The Touch (Healer Series) (20 page)

  
The music played softly in the background,
the words flowing through their ears while being carefully absorbed by AJ. It
was country, without a doubt. AJ was used to classic rock, although the meaning
and depth of the country songs he heard incessantly playing at the shop as he
tinkered on cars was starting to grow on him. Or perhaps he was building
immunity. Whatever the reason, this one in particular he took a liking to.

  
One
more moment,
One
more dream,
      
One more day to tell you, Exactly
what I mean.
      
One more season,
One
more song,
      
One more I love you, To carry on.

  
Their bodies swayed back and forth in sync,
her chin resting lightly on his shoulder. Her hand sat on the other shoulder
and she felt like a teenager again – unsure how to dance with a boy. They were
quiet, absorbing the music as each stared at nothing in particular in the barn
to avoid looking at each other. Addie broke the silence first.

  
“Thank you,” she whispered, lowering her gaze
back down and over her shoulder towards the band.

  
“For what?” he replied, thinking that if
perhaps they kept talking, everything else going on between them would be much
easier to ignore. Addie stared straight ahead, the breath from her words softly
passing by AJ’s ear.

  
“For coming.
I
haven’t been out on my birthday in a long time. Usually it’s me, Rose, and Gram
having dinner. Which don’t get me wrong is great, but it’s lonely. I miss
having friends.”

  
“Well you have one now,” he whispered back,
bringing his hand to hers and pulling them in between them and against his
chest. He locked eyes with her and hoped she really believed he would be there
as her friend. He ignored the thought that crossed his mind; the one that told
him he’d have to move on in fewer years than he’d want to hide who he was. For
tonight, he just wanted to believe life could be normal.

  
They both smiled and she rested her head on
him.
 
It wasn’t just his muscles or the
fact that he smelled so good. He felt safe and warm. His body felt like a
shield to her, one that could protect her from everything seen and unseen. A
friend that would help her feel like this little town was still her home.

  
 
He didn’t
have many friends either and he’d take having someone to talk to over having
nothing. He just wanted to be near her, no matter what he had to sacrifice
feelings-wise. She closed her eyes, taking in the moment and letting the world
turn as if no one else existed. After being the talk of the town for so many
years, the chatter didn’t even faze her anymore. It was like a quiet buzzing in
the background that she had lost the ability to hear, as if it were a highway
she’d lived by all her life.

  
“You’re going to start rumors,” he said,
wrapping his arm a little further around her and enjoying how it felt with her
pressed against him.
      

  
As he shut his own eyes, he breathed deeply.
As much as he wanted to he just couldn’t sacrifice it all.

  
“Let them talk. They can’t make me any
lonelier than I am, or any more ostracized.”

  
He was sad for her, having to spend birthdays
with the same people year after year as everyone else around called her names.
That’s the one thing he preferred about the city – everyone was so concerned
with themselves that they rarely had time to talk about or criticize anyone
else.

  
They swayed back and forth, losing the rest
of the world in the arms of each other until the music ended.

**************************************************

  
The next morning AJ woke up and knew why he
felt so good for the first time in years - actual years. He had slept through
the night without the nightmares that had plagued him.

  
He could already smell the breakfast cooking
downstairs and was sure it included at least four courses as it always did. He
had no idea how Helen managed to stay a healthy size, because she cooked as if
an entire army were living under her roof.

  
Dressed and up, AJ had no sooner hit the
bottom of the stairs than the hair on his neck rose and he snapped his head
towards the door, listening. Max had assumed the exact same pose. Helen looked
at them both as if she’d just seen a two-headed horse. While she loved the
guys, she still thought they were a couple of odd birds.

  
AJ looked at Max, who looked back at him, and
they knew.

  
Devin was back.

  
“Helen, can you save breakfast for us? We
have to run a quick errand,” Max said. “And would you please tell Matthew I’ll
be back to help him in a bit with fixing that table? Don’t let him start
without me!”

  
Without another word, the guys were out the
door and in the car.

  
“You felt it? Heard it?”

  
“Yeah.
You too?”

  
“Yeah.”

  
They sped towards town. The feeling was
stronger, more sickening, and they knew Devin had grown stronger in his absence.
Scarily stronger.
A Grim choosing to return to a town
he’s already caused trouble in served as an indication he wasn’t part of the
decent
Grims
that roamed the earth.

  
They pulled into town, slowing down as they
saw Devin on the sidewalk, pointing to a house across the street.

  
“Settle down and be cool,” Max said, placing
a hand against AJ’s chest to hold him in the car. “It will do no good at all if
you can’t control your emotions. We don’t want to cause suspicion in people or
give them a reason to make us leave. We need to be calm.”

  
AJ nodded, unable to speak. The feeling was
growing and it was awful. Every part of him felt this immense fear that
something was going to happen to Addie or Rose this time. He knew it, from the
depths of his soul.

  
They got out of the car, Max’s leather jacket
making him appear far more intimidating than he really was, at least in the
eyes of those from town. AJ had seen his wrath before and it wasn’t
forgettable. It was painful to watch, and he never wanted to see Max like that
again.

  
Unless of course it was to protect the people
he cared about in this town.

