When she arrived at the house, she saw Aubrey’s white sedan parked out front. She had a sneaking suspicion she’d find the woman in Dominic’s bed, but felt no jealousy. He deserved happiness, even if it was with a callous, heartless woman like Aubrey.
She grabbed her key and let herself in, finding the house still and quiet. It was just past eight o’clock in the morning, meaning no one would be awake for a few hours. She started to go upstairs, but heard a noise coming from the kitchen.
She followed the noise and found Aubrey sitting at the dining table, her hands wrapped around a mug of steaming tea and her eyes haunted.
Jackie stepped into the room. “Is everything all right?”
Aubrey looked up from her tea and gasped, her eyes widening. “Oh, Jackie. I didn’t think I would see you again…great Goddess, are you okay?”
Jackie tried to smile but knew it fell short as she took a seat beside her old friend. “I’m right as rain.”
Aubrey didn’t look convinced. “I tried, I really did. I’m sorry it didn’t work. I’m sorry she used you instead of me. You weren’t prepared for it, I was.”
Jackie waved off the comment. “How could you have known?”
Aubrey frowned, avoiding Jackie’s eyes. “I bet the guys are furious with me, aren’t they?”
“No, not at all. They know you tried your best to get rid of Ray’s spirit.”
“Alex was pissed.” Aubrey pouted, embarrassment creasing her brow. “I didn’t realize you two were so close…”
“We’re not,” Jackie countered, rising to her feet to grab a cup of tea for herself. She needed distance from that conversation topic. “We need your advice on what else we can do to banish Ray from the house.”
Aubrey looked over at her curiously. “You mentioned wanting to dig up the body. I still don’t think that’s a good idea, but you never know.”
“Yes, but if it’s Mercy’s body, it may not be enough.” Jackie poured hot water from the tea kettle on the stove into a white and black checkered mug.
“I thought you said it wasn’t Mercy’s body, that she didn’t die in the house?”
Jackie turned around, dropping a tea bag into the mug. “After last night, after what Mercy said about being trapped…I’m not so sure. Maybe she died outside the house, but Ray buried her body in the basement.”
Aubrey sipped her tea as Jackie came to sit beside her again. “Well, you could try a banishing ritual using copper. With the right incantation, it should, in a sense, burn the spirits and chase them out.”
“Okay, thank you.” Jackie smiled, drinking her tea as she gave it some thought. She had never performed a ritual like that before, but it shouldn’t be too difficult. She would just need a necklace made of copper wire, plus the usual trappings of salt, holy water, her rosary, and a mountain of prayers.
She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and watched as Dominic wandered into the kitchen, shirtless and grumpy. When he saw her, he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Jackie.” He stared at her as if she were a ghost, then walked slowly up to her and examined her from head to toe. “I thought you’d died.”
She sighed. “I am made of stronger stuff than you give me credit for.”
He glanced around the room warily. “Did that asshole Alex follow you here?”
“No, why?”
“I don’t like him.”
“You don’t like very many people.”
“Yeah, but he’s not like us, Jackie. None of them are.” A fiery heat came into his eyes as he stared her down. “Don’t you see the judgment on their faces? They don’t understand us.”
Aubrey nodded in agreement. “Total judgment. We had some good times, but they don’t get what it’s like to be an outsider like we do.”
“That hot shot doctor, you think she knows what it’s like to be shunned by society for simply being what she is?” Dominic threw up his hands in frustration. “No, she doesn’t. Because she’s one of them, and not one of us.”
Jackie’s head shook as she stared at them in disbelief. “They’re good people.”
“They’re people who will drop you the second they don’t need you anymore.” Dominic fired back. “They want to use you, and then once they’re done, they’ll move on with their evidence and you’ll be left with nothing. I know it’s happened to you before.”
“I don’t want anything from them. I want them to move on,” Jackie countered, even as an uneasy feeling settled in her gut. “I won’t hold them back.”
Aubrey cut in, reaching for Jackie’s hand sympathetically. “There’s no future with Alex, honey. Girls like us don’t wind up with the boy next door. It just doesn’t happen. They all think it will be a fun ride for a while, but eventually we get smothered by talk of weddings and babies and white picket fences, and they get frustrated. That’s just how it works.”
Jackie pulled her hand away, even though she knew Aubrey was right. “I’m going upstairs to take a shower.” She fled from the kitchen, leaving them behind with the truth hanging sickeningly in the air.
How had she even let it get this far?
* * *
Alex awoke to an empty hotel room. One look at the clock on the nightstand had him groaning. It was already noon. How had he slept so long?
He sat up and rubbed his hands over his face, urging the sleep from his system. Jackie’s purse was gone, and when he got up to peek out the window he saw her Jeep was gone too. What time had she left?
She had left him without a means to follow her. He’d have to call Ian to come and get him, or catch a cab to the house where they had picked up Dominic and Aubrey the day before. Though the very thought bothered him, he knew that was more than likely where she’d gone.
He wasn’t going to let her slip from his grasp so easily. They still had unfinished business to take care of, both with the Sparrow House and with each other. She could try to vanish into thin air, but he would find her. He had determination on his side.
