A Whispered Darkness (18 page)

His frown lightened, but didn’t leave. “I still don’t find this a laughing matter.”

“I know.” I wiped at my face. Tears burned behind my eyes. “But for me, Haven, it’s either laugh or I’ll cry until there are no tears left for anything else.”

He opened his arms and pulled me against his chest. I slid my hands up his back and tightened them, clinging to him. As though he might keep the world from crashing on top of us. It would, soon enough. Everything teetered on the edge of disaster. Only a little tap would send the world crashing into a million pieces. Worse, there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

“So is the future any clearer now?” I whispered.

He was silent for a moment, but I thought I felt him smile against my hair. “I can’t tell you. Haven’t looked.”

“Why not?”

“Sometimes seeing the future isn’t as much fun as you’d think.”

There was nothing I could say to that.

“Don’t worry so much, Claire. You can’t change anything if you do, so why put out all the energy?”

“Easier said than done.” I was silent a moment, focusing on his heartbeat thumping under my cheekbone. “Will she be safe?”

For a moment, I wasn’t sure he understood the question. Finally, I felt him nod and press a kiss to my forehead. “I think so. Vale, whoever he might or might not be, is like her guardian angel. She’s as safe as she can be.”

This was the harder part. “You can walk away now, Haven, and I would understand. After all this, I can’t expect you to ever come near my house again.”

He pushed me back, and I didn’t look up until his hands slid beneath my chin and exerted gentle pressure. His eyes glittered with offense and warmth. It made me feel safe.

“If you ever say anything like that again, I’ll have to take serious action. I’m not leaving you alone there and abandoning you.”

“Why?”

He paused, his throat bobbing. I could see him choosing and discarding several explanations. Finally, he sighed. “I think I’m falling in love with you.”

My heart somersaulted in my chest. Tears threatened again and I wrapped my arms around his neck. Something bright burned at the thought of him, but I couldn’t put words to it. It was new and delicate, an emotion to be thought over and strengthened before I mentioned it. As he bent his head to kiss me, I whispered, “You always have the right answers, don’t you?”

If he noticed I didn’t return the words, it didn’t show. His arms squeezed tighter around my waist as his lips teased mine, soft and full of all kinds of promises I didn’t really understand. When another engine roared to life nearby, we jumped apart.

My face flushed with heat. “So, now what?”

Grinning, Haven checked his watch. “Well, your brother is probably about ready to leave the library. Shall we go get him?”

Haven opened the passenger door for me, and then climbed in on the other side. “Thanks, for bringing me. But before we go too far, I need to tell you something.”

He linked his fingers through mine once he’d started the car and backed out of the parking spot. “Okay. Spill it.”

“What your Mom said to me, about what happened before?”

He nodded.

“Two years ago, I kind of had this weird psychic overload thing happen. I can’t really explain how it happened. I don’t really understand it myself. Everyone assumed I had some kind of psychotic break. Normally, I just talk to ghosts. Only sometimes can I hear people’s thoughts and sense emotions. I’d been checking out all these books, talking to a couple of other girls who said they were psychic. Trying to control it, and I thought I was doing a great job of,” I made air quotes with my fingers. “Expanding my horizons.”

I paused, gulped at the air and ignored the nerves churning in my stomach. “Something snapped one day. I tried this experiment. Something about focusing on one person to hear their thoughts or something. And suddenly I could hear
everything
. Every thought of everyone who came into a room with me. My old school was next to a funeral home and ghosts have a lot to say and never need to sleep. And when they know you can hear them…”

“Go on.”

I took a deep breath and released it slowly. I wanted to give him a secret like what he’d given me. Something to prove I trusted him as well. “Think about it. An entire day of teenage thoughts and ghostly mutterings you can’t block out? Not cool. A week of it almost
did
drive me nuts. And I guess they convinced me too. I mean, I told them I knew what they were thinking, and even when I was right, and I know I was, they pretended like I lied. They didn’t want it to be true. They couldn’t explain it. So they put me in a psych ward for three days and medicated me. I had to see a shrink for almost a year.”

His fingers tightened around my hand. “What else?”

