The Music of the Night (4 page)

“Oh, Erik,” she murmured, “couldn’t
you at least have let me say goodbye?”

She had her answer with the asking.
He had left her before she could leave him.

She grieved to leave him, but how
could she stay? Her life was in the States. She taught kinder garden in an
upscale school in Boston, she had a family in the city, lifelong friends, a home
of her own. Erik had no life outside the bowels of the Opera House. He had no
friends or family, no home other than his underground lair. How could they have
a life together? She could not live in his world and he could not live in hers.

With a sigh, she went into the
bathroom to shower and dress. Thank goodness she had paid for her room in
advance, she thought, and then frowned. How had Erik known where she was
staying?

Leaving her room, she went downstairs
for breakfast. She had another three weeks of vacation. Determined to see as
much of Paris as she could, she went sightseeing. She visited The Arc de
Triomphe, which had been built to honour the men and women who had died fighting
for France. She visited the Eiffel Tower. She toured Notre Dame, which had taken
170 years to build, walked around The Pantheon, which had been built as a church
by Louis XV, but was now the final resting place of such notable French thinkers
as Rousseau, Voltaire, Hugo and Zola, as well as scientists Pierre and Marie
Curie. Amazing places, all of them, but no matter where she was, Christie’s
thoughts were on Erik. With every moment apart, the realization grew that she
had fallen in love with him – with his kindness, his tenderness, the sound of
his voice, his rare smiles and laughter.

Though they had never spoken the
words, she was certain that he loved her in return. But was love enough? Could
she go on without him? Did she want to?

She went to the theatre that night
and every night for the next week, hoping he would seek her out. She scanned the
balconies, the dark corners, the shadows, but there was no sign of him.

On her last night in Paris, she hid
in one of the bathrooms in the theatre again, then spent two hours wandering the
corridors trying to find the door that led to his lair. She called his name, but
to no avail.

She spent a miserable night sleeping
in one of the seats. In the morning, she asked a startled member of the cleaning
crew to let her out.

Defeated, she returned to the hotel,
Packed her bags and took the next flight home. She moped for days, her heart
heavy with despair.

Christie was glad when school
started. She’d spent the week before getting her classroom ready eager for the
new year, eager for anything to take her mind off her Phantom. But even the
excitement of a new year failed to lift her spirits.

Her steps were heavy when she
returned home after the first day of school. She had once found joy in teaching.
Where had it gone?

She was unlocking the front door when
she felt a rush of wind and then, to her astonishment, Erik appeared beside her.

“Christie.” Just her name, but it
held a wealth of emotion. “Erik! How did you find me?”

“Your blood,” he murmured, his dark
gaze searching her face. “It led me to you.”

“I didn’t think you ever left the
opera house.”

“I would risk anything to see you
again.”

“I missed you too,” she said and,
taking him by the hand. She drew him into the house and shut the door. “I tried
to find you.”

“I know.”

“Why did you hide from me?”

He shrugged; an elegant shifting of
one shoulder. “I thought it best to let you go, but I realized my life has no
meaning without you. And so I came here, to ask you to be my Christine for
always. Will you share my love, Christie, be part of my life?”

She knew what he was asking. Being a
vampire had once seemed repulsive; now it would open the door to an eternity
with the man she loved.

With a nod, she went into his
embrace. No words were necessary. Gazing up into his dark eyes, she canted her
head to the side, granting him access to her throat.

Murmuring her name, the Phantom
enfolded his Christine in his arms and, with one sweet kiss, he joined their
lives together, forever.