Familiar Strangers (22 page)

“But you’re the one who was down in the water; you stabbed Townsend so we could get free. Without you, Galen couldn’t have made the shot,” she argued, not knowing why it was so important that someone other than Galen be responsible for saving her life.

“Honey, you don’t get it, do you?” he questioned. Saber looked Regin straight in the eyes. “Galen didn’t need me to do any of that. He could have made the shot without me being in that water. I was just giving him some insurance.”

Regin paled as she realized what Saber was telling her. If it had gone another way or Saber hadn’t had his knife, Galen Matthews would have shot Townsend in the head while she was in his arms. Galen didn’t want her in the evil man’s arms when it happened.

It was too much. Saber’s story and the thought that Galen might love her. Her brain wasn’t ready to deal with the information it had now. There was no way she could ask it to process everything being thrown at her.

“On that note, I’m going to check on Annie then head to bed,” she said.

Regin wanted to ask, but pride would not let the question come from her lips. The dark haired man seemed to guess her struggle and answered her unspoken question.

“It will take him a few hours to drop Townsend’s body off, secure him, and clean up the paperwork with the feds and locals.”

“I didn’t ask,” she informed him, wishing her voice sounded as strong as her statement.

Saber grinned. “No, you didn’t, did you? Hmm.” He glanced out toward the water, his eyes narrowing in an all too familiar gesture.

She was on her feet in an instant. “What is it? What do you see?”

He shook his head like he was trying to clear the uneasiness from it. “It’s nothing, probably just one of the guys cleaning up the mess you left us.” But he didn’t look like he believed the words.

“Why don’t you head on up to bed?” he suggested. “I’ll check on Annie for you.”

Something about the way he tensed up bothered Regin, but she was too tired to worry about it. She needed sleep and she trusted Saber to look after her dog and keep them both safe till Galen came back. “Thanks, Saber, what would I have done without you?”

At once his face was changed by a wide smile. “Don’t you know, love? You couldn’t have made it without me?” He jumped from the porch, whistling a jaunty tune and was swallowed into the darkness.

Saber was right, she knew. They wouldn’t have made it without him. He had been a loyal friend to Galen from what she could tell. And now to her. He’d risked his life for her tonight at the pond and she would never forget it. Just as she knew her own stubborn warrior wouldn’t. It had really bothered Galen that Saber had been the one to save her in the end.

She couldn’t think why it mattered. Regin was alive. Townsend was dead. What more was there?

She heard barking in the distance. It must be Annie chasing some poor creature too slow to out run her. But it was coming from the opposite direction Saber had gone. She knew he would circle the island before heading back to the house. She might as well save him the trip of finding the dog. It would only take her a few minutes and she’d feel better with Annie sleeping beside her.

Slowly she walked down the steps toward the cottage, wondering if Annie had somehow managed to get locked in. No one had been inside since the hurricane other than to check for damage and make the minor repairs. What if some workman had left the door ajar and the dog slipped in?

She’d be gone less than ten minutes and back before anyone knew she was gone.

****


“Something’s not right,” Galen whispered as he watched Shawn Townsend’s body being carried away. He should feel as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, but he felt nothing except more urgency. Like there was something he’d forgotten or overlooked. He couldn’t put his finger on it and that worried him more than anything. His gut was telling him things weren’t over yet, but his brain was shouting at him to look at the pathetic man being carried down the hall under a white sheet with an escort of FBI agents and state troopers. They had their man. Justice was done and Regin was safe.

He’d lost one man in a battle that could have cost him many. He regretted Will’s death as much as he regretted losing his body to the pond. But there was nothing to be done about either. The man’s body must have been knocked over in the rush to get to the bridge and the chaos afterward.

Galen had been determined to recover the body tonight, but Saber, Taco, and the others promised to take care of it and to let him deal with the authorities.

But something besides the loss of his man weighed on his mind. He didn’t feel that Regin was safe.

That was it. He’d left Saber there to watch over her. Galen trusted his friend with his life, but when push came to shove did he trust anyone but him with Regin’s?

He knew they had to talk and soon. Regin wasn’t getting off his island until she had a few things clear. Such as how much he loved her. He had to make damn sure she loved him. They would get married. Galen didn’t care how much she argued. The woman needed a keeper and he was more than happy to take the job.

He wondered what Caprice would say about everything that happened tonight. She’d been wrong. Galen hadn’t been the one to offer his life for hers. Or maybe she’d meant it more in a spiritual way. He’d have to ask her later.

Then it hit him; the force of it almost knocking him to his knees. Caprice’s voice rang in his head as loud and sure as if she’d been standing beside him.

“Look beyond the mask to see the truth within. Darkness lies deeper than the surface. The first answer is not always the truth.”

She had been talking about someone other than Townsend. There had been someone controlling the other man’s moves. Why hadn’t he caught on before?

Galen’s heart started beating again as he shouted orders to the startled police and raced out the door, jabbed Saber’s number into his cell phone, and he prayed he wasn’t too late to save the woman he loved and wouldn’t live without.