It was easier to say the words if I kept my gaze on the tips of my shoes. “Mom believed me, at first. Her grandmother used to have some kind of talent like mine. But Dad”—I swallowed past the anger clogging my throat—“He didn’t want to. He and the doctors convinced her I was mental. Because he knew what it’d mean if I were actually psychic.”

“What would it mean?”

“My father had a lot of affairs, Haven. I’d already stopped him once and told him I knew what was going on. I bluffed the details—I didn’t know that much, and didn’t want to find out. But he knew I wouldn’t keep quiet about it if I found out again. He encouraged the idea I was crazy until a few weeks after I’d finally started palming the pills and convincing the shrink nothing happened. I waited up for him.”

“He’d been at a work conference, or so he’d told us. And he had, at least for the first few days. But when you can see everything people are thinking, it doesn’t exclude your family. I saw clear as day in his mind what he’d been doing and with whom. I wanted to wash my brain out with soap, but not before I made my position on the matter clear. I waited up for him. We knew he wouldn’t be home from the airport until well into the early hours of the morning.”

“I curled in a wing chair in the living room and watched him put his shoes and coat away, loosen his tie, and then I spoke up. I described some of the very intimate things he’d done with his latest conquest, and then I told him he needed to decide what he wanted, because if I found out anything else, I’d make it my mission in life to tell everyone.”

“He didn’t like that, I guess?”

“He laughed at first, told me no one would believe me. I told him when you’re psychic, you can find out all kinds of things.” My face flushed at the memory of some of the things I’d said. “I told him I’d ruin his life. And I meant every word, though I’m not sure I could have done it. By then, things were getting better. I’d learned to turn it off and keep it off for the most part. After, we kept our distance. It wasn’t long before Mom found out on her own. He believes I told her, but to be honest, it was his own stupidity. I didn’t have to say a word. It wasn’t one of my finer moments.”

Haven was silent a moment. “I’m sorry. Losing a parent is one thing. But losing them to their own idiocy and vanity is another thing entirely.”

“Yes. It is.”

We stopped in front of the library. I pulled out my phone and texted Grant to let him know we were outside. I twisted in the seat to stare at Haven again. “You know, most people would have focused on the pills, psych ward, and shrink.”

Haven grinned. “You’re my girl now, remember? According to everyone who matters in high school, that makes you certifiable.” He winked. “Besides, I already knew you were nuts.”

I rolled my eyes, but the warmth that spread through me at his words couldn’t be ignored.
His girl.
The words rolled around inside my head, and I struggled to keep a wide smile off my face. I liked the sound of it.

Grant pushed open the door to the library, a scowl pulling his features. As he opened the back passenger door, the reason became obvious. Bryan followed, but whatever he might have intended to say to Grant was lost when he spotted me in Haven’s car.

I noted his hands curled into fists before he shoved them in his coat pockets and walked to my door. Despite my wish that he’d walk away, he knocked on the glass.

Haven didn’t release his grip on my other hand as I rolled down the window. Bryan’s eyes fell on our tangled fingers, and something ugly flashed in his eyes. My heart beat faster. The look of pure loathing he couldn’t quite cover made me want to get as far away as I could.

“I see you’ve made your choice.” He spat. “A bad one, though I might sound biased.”

“Bryan, you and I were friends. Never anything more.”

He took a deep breath, getting his anger under control. “I’ll come over and we can discuss this later.”

I bristled at his condescension. “We have nothing to discuss. I know what I want, and I made my choice.”

Disgust dripped from every word. “You say that now, but don’t come crying to me when things don’t end well. He’s bad news.”

Haven leaned over, tension thrumming through his body. He looked up at Bryan, and from this angle, I couldn’t quite see his expression. His voice was cold and hard. “You might want to rethink what you say to my
girlfriend
. Some of the other guys might ignore you, but I’ll rearrange your face.”

Grant piped up from the backseat. “I’ll help.”

Bryan’s gaze flicked between the two of us and he stepped back. “You watch your step. I haven’t lied.”

Haven’s fingers reached for the seatbelt, but I shoved at his chest. “Forget him. He’s not worth it.”

