His friend’s words had merit. Medically speaking, Asa would have given Tiffany about a twenty percent survival rate. He’d give Chelsie right now, as things stood, a sixty percent or better chance to pull through. Good odds, but maybe a prayer or two would boost those odds further in his favor.
Once Christian excused himself, Asa braced his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers together, then sucked in a deep breath. “God, it’s me, Asa Bradley here. I know you haven’t heard from me in a while, but if you’re listening, I could use a huge favor. This little gal here means the world to me and to a lot of other people, too, and as you know, she’s dying. What I’m attempting to do to save her life might inadvertently take her life, so I’m asking you not to let that happen. Give her a chance to live. She’s so full of life and love, talent, and beauty. The world needs that, right? Give her a chance to shine her light in lives filled with darkness. Mine was pretty dark until she came into it. Look at me now. I’m actually praying here, and you know as well as I that wouldn’t have happened a month ago. We both have her to thank for that. So if you’re listening, get her through this healthy and whole. Thanks for the favor in advance, and thanks for listening. Amen.”
Asa stood and looked down upon his sleeping beauty. A wisp of a smile tipped the corners of her mouth, making him wonder if she’d been aware of his prayer somehow. Her inner spirit was huge and sensitive to all things good and pure. Prayer was pure, right? So maybe she had. And maybe this God, who she knew a whole lot better than he did, assured her on some spiritual level she would open her eyes again to a world filled with people who loved and needed her.
Asa sat back down to begin his long vigil.
***
Chelsie floated within a cocoon of blinding white light, which felt infused with supreme peace and love. She blinked hard against the intense glare, and after a few seconds, she could make out the form of a person a good distance away also bathed in the brilliant glow of a light so pure, she knew it came from heaven above.
The person started walking toward her, and Chelsie’s first reaction was fear because she had no idea where she was or who approached. A foreign but peaceful knowledge infused her, and seconds later she stood in the presence of a male angel so beautiful he took her breath away.
Then he spoke in a voice both powerful and meek all at once. “Grace be multiplied to you, child of the living God.”
Dozens of thoughts flitted through her head one by one as fast as speeding bullets. She knew she was no longer in her body or on earth, which meant she had to be dead. The realization washed through her with overwhelming regret and sadness. “I guess I’m dead.”
The angel smiled, and there was a serene wisdom in the gesture. “No. Be of good cheer. You are very much alive but, for the moment, a visitor here.” The angel waved his hand in front of her, and she was again ensconced in a peace and joy so profound it literally pulsed around and inside of her like tiny needles energizing her spirit.
It wasn’t every day a person had a run-in with an angel. Chelsie had a million questions, but she didn’t know if any would be appropriate to voice. So she opted for a simple “Thank you” and waited to see what the angel would do next.
“Do you believe in second chances?”
What did he mean by that? Did he refer to her own life? “I do sincerely with all my heart. Will I be given one?”
“Yes, but what will you do with it?”
How did she respond to that? Lord give me wisdom. “Love others. There are people who need me and are counting on me to come back to them. If I have a choice, it would be to finish what I feel I’ve only just begun.”
The angel nodded once. “You’ve been given the gift of a new body, but you must use it to share the message of eternal life not just with those worthy to receive it, but with those most unworthy. For they need it the most.”
“Chad,” she said automatically, knowing instantly the person whom the angel referred to. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but she knew the angel’s words were God’s. Only He would ask her to speak on His behalf to Chad Raker.
The angel nodded. “For one, but let the Light that shines through you be a beacon to those you meet who don’t know God.”
It was a large request, and a dozen emotions—both good and bad—filtered through her bodiless soul, but the good quickly outpaced the bad. Her surroundings simply dictated that outcome. “I will. I’ll do my very best to share the light.”
“Then peace be with you,” the angel said. He turned and strode back toward the pulsating crystalline glow, which seconds later parted down the center like two curtains. He moved within the parting, and the next moment it swallowed him whole.
