03 Saints (17 page)

They finally gave me some space, finding their seats again, though they kept their eyes on me, to make sure I didn’t disappear when they weren’t looking. I looked at Jackson and Margaret. Jackson had been watching Daniel, but his eyes returned to me as the kids sat. The normal smirk I had come to associate with him was gone, and gravity I had never seen before dominated his face. He stepped in front me, his tall frame forcing me to crane my neck to look him in the eyes. His blond hair spilled over his broad shoulders; it framed his square face and made him look like a Viking warrior come to tell me bad news.

“I let you down,” he said.

“Yep,” I said.

He eyes widened in shock.

“Daniel told me you’ve never seen ‘Lost Boys.’ I’m very disappointed,” I added.

He smiled and shook his head; some of his gravity disappeared with my words. He was amused, but he was obviously not in the mood for jokes. His emotions were too real for him to be distracted. He looked at me, searching for a way to express his doubt.

“You did what you thought was right at the time,” I continued more seriously. “I would never hold that against you. I’m just glad I didn’t get you killed.”

He accepted my forgiveness, though I sensed he still felt as if he owed me. The smirk was back on his face. “I’m glad, too.”

He eyed Daniel with cautiously optimistic hope. I sensed there had been words between them, an argument about me and about Jackson’s inability to protect me. They were words Daniel regretted; words he couldn’t undo. They were words Jackson was eager to forgive him for.

“Did Daniel ever tell you
he’s
never actually seen ‘Lost Boys’?” Jackson asked.

“What?!” I demanded of Daniel.

“Man! Come on!” Daniel complained to his friend.

Before I could take Daniel to task for his lack of awesome, Margaret surprised me. She lunged out with the skill of a trained warrior and pulled me into her arms. The hug was brief, but so out of character that I was speechless; all of my sarcasm was gone. Snow started to fall from the ceiling at her hug. I stared at her as she released me; the snow continued to fall like lace on my shoulders. She avoided my eyes as she took Jackson’s hand. The room had gone silent again.

“Check your pockets,” Jackson joked. “Her hug might have been a diversionary tactic. Make sure there’s not a bomb or something.”

Margaret wacked Jackson on the shoulder and laughter resonated around the room again. The snow stopped falling with her hit.

I looked around the room again, finally noticing that someone was missing from the group. I had been too distracted to account for everyone. I knew he would be where the kids were. They were his life.

“Where’s Eli?” I asked.

Everyone, suddenly, was not looking at Alex. It wasn’t on purpose, but it was enough to know she had something to do with him not being around. I turned to her for an explanation. She sighed.

“He’s with Serenity. Went with her after the dust died down in New Orleans. He said it was to help, but it was really to get away from me.”

“Why?”

“I’ll tell you later…” Alex said, eyeing Reaper uncomfortably.

“Okay…” I agreed.

“What happened to you, Clare?” Ethan asked around the awkward moment. “Where have you been?”

His question put me on the spot. I knew I couldn’t put off the story any longer. They were all here; they had come all the way to New York to look for me…they deserved the truth. I took a deep breath and, using Daniel’s touch for encouragement, started telling them my story. I left out things that I didn’t want the kids to hear, but I wasn’t shy on the details. I knew they were eager to know as much as they possibly could.

Through our touch, Daniel experienced more of the story. My mind was unable to hide the truth from him, though he also didn’t get the full story. Some things were hard to even think about. Several times, I felt his anger and his overwhelming desire to find that house on the hill and kill everyone inside. It was a desire he had trouble repressing. It was a desire I reciprocated.

When I was finished with the story, Daniel looked at Reaper, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Daniel since our entrance. Reaper’s silver eyes were full of questions, and his face was dominated by a frown; his dark features appeared darker with the intensity of his consideration.

“‘Thanks’ does not even begin to cover what I owe you for bringing her to me,” Daniel said. “I am in your debt.”

“No…” Reaper said slowly. “I actually think we’re even. Well, perhaps not even, but close.”

“Excuse me?” Daniel asked.

Daniel looked at me for an answer to Reaper’s strange words. I shrugged in response. Knowing Reaper longer didn’t mean I understood his cryptic words. He was being strange, yet oddly familiar with Daniel. It was a side of him I had yet to see.

Reaper’s face had turned increasingly certain, positive of whatever conclusion he had come to. He stood and approached Daniel very slowly, so as not to put him on the defensive. His silver eyes bored into Daniel’s green ones. When he spoke, his voice was laced with meaning.

“A very long time ago, I lived here in New York. I was an orphan, sent to live in an orphanage run by a sadistic master. It was there I met a boy, who was older than me and full of stubborn determination. He was a bit of trouble maker, a ring leader, but he was loyal to his friends…beyond loyal. He convinced me at the age of six to run away from the orphanage and take to the streets. He convinced me we would be the masters of the streets, no theft too big, no chance too high, and, for a time, this was true. But we were only children. That same boy found me and one of our friends being beaten by a gang one day and, instead of running away, he jumped into the fight without a thought of his own safety. He saved our lives. I had thought…I had thought the gang had killed the boy and taken his body, had punished him for his brazen act; that he had died protecting me. I have very recently come to the conclusion that I was wrong.”

The story had meant something to Daniel. I felt his shock through our touch.

“Ashley?” Daniel asked incredulously.

“It is you!” Reaper replied, starting to laugh. His face reflected his surprise and joy. “I’ll be damned!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said around my confusion. “The ferryman of souls isn’t really named Reaper? He’s named Ashley?”

“Ash,” Reaper corrected. “It was a popular name in my time.”

“It still is popular…for girls,” I said.

Daniel ignored me. He looked as if someone had hit him with a bus.

