Witch of Christmas Past (11 page)

Since I’m not the kind to always take someone at their word, I decided to see for myself if Granny was home. Sure enough, the house was as empty as the rest of the island.

With nothing left to do but go to the Christmas Ball, of which I figured I would probably be the only attendee, I started for home.

If I was going to Misty Haven, I at least needed to know what time the ball started. I hadn’t paid too much attention to the invitation when I’d received in the mail, so I wasn’t sure when to be there.

Now that I thought about it, I didn’t recall anyone mentioning the Christmas Ball at Misty Haven Resort.

Maybe no one else received an invitation?

When I pulled into the driveway, I noticed a package sitting on my front porch. Strange letters in my mailbox and packages on my porch wasn’t usually a good sign.

Picking up the box, I unlocked my front door.

The rest of the island might actually exist on another plane, but my place seemed normal enough.

My natural curiosity got the best of me so I opened the box. Inside, was one of the most beautiful ball gowns I’d ever seen.

It was in a style popular over two hundred years ago. When I held the gown up to me, I was stunned at how beautiful it was with the light shimmering off the gold and silver satin.

Placing the gown over the back of the sofa, I started my search for the invitation. I finally remembered putting it with a stack of mail in the kitchen. Sure enough, that’s exactly where it was.

According to the invitation, guests were expected to arrive at 7:00.

There was no way my stomach was going to handle going that long without food. Unfortunately, with no fast food joints open, I was stuck with peanut butter and jelly.

* * *

With nearly every inch of the garden covered with twinkling Christmas lights, Misty Haven looked as if it could have come right out of a fairytale.

As I drew closer to the entrance, I could hear music and laughter.

But how could that be?

Had I been yanked back to true reality?

My questions were answered as soon as I stepped into the glittering ballroom. There were dozens of people, but I didn’t know a single soul. Not only that, but everyone seemed to be dressed in a style of two hundred years ago.

All of it was an illusion, at least the people were. What I was seeing were ghosts of another time.

But why? What did it all mean?

Suddenly, Zane was at my side, grasping my hand in his.

“Are you real or just another one of these ghosts?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m real enough.” He smiled. “Would you like to dance?”

“I’d much rather you let me in on what is really going on here.”

Although I hadn’t actually agreed to a dance, I didn’t resist when he pulled me out on the dance floor.

The Christmas music faded and suddenly we were dancing to Chopin’s, Nocturne.

I’d been haunted by this same piece of music for as long as I could remember. Every time I heard it, the strangest feeling came over me.

I stared up into Zane’s arctic blue eyes, looking for some hint that he was real. The Zane I’d come to know was definitely there.

“What’s going on?” I asked again. “Are you aware that we have been pulled into another dimension?”

The only answer I received was a slight incline of his head.

As we danced, he cleverly moved me in the direction of the large double doors that led to the gardens.

Once we were outside, he pulled me close and pressed his lips against mine.

His tongue danced with mine, and then suddenly I couldn’t breathe. Actually, I didn’t even want to breathe. All I wanted was for that moment to go on forever.

But all things must end.

When Zane finally pulled away, there was so much heat in his eyes, I was sure I’d catch fire at any moment.

Without a word, he lifted me in his arms and before I knew what was happening, I was sailing through the night sky on the wings of a vampire, so to speak. We finally came down on the beach, and as soon as we did, he resumed his kissing.

Although I would have been content to sit there all night and kiss him, I also kind of wanted to know what his role in all this was.

Had he known this was going to happen?

I broke our kiss. “Zane … tell me what this is all about.”

“Your soul transcends time, as does mine. We are soul mates, Izzy, but until you are released from your bonds, we cannot be together.”

I was still confused. “What does that actually mean?”

“The last time we were together, you ended it before it was your time. It is a pattern that you have repeated over several lifetimes,” he explained.

“You mean I killed myself.”

He nodded. “The last time that is what happened, but there have been other times that you were killed because of foolish decisions. I cannot exist without you. This is why I chose to become a vampire. It is the only way I can continue to be with you through your trials.”

