At the Stroke of Midnight (5 page)

watched her breathe and eyelids flutter as she regained consciousness. He yearned to take

her into his arms and kiss away her fright. Desire pulsed through him, swift and strong.

He wished for a body he no longer possessed to gather her close and feel her warm skin

next to his, to intimately worship the mature and beautiful woman she had become, to

make her his and commit himself to her in every way that a mortal man and woman did.

His rousing passion for her astounded him. He'd never really missed the

physically intimate aspects of humanity before. The sanctity of his duty had transcended

such mundane matters. But coupled with his love and devotion for her--things he'd never

felt for a woman while alive--it became an urgent need demanding to be fulfilled.

He shook away his memories and his need. More precious seconds had been lost

to his distraction--another human quality he indulged in far too often.

Only minutes left until the stroke of midnight when he would be gone and Olivia

would die, her soul taken by the touch of another reaper. There wasn't time to let her

figure it out on her own. "No one pushed you?"

"Of course not! Margot and I were the only ones up here." Her eyes grew wide

and luminous. "You can't mean to suggest that Margot--"

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He nodded, speaking quickly. "She's always there, Olivia. Think. She was there

when you ran off the road on your bicycle. The car accident--"

"It wasn't her fault!" she shouted. "It wasn't. The car only looked like hers."

"The bent logo. You said it yourself when you were telling me about it. You didn't

see the driver, but the logo was bent just like Margot's--
unh
..."

He heard Olivia cry out as pain exploded in the back of his head and bright lights

shot off at the edge of his vision. He'd forgotten what true pain felt like. He experienced

their deaths, but
death
itself wasn't a painful process. His full attention had been on

Olivia, making her understand how dangerous Margot was before his time ran out. If he

couldn't save her then perhaps she would save herself.

The castle walls and night sky spun around him. He fell to his knees and crumpled

to the floor at the top of the stone stairs. His consciousness slipped away as easily as a

grain of sand

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~*~

Olivia watched in horror as Margot stepped over the still form of Death. Margot!

How could she have been so blind all these years? She inched back along the balustrade,

away from the wild-eyed woman, the ache in her leg forgotten. "Margot, what have you

done?"

"Something I should have done ten minutes ago instead of letting him run off at

the mouth." She sneered as she looked down at Death. The Marie Antoinette wig teetered

precariously to one side, and Margot slapped it back into an upright position with the

piece of wood left over from one of the castle repair projects. "He figured out in one

evening, what you didn't have a clue about your whole life! He's smart, but not smart

enough."

"H-He said some things about you, but I-I didn't believe it," Olivia stammered,

trying to placate Margot. "H-He was--"

"Oh, shut up, Liv," Margot snarled. "You never were a good liar. I heard you. He

put two and two together and you came up with four. Who is he, anyway?"

"I have no idea." Olivia took a deep breath. "He wouldn't tell me his real name. I-I

thought you or the committee had sent him to me as a prank. Oh, Margot, did you...?"

"Nah, he's still breathing. But not for long, him or you." Margot advanced toward

her.

Olivia stepped back again, toward the tower at the other end of the catwalk. Then

she remembered that the doorway had been sealed off. They hadn't had time to finish the

repairs in the second tower and didn't want guests wandering through it and possibly

injuring themselves. Margot had her hemmed in, blocking her way to the stairs she had

come up. She had nowhere to go.

The only thing she could think of to do was keep Margot talking until she could

ease around her and go for help. "Why are you doing this?"

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"Why? I've been in your shadow ever since I can remember. You always got

better birthday presents. Even after you were crippled, you got all the attention. Even

Davy started bowing and scraping to you. Troy Thomas asked
you
out!" she shrieked as

she poked the piece of wood at Olivia. "You knew I was in love with him and you agreed

to go."

"Margot, you were in love with every boy in the senior class!" Olivia said in

bewilderment.

"The committee voted
you
chairperson and always used
your
suggestions!"

Margot jabbed the wood at her again and Olivia shrank away from the jagged end. "No

one ever listens to me!"

"I'm listening to you now, Margot," Olivia said softly, keeping her eye on the

weapon.

"Too little, too late," Margot said with an exaggerated smile that held no hint of

amusement.

"How do you possibly think you can get away with it?" Olivia inched one foot out

and took a step toward the balustrade, but Margot noticed and stepped to the side, too.

"I toss you over, then he goes." She swung the wood around and pointed at Death.

"I'll say I was late getting up here to meet you. When I finally arrived, I saw him

attacking you, but you valiantly fought back. During the struggle, you both lost your

footing and fell over. Nothing down there to save you this time, Liv. The fall will

probably break every bone in your body and his, and crush your skulls. They'll never

think that he was knocked out before he fell."

As Margot finished speaking, Olivia caught sight of a quick, dark shape racing up

the stairs. It leaped over the figure in black satin and dove between Margot's feet. She

screeched and lifted her long skirt with her free hand and batted at the cat with the piece

of wood. "Get away from me, you beast! Get it away from me!"

The black cat wound in and out and around her legs, lithely dodging the wood.

Margot stumbled and the tall wig fell back, its weight sending her into the balustrade. Her

arms windmilled to regain her balance, but it wasn't enough to stop the momentum.

Before Olivia could reach out to help her, Margot toppled over and was gone. She

screamed once more, but the sound was cut short by a sickening thud as she hit the cold

stone floor below.

