I wave good-bye to my friends as Alexander, Amber, and I walk out to the parking lot. Alexander places his hand on the small of my back. I stop walking. My stomach flutters at the intimate contact. Then everything inside me stills, waiting to see how this point of contact will react.
His essence flows in and again hits a wall. I frown and notice him do the same.
“Come on,” he says, guiding me to the stairs, his hand still on my back.
Even though we barely agreed to hold hands this morning, throughout the day Alexander has progressed to touching my arm, resting his arm on my shoulder, and now touching my back. He’s not being a jerk or trying to hit on me. I think he’s just conducting an experiment, and I’m his guinea pig. Perhaps he’s checking to see if my body reacts the same way everywhere. So far it has.
I’ve touched five supernatural beings prior to Alexander: MJ, Damien (though thankfully only in my dreams), Elizabeth, Justin, and the masked demon. Alexander’s essence is the first to react this way. Is it him? Or me? From the deep lines of concentration on his forehead, I’m guessing he’s puzzled by it as well. So it must be me.
I walk to the back door of the truck, but Alexander stops me. “You can have shotgun, Maddy.”
“What about Amber?” I glance over at her.
“I have better things to do than waste my evening with you,” she snaps.
Sissy steps out from the Veil. I move closer to Alexander.
“Alexander. Maddy.” She nods to us and uses a surprisingly polite tone. “Come along, Amber.” She touches Amber’s arm, and a moment later they’re gone.
“Where did they go?”
“You only have to be together during school hours,” Alexander replies. “Unless you feel like joining her on a date with Tom?”
“Uh, no thanks.” Up until MJ’s arrival, Tom and Amber were usually swapping spit every chance they got. I wonder if MJ is the reason they don’t do that anymore.
Alexander closes his eyes and tilts his head to the sky. His expression relaxes, as if years of stress and worry vanished from him. For a moment I’m envious.
“What are you doing?”
He lowers his gaze and smiles so joyously his brown eyes shine. “Come on. I have a surprise for you.”
“What?”
“Get in the truck. I promise you’ll like it.”
“I don’t like surprises. Just tell me what it is.” I cross my arms and try to glare at him. But it’s so hard not to smile with the excitement radiating off him.
“Did you know I used to be a cowboy, Maddy?”
His question has me dropping the charade. “No,” I say, smiling at the thought.
“I was a sheriff—a lawman, as we were called back then—and I was great at it. People learned real quick not to test me. Now, I like you, so I would prefer to do this the easy way, but it’s your choice. I’ve been ordered to take you somewhere but to not reveal the location—”
“Wait, when were you ‘ordered’ this?”
“Just now.”
“By who?”
“MJ.”
“How?”
He cracks his knuckles and grins. “In the words of Tamitha, we have a schedule to keep, and we’re running late. Get in the truck, or I will put you in it. Nicely, I mean. I’m sure the remaining students loitering about will enjoy the show.”
“Okay. Jeez,” I say, opening my door.
Inside, the butterflies awaken. If MJ communicated with Alexander, that means he isn’t home yet, but he’s okay.
. . .
Alexander pulls up alongside the curb by the jogging path that leads to Hiniker Bridge.
“I had fun today,” he says. “Though I know it was awkward for you, it was still great getting to know you better.”
I lean back into my door and stare at him. He’s frowning, and a little indent in his chin mirrors the curve of his lips. “Why does it sound like you’re saying good-bye?”
“Getting a soft spot for me, eh?”
I pause. As strange as it may seem, I have actually enjoyed some of our time together. He’s funny and easy to be around.
“Well . . . you didn’t try to kill me yesterday. I suppose that was nice of you,” I joke.
“Right. Sissy is truly sorry about that. But just so there are no secrets between us, I was pushing MJ to kill you when he met you. I’m glad he didn’t listen.”
I snort. “Me too.”
“You’re going to be fine, Maddy.”
Again, this sounds like a good-bye. I look down the jogging path that leads to my safe haven. It looks different now—no longer inviting. The barren branches that curve over the path rustle in the breeze, looking as if they’re hands waiting to reach out and trap me. Hold me prisoner forever. Alone. He’s going to just leave me here. By myself. I don’t want him to go.
“I thought you couldn’t leave me alone,” I whisper.
I squeeze my hands between my knees so he can’t see them shake. Heat builds between them from the friction, making them slick with sweat. The cab of the truck darkens. I don’t have to look outside to know the sky just changed to a grayish-black color.
He sighs and places a hand on my arm. “I know something happened to make you lose faith in people. I’m sorry that happened. I wish you would put your trust in me, though I realize you’ve only known me a day. MJ, however, you’ve known a little while longer. Actions always speak clearer than words, and I think you know he would never let any harm come to you, so long as he could help it. One day I hope you’ll feel the same toward me. Tamitha and Sissy too. We’re all stumped when it comes to you, but we’re going to do everything we can to keep you safe.”
“Abandoning me here, alone, isn’t safe,” I say, my voice barely audible.
He smiles a little. “After everything I just said, do you really think I would bring you to your favorite place just to abandon you?”
I stare at him, taking in the gentle tone and the softness in his eyes. I was right yesterday—he is more teddy bear than brute. Even though I barely know him, I trust that he means what he says—he will do all he can to keep me safe.
A bit of my fear lessens.
“I—I guess not.”
