Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) (21 page)

“
You are not ill, Señorita?”

“She’s fine
,” a voice assured her from the kitchen. He walked over to where she stood, smiling broadly as if he found her concern funny. “Just taking Carrie to the prom a little early.”

“
Qué?
”

“
La visita de la comadre.
”

“Ah…
si.
” What a vulgar way of putting it.

“Thank you, Rosita. That’ll be all.” He pressed a folded bill into her hand.

“Have a nice day, Señor…Señorita.” It wasn’t until she was in the hallway that she glanced at the money in her hand.
Magnifico
…a hundred dollar bill! Not such poor compensation for a mere half-hour delay.

Well, one thing she could say for the man.
Vulgar or not, he was certainly a generous tipper.

~*~*~*~

“Do you want to try again?”

Eva cuddled the cat in her arms and peered over his
fuzzy white head at Julian. “Not with Rio. I think he was traumatized last night!” Not that she hadn’t been a little traumatized herself - what a freakish experience. Leaving her own body and entering Rio’s hardly provided for a restful night - for any of them. She’d been terrified to go back to sleep and the poor cat spent the next six hours huddled behind the toilet in the bathroom.

“Something else, then. A bird…
one of those sparrows.” He gestured out the front window to a pair of sparrows hopping about on the ground outside. They cocked their tiny heads, bright beady eyes searching for something to eat.

“I don’t know…”

“You need to learn how to control this, love. So you won’t be doing it involuntarily in your sleep.”

He had a point there. “Okay, okay
…just make sure you keep Rio inside. I wouldn’t want to get eaten by my own cat.”

Julian chuckled. “
I’d be surprised if that lazy furball would even try. Why don’t you come lie down on the couch?”

She complied, stretching out on the sectional sofa with her arms folded across her lap. “I’m not
the least bit sleepy,” she pointed out.

“You don’t have to sleep. Just close your eyes and relax…try to envision yourself
outside
yourself.”

Eva closed her eyes and listened to the sound of Julian’s voice,
attempting to follow his instructions.

“Remember what it felt like last night…try to recapture that.
Tune out the sounds and sensations around you. Will yourself to walk away without physically moving any part of your body. Let your mind take you there.”

Once she
let her subconscious take over, it was surprisingly easy. The sounds surrounding her faded away and once more she was thrown into the queer silence. She looked at Julian, saw that he was still speaking to her, but couldn’t hear anything he was saying. Was it possible to enter him? She tried, just to see, but nothing happened.

The bird
it was, then. Drifting outside, she approached one of the sparrows cautiously, hoping it wouldn’t sense her the way Rio had. But the little bird was oblivious, and so she tentatively reached for him.

Then she was hopping along the ground in a body that weighed little more than a pebble, looking curiously around from a view
point that was considerably closer to the earth than she was used to. It was intimidating to feel so very tiny. The world around her suddenly seemed enormous.

She tried her voice and was delighted with the lovely chirps
that trilled from her throat. The other sparrow returned her greeting and she wished it were possible to understand what it was communicating.

Now to try my wings…

She spread them, beat the feathers against the air, and in an instant she had risen and was far above the treetops, soaring with the updraft holding her steady. It was the most amazing, indescribable sensation…to fly as a bird. Nothing could have ever prepared her for the intensity of it. She coasted through the air like a glider, wings outstretched, flitting across the sky with reckless abandon. The ground below might seem a formidable place, but nothing could reach her way up here. She was safe in the bright blue sky.

Circling the area, she took in the unobstructed view around her. Mount Hood
’s snowy cap rose up in the distance, reflected like a mirror image off the water of Trillium Lake. She could see the ski lodges flanking it…rooftops of homes scattered about…miles and miles of forest and vineyards. The graceful winding curves of various rivers. The beauty of it all was breathtaking.

Too soon, she returned to earth and pulled her astral self from the sparrow’s body.
The poor thing took off immediately, disoriented and more than a little confused. She returned to the chalet where her own body was lying motionless on the sofa. Julian was shaking her gently, but of course she could feel nothing. Odd…why was he trying to wake her?

Reentering her form, she opened her eyes and grinned up at him. “
Hi, handsome. You getting fresh with me?”

His black eyes registered
relief that she had returned safely. “It worked, then. You were able to enter the bird?”

“I did - I flew - did you see me?” Her eyes sparkled with exhilaration.

“Yes, I saw.” He smiled at her enthusiasm. “I envy you. It must have been quite an experience.”

“It was…you wouldn’t believe it
!” She sat up, feeling suddenly dizzy from her flight. “Why were you trying to wake me?”

“I wanted to see if physical contact could bring you back. It appears not. You’ll have to be careful where you choose to do this, Eva
- your body will be completely vulnerable as long as you’re projected elsewhere.”

“
Hm. I don’t plan on doing it much. It’s still kind of a creepy feeling…leaving my body. I’m not sure if I like it.”

“You don’t have to do it often if you don’t want to.
Maybe just once in a while, to keep in practice.”

“Practice for
what?
I mean, I can’t imagine what use I’d ever have for this. I’ll admit, it’s pretty cool, but it doesn’t seem like a very
practical
skill to have. If anything, it leaves me defenseless.”

“
Yes…which is precisely why I don’t want you doing this unless I’m here with you.”

