Falling

by Meredith Bond

  He just shook his head, his mouth pursed in anger. “You are making a huge mistake. But I’ll be patient because I think you’re being influenced by this lawyer. You will come back to me,” he said, coming around to her side of the desk.

  His absolute, conceited certainty made Erin boil. “You’re such an ass! I am not being influenced, and we are done. Forever!”

  He reached out and ran a finger possessively down her cheek. “Oh, no. That we are not. You’re mine and I am not going let you go that easily. I promise you that, Erin.”

  “Goodbye, Hugh,” she said. She spun around and walked out the door, trying her best to suppress the shudders crawling under her skin.

  She didn’t stop walking until she was outside the building and around the block, just in case he decided to follow her. Once she rounded the side of the building, she sagged against the cold brick wall. It’s strength felt good. Supportive. It held her for a moment while she tried to unscramble her thoughts.

  She took a deep breath, allowing the gentle scents of spring in Washington—cherry blossoms, freshly mown grass, and car exhaust all mingled together in an oddly comforting harmony—to cleanse her.

  She’d done it. She’d broken up with Hugh. This was the right thing to do. She was sure of it.

  Whether it actually was going to destroy her career, she didn’t know. It could. He had been the one to get her out there networking. They’d been the power couple of the Hill staffers, working the nightlife, such as it was, making contacts and connections. He’d shown her how to use those contacts to help the congressman further his agenda, and it had gotten her a higher position within his office.

  But now, she was so disillusioned with the congressman, who had once been her hero, that Hugh’s assistance was meaningless. She didn’t want to help Whitmeyer. She didn’t see the point of networking except, maybe, to get a different job with a different congressman. But she wasn’t sure that was where she wanted to go.

  To be honest, she really wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

  Was it David’s fault?

  No. It was her own. Thanks to the hypnosis, her eyes had been opened to a part of her life that she’d never even realized was there. Now she just needed to learn more about it.

  It had been so disappointing that she hadn’t found out anything more about the high priestess. All Erin knew was that her mother, in the medieval world, was the priestess. But what she did, and whether Erin would become a high priestess herself at some point, was still unknown. Lady Weobley had hinted when Erin had first arrived that she would, but when and how the modern Erin didn’t know. It was all still too vague and confusing.

  If only her own mother had told her the truth, instead of trying to force Erin to give up being Vallen. And if wishes were dollars, we’d all be wealthy, she thought as she pushed herself off the wall.

  She was about to turn and head toward the metro when she heard her name being called out. She stopped for a moment. It was a woman’s voice…

  “Erin!”

  It was coming from in front of her, not behind, from the entrance to Hugh’s building. That was a relief.

  A truck rumbled past, and Erin caught sight of Lanie, jumping up and down on her toes waiting impatiently for the light to change. Her best friend waved frantically. “Hey!” she called out.

  “Hey!” Erin called back. She took a quick look left and right to make sure there were neither on-coming cars nor cops who might stop her for jay-walking—yeah, they actually did that in DC, ticketed you too—before running across the street. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to meet you. You said you were going to break up with Hugh, and I figured it would be safest if I met you here afterward. Did you do it? How’d it go?”

  Erin was amazed and grateful. She absolutely had the best friend ever! She threw her arms around Lanie and hugged out all of her fear and frustration.

  “Okay…” Lanie said, in a slightly higher pitched voice. “That bad, huh?” she asked, hugging Erin back.

  Erin let go. “No, well, yes, pretty much that bad. But the hug was because you are absolutely the best, most wonderful friend in existence.” She looped her arm under Lanie’s and pulled her toward the metro. “Come on, I’m going to buy you a hot chocolate.”

  “With double whipped cream?” Lanie asked, falling into step beside her.

  “With double whipped cream,” Erin agreed. “And maybe a plate of french fries on the side.”

  Lanie pulled back. “Wow, that’s some serious gratitude!”

  Erin laughed. “It’s because you deserve it.”

  They walked down the street to Uncle Sam’s Diner, open and serving hungry staffers twenty-four hours a day.

  After they settled in their booth and ordered, Lanie said, “I can’t tell you how glad I am that you texted me what you were planning on doing.”

  Erin laughed. “Well, I thought it would be best if someone knew. I didn’t want to be like one of those stupid heroines in the movies who go into dangerous, or potentially dangerous situations without telling anyone where they’re going.”

  Lanie just nodded her head. “I know! Why do they do that? It’s so stupid.”

  “Which is why I didn’t.”

  “So how did it go? What did he say?”

  Erin gave her the abbreviated version of her entire evening, including the hypnosis with David. “But what was really creepy was how he kept saying that I was his when I was leaving,” she finished with a shudder.

  “When you were leaving his office he said that?” Lanie asked.

  “Twice!”

  “Okay, that really is creepy. So you’re broken up with him, but he’s not letting go.”

  “Yeah. Maybe he just needs a little time for it to sink in,” Erin said, grabbing a french fry off the plate they were sharing and dipping it into the ketchup pooled on the side.