I was stunned into silence. All I could do is stare.

“Tonight you must pay the reaper for taking your life too early, last time … and this time,” he added.

“This latest situation wasn’t my fault … it was my phone’s fault, “I told him, hoping to clarify that bit of misinformation.

Suddenly, he was kissing me again and nothing else mattered. His hand found its way beneath my dress and he left a trail of caresses all the way up to the place between my legs.

I felt as if I’d stepped into an inferno. Nothing mattered but his touch. I barely flinched when I felt his fangs sinking into the flesh of my neck.

He was feeding from me, and I didn’t care.

That’s when we became one. His lovemaking quickly sent me over that peak of oblivion. As I experienced the most heart-stopping orgasm I could imagine, pictures flashed in front of my eyes, like watching a movie.

I was seeing him from across a ballroom, much like the one at Misty Haven, except for it was a long time ago, and it was in Salem. He was so handsome, and I was immediately taken with him.

And then I was arguing with a man who seemed like he was my father. The man was forbidding me from seeing Captain Beaufort because he was a devil. Father had discovered he was a vampire.

I didn’t believe him at the time. When my handsome Captain asked me to run away with him, I agreed.

Life on the open sea was blissful until the werewolf knights exposed Captain Beaufort’s true nature to the rest of the ship’s passengers.

There was mutiny. They bound my love and threw him to the bottom of the sea.

Now I remembered everything, including all the pain and tears. I remembered dying as I realized that my love still lived, and that he truly was immortal.

But we were together again so none of that mattered.

Again he took me to the summit of total bliss, but when I again opened my eyes, Mister Grim was standing over us, which was totally awkward.

It wasn’t so much that I wasn’t grateful to the Grim Reaper for giving me a second chance, but it would have been nice if he’d at least waited until we’d finished up our business.

Mr. Grim held out his hand. “It’s time to come with me. We need to talk.”

“Right now?” I wasn’t too anxious to push my lover aside.

With a sweep of his hand, Zane rolled away from me and became totally still. He looked as if he were truly dead.

“What did you do?” I asked, straightening my gown.

“I simply returned him to his true state of existence,” Mr. Grim explained.

“Well fix him!” I gasped.

“Let us talk.” Mr Grim again offered me his hand.

Taking it, I let him drag me to my feet. “What do we have to talk about?”

“It is time for you to make a choice.”

“What choice?”

“You must choose between redemption and your lover’s life.”

“What the hell kind of choice is that? He has nothing to do with my sins … or the sins of my father!”

“He is a vampire because of you. Vampires are unnatural. If you choose to claim your redemption now, you will give up your lover, but his soul will also be saved.”

Well now that he put it that way, it still sucked.

I shook my head. “You cannot make me choose death for him. That is his choice, not mine.”

“Very well!” Mr. Grim took off his top hat and bowed.

With no warning, I was spiraling through a dark tunnel. The inky black void seemed to be rushing by me at a million miles per hour. The next thing I became aware of was harsh morning light.

My head was still spinning.

What had I just done?

I’d been offered redemption and turned it away.

Did that mean I was now in Hell and would be given no more chances?

It had to be some kind of cruel joke! It wasn’t fair to sacrifice Zane in order to save my soul.

When I tried to move, pain blossomed in my brain.

The worst hangover I’d ever had in my life hadn’t been as bad as I was feeling at that moment. One thing was certain. Time travel and traversing strange dimensions wasn’t good for the body. I would have been better off downing a fifth of JD.

At first I wasn’t even sure what I remembered actually happened. I sure did hope it had been nothing but a nightmare.

My hopes were dashed when I noticed the silver gown flung across the foot of my bed.

Forcing myself to roll out of bed, I practically crawled to the bathroom. Thank God I’d remembered to replace the towels with clean ones. There was no way I was going to make it to the linen closet, and then the shower. Not without a shot of extra strong espresso.

My eyes were still half closed when I pulled open the shower curtain. It was only because I was still numb that I didn’t scream when I saw Julius standing in my shower, wearing a sly smile.

