Bad Romeo Christmas: A Starcrossed Anthology (16 page)

I shrug. "Not really. The only superstition I believe in is something called the ghostlight. You see, in most theaters, the stage managers leave a tall lamp in the middle of the stage when everyone goes home for the night. Some people think it's just for safety to stop people crossing a pitch black stage and plummeting into the orchestra pit. But a lot of theater folk believe that theaters are haunted, and the ghostlight allows the spirits to perform while no one is there. They think if the ghosts are happy, they won't cause accidents in the theater."

"Do you think that's true?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure. But I still put a ghostlight on every night when I'm running a show. Better to be safe than sorry, right?"

He smiles. "Right."

We turn off the road and head down a dirt track, and it's not long before I hear the sound of running water. As the car emerges from the forest canopy, I get my first look at the sapphire-blue lake I saw from the air.

"Wow. It's gorgeous."

Luis pulls the car over and cuts the engine. "Yes, it's a beautiful spot."

In front of us is a white beach, and on the opposite side of the circular lake is a tall, basalt cliff, over which is spilling a stunning waterfall. The lake is crystal clear, and I can't wait to see if it feels as good as it looks.

Luis leads me down to where a luxurious 'beach hut' sits by the water. By this point, I'm completely unsurprised to discover it's the size of a small house.

"There are drinks and snacks in the fridge here," he says as he opens the French doors to a spacious living area. "And also a full bathroom with spa. If you need me, just lift the handset over there and press the button. It will come straight to my phone."

"Thank you, Luis." I look around at the dark border of forest that surrounds the lake. "Alba said there were dangerous creatures here. Is that true?"

Luis shakes his head. "Not to my knowledge, and I've covered every square inch of this island over the past few months. There are some monkeys, the odd pygmy boar, and a whole bunch of reptiles, but nothing that should give you any trouble. Most of them will run a mile if they see you."

"Okay, cool. Just as long as there are no Elissa-eating jaguars or anything."

"Oh, there were a few of those,” he says with a smile. “But I made sure to banish them before you arrived. You’ll be perfectly safe.” He points to the hut's phone. "When you get bored, just buzz me and I'll come pick you up."

"Will do."

He waves before jumping into the jeep and driving away.

I have a quick snoop around the hut, and after uncapping an ice-cold cola, I discover a small library of books.

"Excellent."

I grab a random book and take my drink and bag out to the beach. The heat of the sun isn't too bad, so I ditch my sarong, spread out my towel, and make myself comfortable.

Sitting in the sun is a bizarre experience for someone who spends most of her time in the dark. Even though I'm a semi-vampiric New Yorker, I could get used to this.

I'm five chapters into a terrible book about a zombie apocalypse when I hear a noise behind me in the trees. When I turn to find out what made it, I see a clutch of long-limbed monkeys studying me from high in the canopy.

"Hey, guys. Wassup?" They blink at me. God, they're cute. "FYI, avoid this book. It's terrible. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to totally keep reading it, but get ready for some ranting, okay? The author has zero clue about how to fight zombies. Total idiot."

More wide-eyed blinking.

"Okay, good talk. I'm going to have a swim now. Watch my stuff for me, alright?"

I drop my book and walk down to the water. Without thinking too much, I run and dive in. The cool temperature is a shock to the system after the warm sun, but at least it's refreshing. Feeling energized, I swim out into the center of the lake. Even out here, the water is so clear, I can see fish below me, as well as crabs and rocks on the sandy bottom.

In awe of the incredible location, I lie back and float for a while, enjoying my first real tropical experience. I'm just bummed I'm not sharing it with Liam. I pray the time passes quickly until he arrives.

After a few minutes of floating, the sound of the waterfall lulls me into dozing, and I close my eyes as all my limbs relax.

Balancing on the edge of consciousness, I lose track of time. When I open my eyes again, the sun is lower in the sky and has been dulled by a bank of dark clouds on the horizon.

"Okay, that doesn't look good."

I swim back to the beach and grab my towel. As I'm drying myself, I see that the monkeys are still in their spot, staring at me. I also notice my book and drink are missing.