“I wonder what function it’s supposed to serve?”
Eva speculated, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Julian shook his head. “
I don’t know. I’m afraid, love, that in our case there are more questions than answers. All we can do is take what we get, and try to find a way to use it to our advantage.”

~*~*~*~

“You feeling okay, Sam? You look a little out of it today.”

Seated at the outdoor bar
Wednesday evening after work, Sami looked up from her Piña Colada to smile weakly at Laiken. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Out of it
was a pretty accurate assessment, all right. Remaining outside herself was the easiest way to deal with the insanity that had gone down over the course of that long, pyretic night. She’d been trying her best not to obsess over the weekend’s events -
don’t overthink it, Sami
- and might have been able to convince herself the whole thing was nothing more than a delusion, if it weren’t for the lacerations that were already beginning to heal thanks to the butterfly bandages. Fortunately the cuts weren’t all that deep, but she still had to wonder if she was permanently scarred. If so, it was certainly in more ways than one. She
felt
scarred. Irrevocably altered, not just physically but emotionally.

As for
her deviant skin illustrator…he’d escorted her back to her room Sunday afternoon and she hadn’t seen or heard from him since.

The blond
bartender spread his arms over the counter and leaned across it languidly, his shark tooth necklace grazing her arm. “Anything you wanna talk about? I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener.”

“It’s nothing, really.”
She sipped her drink, then returned it to the square napkin on the counter. He was still looking expectantly at her, so she gave in and relented. It couldn’t hurt, could it? “Okay. So tell me…did you ever get the feeling that you were losing your identity?”

“
Um…not sure exactly what you mean. Can you be a little more specific?”

After a moment’s hesitation, she asked, “
Did you ever just…like, take a good look at yourself one day and realize that everything you thought you knew about yourself was a lie?”

“I think we’ve all had moments like that.”

“Have you ever been…
afraid
of yourself?”

“
Afraid of myself?”

“Of what you’re capable of.”

Grinning, he placed a hand over one of hers and shook it playfully. “You get drunk and do somethin’ crazy over the weekend?”

“I’m serious!”

“So am I! If you’ve been gettin’ freaknasty I want details, girl. And preferably video.” He raised one eyebrow. “
Is
there video?”

“Don’t be a perv
, Laiken.” She smiled at his good-natured ribbing.

“You know I’m just kiddin
g. So what
are
we talkin’ about here?”

“I don’t really know what I’m trying to say.
It’s just…you know what, forget it, Laiken. It’s not important. I’m just in a morbid mood today, I guess.”

“
Ah, c’mon…you gotta chillax, sunflower! You’re in Laiken’s little piece of heaven now - this ain’t the place to get all melancholy. Not on my watch. You want another drink…on the house?”

“No, thanks. This was
really good, though.”

“Nobody mixes better.”

“Yep, I’m gonna have to agree with you there.”

He wandered off to make a Rum Runner for a guest, then returned to Sami. “You
oughta go out diving with me sometime. Ever been?”

“
You know, believe it or not, I actually got certified back when I was in college. One of those impulse things, you know? I got the idea that I wanted to learn how to scuba dive, so my parents paid for the classes for my birthday. I don’t think I’ve been more than two or three times since. I did enjoy it though, the few times I went out.”

“Well, there ya go!
See, we have a common interest. I’d be more than happy to take you diving sometime. I have extra equipment and I know of some great spots.”

“We’ll see.”
A hint of a smile touched her lips. He was sweet, but somehow sweet just wasn’t what she craved. The easygoing surfer could never awaken desire in her the way her winged sea king could. Ash had been right about one thing - there was no going back. He’d released the old Sami from her cage and she’d fled, leaving no forwarding address. Unfortunately her replacement didn’t seem to possess enough willpower to refuse him. It was pathetic, really.

“Hey,
Laiken…have you ever heard of a drug called nightshade?”

“Nightshade?” He
furrowed his brow thoughtfully. “No…that’s a new one on me. Only ever heard it used in context with the plant. Deadly nightshade.”

“Deadly?”

“Yeah…it’s poisonous. Nothing you’d wanna be jerkin’ around with.”

She finished off her drink, searching for courage at the bottom of the clear plastic cup. “Can I ask you something
else? Something that might sound a little…weird?”

“
Sunflower, I’ve seen it all. Trust me,
nothing
you can say will surprise me.”

She
lowered her voice. “Have you ever known anyone who was into…um…into autoerotic asphyxiation?”

From the look on his face, he’d been impetuous to assume she couldn’t surprise him.
Surprised
and
disturbed were the expressions that came to mind. She wished now she’d kept her mouth shut.

He weighed his words carefully before answering. “Sami…I’m not gonna ask where you’re comin
’ up with this or even why you wanna know. It’s none of my business. All I can say is one thing. You find somebody who’s into that kinda shit, you need to run the other way. And fast. Because they’re dangerous. You catch my drift?”

“I
was just wondering, Laiken. I…there were some people talking about it and I overheard. I was just curious.”

“
Nobody you’re personally acquainted with, I hope.”

“No, nobody I know.”

“Laiken, I could use some help over here!” Danielle shouted from the opposite end of the bar.

He shrugged
impassively. “Duty calls, sunflower. Gotta run. Check ya later, okay?”

“Yep.” Sami stared back into the empty cup, procrastinating the return to her empty room. For some reason she just couldn’t stomach
the idea of being alone with her errant thoughts.