Chapter Twenty-Two #2
Cilla opened her eyes and saw…nothing. She blinked but it remained the same. There was only never-ending blackness. I’m blind. She covered her face with her hands and began to shake.
“I’ve got you. I won’t let you go.” Strong arms anchored her. The calm male voice was hoarse, as if he’d been talking too much or yelling. It was also familiar.
“Alex?” She batted at him, desperate to get away. She’d made a deal, not with the Devil but with Death. Reneging on it would not be wise. “I’m supposed to be dead. And why can’t I see?” Maybe she was in purgatory or Hell.
“You can’t see because we seem to be trapped in some sort of void.”
That wasn’t reassuring. “What happened?” Her mind was a blank after she’d made the deal.
Alex shifted her in his arms, keeping her perched on his lap. And honestly, she was glad he’d stopped her from escaping. The utter nothingness was terrifying to the extreme. Her heart was doing its best to hammer its way out of her chest.
“Why did you do it?” His lips pressed against her temple. “You could have lived.”
She shook her head, rubbing her hair against his chin, and turned his question back on him. “Why didn’t you reap my soul and go back to your life?” It was surreal to be discussing something so out-of-this-world and profound while sitting in pitch darkness.
“You know about that?”
“Yes, your father told me.”
“But did he tell you everything?”
“I have no idea.” Talking was good. Talking kept her from freaking out more than she already was.
“I’m a reaper.” He paused. “Well, I was a reaper.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” When he hesitated, she pinched his side and twisted.
“Ouch! No need for violence. I’m not sure why, but my father offered me a deal.
I could reap your soul in a manner he considered proper, which was the original assignment, and then go back to my life.
The original punishment for failure was to be the loss of my abilities and solitary exile for eternity in the realm of the reapers, unable to reap or ever return to the Earth. ”
“Oh, Alex. I’m sorry. That’s so unfair.” His father was as bad as her family, using strong-arm tactics to try to control his actions.
“There is no fair when it comes to reapers. There are rules that can never be broken, and for good reason. There are no second chances. Failure is not an option. As his sons, we are expected to be a shining example to the others.”
“But he gave you a choice.” Maybe Death had a heart after all. Or maybe this was another version of punishment.
“A human life with you.”
Cursing the darkness, she wiggled around until she was facing him, her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms looped around his neck. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m no longer immortal. I’ll get sick, bleed if I’m cut, eventually age and die.”
“But you already bleed. I didn’t imagine that.” She’d never forget the blood bubbling from his chest wound, saturating her shirt and staining her hands.
“That was temporary. My father muted my enhanced senses and immortality for this assignment. I would have gotten it all back when I completed the job.”
The magnitude of what he’d given up was staggering, and it seemed he wasn’t done.
“I can never leave Redemption. All my former wealth and property is gone. I have nothing to offer you.”
She wished she could see him. It was impossible to tell what he was feeling by the sound of his voice. Was he having regrets now that reality was settling in? “You have something beyond value. You have yourself.”
Hard lips captured hers, stealing her breath.
She closed her eyes to shut out the darkness and let her other senses soar.
His fingers skated down her spine, sending goose bumps racing over her skin.
The heat from his big body drove away the lingering chill of fear.
In his arms, she found the courage to believe they’d forge a new destiny.
She expected to smell blood but caught only a hint of male sweat and the woodsy soap he’d used when he’d showered earlier.
The only sounds were their deep gasps and breathy moans as their tongues tangled.
She rubbed her bare breasts against his naked chest, groaning as the friction tightened her nipples.
Big hands cupped her behind and squeezed.
“We. Need. To. Stop.” He peppered her face with kisses between each word.
He was right. This wasn’t the time or the place. She traced the edge of his jaw with her tongue and nipped at his ear.
Alex suddenly stiffened. His grip tightened until it became almost painful. “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”
She heard it then, like a runaway freight train or a tornado bearing down on them.
It was all the more terrifying because she couldn’t see where it was coming from.
Beyond his shoulder, she saw the darkness began to shimmer.
“It’s behind you,” she yelled over the growing din.
The circle was black but somehow was distinguishable from the void. It began to turn. “It’s spinning.”
Alex pressed her head against his neck, shielding her from whatever was coming. She gripped him with every ounce of strength within her, unwilling to lose him after all they’d been through. Wind ripped at them, lifting them into the air and spinning them around.
Her stomach lurched when they suddenly dropped and bounced. It was a softer landing than expected. Cilla opened her eyes, scared of what she might find but too afraid not to look. It was jarring to be able to see again after being blind—an experience she hoped never to have again.
“It’s…it’s my bedroom.” They were sitting in the middle of her bed. Red lights danced beyond the window. The house was on fire.
It was a replay of earlier.
