Liron's Melody (26 page)

Melody blinked at her friend for a few seconds. “Nikki, are
you seriously asking me if Liron is a vampire?”

Nikki’s face contorted, and she waved her hand at Liron.
“Well…
look at him
! And all you tell me is that you’re going somewhere
and I’m not going to see you for a while! And I’ve had these weird
heebie-jeebies ever since I came over after you’d finished your music score. I
knew
something abnormal was going on!”

Liron cleared his throat discreetly. “I assure you, I am not
a vampire.”

She stabbed her finger at him. “But you’re…
something
,
aren’t you?” She looked over at Melody for the answer.

Melody sighed and nodded slowly.

The tears returned to Nikki’s eyes. “Am I ever going to see
you again?”

Melody stepped forward and caught her friend in an embrace.
“I will try to come back and visit, Nik. I’m not sure when. I have to figure
some stuff out first, okay? But I’ll try.” Nikki squeezed her hard and Melody’s
eyes stung.

“Are you happy, Mel?” she murmured.

Melody pulled away, met Nikki’s eyes, and nodded vigorously
at the knowledge that she was going back home, her real home…finally. “Yeah…I
really am. I promise.”

Warmth and affection filled Nikki’s eyes even through her
tears. “I’m glad then. You deserve it. Just promise me you’ll keep playing.”

Melody giggled, considering where she was headed. “I promise,
Nik. I won’t ever stop again.” She hugged her one more time. “Remember to go to
my house tomorrow.”

Nikki nodded. “Goodbye, Mel.”

“Goodbye.” She pulled away and went back to Liron. She took
his hand again and turned him back toward the exit. She wanted to get out of
there. She didn’t know how much time was left before Liron’s friends called
them back, and she didn’t want the portal to the muse realm appearing out of
nowhere and scaring the crap out of a bunch of unsuspecting people.

“One more thing!” Nikki called.

They both turned back to see her posturing at Liron in an
almost threatening manner. She strode up to him with purpose and jabbed her
finger into his chest. “Do you love her?”

Liron smiled softly, and his eyes filled with dark promises
and voracious ardor as he looked down over at Melody. It was enough to set her
blood ablaze and make her breath catch.

He looked back at Nikki. “I love her more than every song
ever written, every note ever discovered, and every chord ever played in this
world or any other.”

Nikki’s eyebrows shot up as her fierce expression turned to
surprise. She blinked at him before letting her breath out in a
whoosh
.
“Dang…” She looked at Melody. “Can I have one of these?”

Liron sidled up to Nikki with a demonic grin. “I’ll send you
someone,” he murmured close to her ear. “He’ll come in your dreams. Keep an eye
out.”

The color drained from Nikki’s face, and she stared after
them in stunned silence as Liron, looking entirely too pleased with himself,
led them out the dressing room door.

Melody giggled. “Were you serious about sending a muse to
Nikki?”

He shrugged one shoulder in a lazy movement. “I know a few
people who might be interested. What does she do?”

“She’s a teacher.”

“Hmm…maybe a logic muse?”

Melody snorted and shook her head. “No way. Send her a rebel
muse.”

Liron cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah. A big, hairy biker or something.” Liron’s laughter
filled her with joy. He slipped his arm back around her shoulders as they
headed out of the theatre.

“What did you leave her?” he asked.

She sighed. “Everything. The house. All of my things. I’m
only taking one suitcase full of some clothing and some keepsakes, a few
pictures of my family.”

“Are you sure that’s all you want?”

She looked up at him and smiled. “Yeah. I have what I need.
Everything else is just stuff.” She had been afraid to let go of all of her
parents’ things before because she’d been afraid that doing so would be like
getting rid of them. But she knew now that wasn’t the case. The love she had
for her parents and the memories of them lived inside of her. They weren’t
attached to inanimate objects, and she didn’t need things to bring them back to
life, so to speak. They lived inside of her and always would. That was all she
needed.

They took a cab back to Melody’s house, where she finalized
everything and made sure all was in order for Nikki tomorrow. She sighed, took
one last look around at everything, at the life she was leaving behind, and
bade a silent goodbye to it. One door had to close so she could open this new
one that led to such spectacular things.

As if on cue, as soon as Melody had finished dragging her suitcase
into the living room, a loud wheezing whine sound blasted through the room
followed by a song that sounded like it had come straight out of Scotland. It
was enough to cause both she and Liron to jump, and as soon as they’d
recovered, they saw that half of Melody’s living room had, once again, been
transformed into Liron’s.

Only, where there had once only been a dark room made of
stone with a fireplace and a piano, there was now a man playing the bagpipes
and a woman dancing around banging on a drum. Melody arched an eyebrow and
looked up at Liron. “Your friends?” she assumed.

Liron blinked in bewilderment for a moment before a rumbling
laugh rolled out of him. “I had no idea he played the bagpipes.”

There was a new kind of light in Liron’s eyes, a happiness
that had erased the shadowed, haunted look they had had before. It seemed that
they had both found peace within themselves, and they had both made peace with
their pasts. Now, all that lay before them was a bright and promising future
full of new friends and wondrous music.

Liron bent down and grabbed Melody’s suitcase, hurled it
through the portal, then turned and faced her. He looked down at her, his blue eyes
reflecting every beautiful thing she had ever seen, and he held his hand out to
her.

She slowly eased her fingers into his and, as she did, magnificent,
hauntingly rapturous notes danced throughout her entire body and wrapped around
her heart, where she knew they would live, because that was where he lived. His
song had become hers.

“You ready, lovely?” he murmured.

Her fingers tightened over his, and she reached her free hand
up to run along his jaw. “Take me home, Liron.”

He bent, lifted her into his arms, and kissed her thoroughly
before carrying her, much like a newlywed in a romance movie—the kind with the
grand, sweeping score—over the threshold to their future.

The End

About the Author

If someone were to ask me what I am, it could be summed up in
one, simple word: Dreamer. Ever since I was a small child my imagination has
run wild. I have been telling stories for as long as I can remember, creating
grand worlds in my head and going on adventures that were invisible to others
around me. Am I eccentric? Yes. Am I proud of that? Absolutely.

I write about the things that inspire me, both in this world
and in realms only seen with the imagination. My heroines are sassy and strong.
My heroes are sometimes shy. I have an obsession with music (and musicians) and
a fascination with wings. I believe true love does exist, and sometimes it is
found in the strangest, most unexpected places. I also believe that family and
close friends are the glue that hold people together.

Above all things, I believe in being true to yourself and
seizing the day. Life is an amazing gift. Make your experience as beautiful as
you possibly can.