"Alright, who's the thief?" I wrap my towel around my chest and head toward them. "I asked you to watch my stuff, and you steal it. Not cool, guys." They watch warily as I approach. "You can keep the drink, but how about you give back the book? I have to see how that train wreck ends, okay?"

Looking up at them, I can't see any evidence of my stuff. Maybe they dropped it.

I scour the ground before going farther into the forest to see if it's in the undergrowth. I've only gone a few yards when I see a break in the trees. It's a clearing, and smack bang in the middle is a huge piece of rectangular stone.

"Oh, wow. Could that be the creepy death altar? I think so."

I walk over to examine it. The top is smooth, almost glassy, and there's an indentation leading off one side.

"Probably to drain all the blood," I whisper to myself like a total creeper. I've always been fascinated with the macabre. Guess that's what comes from reading a crapload of Stephen King and Dean Koontz while I was growing up.

I run my hand over the surface. It's cold, but the temperature isn't what makes me shiver. I'm tracing my fingers over the blood channel when I hear a noise over to my right. I look up into the trees to see if my friendly neighborhood spider monkeys have followed me, but the canopy is empty. Then, I hear the noise again and realize it's not coming from above.

My breath catches in my throat when I catch a glimpse of what seems to be a figure standing there, watching me, half obscured by a tree.

"Luis?"

There's only the outline of a head, but even in the dim light I know it's not Luis.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. "Whoever you are, I'm warning you, I've been trained to kill a man with my bare hands." Well, I've been trained to punch a man in the balls with deadly force, at least. Liam didn't get to the part where he transformed me into a walking weapon.

There's a hooting sound right above my head, and I glance up to see the monkeys also staring toward the mysterious figure. When I glance back, there's nothing there.

"Lost tourist?" I whisper to myself. "Or vengeful spirit?" Okay, that's too scary to contemplate, even for me.

With a tight whimper, I take off toward the beach as fast as I can, which isn't terribly fast considering my main form of exercise is walking to the fridge to get cheese.

I'm pushing through the last patch of bushes on the edge of the beach when a strong hand grabs my arm.

I scream and turn to see Luis's concerned face. "Miss Holt? Are you all right?"

"Luis! Were you just over near the altar?"

"No. There's a storm on the way, so I thought I should come get you. Why?"

"Nothing. I thought I saw someone in the forest."

He looks to where I've come from and frowns. "Well, we're the only people on the island right now, so I doubt it." He turns back to me. "Perhaps we shouldn't mention this to Alba. If she thinks you saw
Espírito Vingativo
, I'd never hear the end of it.” He pats my shoulder. “I'm sure you just saw a shadow. Sometimes the light plays tricks with our eyes in the jungle."

"Yeah, I guess."

As I go back to the beach and grab my towel and bag, there's a rumble of thunder from the dark clouds closing in on the island. "Sure. A shadow. That's all it was. No problem."

Except shadows don't disappear when they realize they've been seen.

···

By the time I finish up dinner, torrential rain is pelting the plate-glass windows as lightning carves up the sky.

"Maybe you should stay here tonight," I suggest as Alba cleans up. "You're going to get drenched if you try to go home in this."

"Oh, I'll be fine. My Luis will be here soon. He'll take good care of me."

We both jump when the back door bangs open, and Luis appears in head-to-toe rain gear. He looks like Captain Nemo if he'd still been on deck when the Nautilus submerged.

He slams the door behind him and stands in the back hallway, dripping onto the tiles. "Okay, so ... it's raining."

Alma laughs. "Really? We hadn't noticed. I'm almost ready to go."

"Actually, I came early to give Miss Holt some bad news." He looks at me with a regretful expression. "I was meant to pick up Mr. Quinn from the mainland an hour ago, but because of this weather, the helicopter is grounded until it passes. I'm sorry."

My heart sinks. "Have you spoken to Liam?"

"No. I tried to call, but I can't get through. As soon as the storm dies down, I'll try again. It seems we won't be able to collect him until tomorrow."

I sigh. Of course this would happen. We haven't seen each other for a quarter of a year, so it's not like I'm dying of anticipation or anything.

Goddammit.

I take a giant mouthful of wine and swallow, hard. "It's not your fault, Luis. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem. If I find out more, I'll call you."

