Chapter Twelve
Monday
The Estate
One P.M.
Oh, everyone was nervous, and there was a good reason for that too. The lake might look serene, but some of them had experienced the evil that lay within its depths. That was not making anyone calm.
Edgy would be an understatement.
Finn recalled vividly how bad it had been when he’d played tug-o-war with that unseen entity as he fought for Gabby’s life.
Now, Graham was worried too.
And he didn’t blame him.
Patting him on the back as he watched the man he was marrying later, he tried to offer him some reassurance.
Tried being the operative word.
“He’ll be okay, Laddie,” he promised. “Look how many of us are here to back him up.”
That wasn’t helping.
Why?
He knew this could go south, and the last thing he wanted to do was watch D’Artangnan die in this lake.
What if he couldn’t save him?
What if he couldn’t stop this?
He had a million questions, and all of them centered around his deep-rooted fear that the man would die in the water.
He was a panic attack away from losing his mind.
As he stood there, he watched D’Artangnan standing on the shore, his wetsuit back on, hanging at his waist, and barefoot. He was going to free dive and that worried him.
With a tank of air, he’d at least be able to breathe if he got trapped down there.
When he looked up at him, D’Artangnan smiled, and still, that didn’t help Graham.
The man going into the water mouthed something, and Graham watched his lips.
‘I’ll be okay. I trust you and Gryphen.’
Jaysus.
That added the pressure.
Instead of saying anything back, he simply nodded. All he wanted was for this to happen fast, and for whatever lurked down there—as a vengeful spirit—it left his man alone.
Was that so much to ask?
“He’ll be okay,” Finn said, trying to help.
“Let’s just get this over with,” Graham offered, heading to the side of the lake D’Artangnan stood at. The more they talked about it, the twitchier he became.
When he reached there, he needed something.
“Can I have a moment alone with D’Artangnan?” he asked, as Gryphen was waiting to help him the rest of the way into his wetsuit.
The man nodded, and wrangled Gabby and Ian away from them so they could talk.
“Breathe,” Michael said, seeing the panic.
Oh, he was trying.
“I just want to tell you that I love you, and that no matter what happens, we’re either going together, or staying together,” Graham said.
Michael took his hand and placed a kiss in his palm before placing his hand over his own heart.
Graham could feel it kick against his hand, and it wasn’t pounding.
“I’m not afraid,” Michael said. “I’m calm. I’ll get what I can, and that’s the extent of it. Don’t panic, don’t worry, and if you see the bubbles go crazy, get in and get me the hell out,” he said.
Graham moved at him, and threw his arms around his neck. The love of his life held him.
“I love you, D’Artangnan.”
He found his mouth, and despite them having an audience, he kissed him.
The hell with it.
This was a PDA that needed to happen for both of them.
Besides, Michael loved everyone there. Gryphen and Ian were family, and Gabby was part of his life too. Once he married Graham, he’d inherit his best friend, Finn.
This was his new circle.
What he’d learned in life was that family mattered. The Blackhawks taught him that. If he and Graham were staying here, he would have a new family to surround himself with, and that would be Graham, Gabby, and Finn.
Slowly breaking the kiss, he stared into Graham’s eyes.
“No fair giving me the mother of all hard-ons while I’m wearing a wet suit, Babe.”
It made him laugh.
“My bad?” he asked.
Michael winked at him.
Now, Graham had a question.
“Can I ask you something?”
The man zipped up his wet suit with his fiancé’s help. When he was in it, he faced him.
“Always.”
Graham was curious.
“Do you prefer being called Michael? I’ve noticed no one ever calls you D’Artangnan.”
He paused.
“Does it bother you when I use your real name?” he asked.
Michael sighed.
“Do you want the truth?” he asked. “Because I’m fine with living with it either way.”
Oh, well, that said it all.
He hated it.
“I always want the truth.”
He shared with Graham.
“Whenever I hear D’Artangnan, I’m reminded of us breaking up and me leaving. I tie it right to our lives before that. Back then, D’Artangnan was a different person. He made mistakes. I became Michael for a reason. It was wiping the slate clean. I had a fresh start.”
Graham understood.
“When I hear that name, I go back there. I don’t mind if you call me that.
I mean, it’s my name. I just don’t use it anymore.
When I made the biggest mistake of my life by walking out that door, he died that day.
In time, maybe he can be resurrected—once I see that he’s back and has the man he loves by his side. ”
Graham touched his cheek, and Michael turned his head to leave a kiss on his palm.
