Strega (Strega Series) (21 page)

The light that filled my vision faded, and the darkness returned. The cool ocean breeze chilled my skin and the smell of salty air overwhelmed my senses again. In the distance, the brooding waves crashed. The arms that carried me to safety had slipped away. I was alone.

The large French doors flew open and the sobering noise from inside the ballroom poured out. I squinted at the beaming light of the wrought iron lantern overhead, and found myself lying on a wooden bench at the far corner of the deck. My body had been broken and beaten. I remembered the excruciating pain. I remembered blacking out. But I couldn't find a single scratch on my body. I felt no pain.

"Hey! What are you doing out here? I've been looking all over for you," Rena came out shouting.

"Oh, please don't yell," I pleaded, grabbing my head as if that would stop it from spinning.

"Are you okay?"

"Aren't you getting sick of asking me that?" I said dryly. I couldn't stand the question anymore. The answer was always the same.

"Jay!" Rena protested as she put her arm around me and helped me to my feet. "Honey, what the hell happened?"

"I don't know. I think I tripped down the stairs," I said, underestimating the truth, which I hadn't quite hashed out yet. My eyes swept the property, searching for the man that saved my life. But Rena and I were alone. Nobody was in sight. I ran down the path to the beach. Rena followed, shouting after me. I searched in all directions but he was gone.

"Jay, what is it?" Rena asked, guiding me back to the deck. When she opened the doors to the ballroom, a wave of loud music burst out and punched me in the face.

***

I knew it wasn't a dream. This time, I knew beyond any doubt that what I'd experienced was real. He was real. I still felt the warmth of his body despite the cool ocean air. I still had the scent of his skin on mine. I knew his voice. It was Vince.

I sat down at our empty table and stared at all the couples on the dance floor while Rena went to find something for my headache. I watched the bride gliding across the dance floor in her white gown, looking like a princess, making her way toward her very own prince charming. He lifted her by the waist and spun her around, and she threw her head back laughing. As she slid back to the floor, he leaned in and kissed her lips. They held each other close, dancing beneath the shimmering lights above and surrounded by all their guests, basking in the glow of their love. As I watched them, my mind struggled to bring to the surface something buried deep in the recesses of my mind.

My phone rang and tore me back to reality. I knew who it was without looking. I'd been ignoring Shaun's calls and texts all day, but I knew I couldn't ignore him forever.

"Where the hell have you been?" he barked with unexpected annoyance. "I've been trying to reach you all day!"

"I'm sorry, Shaun. It's been a crazy day. Non-stop," I said. "I'm at a wedding with Rena
—the one she asked me to come to a few weeks ago? I totally forgot about it until she reminded me this morning."

My stomach was turning as I talked to him. In my mind, I'd already broken up with him. I found myself despising him even though he'd done nothing wrong. What was worse, I was sure he could sense it. I was pulling away, and he knew it. He'd never sounded so pushy before.

"Let me come pick you up."

"No, that's okay. We're heading out soon. I'm beat."

But Shaun insisted.

"I've gotta go, Shaun. But I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

Rena was making her way across the dance floor and caught the tail end of my conversation. I waited for his reply but only heard a click as he hung up.

"I have to end things with him," I blurted out. "I just haven't had time. That sounds ridiculous, but it's true."

"Oh, Jay. What happened?"

The bride and groom were about to cut their cake, and the band was stirring up all the rowdy guests in anticipation. It was too loud to have a conversation without yelling, so I grabbed Rena's hand and we made our way out of the ballroom. We crossed the vast foyer and walked out the front entrance of the estate, where the granite steps descended onto the private road lined with shiny foreign cars.

"Nothing happened. You know. I'm just not...interested...anymore. I can't keep pretending." I struggled to get to the root of my feelings. "Honestly Rena, I know he's a good guy, but my heart is just not in it. And this is going to sound terrible, I know, but I just can't stand to be around him or even talk to him right now. And the more I pull away, the more annoying he is. I just have to get it over with. Just be honest with him and end it."

"You have to do what's right for you...even if I think you're crazy. And the sooner you talk to him about it, the better."

No sooner did she finish speaking when a car tore down the quiet road. Its tires screeched as it navigated the bends, interrupting the peaceful calm surrounding us and blinding us with its headlights. We both turned to see that it was coming straight toward us. It stopped abruptly at the bottom of the steps, and I recognized its shiny black outline. It was Shaun.

"Ask and ye shall receive," Rena said with a smile on her face.

"Not funny."

All I wanted to do was run. I told Shaun not to come. I never even told him that the wedding was at the Calbot estate, yet he still managed to find me. Rena saw the look on my face and knew exactly what I was thinking before I opened my mouth.

"Just get it over with, Jay. Let him drive you home and just get it done."

I looked at her with disgust, but she was right. She promised me she was leaving soon and would meet me back at Ruth's to talk about how it went. I descended the steps toward Shaun's car, wishing I was anywhere else. I got in and shut the door behind me, immediately feeling suffocated and trapped. I longingly waved at Rena. She waved back from the steps with an encouraging smirk. I couldn't wait to see her again because when I did, this part of my angst would be over and behind me.

Shaun stared at me, waiting for a kiss, but I just couldn't.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad at you, Shaun. But we need to talk."

He hit the gas and said nothing as we tore down the quiet street. I sat in silence too, unsure how to begin. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I had to tell him the truth. As I contemplated what I was going to say, I realized he was not driving to Ruth's. He was headed for the docks.

"Shaun, I'm tired and I really just want to go home," I said desperately, hoping he would change his course. I didn't want to have a break-up conversation at his place and then have to ask him to drive me home. I thought I'd save myself the awkwardness.

