The Deepest Cut (8 page)

“Her name begins with an L,” Anne Marie said, her breath coming out in a fog.

It was all I could do to hold onto Anne Marie’s hand. She felt freezing cold to the touch. “My neck hurts something fierce,” she said, her brows furrowed. “My throat feels tight, like I can’t breathe.”

I glanced at Miss Akin, whose eyes were wide open now. She tried to give a reassuring smile but it came off more as a grimace.

“Do you hear that?” Anne Marie asked, her eyes opening as well.

“I don’t hear anything,” I said, a sense of foreboding coming over me. “I just sense a dark presence.”

“She’s saying something over and over again,” Anne Marie said. “I’m havin’ a hard time making out the word.”

My heart roared in my ears. Anne Marie looked at me abruptly. “I think she’s saying

your name, Riley. Yes, that’s it. Do you know a young woman in spirit whose name begins with an L?”

I nodded, afraid of what was coming.

“What does she want?”

“Why are you here?” Anne Marie asked.

The table lifted a few inches off the floor and fell back down with a clatter.

Miss Akin gasped, and we all dropped hands.

A knock sounded from the front door, and then on the wall right behind Miss Akin.

Knocking started on every wall, coming from all over the house at once.

“Sweet Jesus,” Miss Akin said, her eyes wide with fear. I had the feeling she had gotten a lot more than she’d expected. I wanted to tell her that she hadn’t seen anything yet, but I didn’t want to scare her.

Anne Marie jerked—and then she looked at me and didn’t so much as blink. “Do not help him.”

It didn’t sound like Anne Marie’s voice at all, but a much younger voice. Someone my age. My throat tightened. Could it be Laria? I wondered with a sick feeling.

Miss Akin must have caught the voice thingy too, because she scooted closer to me.

“What do you mean, Anne Marie?”

Anne Marie turned to Miss Akin and her head tilted. She continued to just stare and Miss Akin gasped, “Anne Marie?”

The corners of Anne Marie’s mouth lifted in a creepy smile before she turned back to me. “Forget him, Riley…or else.”

The candle blew out and the curtains ripped open by themselves. Miss Akin let out a startled scream and put a hand to her chest. “Bloody hell––I don’t think I’ll be doin’ that again anytime soon.”

Anne Marie blinked a few times, looked at me, and then at Miss Akin. “What happened?”

Oh my God…was she serious?

“You don’t remember?” I asked.

Anne Marie shook her head, glancing at Miss Akin. “I think I need to go home and rest, dear. I’m completely knackered out and my head hurts somethin’ fierce.”

Miss Akin had a concerned expression on her face, but she nodded. “Yes, that might be for the best. I’ll see you home.”

“Don’t be silly. I’ll be just fine. It’s nothing a little nap won’t cure,” Anne Marie said with a reassuring smile.

“Are you sure?” I asked, following behind as she and Miss Akin walked slowly toward the front door. I felt someone in back of me—totally in my personal space, and I turned…only to find the room empty.

I didn’t like feeling at such a disadvantage.

“I’ll call you later,” Anne Marie said, before shutting the door behind her.

Miss Akin turned and looked at me, eyes wide. “I’m so sorry, my dear. I honestly had

no idea things would turn out in such a way.

I thought perhaps she’d ask a few questions, but I would have never—”

Someone pounded on the door and we both jumped and let out startled gasps.

“Goodness me, I don’t think my heart can take much more of this,” Miss Akin said before she whipped open the door.

Staring back at us was Shane, a strange expression on his face. “Why was the door locked?”

“Oh, I’m sorry about that, my darling,”

Miss Akin said, fidgeting with the doorknob.

I must have locked it by accident when my friend left.”

“Yeah, I saw her. I think she left skid marks in the driveway.”

I didn’t doubt it.

Miss Akin cleared her throat. “Would you like some lunch?”

“Sure,” Shane said, glancing into the parlor. “It smells like smoke in here.”

“I lit a candle,” I blurted, and Miss Akin took the opportunity to head for the kitchen.