“Unlike you, I happen to like surprises—what I can recall of them, anyway. And I like the anticipation leading up to the reveal. So, with that in mind, get out of MJ’s truck so I can do all kinds of reckless, stupid stuff with it before I have to return it to him. Please.”
I shake my head and laugh. “Okay.”
When I open my door, Tamitha stands beside it. Is this the surprise? If so, it’s not a very good one.
“Alexander is taking me to do something called ‘mudding.’ Have a good night!” she says.
I stare at her, first noting the ear-to-ear grin on her face, then her straw cowboy hat, flowery dress, and brown leather boots.
“Wait. Are you two going on a date?”
“What’d you think we’re gonna do with our free time now that we can feel?” Alexander asks. “Sit around and talk about our feelings? Nope. We’ve got a lot of living to catch up on, and time is a-wasting. Giddy on up here, Tamitha.”
“Don’t wait up,” she sings as she climbs in and sits in the center seat next to him.
“So what’s my surprise?” I ask, still unsure.
Tamitha presses her lips together and then runs her fingers over them, zipping her mouth shut.
Alexander shakes his head and laughs some more. “It’s all about the anticipation, remember?”
I wave as they drive off. They seem like a cute couple. It gives me hope for my relationship with MJ. In this life and the next.
As the truck fades out of view, I turn and there stands MJ.
Every high and low of the day suddenly vanishes.
I sprint toward him, desperate to erase the distance between us. He does the same. In less than a second, his arms wrap around me, hugging me and lifting my feet off the pavement. His essence—the essence my body has craved all day—rushes into my body, filling me instantly, having memorized the space.
Even though this is exactly where I want to be—and I’m ridiculously happy—I have a strong desire to cry. I missed him so much.
My heart rate lowers and my breathing slows as my body finally catches up to my head in realization that everything is perfect now.
He lowers me so my feet touch down, and he places kiss after kiss in my hair. Each one sends a shockwave through me, strengthening his essence inside me.
Hand in hand we walk to the center of the bridge, and he turns to face me. We stand like this for I don’t know how long, drinking in the sight of each other. If this were all we did for the rest of the day, I would be more than okay with it.
“Could you take us to the bridge?” he asks.
“We are at the bridge,” I reply breathlessly.
“No.” He lightly taps my temple. “The one in your mind. I spent two-thirds of the day apart from you, and I’d like to make up the time.”
I hug him harder. “Not right now. I can’t touch you there. I just want to be in your arms—I’ve missed you way too much.”
He grins and motions for us to sit along the back railing. When we do, he shifts so he’s behind me with his arms wrapped around me. I link my hands over his and rest my head on his shoulder.
“How’s your day been?” he asks.
“Long.”
He chuckles. “Me too. I’ve missed you.”
My heart flutters, and my smile widens. “Good.”
“What did you do today?”
“My day was quite busy, thanks to your ‘itinerary.’”
His body tenses around me.
I kiss the back of his hand to lighten the blow. “To be honest, I was a bit ticked about it. But now that you’re back, I’m so happy to see you that I don’t care.”
He mirrors me by placing a kiss on my hand. “If I had been here today, those were all the things I would have done with you. I didn’t want you to miss out on anything simply because I was unavoidably detained.”
I hadn’t thought of it like that. Leave it to him to be thoughtful and sweet.
I tug on his arms, making him hug me even harder. “How did it go up there?” I pause. “Did you find Ben?”
He’s silent. I can guess his answer.
I thought MJ would find him. I wanted him to—even though I dreaded the idea. I assumed Ben would tell him how much he hated me and blamed me for his death. But this—this is worse. Where is he, then? Ben’s life ended miserably, and now his afterlife is just as miserable. He deserves peace.
I try to put on a brave face. But in the reflection in the water, I can see storm clouds swirling above us. The traitorous sky reveals the truth.
“I will find him,” MJ says. “I promise.”
I change the subject. “What happened with the Council? They aren’t going to punish you, are they?”
MJ sighs and places another kiss in my hair. “It went as well as could be expected. I met with Michael. He and his two brothers make up the surviving Heavenly Archangels. He knew about some things that took place here, and I filled in some gaps. I have their blessing to remain here, as does my team, so you can relax. They aren’t going to punish anyone.”
“Oh. What did he say about me?”
“Nothing. I’m keeping you a secret for as long as possible. I can’t promise we can keep this quiet forever, especially considering he asked about the fire tornados. But for now, we’ll take it one day at a time.”
My chest constricts as fear pounds into me. “He saw the tornadoes?” MJ is trying so hard to protect me, and my own abilities are working against us.
“Heard of them.”
“We can’t kiss, then, can we?”
He huffs. “The hell we can’t. We’ll be careful and take it slow so we can figure out what stirs that reaction in you.”
“But what about your future, and the others’, if the Council finds out you hid me from them? Sissy says you could be banished.”
He stiffens. “It won’t happen.”
“But what if it does?”
“Then we’ll deal with it. End of story. She shouldn’t have told you that.”
I twist and lean back to see his face. “You’re right. You should have told me about this. You should have told me about a lot of things.”
He frowns and turns away.
I grab his chin and turn him back to me.
“It’s not fair to ask the others to risk their futures for me.”
“They knew what they were signing up for,” he says. “Besides, there’s one aspect of Heaven you’re forgetting about.”
“What’s that?”
He smiles, though it doesn’t reach his eyes. “They’re pretty big on forgiveness.”