"Thanks."

I feel deflated. I thought I'd finally be going to bed wrapped around my gorgeous man, but it seems I'm soloing it, yet again. God, I'm so tired of sleeping alone.

After Alba and Luis leave, I grab my wine, head upstairs, and go into the obscenely large bathroom to run myself a bath. Might as well make the most of my alone time. I dig through the cabinets to find bath salts and candles, and when the tub is full, I strip off and sink beneath the bubbles. It feels so good, I moan.

As the warm water relaxes my muscles, I close my eyes and listen to the storm raging outside. Knowing my luck, this stupid weather will set in for days, leaving Liam stranded on the mainland for God knows how long.

I wish I could talk to him. He'll be just as disappointed about this as I am. Maybe more. After all, I haven't been the one filming in a frozen wasteland for months. I'm sure he's more than ready for a solid dose of sunshine.

Hearing the wind howl outside, I fear the sun may never shine again.

I'm on the verge of dozing off when there's an extra bright flash of lightning, followed by a deafening crack of thunder. Three seconds later, the lights go out.

"You have to be freaking kidding me!"

With a grunt of frustration, I swallow the rest of my wine and climb out of the tub. This is ridiculous.

Moving carefully by candlelight, I pull on one of the fluffy, white bathrobes hanging on the wall and proceed to brush my teeth so roughly, my gums bleed. Feeling sorry for myself, I take a candle, go back into the bedroom, and climb into bed.

As I sink into the luxurious mattress, I feel like I'm surrounded by emptiness. A giant empty house. A huge empty bed. Empty arms where Liam should be.

I sigh and close my eyes, and I'm horrified when the words from Annie start echoing in my brain:

The sun'll come out ... tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun.

Stuff it, you perky ginger.

He Knows When You're Awake

I don't sleep well. Nightmares
about being held down on a stone altar while
Espírito Vingativo
prepares to sacrifice me to the gods make me toss and turn for hours. The weather doesn't help. Even though the intensity of the storm lessens, the wind continues to howl around the house, making it sound like the island is screaming.

I don't know what time it is when I stagger to the bathroom, but the power is still out and the candles have burned down, so I try not to bump into anything in the darkness.

When I'm done, I head back into the bedroom. Just before I climb back into bed, there's movement out the corner of my eye, and as I turn, I see the outline of a man standing right in front of me.

"Jesus Christ!"

As soon as I open my mouth to scream, the shadow lunges forward and grabs me. My back hits the wall as a huge, wet hand closes over my mouth.

On instinct, I thrash against him, trying to get free, but he's tall and strong, and when he lays his weight against me, I can barely move.

"Hey, calm down. It's me. Shhh. It's just me."

His voice sends goosebumps up my spine the same instant the lightning flashes to give me a better look at his face.

As recognition hits my brain, he lets me go and stands back. "Sorry for the scare. Didn't realize the power was out."

"Oh, my God, Liam!" I throw my arms around his neck, and he pulls me into a tight hug. His hair is down to his shoulders and soaked, and I feel the roughness of his beard as he presses his face into my neck.

"How did you get here?" I ask. "I thought you were stranded until the storm passed."

He tightens his grip and says, "If you think a little bad weather is going to keep me from my woman, then you're underestimating my desperate, pathological need for you."

I notice he's dripping onto the floor. "Wait, did you swim here?"

He chuckles. "Are you kidding? Even ducks are drowning out there right now." He strokes my back. "I might be desperate, but I'm not suicidal."

"Then how?"

"It's a long story, but just in case the Brazilian police come calling tomorrow to track down some crazy American who commandeered a luxury yacht, you know nothing." He pulls back and looks at me. "I can't believe I'm here with you. Jesus, Liss. I can't ..." He shakes his head. "You don't even know how I'm feeling right now. I've missed you so fucking much."

He leans down and cautiously presses his lips against mine. I inhale as a jolt of electricity hits me that's more powerful than all of the lightning outside. While we were apart, I thought I remembered how intense our chemistry was. How being with him lit napalm beneath my skin. I was wrong. Whatever thigh-tingling memories I had of how Liam Quinn affects me were a pale, sad imitation of the explosive, knee-buckling reality.