This was the last time she’d ever seen him. He hadn’t called or anything for two weeks. The next thing she knew, two uniformed officers were at her door, telling her he’d been killed in an explosion. Worse, there hadn’t even been enough of his body left to bury. They’d found his dog tags and his wallet and sent them home to her.
Pushing the memory away, she covered her eyes with her hands. She’d loved David, but he was her past, not her future. Still, that botched goodbye had to be rectified. She needed to see David one last time, even if only as a ghost. She wanted to tell him she was sorry, that she hadn’t loved him the way he deserved to be loved.
The way she loved Tyler.
The realization crashed into her, though she’d known this all along. If only her magic, the wonderful gift she’d been given, was strong enough to enable her to keep him with her forever. But she knew it was not. There wasn’t a single kind of magic that powerful, even the dark kind. Life was a precious gift from the Creator.
And she would do nothing to dishonor that gift.
Still, she selfishly hoped to keep Tyler with her as long as she could.
* * *
Though Anabel seemed lost in her own thoughts, the constant tugging that had begun inside told Tyler he needed to leave this earthly plane.
“Anabel.” He touched her arm, unsurprised when she jumped. “It’s over.” Though he supposed they should have been celebrating his sister’s freedom and Polacek’s capture, he couldn’t keep the sorrow from his voice. “I’ve got to go back where I belong.”
She wouldn’t meet his gaze. Upon a closer look, he saw tears streaming silver tracks down her alabaster cheeks.
Pain stabbed him. He refused to go with her like this.
Reaching for her, he pulled her close. Held her, breathed in her scent and smoothed her ebony hair away from her face. Though he ached to tell her how he felt, he knew a declaration of love would only make things worse for her.
So he kissed her instead. When his mouth covered hers, he tried to pour all of his longing and urgency and frustration into the kiss. She returned his kiss with fiery abandon. They both knew what neither dared say. But at least they’d have this, though a single kiss would never be enough.
The celestial tug came again, reminding him he needed to go. Rather than deepen the kiss, he pulled back, though it took every ounce of willpower he possessed.
“It’s time,” he told her softly, wiping her tears away with his fingers.
She nodded. “Remember your promise,” she said, her tone as heavy as his. “No more ghosts.”
“No more ghosts.” And one other thing, though neither spoke it out loud. He’d promised to find her husband, David, and let her have one last conversation with him.
Though it ripped at his heart, he’d given his word. And since it was what she wanted, he’d move heaven and earth to give it to her.
“No more ghosts,” he reminded her. “Except one. I promise I’ll find the one you most want to see.”
And with that, he stepped out of the motel room and headed toward the trees, wanting to spare her from seeing him leave this second, earthly body forever.
Once there, he breathed the damp, musty scent of forest and gave himself over to what must be.
This time, it didn’t feel like dying. Instead, the simple action of stepping out of himself felt more like a caterpillar, shedding dull and tired skin, to finally emerge as another, much more beautiful creature. Being in the spirit contained an almost indescribable joy. Though this time, his transformation was tinged with sorrow.
Briefly, he looked back to see what had happened to his body, but he saw no sign of it. Taking a deep breath, he immediately went in search of his spirit guide, Elias.
When he found the other being, recognizable by his deep purple hue, Tyler bowed low. “I’ve completed my task,” he said. “My sister is safe.”
“And the Drakkors?”
“They have found a way to continue their species.”
“Very good.” Genuine pleasure rang in the other’s melodic voice. “All beings are beloved by their Maker.”
Tyler nodded, taking a deep breath. “As I’m sure you already know, I made certain promises to Anabel Lee in order to obtain her assistance.”
Elias said nothing, merely continuing to glow his soothing and powerful deep violet hue.
“I’ve told her no more ghosts will bother her,” Tyler began.
Elias laughed. “That is something she herself can take care of. All she has to do is close the door between realms. She herself opened it in her grief.”
Though he shouldn’t have been surprised, Tyler nodded. “I promised her I would do that for her.”
Silence. Finally, Elias agreed.
Tyler wasn’t entirely certain how his guide would take his next request, but he’d given his word and would do his best to ensure that he kept it.
“I also promised her she could see her husband’s spirit one last time.”
Now Elias radiated interest. “That will be easily accomplished,” he said, clearly mulling over the right words. “Considering what is happening even as we speak.”
Pleased, Tyler waited for instructions.
When Elias said nothing else, Tyler took a deep breath and asked, “Will you find his spirit and bid him to accompany me? I would like to bring him to Anabel Lee tonight, if possible.”
At this, to Tyler’s absolute astonishment, Elias laughed. “That would be difficult, if not impossible,” he finally said. “Especially since David Lee is not here in the realm of spirit.”
Tyler’s heart sank. “Has he already reincarnated? It hasn’t been very long since he died.”
“That’s the problem, actually. David Lee is not dead.”
