The Light of Redemption

by Natalie Damschroder

  “I know. But this has been in the works for years. Remember that they bought Emeraud eight years ago. Before you even existed.”

  At my glare, he corrected, “You know, I mean before Eclipse.”

  So now we were past the separation stage, and they were starting to think of Harmony and Eclipse as one person. Which was probably a good thing. I already knew the negative elements of being two people and working in the shadows. But it didn’t stop my lungs from squeezing, didn’t stop the urge to duck my head and hide behind my hair, as if that would do anything. A toddler’s reaction. I can’t see you, so you can’t see me.

  How long was this process of acceptance going to take?

  Simon wasn’t done itching. I sighed. “Spit it out.”

  “If you think about it, nothing out of the ordinary happened until after Conn came to town.”

  He could think that, because he didn’t know about the fake rape, when Olive first revealed herself to me. Except . . . I had to think hard about when exactly that was, and yeah, Conn was already in town. I just hadn’t met him until the day after that incident.

  “What, you’re afraid that will damage my ego?” I laughed, because of all the things I struggled with, that wasn’t one of them. “It makes sense. And once Conn and I were seen together in public, they escalated. Maybe they didn’t see me as too much of a threat until we started working together. But Evan said they were here for me.”

  “Who?” Julie looked up from her work and said it in unison with Simon. I hadn’t thought she’d been paying attention to us.

  “The guy who got this safe house is on an anti-CASE task force. He told us CASE was here targeting me.”

  “No, he didn’t tell us that.” Conn rolled to his feet, the words a growl. “He told me that. He was trying to keep me from bolting again.” He paced the narrow gap between the table and the fireplace.

  “Evan doesn’t strike me as a guy who’d care about sparing feelings.” I watched him stride to the window, reach for the curtain, wince, and switch to his uninjured arm to nudge it aside and look out on front yard.

  “He doesn’t.” He stood motionless, his face mostly hidden by the drapes, while the three of us stared at him and waited. His expression was grim when he turned. “I’m bait.”

  Chapter 15

  “What?” That brought me to my feet, but his stiff posture and avoidance of my eyes kept me from crossing the room. “I thought you were friends?”

  “We’re . . . colleagues, I guess. He’d do whatever he has to do to keep superheroes and civilians from dying at CASE’s hands.”

  I understood why, after hearing who his sister was. And earlier today I’d come to the same conclusion about myself. Still . . . “But doesn’t that include you?”

  He shrugged.

  “But . . . bait for what? He left.”

  His steps faltered for a second, but then he shook his head. “That wasn’t part of the plan. Keeping me here was just step one.”

  “Okay, then where’s the rest of his task force? He couldn’t expect to take on The Chaser or whoever alone.”

  “They’re probably in Salt Lake,” Conn reminded me. “And there’d be no reason to bring them in if I ran away and they had to chase down The Chaser again. They don’t even know who he is.”

  “Why would CASE come here?” I demanded for, like, the fiftieth time, frustrated. “You weren’t active. No one knew who you were. What’s the point?”

  Finally, he did look at me, and I was surprised to see a dark twinkle in his eyes. “You know that movie where a group of people escapes a horrible death, and then death just keeps chasing them, killing them one by one in gruesome ways?”

  “Which one?” Simon and Julie asked in unison, then shared an affectionate grin. That was going to get old fast.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I told them. “Yeah,” I told Conn. “So you’re saying you’re on death’s agenda?”

  “If death is The Chaser, then yes. Clearly. And the tools he’s using include Olive, who seems to have aspirations to join CASE, or at least sympathizes with them and saw a chance to get revenge on you.”

