Wings of Darkness: Book 1 of The Immortal Sorrows Series (26 page)

     I wet my lips, carefully. I needed
to get away from her. “I think we’re about done here.  How much do I owe
you?”

     “You’re white as a ghost,
dear.  Now, don’t go getting all upset.  This is the Death card,
true, but it too, has several meanings.  It can, of course, mean actual
death, but usually it signifies an ending of things.”

     “I’m not upset.” My card reading
came up with disaster, a choice, and an ending. So, not much to worry about,
there.  I just kept staring at the cards of the Lovers and Death. 
Death and the Lovers… “This is my future card, right?”  I pointed to the
skeleton card, and she nodded.  “Well, I guess Death is everyone’s
eventual future, isn’t it?”

    “Not necessarily. I think we should look
a little deeper.”  She reached past the cards. “Give me your hand,
again.”  I started to pull away, but she’d already snagged my hand. 
She flipped it over, palm up.  “I see that you’ve been losing sleep.
You’re a little bit depressed, also.”

     “You can tell that by looking at my
palm?”

     She snorted.  “No, I can tell
that by looking at the big, dark circles under your eyes. A little make-up
wouldn’t kill you, you know.”  I began to pull my hand back; at first,
she’d scared me, but now she was starting to aggravate me.  “Not so fast,
little skeptic.”

     “I’ve had about enough. How much do
I owe you?”

     The fortune teller continued, as if
I hadn’t said a word.  “There’s a sadness about you.  It’s there in your
eyes, which lack a certain sparkle.  And it’s there in your mouth, all
drawn and tight.  Everything is just
off
a little bit, isn’t it?”  She watched me with sharp
eyes.  I wasn’t about to tell her she was right.  She was the
psychic, let her figure it out.

     I was reasonably sure that this was
a trap, but she didn’t seem to be ready to drop the disguise. She was giving me
a headache, although maybe it was all of the incense smoke, instead of just the
stress of the situation.  Whatever the reason, my head had started to
throb.  It was a migraine for sure, and it had sneaked up on me.  I
didn’t even feel it coming on until I could feel my heartbeat drumming behind
my eyes.

     Madame Fatima said something, but I
hadn’t been paying proper attention; I’d been looking for a possible exit. I
glanced up quickly and had the strangest sensation of falling down the rabbit
hole.  For the barest, less-than-a second, I saw behind the tricks. 
The frumpy little gypsy woman was replaced by a man.  A big man with
coal-dark hair, and eyes as black as treachery. He watched me coolly,
expectantly.  I knew him: Grim.

     I blinked hard, and rubbed at my eyes. 
Madame Fatima was still there, watching me with bright blue eyes, and a knowing
smile.  “You aren’t what you seem, are you,” I asked her, carefully. 
My heart did a drum roll in my chest.  Where there was Grim, there was
usually Asher. 

     “No, dear, I’m not.  A lot of
people aren’t what they seem, I’m afraid.  You, for instance; there’s much
more to you than meets the eye.” 

     I heard a scuffle outside the tent
flap and jerked back in my seat.  Alex was out there, now. I could hear
him. I also heard Gwen’s voice, and it was raised in anger.  “Time’s
up.  I really have to go.”  I drew a twenty dollar bill from my
pocket and laid it on the table.  “Um, just keep the change.”  I
stood up so fast that the metal chair tipped and started to fall over. 
Amazingly, quick as lightning, she was there to catch it. I flinched at the
sudden movement. If I hadn’t known her for what she really was, I would
have been amazed that she could move like that.

     The Reaper reached for me slowly,
like he might spook me into running, and he placed a large, warm hand on either
side of my head.  I couldn’t have run if the tent had caught fire. 
My body felt like it had been turned to concrete, and freshly melted snow ran
through my veins in place of blood. “Now, little human, I would love to
continue our conversation, but you’re right.  Our time is up, and I have
somewhere I need to be.” His voice deepened roughly, “And you have some things
that you need to
remember
.”

     I forced myself to move, to step
away.  “You’re too late, Grim.  I already remember everything.”

     Shock passed over his face as the
disguise melted.  That was probably the first time in his long, long life
anyone had ever
really
surprised
him.  A slow smile spread across his face, and it even reached his
eyes.  “I’m beginning to like you, little human.”