Chelsie blinked at the spot where the angel had just disappeared. Zillions of tiny pinpoints of light began to weave and dance like ten legions of fireflies. Overwrought by the brilliance, she squeezed her eyes closed. “It’s beautiful, but it’s too much to bear.”
“What’s beautiful?”
She knew that voice. She knew it well. Her eyes fluttered open, and Asa stood over her, smiling almost as brilliantly as the heavenly light from her dream. Strange. Now all she could recall was an amazingly bright light but nothing more about the dream. It didn’t matter now. Chelsie remembered Asa putting her under for her turning. That she was now awake with him, appearing so happy, must mean she’d made it through just fine.
“I’m okay?” she asked, her voice a bit rusty from lack of use.
Asa chuckled. “You’re doing great. And yes, you are one hundred percent a healthy, sexy, female vampire.”
She was back in the land of the living all right. Asa was gazing at her with possessive affection and a wee bit of lust, if she wasn’t mistaken. What he actually viewed she couldn’t imagine, because when she looked down her body, she saw her upper half ensconced in an ugly white hospital gown with blue flowers. She reached up and found her hair a nest of tangles. Obviously, true love came with rose-colored glasses.
“Tell me how it went, Asa. Tell me everything.” She sat up in the hospital bed and reached out for his hand. Surprisingly, she felt great. She’d go so far as to say energized. There wasn’t an ache or pain in her body. Her head felt crystal clear and totally void of the ever-present throb that had been her companion for months. And she could see his face clearly without her glasses. He was even more handsome than she remembered.
He took her hand then weaved their fingers together. “There’s nothing to tell, love. You slept through a metamorphosis unheard of by most medical professionals and hardly understood by a vampire medical professional.”
“What do I look like? What color are my eyes?” She glanced about the little ICU unit, noticing it was dark, but she could see as if every light in the building shined within. And she could see crystal clear. “Oh, my God! I’ll never have to wear glasses again.”
“No, you won’t. Your eyes are amber now and absolutely beautiful.”
“Really?”
“Really. And hey, you’ve got a whole bevy of people right outside these sliding doors chomping at the bit to see you. You ready for them?”
She couldn’t wait to see her family, but she wanted to freshen up a bit first. “Can you get my brush out of my purse first and my lip gloss? My purse should still be in the bedside table there where I placed it when I arrived.”
Asa rolled his eyes but obliged. Once she’d straightened out her tangles and smoothed on a bit of gloss, Asa went outside to retrieve her family.
Tiffany entered first wearing a big smile. She held a small rectangular box wrapped in red paper and sporting a pretty red bow. “How you feeling there, Sleeping Beauty?”
“Wonderful actually.”
“I’m so glad to hear that, honey,” her mom said as she came around to the side of the bed opposite Tiffany. The rest of the gang filtered in behind her, encircling her bed. There was Dannie, Dominic, Nathan, and Christian, each asking how she was doing at once.
“Really, I’m fine, eve
ryone. I feel so good, in fact, I can hardly believe this isn’t a dream.”
Christian said, “It’s no dream, darlin’. You feel good because you have an A+ bill of health.”
“Oh my gosh. None of you can imagine just how joyful I feel. I don’t even have a twinge of a headache or nausea or any discomfort whatsoever. I haven’t known feeling good in so long, it’s almost a shock to my system.”
Her mother took hold of her hand and gave it a pat. “That’s wonderful news, and we’re all so glad to see you looking gloriously healthy and happy.”
Tiffany held out the red box she’d been holding. “Here ya go. It’s a little awakening present we thought would cheer you and give you a little giggle.”
Chelsie took it from her, dismantled the bow, and opened it. Inside was a brand new hammer with a yellow handle. Chelsie blinked at it confused until Tiffany pulled her arm from behind her and held out Chelsie’s thick black rimmed glasses.