There was a part of me that wanted to tell him that our mom had come through, but chances were he’d think I was crazy. Plus, I didn’t want to chance it. What if Anne Marie had done her homework to begin with, and what about Laria? How could she have made all those knocks and sounds throughout the house? And what about the voice that had come out of Anne Marie? It had seemed so real, and what she had said about not helping
him
. She had to be talking about Ian.

It was just all too much to absorb.

Shane ran a hand through his hair as he walked toward the staircase. He was on the first step when he turned to me. “Did you have a friend over last night?”

I shook my head. “No…why?”

“I could have sworn I heard you talking to someone.”

My heart skipped a beat. He had obviously heard me speaking with Ian. “Maybe I was talking in my sleep.”

“No…it was like a full-on conversation,”

he said adamantly. “You were talking to someone just like we are right now.”

I swallowed hard. I had spent too many months with people thinking I was mental, my own family included. “I didn’t have anyone over, so I must have talked in my sleep.”

He opened his mouth, ready to argue, but I darted past him and ran upstairs. “See you at dinner.”

Ian grabbed my hand, his fingers sliding
over and through mine. His touch felt incredible, sending a jolt of exhilaration up
my spine.

“
I want to show you something, Riley.”

His smile made me feel all wobbly inside,
and my heart thudded against my chest as
we walked across a meadow, the scent of
heather so strong.

“
Where are we going?” I asked, elated to
be with him again.

His lips curved. “It’s a surprise.”

We started walking up a hill, and then Ian started to run, his laughter contagious.

“
Come on, you are lagging behind.” His
grip on my hand tightened. “We’re almost
there.”

The wind became stronger the higher we climbed, the trees whipping with the force. I could see we approached the top of the hill

and what appeared to be a sudden drop-off.

He must have sensed my hesitation to continue, because he stopped and grinned. “I wanted you to see this.”

“
See what?”

“
Close your eyes.”

I closed my eyes, trusting him completely.

He turned me so my back was to him, his hands resting on my shoulders, his breath hot against my neck. I liked the feel of his body against mine, so close, and it was all I could do not to turn in his arms and hug him tight.

“
Open your eyes, Riley.”

I opened my eyes and my pulse skittered.

Below me I could see the entire village, the school, the inn, the cemetery, and the castle.

I couldn’t believe the incredible view, stretching as far as the eye could see. Green grass, trees, the river that curved through the small town. “It’s breathtaking.”

He nodded. “I can spend hours up here.”

I didn’t blame him. It was a place you could go to be alone…to think, to put things in perspective.

“
This is my home, Riley. My prison.”

I glanced back at him and my stomach turned seeing the pain in his eyes.

“
This is where I am to spend all eternity…and I can no longer bear it.”

His hands dropped from my shoulders, and he turned and walked toward the ledge.

“
Ian—”

He stared at me, and then stepped off.

I sat up in bed, my heart racing.

“It was just a dream,” I said to myself, reaching for the glass of water on the nightstand. The dream had seemed so real, but thank God it hadn’t been. I didn’t want Ian to go away—not when he had been the first person I could talk to in what seemed like forever.

I turned on my bedside lamp.

“You called out my name.”

I nearly dropped the glass. Ian had to stop doing that. Granted, it was nice knowing he was around when I needed him, but seriously… “Yeah, I had another dream.”

He grinned, that irresistible smile that made my insides all fluttery. “You dreamt about me?” His voice held an arrogant edge that had me rolling my eyes.

“Yes, and you jumped off a cliff.”

He placed a long-fingered hand flat against his chest. “Ouch, lass.”

His brilliant blue eyes held a warmth that made my toes curl. No one had looked at me in that way since Katie Jones’s thirteenth birthday party when I’d played the game,
Seven Minutes In Heaven
, and been forced into a closet with Stevie Steinway.

It had been the longest seven minutes of my life.

I wouldn’t have minded seven minutes in a closet with Ian MacKinnon though, I thought with a shiver.

Ian’s gaze shifted to something above my head. I followed his gaze to the charcoal drawing of Mt. Hood, a mountain that had been visible from the living room of our house in Portland. I had drawn nearly all my life—practically from the time I could hold a pencil in my hand.