Alex rolled off the bed with her in his arms. “I need a top,” she yelled. Cursing, he reached into her closet and grabbed a hoodie from a hanger. She struggled to put it on as he carried her toward the door. “Put me down. I can walk.”
“You’re barefoot.”
“So are you,” she pointed out. A wall of heat and smoke met them in the hallway, but thankfully no fire.
There’d been flames there the first time they’d escaped.
Nothing made sense, but there was no time to think, only act.
“Front door.” Coughing, she urged him toward the other end of the house.
The door burst open before they reached it. Firefighters in full gear poured in.
One of them grabbed Alex by the arm and guided them both outside. He stumbled and would have dropped her if the firefighter hadn’t steadied him. “Is anyone else inside?” the firefighter yelled.
She shook her head. “No. It’s empty.”
Paramedics took over, leading Alex to the back of an ambulance where he was finally forced to release her. Sitting beside Cilla, his face streaked with soot, he coughed. He’s no longer immortal. He’d given that up for her. The enormity of it slammed into her. She began to shake.
Seeing her distress, he gripped her hand. “I’ve got you.” He’d said the same thing to her when she’d awakened in the void.
A paramedic placed a blanket around her shoulders. “You’re in shock and suffering mild smoke inhalation. We’ll take care of you.”
Twining her fingers through Alex’s, she allowed the paramedics to give her oxygen.
There were no signs of Alex’s earlier gunshot wounds, no blood staining her hands, for which she was grateful.
Explaining that would have been impossible.
When she shivered again, he overrode the protests of the professionals and lifted her onto his lap.
She hadn’t looked at the house, afraid it would be engulfed in flames. “It’s standing,” he whispered in her ear. It didn’t surprise her he’d guessed her fear. They’d been oddly in step with each other since he’d crashed into her car.
“Your bike?” He’d lost so much. It wasn’t fair for him to lose that, too.
“It’s safe. So is your car.”
That was a blessing. While she had insurance, it made life simpler.
And they’d need something to be easy, considering they might end up homeless.
Straightening her shoulders, she forced herself to view the devastation and frowned.
No flames shot from the rooftop. The entire front of the house appeared undamaged.
Chief Johnson broke away from his conversation with the fire chief and strode toward her. “You doing okay, Cilla?”
“I’m fine.” Or as fine as she could be, considering she’d died earlier tonight and met the Grim Reaper. Her thoughts were like rabid squirrels, jumping all over the place.
“Any idea what happened?” the chief asked.
She shook her head. “None. Everything was fine when we went to bed. It was too hot to cook. There was nothing on the stove or in the oven.”
He patted her shoulder. “We’ll figure it out. You insured?”
“Yes, but some things are irreplaceable.” It wasn’t the house as much as the pictures and personal items. But it could have been worse. “We’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
“You have any idea?” the chief asked Alex.
“No. There was a lot of smoke but the alarms didn’t go off.”
She’d forgotten that detail. “They were certified less than a month ago.”
Chief Johnson’s gaze narrowed. “Is that right? I’ll make sure the fire chief knows.”
The sun was coming up by the time the fire crew wrapped up and left.
The paramedics were long gone, both Alex and Cilla having refused to go to the hospital.
They sat on the side of the road opposite the house and waited.
Once the excitement had died down, the neighbors had gone back to their homes, but not before offering their guest rooms and other assistance.
She’d thanked them but turned them down.
There wasn’t anything anyone could do until the damage was fully assessed, and she wasn’t ready to talk about it, would never be able to share the whole truth.
Matt Duncan, the fire chief, removed his helmet as he joined them. “I’m real sorry about the fire.” Ivy House and her grandmother had been fixtures in Redemption, and that goodwill extended to Cilla.
“Thank you.”
He nodded at Alex and held out his hand. “Sorry to meet you under such circumstances.” After they shook, Matt turned his attention back to her.
Sucking up her courage, she asked, “How bad is it?”
Scratching his head, he frowned. “It’s the damndest thing. The smoke damage is the worst part of it.”
Her heart jumped. “You’re serious?” Beside her, Alex stilled.
“Yup. The fire destroyed a good portion of the kitchen. Water damage added to it. No getting around that. The kitchen’s going to have to be gutted, but it didn’t spread through the walls.
We tore down some of the sheetrock to be sure, but there’s nothing.
No fire, not even any soot. The whole thing was contained to one area of the kitchen and a large patch of the garden. ”
“Thank God.” Smiling from ear to ear, she threw her arms around Alex and began to laugh.
They were alive, and insurance would fix what was damaged.
She even had insurance against lost revenue due to such a closure.
Her policy rate would soar after this, but that was a worry for another day.
Ivy House was standing. More importantly, both she and Alex were alive.