“Then, I’ll call you Michael,” he admitted.
He stopped him.
“You don’t have to.”
Graham did.
“This is the new us,” he said. “While we picked up where we left off, you’ve become someone else, and I want to get to know him too. If D’Artangnan hurts, then I’m not calling you that.”
Michael moved closer.
It was clear they’d both grown. He hadn’t planned on asking him to stop using his name. That he’d willingly see that everyone else didn’t use it, and adjust meant something to him.
“I’ll marry you as D’Artangnan, but Michael is the man I made myself. He’s the better version of who I once was. He is the smarter man who knows how to treat the person he loves.”
Graham smiled.
“Then, Michael it is. It’s still a beautiful name for my Archangel.”
He rested his forehead against his.
“Thank you, M'eudail,” he whispered.
Graham’s heart skipped.
“A thasgaidh,” he whispered back to his darling man.
When they heard someone clear their throat, both looked over.
It was Gryphen, and he was in shorts and a t-shirt in case he had to go into the water. His prosthetic was switched out to his waterproof one.
“Ready to do this?” he asked.
Michael was.
“Let’s go swimming.”
Gabby was sitting on a log, watching from beside the water. She was scanning the area to give them a heads-up if the woo-woo shit started.
Beside the water, Graham, Michael, Gryphen, and Finn were standing there.
Michael took a deep breath, and released his fiancé’s hand. Then, he began wading into the cold water.
As he felt the ledge with his toes, he turned around and faced them.
“See you in a bit,” he said, stepping back and taking a deep breath as he sank into the murk and off of the edge into the deep water.
They watched him go down, and occasionally, there were bubbles as he released some of the air he was holding.
Finn was curious.
“How long can he hold his breath?” he asked.
Graham was watching his watch.
“Around three and a half minutes or up to four if he’s really pushing it.”
Now, they’d wait and see if something happened.
In the water, it was pretty clear as the sediment hadn’t been kicked up yet.
Michael was feeling around, as he sought out the remaining bones.
When he found one, he picked it up, and carried it up as he swam the fifteen or so feet to the surface.
When he broke the water, he held what looked like a tibia in his hand. Tossing it, Gryphen caught it.
“I can see relatively well. There’s a bunch of bones there. They didn’t scatter too much.”
On the tarp, there was a skull, a femur, and some arm bones.
“See if you can find the pelvis,” Gabby said. The hip bones are important to Tony. He can date the age and gender with them.”
Michael nodded.
“See you in a few.”
He sank back down, and Graham began timing it again. He did that the next four times his man came up with bones and went back again.
On his next trip up, he passed off a femur.
“Toss me the bag,” he said, meaning the dive bag by Graham’s foot. “I’ll gather up as many of the smaller bones as I can. I haven’t found the pelvis yet.”
Finn tossed him the bag, and Michael went back down again.
As he went under, Gabby warned them.
“Oh, shit.”
That had all of their attention.
Glancing over, she pointed. The sun had gone behind a cloud, and there was a mist rolling across the massive lake, heading right toward them.
Graham’s heart began kicking up in his chest.
“Oh, no,” he said, toeing off his shoes. He was getting ready to dive in if Michael began having issues.
Gryphen was ready too.
In the water, Michael was sinking lower, and when his feet touched the ground, he heard something around him.
Turning, he saw nothing but some fish, some debris, and sediment.
And it was rising.
It looked as if someone had stirred it up violently to blind him.
Well, shit.
This didn’t bode well for him.
Looking up, the water was murky now above him, and he suspected that the shit was about to go down. He’d removed about five decent-sized bones like last time, and now, the evil in the lake was stirred up.
Going flat, he moved closer to the lake bottom, and that’s when he started shoveling any bones he could into the catch bag.
When he saw the pelvis, he reached for it, and as soon as his fingers touched it, the bones began sinking as if they were being pulled into the water.
And he couldn’t stop them.
Each one, one-by-one, disappeared, ending his chances of bringing them to the surface.
Then, he heard the laughter, and he tried to differentiate whether it was male or female.
And he couldn’t tell.
It was garbled by the water, distorting it so much that he couldn’t decide.
As he fought for another bone, one that looked like the collar bone, he couldn’t budge it.
The whole time, he was careful not to touch the bottom of the lake. Last time, he swore a skeleton hand reached up and grabbed his ankles.
This time, he was not taking that chance.
As he pulled, he saw the fingers coming up through the muck and mire, and he immediately released the bone. Using his air to help him float up, he moved away from the ground and through the water.