Paranormal Realities Box Set (44 page)

Keagan. I was seeing a new death for
Keagan.

I came to myself still lying against his
chest, with one hand to my head.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Removing my hand, I glanced up and saw
him staring down at me with worried eyes. "Yes. It's just a
headache," I answered.

As the pain in my head quickly subsided,
I realized something that made a grin almost break my lips with its width.

"What?" Keagan said, giving me
a little shake. "Why are you smiling like that?"

How could I tell him that I'd somehow
changed his fated death? Or if not me, something we'd done had made the change,
setting him on a new path. He'd live a full life and die an old man. That meant
Liam's fated death could have changed too. But had it?

Overhead, the moon had shifted so far in
the sky it must be at least two a.m.

"Omigod," I said, jerking to a
sitting position. "Gran will be frantic."

Keagan sat up too and then jumped to his
feet. "Let's get you home."

He rose and began to gather the blanket
from beneath us, shaking out the sand. Folding our shawl blanket as he did
this, I began to worry. What about our bargain? Keagan's fate had changed but I
still had to keep one of them from that football stadium tomorrow, er, tonight.

"Are we still on for another date
later?" I asked as he handed me my shoes.

At my question, he smiled. Pulling me to
him, he gently kissed me. "Definitely."

"Instead of the game?" I had to
nail this down. "Even though..."

"Even though what?" he said
with lips quirking.

"You said I had to sleep with you...and
we didn't...you know."

"You did sleep with me. We woke up
together just a few minutes ago. Don't you remember?"

"But—"

"Shhhh." He placed a finger to
my lips to stop my words. "I don't want your first time to be like that.
With me forcing you into something."

"You aren't forcing me. Don't you
remember what I told your parents? Should be memorable since your dad's getting
a retaining wall out of it." I joked.

"I remember every word," he
said in utter seriousness. "But even if it isn't force, I don't want you
to be with me as some kinda deal or bargain either. Let's just take it slow.
Although it might kill me, I want to wait. I've waited a long time for you to
be with me. I can wait until you're ready to go further. Now that I know we
have a future, I can do anything."

Oh Lord. I'd let him think we were a
couple.

Strange, but the idea of the two of us
didn't freak me out. In fact, happiness blossomed inside me like a flower
unfolding. Was I in love with Keagan and not Liam? Yes, I admitted to myself.
How horrible was that? Was I an evil person for switching so quickly from one
brother to the other? Then I acknowledged it hadn't been quick. I'd always been
fighting an attraction to Keagan, but I'd been afraid. There had been safety
with Liam where not a bit existed in Keagan. My heart, soul and entire being
lay in jeopardy with him.

"But you're my girl now,
right?" he asked.

"Are you sure that's what you want?
All those other girls—"

"Those other girls...none of them
were you. I tried to make them sub for you but they couldn't."

"Then this isn't just because you
want to stick it to Liam?" I asked, happy but continuing my wander into
uncharted, scary territory.

"No. I want to stick it to you, not
my brother." He laughed. "I don't hate my brother. Liam isn't the
problem. It was just that he had everything I wanted. I'd almost gotten used to
the difference between how my parents treated me and how they treated Liam. I
coulda lived with it, but then you came along. You were a little girl of ten
with hair the color of wheat and the most amazing hazel eyes. And you went
straight for Liam. You barely had anything to do with me."

"I'm sorry. I'd just lost my parents
and went to live with Gran. I blamed myself for my parents' death. I couldn't
cope with anything frightening. I wanted a restful place to heal."

"And Liam is 'restful'?"

"Well, you have to admit you aren't
restful, peaceful, or safe. Whatever synonym you want. You aren't any of those
things. You are dangerous and exciting. Not what a frightened ten year old
could cope with."

"Sexy?"

"Yeah, that too."

That statement earned me another kiss.
Then another and another after that.

Away from the coast, a fog enveloped the
car as Keagan drove us back into town. But the white wisps seemed like a haze
of happiness to me. We held hands over the parking brake and couldn't stop
smiling at each other. No realities were permitted to get through the haze and
reach me until we entered downtown. Then all of the problems I'd been trying to
ignore drifted back into my thoughts one by one.

Gran would be worried and angry—if
she hadn't fallen asleep. On the off chance she had, I didn't try her on my
cell phone. Slipping in without her ever knowing how late I'd been out was
still a possibility. I didn't even remember I'd turned my phone off until we
pulled up in front of my house.

"How are you getting home?" I
said as he parked. "We should have stopped at your house first."

"No." He shook his head and
squeezed my hand. "I didn't want you driving alone in this fog. I'll walk
home."

"That's crazy," I said.
"Take my car. You can pick me up in the morning."

He grinned, before pressing a soft kiss
on my lips. "Perfect."

After I reluctantly withdrew my hand from
his, I opened the door but hesitated about getting out.

"What is it?"

I'd spotted a light inside the house.
"Gran's up. She's gonna be pissed after she gets over being scared. And
that will be about two seconds after I walk through the door."

"Do you want me to come in and
explain?"

"No," I answered. "I can
handle it."

After jumping out, I pushed the car door
closed behind me and then ran up the walk and onto the front porch. With a
little wave to Keagan, who was still watching me from the car, I opened the
front door and walked in.

Harry trotted up to me with his tail
wagging.

"Where have you been?" Gran
shouted.

Harry cringed as if whipped and scuttled
away, back in the direction of the living room. If only I could get away so
easily.