He took a quick shower and slipped into comfortable jeans and a green T-shirt, deciding against bothering Ian for a ride. His friend would likely be wrapped up in Grace and he didn’t want to bother them.
He phoned a cab and waited impatiently for it to arrive, tapping his foot as he stood just outside the hotel by the curb. When it finally pulled up, he hopped inside and leaned over to give directions to the driver.
The short drive felt like ages. He tapped his hands on his kneecaps, trying not to wonder over the reasons why she may have left without telling him.
It hadn’t taken much to convince her to come back to the hotel room with him after she had finished the cleansing ritual. In fact, she’d gone without argument, then collapsed into his bed the second they arrived, exhausted.
If she was angry with him, she didn’t show it. So why had she left without at least waking him?
The only answer he could come up with was that she didn’t feel she had to. While he understood, being a carefree individual himself, it still bothered him. Probably because he knew she was slipping away from him, little by little. She was placing distance between them to ease herself out of his life.
He couldn’t let her. And when he saw her again, he had to make her see that she was it for him. That there would be no one else to compare to her, ever.
He carried these thoughts with him as the cab pulled up to the house. He handed the driver a wad of cash, then jumped from the car and stormed up the walkway.
His fist pounded on the door, a bit harder than he meant.
Aubrey answered, lips parting in surprise as she stared up at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to see Jackie.” He peered past her into the house, hoping he’d see her. Instead, he saw a few strangers wandering around, lazing on the sofas, eating cereal in the kitchen.
“She’s busy right now, but she says she plans to go by the house later today.” Aubrey began to shut the door, but his hand shot out to stop her.
“Later today
doesn’t work. I need to see her now.” He pushed past her and wandered around the downstairs. Aubrey shrugged and shut the door, and Alex saw the jealousy on her face as he passed her and went upstairs.
“Jackie!” he called out as he reached the top of the stairs, looking left and right down the hallway. He went left and said her name again, louder this time.
When a door opened slowly at the other end of the hall, he abruptly turned and saw her lean out of it.
“Alex?” Worry darkened her eyes as he approached. “Is everything okay?”
He looked past her into the bedroom, seeing Dominic lying lazily on the bed, fully clothed, smoking a joint.
“I needed to see you.” His eyes came back to hers and anger sparked in them. “Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”
Jackie glanced over her shoulder, then realized what he meant. “Oh. No, no it isn’t.” She closed the door at her back and faced him.
“Good.” He pushed her up against the door and kissed her, everything he felt rushing out of him and into the act itself. He felt her yield to him, her knees failing her as she clung to his shoulders. Her breath was ragged as his mouth tore over hers, both jealous and desperate all at once.
She arched against him, then fell limp the second he released her.
“I love you.” His gaze bored into her own, burning with flames of green.
She winced, her heart fracturing. “Please, don’t.” Her eyes closed tight as she fought back the panic, his words destroying her.
Alex frowned, frustration exploding within him. “Don’t do what? Admit that I want you? That I need you? That you’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met?”
“You don’t even know me.” She shivered, her eyes opening even though she avoided looking at him.
“Then tell me everything.” He touched her face, his fingers trailing back into her hair. “Please, Jackie.”
“I can’t.”
“Why let me in at all then? Why let me get close just to turn me away now?” he demanded, urging her to face him. Pain and anger fueled him like kerosene fuels a fire.
A tear slipped down her cheek. “I used you.”
“Used me?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He pulled away and shoved his hands into his pockets. Disgust filled his eyes as he stared down at her. “I don’t know what these people put into your head, but the girl I’ve been hanging out with all these weeks wouldn’t do this. You’re different than they want you to believe.”
She watched him go and the strings holding her heart together snapped, rendering her useless. More tears fell as she heard the front door slam.
God, she was a fool, she realized with panic. She was letting the best thing in her life walk right out the door. And for what? Because she was too afraid of love, of commitment? Too afraid to let herself be happy when she had gone so long with only having herself?
Alex could change all of that. If she would only let him in.
She made the decision in that instant and raced after him. She passed Aubrey downstairs, but ignored her questions as she tore outside.
Her crimson dress fluttered behind her as she ran, her dark curls tossed up by the stormy wind that smelled of rain. It came down in thick droplets that bounced off her skin and blended with the tears on her face.
Her heart faltered when she saw him walking down the sidewalk, head lowered and hands in his pockets. She called out to him, but he didn’t turn around. It wasn’t until she reached him and grabbed his arm that he looked at her.
The rain continued to fall, drenching his hair so dark blond strands of it clung to his forehead. Anger hardened his face, but the second she leapt into his arms and kissed him she sensed it slip away.
Her heart thundered in time with the storm above them, and she gave everything she had to the kiss. All the uncertainty, the surrender, the love…
“You have my heart,” she murmured, pressing her lips to his jawline tenderly. Her hands trailed up to frame his face.
Alex held her tightly, relief soothing the knife wound to the gut she’d given him only moments before. “Then tell me everything. Let me in.”
