The Three Fates of Ryan Love (24 page)

“Has anyone ever seen this woman?” Roxanne wanted to know. “What's she look like?”

“She's beautiful,” Sabelle said. “Eternally young and perfectly flawless.”

“Japanese,” Elijah added. “And very beautiful. Not so young, though. I've only seen her in dreams, but she has gray hair and enough wrinkles to make her look about sixty. Around there. Not bad when you consider how old she must really be.”

Wrinkled? Gray?
Aisa?

“She was waiting when I woke up,” Ryan said, staring into the distance. “And when I first saw her I thought the same. Older. Graying and wrinkled. But the longer she was there, the younger she looked.” He turned to Sabelle and touched her cheek. “I may be wrong, but I definitely had the feeling that you were giving her a charge. She was taking something from you.”

Santo stood and paced away. “How do you know about their history?” he asked Joel when he reached the window. Sabelle had wondered the same thing, but last night the revelations had been too fast and devastating for her to stop and ask.

“My dad told me some of it. Aisa stayed with him while she was pregnant. He thought she was a little crazy—a lot crazy—but he didn't care. He'd have loved her if she'd had two heads and one eye. She told him her family had been wiped out by disease and she feared for their child. When I was born, I wasn't breathing. To hear my dad tell it, she disappeared right out of his arms. She was long gone by the time the doctors got my heart beating.”

Joel rubbed the bridge of his nose. “My dad was always going on about her beauty, how she was an angel from heaven. I didn't believe anything he said until I met Elijah.”

They all looked at the other man, who sat calmly listening.

“Elijah can see the past and the future,” Joel finished with a nod. “His dreams go both ways.”

Santo glanced at the black man with interest. “What are you?”

“I beg your pardon?” Elijah asked.

“Dr. Death wants to know if you're human,” Joel said. “The answer is yes. Gifted. Cursed. Human. Take your pick.”

Santo liked this answer. He smiled and his stern, cruel features transformed. Sabelle had a glimpse of what Roxanne probably saw when she looked at this intriguing man.

“I'm with Joel,” Ryan said after a moment. “This isn't just about Sabelle. Aisa planned this down to the last detail. Blowing up Love's. Pretending to be Sabelle's friend so she could give her a warning and show her how to escape. Why bother if the only thing she wanted was to get her back?”

“What else could she be after?” Santo asked.

“I thought it was Joel, too,” Elijah said. “Because of the prophecy.”

“There's a prophecy?” Roxanne said. “What is this? Some kind of twisted fairy tale? Is she going to show up with a poisoned apple next?”

Sabelle almost smiled. Ryan had said nearly the same thing.

“I must be missing something,” Ryan's sister went on. “You two are seers and he's a psychic, but nobody knows what's going to happen next?”

“It's not pay-per-view,” Ryan answered, surprising them all. “She can't see her own future, Joel doesn't want to see it even if he could, and Elijah . . .”

“What I see has to be interpreted,” Elijah said. “As all dreams do. Sometimes it's clear. Sometimes it's clear as mud.”

“But you've seen something,” Roxanne insisted.

“Yes,” he admitted grimly. When Roxanne opened her mouth again, he held up a hand. “Until I understand it, though, I won't be commenting.”

“Why not? Maybe we can help you,” she said.

Elijah's dark skin had a gray cast. Joel leaned closer and gently squeezed his hand, murmuring something that the rest couldn't hear before leveling a look at Roxanne.

“Quit badgering him,” he said.

Roxanne sat back, chagrined. “Sorry.”

Elijah shook his head. “It's me who's sorry. I know it's frustrating, but I have to trust my instincts and they tell me I don't have a clear enough picture to discuss it. The only thing I know for sure is that there
is
a poison apple—metaphorically, anyway. And we need to find it before she does.”

“So you've seen that part?” Roxanne blurted.

Beside her, Santo smiled. “She's like a dog with a bone. It's not in her genetic makeup to simply let go of something once she has her teeth in it.”

