in front of Fate, blocking Alex from her. “Trust me, we are trying to save your wife and child, but we need your help.”
“You’re out of your fucking mind!”
“Alex, I know she never trusted me. Not fully, but I never wanted to hold her to the insane contract she signed. I had no choice. If I don’t deliver her siren to hell, I will be in breach of contract. You don’t want that on your head.”
“I don’t give a damn. I’m not letting you take her.” He squared up in front of me without letting go of my hand.
“I do not want to take Kylee. The angels gave me a way to save her. It’s a little unorthodox, but it will make it so none of us are breaching the contract,” Fate said, articulating carefully with her hands out like she was trying to calm Leviathan instead of the ghost of my dead husband.
Alex stared at her. “You’re serious.”
“Yes. I need her siren. Now, will you help me save your wife?” She held a small glass bottle out to Alex.
He gazed down at my prone body with a nod and took the vial in his hand. “I don’t know how to do this,” he said. “Fate, the one before you, yanked it from her throat.”
“That bitch didn’t take her siren. She took her voice. It’s different. The siren is actually a part of her. It was used to anchor all those soul tethers. You need to pull it out and shove it in that container.”
Tiny worry lines formed around his eyes. “What will happen to her?”
“She will become mortal.”
Alex’s eyes widened, and he looked at the cluster of tethers floating above my head. “Mortal?” His mouth worked around the word. He licked his lips, glancing back at Fate and then at the only other person in the room who could see him.
Tom nodded. “It’s not going to be pretty, but she will survive.”
“You can guarantee that?” Alex asked.
Tom pointed at Valerie. “She will make sure of it.”
Valerie glanced up at him with a tense smile.
Alex crouched down next to me and unclasped his hand from mine. He swept the lot of tethers into his hands as close to my head as possible. He looked over his shoulder at Tom. “What happens if she lets the siren loose before I can get it out?”
Tom gave a nervous laugh. “Then I think we are all doomed,” he said and shrugged. “The key is to not stop once you start. No matter what.”
Alex gave a nod and took a deep breath, wrapping the tethers around his fist until they were taut. The muscles in his arms contracted. “Here goes nothing,” he said and yanked.
My body jerked. My eyes flew open, shimmering like a true siren and the tethers pooled together to form a scaly gray circle on my forehead.
“Hold her!” Alex said, trying to rise to his feet with the tethers grasped tight. The muscles in his back flexed, followed by his neck.
The ghostly bellow that followed made me shiver.
Tom’s hand shot out, grabbing the tethers below Alex’s hand and adding his strength to my husband’s.
The sound of wet flesh bursting filled the room.
“Jesus Christ,” Alex cried, but the vial disappeared behind his ghostly essence.
Tom stumbled backwards, catching the edge of the couch with a bloodstained hand. Alex turned, giving Tom a full view of my body and the hole in my forehead. Valerie’s lips landed on a clean spot next to the tear in my skull, and light danced across my form, pooling around the gaping wound.
Alex shoved the vial at Fate and then fell to his knees next to me. “I’m so sorry, baby.” His hands cradled my face and his lips brushed mine. “I’m so sorry.”
The light surrounding me faded, and my ragged breathing evened out. Valerie checked my pulse and glanced up at Tom.
“She seems to be stabilizing,” she said.
“Good. I will be right back. I have a siren to deliver,” Fate said and gave Tom a nod before she disappeared.
Tom squatted next to Alex. “It’s your turn now,” he said softly.
Alex drew his eyebrows together. “I’m not leaving her.”
“You need to move on,” Tom said.
“Look, I get it. I’m a ghost, but she’s my wife and she is carrying my child. I am not leaving.”
“Do you have any experiences with ghosts?” Tom asked.
Alex’s mouth popped open and then closed. He looked at me and let out a high-pitched laugh. His nervous laugh. “A little. But...”
“But what? You’ll never turn out like those bitter and violent ghosts you encountered?”
Alex met Tom’s gaze. “I wouldn’t.”
“You will. It is inevitable. Do you want to end up hurting Kylee or your child?”
“God, no!” He recoiled from Tom’s question, his hand still clasped mine.
“Then come with us,” Fate said from the doorway.