****


The barking came from the cottage, just as

Regin thought. Her poor dog must have gotten locked in. It was no wonder with the confusion going on tonight. There had been so many people on and off the island, it was a miracle Annie stayed on at all.

She was within a few feet of the back porch when the hairs on her neck started to rise. A quick glimpse revealed nothing. Regin was just hyped up from everything that happened tonight. The danger was over. She would no longer hide from the shadows. They couldn’t hurt anymore.

The moon broke through the clouds, casting the steps in an eerie light. It took all her concentration to place one foot in front of the other and climb to the top.

“There’s nothing here,” she told herself. “It’s time to take back control. The quicker I get Annie, the quicker I can get back home.” Taking a deep breath for courage, Regin turned the knob and walked in the darkened house.

Her attempt to flip the light switch on had no results. Maybe Galen didn’t know the power was out here, she thought, a second before she remembered he had told her the entire island was connected. If there was no power at her cottage then there shouldn’t be power at the main house.

Out, her brain screamed. She had to get out.

Something wasn’t right and she wasn’t going to stay to find out what. The heavy weight was pushing against her chest, causing her breathing to become erratic and harsh.

In seconds, Regin had turned back toward the door only to be blinded by a sudden glare of light.

“Welcome home, my love. I knew you would come back to me some day, Nora.” A soft voice whispered in her ear as pain blinded her. She felt nothing else and sank into the madman’s waiting arms.

Caprice stepped out of the darkness her long skirt swirling around her legs as if moved by an invisible wind. “You gave up your soul long ago, dark one. You have no claim on this innocent. Leave now before she destroys you again.”

Will hissed in denial of her words. “She never destroyed me. I destroyed her.”

Caprice’s face remained calm in the face of his fury. “Not everything is what you think and nothing is what you wish. You did not have the power to destroy her then and you don’t now. You never understood you couldn’t slay something out of your grasp.”

“She was in my hands. I forced the breath from her lungs. I stopped her heart from beating. I alone caused her soul to leave her body.” His anger was palpable, weighing down the air surrounding them. He stalked around the room like a madman. His thoughts shifting from one place to another so rapidly he couldn’t grasp one to latch on to.

Regin was finding it hard to breathe as each breath of air seemed tainted with hatred and gave her no relief. She didn’t understand what was going on. Something about the conversation seemed familiar to her as if she had watched this scene play out before long ago. A vague memory just out of reach.

The Cajun woman shook her head, denying his words. “You might have stopped a body from breathing, but you never stopped her life. She is here now and they have found each other again. Nothing you do will destroy them this time. I promise you that.”

He sneered. “You, old woman? What do you think you can do to stop me? You have no magic, no weapon. You will die tonight just as she shall...again.”

One elegant brow arched in response to his statement. “Think you I have no powers? Tell me, my lord, does nothing about me seem familiar to you? Could we have met once upon a time in another life?”

The man Regin knew as Will squinted, peering closely at Caprice’s tranquil face. If she were frightened or bluffing, she gave no hint of it. “No, we’ve never met in this life or another,” he denied.

Again she shook her head in mock sympathy. “That shall always be your greatest downfall, my lord. You look with your eyes and see only what you wish to see. There are those who saw once as you did and lived to pay for those sins. I offer you one last chance to let her go and you will not be destroyed.”

Instead of a reply, he opened his mouth and laughed, sending shivers over Regin’s skin. “I’ve won this time, you stupid old crone. I’ve kept them apart, feeding on her fears. She has not given her heart and soul to him. She has pledged that Cajun trash nothing!” Pacing the small room, he fairly shouted the words. “You see if it was never given, then it still may be stolen. Which is what I intend to do. She belongs to me. She always has.”

“So be it,” Caprice spoke softly as she turned to face Regin still huddled in a corner with her arms and legs tied and the gag lodged firmly in her mouth.
“It is time, young one. We must destroy the demon before he destroys you once. Open your mind, remember who you once were and the love you died trying to save. Remember the words you uttered with your last reflection. Remember who your last thought was of. It is all there waiting for you take. Take your life back, Nora.”

Her soft voice rose in authority, reaching, pushing against the walls with the force of her power. Her arms raised up, palms open. “What formerly you considered yours, lay claim to once again. The heart beating within your breast has awakened to live yet again. True love cries out for revenge against time stolen. The soul slumbering within your body shall rise up once more and remember what you lost and the demon that stole it from you.”

Colors rose and swirled, dancing across the wet floor racing to encircle Regin within its embrace. Scents clouded her nose, music flowed gently against her ears whispering softly of a world long forgotten. A heavy weight pressed against her eyes forcing them closed as visions swam behind her lowered lids.

Fear should be overtaking her, but in its place a strange almost unfamiliar feeling of peace crept through her veins. Her name was being called in the distance. Security, warmth, love, and acceptance—the voice held everything she’d always longed for but had been afraid to seek. His was a familiar voice.

“Galen,” she pleaded to the darkness as she was swallowed by the power surrounding her.