     “The feeling isn’t mutual.”

***

     I stumbled out of the tent into the
cool night air and bumped right into Gwen.  “Hey, are you ok, Iz?  You’re
paler than usual; I really didn’t think that was possible, but you are.”

     “I’m fine, let’s go.”  I
stuffed my hands inside my jacket pockets and started towards Alex. I wanted to
get them as far from that fortune teller’s tent, as possible.

     “Hold up.  I haven’t seen the
fortune teller, yet.  I’ve been out here getting hit on by Guido, the
gypsy pimp.”  The last thing Gwen needed was to see the fortune
teller.  I hoped that Grim had taken his leave, but I suspected he would
wait, if he thought Gwen would come in.

     “Was that what all the noise was
about?”  The carnie kept his distance, I noticed.

     Gwen shrugged.  “He started to
get handsy.  I convinced him it was a bad idea.”

     “We need to go, Gwen, I think
they’re about to close.”

     “Well, shit, I wanted my fortune
told.  How was it, by the way?”

     “Gibberish.  Mystic
bullshit.  Past, present, future. She was a fake.”

     “Here, Izzy.  You look like
you could use this.”  Alex handed me a hot chocolate from the drink
carrier he held.  I took it, grateful for the distraction.

     “Thank you.”

     Alex handed over a Styrofoam cup to
Gwen. “Coffee; extra sweet, extra creamer?” Gwen nodded and took it
greedily.  She seemed to recover from her disappointment about missing the
fortune teller once she had coffee in her hands.  I was just happy to get
them both away from the psychic’s tent.  Gwen had already been exposed to
too much, and the more she knew, the more danger she was in.  Alex was
better off being left in the dark.

     We walked slowly towards the
midway. I had a completely surreal feeling, ever since I’d left the fortune
teller’s booth. Asher was here, somewhere, watching me. I just knew it.  I
sipped my hot chocolate and sneaked little glances around me, hoping to find him. 
I sighed, disgusted with myself.  Asher had tried to take my
memories.  I should be angry, and I was, but the pitiful truth was that I
had missed him.  That didn’t mean that I still didn’t want to kick his ass
for what he’d done.  He deserved a good ass-kicking. 

     I was only half paying attention to
the conversation Gwen and Alex were having.  Instead, I pretended to look
at the jack o’ lanterns lining the streets.  Some of them were pretty
spectacular; real works of art that would rot and cave in on themselves, in a
few short weeks.  It made them more special, in a way.  All that
effort put into a carving, and it would be gone in such a short time. It was
like life: here today, and gone tomorrow. Depressing thought. I shook it off. 
I was supposed to be having a good time with my friends, not dwelling on death
and a jerk who had ditched me.  Who happened to be Death.  How ironic.

     At least my headache was just a
headache, and not a migraine, like I’d originally thought. I couldn’t help
thinking about Grim.  There were things that I needed to remember, he’d
said.  Why would he care if I could remember?  More importantly, why
would he try to undo something Asher had done to me?  What was he up to?

     Alex’s hand slipped from my
shoulder to my waist as we walked.  It was nice. Maybe a little too
friendly for my taste, but nice. At least he seemed genuinely happy to be with
me.  Gwen caught the motion and grinned at me.  “I’m gonna go see
what I can get into, so you two can be alone.  Have fun, kids.”  She
waved at us, as she turned to go.

     "Wait, Gwen, which way are you
going?"  Suddenly, the idea of having her out of my sight left a
queasy, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I had no idea where Grim
had taken himself off to, or if he would be back.

     Gwen stopped and turned back,
grinning as she rolled her eyes at me. "I'm just gonna go look
around.  I swear my mom worries about me less than you do," she said
with a laugh.

     "That's because she doesn't
know you as well as I do.  I know all the crap you're capable of getting
into."

     "It's all good, see," she
pulled a can of pepper spray from her jacket pocket to show me. In her other
hand, she held her key ring, a key sprouting from each knuckle. She shrugged,
modestly, "And in a worst case scenario, I'm not opposed to punching
someone in the nuts." Alex actually cringed when she said that. I
should’ve told him that she wouldn’t really do something so awful to someone,
even though I knew full-well that she would. "So you two go have fun. I
have Alex's cell number if I need anything, and I remember where we parked the
car."