He said it like it was a good thing. Sabelle peeked at Ryan from the corner of her eye and caught him grinning in agreement.

“I haven't seen anything that I am sure about,” Elijah said, leaning back in his chair, discomfort in his expression.

Joel watched him closely. “That's what you dreamed about this morning, isn't it?”

“Yes,” Elijah answered, “but there are too many ways to interpret what I saw and none of them made sense. I couldn't see it through to the end.”

He grew quiet, but Sabelle sensed what he was trying to avoid saying.

“Because you might be dead when it happens,” Santo filled in calmly.

“Because I might be dead.”

Joel turned on him. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he said in a low, angry voice. “When were you going to tell me?”

“When I knew for sure.”

“When would that be? When you're six feet under?”

“Or when I was sure,” Elijah said tightly. “At this point, I don't trust anything I see.”

Joel's face was pale except for the two red flags over his sharp cheekbones.

Santo leaned back in his chair and turned those black eyes on Sabelle.

“You escaped with a reaper?”

She nodded.

“Your plan to get back includes another reaper?”

Warily, she nodded again.

“Me?”

“If you'll help me.”

“Oh, hell no,” Roxanne interrupted. “I'm sorry, Sabelle. You seem like a very nice woman—being—whatever you are, but Santo and I have fought the Beyond already. He's earned the right to stay here. He's not for hire.”

“Do you know how to kill her?” Santo asked Joel.

“Pretty sure.”

“That doesn't inspire confidence.”

Elijah shrugged. “It's the best we can do.”

“Does anyone but me think this is a poorly constructed plan?” Santo asked.

Ryan laughed and Sabelle heard all the complex emotions that hid behind the mirth. So did his sister.

“Believe it or not, I'm on your side on this one. Before anyone goes anywhere, we need to know what she's really after and how to stop her. For good.”

“I agree,” Sabelle said.

“Me, too,” Elijah offered.

Joel gestured with his hand. “Yeah.” He looked at Santo. “Can you still do it?”

“By
it
, do you mean move between the Beyond and this world?” Santo asked coolly.

“Yep, that's what I mean.”

“Reapers were created for that purpose.”

“The way I hear it, you're not a reaper anymore.”

Santo's smile made Sabelle shiver. “Now I am something other.” His black gaze moved from one face to another. “A distinction it seems we can all claim.”

Joel laughed. “You're a funny guy.”

“Don't encourage him,” Roxanne muttered.

“But can you still do it?” Ryan insisted.

“Like riding a bike,” Santo answered.

“You can't honestly be considering this,” Roxanne exclaimed. “Any of you. This crazy lady is trapped in the Beyond. You all agree she can't get out.”

“She can do a lot of damage from there,
angelita
,” Santo said.

“Going back into the Beyond can do a lot of damage to
you
, Santo.”

“You'd rather I let your brother fight this battle on his own?”

All eyes turned to Ryan. He still leaned against the counter, watching the conversation like it was a spectator sport. He didn't answer so Sabelle spoke up.

“It's not Ryan's fight,” Sabelle said. “It's mine.”

“And you believe he'll let you fight it alone?” Santo asked.

Ryan shot Santo a surprised look, as once again, the two men seemed to see eye to eye.

“He's right. Besides, it's not just your fight, Sabelle. Not anymore. She made it mine, too, when she threatened my family. When she threatened
you
. When she blew up Love's. She wants a fight. I'm ready to bring it.”

Sabelle's vision blurred. “You should walk away from this, Ryan. Go home before she takes that away from you, too.”

Ryan pushed away from the counter and knelt down in front of her, his weight balanced on the balls of his feet. He put his big, warm hands over hers and waited until she met his gaze.

“It's our fight now, snowflake. I'm not going home without you.”

Her tears breached her lashes and spilled down her cheeks. Ryan brushed them away and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Roxanne looked on with her mouth open and Sabelle laughed as Santo leaned over and used his finger to push her jaw up and close it.

