The Artisans (34 page)

Desiree stands over Gideon, a haughty grin on her lovely features. Flashlight in one hand, Gideon’s shiny, black gun in the other, she faces us with a leer. “That leaves us youngsters. Only you and I made it out alive, Cole.” She peeks at the unconscious form at her feet. “Sleep well, baby. You and me, we’ll tango later, after I dispose of these distractions.”

Ten feet away, Cole’s frame straightens. “Don’t do this.”

“You have nothing I need anymore, little one.” She laughs and points the gun at his heart. “I’m finally free.” Her eyes narrow. “As you were my favorite cellmate, you will live, as long as your little girlfriend here does what I say. Now get moving, up the stairs.”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” I offer, as if that will help. Stupid must take over when I’m scared, because I know what she’s asking. My feet won’t obey, and apparently, I say the dumbest things possible.

“Shut up!”

I stall for time. “What is it you want?”

She stares at me with incredulous eyes. “Idiot! I want my life back. I want my money, my house, and I want him.” Her eyes flicker toward Gideon, face down in the ash. “I’ve lived abroad and lately come home to stay, haven’t you heard? Clean, plausible, and to the point. It won’t take more for the simpletons in this backwater town to believe. Though I can’t exactly have you here, can I? He’s infatuated with you, but that won’t last once you’re gone. Now move!”

With Gideon still out cold on the floor, Desiree keeps her gun trained on Cole. There’s no arguing, pleading, or reasoning with insanity. We’re on our own. I search out Cole and our eyes lock. Maybe we can make a plan once we know what she’s up to. I don’t know how to convey that, I just hope he’s thinking the same.

I hobble up the stairs hearing two sets of footsteps climbing behind me. We’re directed through the kitchen, outside and to the rear of the house. Desiree keeps her gun pressed deep into Cole’s back. One wrong move and he’s dead, for real this time. Whatever she wants, she’ll get. I won’t allow her to kill him on the birthday of his second life.

Outside, moonlight paints pictures of misty ghouls in the surrounding gloom. My head pounds and every vertebra aches like it’s been bisected. My pace is slow, extracting a string of curses from Desiree. When she’s done blessing me out, I ask her which way.

“Over there, by the millpond.”

No blood, no body to find, I get it now.

“Desiree. Please. Let me take her away,” Cole pleads. “I’ll take her home, to my family in Europe. I’ll keep her there. Whatever it takes, whatever you want. I promise. You’ll never see us again.
Please!
”

The ground under my feet squishes at the edge of the pond. It’s treacherous here, the soil sodden with the quality of quicksand. I stop with my back to the water. The mill house stands in the distance. Moonbeams silver the crumbling shingles. Blackened windows for eyes, it stands as a blind and silent witness to my murder.

“Touching, kiddo. My heart goes out to you, really, but I can’t take the chance she’ll show up again. She’s a bit inconvenient since I’ve waited so long to reclaim Gideon for my own.” She shoves Cole away and takes several steps back. “And you’re just so damn hard to get rid of. You wouldn’t scare, so I called the authorities to take you away.”

“That was you?” I couldn’t exactly see her ghostly fingers dialing, but this maniac was resourceful, no doubt.

She laughs, the sound as hard and hypnotic as diamonds. Her blond hair gleams under the moonlight. Even with her dress tattered and filthy, her face smeared with ash, and the added years, she’s beautiful. “I even tried a nice high school dance bonfire, just to be sure. Yet, here you stand.”

Cole lifts his hands. “Listen to me—”

“Enough talk! You,” she says to me, “in the water, now.”

I hesitate and it’s one second too long.

Desiree shifts and pulls the trigger. Cole cries out. His legs shoot out from beneath him, and he flies back, landing on the ground with a soft thud. My scream echoes through the live oaks. Limbs askew, Cole’s moan assures me he’s alive.

“Quiet!” Desiree orders. “Both of you.” She marches toward me with dainty little steps that would be comical if she weren’t so deadly. When she’s two feet from me she stops short. “That shot won’t kill him, but the next one will.” She stretches her arm out, aiming her weapon at Cole. His knees draw into his chest. He groans and the sound wrenches my heart. “In the water.”