     "Ok, but be careful.”

     Alex’s fingers twined with mine and
pulled me insistently away from Gwen.  Briefly, it entered my mind that he
might need to be punched in the nuts.  It was just a random thought, gone
as quickly as it had come, but still I felt guilty for thinking it.  Alex
had been nothing but nice to me.  I should try to be nicer to him.

     I was just being silly. 
Probably.  Gwen was more than capable of taking care of herself, and Grim
probably had better things to do, people to kill, and stuff like that. If he
were a threat, he’d already had every opportunity.  I just didn’t like the
way he looked at her.

     Gwen disappeared into the crowd, and
I watched her go with a cold, sick feeling.  I was being stupid.  She
would be fine; she’d survived for days without me, she could survive a few
hours on her own.  I was just being over-protective.  That was all it
was; a bad combination of chronic insomnia and too much caffeine.  No
wonder my nerves were shot.

     Alex’s hand at my waist was a
constant pressure. “Come on, Izzy, let me win you a cheesy teddy bear at the
dart throw.”

     “Ok, just as long as it’s made in
Taiwan, and not too fancy,” I joked, lamely.

     Alex smiled easily and let his hand
drop from around me.  Seconds later, he took my hand and rubbed his thumb
across my wrist.  “Only the best for my girlf—“He made a sound like a dying
frog as he tried to swallow the word before it fully reached his lips. 

     Such a look of horror crossed his
face at his unfortunate slip of the tongue, that I didn’t know whether to laugh
at him, or be offended.  A couple of dates certainly didn’t make us a
couple, but I wasn’t mean enough to point it out.  So, I decided to take
the high road and pretend that I hadn’t heard him say it.  I just kept walking.

     I’d started out on high-alert and
searching the crowd for a familiar face.  Asher was supposed to be here,
but I could see no sign of him.  Half an hour later, I had given up
looking.  I found myself standing around bored senseless, while Alex
worked at getting me that cheesy teddy bear he’d promised.  Absolutely
nothing was going to stand in his way, either.  Half-deflated balloons and
darts with dulled tips, be damned; he was a man on a mission.  His
single-minded determination was a little frightening, honestly.

     I’d already gone through most of
the stages of waiting.  They weren’t unlike the stages of grief, in my
opinion…utter disbelief that he wouldn’t give it up, denial that I even wanted
a bear, anger that he wouldn’t just leave, bargaining so we could get to the
rest of the midway, and finally bored acceptance.  What can I say, I’m not
a patient woman.  I had some serious thoughts about just tip-toing quietly
away when I saw something that caught my full attention.

     Two kids darted out from between
the elephant ear stand and the snow cone vendor.  They ran past me like
they didn’t even see me standing there. I had to jump out of their way to avoid
being run over. “Hey, watch where you’re going!”

The boy kept going, but the girl actually slowed down and
looked at me over her shoulder.  Her face was a picture of disbelief that
turned quickly to panic.  She turned and doubled her pace to catch up with
the boy.  They might have been ten or eleven years old.  It was hard
to tell, since they weren’t stopping for introductions.

     I didn’t get much of a look at the
boy, but he seemed strangely familiar.  He was just a dark-headed streak
going by, but I’d seen him somewhere, before.  The girl, however, had
hesitated just long enough to give me the impression of a china doll; long,
curly black hair and cornflower blue eyes.  The thing that bothered me
wasn’t that two kids were running through a street fair at high speeds. 
That sort of thing happened all of the time.  No, the strange thing, the
weird
thing, was how
they were dressed.  They wore clothes that looked like they belonged to a
different century.  The boy had on a short-sleeved white shirt and short
britches held up by suspenders, if I wasn’t mistaken. The little girl had a
dress with petticoats underneath.  Nobody wore petticoats, anymore, and
certainly not in late October, with no coat on.  We were getting close to
Halloween, though.  Maybe they were dressing up, early?

     Alex turned towards me, smiling
broadly, and presented me with his hard-won teddy bear.  “Thanks, Alex.
It’s adorable.”  It was, too.  It had cream colored fur and one eye
was closed in a wink. Flirty bear.

     “Who were you yelling at?”