I turned back to Bryan, and almost felt bad when I saw the pain on his face. Almost. “You have no idea what you’ve done, Claire Mallory. But you’ll find out soon enough.” Then it turned up into a snarl.

Haven’s body jerked, and he muttered a curse. I tightened my hands on his again when he unsnapped his seatbelt.

“He wants you to cause a scene. Don’t give him the satisfaction.”

“He went way beyond being a jerk, Claire. That was a threat.”

Grant popped his head between us from the backseat. “I have to side with Claire on this one. Despite how much I’d enjoy holding him while you beat the snot out of him, he’s waiting for you to do it. He’s been harassing me the whole time I was in there about you two, and his friends are waiting inside for you to make a move.”

I caught Haven’s cheek in my palm and turned his face away from where he glared at Bryan. “Please, can we go home?”

“This isn’t over yet, you know.”

I sighed, but my heartbeat began to slow when he re-hooked the seatbelt and clasped my hand again. “Let it be. Eventually they’ll find someone else to pick on.”

Haven gave a non-committal grunt.

He pulled out into traffic, and as we passed Bryan, I caught the reflection of Grant making an obscene gesture in the side-view mirror. I chose not to say anything.

“So are you finally official now?”

“Finally?” Haven’s lips twitched.

He gave a heavy sigh. “You’ve been mooning over each other for weeks. It’s about time. The rest of the world was getting kind of tired of waiting.”

Haven laughed. “Sorry to have inconvenienced you. Next time, I’ll be sure to make a move sooner.”

I laughed, but my mind was still stuck on the look in Bryan’s eyes. He frightened me, and I worried about what might happen if he decided to “talk things over” at the house later. Bringing it up to Haven wouldn’t be a good idea. His body was still rigid with anger, and his hand clasped mine tightly.

If I didn’t want him to get into a fight with Bryan, this was something I’d have to deal with on my own. Hopefully, he would stay away. How much could he really want to talk to me now anyway?

Mom’s car was already gone by the time Haven parked in front of the house. He cut the engine and reluctantly released my hand so we could get out. The sun set behind the house, silhouetting the shape against a blood red sky. It should have looked pretty. Instead, it made me shiver.

“You two can whisper sweet nothings, but I’m starved.” Grant tossed his book bag over a shoulder and heading for the steps. “Don’t take too long, or I’ll have to whip out my ninja skills on lover boy. To save your virtue or something.”

Haven chuckled and shook his head as Grant took the front steps two at a time and went inside. His gaze returned to mine, and the laughter died from his face. “You sure you’re going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine.”

He pressed a kiss to my lips. “I feel bad leaving you here. If anything happens call. With the house, or with Bryan.”

“He won’t come back.”

Haven shook his head and ran a hand down my hair. “You don’t know what Bryan’s like. When we were kids, he would break a toy he couldn’t have just so no one else could play with it. I don’t want you to be the next toy.”

His words made me tremble, and another thought crossed my mind. “Haven, you haven’t seen anything I should be worried about, have you?”

I didn’t think he’d answer at first. His gaze slid to the house, then back to me. “Not anything real. Only a bad dream I can’t quite remember. Be careful.”

“It’s going to be fine.” I glanced down at his wrist. “You better get going or your Grandma’s going to kill you.”

With a curse, he pressed another kiss to my lips and then strode back to the car. “Be careful.”

I nodded, and he climbed back in the car, waiting until I walked to the front door before waving and backing out of the driveway. Inside, I could hear the TV.

“Thank God. I was afraid if you two stayed out there longer than five minutes, I might really have to break the two of you up.” Grant glanced at me from the sofa. “I like Haven, but the last thing I want to do is see the two of you sucking face.”

I rolled my eyes. “We weren’t, thank you very much. Just talking.”

I moved into the kitchen, where a foil-wrapped pan rested on the counter. Notes for heating the lasagna were on a list pad next to it. I squinted at the chicken scratch. Mom’s handwriting got messier every time I saw it. It used to be picture perfect, but lately seemed to be more like a prescription scrawl. With a grumble, I crumpled the paper and chucked it in the trash. I flipped on the stove, slid the pan in and set the timer.

“Are you really okay, Sis?”