Night Angel (4 page)

Colin stared at her words. The clever quips he’d taken for granted for centuries escaped him now as much as the miracle of flight. What was he doing? There was no reason to get to know her better. He was curious—perhaps more than curious about this beautiful resilient flower—but that was all. It wouldn’t change the fact that he was a Night Walker, and a damaged one at that. He had no right to draw this intriguing woman into his dark world.

When Bartley had mentioned Juliana owned a flower shop, he was reminded of the roses on the rocks along the shore. Knowing Benedict was hunting in his territory, he couldn’t help but imagine the flowers were tied to the water horse somehow.

It was unlikely they came from Juliana’s shop, there were plenty of florists in Belfast, but he’d wanted to see her again.

“I came by to see if a man has been visiting your shop to purchase roses.”

I sell roses to lots of men.

He wanted to smack his forehead. Of course she did. Being so close to her made it difficult for him to think clearly. “Of course you do. That was a stupid question. Just be careful. Some women have gone missing and I found long-stemmed red roses on the rocks by the shore.”

She frowned.
Are you a detective?

“I’m no detective, but I’m looking into all of this for a friend.” He tipped his head and took a step back. “Sorry for bothering you.” He stared into her dark eyes allowing himself to come closer again. “But I am glad you opened the door.”

Before he could censure himself for his lack of willpower, she smiled. His immortal heart pounded in response, his spirit lifting like she wielded some kind of magic. She broke eye contact, and he pulled in a slow breath. She smelled like lavender and roses. It wasn’t a perfume, just the pure scent of her skin.

I’m glad Bartley told you where to find me.

He leaned in closer to see her words as she lifted her gaze. Having her this close to him made him ache to read her thoughts, to know what questions lingered behind her dark eyes. “I want to know you better.”

Her full lips curved, drenching him in a sudden desire to kiss her.

I close up my shop at six o’clock tomorrow.

He pointed to her words and waited for her to see his lips before he spoke. “Does this mean you want to know me better, too?”

She caught her lower lip in her teeth and nodded.

He grinned, feeling a dose of his lost bravado returning. “Shall I pick you up at six thirty?”

He still needed to search for Benedict, but if the bastard was wooing his meals with flowers it would be best to keep an eye on Juliana’s shop. It didn’t hurt that he would get to spend time with her in the process.

She scribbled quickly.
I’ll be ready.

Juliana shivered. The biting wind and cold seawater stung her face as she stumbled through the darkness. She spun around, desperate to find her bearings. Then she heard it, the banshee’s lone wail over the angry tide.

Sound only came to her in dreams making it easy to recognize she was sleeping. Although she knew this was a dream, that didn’t change the message. Someone was going to die unless she could find a clue, some way to change the outcome.

She walked further down the beach, the froth of the waves tickling her bare feet and the moonlight shining on the water. Her eyes gradually adjusted to the dim light as she stared out at the ocean. The mist and fog mutated into faces. She recognized Colin and smiled, then her customer, Benedict, came into stark focus and her skin flushed with warmth.

The two men must be connected, but how?

Hoofbeats caught her attention, pounding the sand like rhythmic cracks of thunder. In the distance, a large black horse tossed its mighty head. She gasped when it turned toward her, its eyes glowing red.

Juliana sat up in bed, her nightgown stuck to her perspiring body.

A banshee and a black horse. Both were omens of death.

But whose?

She reached for the silver triquetra at her neck. Her, Colin, Benedict, a black horse, and a banshee. Their lives were all entwined somehow. And if she’d learned anything about her prophetic dreams, one of them was going to die.

After a shower and a hot bowl of oatmeal, the day ahead occupied her mind, the mystery that woke her at daybreak fading away. Juliana tied her hair back in a ponytail and started for the door. With any luck the shop would be busy and the hours would pass by quickly.

Not that she was watching the clock, marking the time until Colin would be walking up to her door for their date. Well, not much anyway. The image of his face in the swirling mist flashed in her mind, and black horse with red eyes. She signed and tried to push it away.

Her deliveries of fresh flowers would clear her head. The monotony of unpacking, sorting, and dropping buds into water buckets was soothing, and the new fragrant batch of lavender made her smile. She placed the bucket near her workbench instead of in the fridge, allowing the relaxing scent to fill her workspace.

With the flowers on display, she went behind the counter and pulled out a batch of bright squares of paper. Between putting together bouquets and flower arrangements for her customers, she enjoyed folding the colorful origami sheets, breathing life into them with each fold. She crafted six paper tulips, placing the finished stems into an empty cup.

She started on a deep-violet rose when movement caught her eye. She glanced up and smiled when Bartley stepped inside her door.

“Top o’ the mornin’ to ya, Juli.”