  “For what?” I tossed up my hands. “I swear, there has got to be some way to keep people from wallowing in high school melodrama. Or elementary school, in this case.” Though even as I said it, I realized it went deeper than that. Olive had an ability. She’d probably known even back then something of what she could do, and she saw me as a kindred spirit. Except I hadn’t let her get close. It was all unintentional. How could I have had any idea? I hadn’t been burdened by my ability. It was just part of who I was, something cool I could do, like Danny who was double jointed or that girl, Christine, who remembered every play of every sporting event. But looking back, I could see that maybe Olive didn’t have it so easy. Maybe she had family who weren’t supportive or loving enough, who knew and called her a freak, or who made it impossible for her to be herself. And maybe my obliviousness had made it worse.

  It was still stupid, but I could see the case for her wanting to take me down a few pegs.

  Julie suddenly sucked in a yawn so big it scrunched her eyes shut and popped my ears.

  Simon shot to his feet. “I think we covered everything new, right? It’s really late. Everyone needs rest.”

  “Let me just . . .” Julie raised a finger at him and scribbled on a pad, seconds ticking by until she punctuated the end with her pencil striking the pad and launching another epic yawn. “Okay, yeah. I’ve made good progress, but tomorrow I’ll need a clear brain and fresh approach.” She twisted and put her hand on Conn’s forearm. “I’ll fix you, I promise.”

  He managed a smile. “You don’t have to promise. I’m just grateful you’re trying.”

  Simon helped her to her feet, and she started packing her things.

  “You don’t have to do that,” I told her. “There are only two bedrooms, but we can all stay here. I’m sure we can make it work.”

  Julie studied the two bedroom doors that opened off the living room, then looked behind her at the couch, then met Simon’s gaze. I swear, the air between them shimmered like a heat haze in July.

  “Oh, for . . .” I stood and shook my head at them. “How am I supposed to do this? You’re both equally my friend.”

  They smirked at me, though Julie’s held a hint of glee and Simon tried to hold his back. “We’ll go back to my place,” Simon said. “Julie’s car is there, and the rest of her equipment. She can work on Conn’s cure in the morning. We’ll call you.”

  “Nice excuses, but it’s obvious you don’t want to stay here, where it’s safer,” I pointed out, “because you want privacy to have sex.”

  They both looked down. Conn cleared his throat. “Maybe you should let them go.”

  His husky tone rolled down my spine. I couldn’t look at him. Simon coughed and Julie hustled to finish packing up. Amusement rolled off both of them.

  “Fine. Just don’t hurt each other. You just met today, for cripes sake. I don’t want to be responsible for the fallout of whatever this ends up being.”

  Julie came over and hugged me. “Then you can’t claim credit at the wedding, either.”

  “What about the date?” I asked in as low a voice as I could manage.

  She leaned back and frowned. “What date?”

  “The guy you had a date with, like, yesterday?”

  “Oh, him,” she said in a normal voice. “Yeah, I forgot about it, didn’t show. He’s done with me.”

  I sighed and pulled her into another hug. “Be careful,” I whispered.

  “You too.” She leaned away and squeezed my shoulders. “I like him so much, Harm,” she whispered. “Thank you for introducing us.”

  I tried to stay disgruntled as they left and Conn took on the task of locking up behind them, bu
t couldn’t hold on to it. They were kind of perfect for each other.

  “Left or right?”

  I turned. “Hm?”

  Conn stood between the two bedroom doors. “Which room do you want?”

  He was letting me know his innuendo didn’t mean he expected anything. “Doesn’t matter. Left, I guess.” I walked over and motioned for him to raise his forearm for me. “Let me take a look.”

  He hadn’t rebandaged it after the shower, though the butterflies held on the scalp wound. I traced a finger along the reddened skin beside the slice on his arm. It was granulating, the natural healing process, with no signs of infection, just annoyed skin. But it should have been a lot further along. “I’m sorry. I wish—”

  He covered my hand with his. “I know. It’s fine. Julie will figure it out, and if she doesn’t, maybe this is what I need.”

  I didn’t agree, but who was I to say that? I nodded and realized my eyelids were drooping. Conn noticed.

  “Go get some sleep. We don’t have to rush into anything in the morning. They have to regroup, plan their next attack, which they can’t do without drawing us out.”