Stunned, Tyler didn’t know how to react. “What exactly do you mean?” he asked cautiously. “Wasn’t he killed in Afghanistan?”
“No. He merely made it appear that way. He escaped and is living in the Hindu Kush mountains with his true mate.”
True mate? Tyler dragged his hand across his mouth, forgetting for a moment that he was not in his corporeal body. “But he’s married to Anabel,” he managed, well aware that such a thing clearly no longer mattered to David Lee.
“He is a deserter from his military post. AWOL. Plus, his actions when he set up the explosion to make everyone think he was killed resulted in another’s serious injury. Until now, he stayed hiding as he couldn’t let anyone know he’s alive, or he would have to pay for his crimes. Not at all good for his soul.”
Until now?
“I have to tell Anabel,” Tyler said, feeling as if a knife had just stabbed him in the heart. “This is going to wound her. She holds her husband in high regard.”
“And a traitor like him doesn’t deserve that regard.” Elias’s tone sounded noncommittal, which didn’t fool Tyler. He had become intimately familiar with the laws of karma. He knew whatever David had done in his single-minded pursuit of a new life would be something he’d have to face sooner or later. Every single casualty. Including his wife, who’d believed he loved her.
Somehow he had to protect her, if he could.
“I can’t let what he’s done hurt Anabel,” Tyler said. “And yet I can’t do her the disservice of giving her a lie.”
Instead of reminding him about lessons and karma, Elias nodded. “Sounds like you have quite a dilemma,” he mused. “Unfortunately, you will not be allowed to deal with it. This is Anabel’s lesson to learn.”
Again Tyler felt that tug, even stronger this time. Which made no sense, as he had already left the physical realm for that of the spirit. But it came again, making him stagger. He tried to reach out for Elias, but his guide only smiled benevolently at him from out of reach.
And then blackness.
* * *
When Tyler vanished right in front of her eyes, Anabel told herself she wouldn’t keep crying. After all, they still had unfinished business. Tyler couldn’t go on to his heavenly reward until he kept the promises he’d made to her. She’d see him again, at least once more. She had to.
A few minutes after Tyler left, the phone rang. Not her cell phone, but the hotel landline.
If not for that, she probably wouldn’t even have bothered to answer. Knowing what would soon come to pass had made her numb, and Tyler disappearing the way he did made her want to weep.
No one had this number. No one.
The absurd thought crossed her mind that somehow it might be David, calling from heaven. And so she crossed the room to the countertop and picked up the handset.
“Hello?”
The first few words didn’t register. She’d been so certain the call would be something from the realm beyond that she had trouble taking in that it wasn’t.
Snippets of the conversation finally reached her, spoken in that all-too-familiar, überformal tone used by the military.
The voice spoke a name. David Lee. Her husband. But the rest of what the stranger said seemed incomprehensible.
When the caller asked her if she’d understood, she didn’t at first respond. How could she, when she wasn’t even entirely sure she wasn’t dreaming this entire conversation?
After all, the phone that had rung was a motel phone, not her personal cell. Most likely it was someone making a very bad joke or one of the still-absent remaining Drakkors, trying to extract some sort of bitter revenge at her expense.
Because what the caller said simply could not be true. David wasn’t dead after all. David was alive, a deserter, and living in the mountains of Afghanistan with another woman and a child.
When pressed, she finally murmured something in assent. She thought. Yet there wasn’t one bit of this making the slightest sense.
She was told David would be court-martialed and tried, most likely there in Afghanistan. She would not be permitted, at least for the time being, to see him.
See him? The only reason Anabel would want to do that would be to ask him for a divorce.
After assuring the caller she’d contact him if she had any questions, she gently replaced the receiver in the cradle and swayed.
Chapter 19
When she turned to make her way back to the living room, she nearly fell. But somehow she reached the couch and allowed herself to drop onto the overstuffed cushions.
Then she tried to think about what she’d just been told.
Allegedly—and as of right now she still couldn’t bring herself to believe it was true—her beloved husband, the man she’d considered her soul mate, the soldier she’d held in such high regard, had not only deserted his post, but staged his own death. His doing so had caused others to be seriously hurt. His fellow soldiers, men he’d worked with, men who’d trusted him.
Worse—was there actually anything nearly as bad?—the military had caught up with him. He’d been found living in some remote mountainous village, along with a native girl and their child. Which meant that he’d staged his death knowing he’d gotten the woman pregnant.
The thought that he could do such a thing—not only to her, but to the men in his unit, men who’d relied upon him to have their back as surely as they had his—didn’t match up with the man she thought she knew.
Painfully stunned, she wasn’t sure how to react. Eighteen months ago, she’d grieved for David. She’d fallen down a well of sorrow so dark that she hadn’t known if she’d ever be able to climb back out.
To learn that all that time, while she’d been weeping and trying to figure out how to manage to live without him, he’d been making a new life with some other woman and their child felt like the worst kind of betrayal.