I obey. First one foot slides in, then the other.

She smiles, her expression triumphant as I continue inching into the water. The suction takes over, pulling me down to my knees, my waist. “You almost had him, didn’t you, darling.
Almost.
Well, Gideon’s all mine now. I’ll devour every square inch first, and then I’ll kill him.”

When the water reaches my chest, fear crawls up the back of my neck. Drowning. Well, I offered it freely, didn’t I? A hysterical laugh boils up, and I choke it down. If it saves Cole, buys Gideon any time at all to fight her, they’re worth dying for.

I raise my arms, fat lot of good it does me. It’s instinct now. Cole groans my name, but I can’t help him. I can’t help anyone anymore. Panic wells up inside me. I know to struggle is to die faster, but my terror of suffocating is too strong.

“That’s it, Raven. Good girl. Why prolong the inevitable, eh?”

A shadow looms behind Desiree’s shoulder. Dark arms wrap her white dress, and a shot rings out. Moonlight reveals Gideon’s face but he disappears again as Desiree struggles for control of the gun. Water covers my mouth. I tip my head back and breathe through my nose. A third blast of gunfire and I hear the bullet rip across the water near me. I pray with all my might Gideon wins.

A cry from Desiree and a heavy splash rocks the water. The ripples roll over my head, and I sink farther down. This is how I die. Panic knifes me with her icy fingers. Be brave … God take me to my mother. I quit struggling, let go. My arms fall.

Another splash hits the water. Something rough and hard brushes my arm. I grab and miss. Reaching once more, I take hold. My fingers curl around the uneven object and I feel a tug. I grip with all my strength as the tree branch lifts me an inch.

The mud is relentless and fights for me, sucking me down. But my will is stronger. I press my lips together to keep the muck out. With my lungs near bursting, I grit my teeth; pull until my muscles shake with effort. My nose breaks the surface. Water fills my mouth. I fight like a cat as I’m hauled a bit further out. My lungs are on fire, begging for air as my head clears the pool. I cough and choke, but I don’t let go of the branch.

“Raven! Oh God, baby, hold on!”

Gideon’s smooth voice is like music. He’s alive. As my eyes clear of water, I see someone pulling on the tree branch alongside him. Jamis? My body slides over the bank, and as my feet disengage from the deadly peat, Gideon grabs my wrists and pulls me into his arms. His hands cup my face. Despite the mud covering me, he kisses my head and cheeks, my eyelids.

While I break into another fit of coughing, he pulls his cell from his back pocket and hands it to Jamis. “Call Dave. His number is in there under ‘physician.’ Tell him we have a gunshot wound and near drowning. Then bring the car around.”

“You hurt?” I gasp. My lungs scorch as air fills them again. “Cole.”

His arm tightens around my waist. “He’ll be okay. We’re both okay.”

Memories rewind to the heavy splash I heard just before I went under. I crane my neck, peering over my shoulder at the murky waters. “Where’s Des—”

“Let’s get you to the car, all right?” Gideon lifts me against his chest and stands. A girl could get used to being carried everywhere she goes, especially by this guy. My muscles go limp as his body warms me. I snuggle into his neck. The scent of ash and musk lingers on his clothes. Gideon rubs his jaw on my face; stubble scrapes my skin. “You’ll be the death of me, girl.”

Sales Hollow Medical Center is closed for the night, but Dr. Dave is hard at work anyway. Gideon must pay him a small fortune to drop what he’s doing at four
AM
and see us, but that’s what’s happening.

Cole and I are in separate rooms. I swear we’ve been here ten hours, but Dave says more like two. Gideon sleeps in the chair by my bed. It’s becoming a habit. I notice with some satisfaction the clock above his head keeps ticking.

I like that.

My fingers shake as I slowly pull the needle connected to my arm from the vein. I wrinkle my nose, hanging the tube over my bed rail. There’s something I need to do, and it won’t wait. Out the door, down the short hallway, and into Cole’s room I go. It wasn’t hard to find. There are only six doors on this hall.