  “I have to work tomorrow,” I murmured.

  “Call in sick.”

  I couldn’t. The county would be coming down to see if any damage was done inside, after Olive’s shenanigans. But I was too tired to explain.

  “Here.” Conn led me to the bedroom and nudged me inside. “Sleep.”

  I took a few minutes to brush my teeth and change into a nightshirt before I dragged myself into the bed. I listened to Conn finishing up in the bathroom—the owners supplied toothbrushes, toothpaste, and travel shampoos and stuff—and then give a groan and sigh as he settled into his own bed. I guessed it was a good thing Julie and Simon hadn’t stayed.

  Then there was a loud pop, followed by a squealing hiss. Conn cursed. I heard a few bangs and rustles, then his door open. He tapped lightly on my door.

  “C’min.”

  He opened it enough to see inside. “That was an air mattress.”

  I came up on one elbow. “Really?”

  “Yeah. Nice one, but apparently I’m too dense for it or something. I’ll fix it in the morning, but . . .”

  I patted the bed next to me. The couch was way too small for him, and I was too tired to listen to him trying to fold it out and make it up. I didn’t need the guilt of not helping, and couldn’t manage the energy to get up.

  “Sleep here,” I added to make sure he knew I meant it. “Not worried . . .”

  He settled onto his side behind me. The bed was only a double, so there wasn’t much room. He put his hand on my hip, and the mattress stilled as he relaxed. Warmth seeped into me, reassuring and promising.

  It was the nicest way I’d ever fallen asleep.

  That was my last thought before sinking into nothing, and after however many hours of unmoving, dreamless sleep, I woke up thinking it was the nicest way I’d ever woken, too. Unlike me, Conn had shifted and was now on his back, his side pressed against me, warm and reassuring. As carefully as I could, I shifted onto my other side, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. It might have been good to sleep so deeply, but my hip and neck weren’t happy, and my hands tingled from pinched nerves. I worked them out while I studied Conn, conscious of the romance-novel cliché of watching him sleep. But hey, who wouldn’t take this advantage?

  He looked much different from when he’d been in the hospital. Then, tension had been evident in his stillness, despite the sedation and his body working to heal him. He’d still looked strong to me, despite the injuries, but the lighting had fed the “sickly” aura that hospitals couldn’t help but have. Here, with sunlight—high enough to tell me I’d slept far later than I should have—streaming in the window and giving the room a golden glow, Conn could have been an actor in a movie, positioned by the director for maximum effect. He was completely relaxed, his breathing deep and slow, one hand resting on his abdomen and his face turned toward me, angled slightly as if he’d been trying to bury it in my hair.

  I thought about my cousin lifting her sleeping baby’s arm and letting it fall, giggling at the lack of resistance. I knew if I did that to Conn right now, it would hit the mattress just as limply. There was something moving about that. He trusted me enough to let this happen. Trusted Evan’s safe house and even that Simon and Julie hadn’t been followed or tracked here, but mostly trusted that I didn’t need him to stay alert.

  The morning was drifting away, unacceptably. I needed to get to the library to meet the county people. I had a feeling Gladys might not come in, after being spooked last night, which meant I had to open, assuming they’d let us. Then there was The Plan to come up with, and we didn’t even have a starting point. Angie would be going a little nuts, wanting an update. And I had to pee.

  But I didn’t want to leave this bed. Leave Conn.

  Eventually, the pressure of one of the things on that list got me up. I took care of that and brushed my teeth, then looked for my phone. Which I’d left, dammit, on the dresser in the bedroom. I tiptoed in, but bumped the half-open door, making it creak.

  “Good morning.”

  I straightened—why did tiptoeing require a hunch?—and smiled as he blinked at me, not at all sleepily. Sure, his eyes were half-lidded, but with a smolder rather than post slumber.

  “Morning.”

  “What time is it?”

  I grabbed my phone from the dresser and thumbed the screen on. “After eight. I have to get to the library. I’m—” The phone rang, cutting me off. My heart stuttered and I gulped.

