Eyes to the Soul (26 page)

“Eric, how are
you feeling today?”

The same doctor as always listened to his chest and his back. The same patter rumbled over his head. He sank farther into his bed, trying to ignore the looks the doctor exchanged with his mother.

They weren’t listening to anything he said. They never did. He was just a kid. He didn’t know anything. Monsters didn’t exist.
You’re just having bad dreams. A side effect of the drugs.
Well, if the drugs brought out the monsters, then why would they give the drugs to little kids? Everyone knew monsters were bad.

He stared out at the doorway, wondering if he could jump up and run away. That’s what the monster kept telling him to do. He wanted to. Anything to make that nasty voice in his head stop. He knew it was the bone they’d used to rebuild his knee but he didn’t care. He wanted it out. Big fat tears rolled down his cheek, but he wouldn’t cry. The monster loved fear.

I want you to be afraid. Then you’ll do everything I tell you to do,
the monster had said.

And he would do anything if it would make this monster go away. Even jump out that window beside him. He just needed a time when his mom wasn’t looking. That would stop the hateful monster.

That would make him a hero. This monster couldn’t hurt anyone anymore after that.

*

The moments of
clarity were getting stronger and stronger. He flexed his virtual muscles, wishing he had enough to be solid in one place instead of spread out so thin that he was many people. But considering what he’d achieved, it was damn fine indeed. Especially now that he’d figured out how to stop the problem of deteriorating further.

He needed to cut off the flow at the sources. That way he figured he could easily control the energy he currently had and become stronger as he managed to focus more. But that main artery had to be destroyed. But how? He mulled the problem over. He had done the impossible already, so this should be a piece of cake.

He’d put his impressive brain to it.

If he had one.

At that reminder he howled and his energy splintered – everywhere.

C
elina reached out
to Stefan then hesitated. She didn’t know if she should touch him or if that would disturb whatever he was trying to do. He was so still. Yet wisps of air escaped through his mouth. She could hear that movement but nothing else. She moved her hand up to the sound, her fingers gently brushing the sides of his cheekbones.

Knowing she should ask permission but needing to touch, she let her fingers trail across the strong cheekbones, lean, taut jaw and on to the large forehead. In passing, her fingers slipped across eyelashes that women would die for. She sighed as her fingers found the silkiest hair she could ever imagine a man having. It went to his shoulders. She exclaimed in joy as her fingers stroked through the waves. In her mind a picture was forming close to the image she’d kept in her heart after meeting him in her dreams. She had no way to know how close it would be, but it helped her to identify with him.

His shoulders were broad, the muscles corded, lean. She wanted to stroke his skin, explore those muscles. Foolish of her. Probably what she was doing wasn’t wise either. She no longer cared. Who was this man that had walked into her life like he had the right? And taken up residence daringly close to her heart. She hadn’t known about him days ago, but she knew him somehow. She couldn’t help her fingers stroking down his long arms, getting a sense of the breadth of him, the lean, muscled look of him. On their own accord her fingers explored upward again, coming to rest on his lips.

His lips moved beneath her fingers.

And kissed her fingertips.

She gasped and pulled her hand back.

“Don’t,” he murmured. “Feel free to touch.”

“I’m sorry. I should have asked first.”

“Why?” he asked curiously. “Is that some sort of blind etiquette thing?”

“I don’t know.” She laughed ruefully. “I’ve been very obstinate about learning anything that would help my condition. I don’t want to be in this state.”

“So you have resisted. That sounds normal.”

She heard the hairbrush land on the bedding beside her and something in the air changed. Warmed. Reminding her that some things hadn’t changed. She was still nude in her bed, under the cover of night, with a gorgeous man who was still a stranger.

Yet some crucial things had shifted. She knew that he was important to her. She was important to him. He cared. She was open to caring. And she’d let go of a lot of pain from old relationships, making room for a new one.

She smiled, the curve of her lips tilting high on one side. “Hello again.”

He smiled and brushed his thumb across her lips.

His hand slipped around the back of her neck, long fingers sliding deep into her hair, and he tugged her closer.

Twisted and off balance, she fell – into his arms. He tugged her up close to his chest, her head back over his arm. She waited, again a sense of fatalism in her response. This was right. Whoever this man was, he was the right man at the right time. Now.

Just before she felt the touch of his lips against her his breath warmed her eyes, down over her nose to her lips. He whispered, “Hello.”

And kissed her.

She’d been kissed before. She’d been kissed lovingly before. By a man she’d loved and who had loved her. This was different. This was a coming home. This was a realization of something she had been missing all her life – and only now just found. An awakening to something she hadn’t known she’d been missing. And now that she knew, she understood the gift he was offering.

A sense of completeness.