She grinned, laying her pad on the counter.
Good to see you, Bartley. What brings you by?

“I heard through the grapevine you met Colin at the pub last night.”

Juliana rolled her eyes.
Muriel has a big mouth.

He grinned with a raised brow. “I got no complaints about her mouth.”

Bartley and Muriel had dated back in school, but she’d gone off to university and they’d drifted apart. Juliana always expected them to reconnect when Muriel came back to town and opened the pub, but it never happened. At least not yet.

He chuckled, shaking his head slowly. “I promised her I’d come by and answer your questions about Colin.”

Juliana stared at her pad. She didn’t have any questions. Did she? Finally she scribbled,
How long have you known him?

He shrugged, his gaze wandering over the flowers around her. “I lost count. Many years, though.”

Juliana waited for him to meet her eyes again. It was a simple question, but he seemed uncomfortable. Hmm. Strange.

Has he ever been married?

Bartley laughed and shook his head. “No. Colin’s not really the marrying type.”

So he just dates around?

That same awkwardness settled in his features as he stared at her notepad. “He doesn’t date much, either. He’s not a loner, has lots of friends, but not…” He shrugged and met her eyes. “You can ask him all this, ya know.”

Juliana nodded.
You’re right.
She tapped her pen on the paper and made one last note.
One more thing?

“Shoot.”

Do you trust him?

“With my life.” There was no hesitation or uncertainty in his eyes.

Juliana smiled.
Thanks.

She came around the counter and hugged him. He pulled back with a crooked grin. “If you tell him I was here answerin’ about him, I’ll deny it.”

She laughed, bringing her hand up to lock her lips closed and then crossed her heart.

“Good enough.” He turned for the door and stopped, glancing over his shoulder so she could see his mouth. “Have fun tonight, Juli. You deserve it.”

His parting words lingered in her mind, and then her stomach sank. Did Colin only ask her out because he pitied her for being deaf? It was obvious from Bartley’s answers that Colin preferred to be alone, so why pursue her of all people? With his emerald eyes and sexy smile, he could have anyone he wanted.

Over the years, her family had hooked her up with plenty of sympathy dates, as if she weren’t capable of meeting anyone on her own. It was nice of them to want to help, and their hearts were in the right place, but it didn’t make their matchmaking efforts piss her off any less.

She could still communicate and make her own choices. So regardless of her ominous dream, if Colin thought he was being “nice” by buying dinner for the deaf girl, he could stuff it. She didn’t have time—or use—for his pity.

The moment the sun dipped into the ocean, Colin pulled in a slow breath and opened his eyes. He stretched his arms and groaned when he noticed the damage to his left arm. It still startled him to see the scars, the indentation where his bicep should be. Would he ever grow accustomed to his deformity?

He rubbed his hands down his face, rising from his bed. His daytime sanctuary rested below the basement of his house. Only Bartley and Claire knew the exact location. Since the sunlight stole the life from his body each day, it left him defenseless, a shell. Unable to move or defend himself, secrecy was the best protection.

In the small washroom, he showered and got dressed. For the first time in centuries, he was hurrying. Tonight he was meeting Juliana.

Even though he had no business spending time with her, even though there was no room for romantic attachments in his world, she tempted him and she could help him. He’d never age, never die, left behind to mourn for eternity, but he wasn’t meeting her to fall in love or forge a relationship.

Somehow Juliana had survived a huge loss. And as far as he could tell, she’d banished any bitterness about it. He wanted her secret, needed it to keep going on. Since the Night Demon had left him a shell of his former self, he’d become a stranger in the mirror. He was not the same Night Walker that enjoyed his immortal life, quick to laugh, and carried smile lines in his ageless skin.

He didn’t recognize this new incarnation, the one who kept his weakness hidden under heavy coats and had to force himself to interact with the world. The allure of drowning in resentment and fading away from this world was growing.

But Juliana held a secret in her heart. Somehow she’d resisted succumbing to the anger, and once he discovered how, he would step back from her life before either of them formed any attachment.

He climbed the stairs and entered through the back of the stately house.

“Good evenin’, Colin,” Claire chirped from the kitchen. “Bartley tells me yer meetin’ a lady friend tonight.”

Colin rolled his eyes, reaching for his coat. “Word travels fast in this town.”

“Harmless talk.” She came around the corner, drying her hands on a dishtowel. “Just happy to see ya gettin’ out there. About time ya started socializin’.”

“I’ve got nothing to be social about.” He moved to the door but not quickly enough to avoid seeing the hurt in Claire’s eyes. Sighing, he turned back. She had a willowy figure with a dreamy smile, more like a watercolor painting than a person, and he hated disappointing her. She had worked for him since she was a teenager and was like a sister to him.