“We need to make a game plan,” Elijah said. “Not here, though. I can feel her in the air now. We need to go someplace new. She'll be sending more than birds next.”

No one questioned the certainty in his voice. Sabelle sensed it, too, that hard, tainted feel of Aisa hovering like a spider from a sticky, silken thread.

“You can follow us to our place,” Santo said, and Roxanne's tremulous smile told them all how much his offer to let these strangers and her brother into their home meant to her. “It's about ten miles east. We'll go as a caravan. Keep up.”

S
abelle sat in the passenger seat, watching the brilliant reds and greens of sandstone and pine zip past. Brandy sat right behind her, ears perked as she fogged up her window, occasionally smearing it with her wet nose. She and Ryan drove behind Joel and Elijah. Roxanne and Santo had the lead in their black SUV.

Civilization seemed to be a million miles away as the road twisted through red-stained sandstone spires rising up over uneven ground and sudden ravines. A coyote dashed across a clearing with something limp and furry dangling from its mouth. A lone bird with an impressive wingspan glided beneath the low ceiling of thundering clouds. Ryan had both hands on the wheel as he fought the buffeting wind to keep the vehicle on the road. Rain looked to be a certainty.

“What is
that
?” Sabelle asked softly, looking across the rugged landscape to where a cloud of swirling red and brown seemed to be building ahead on a plateau.

“Dust devil,” Ryan answered. “Welcome to Arizona.”

Lightning split the churning atmosphere in huge strikes followed by thunder that shook the ground. The rain came all at once and in sheets, mixing with the thick ocher silt that coated the windows and obscured their vision.

Their low-slung car hit a patch of slick mud and skidded sideways. Ryan fought the momentum, tapping the brakes and gripping the wheel, but this vehicle had been built for racetracks, not rough terrain. It nearly slammed into a rising ridge before he got it back to the road. The wipers smeared mud on the windshield, but Sabelle could make out the white pickup fishtailing in front of them. There was no place to pull over so Ryan shifted down to a crawl while the storm rocked them like a rowboat on an ocean.

Lightning struck just ahead, followed a split second later by another, inches from Sabelle's door.

At the same time, the sound of sirens shrieked from behind. Sabelle turned to see flashing blue and red lights racing toward them. When she faced forward again, she saw more police cars in the distance, coming from the other direction.

Grimly, Ryan squinted at them. “That can't be good. Ten bucks says Aisa sent them.”

Sabelle agreed. Aisa seemed to get some twisted satisfaction from using law enforcement to do her bidding.

Ryan peered out the streaked windows as the vehicles drew closer, his head on a swivel as he tried to see everything at once. Sabelle did the same. On a ridge up to their right, lightning struck a tree and it burst into smoldering flames, tumbling from the cliffside and into the road, missing Roxanne and Santo by inches, but making both Joel and Ryan swerve, braking and turning as the two vehicles spun out of control. They came to a stop straddling the lanes. The sirens still screamed as they closed in, the rain still pounded against the roof and sides of the car, but it was a different sound that cut through the rest and made Sabelle look around in alarm.

The fallen tree had left a muddy gash in the ridge and now water gushed out of it with rising power and ferocity. The banks disintegrated under the onslaught and suddenly a wall of water burst from the side of the mountain, tearing up trees and slamming into rocks as it hurtled toward them.

Ryan reached for Sabelle as it plowed into the car, propelling them off the road, over the side, and into a ravine. It happened so fast that Sabelle barely had the chance to scream before they were careening nose first into a chasm that seemed never-ending. Brandy barked wildly, crouched on the floor behind their seats.

Something caught the car's undercarriage as they plunged, slowing their descent but not halting it. Through the window, she saw the white pickup leapfrog over them and roll a few times before it bounced into the gully, landing on its roof with a loud
boom.
The roar of the floodwaters swallowed all other sounds. Ryan's car hit the ground so hard that they left their seats and crashed forward into tightened seat belts and the punch of air bags before it settled awkwardly on its wheels.

