Heir of Earth (Forgotten Gods) (28 page)

We lingered there, wrapped together, for what seemed like forever, the pieces of my new reality settling around us. The world still spun on its axis just as before. The moon still shone in the sky. Unsuspecting humans still lived their lives blissfully ignorant of the secrets we’d revealed. I was the only part that had changed. My mind opened willingly to a new existence. As difficult as that should have been, it quickly became as easy as breathing. It was the only way I could keep Dayne.

My old reality fluttered back to me. “Dayne, what about this afternoon?” I hated to bring it up.

“Right.” The memory came back to him, too, but he didn’t look angry. He looked guilty, like a schoolboy begging the principal not to call his father.

He let out a soft whistle and the thud of giant footsteps sounded down the length of the barn’s pitched gables. LeSheen poked his head through the door. This was too much.

“How is he here? He’s…he’s supposed to be dead!” I was relieved but furious that he had deceived me, completely devastating Phin in the process.

I pushed out of his arms, turning to face the giant white horse. To my astonishment, it actually looked like LeSheen was laughing.

“Faye, calm down,” Dayne said as he walked over to LeSheen and placed a hand on the enormous neck.

“No! You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Dayne. Phin is devastated. How is he supposed to find another job?” As much as I hated to argue with him, I couldn’t forget the horrible mess I had left in Clonlea.

“I know I do. Just calm down and listen to me,” he begged. I was quickly learning that I wasn’t capable of telling Dayne no.

I plopped down on the log, arms crossed over my chest in petulant submission. He looked down at his hands. LeSheen stepped fully into the barn and began to nibble at the dregs of hay left in a manger.

“I’m going to give Phin and Lucas their jobs back tomorrow. That was always part of my plan. As soon as you were safely away from Clonlea, I had a plan to find LeSheen and make things right again. Phin’s the best barn manager I’ve ever had.” He walked over and watched LeSheen.

“Ok,” I said, feeling better about Phin. “But why did you need a plan to fake kill your horse?” I swung my legs around, turning to watch him.

“I don’t know if this will make sense to you,” he said, rubbing his hand over his head as he thought, clearly never having explained his world before. “Faye, you call to me. Somehow, someway we’ve connected. That’s never happened to me before. Never.” His eyes went wide to emphasize his point. “I don’t know what it means, or why it’s happened, but it has. You’re in my head and it was getting too hard for me to stay away from you. I’m no good for you, Faye. Ireland’s no good for you. I thought if I got rid of you, you’d be safe.”

A hand flew up over my neck, like he was some hungry vampire wanting to suck my blood. For the first time that night, I felt the danger Dayne wanted me to feel. If he lost control? Changed his mind about not wanting to suck my soul? I would’ve been powerless to stop him.

“No, Faye. Not like that,” his brow furrowed, hating to see how terrified I was of him. “I was afraid I would do exactly what I’ve done tonight.” I nodded encouragingly when my hand fell back to my lap. “There’s something about you, Faye. Ever since that night I saw you standing on a chair watching me arm wrestle, I knew you were different.”

He’d noticed me that night?
I sat there aghast, staring at him, unable to believe he had been feeling the same way about me I had been feeling about him all summer. He certainly had a good poker face.

“Why didn’t you just try it the normal way? Could you not hear what you did to my poor heart every time you came near it?”

“I went to bed every night thinking about it,” he said, pulling at his sleeve to check his watch.

“Listen, Faye. I’ve got all the answers I know you need. But right now? I need to get you home. I can’t freeze time indefinitely.”

“Oh…..right,” I said easily, as if I was used to such things.

A long low whistle whispered out of his lips and LeSheen’s head shot up instantly. The horse snapped to attention like a soldier and trotted over to us. Dayne extended his hand to help me on.

“No way. I’m not getting on him, he hates me,” I shook my head and backed away. I was very glad to see LeSheen alive, but I was not about to go near him.

“LeSheen’s not a normal horse. He’s one of ours. He reads my mind.” He grabbed my hand and placed it on the enormous shoulder. LeSheen’s coat quaked under my touch. “See? He likes you.” The massive animal bowed down at our feet, offering his strong back to me.

I climbed up. Dayne was behind me before I sat down, arms wrapping around me and pulling me to him. He spoke a single word to LeSheen and we were off, no bridle, no saddle.

He moved effortlessly down through the field toward the bus. His white mane flowing in time with the triple beat of his canter, soft as whispered thunder on the distant horizon. It was dream-like, surreal, as if Dayne and I were in another one of our dreams. As we approached the bus I knew we were about to crash into reality again. Part of me was really sad about that.

LeSheen stopped at the bus door, a few paces from the rock that changed my life. I looked up and saw where Dayne and I had shot through the windshield like a bullet.

Dayne jumped down and reached for me.

“I don’t want to, Dayne,” I shook my head, torn by the emotions of seeing where my life would have been if fate hadn’t stepped in and given me the guardian angel Dayne had become.

“It’s okay, Faye,” Dayne said softly, squeezing my hand and leading me up the steps to the quiet interior of the bus.

Inside, I was amazed by what I saw. There wasn’t a drop of blood anywhere. No broken bones or mangled bodies. No one was hurt. They were all…sleeping?

I looked at the bus driver to my left. His body was thrown forward into the steering wheel on impact, but his head lay easily on the steering wheel, the contented smile of sleep on his face. I waved my hands in front of his face to be sure and then looked at Dayne in amazement.

“Don’t touch anyone. You’ll wake them up,” he whispered.

In the first seat a man had his arms stretched out in front, bracing for impact. He was sitting straight up, but he, too, had his eyes closed in sleep.

We made our way down the aisle, ducking around the bags that hung in mid air. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Little pieces of glass hung in the air, glistening like raindrops all around. It felt like we were in a giant snow globe that had just been shaken.

Gravity did not exist inside the bus anymore. The people were frozen in the positions they were in on impact. The scene had stopped, like someone pressed pause on the earth’s remote control somewhere.

Dayne pointed to my bag hanging in the air. I nodded my head. He pulled it away from the ceiling, and it regained its weight. My jacket hung in the air over a woman’s head and I reached up for it.

We turned to leave and a woman caught my eye. She was the only one who looked up at the ceiling; the only one who must have noticed me flying toward the windshield. Her arms were in an odd position as if she had been holding something. I looked under the seat in front of her and saw a tiny newborn baby, swaddled in blankets and lying on the dirty floor.

“Dayne!” I gasped. He followed my gaze and saw the little pink bundle under the seat. Without hesitation, he gently pulled the baby from the floor. She began to cry the minute he touched her.

“Here,” I said holding out my arms for the baby. I took her in my arms, gently rocking her and soothing her. A pacifier lay in the folds of her blanket. I placed it back in her mouth.

The little pink lips closed around it and she was happy again. I handed her back to Dayne. Very carefully, making sure he never touched her mother, he slid the baby back into place. She cooed and giggled at us in the eerie silence.

“Come on,” Dayne whispered and took my hand.

When LeSheen reached the edge of the woods Dayne drew him to a stop and we turned back to the scene below.

Dayne muttered a single word that set the picture back in motion. Screams of fear shot through the darkness, searching calls for loved ones, the crunch of the bags hitting the floor. Life had returned to the bus.

Dayne looked at me. “Ready?”

I nodded my head, knowing that my life would never be the same again.