Visions rushed behind her eyes like a movie playing in fast forward. Scenes of her walking with Galen, talking with him and of loving him. Everything was there. The reason she held on to him so tightly, but refused to allow him near her heart. The betrayal burned her soul. How could she have forgotten what he’d done? The promises broken? The heart he’d shattered with his lies? The same duplicity he forced upon her now only with deceit and deception this time.

He had not loved her then or now, but like a fool she had never stopped. Regin’s heart and soul were firmly entrenched within his hands. Without Galen’s love, her existence meant nothing. Will could have her life. She saw no reason to struggle. Every dream she had was broken. There was nothing left to battle for.

“Regin, see past the lies your eyes are exposed to. Open your heart to what you know the truth to be. Colin is everything you wanted him to be, then and now. Colin or Galen, it doesn’t matter the name he uses. He is still the man willing to give his life for yours. You must be open to fight or else we are all lost.” Caprice’s voice rose in level with the emotions flowing through the room. “Do you want him to win again? Do you want Galen to spend the rest of this life alone? Wracked with remorse? Dying a lonely, bitter, old man? That is what will happen. Can you live with the guilt?”

Could she? Regin wondered in the far off place her mind had drifted to. Did she really care if Galen/Colin suffered for the next fifty years? Yes, she did. There was no denying the peace sweeping away the numbing pain. She didn’t want him to suffer, no matter what the cause. He might not return it, but it didn’t mean she would refuse him her love.

Regin felt the barriers surrounding her heart give way with no warning. Suddenly there was light everywhere, filling her, flooding her every sense. Memories crashed into her mind, but no longer were they memories of her life lived in the past. These were new memories. Memories of a man who died alone mourning the one love he failed to save. Colin never betrayed her. The pictures from his memory were clear as the years swept by. Visions of the madman trying to destroy her and the love he couldn’t understand. He had orchestrated everything she had seen and done.

By God, he won’t have another shot at me or mine, Regin vowed. It was time to show him the woman she had become in the century since they’d last met.

Regin felt the last bonds fall from her, thanks to Caprice’s quick thinking and quicker hands.

Determination gave her the courage to open her eyes and face her living breathing nightmare. “Hello, Rupert. Feel like dying tonight, you stupid son of a bitch?”

The fight was quick as she had known it would be. “You will never destroy us,” she shouted. “I love him and he belongs to me. You’ve owned me in fear for years. No longer. Go to hell, you powerless bastard.”

Will never stood a chance once he lost his power over her. With every word she spoke, he crumpled further to the ground. A weak, destroyed, pathetic man. He vanished in a swirl of dust and screams.

She was free. Free to be with the man who’d owned her heart a century ago. The man who owned her heart now.

Regin ran out the door. She crashed into Galen’s waiting arms.

“Colin,” she whispered as she looked into his familiar eyes.

A look of surprise, happiness, and love crossed his handsome features and filled his eyes.

“You remember?”
“I remember,” she answered. “I remember everything.”


“Oh God, Regin. I was so afraid.” He crushed her in his arms. “I thought I ruined it for us. I thought he had gotten to you again.”

“I’m safe and Rupert can never harm us again,” Regin promised as she turned to look over her shoulder. “Isn’t that right, Caprice?”

The older woman smiled. “It is so,” she agreed. “Now be happy, both of you. Live your life with love and remember how rare a gift you’ve been given, finding one another again. Never take it for granted, my young ones.”

Regin slipped out of Galen’s arms and walked to Caprice. “Where do you go now? Is your job here done?”

A look of joy lit the Cajun woman’s features. “I go now to my reward. I’ve paid the price for my mistakes all those years ago. But don’t worry about me,” she patted Regin on the arm. “I’ve been waiting just as long to find my love again. And now it’s time,” she whispered.

Galen drew Regin back into his arms and held her tightly. “I do love you, Regin.”

“And I love you, Galen,” she answered as they walked back to his house.

“But, Regin, if Townsend is dead who came after you?”

She shook her head in wonderment. “All this time, Galen and no one knew.”

“Knew what?” he demanded.


“That it was Will.”


“Will was Rupert?” he asked, astonished. “Yes, but he had his memory complete. He knew who we both were, past and present. He was the one who led me to Townsend on the bridge.”

“I would love to kill him all over again.” Galen said.

“He’s nothing to us now. I’ve broken his hold and he can never touch us or our love again.” Regin stopped at the stairs and looked down at her feet.

“What is it, baby?”

“I’m sorry, Galen. Sorry I didn’t listen to you before. Sorry I didn’t listen to my heart, earlier. Then none of this would have happened.”

Regin felt his hand cup her chin as it forced her eyes to meet his own. “There is nothing for you to be sorry about. We both made mistakes, Regin. They’re in the past now. Then or now, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is we’re together and nothing and no one is ever going to change that.”

Regin pulled his head down and pressed his lips to hers. Everything was as it should be. Their love would not be destroyed by jealousy or hate again. Their hearts were linked through eternity. Pulling away from their kiss, Regin looked into his silver eyes and saw her life in their reflection. She grabbed Galen’s hand and walked with him toward their house and future.