Sabelle couldn't move, couldn't catch her breath. Ryan reached for her, winced at the jerk of the belt, and fumbled to get out of it. He was breathing heavily, hands clumsy. At last he was free and cupping her face.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“You sure?” he asked, but his voice sounded thick, his words slurred. He shook his head and blinked his eyes. Blood trickled at his temple.

“Ryan, you're bleeding.”

She reached for him but he was already turning away. Brandy popped up from the floor, favoring one leg but other­wise unharmed. Ryan ran a gentle hand over her paw. She didn't yelp when he touched it. He murmured a few words to calm her down.

Mud coated the glass completely, turning the interior of the car into a cave. She couldn't see out. Brandy gave her a nervous look and whined. The car had stalled and the windows wouldn't roll down, so Ryan cracked his door, looked out, and quickly closed it again.

“We're caught half on the bank, half in a gully filled with water. We need to get out on your side while we can.”

Sabelle nodded, but in truth she was afraid to get out. It had felt like they'd plunged for an eternity. Another world might be waiting outside.

“Come on. It'll be okay.”

The door opened upward at an angle and Sabelle struggled to keep it open while she climbed up and out. She made it and then held the door so Brandy could crawl out, too.

“Do you see the pickup?” Ryan asked.

Sabelle looked around and shook her head.

The car creaked ominously as Ryan wedged his weight around the steering wheel and maneuvered over the seats.

River water rushed across the banks of the gully. In the time it took Ryan to get out, it had risen past the tires. Still, the rain fell in huge, cold sluices, freezing them to the bone. Ryan balanced on the car and jumped to the embankment. Braced, he helped Sabelle across. Brandy had a slight limp but leapt on her own and landed gracefully.

Ryan turned in a circle, scanning for the truck. He cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled, “Joel!” An instant later he pointed at the white bed of the pickup poking from behind another downed tree that dammed the racing floodwaters in the ravine. The truck was flipped on its roof and filling fast.

Slipping and sliding, Ryan hurried over. Inside the truck's cab, the two men hung by their seat belts, trapped in the cab. Joel was conscious but wedged in by the door, seat, and steering wheel. Elijah's eyes were closed, his face bloody.

“I can't reach my seat belt,” Joel said, helplessly trapped.

Ryan eased around the hood of the truck while Brandy stood on the bank and barked. Sabelle didn't know how she could help, but followed closely, ready all the same. Inside the cab, water poured through the broken windows and doorjambs. It was almost up to Joel's head.

Ryan tried the door but it wouldn't open.

“Joel, I'm going to have to get you out from Elijah's side.”

“Do it. Help him first.”

The current was manic now and harder to fight as they circled back to the passenger side. Ryan tried that door, managed to get it to unlatch, but it only opened enough to let water in. Cursing, filled with desperation, they worked to clear the debris as the water rose so quickly it was up to Elijah's forehead before they succeeded.

Ryan reached in, used his shoulder as a brace, and unfastened both of their seat belts. He caught Elijah and pulled him out. Joel clawed his way after them and helped Ryan heave Elijah onto the embankment. Sabelle scrambled up, hooked Elijah under the arms, and dragged him back from the edge while Ryan and Joel climbed through the mud to join her.

Exhausted, they collapsed beside Elijah's prone body. Joel went up on his knees and pressed his ear to Elijah's chest.

“He's still breathing, but it sounds bad. Something's gurgling. Jesus, what happened?”

Ryan tilted his head back and stared at the washed-out road above them, tracking the path of the landslide down to the gully. The damage had taken out the road as far as they could see. On either side of the gulch, police cars lined up—three on either side. Roxanne and Santo stood among them.

“They're probably calling in for help right now,” Ryan said, pointing.

It didn't look like they were calling for help, though. It looked like a fight was going on. Roxanne was waving her arms. One of the officers seemed to be standing aggressively close. Joel's focus centered on Elijah, but Ryan noticed the discourse above, too. He met Sabelle's gaze with a taut expression.