“Hello, love. I assume you had a rough night?”

Instead of bitching him out for popping up in my shower, I just moaned. Bitching would have taken too much effort.

“Oh, Julius. Not today. I just can’t take it.”

“Poor babe. Why don’t you jump on in the shower with me and tell me all about it?” he coaxed.

I could barely put forth the effort to roll my eyes. Instead of hopping in the shower with my guardian demon, I pushed myself over so that I was sitting on my behind with my back against the tub.

“I just traveled back to 1883 to rescue my grandmother, and before I had a chance to recover from that … Mr. Grim decided I also needed a trip to another dimension,” I explained, somewhat breathlessly.

Julius shook his head. “Too bad, love. I was hoping we could have some fun today.”

“Fun doing what?” I asked, scrunching my brows together.

“You know,” he said, a smile playing on his full lips.

“Oh please! You need to find you another girlfriend.”

Stepping out of my shower, he sank down to the floor beside me. “Maybe,” he sighed.

For a few seconds, I actually felt sorry about Missy being dead. Well, I felt sorry for Julius anyway. There was no getting by the fact that Missy Rogers had been a life sucking sea monster, which really couldn’t have been that good for Julius anyway.

“So tell me all about it,” he urged, draping an arm over my shoulders.

I told him about our trip to London, and that other dimension. I wasn’t even sure what kind of dimension it was.

“I couldn’t do it.” I shook my head. “ What makes him think I want to slap anyone with a death warrant?” I finished.

“I wouldn’t be overly concerned about it. In any case … the old bloke was probably just testing you.”

I appreciated Julius’s efforts to comfort me, but I wasn’t sure I believed him. Mr. Grim didn’t seem like the kind to play games.

“Well, I sure do hope you’re right. If not, I will be joining you as a full fledged demon soon, or I’ll just get my one-way ticket to Hell.”

“You’ll have company then.” His smile was a bit on the malicious side.

“By the way, why did you want to do a ride-along with Tim? The two of you don’t even get along.”

Julius shrugged. “It’s kind of personal.”

“Personal? Well all
my
business is personal, and you still get in it, so spill it.”

I was being nosey, but since Tim was my partner and friend, I figured I’d better find out what was up with their ride-along.

“I needed some protection. That old buzzard, or Mr. Grim as you call him, is after me for some strange reason.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because he keeps calling me … up here.” Julius pointed to his head. “And he tries popping in on me whenever he thinks I’m not paying attention. I am
always
paying attention, and I can dematerialize and hide from him.”

“Well, maybe he just wants to have a word with you. Have you ever thought of that?”

Julius shook his head. “Not a chance. The Grim Reaper doesn’t come calling on you for a casual chat. You should know that yourself.”

He did have a point.

“But what could he want with you. Aren’t you already dead, and basically
indentured
to the guy downstairs?”

“Who knows what he has up his sleeve. As far as I know, maybe he plans on sending me into some torture chamber.”

“He’s not bad … just really creepy,” I defended Mr. Grim.

Julius shook his head. “I’ve dealt with him once and have no desire to do so again.”

“So how is Tim going to protect you?”

“I’ll hide behind him if Mr. Death shows up. Perhaps that dear angel will intervene on my behalf … with you being my friend and all.”

I wasn’t so sure Tim would, or even could do such a thing, but I kept my thoughts to myself. “So how did the ride-along go?”

“Death didn’t show his face while I was with your angel, which is good. The ride-along was a bit of a bore. Mostly he just went checking out transformers and talking with potential suspects. I do have to say, I thought your job would be a lot more exciting.”

“You just caught him during a slow time.” I shrugged, wondering if Tim had even realized he was playing bodyguard for a demon.

“Maybe,” he agreed.

“And now … if you’ll excuse me, I need to get a shower so I can get ready for the day. My boss probably thinks I dropped off the face of the earth.”

“It’s Sunday,” Julius reminded me.

I shrugged. “If there’s no rest for the wicked, that also means there is no rest for us.”

That was one notion I was sure Ayden would agree with.