“Won’t be needing these anymore.” Tiffany winked then tossed them in her lap.
Chelsie did giggle, as did the rest of the gathering.
“Thanks, T.J. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support. Especially you, Asa, for conducting my turning and sitting by my side every minute of it.”
“Where else would I be?” He leaned over her bed and pressed a quick kiss to her lips.
Where else indeed, she thought, happier in this moment than she could scarcely recall being in ages. Love surrounded her. It simply didn’t get much better than this.
Epilogue
Marriage proved to be more amazing than Chelsie had ever imagined. Today was their two-month anniversary, and to begin celebrations, Chelsie was preparing a breakfast-in-bed tray for Asa.
It was a little before six thirty, and she didn’t expect him to wake until around seven, which would barely give her enough time to finish the feast she was preparing, a replica of the one they’d shared their very first date—that precious night she and Asa had discovered they were life mates. The date was the second most important one of the year to Chelsie, next to their wedding anniversary.
She checked the homemade biscuits she had in the oven. Seeing they were rising nicely, she went back to stirring the sausage gravy simmering on her range top. Happy with its progress, she began chopping up fruit for a compote on a cutting board that had never been used since prior to her moving here. Asa had only used his kitchen to warehouse milk and beer.
When the time came to merge their lives into one, the logical living arrangement had been for her to move to Asa’s house, a quaint little Victorian cottage on the outskirts of one of New Orleans’s historical districts. In the beginning, Chelsie could only describe it as a crash pad, because only the master bedroom, bathroom, and living room had ever been used. The place was lovely but had been in desperate need of a woman’s touch to make it homey. Chelsie believed that in her short time here, she’d managed a nice transformation.
In a mere two months, their lives had taken on a nice, predictable routine. Monday through Friday they carpooled to the V clinic. Weekends they took turns being on-call with Christian and Noah, but this weekend they were both off. And a glorious weekend they had in the works. After breakfast, Asa planned to take her on a tour of the city—something she’d yet to do with Asa. Tonight, they were going out for a romantic dinner and later, some dancing. Tomorrow morning, they’d planned to do breakfast at Café Du Monde before church.
Chelsie’s practice was finally beginning to thrive now that she was a life mated vampire.
It didn’t hurt that each of her partners no longer accepted new patients. In fact, she had new patients on a two-month waiting list to see her.
Life was grand, romantic, and Chelsie was flying high on love, but as the old saying goes, nothing was perfect. For nearly a month, Chad had been blowing up her cell phone. She could have solved the problem by changing her number, but deep down she knew she had to talk to Chad one last time. She was loath to do it, but something inside her knew she wouldn’t be truly rid of Chad until she took that call. She finally had yesterday. Her mind went back to that odd fateful conversation as she cut up bananas for her fruit compote.
“What do you want, Chad?” she demanded when she finally answered the long-distance call coming from some third-party number that directed and monitored jailhouse calls.
“Chelsie. Thank God you finally answered, baby. I’ve been trying to call you for a month. Just give me five minutes. Five minutes is all I ask, and I’ll never bother you again.”
“You call me baby one more time, Chad, and you won’t even get thirty seconds of my time. And yes, I’m well aware you’ve been blowing up my phone for a month. What do you want, and make it quick.”
There was a brief pause then Chelsie heard him sigh. “I want to apologize for what I did that night at Cajuns, Chels. I have no one to ask but you. Did I… Is your fiancé, you know…”
“Dead? No, Chad. Only by the grace of God did he survive though. I’m sure you could hardly care, or you would have never taken a shot at him to begin with.”
“I do care, Chelsie, or I wouldn’t be calling. I’ve had months to sit here in this godforsaken hellhole and think about things. I’m reaping what I’ve sown now. I get that, but I also have to make amends for the things I’ve done wrong. I’m sorry for everything I did to both you and your fiancé. I mean that, Chels.”