  
“Devin,” AJ called, a little stronger than he
meant. He took a breath as he came within feet of the Grim and shoved his hands
in his pockets to keep from reaching out and choking him. “I see you’re back in
town. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

  
“I have to say, my visit proved to be an
eye-opening experience. AJ, isn’t it?” he said, a mocking smile on his face. “I
thought I might come back and see if maybe there’s a place for me to rent. Or
maybe buy, if the spirit moves me. It’s pretty peaceful out here, don’t you
think? I think it would be a good place to, well, relax.”

  
His smirk was so aggravating, AJ wanted to
belt him right then and there. They stood face to face, staring each other down
for what seemed like an eternity until Bob broke the silence. AJ hadn’t even
realized Devin had been talking to someone.

  
“Hey guys.
AJ.
I was
just going to uh, show Devin the houses I have on the edge of town for rent.
You guys friends? You want to come with?”

  
AJ broke the stare with Devin, shifting his
gaze to Bob.

  
“That’s okay, Bob,” he replied. “I’m sorry
for interrupting. I was just surprised to see this guy back, seeing as how he
was the doctor who couldn’t cure Isabelle.”

  
AJ hoped that tidbit would throw a loop at
Bob, seeing as how Isabelle’s illness had hit him so hard. Maybe it would keep
him from renting to Devin.

  
“You’re the doctor, eh?” Bob said, sneering a
bit.

  
Devin straightened out his grin.

  
“Uh, yeah, doctor,” he replied, shifting his
weight uneasily from foot to foot. He hadn’t expected combat of any kind from
AJ.

  
“You can’t help her?” Bob asked, his arms
folding tightly across his chest. It was working, AJ thought.

  
“No.
 
No, I wish I could though,” Devin said uneasily, stopping to square his
eyes with Bob. He reached out, placing his hand on Bob’s arm before AJ could
react, and AJ’s heart dropped. He hadn’t anticipated that. He knew what Devin
had done.

  
Bob
shifted,
Devin’s
touch like a lightning bolt to his skin.

  
“The truth is,” Devin said, “life and death
is never up to the doctors. There are greater powers at play. Doctors do what
we can. Ultimately, fate is out of our hands.”

  
He dropped his hand from Bob, who seemed a
bit woozy. After a moment of collecting himself, he looked from AJ back to
Devin.

  
“AJ, Max, I’ll see you guys later. I’m going
to show doc the houses.
Can’t hurt to have a doctor in town.
He can’t help Isabelle, however, maybe if someone else gets sick…”

  
He started walking away, the conversation
much too heavy for him for a reason he couldn’t shake. AJ looked at Max.

  
Max nodded. “He did it.
Heart
attack.
I felt it.
Probably tonight.”

  
“Aw hell, what am I going to do?” AJ said,
throwing both hands up to his head and through his hair. “This is my fault.”

  
“No, AJ,” Max said. “It’s Devin’s fault. He’s
breaking the rules. He’s out for revenge, for wrongs inflicted on his people
thousands of years ago. He’s strong, much stronger than before. And he’s
figured out how to shield himself for a short amount of time, seeing as how we
didn’t feel him until he wanted us to.”

  
“He can do that? Shield
himself
?”

  
“Only for a short time,
maybe an hour or so.
He’s old, he’s got his powers under control, and
he’s honed them.”

  
“So what now?” he asked, not wanting to leave
that very spot. He wanted to be there when Bob came back. He needed to see if
he could help save his life.

  
They stood there, the world seeming to spin
around them. Max hadn’t ever encountered such a vengeful Grim. He had never
felt the animosity he felt from Devin, and the deliberate disregard for law. It
had battle written all over it, yet he didn’t know how it would all play out.
He couldn’t see it; he could only feel it.

  
AJ watched Bob’s truck starting, driving down
the road and kicking up a trail of dust behind him.

  
“Now, we take care of Bob. And we keep an eye
on Devin. We take turns. And it’s time you really started practicing AJ,
learning to harness all those emotions welling within you and keeping them in
your core, calling on that strength when you need it.”

  
AJ had no idea how to do that, although he
figured he was about to learn.

  
“I’ll take first shift,” AJ said, sitting
down on the decrepit chair sitting outside the shop. “I can’t leave until I see
Bob, touch him. Fix him. Max, I have to fix him.”

  
Max understood.

  
“I’ll head back to the B&B. I brought
some books. I’m going to take a look at them, maybe call a couple friends.
Maybe one of them has handled one of the vengeful
Grims
and we can learn from it.”

  
AJ nodded, his heart still racing. His arms
were shaking, the adrenaline wearing off and being replaced by genuine fear.

  
“Check on Addie and Rose. Make sure they’re
okay Max. He’s seen me; he knows I’m protective of them. If he’s vengeful,
they’re going to be a target.”

  
Max nodded okay and hopped in the car heading
back to Helen’s. AJ sat and waited.

  
And waited.
For what
felt like hours yet in reality was less than the length of a primetime sitcom.
He saw Bob’s truck rattle on up to the shop, no Devin in sight. The Grim wasn’t
gone though. AJ could still feel him.

  
“AJ, what’re you
doin
’
here?” Bob said, stepping down from his seat.

  
“I wanted to apologize for how I acted,” he replied.
“Just a little angry he couldn’t save Isabelle, you know? She’s just a kid.”