She didn’t know when the tears started to trickle. Didn’t even know that they had started. Stefan lifted his head and kissed the corner of her eyes. “Tears,” he said. “Why?”

“How can I answer that when I don’t know?” Still, she groped for one that would satisfy. Held strong against his chest, no quiver in the muscles of his arms, she opted for the truth. If he was this strong inside, then she could be too. “The emotion is so deep right now. So momentous, there’s a well opening up inside.” She stopped and shrugged. “I know it sounds stupid…”

His lips touched hers, coaxing them to silence before she let the rest of her sentence out. His breath wafted gently over her skin as he whispered, “There is nothing stupid about this. About right now. It is momentous. For both of us.”

And damn if huge tears didn’t well up again at his words.

“Shh.” He kissed the corner of her eye, his tongue gently catching the falling drop. “It’s going to be fine. Just rest.”

Celina’s lips twitched. “I’m in bed with a gorgeous man and he says rest. Who’d believe me?”

He laughed, the sound bringing up images of deep, dark midnight dreams. She wished she could see him, but fancied that she saw him as he was inside. She had never met any man like him.

She was laid back down on the bed, the covers pulled up to her chin, with a brief but bordering-on-hot kiss before he stepped back. In bemusement she heard him walk toward the door.

“Wait.”

She heard his inwardly drawn breath, sensing the stillness of his movements.

“What do you need?” he asked.

“You.”

*

Stefan paused, his
heart hammering against his chest. Did she realize what she was saying? Inviting? And was this what he wanted? His loins screamed yes, but his mind said it wasn’t a good idea. She was vulnerable.

His heart told him to stop talking and seize what he really wanted.

He approached the bed slowly. “Are you sure?”

He studied her energy, searching for the truth. And saw what he had hoped not to see. Doubts.

“You’re not ready,” he said slowly, almost hating that small part of himself that needed the truth and only truth between them. That knew he had to take the high road this time. Every time.

“No,” she whispered. “Maybe I’m not, but I’m not far off.”

He laughed, loving her truth. “Good. I’m glad to hear that.”

She patted the bed beside her. “Stay with me, please.”

“Are you nervous?” He settled on the bed beside her. She rolled over, giving him her back. He stretched out, wrapped an arm around her, and tugged her up close. “Sleep. I’ll look after you.”

And she closed her eyes and slept.

Stefan closed his eyes and relaxed behind Celina spoon-fashion. He hadn’t thought to get this far so fast with her, but when the chips were down she’d known whom to trust. He loved that.
He
was her rightful partner, but just because he said he was didn’t make it so – especially not in her eyes.

And speaking of her eyes, what was going on there? He’d studied them as much as he was comfortable doing and still didn’t understand. He would be sad for her if she had lost her sight completely and he’d rejoice if she hadn’t. It was her life, her world that would open up more or stay as it was now.

He hoped for her sake that this could be fixed, but if not it changed nothing for him. She had the ability to see so much on other planes of existence that he knew he could help her to see more than she’d ever thought possible. It wouldn’t be like before, when her eyes were healthy and strong, but it would be something.

He made a mental note to look into her accident a little further. Maybe that was the connection – to her blindness, the asshole, maybe even the other cases. And depending on what was going on and how, this could potentially only end when this asshole was stopped.

Like so many other assholes before him.

Stefan knew he should get up, but he wanted every moment he could have with her – especially like this.

His mind freewheeled through the bits and pieces of information that he’d learned this last week. Holding a mental canvas, he kept splattering the bits and pieces on the canvas, hoping to see a pattern. A connection. It wasn’t easy to do, as he had many cases to sift through. Even the locations of the burning sensation that Sam had been picking up, a poison maybe, were in different parts of the body. He continued to place the pieces on his canvas, hoping that one piece would fit. Then another.

His mind spun endlessly on the possibilities. The clues were the burning heat and the fact that there were
no
similarities – that they could see. Still he understood Sam’s talent, and he had no doubt the connection was there. He also believed Celina had no idea what was going on. She also knew more than she understood. Teasing it out of her would be the problem.

As Celina slept, the room had slowly filled with ghosts. He shifted his vision so he could see the energy as they floated in and around. They weren’t sure what to do with his presence, but none attacked him or appeared bothered in any way. They all had very long, thin cords into Celina’s energy. Cords that couldn’t be released permanently until Celina let them go. No wonder she was exhausted and likely had been for a long time.

Had these guys been siphoning off her energy to keep up their existence here? It happened. And not always with malicious intent. Anyone who felt pulled in many directions with a lot of different friends could have the exact same problem. Celina would have to learn to cut the cords to gain her freedom. That way, if the ghosts wanted to stay around they could, but at the same time their presence wouldn’t drain her.