The rain finally eased from a torrent to a downpour, but the water still surged in the gully. It breached the makeshift dam made by the truck and downed tree and jetted over the undercarriage, churning up whitecaps and debris as it rushed by. Sabelle felt to her bones that something greater than a storm had them in its eye.

“He said there was a flood in his dream,” Joel muttered. “He wouldn't tell me anything else. Dammit, he knew something was going to happen and he didn't tell me.” Joel's eyes were red and the tough-guy exterior crumbled beneath his worry. “Where the hell is that ambulance?”

“Do you have a cell phone?” Ryan asked.

“Somewhere in the truck.”

Which was now completely underwater. Ryan tried to wipe the mud from his face but only succeeded in adding more. “I'm going to try to get close enough that they can hear me. Make sure they know we have injuries.”

“Make sure they know? We just dropped into a fucking ravine. Of course they know,” Joel shouted. He took a deep breath. “I'm sorry. Please. Tell the morons to get us help.”

Ryan nodded and stood, pulling Sabelle to her feet. They moved as close as they could, but it was still too far away. The argument going on up there had escalated and no one seemed particularly interested in the people trapped at the bottom. They both tried shouting but no one heard them.

Frustrated, Ryan returned to Joel and Elijah, holding on to one another as they slipped in the muck.

Suddenly, Ryan stopped, turned Sabelle around, and took her chilled face in his hands. He stared at her for a moment, his gaze moving over her hair, her brow, her lips. He kissed her quickly and fiercely, the feel of his lips unexpected and more welcome than any reassurances he might have spoken. She didn't question his timing or motives. She simply sank into it and let his taste and touch soothe her.

When he pulled back, it seemed he had things to say. Things she desperately wanted to hear. After a moment, he shrugged. “When this is over . . .”

“Yes.”

To whatever it was.

His eyes smiled into hers as he took her hand again and returned to Joel.

At the older man's questioning look, Ryan shook his head. “We couldn't hear them, they couldn't hear us.”

Joel cursed beneath his breath as Ryan surveyed their options. The force of the water had moved asphalt, cracked the road's surface, and twisted the safety barriers as they powered through. It barreled down the narrow chute of the ravine, churning up debris and carrying it like spoils. Even if they found a way across it, they'd never manage to scale the steep incline to the damaged street where the police lights flashed red and blue.

Ryan turned to look in the other direction. Sabelle followed his gaze and saw a thick mist bubbling out of the earth, cloaking the ravine, obscuring them from the ridge and the road. In a blink, it became fog so thick that it seemed to pin them down.

Brandy's ears swiveled, her head hung low. She didn't make a sound, though, and that alarmed Sabelle as much as agitated barking would have. Suddenly it seemed very dark. Too dark for the time of day. Lightning spidered across the clouds and thunder boomed to the north, yet they stood in a pocket of vacuous quiet.

The skin at Sabelle's nape prickled and she spun to find a woman standing just behind them, dressed in a simple gown of pale blue fabric. A servant's uniform. Ryan turned quickly and Joel looked up, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. He angled his body over Elijah's while Brandy bared her teeth and growled.

“Nadia,” Sabelle said.

Nadia smiled and opened her arms in greeting. The gesture was so wanted, so familiar that Sabelle nearly answered it. But the eyes stopped her impulse. Nadia's eyes had always been a warm and faded blue. Now their color was more vibrant and a lot colder. By degrees, Nadia's features began to blur and the familiar, loved face of her friend vanished.

If Sabelle had doubted Joel's theory that Nadia was simply Aisa's illusion, she doubted no more.

A petite Japanese woman with a vicious smile stood in Nadia's place. The baggy blue jeans and worn Arizona sweatshirt wasn't the woman's usual style, but Sabelle would recognize Aisa no matter how she appeared. Aisa had a timeless beauty that would never fade, but Ryan and Elijah hadn't been mistaken. She'd aged and withered drastically since Sabelle had last seen her. The change in her was all the more shocking given that she presented herself in illusion. Why did she appear as an old woman instead of her usual youthful beauty?