Days passed, and Jess didn’t see Dawson again, or Justin for that matter. Vi ignored the excuses she invented and forced her to shop and eat. Vi could deal with Jess like no other. Immune to her moods, the woman made her laugh until she forgot why she was ever upset. In the presence of the energetic redhead, the world felt like it belonged to the two of them. And so Jess shopped and ate.
It didn’t escape her Justin had put her completely out of his mind, but the time away from him was needed, and she forgave him for not being human. It had been three weeks, since she’d suffered the attack on the balcony in Alabama. The gashes in her arms were now scabbed over and beginning to mend, but the bruises on her wrists were purple and black reminders of her last meeting with Dawson. Five days had passed, yet the marks hadn’t faded, and Justin called pleading with her to meet him in Audubon Park.
It was sixty degrees, warmer than it had been in days, but glancing at her wrists, she grabbed a sweater. The last thing she wanted was Justin’s anger erupting the moment he saw her. She hadn’t spent time with him in almost a week, and avoiding confrontation was high on her list of priorities.
She grabbed her cell phone and keys and locked the door. Jordan called as she ambled towards St. Charles Avenue and waited on the streetcar. They caught up, both skirting the real issues they faced. Jess didn’t like hiding so much from him, but somehow she felt by separating him from her life in New Orleans, she protected him. When she hung up, a pang of loneliness caused her stomach to twist.
The streetcar cut down St. Charles Avenue under a canopy of live oak branches. The sun streamed through the quasi-ceiling they created making grid-like patterns on the street. The Park was an oasis tucked along Magazine Street where Jess had spent the day before shopping with Vi. Even though new construction dotted the streets around the park, stepping from the trolley was like stepping into an earlier time.
In the warmth of early October under clear skies, Jess grumbled about the feel of the sweater. Without thought, she pulled it over her head and tied it around her waist. In the distance, behind a wall of oak and pine trees, she could see a cross perched atop an ancient building. The structure was part of Loyola University, and flanked by evergreen trees and deep purple irises, the architecture stole her breath.
Justin was sitting on a metal bench next to the lake that wound around the outer limits of the park. Children played on the trunk of an ancient oak tree near him. The mighty tree’s breadth was wider than most vehicles, and the Spanish moss hanging from its branches dipped into the water. The image of him against the backdrop of nature’s excellence was surreal. If before their meeting, Jess had imagined how an urban angel might disguise himself, Justin would satisfy her mind’s rendering.
Before she reached him, she stopped at a metal fountain. A sculpted child sat atop a tortoise that spouted water from its open mouth. A cement path encircled the fountain and red cabbage budded around it like overgrown roses. Runners and bike riders passed her as she inhaled the crisp air and took in the scenery.
Justin shifted, and she knew her thoughts had warned him of her approach. His smile was genuine, and the children on the oak paused to gawk at him. Jess was comforted in the knowledge they could see he was extraordinary. She moved closer and immediately saw his eyes trail from her face to her wrists. She kicked herself mentally and prepared for the interrogation.
He stood embracing her. He kissed her; his full mouth covered her lips and sent her heart racing. He didn’t move away, but instead, took hold of her waist without the usual hesitation, and Jess was startled by the welcome. She couldn’t react properly, because she hadn’t predicted he would climb the barrier they’d erected between them.
“Hey.” Justin tugged her arm insisting she join him on the bench as his glance worked from her face to her wrists, again.
“Hey.” Jess felt like a child about to be blasted for staying out past curfew.
“I’m sorry I haven’t called before now.” As though shamed, his eyes moved from her to the kids, who were engaged in a game of chase. Was that a blush?
“It’s okay. I needed some time anyway.” She watched the kids, too afraid if she looked at him, the defenses she’d built during their time apart would fail.
“I figured you were done with me, but I’m not beyond stalking you until you relent.” Sarcasm and truth mixed dripping from his words.
“Vi kept me busy. We went shopping. I bought a new sofa, like I needed it. The girl makes me goofy.”
He grinned in agreement. “What happened?” His head nodded towards the bruises.
Jess bit the inside of her cheek until the taste of iron filled her mouth. She couldn’t see a sensible way out of the confession. “Dawson.” She ran her fingernail over the iron bench scraping away the black paint.
He knew the answer before he’d asked, so why he’d have to torture her? Nonetheless, the angel in him peeked from behind his protected disguise catching her off guard. His high cheekbones were becoming more pronounced and his skin more transparent in the sunlight as his body threatened to wield the wings he he’d had in her apartment the day Dawson attacked her. She twisted around looking for the children. Were they close enough to notice? They had relocated and she was awash in relief as his veins began to surface.
“Did he hurt you?” His voice was flat and filled with a strange coolness that made her want to evaporate.
“No. Not really, scared me a little. I’m fine.” She stroked his hand, but the gesture didn’t change his temperament. “He just made accusations and left. I’m fine really.”
Justin’s lip curled. It seemed to require an abundance of patience for him to control himself. Jess visually tracked a wood duck as it ascended into the sky, and then silently asked God why she couldn’t have had a relationship with an ordinary man. “Can I ask you something?” She stood to peer into the water, and Justin’s reflection emerged behind her.
“What?” He touched her neck, the image of him causing goose bumps to rise on her arms.
“Why do you think I see these things? Why me? Why can I see you, and Maci and Asher, and a thousand others like them?”
Justin’s lips twisted in a magnificent smirk flashing his perfect teeth. He allowed shock to color his cheeks, and Jess knew he was annoyed Dawson had divulged the names of her guardians. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re just open to it.”
She feigned laughter. “Do I appear open to you?”
“Are we going to argue already? I meant spiritually, Jess.”
“I know what you meant. However, I’m a spiritual disaster.” She walked towards the concrete path which bisected vast expanses of lifeless grass.
Justin didn’t allow her much of a lead. In seconds, he was next to her matching her strides. “Yes you are a disaster, spiritual and otherwise, but some humans just see our world. There aren’t a lot of people who possess your gift, and most of those who do, don’t have a vendetta against God.
She stopped long enough to interpret his meaning, unsure if he’d intended to cut her with the jab. “Exactly, people spend their entire lives doing whatever, living and dying. So, why me? I’m not even particularly fond of God, why would he give me this?”
Justin’s jaw moved. He had a habit of biting his cheek when he was hiding something, and Jess wished he wouldn’t repress his reaction. Shortly after the thought occurred to her, he obliged her desire for honesty. He bowed leveling with her, his eyes, which were usually in perpetual motion, were stone. “I’ll put up with a lot from you, but I won’t listen to your blasphemy.”
He continued along the sidewalk, leaving her dumbstruck as a group of boys on bicycles whizzed by on either side of her. In a wave of nerves and confusion, her stomach cramped, and she doubled over. When he heard her fall to the pavement he stopped. She saw him try to resist his conscience, and then trudge back offering her his hand.
“You punished me,” she snapped.
“You punished yourself. I can’t do that Jess.” The accusation didn’t cause him to ditch her, and inside she was euphoric with the knowledge of just how much he would take from her.
She accepted his assistance, but searched for a getaway. Being with him forced her to clash with demons she had long since buried. If she left now, she could pretend she’d never known him, go back to the safety of her cursed life. At least there, no one expected her to expose her wounds.