"Okay, but do you mind if I just make a quick stop? I have something for you."

Oh great
. He had a gift for me and I was going to dump him. Perfect.

Shaun pulled up to the docks and signaled to his boat, asking me to come inside. I declined, and I could tell it annoyed him. He insisted, but I refused again, feeling more and more irritated with each passing second. I didn't want to drag out such a miserable task if I could help it. Finally, he went in without me. I wondered what he could possibly have for me, and why he didn't just bring it with him when he came to pick me up. There could only be one reason. He knew I was breaking up with him and he was stalling.

As I sat in the car alone enjoying the temporary silence, all I could think about was Vince. Like always, he dominated my thoughts. But this time my obsession was justified. He saved me. I didn't know how, but he saved me. I heard his voice. Felt his arms holding me close. And then he was there with me, in that place from my dream. What was this place I kept seeing? Why were we there together? And what was this curse that pulled us apart? There was so much I didn't understand, but I knew one thing for certain. In this place, I loved him. I loved him so deeply that it hurt. When he sang to me, his words were of another language, but again I understood every word. In his arms, I felt his love and anguish as well as my own. In that place, he called me Velia. The same name that desperate voice uttered in my dream just before I died. In was my name, in another place. Another time.

The marina was quiet at that hour aside from the late night chatter drifting in from boats, and the French bistro music that softly infused the night air. I waited impatiently for Shaun to reemerge. After fifteen minutes, I was pissed. After almost a half hour, I reached my limit.

I stepped out of the car and made my way toward the dock. I was ready to pull off my shoes and throw them into the water. The music I heard was coming from his boat. Flickering candle flames cast tall shadows all around me as I made my way to the door. It was clear he had no intention of returning to the car.

"Shaun?" I whispered sharply, hoping not to disturb his uncle. I stepped inside and waited for him to emerge, but he didn't. I checked his room, the bathroom, but found him nowhere. I paced around the living room, growing evermore impatient. But soon my impatience turned to worry. I saw Shaun get on the boat, but I never saw him leave. It was as if he'd just disappeared.

I heard a noise come from the bedroom. I went back and pulled the doors open to find his cell phone vibrating on the nightstand. I was scared. He was gone. I thought the worst. Whoever was after me had gotten to Shaun.

As I stood in the doorway, a shadow approached me from behind. My body froze, too afraid to turn around and too afraid to run. I held my breath, reliving the beach and dreading what was to come. My irritation had quickly turned to panic and regret. But then a familiar whisper flowed into my ear, and an arm wrapped around me.

"Shaun!" I screeched.

"Did I scare you?" he said in a seductive voice as he buried his face in my neck.

"Yes! Where were you?" I was still shaking.

"I wanted to surprise you."

"Surprise me? You left me waiting in the car for a half hour, Shaun!" My irritation was fully restored, with interest. I wiggled my way out of his arms and tried to push past him to the living room, but he stood in the doorway blocking my exit. He peered at me with unrelenting eyes.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Before I could answer, he grabbed me by the waist and tossed me on the bed.

"You look amazing," he whispered in my ear, brushing my hair away as he kissed my neck. He moved in to kiss my lips and I pushed him off.

"Shaun, please just take me home," I demanded.

"Jay, what's wrong?" he asked angrily.

"Please," I said, signaling to his uncle's room. "Can we just talk about it in the car?"

"He's not even here," Shaun snapped, getting up and grabbing his keys and his phone. "Let's go."

Suddenly, my concerns for his feelings evaporated. With growing intensity, I loathed him. He looked at his phone and saw that he had a message. Signaling for me to wait a minute, he walked out into the living room to listen to it. He was grabbing for any excuse to delay.

My head was still throbbing. I grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen and wandered back to Shaun's bedroom for something to kill the ache. I pulled out his top dresser drawer and fished around for the bottle of pain reliever I'd tossed in there the last time I was over. My finger caught the edge of something sharp and I quickly retracted my hand. When I leaned in to see what it was, I froze. Lying in a shallow dish filled with black ash was something I'd last seen locked away in Gram's jewelry box. Something I never told Shaun about. The broken silver chain. The fish. The serpent moon. The sacred blade. It was Gram's pendant.

I picked up the pendant and brushed off the black ash to reveal all its charms. I wanted to run. In an instant, my trust for Shaun evaporated.
How many more times do I have to go through this?
I was stranded with no way of getting home. I peered into the living room. Shaun was still preoccupied. I shoved the pendant into my purse, brushed the ash from my fingertips, and fumbled for my phone.

I waited to hear Rena's voice. Then the words cut through me like glass.

"What are you doing?"

There in the doorway, Shaun stood staring at me.

"Oh God!" I shouted in terror. "Shaun, you scared me again!"

I could hardly breathe. He knew that I knew something. I clutched my phone, desperately hoping Rena would answer.

"Who are you calling?" he asked.

"Oh, nobody," I chirped psychotically. "I was just checking my phone. I put it on silent for the wedding ceremony and forgot to put the ringer back on."

I nervously babbled to mask my terror. As soon as I heard Rena's voice, I coughed to mask the sound and quickly hung up on her. As I'd hoped, within seconds my phone began to ring.

"Oh, it's Rena. Hang on one sec," I said with fake surprise as I eagerly answered. He continued to peer at me from the doorway.

"Hello?"

"Hey, did you just call and hang up on me?" Rena said in an anxious voice. "Where are you? I thought you'd be home by now?"

"Oh, hi, Rena. What? You need to come get me? Why, what happened?"

"Jay, are you all right? Are you at Shaun's?"