Predestined (4 page)

Scanning the yard for anything odd
or strange, I walked over to the tree. It was the same as it had
always been. Never really changed. Except maybe that bottom branch
was now easier to reach. I studied the spot on the tree I remember
reaching before I fell and calculated how far I actually fell.
Could a boy actually catch me and not fall down himself from the
impact? That just seemed highly unlikely.

Dank

She was scared. I could feel it
even though I was a continent away. Glancing back at Gee I frowned
because we weren’t finished. I still had eight hundred more souls
to collect before I could call it a day.

“We need to hurry,” I snapped
turning to leave the stubborn soul who wasn’t willing to
leave.

“Wait, aren’t you going to help me
convince this one to go? I mean, come on lover boy, I know you want
to get back to your woman and all but we have a job to
do.”

“And this one is being stubborn.
Let it wander the earth for eternity if that’s what it wants. I’ve
tried.”

Gee frowned and closed the distance
between us, “Is she okay? I can go. You can summon someone else to
--”

“No. She needs me. Let’s go. This
one is a lost cause.”

“UGH! You’re so freaking
impatient,” Gee fired back at me.

“I don’t have time for this. Take
the soul or leave it. I don’t care.” The need to get to Pagan was
consuming me. I couldn’t concentrate. “Do what you can with this
one. I’ll meet you at the next stop. I’ve got to check on her.” I
didn’t wait for Gee’s reply.

She stood outside in her back yard
staring up at an old oak tree. Her hair was hanging down her back
in soft freshly brushed waves which looked out of place with her
pajama bottoms and tank top.

“You okay?” I asked closing in
behind her to wrap her up in my arms. She didn’t even startle
anymore. My appearing out of nowhere had become normal for her. The
thought made me smile but her worry wiped the smile off my face
quickly. Something was bothering her.

“Why are you outside so early
looking at a tree?” I asked resting my chin on the top of her
head.

“I had a dream. It wasn’t the first
one. I think... I think they have something to do with that
voice.”

Tightening my hold on her I scanned
the yard in the early morning light. Nothing was out here but the
two of us. She was safe, I reminded myself.

“Tell me about the dreams,” I
encouraged.

She lay her hands over mine and let
her head fall back on my shoulder.

“They’re all memories from my
childhood. Memories I’ve forgotten. In each one there is this boy.
The same one. He always helps me. I didn’t remember him until the
dreams started but now I think they’re real memories. Not just
dreams. I can remember them so clearly it’s as if I’m there,” she
paused and pointed to the tree in front of us. “That tree, I
climbed it once. I was mad because Wyatt said I couldn’t do it
because I was a girl. I wanted to prove him wrong. I climbed it but
I, I fell... and he caught me.”

“Wyatt?”

She shook her head, “No. The boy.
He helped me find my mother in a crowd when I got lost and there
are other times. I’ve seen him. I know him.”

The angry jealous snarl escaped me
before I could stop it.

Pagan jerked around in my arms to
frown up at me, “ what?”

I shook my head and took a deep
breath. This wasn’t an emotion I was good with just yet. I was
beginning to wonder if I ever would be. I was selfish and
possessive. Pagan was mine.

“You believe he’s real?” I managed
to ask. I needed to keep focused on the issue at hand. I hated
knowing someone else had saved her as a child. It didn’t set well
with me. Something was off. She’d forgotten and now the memories
were back. The voice. I needed to find this voice.

“Yes. I think the boy is the voice
in my ear,” she squeezed my arms, “stop snarling Dank. You’re not
an animal. Jeez.”

She was right of course. But I was
angry. The possessive need to claim her as mine was overwhelming.
This voice was too close to her if he was getting in her dreams. It
was the night time while I was away that he got close to her. I’d
have to change that. No more dreams. I would just need to be gone
more during the day. I hated being away from her when she was
awake. But I was left without much of a choice. This... this thing
was too close to her.

“I’m not going to leave you at
night anymore. Not until I’ve ended this.”

Pagan frowned and shook her head,
“No. I don’t want you to be gone during the day. I’ll miss
you.”

I’d miss her too. “I don’t like him
being that close to you. He’s getting in your head at night because
I’m not there to feel him. To stop him.”

She chewed on her bottom lip and
studied my chest a moment then finally looked back up at
me.

“What about Gee?”

“What about her?”

“She could stay with me. For right
now.”

She could. She wouldn’t be crazy
about it but then Gee liked Pagan as much as Pagan liked Gee. I
could trust Gee to get me if Pagan needed me.

“I’ll talk to Gee.”

Pagan beamed at me and wrapped her
arms around my neck.

“You’re so easy. I hardly ever have
to argue with you.”

I kissed the tip of her nose, “I
like making you smile Pagan.”

“And I like hearing your sexy voice
say sweet things to me,” she replied.

“Kiss me Dank,” she whispered,
pressing her lips against mine. This wasn’t something I encouraged.
The few times we’d kissed her soul had tried to release from her
body. I couldn’t seem to figure out how to stop that. Our kisses
were always short. Now, other things... we spent time doing those
other things.

“Hmmm... you think you can hold
onto your soul this time?” I murmured against her lips.

She giggled, “I’ll try.”

The taste of her sweet tongue sent
all other thoughts far from my mind. Instantly, I had one need. One
purpose. Pagan. Satisfaction seeped through me as I ran my tongue
across her bottom lip fighting the urge to bite it. The plump swell
always tempted me. A soft little moan brought me back to my senses
and I felt her soul began to react to the draw she felt toward me.
Gently, I broke the kiss and put distance between the two of us
while we stood staring hungrily at each other and taking very fast
short breaths.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

Shaking my head, I smiled at her
innocent apology. Her soul knew it was mine. The fact that she was
so willing to surrender it was actually precious to me. Even though
it caused extreme frustration when I wanted to wrap her in my arms
and kiss her senseless for hours at a time. Until we found an
answer to her soul’s draw towards me, that wouldn’t be
happening.