  “I sure hope so.” Lanie scooped some whipped cream from her nearly empty mug with a spoon. “So, um, did you learn anything more about the Vallen or anything while you were under?” she asked with what seemed to be a studied casualness.

  “No,” Erin sighed.

  Lanie looked as disappointed as Erin felt. “So, what are you going to do? Go back to your mom?”

  “I don’t know. I told you she refused to give me any information last time I went, so I don’t think going back would do any good.”

  “There’s got to be a way…” Lanie said, tapping a french fry against her bottom lip.

  It was what Erin’s friend did best. She was absolutely brilliant when it came to problem solving.

  “Well, if you come up with anything…” Erin said.

  “You know I’ll tell you. I just… It all seems to hinge on either your mother or the hypnosis. But your mother’s not talking, and the hypnosis isn’t showing you what you need.”

  “And there’s nothing I can do about either one,” Erin said, tipping the rest of her whipped cream into her mouth.

  “What about David?” Lanie asked.

  The shift in topic was so sudden, Erin choked on her cream. When she finally stopped coughing, she asked, “What about him?”

  Lanie just gave her a look. “Are you going to tell him you’ve broken up with Hugh?” she asked, as if it were the most obvious thing.

  “Oh! Uh… I haven’t really thought about it,” Erin lied. She had thought about it. She’d been thinking about it ever since he’d come away from her last hypnosis absolutely silent. She’d never seen anyone make an exit that fast.

  She was sure it was the sex between her and Hugh, which he obviously had witnessed. She hoped he’d also learned about her feelings on the matter. She didn’t know if she had recited what she was thinking as well as what she was doing.

  “Listen, I know that just because you two had a relationship in your last life, it doesn’t mean that you need to have one in this life, but… He does seem pretty interested,” Lanie said.

  “Does he?” Erin wasn’t so sure. She had thoug
ht he was but now…

  “Yes! And if you really don’t know, asking him would certainly—”

  “Thanks, I’m sure it would,” Erin interrupted her. “I just don’t know. And besides, I don’t even know if I’m interested in him. I mean, I think I am, but maybe that’s just my medieval self, breaking through into my thoughts, you know? Because I liked him then, I feel like I should like him now?”

  “Only one way to find out.”

  “Talk to him?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Erin hated it when Lanie was right.

  Chapter Fifteen

  David felt bad about leaving Shawn hanging for so long.

  He worked through his current case load as quickly as possible and then finally, at nearly four o’clock, got himself out of the office and back down to Shawn’s neighborhood.

  He had to try Deon again. It was Shawn’s only hope. If his brother didn’t come clean and admit that the jacket was his, it was an absolute certainty that his little brother would be spending time in a correctional institution for teens. David didn’t want that for the kid. He had potential. He had an opportunity. It would be a shame to throw that away. It would be going against everything David’s brother had died for.

  Nothing had changed from the last time David had been to the house. The yard was still overgrown and scattered with garbage. The paint was still peeling from the front door he knocked on.

  He waited nearly three minutes and was about to knock again when it opened a crack.

  “Deon, it’s—” The door slammed in his face.

  He banged on it again. “I just want what’s best for your brother,” he called out. “Can’t we even talk about it?”

  “You ain’t gonna get anywhere with that one,” a woman’s voice called out.

  David stepped back from the door and looked toward the house next door. They were all connected row houses on this block, so he didn’t have far to look.

  “Good afternoon, ma’am,” David said. “Do you know the Spencers?” He turned around and walked around the fence separating the two properties.

  The woman scowled at him. “Know ‘em? Related to ‘em.”

  “Really?” He walked up the three steps to her front door where she was standing half-in, half-out of her house. Holding out his hand, he said, “I’m David Elder. I’m Shawn’s lawyer.”

  Tentatively, she took his hand in a gentle grasp before letting go quickly. “His lawyer? Shawn ain’t got no money for no lawyer.”

  “Er, well, no. I’m a public defender. The city hired me to represent him. He doesn’t actually pay me anything.”

  “Oh.” She nodded, understanding now. She’d heard of public defenders, David read in her mind, but she’d never heard of any actually coming out and visiting someone’s home.

  “Shawn was arrested because he was allegedly wearing his brother’s jacket,” David explained. “I was hoping…”

  “That Deon would turn hisself in?” She gave a little laugh and followed that with a string full of unkind thoughts about the young man who’d just slammed the door in David’s face.

  “Yes, well… You said you were related?” David asked.

  “Their mama’s my sister,” she explained.

  “Oh! So are you responsible for…”

  “Honey, I ain’t responsible for no one but my own,” she said, quickly.

  “I see. You have children of your own? So then, you must understand how difficult this is for Shawn and his brother, with their mother being in rehab.”

  “Rehab?” she asked skeptically. “Is that what they’re callin’ it these days?”

  David didn’t want to go anywhere near that one. He didn’t want to actually know where Shawn’s mother was. The less he knew on that score, the better.

  “Do you know who Shawn’s guardian is while his mother is…absent?”

  The woman folded her arms across her chest. “Ain’t no one but Deon there.” And more’s the pity, she thought.