“I can’t leave her,” he said and caressed my cheek. “She would never forgive me for leaving.”
“She’ll forgive you,” Fate said, crossing the distance. She held out her hand.
Alex glanced at her and then at Tom. “I need to talk to her before I make a decision,” he said.
“It doesn’t work that way,” Fate said. “The window closes.”
“How long before that happens?”
“It will close long before she wakes,” Fate said.
“Do I have time to write a letter?”
Fate nodded. Tom stood , pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, and set them on the table. Alex attempted multiple times to physically maneuver the pen but to no avail.
Tom picked up the pen for him.
“She needs to see my handwriting,” he said through clenched teeth. “Otherwise she won’t believe it was from me.”
“Is she okay to be moved?” Michael asked, squatting next to Valerie and my still unconscious form.
“Yes. Take her up to the guest room while we hash this out,” Valerie said.
Michael scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the stairway. He didn’t make it more than the first step when Alex’s ghost slammed into him.
Tom blinked. One minute Alex had been at the table next to him and the next, he’d merged right into Michael.
“Shit.” Tom swiped the paper and pen off the table and lumbered after Michael.
When Michael turned into the bedroom at the top of the stairs, Tom muttered under his breath, following him in and waiting until the ghost laid me on the bed. Then he slammed the pen and paper on the desk.
“Write fast, otherwise I’m bouncing you the hell out of my godson.” His growl filled the room.
Michael turned and his blue eyes were muddied with ghostly brown ones. Alex nodded and sat down, scribing his letter. When he finished, he folded it and put it in Michael’s shirt pocket.
“Make sure she gets this when she wakes,” Alex said and patted the pocket.
His ghostly essence peeled away from Michael. Tom’s clenched fists relaxed.
Michael took a great inhalation and coughed. “Holy crap,” he said. “What the hell was that?”
“That is what it’s like to be possessed,” Tom said. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Keep an eye on her.” Tom grabbed Alex’s arm and dragged the ghost downstairs. “I don’t take kindly to ghost possessions,” he said, giving Alex a sideways glare.
“He was touching my wife.”
“For Christ’s sake, he was just carrying her up to the bedroom.”
Alex pressed his lips together and glanced at Tom’s grip on his arm. “He has designs on my wife.”
Tom yanked him to the right toward Fate. “He doesn’t have designs. He is just intrigued by her. We all are.”
Alex scoffed and turned his attention to Fate. “I’m not ready for this,” he said.
“I promise, you’ll see her again someday,” Fate said and took Alex’s hand, leading him outside to where Death waited.
* * * *
TOM’S BLUE EYES CAME back into focus as his fingers left my forehead.
“No emotions?” I asked, thinking back to CJ’s mind share. His had come with all the horror and fury of the moment, but Tom’s mind share was without emotional tags beyond the few physical cues I got.
Tom chuckled. “No. I have the ability to allow you to see my memories without my emotions attached. I wasn’t inclined to share my thoughts with a stranger, no matter how beautiful she is.”
Heat filled my cheeks as I glanced down at the letter still in my hands.
“Don’t worry, I’m not hitting on you. My wife would skin me alive.”
I laughed and gave him a sideways look.
“And I’m serious about a job. Having someone with your wealth of experience would do us some good. Plus, I understand you own an arsenal that is exceptional.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty special. I appreciate the offer, but I’m not sure if I’m going to stay.”
Valerie stepped into the room with a cup of water and offered it to me. “Stop trying to get her to come work for you,” she scolded Tom, and then turned to me. “Totally up to you, but if you decide to stay, we have plenty of room, as do the Andreases next door, or if you’re more comfortable, there are some great hotels in the area.”
Tom stood and headed out of the room, pausing in the doorway. “It’s not always the best to be alone after losing someone you love.” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Take it from someone who has been in your shoes.”
Valerie watched him go and then shrugged. “He means well.”
“He does. But I really don’t know you, and being around familiar things, things I shared with Alex, might lessen the pain after a time. Besides, if I’m truly free from being a paranormal bounty hunter, well, I don’t know if I want to continue that line of work. I might just try my hand at something less threatening.”
Valerie grinned. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Anything but chasing down monsters.”