He came closer, still admiring the drawing, and I used the opportunity to stare at him, amazed at how every time I saw him he was even more beautiful than before.

“Such a lovely drawing, Riley. You’re talented, lass.”

“Thanks,” I said, pleased by the compliment. “I drew it when I was fourteen. My mom entered it into a contest and I won first place.” I can still remember how proud both my parents had been, displaying the drawing

and the blue ribbon on the fridge for all to see.

“My mother enjoyed painting with water-colors,” he said, pride in his voice. “She would spend hours at the easel.”

“Do you, or—
did
you have any hobbies?”

“Of course. I enjoyed hunting…fishing…fencing…archery.”

I smiled. “You sound like a man’s man.”

He laughed under his breath, his wide grin making my heart skip. “A man’s man, hmm? I will have you know that I also enjoy poetry.”

Now that surprised me. I would have never pegged him as a poet. “Really?”

“Yes, and I also enjoyed reading novels…when time allowed.”

“When you weren’t hunting, fishing, fencing, or shooting your bow.” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm from my voice.

“Exactly.” A smile teased the corners of his mouth. “What about you? What other hobbies do you enjoy?”

“I used to dance. My mom enrolled me in my first class when I was five.”

“And yet you don’t dance any longer?”

“No. It was strange because I woke up one day and I was over it.” My loss of interest in dance had only been part of the reason I quit, but mostly because I’d fallen in with Ashley and the wrong crowd. Our little group considered anything that didn’t have to do with partying completely lame. Everything I had been passionate about had gone by the wayside.

“Life is too short to live with regret,” he said softly.

I lived with regret every day of my life, and I doubted that would change anytime soon. “Do you have any regrets?” I asked, anxious to turn the tables on him.

He shook his head. “No.”

I lifted a brow. “Oh come on…everyone has regrets.”

His shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Honestly, I had a good life, and all the hardships I en-dured only served to make me stronger.”

I wish I could say the same, but I didn’t feel stronger from the hardships I had en-dured. Instead, I felt broken.

“Can I ask you something personal?”

“Of course. You can ask me anything,” he said, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

“Did it hurt to die?” I blurted, not wanting to dredge up bad feelings for him, but I was curious as to what my mom had gone through.

“Yes, there was pain, but it passed soon enough.”

It wasn’t the answer I wanted, and I instantly regretted having asked it. “I’m sorry.”

He ran a hand through his silky hair, and I have to admit that I ached to touch the strands for myself—to feel the texture

against my fingers. I wondered if he couldn’t read my thoughts because he continued to stare at me, his gaze searching my face.

My mouth went dry. I recognized the heat in his stare. It was the same heat I felt rushing through my veins whenever I looked at him.

He suddenly glanced at the clock, as though there was someplace else he had to be. “Seriously, it is late and you need your rest.”

“I’m not tired.” I didn’t want him to leave already. “Will you stay with me for awhile?”

“I’ll stay for a bit—at least until you fall asleep.”

“You’ll come tomorrow?” Oh my God, I was sounding borderline desperate, kind of like a needy girlfriend.

When I glanced at him, his gaze had shifted downward, making me aware that all I was wearing was a royal blue cami and boy cut undies.

As I watched him watch me, I wondered what it would feel like to kiss him.

“Yes, I’ll see you later today,” he said softly, resting a hand on my leg.

I wished there wasn’t a comforter and sheets between us.

“Goodnight,” I said, trying to get my racing heart to slow down.

“Goodnight.” Ian’s voice was silky smooth, and his hand didn’t move from my leg as he bent and kissed my forehead. “Now go to sleep, Riley.”

“Riley, you’ve got company!” my dad called from downstairs.

“Company?” I set the book aside, checked my reflection in the mirror and wondered if I should change from my T-shirt and sweats into something nicer.

Deciding against changing, I headed down the stairs, and was surprised to see Megan and another girl, who I hadn’t met before, standing in the entryway.

“Ah, here she is,” my dad said, looking elated that I had company. He had come home early for a change, but had gone straight to his study. Now he lingered, much to my annoyance.

“Hey Megan,” I said, giving my dad a look that said to please go away. “What’s up?”