Especially since David hadn’t wanted kids. When she brought the subject up not long after they were married, he’d told Anabel he never wanted children. Apparently, he just hadn’t wanted them with her.
If the call had even been real. If it hadn’t, then the remaining Drakkors really knew how to mess with her head.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Anabel to verify that the phone call had indeed been true. Her first hint came from the incessant ringing of the hotel room phone. The second time she answered, it was a reporter from one of the national television shows, wanting to interview her about David.
She didn’t know how they’d gotten the number, and after five minutes of nonstop ringing, she no longer cared. Unplugging the phone, she sat down on the edge of the bed and tried to figure out what to do.
Had Tyler known? When he’d promised her that she could speak to her husband again, had he known all along David wasn’t dead? She found it hard to believe he would have lied to her, but she also would never in a million years have suspected David of doing what he’d done.
Finally, she began to make a list. Number one on the list was file for divorce. Number two was to find the man her husband had caused to be injured and learn if there was any way she could help. It seemed like the least she could do.
Plus, action might help take her mind off missing Tyler.
A commotion outside the motel had her peeking out from behind the curtains. The parking lot had filled, not only with vehicles bearing the insignia of most of the large news networks, but with people. Reporters carrying cameras and microphones. All camped right outside her room.
She made a quick phone call to the Leaning Tree Police Department, asking Captain Harper for help.
“Unfortunately, you’re in a public place,” he drawled, sounding not the slightest bit sorry. “If you still had your home, they couldn’t come on your property without your permission. But since you’re at the Value Five, as long as they don’t try to come inside your room, the media are well within their rights.”
After vowing not to speak with anyone until she sorted things out, she decided she needed to purchase a laptop computer, even if doing so would tap her already low funds. She put on dark sunglasses and a scarf to cover her head. Then she hurried from her room to her car and did her best to ignore the camera flashes and shouted questions. The way they surrounded her Fiat as she tried to pull away reminded her of what she’d seen on TV with the paparazzi and various movie stars.
Careful not to run over anyone, she finally broke free of the throng of reporters. A few of them tried to follow her, but she knew this town like the back of her hand, and she managed to elude them.
As soon as she’d purchased her laptop and a few other supplies like bottled water and snacks, she headed back. Again her Fiat was instantly surrounded, and she had to battle her way to her room.
Once inside, she locked the door with a sigh of relief and got set up. Since the Value Five had free Wi-Fi, she got on the internet and read everything she could find about David.
Some sources were reporting that his actions had killed a fellow soldier, while others claimed several other men had been wounded, one of them grievously. The seriously wounded soldier had gone from Kandahar in Afghanistan to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Since he’d been badly burned, once stabilized, he’d then been flown to Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston near San Antonio, Texas. As far as Anabel could tell from what she could glean on the internet, he was still alive.
She refused to cry, at least not for David. She’d done all her weeping over him eighteen months ago. But for this man her husband had hurt, she allowed herself to shed a tear or two.
Next, she researched divorce attorneys. As soon as the media storm died down, she planned on filing. Until then, she thought a trip to Texas might be in order. She owed David’s victim an apology for what her husband had done and her support and prayers for his continued healing.
The last straw to a very lo
ng day was a phone call from a man who identified himself as David’s attorney. “I’ll be representing him in the court-martial,” he said. “Though he has serious criminal violations in the UCMJ—that’s the Uniform Code of Military Justice—at least he’s not a murderer.”
“Yet,” she muttered. “I’d like to see the man David caused to get hurt,” she said. “The least I can do is apologize for my husband’s actions.”
“There’s no need. Like I said, he’s in a coma. He won’t even know you’re there.”
Every instinct, every bit of magic she possessed, urged her on. “I don’t care. I need to see him. Can you arrange this or do I need to start making some phone calls?”
“Doing so might look bad, as if you believe David is guilty.”
“Don’t you?” she asked, incredulous. “I assume you’ve talked to him. What does he have to say for himself?”
The silence on the other end of the line told Anabel the attorney clearly just now realized David’s wife might not feel too charitable toward his client right now.
Clearing his throat, the lawyer asked if she planned to travel to Texas.
“Yes. I’m driving to the city and to the airport this afternoon.” Before she left, she delivered Leroy to Juliet, who’d agreed to watch him.
The uneventful flight, with a layover in Atlanta, gave her time to think. Though she kept her book open in front of her and pretended to read, she couldn’t help rehearsing what exactly she’d say. Even though the soldier might be in a coma, she had faith that the magic inside her could help him to heal. After all, she’d been able to assist Dena Rogers.
At the thought of Tyler, her firm, steely grip on her composure slipped. She missed him, more than she would ever have believed possible. She’d have given much to be able to fill him in on this latest development. Assuming he hadn’t already known.
Once she arrived in San Antonio, she took a cab to the hospital. Apparently, someone had alerted the media about her arrival. The instant she pulled up to the hospital entrance, she saw they’d assembled in wait for her.
Shades of the Wolf Page 25