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"Margot!" Olivia cried out, but she couldn't move. At that moment, her watch

chimed softly, announcing midnight. The black cat nimbly jumped atop the balustrade

and arched his back, rubbing his full length against her. She ran her hand over his soft

fur.

Below, the guests started filling the bailey. Some of them laughed, thinking

Margot's body was a Halloween scene, set up for their entertainment. Then several other

members of the committee rushed to Margot's side. One of them screamed and another

shouted to call 911. The others started herding the guests back into the Great Hall.

"Olivia!" Davy shouted her name from the top of the stairs. She looked toward

him, and suddenly, she was able to move. She hurried down the catwalk and dropped to

her knees beside Death. She placed her hand on his chest and felt it rise and fall. He was

still alive!

"Liv?" Davy touched her shoulder. "What happened?"

She shook her head. "Margot."

"I don't know what's going on here, but I let the cat out of the storage room. I

went back to the kitchen to get some more appetizers and the cat was raising a ruckus. I

thought he was hurt or sick, so I went to check on him. As soon as I opened the door, he

shot out before I could catch him. I saw him come this way."

"It's all right, Davy," she murmured. She didn't understand any of what had

happened tonight, but it didn't matter.

"Did he ever tell you who he is?"

She nodded. "Yes. Yes, he did."

Death stirred and a sigh escaped his pale lips. Olivia reached up and pushed the

cowl and mask over his brow, revealing the face that had haunted her dreams since she

was seven years old. It was the face she had glimpsed after her bicycle accident, after she

had slammed into the tree, and after she had fallen from the balustrade...the face she

could never quite remember. Now, instead of emaciated and ashen, he was filled out and

was a healthy flesh color.

Eyelids fluttered restlessly over his deep-set eyes.

"Can you hear me?" Olivia ran her fingers through his thick black hair, over sharp

cheekbones, angular jaw, and thin lips. His skin was warm to her touch.

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His lashes rose and he looked at her with gray eyes that no longer glowed silver in

the dark. He was no longer an ethereal figure, but a living, breathing man. Her breath

caught in her chest and her heart pounded. He was here and he was hers.

Death sat up, the base of his skull sore and throbbing. He felt...different, as if a

heavy weight he didn't know he'd been carrying had been lifted from him. He tried to

summon Olivia's hourglass, but nothing happened. He reached up and touched her cheek.

Her skin was as soft as silk. "What time is it?"

"After midnight," she said in a breathless rush.

Past the end of his allotted time... He had not crossed to the other side and neither

had he dissolved into nothing. He hadn't dared to hope he might be allowed to stay with

Olivia, but it seemed as if his secret wish had been granted.

She helped him to stand, and he noticed she no longer favored her leg. She would

be amazed when she discovered the injury no longer bothered her. He put his arms

around her and held her tightly, but movement in the bailey below made him peer over

the balustrade.

A robed and cowled figure knelt beside Margot's crumpled body. He heard Olivia

gasp as the soul reaper touched Margot's shoulder. Margot's soul, a dark and twisted thing

writhing in agony and silently shrieking, rose from her now lifeless form.

The reaper lifted his head and nodded at them. Then both he and the freed soul

slowly faded until they could no longer be seen.

She looked up at him. Tears of grief, for one she had thought of as a friend, filling

her bright blue eyes. "That was Margot?"

"Yes. Some souls are dark and ugly like hers, but most radiate a warm and

beautiful white light," he explained.

"You...don't have to do that anymore, do you?" she whispered.

"My time is finished. Someone else has taken on the responsibility."

Smiling through her tears, her arms went around him. "I remember now. I

remember everything."

His hand trembled as he brushed a wisp of hair from her forehead and replaced it

with a kiss. "I hoped you would."

"You were always there," she murmured.

"And now, I'll always be here with you," he promised.

"But who are you now? What is your name?"

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"I was once called Ondru." Speaking his human name aloud after such a long time

sounded alien to him.

"It's an old name, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes, very old." And a name for a man from an ancient time that no longer

existed. He had received a new life, and he would create a new identity to go with it. His

heart--yes, he could now claim to be in possession of a heart in all meanings of the word-

-swelled with the wonder of spending a lifetime with Olivia. With his life would come

death, as was the eternal cycle of all living things, but he knew not to fear the inevitable.

Afterwards, on the other side, he and Olivia would be together forever.

Holding Midnight, Davy joined them. He gasped in shock when he looked over

the balustrade. "Is that--Is that
Margot
? What happened, Liv? Is she...?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so." She gripped his arm. "It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

Davy's gaze turned from Olivia to him. Confusion became suspicion. "Just who

are you?"

"Andrew. Andrew Smith." He tested the new name he had chosen and found it

suited him well. With Olivia by his side, he would make a good life as Andrew Smith.

"I'm an old friend of Olivia's."

Davy frowned. "I know all of Olivia's friends. I've never heard her mention you

before."

"Davy, it's okay." Olivia took Midnight from him. She hugged the cat and nestled

even closer to him. "Andrew has been a part of my life for a long time."

Andrew stroked Midnight and felt nothing more than the warm velvet texture of

black fur. He smiled. "And I'll be part of it for a long time to come."

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Lanette Curington, author of the critically acclaimed sensuous futuristic