“I can’t believe it! I looked for you, but they told me you had died in a fire…some accident in an industrial building,” Daniel said.

Reaper dissolved into mist then reappeared again, showing off his talent. “Fire isn’t as big an obstacle for me as it is for some,” he said.

“I had no idea you were a Watcher,” Daniel said, obviously overwhelmed by the day.

Not only was I alive, but one of his childhood friends he had long thought dead was alive as well. The thoughts I was seeing through our touch told me there was more to Reaper’s story. The fight Daniel had jumped into was a moment Daniel had carried with him his whole life. It was the day Beatrice had found him and taken him in as her own.

“Is this the friend from the vision we shared?” I asked. “The one you had thought murdered?”

“Yeah…” Daniel agreed.

Reaper made a rueful face. “Murdered? Close. In my foolish youth, not long after the change, I befriended Marcus. He wanted Watchers for his new group…the Seekers. He tried to kill me when I wouldn’t join his cause. He trapped me in a building and set it on fire. I hadn’t told him of my talent, though, and I managed to escape. That day I was reborn with the purpose of stopping him.”

Daniel’s thoughts were a whirlwind of emotion. He was having trouble focusing on one thought for very long. Reaper, Ashley, whatever his name was, was one reason Daniel had spent a good portion of his younger years torturing himself. Daniel had blamed himself for Reaper’s death; he had thought he should have been there for his friend. He had tortured himself in vein. It was a hard idea to come to terms with. Guilt was easier to accept than forgiveness.

“I think I’d like a drink,” Daniel said to no one in particular.

“I’ll get it,” Jackson said as he eyed Reaper curiously.

Jackson was the only in the room, besides me, who really understood what was happening. Daniel had obviously shared the story of Reaper’s ‘death’ with him.

“Well, does the artist formally known as Reaper have any other startling revelations to share?” I asked.

“I think that’s all…” He looked between Daniel and me. “You two are a lot alike. I knew there was a reason Clare seemed so familiar to me…”

“Sort of…” Jackson said handing Daniel a glass. “In the sense that they’re both smart asses, maybe.”

“And you’re the epitome of straight answers and politeness,” I said dryly.

Jackson bowed; his face lit up with his smile.

I led Daniel, who was still fighting a whirlwind of emotions, over to the sofa and sat. Alex moved in close on my other side. I held her hand, so that I was holding both hers and Daniel’s and took a long moment to enjoy the feel of them so near. I wasn’t sure where we would head next or what we would do, but I hadn’t lost everything. There was still hope. Priorities would be sorted out and plans would be made, but those things were for another day. All that mattered was that we were alive and no longer forced to contemplate the idea of the other being dead.

I listened as the others started talking and the room filled with familiar sound. Daniel talked with Reaper, catching up, trying to come to terms with the years that separated them. Alex talked with Spider, their banter bringing laughter to the kids. I relaxed into the sofa and shut my eyes as I listened to the voices circling around in the room. As both Alex and Daniel treated me to their thoughts of love and happiness, I realized I had solved Naomi’s dilemma. It
was
possible to think of two things at once, you just needed an Alex and a Daniel thinking them for you.

Somewhere between feeling deliriously happy and overwhelmingly loved, I passed out. It was the first time in a long time I dreamt of nothing…no nightmares, no dreams of different places, just peace and quiet.

When I woke, Daniel was lying next to me on the long sofa. He had one arm curled around me protectively, reluctant to let me go, even while I slept.

I shifted on the sofa to look at him, to see his eyes, assuming he was awake. I was surprised at what I saw. His eyes were shut, his breathing heavy. He didn’t move with my turn, and I wondered if I had actually caught Superman sleeping. I smiled at the thought.

While I looked at him, he snorted then grunted. His grunt turned into a full-out snore. I put my hand to my mouth to muffle my laugh, but my whole body shook with the force of my laughter. He snored again and his face twitched with whatever dream he was having. That did it. My laughter rattling my whole body, I fell off the sofa and landed hard on the floor.

Daniel jerked awake as I hit the floor.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked, immediately alert.

It took me a minute to stop laughing. “You were snoring,” I said between laughs.

“I don’t snore…” he said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“I thought you don’t need to sleep?” I asked him.

“Usually we don’t. We sleep when we get tired enough…which takes a lot…or want a break from...things.”

“It was adorable,” I told him.

He made a face, obviously not a fan of the word ‘adorable.’ “By ‘adorable,’ you mean ‘gruff’ and ‘manly,’ right?” he asked.

“Not even close…” I chuckled. I looked around the elegant room and realized it was deserted. “Where is everyone?”

“The kids are in their room still sleeping. Alex and Margaret went out to pick up clothes for you. I think they’re bonding. Jackson went back to Marcus’ building…there’s still the possibility that Han and Beatrice are there. He took Reaper with him.”

“I had no idea he knew you,” I said. “It’s so weird your childhood friend would be the one to pull me out of the ocean.”

“Did he say why he was helping you?” Daniel asked.

His green eyes reflected his worry. It was obvious he didn’t want to have to suspect Reaper of using me. It was rare for someone to help as Reaper had, without wanting something in return.

“He said it was because he knew I was different…that I didn’t waste my time with stupid questions and feeling scared. Also, because he had heard about Marcus’s search for me and wanted to be sure Marcus didn’t get me. He hates him as much as you do,” I said.

“Do you think he was telling the truth?” Daniel asked.

“I think he has some other reasons he didn’t share,” I said. “But I think those were the more important ones.”

“I forgot to tell you something last night,” Daniel admitted slowly.

He traced his thumb along my lips then cupped my cheek in his hand. The electrical feel of his hand on my face was a feeling I had missed more than anything else on the planet. It reminded me how alive a person could feel.

“What?” I asked, distracted by his touch.