Chapter Fourteen

So close. So close, and yet… He touched Matt’s cheek. The slightest warmth made his fingertips tingle, but Andilun didn’t feel Matt’s skin like he longed to.

Still, the bare hint of physical connection was better than nothing, better than all the thousands of years Andilun had spent alone. Perhaps if he hadn’t expended so much energy protecting Matt and chasing Avery out of the house, he might have had more strength, might have been able to make himself firmer.

He’d done it once before, had manifested into a human form that, while it hadn’t been perfect, had been close enough to fool most who’d looked at him.

He couldn’t do that now, couldn’t bring color to his form, or add clothing to it. All Andilun could do was to try to touch Matt and to long for more.

Matt’s eyes had widened and he’d closed them after a moment. He didn’t pull away or freak out. It was as if he actually trusted Andilun, and maybe he did.

Or he could believe he’s imagining things. Dreaming. There were any number of possibilities.

Open your eyes, Matthew. Look at me. Despite his transparent state, Andilun longed to be seen. It wasn’t a smart thing to have done. He should have remained in the jasper where he belonged.

No. If he’d done that, Matt might have been hurt or killed. Andilun had likely made Matt’s situation worse, however, because he’d made his presence known, in a way.

Andilun tried not to shiver. It made his form waver and almost blink out of existence.

Matt’s lashes fluttered as he opened his eyes. “What’s happening here?”

As if Andilun could explain. He had no mouth with which to speak, and even if he did have the body parts needed, he hadn’t spoken in so long, so long…

The icy-cold sensation of death twined around him. Andilun braced himself for it. He knew what it was to die, in body, at least.

“Did I dream Avery? No, I didn’t. He was going to kill me because he wants something. I don’t think it’s me, despite the fact that we had sex.” Matt sighed. “He kept demanding that I give him it before. What is it? I don’t think he wants a murderous clown, and I don’t have anything of value. Nothing worth killing me over. All I have that I value is…”

Matt stiffened. “It has to be you. He wants you, doesn’t he? You’re linked to this.” He pulled the jasper stone from his pocket. “It just feels like a rock now. No warmth or coolness, no special anything. Even the colors look dull.” Matt cocked his head. “Are you a genie in a stone?”

Andilun snickered without making a sound. He was just himself, a dead man who had vowed vengeance for his family and people. Perhaps not dead, he corrected himself. He was there, on the mortal plane.

So was something else, a dangerous force that had tried to harm Matt.

The situation was more complicated than Matt believed it to be. Andilun had felt the wave of evil and it had held a familiar darkness. Avery wasn’t the core of the evil he sought. That would be too simple. Someone was controlling the man.

Which meant Avery was as good as dead, scheduled to die the moment his body had been held up and used by a spirit or spell. Neither was good.

“You can’t speak, but I can feel you, sort of. Feel this.” Matt raised his hand to touch Andilun’s. “Like a whisper of a breath on my skin. I can also kind of see your outline. Tell me, one stroke yes, two strokes, no, if that was you at the club, if it was you I chased down.”

Andilun saw no need for lies. He caressed Matt’s cheek once.

Matt cleared his throat. “And are you in the stone?”

A trickier question. Andilun was dead. His soul, however, could not rest until he had avenged his people. But he supposed he was in the stone, in a sense. Another solitary stroke.

“Have you watched me all these years?” Matt sounded alarmed at the idea.

Andilun made a motion with his hand, like a wave rolling over Matt’s cheek.

“Sort of?” Matt said a second later.

One touch. He hadn’t watched everything Matt had done, but he had watched over him.

“Like a guardian angel who appears only in times of need, or have you seen me do embarrassing stuff?” Matt’s face was already pinking up with a blush. “Wait, that’s two questions, sorta.” He pursed his lips, then nodded. “Fine. Have you watched me, you know?” Matt made a jacking motion with his hand.

Andilun thought it might be best to go back into the stone now. He was tired. He’d only been popping out for a few minutes here and there once Matt had had him. It’d taken years to build up enough strength to do more than that—but Matt had inspired him.

And Matt might toss him back into the river, or, worse, take a hammer to him if Matt didn’t like his answer.

Andilun vanished in the blink of an eye. He couldn’t risk being destroyed, and he would not lie.

 

“Shit!” I leapt to my feet, frustrated and more than a little freaked. “Hey, where’d you go?” I held the stone up to the light. The jasper was growing warm against my palm. It hadn’t been warm at all while that presence had been with me. “You ran off, huh? Is that a yes, then? Or did you…? I can’t believe I’m talking to a rock.

“Jeez.” I shook my head to try to, I don’t know, knock loose the weird shit happening in there. Then I lowered my hand and put the jasper back in my pocket. I didn’t believe I had hallucinated the form I’d seen. If I had, well…

“So I’m either crazy, or I’m not crazy, or the world is crazy… So many fun options.” Sarcasm, my best friend in times of duress and possible insanity. “Avery was here. He was here and he was hurting me. Maybe even killing me. I blacked out—understandably. Then I woke up. Thought I’d dreamt the whole attack. Didn’t have a bruise or sore spot on me anywhere. Walked in and saw the destruction to my home. Knew I hadn’t been dreaming after all.” Damn it all, I could not keep from touching the stone again. I slid my hand into my pocket and clasped the jasper. “And you appeared, my mysterious…being. I know you were here. You saved me, didn’t you?”

Even without an answer, or a pulse from the stone to confirm it, I still knew it was true. I didn’t know how it had happened, just that it had.