Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) (44 page)

Her
engagement ring.

No. No, this had to be a mistake.

He called her immediately, of course. After the third ring he got her voicemail. He tried again. Then again. On the fourth attempt he left a message. “Eva, where are you? Please call me. I…I don’t know what I’ve done but I swear to you, whatever it is I’ll make it right…don’t do this to me! Please darling,
please
call me back…I’m worried sick. I just need to know where you are. I love you. I love you so much.”

He tried three more times to reach her by phone and when that failed, he attempted to speak to her mentally. But wherever she was, it was too far away for him to reach her. “Oh Eva, no…
no
…”

She was gone.

He dropped to his knees and howled.

~*~*~*~

At the Portland International Airport, Asher waited in the lounge for the flight that had already been delayed almost an hour.

Eva sat quietly beside him, staring blankly before her at nothing in particular, for all practical purposes a zombie. If anyone found her behavior odd,
he’d simply explain that she’d taken a sedative to calm herself due to an irrational fear of flying. All he had to do was administer an injection every three hours and she’d remain putty in his hands. Easy enough to get the syringes past security when you possessed the power of suggestion.

When her cell phone began to vibrate, he knew even
before checking who the caller was. He’d been waiting for this, and Winter’s persistence made him want to laugh.

Glancing over at the figure on his left, he grinned.
“Looks like your fiancé just made it home.”

Lost in her hypnotic fog, she said nothing.

CH
APTER TWENTY-THREE

Sami and Tristan were just pulling into the parking garage at Vestal Sands when Asher called. She was driving his Maserati - he’d left the keys with Tristan, who was turning out to be a lot of fun to hang out with - and they’d taken it out on the town. First to the Royal Marlin, then to ride the Ferris wheel at Pier Park, and finally to a small amusement park for miniature golf.

She felt
warm all over when she heard the familiar, “Hello, beautiful.”

“H
ey. How are things in Portland?”

“Actually I’m at the airport waiting on my flight. I should be home
in nine or ten hours. What are you doing?”

“
I took the afternoon off. Tristan and I had lunch and went to play mini golf. He whomped my butt.”

The sound of his laugh
ter was music to her ears. “Not surprising. I’m the one who taught him how to play golf in the first place.”

“
So I have
you
to thank for him making fun of me!”

“
Why was he making fun of you?”

“
Let’s put it this way. He said he was pretty sure a blind armadillo could do better at putting than me.”

“Hm.
Here’s a little inside tip. If you want to shut him up, just ask him about Cancún.”

“Canc
ún?” Glancing over at Tristan in the passenger seat of the Maserati, she saw him flush at the mention of that word. Interesting.

“Yep. I guarantee he’ll turn ten shades of red
and forget all about teasing you.”

“
Good to know.”

“Are you missing me?”

“Of course.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Listen, I just sent an email to Stuart telling him you were taking the rest of the week off. As soon as I get back we’re going to
take care of that little matter we discussed.”

Her fingers tightened around the phone
as something resembling last-minute stage fright made a grand entrance. “Don’t you think we should…talk about it some more first?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end. Then, “
I thought you were ready for this.”

“I am, I just…”

“Then there’s nothing to talk about. I’ll see you when I get home…now hand the phone to Tristan.”

She held out
her hand. “He wants to talk to you.”

He accepted the phone and all she heard from
his end was, “What’s up? Yes…no, not that I can tell…how did it go with the Chandler boy?...really? I would have thought at his age he’d have been stronger than that…that’s true…yes, I’ll take good care of her…I will…I
won’t
…okay, see you then.” Tristan pressed
end
and handed the phone back to her.

“Who’s ‘the
Chandler boy’?”

“Nobody. Just someone who was causing problems. What is it you and Reid need to talk about some more?” he probed curiously.

Sami traced the contours of the steering wheel with a finger. “He says as soon as he gets back he’s going to…you know. Change me, or whatever it is you do.”

Tristan shifted in his seat, and with a soft sigh he gazed out the car window. There was nothing to see, other than the occasional person either pulling in
to a parking spot or getting into their vehicle and driving off. “Are you having second thoughts?”

“
It’s not that exactly. It’s just that this is all happening so fast…there’s still a lot I haven’t considered, you know?”

“You might as well get used to the idea. If he’s made up his mind, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

He wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already suspect. But all of this had been thrown at her so fast - she’d hardly had time for it to sink in. And just because something was inevitable didn’t make it any less intimidating. “Will it hurt?”

“Only if he wants it to.” Tristan seemed to be avoiding looking directly at her. “You do
realize you’ll have to die, right?”

Sami felt her heart flutter in her chest
, stealing her breath away. “
What?
”

“You can’t be reborn without experiencing death. How can you not have known that?”

“He never…I…I…”

“Relax
…it’s only temporary. You’ll wake up feeling better than you’ve ever felt before. The transformation itself is nothing to be afraid of. The only pain is in your method of death. In my case, it was an overdose of morphine.” He finally turned his face to look at her. “Your
true
suffering will lie in your allegiance to someone whose heart beats and yet feels nothing.”