"You're still alive at least."
Gran stood, hands-on-hips, just inside. "My only comfort was that I'd seen
your fate was an old age death. Even so, I was scared spitless. An old lady
could have an attack, you know."

Not even thinking about closing the door
behind me, I rushed to her and gave her a quick hug. "I'm so sorry, Gran.
I didn't mean to be out so late. We just..." I couldn't think of a way to
finish that. Talking about falling asleep with Keagan might not be the best
thing to calm her down. "But I think I did it, Gran. I think I changed
their death fates. Keagan and Liam. Well, I'm sure about Keagan and the next
time I can touch Liam, I'll know about him for sure."

"You were out with Keagan and not
Liam?" she asked.

"Yes, of course." I shrugged.
"I told you I was going to do anything I could to stop them from playing
that football game together. It was the only way to get Keagan to agree not to
play."

"I know it seemed like the right
thing to do, Tara. But you're playing with people's feelings here."

I shook my head, trying to deny her words
even though I knew she was right. But no matter how much I wanted her to stop,
Gran kept talking.

"How is Liam going to feel with you
going out, and staying out so late, with his brother? And how is Keagan going
to feel when he finds out you've just been manipulating him for Liam's benefit?
That you've been using his feelings for you."

"Yeah." Keagan's voice came
from the porch through the still-open front door "How am I gonna feel
about being manipulated and used?"

Whirling around to face him, I saw him
step over the threshold.

"I might be pretty angry and
disgusted," he finished, his face stricken.

"Keagan," I said, reaching out
a hand to him. "It's not what you think."

He shrank away from my touch, shaking his
head. "I came up here to explain to your grandmother what happened
tonight, but instead I found out I was the one who didn't know what had
really
happened."

"Please, Keagan. I was trying to
save Liam's life. Can't you understand?"

"I understand everything is always
for Liam and not me. My parents' love, your love—" With that he
threw down my car keys, turned, and barreled out.

"Omigod." I picked up the keys
from the floor. "I think I can safely say everything is ruined now."
Including my
heart
, I thought.
Shredded into a thousand ragged scraps like so much ground beef.

"I'm sorry, honey," Gran said.
"I didn't realize he was there. But I warned you fate has a way of turning
things its way."

"I don't believe that," I
yelled. "I have to believe I can stop this or all the pain has been for
nothing."

Starting out the door, I heard Gran shout
after me. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going after him," I
shouted back. "I'm going after Keagan. I have to try to explain and
salvage something."

"No, Tara." She stepped out
onto the porch, but I had already reached the car. "Don't go."

Shaking my head, I got in and then drove
off.

The fog that had been a happy cocoon
earlier was now a horrible barrier as I slowly drove what I thought would be
the most likely path between my house and the Ellsworths'. I tried to examine
each alley and side street, all the while keeping my eyes on the road.

Spotting what looked like a figure just
coming into view on the right ahead, near a bus stop, my heart lurched and I
stepped on the gas. But when I got nearer, the figure turned out to be a sign
with a shrub in front of it.

"Damn," I muttered.

Just then a cat darted out of the shrub
and into the street. My hand jerked the wheel and I stomped on the brake.

"Damn!"

* * * * *

Damn.
My school locker must have fallen on me,
I
thought.
Get
this thing off my chest or I'll miss math class.
But no matter how much
effort I exerted, my arms wouldn't move. I also couldn't lift my lids. They
seemed glued shut.
Did I leave glue uncapped in the locker? Math class was definitely out.

I heard a groan that seemed far away
until I realized it was me.

"Open your eyes, Tara. You can do
it," Gran's voice urged me.

The accompanying pat on my hand somehow
gave me the strength to pry open my lids to see her beloved face over me.

"Math class." The words sounded
like a shout in my head but a whisper to my ears.

"What, honey?" Gran asked.

The events of the night came rushing into
my head: the date, the guilt, the pain, the happiness, the kisses, the guilt
again...the shrub.

"Did I hit the cat?"

"You didn't hit anything but a bus
stop," Gran said, wiping a tear as it slipped down one cheek. "You
could have been killed."

"What time is it?"

Gran glanced at her watch. "Eight
thirty."

I tried to sit up and Gran held me down.

"Lie still. You're in the hospital.
You have a concussion and bruised ribs. You'll be all right. But they want you
to stay overnight for observation."

"I have to get to school. Maybe I
can talk to Liam. Or I could go by Keagan's school first—"

"It's eight thirty at night, Tara.
School is over."

The meaning of what she was telling me didn't
register for a few seconds. When it did, a chant began in my head.
No. No. No....

Rolling out from under Gran's hand and
out of bed, I landed with my bare feet on the cold linoleum. Fortunately, my
shaking legs held me up.

"The game started at six thirty. I
don't have much time left. I'm checking myself out."

A draft hit my bare bum under the
hospital gown, reminding me I needed clothes. Scanning the room, I saw a locker
on one wall and took a chance my clothes would be inside. I stumbled over to it
and found I was right. Gran was on my heels talking. When I started to put on
my skirt, she tried to grab it.

"Do I have to call security to keep
you here?" she asked. "You can't check yourself out. You're a minor
and I'm your guardian."

With my after accident shakiness, I was
barely a match for my seventy-two year old grandmother, but I did manage to get
the skirt on in spite of her efforts. "I have to get to the stadium right
now."