  David had a thought. “If I could convince the judge to release Shawn, might you be willing to come and sign as his guardian so that he could come home?”

  “You want me to be his guardian? When I jus’ told you I got a parcel full of my own.”

  “He’s a nice boy put into a bad situation. I’m sure he wouldn’t be any trouble.” David colored his words with the slightest touch of magic, knowing that he really shouldn’t.

  She raised her eyebrows skeptically at him. “If you can convince the judge, and if Shawn is set free, I might look in on him.”

  “And sign for him so that he can be released?” David pressed.

  She pursed her lips but gave a small nod, regretting it with everything she had in her mind.

  David didn’t care. If he could convince Deon to turn himself in, or somehow convince the judge that it had been a mistake, that Shawn had accidentally taken his brother’s jacket… Yes, there were a lot of ifs there, but at least he had one ally now. One small sliver of hope for the kid. The rest, he supposed, was up to him.

  Chapter Sixteen

  David was just finishing writing up his notes on Shawn’s case when there was a knock on his apartment door. With an uncomfortable glance at the dirty dinner dishes shoved to the side of his kitchen table where he’d been working, he hopped over to the door and answered it.

  Erin stood in the hall, looking worried.

  “Hey!” he said, taking a step back so that she could come in.

  “Hi! Sorry about barging in on you. Um, someone just let me into the building as they were leaving. I hope this is okay.”

  “Oh, yeah! So much for security!” he said, closing the door after she hesitantly stepped over the threshold.

  He understood why she was being so cautious. He had left her apartment rather abruptly after their last hypnosis session, but he just… He hadn’t been able to deal with the idea of her and Huw sleeping together. He knew she had only done so out of a sense of duty, because she had to not because she wanted to…but still. It had been like a punch to the gut.

  “Yeah.” She gave a little, awkward laugh and then immediately looked down at her hands, clasped in front of her. “Well, um, I just wanted to see if you were doing all right. You kind of left really fast after…”

  “Oh, sorry about that. I…” he paused. Did he lie and tell her he had to be somewhere? Or did her tell her the truth?

  “And I just wanted to tell you that I broke up with Hugh,” she said, taking advantage of his pause. Her words seemed to tumble out of her mouth, as if she hadn’t been planning on telling him this.

  His heart leaped in his chest, and further south another part of him twitched to life. Down, boy! “Oh?” He would play this cool, he told himself firmly. And no reading her thoughts!

  He hadn’t so far and, honestly, he didn’t even know if he could read her mind. There were some Vallen who were just closed to his mind-reading skills. To be respectful of her, he hadn’t tried—and he wasn’t going to start now.

  “Yeah. It was a combination of things.” She gave a shrug. “He’s been really controlling lately. I know I shouldn’t let my previous life affect my current one, but after that…scene with him during the last hypnosis, I just couldn’t stay with him. I know it wasn’t him, I mean, the modern Hugh who did that but still…”

  “It really is confusing and weird that the three of us are together again in this life,” David agreed.

  “Really confusing!” Erin laughed.

  “But can I just say that I’m really happy you broke up with him?” David said. He quickly followed that up with, “I know it’s wrong, but… It hurt me, like physically hurt me, when you slept with him during your last hypnosis.”

  She looked up at him, her whole expression brightening. “Really?”

  “Yes.” Her eyes were so beautiful—deep blue with the most incredibly long, dark lashes. Her lips, sweet pale pink without any lipstick, were full and enticing. Her cheeks flushed as she realized just how he was looking at her.
Could she read his thoughts? If she could, she knew what he was thinking. She knew how badly he wanted her.

  “It, um, it hurt me too—emotionally, I mean. And I just couldn’t continue to date him after that.”

  “Good.” David couldn’t resist any longer. He had to taste her. He leaned forward slowly, giving her time to back away if she wanted to, but hoping fervently that she wouldn’t.

  She didn’t.

  He brushed his lips, ever so gently, over hers. Little kisses, one after another. When she didn’t seem to object, he deepened his kiss, tasting her thoroughly. He was rewarded with the sweetest little moan of satisfaction from her.

  He brought one arm around her, pulling her close, while cupping her lovely face with the other, rubbing his thumb along the softness of her cheek.

  She felt so good.

  She pulled away from him ever so slightly, her eyes still closed. “Oh, David,” she whispered, letting her head fall back.

  He didn’t let the opportunity pass him by. His lips found the throbbing pulse in her long, swan-like neck. But he didn’t stop there. He kissed along her collarbone and then hesitated only the slightest before delving lower.

  The hand that had been on her cheek found its way to her breast. He rubbed his thumb up and down her peaked nipple, feeling it harden even further, then lifted her breast just a little so that his mouth could enjoy the top swell rising above her tee-shirt.

  Her nails raked down his back, sending chills and zings of pleasure straight down to his cock, which was already pressing against the front of his pants.

  He paused to take a breath, his pulse racing like a teenager’s . “Erin.”

  “I assume you’ve got a bedroom,” she said.

  It was all he needed. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her straight to his bed.