  Conn pushed himself up in the bed. “Who is it?”

  “My boss.” I accepted the call and lifted the phone to my ear. “Lois. Hi.”

  “Harmony. I’m calling about the incident at your library last night.”

  “Yes, I was about to call you, actually.” I winced at the lie. I’d been planning to wait until after I got work.

  “No need. We have everything covered. Officer Sark met us here and we confirmed for him that everything was fine. No damage is detected. The power was simply turned off. We restored the electricity and rebooted the computers.”

  “That’s good, but—”

  “Officer Sark and his team searched the library for the compound you told him about.”

  That I told him about?

  “They found no signs of it, but suggested we have your friend, the one who tested the samples from the jewelry store, also search. While you’re not here, of course. I’m sure you’d never accidentally set it off, but better safe than sorry, right? Anyway.”

  She went on with a few more details, and all I could do was listen and “mm-hm” a few times. I didn’t understand what was happening. I was numb? Or cold? But not really either. Just . . . neutral. Was that acceptance? Or was I too stunned to react properly?

  “Since Gladys is still a little shaken from last night, we brought in a substitute for her, and I’ll cover for you today. You just go take care of what needs to be taken care of and we’ll discuss your job when it’s over. All right?”

  “Um, all right. Thanks, Lois.”

  “No, thank you, Harmony. I know I’m not officially part of the Pilton community.” She lived in Delaware, the county seat. “But as part of our county, Pilton is important to all of us. And we appreciate what you do.”

  It seemed weird to thank her again, so I awkwardly ended the call and stared down at the phone.

  Conn waved me over, and I sat on the side of the bed. He ran his hand down my back, a soothing gesture. “That was your boss?”

  I nodded. “She’s taking care of things at the library for me so we can deal with what’s happening.”

  “That’s good.” His brow furrowed and his fingertips paused on my spine. “Isn’t it?”

&nbs
p; “I . . . guess?” I rubbed a spot below my collarbone as if it could dislodge something that had stuck there. “She talked to me as if Harmony and Eclipse are the same person.”

  “Because . . . they are?”

  “They never have been.” I slid the phone onto the nightstand. “It’s all unraveled over the last couple of days, but even people who knew were still separating us by name. I guess everyone must know by now.” The gossip tree was as strong in Pilton as anywhere, but I’d never been the subject, only a mostly passive branch. “I don’t . . . know what that’s going to mean. Lois said we’ll have to talk about my job.” It had barely registered when she said it, but fear tightened my lungs now. “I might lose my job over this.”

  “One thing at a time,” Conn cautioned, and I nodded.

  “Right. The Chaser.”

  He caught my wrist as I began to rise. “Not yet.”

  “What?”

  My eyes closed of their own accord as his hand slipped up under my hair and caressed my scalp. I hummed a little, and he nudged me down for a kiss. His mouth was still soft and warm from waking, despite how long we’d been talking and the hint of toothpaste I tasted. I smiled against his mouth.

  “You brushed your teeth?”

  “Morning breath sucks.” He spun me back and over his body to lie on the bed and deepened the kiss, his hands roaming, squeezing, stroking. I ran my palms up his chest, feeling all those glorious muscles he’d bared last night. But then his arm shuddered a little and I pushed him back, glancing at the wound.

  “You shouldn’t be putting your weight on that.”

  He grinned. “Okay.” Another skilled move, and he was on his back and I straddled his hips, hands braced on his chest. God, he was beautiful, smiling up at me in the golden light, tousled hair spiking adorably, earring winking. I brushed it with a fingertip.

  “Does this have significance?”

  He sobered and hesitated before nodding. I let it go, sorry I’d marred the moment, and bent to kiss him again. Desire heated from a slow simmer to a pulsing boil as if we had paused the rest of the world. Any time that thought began to penetrate my haze, Conn touched a new spot and banished it. Soon there was nothing but his tongue, his fingers, his rock-hardness between my thighs.