by Jeanne Rose
“Uh-huh.” Panchella continued giving her the eye, as if she looked strange or threatening or something.
She smoothed her hair.
“You okay?” He glanced behind her. “Kadar all right?”
“He’s fine,” she said, figuring it wasn’t any of Panchella’s business. “But he’s resting at the moment. I don’t want to disturb him.”
“Don’t need to. This is an unofficial visit.” He paused. “Just wanted to ask about the two of you.”
”And?”
He stepped back as if her glance were a baleful glare. Was her makeup smeared?
“Some of those guys that were working for Rakosi said some real weird things. Seemed to think Kadar has fangs and glowing eyes.” He went on quickly, “But I figure they musta been blasted on something.”
“I’m sure.”
He glanced at her again, then made as if to go. “Guess that’s it then.” He gestured. “Still no lights in the damned house. How can you see?”
No lights?
She hadn’t even noticed. Closing the door, Adriana glanced about. Each and every piece of furniture was clearly visible, every crack in the woodwork, every tear in the aged wallpaper. The dim light of the streetlights through a few windows was plenty good enough.
She ascended the stairs. Even the bedroom didn’t seem as dark, though the candle had long gutted out. She approached the bed, grief sweeping over her again as she gazed down at her lover.
“Oh, Val, how sad to find each other, then lose each other all over again. We were perfect together. We could have married.”
”Marriage?” His voice a soft rasp, Val opened his eyes, gold again and full of fire.
“Oh!” she jumped back. “Val!”
“You are proposing, Adriana?”
Shocked, she stood frozen for several heartbeats. Then she was all over him, too busy to answer for kissing his face, his neck, his hands. “I thought you were dead.”
“Not so dead that I cannot hear your soul crying out for me.” He held her as she wept anew, this time with joy. “I did not know if I should return this time myself. I do not believe I would have if you had not refused to leave me, had not nestled in my arms.”
When she was able to speak again, she said, “I was certain your heart had stopped.”
“But it began beating again . . . for you. Your love restored me.”
Or else he’d slipped in and out of a near-death state. She also noticed that his hand seemed to have healed as he caressed her, kissed her lips, nibbled at her throat.
“I adore you,” he professed. “I love you more than words can say. And I will marry you. I must marry you – it is the least I can do.”
“The least you can do?” She didn’t like that. But her irritation was nothing in comparison to the grief she’d felt while thinking he was dead.
He went on, sounding resigned, a little sad. “You will need my guidance, dear one. Our lives will be problematic at times, not of the ordinary sort. And the melancholy can be overwhelming.”
She wasn’t certain what he was getting at but she insisted, “I have no intention of feeling sad. I can find the positive side of anything.”
“Even a husband who has committed many terrible deeds?”
“They couldn’t have been that terrible. You’re honorable and have real integrity.”
“You do not know my history.”
She placed her fingers against his lips. “And you don’t have to recite it now.”
She wasn’t ready to know the whole truth yet. “Good deeds help balance bad ones, you know.”
“It would take six centuries to make up for what I’ve done.”
“Three – with two of us working at it.”
He sighed, but he sounded more satisfied than melancholy. “You are the one.”
She raised her brows. “The one?”
“The woman I have been searching for, my soulmate, my heart, my life.”
As he was hers. She kissed him hungrily, fiercely. He called forth passionate cravings she’d never felt before. The world outside spun on its axis among the stars. Night beckoned, speaking its own language.
Though in a dialect she’d never heard clearly before.
For she had changed, reality had changed . . . while at the same time, she trusted that her love and her bond with Valentin Kadar would always remain the same.
VAL HELD HIS WIFE’S HAND and gazed at her adoringly as they sat in the cafe where they often took their nightly meal. “The little gypsy is seeking you.”
“Irina?” Adriana turned toward the window, removing her dark glasses. “Right, she’s coming down the street.”
As he already knew. But Adriana’s sensitivities were growing sharper with each passing evening. He gazed at her, again admiring her intense silvery eyes, her perfect ivory complexion, her glossy dark hair.
Not that many other people noticed her. No one paid much attention to either of them unless they wanted them to.
When Irina entered the restaurant, Val stood and offered her a seat.
“What a gentleman you are,” the redhead quipped, though she didn’t sound quite comfortable. “From a very old school.”
He tried to put her at ease as he sat down again. “You can relax, little gypsy. You are safe. Things change.” He sprinkled herbs on his rare steak, then Adriana’s. “Predators do not have to go after prey on the hoof. They can be tamed.”
Irina sighed. “I’m trying to be open-minded.”
Adriana assured the redhead, “I’m your friend and I always will be. Since you and some other important people didn’t get to attend our wedding, we thought we’d have a reception. Around ten or so, next Monday?” She added, “You ought to see the house. I’m fixing it up. Good thing it’s big, with room enough for the dog, an owl and all those bats and cats.”
“Is Phantom okay?”
“She has her own suite. She likes the new environment.”
“Speaking of new, I heard you’re only going to be working weekends now.”
Adriana nodded. “I’m doing a radio talk show on some of the weekday nights. It gives troubled people the chance to speak to someone when they’re all alone out there in the dark.” She went on, “I always thought I preferred working with a live audience, but I’m finding I can ‘sense’ caller’s thoughts and feelings if I really try, even when they’re miles away.”
Irina quirked her brows. “I’m sure.”
“You know that Val is funding a shelter, don’t you?” Adriana continued. “A program for the homeless and abused. Sometimes I tell callers to go there.”
“You always said you loved lost souls.” Irina gazed pointedly at Val.
Who only smiled. “And she saves lost souls, too.” His wife had put her plans for accomplishing good deeds into action right away.
“Nothing is lost forever,” stated Adriana. “Whenever the tiniest molecule changes, it simply becomes something else. Which reminds me of the new monologue I wrote for Saturday.”
“DAY TO NIGHT.
“Light to darkness.
“The sun sinks below the city skyline, trailing fiery silks. The moon rises, awash with diamond stars.
“Night to day. Waking. Sleeping.
“Both are reality.
“The earth is a great I-Ching ball, a black and white wheel of a Mandela that spins out our lives.
“Love makes the difference.
“I waited for you at the edge of the world. I called. You answered. And flew to me on the mist that rises from the lake.
“Mind and heart.
“Soul and body.
“We met . . . after dark.”
oOo
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