She nodded, backing away and taking his hand in hers. “I will.”
Moments later, they sat beneath the protection of a sweeping tree that faced the sea. Rain fell in a steady hum all around them, the waves crashing with continuous fury beyond the rocky shore.
He leaned back against the trunk of the tree, his arm wrapped over her shoulders to keep her warm. She didn’t mind the cold, not when he was beside her.
“Tell me from the beginning,” he requested, caressing her hand that lay upon his chest.
She let out a hesitant sigh and stared at the ocean. What she was about to tell him was something she had never told another living person. It hurt to tear down her protective veil, but she knew she had to. Knew that if anyone should know, it was Alex. “Jackie is a nickname, not my given name.”
He stiffened against her. “What’s your name, then?”
“Mary Jacqueline Hart.”
“Mary…” He tried out the name, deciding it didn’t suit her. “Jackie is better.”
“I agree.” She tilted her head back to kiss his cheek, a soft smile curving her lips. “I was born in Saginaw, Michigan. My father was a tailor, my mother a school teacher.”
“Sounds pretty normal to me.”
“I suppose it was in the beginning.” She turned her attention back to the sea. “My parents were devout Catholics. We spent so much of our time with the church, in the church, thinking of the church. When my mother passed on, my father took over my upbringing with what most would call a heavy hand.”
“He hit you?”
“Never with his fists…he had a belt he preferred instead.” Her eyes became misty as the memories flooded back to her. “I suppose that’s why seeing Mercy’s torture affected me so badly. Though my own experiences weren’t as horrific, it still hurt to relive the lash of a belt.”
Alex cursed under his breath, furious at the thought of her being whipped with a belt wielded by her own father. He and his sister had enjoyed such a comfortable childhood by comparison.
“I saw my first spirit when I was six years old,” she continued. “When I told my father, he believed I was possessed by a demon. He tried to beat it out of me, and when that didn’t work, he asked our priest to consider performing an exorcism.”
Alex cringed, mortified.
“I didn’t know then that the best thing I could’ve done was hide my gift. Instead, I let my curiosity get the better of me and I continued to explore it. When he would catch me talking to a spirit, or in his eyes talking to the Devil, he would panic. He didn’t want his only daughter to succumb to evil. It got to the point where he wouldn’t let me leave the house, or even my room. He locked me away, afraid for me. Afraid of me.” Her fingers tightened over Alex’s shirt as she forced back the waves of resentment. “When our priest refused to perform the exorcism, my father took it upon himself to do so. I was thirteen.”
Alex was silent for a long moment before he asked a question he couldn’t resist. “What was it like?”
Jackie’s eyes closed, her father’s words from all those years ago echoing hollowly in her mind. Depart, then, transgressor. Depart, seducer, full of lies and cunning, foe of virtue, persecutor of the innocent…
“It…changed me.” She pulled her rosary from her pocket, stringing it between her fingers. Staring at the tiny silver cross gave her strength. “Despite the ritual, I still had my gift. I understood then that God had given it to me not to do evil, but to do good. My whole perception of life changed the moment I accepted myself. While the exorcism distanced me from the church, I never lost my faith. I swore I would never let anyone get close enough to imprison me the way my father had.”
“Did he ever accept you?”
She sighed. “No. I ran away from home when I was sixteen and never went back. I haven’t seen him since. It took me a long time to fo
rgive him. And in many ways, I suppose I still haven’t.”
Alex pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Has he ever tried to find you?”
“I don’t know. I’ve done my best to stay hidden all these years…even went as far as to go by a name he would never think to call me. I never stay in one place longer than six months, just enough time to get a job waiting tables and save some money.”
“Sounds lonely.”
Her hand roamed over his chest, a smile blooming over her face. “Not always. I’ve met so many people, seen so many places…have you ever been to New Orleans? Seen the Mississippi river at night and watched the fireflies dance?”
He shook his head, enjoying the happiness that brightened her eyes.
“It’s the most magical thing. Well, almost as lovely as this one place out west, where the mountains are jagged and white as shark teeth and this glorious river cuts through the trees…”
He chuckled, and she looked up at him curiously. “What?”
“Nothing. I just enjoy the way you describe things.”
Her face flushed, and she looked away from him. “My freedom is everything to me. I need to be able to go where fate takes me at a moment’s notice. I will never be restricted again. Do you understand?”
“Is there any reason why I can’t tag along?”
Excitement at the possibility shot through her, wondering if he meant it. But then, he was a man with roots—a family, friends, a career. She could never make him leave all that.
“I don’t want you to, Alex,” she decided, sitting up so she could face him. She ran a hand through his wet hair, her smile sad. “Just know that you have my heart and let that be enough. I’ll be around, but I won’t always stay. If you can accept that, accept me as I am, then I will give you as much as I am able to give.”
He considered her words for a long, quiet moment, wondering if it could be enough. Maybe it would have to be.
“Deal.” He pulled her in for a slow, tender kiss, his hand trailing over her neck. When he pulled away, he noticed the rain had stopped. “Maybe we should head back to the hotel room.”
So Fell The Sparrow Page 24