“Your apology means nothing, Chad. If you want absolution, see a priest. I’m working on forgiving you but not in the least for your benefit, rather mine. I refuse to live with hatred in my heart.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you chose to hate me till the day you die.”
She could have agreed with that, but then something altruistic began to scratch at the back of her mind. Something she didn’t want to face, but had to if she had any hope of forgiving Chad for nearly killing the love of her life and for the brutal things he’d done to her. She’d been praying for him to find his soul again. Could God have really gotten through to him this soon, this easily? She had an idea how to find out. “Okay, I accept your apology, Chad, but I won’t speak for Asa. What else are you doing to right your wrongs? Are you pleading guilty to these charges against you, or are you seeking a plea bargain?”
“I’ve decided to plead guilty and forego a trial in both states,” he stated softly, matter-of-factly.
That was the first unselfish thing she’d heard him say since his sorry butt had shown up in New Orleans. “I’m truly glad to hear you say that, Chad.”
“Thanks. Will you pray for me, Chels? I don’t know how I’m going to handle it in here. It’s bad. Really bad.”
Chelsie could only imagine. “I have been praying for you, and I will continue. The only way you’re going to make it in there is to turn your life over to God and let him help you through this one day at a time. If you can do that, you’ll get through this and survive.”
“How could he help me after everything I’ve done, Chelsie? Can He really forgive me?”
“He can, Chad, and He already has. You just have to accept it and repent, which means to turn around. You have to turn away from your former life and all the things you did wrong and all the things you still want to do wrong. If you can do that, you’ll be able to understand His forgiveness, accept it, and move on with your life.”
He was silent for some time before he said, “I think I’m ready to do that, Chelsie.”
“Good. Find peace, Chad.”
“Thank you, Chelsie. I wish you every happiness.”
That was about the gist of the conversation, and it had brought Chelsie some peace. It seemed God had answered her prayers regarding Chad, which meant she could finally file him away far back in her “past” folder. She had a bright, glorious future ahead of her with Asa to concentrate on.
A little under thirty minutes later, Chelsie had breakfast complete and a loaded tray of goodies set up for her and Asa to share in bed. She found him still fast asleep. She set the tray on top of
a dresser, then crawled back into the bed to slowly wake him. He was so beautiful and sexy when he slept. He lay on his back, sprawled across the bed, one arm resting above his head. Golden curls fell across his forehead, giving his handsome face a boyish look. Chelsie sighed. She could watch him sleep for hours, but if she sat here lusting after her husband much longer, her breakfast would be cold in no time.
She ran the palm of her hand across his rock hard, furry chest and hummed with satisfaction. He let out a soft groan then opened his eyes.
“Good morning, beautiful.” Asa sat up, leaned forward, and gave her a sizzling-hot kiss, causing her eyes to cross by the time he finally released her.
“Good morning to you, handsome. I made us breakfast.”
He glanced across the room at the tray. “Hum. Smells wonderful. No offense, but I’m hungry for something with a few less calories.” He flipped her onto her back, then straddled her hips.
Chelsie giggled. She loved playing with him like this and loved what it led to even more. Sex with Asa was amazing. If she lived six more centuries, she’d never get enough of it or him. He treated her like a queen in every way—in and out of the bedroom. She loved his pampering. She loved him.
“Need I ask what you have in mind? Hum?” she purred as she rubbed her palms up and down his arms.
“I think you have some idea, but first a sampling of you would be nice.”
“Be my guest.”
He took hold of her left wrist and brought it to his mouth, where he suckled on the skin, covering her pulse for a few seconds. Then, very gently, he pricked her skin with his fangs. As he drew on the little wound he’d made, stabs of pleasure shot through her lower belly, enflaming her to the point she had to roll her hips to get a bit of relief. That made him growl and suck harder, which in turn made her moan because she found herself so quickly on the verge of an orgasm.
Deadly Secrets (Forever and a Night Book 3) Page 24