My new friend lies in a bed hooked to an IV just as I was. He’s naked from the waist up, the planes of his chest defined and lean. His shoulder is bandaged in several layers of gauze covering a wide area. Cole Wynter looks much like his picture did, but older, more mature. His eyelids blink open. I take a deep breath, but all that comes out is, “Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” I love his accent. An American girl is usually a sucker for a European accent, and I’m no exception.

I wrap my stupid gown tighter around me and shuffle over to the bed. “If I sit here, will it hurt you?” I nod toward the end of the mattress where his feet make two hills beneath the covers. “I think we should talk.”

“Please,” he says, extending a hand. “Crazy night, huh?

“Crazy life,” I counter.

“Right.” A long pause. “Rae, I want to tell you what happened, in my own words, okay?” Instead of answering, I pat his foot. His eyes light with amusement. “At fifteen, I was a spoiled, mean, insecure, and angry kid.” He takes his time with his explanation, speaking each word carefully. “My parents were the typical, jet-setting millionaires. Pursuing their own selfish dreams and passions, they left me to my own devices to win their attention. I hurt Gideon twice. Almost killed him, as a stupid prank. On a dare. I
am
the quintessential poor, little rich kid. Or I was. Until I came to Maddox mansion. The school thought my acceptance of Gideon’s family's invitation would show good will. My parents agreed only to be rid of me for spring break.

“As Gideon’s father took my photograph, he fully explained what he planned to do and why. I didn’t understand at first, of course. By the time I did, it was too late to fight him off.”

I squeeze his toes. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.” My expression must turn skeptical. “Truly. Gideon didn’t know of his father’s plan until afterward. Though my experience here was extreme and almost cost me an eternity, I changed inside that house. I’m not the same guy I was and never will be again. The hardest part was when my father flew to America to search for me. I saw him enter Maddox mansion with the police. He held a newspaper up with my picture on the front page. The story claimed I was a troubled teen with a history of delinquencies, which was true. It also claimed I’d run away, which wasn’t, but my father believed it easily enough.

My head falls back as I hear Cole’s tale. His parents were cruel, as was he, as was Mr. Maddox, as was Gideon. People lost in a sea of bitterness and blame. “I’m sorry.” There’s not much more to say.

“Look at me, Raven.” I do. “If this hadn’t happened, there’s no telling where I’d be today. I might be dead. Definitely a lost cause.” When he scratches the skin near the needle in his hand, I wince. “Then you showed up.”

His foot slides over and bumps my hip. I send him my best attempt at a smile.

“By the time you came along, I was already, I don’t know … repentant. I watched you. Wow.” He laughs. “Sorry. That sounded like a full-blown stalker. What I meant was I wondered if Gideon would take your picture. I wanted him to.” When I open my mouth he talks over me. “Hang on. I only wished that for about a minute and only because I was lonely and admired you so much. Then it occurred to me I might still be with you … if I was free.”

“I see.”

“Do you?” His eyebrows lower with the intensity of his tone. “My family has money, Raven. A lot of it. I was born in England, but we have a home in France—the fashion mecca of the world. You could come with me. I would take care of you; spoil you rotten. Once my family knows what you’ve done for me, they will love you as much as … everyone else does.”

“Everyone, huh?” He blushes and drops his gaze to his hands. His dark lashes fan across his cheekbones. His body has fast-forwarded to that of a nineteen-year-old, but his life experience is still stuck at fifteen. Something tells me the boy will catch up quickly. “Aw, c’mon, Raven. I think you know how I feel about you. Let me help you. Say you will leave the U.S. and come live with me.”

Tears threaten as I shake my head. “Thank you for that.” His shoulders droop, and I squeeze his toes again. “Really, you have no idea what your offer means to me. I may come and visit, but Ben needs me right now. Beyond that … I can’t think beyond that right now.”

Cole nods. “I understand. I do. The offer stands. Forever, as a matter of fact, promise you’ll think about it.”

“I promise.” I lower my gaze, unsure what else to say. I don’t want to hurt him, but I love him differently than I do Gideon. The air conditioner must be on fifty degrees, and the gown I’m in is thin as paper. I rub my arms against the chill. “What’s next for you?”