His bitterness was palpable.
“What makes you so sure he can’t love, Tristan?”

“Because he never has. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s never shown even the slightest bit of sentiment toward anyone. But
I suppose if anyone can make him feel anything at all, it would be you. He seems to enjoy your company. Just…don’t expect too much from him.”

“He ‘seems to enjoy my company’?” Sami bit her lip thoughtfully. “
Correct me if I’m wrong, but maybe you’re seeing only what
you
want to see. I think it bothers you to think of him caring for someone in a way he couldn’t for you. At least be honest with yourself - if not with me. Denial isn’t just a river in Africa, isn’t that what you said?”

Instead of getting
defensive, he surprised her by smiling. “Touché, my dear. You should have been a psychologist - you could very well be on to something there.”

“I wasn’t trying to be mean
.”

“Yes, well…sometimes the truth hurts. It isn’t your fault. That’s just the way it is.”

There was nothing she could think of to say to that. It was better, perhaps, to avoid the subject entirely.

“Tell me about Canc
ún,” she prodded.

Laughing, he lowered his head and shook it. “I don’t think so!”

“Are you
blushing?
Oh, come on…tell me. What happened in Cancún?”

“Forget it!”

“Tell me, tell me, tell me!”

“No!”

“I’m not going to leave you alone until you talk.”

“
Trust me…there are some things you don’t want to know!”

“Just give me a hint.
One little hint - that’s all.”

“Okay…
uh, let’s just say I was extremely jacked up on nightshade one night and some things…occurred.”

“You’re not giving me much to go on. What things?”

“Just things!”

“
Well…what all was involved? At least tell me that.”

“I’d really rather not
.”

“Please
…?”

“
All right,
fine!
Jeez! It had something to do with two Filipino boys, a can of glitter paint and one very reluctant dolphin. I’ll leave the details to your imagination, but suffice to say it was a very bizarre night. Now…are you satisfied?”

Sami’s mouth dropped open. “
You know what…you’re right. I don’t wanna know.”

~*~*~*~

She can’t be doing this to me. How could she? Knowing how much I love her, how could she tear me to pieces like this? Why? Why did she leave?

With shaking fingers, he called her again. He’d lost count of how many times he’d already tried. But this time, quite unexpectedly,
her voice came on the line.

“What do you want, Julian?”

“Eva - dear God, darling - where are you?”

“I’m with Dane.
Honestly, it looks like you would have figured that one out by now. He’s gone…I’m gone…two plus two equals four, you know?”

Dane? She’d left him to disappear with that
witless little knob? Oh no, no way, there was no way this was happening… “Why? Eva, why…I don’t understand…”

“Did you really think I’d ever marry you?
Oh, that’s just sad. Sad and pathetic.”

“
What?
”

“You just don’t do it for me anymore, baby. Sorry.” She didn’t
sound
sorry. She sounded as if she was actually enjoying tormenting him.

Dumbfounded, Julian
stared at the phone in his hand. This wasn’t his Eva. These cruel words could not be coming from his sweet, sensitive beloved. And a dreadful thought suddenly occurred to him. If Reid was able to take on the physical form of another, could he not duplicate the voice as well?

Remembering their talk on the beach in
Florida, he steadied his own voice and asked the crucial question. “Darling, listen to me. I just want to know one thing. Can you tell me where the butterfly is?”

“How the hell should I know?
Maybe it flew up your ass.”

That was it - there was no question of it anymore.
“Reid, you son of a bitch…
where the fuck is Eva?
”

The male voice on the other end laughed with perverse delight.
“Well, aren’t you the clever one! And it’s just so damn nice to hear from you. How’s your day going, Winter?”

“
Where is she?
”

“
You mean Red? She’s right here. I’d have her say hello but she’s a little out of it.”

“If you hurt her…if you so much as touch her…”

“Chillax, man. We’re just going for a ride, that’s all. Actually we’re boarding the plane right now, so I’ll have to keep this short. You understand.”

Pacing the room, Julian
raked his fingers through his hair desperately. “Where are you taking her?”

“Well now, where do you
think? I’m taking her home with me.”

“Don’t hurt her. Please, Reid…just let her go…take me instead. I’ll come with you willingly
, I swear it. Don’t hurt her, I’m begging you…”

“Now you know as well as I do she can’t be hurt. Not for long, anyway. Or were you afraid I might follow through on my threat of corporal punishment?
I’ll set your mind at ease on one account. I give you my word,
I
won’t kill her.”

The way he emphasized “
I”
did little to alleviate Julian’s panic. “I’m coming for her.”

“
You’re welcome to try. You’ll have to play one mean game of leapfrog if you wanna catch up to us though.”

“I’m coming for her, and there is one thing you should
heed carefully. If you hurt her in any way, you will pay for it. So help me God, on my honor you will pay with your filthy life. I have the means to do it.
You will die
. There is no question of it.”

“Well, let’s hope you present more of a challenge than that
scrawny surrogate brother of hers. What was his name again…Dane, wasn’t it? What kind of a name is that anyway? Who names their kid after a damn dog, I ask you?”

“Mark my words, Reid. You touch her, you die.”