“Don’t apologize, Pagan,” I
replied, reaching out to take her hand and bring it to my lips.
“It’s time for you to go inside and get ready. I believe you
promised your mother you’d sit down for breakfast this
morning.”

She nodded and squeezed my hand
before turning around and heading inside. As she reached the door
she glanced back at me. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Always,” I replied.

Chapter Four

The second she stepped
inside and closed the door I felt it. I closed my eyes and let my
senses take over. Slowly opening them I scanned the backyard until
my eyes landed on the source of Pagan’s dreams. I’d seen this
spirit before. The mocking cold gleam in his eyes stared back at
me, while he pulled out not one but two cigarettes that hung from
his mouth.

“What do you want with Pagan?” I
demanded, holding it in place with my glare. The spirit lord might
be able to manipulate humans and their lives but it had no power
over me. I held all the keys. Without me the voodoo spirit lord of
the dead would be nothing. His powers came from those who believed
in him. It ended at my hands.

“She belongs to me.” The arrogant
spirit kept his focus on me. I could see the caution in his black
eyes. He knew he was outranked.

“No. She doesn’t.”

The spirit lord moved backward. His
movement was more of a slither than a walk as he put distance
between us. The growl in my chest met my ears and I understood his
sudden need for space.

“De gurl is marked as a
restitution. Her mama made de deal. She know de cos.”

What? Unwilling to tear my eyes
from the spirit lord and check to see if Pagan was watching us from
her window, I negated the attempt at putting distance between us
and glowered coldly into the eyes of what could only be considered
a demon to humans. The worship and belief of those who practiced
Voodoo was the place he drew his only power. Without them, he
wouldn’t exist.

“Pagan Moore is mine. Leave her
alone. You’ve never crossed me before but I can assure you that a
voodoo spirit lord is no match for me. You know this.”

The rattle in the voodoo spirit
lord’s composure was evident. He backed up. “But de restitution mus
be made.”

“NOT with Pagan it doesn’t.
Whatever deal you had with her mother is with her mother. Pagan had
nothing to do with this.”

“You’d of never known her if I
hadn’t healed her. You’d of taken her soul whilt she lay curled up
dying as a child. It’s me who don lak to see chilren die. You don
care who you take. She’s alive because of me. She’s meant for me
purpose. I saved her for me son. He’s watched over her all dese
years.”

Shaking with rage, I controlled my
need to cause destruction. If I attempted to annihilate a voodoo
spirit lord in Pagan’s backyard it would bring all of Hell with it.
This was to be a safe place for her. Not a place of
nightmares.

“Leave her or deal with
me.”

“De gurl wilt have to choose or ahm
taking my payment in udder forms. I got de right,” he
hissed.

“Fine! Let her choose,” I
roared.

Then he was gone and I stood
alone.

What in the name of all the deities
had Pagan’s mother done?

Pagan

“So lover boy’s on
tour,” Wyatt, Miranda’s boyfriend and my childhood friend,
announced as he st his tray down on the table in front of me. I
picked up the roll because it was the only thing on the tray I
actually recognized and pinched off a piece before peering up at
him.

“Yeah,” was my only response before
popping the chunk of bread into my mouth.

“Don’t talk about it. She’s all
depressed,” Miranda scolded, slapping at his arm.

Wyatt continued to watch me which
was slightly unnerving.

“What?” I asked, meeting his
stare.

He shrugged, “Nothing, I was just
thinking about something and I was going to ask you about it and
well.. I forgot.” He shook his head as if to clear it and grabbed
his bottle of water.

Leif. He’d been thinking about
Leif. Slowly Leif was fading from everyone’s memory. Everyone but
mine of course. Why was that?

“Wyatt, do you remember the tree
house you built and wouldn’t let girls into?”

Wyatt lifted his gaze from his food
and grinned at me, “Yeah and you were so freaking mad. I think I
hung that sign just to piss you off.”

I was sure he did. Wyatt had lived
to make me mad. We had a huge boy versus girl battle going back
then. Miranda was happy to play with her Bratz dolls which just
gave him more ammunition. Miranda made me look bad. Dolls made the
boys think we were weak and I was so not weak.

“Do you remember the tree in my
backyard you climbed and said I couldn’t?”

Wyatt frowned a minute and then a
grin broke across his face, “YES and you did climb it one day by
yourself and fell down but a kid helped you or something. I don’t
know. I didn’t believe your story then and I don’t believe it now.
It was a little far fetched,” he continued to go on and on about
how fast he could climb that tree and his obvious prowess where it
was concerned but my mind was on other things.

The boy had been real. That dream
was a memory. Why had I forgotten it?

“You gonna eat that?” Wyatt’s
question broke into my thoughts and I pushed my tray toward him. I
wasn’t sure what “that” he was referring to but all the “thats” on
my plate weren’t going anywhere near my mouth.

“Help yourself.”

“Sweet. Thanks,” he grabbed the
tray and pulled it in front of him.

Miranda shivered as she stared down
at it. That had been my thought exactly.

“So Pagan, when are we going to get
to double with you and Dank?”

“Um... I don’t know. I didn’t know
you wanted to.”

Miranda cocked her head to one side
and gave me an incredulous look, “Of course we want to. You’ve been
the one holding out.”