Masquerade (43 page)

Thinking fast I moaned and caught the
nurse as she brushed past me. “I don’t feel well.”

She stopped and turned to me, her face
softening. No doubt I looked horrible, so my lie appeared true.
“Did you get some pain meds yet?”

“
Yes, they made my stomach
upset,” I gagged and lurched forward at her.

She jumped back, stumbling a bit.
“I’ll get the trash can.” She hurried over and grabbed the bucket
and thrust it at me.

“
Thank you,” I responded
weakly. “Could I have some ginger ale and some crackers? It might
settle my stomach.”

The nurse patted my hand and ran from
the room. I tossed the trash can down and looked over at Sam. He
lifted an eyebrow. “Pretty convincing.”

I shrugged. It wasn’t all
an act. The thought of anyone finding out he was different made me
nauseous
.
He
appeared before me and I blinked.

You have to go.
The idea really made me feel like
barfing.

No, I don’t.

The nurses are going to
want to check you out.

I’ll handle it.

Just then Grandma ran into the room.
“Oh, Heven, honey, what happened?”

Sam went back to where he’d been
sitting before. “I’m sorry, Grandma, I wrecked your car.” Seeing
her made my eyes fill with tears. Up until this point I think shock
kept me from feeling overly emotional about everything that had
happened tonight.

“
Don’t worry about the car.
How are you?”

“
Okay, a little shaken up.
I’m not hurt too bad.” I sniffled. Lucky for me most of my injuries
were healed when Airis brought me back to life. I was still bruised
up and my body really hurt, but at least I was alive. Thankfully a
good amount of the blood that I lost had been washed away with the
rain. Having that much blood all over me would have looked
suspicious considering my lack of injuries.

She grabbed my face and kissed me,
brushing the hair away from my face. I looked up to smile and
reassure her, but her eyes went wide and she gasped.

“
What?”

Your scars are gone. They
disappeared
when Airis brought you back to
life.
Sam
hurried
to say.

“
What happened to your
scars?” Grandma whispered.

My hand flew to my face. It was smooth
and flat. I felt around again and again. I looked up at Grandma.
“They’re gone?”

She nodded.

“
I want to see.” I jumped
down off the gurney. My legs felt like Jell-O and wouldn’t hold me
up, but Sam appeared, slipping his arm under me for
support.

“
You have good reflexes,”
Gran murmured.

You didn’t tell me!
I told Sam as I headed for the bathroom and the
mirror.

I forgot.

How could you forget
this?

I never see your scars
when I look at you.

When I was in front of the mirror, I
took a breath and looked up.

They were gone.

I wasn’t disfigured
anymore.

I burst into tears.

“
Bring her out here,”
Grandma told Sam from the bathroom door.

“
Wait!” I cried. Lifting my
head from his chest, I stared back at my reflection. He kept a hand
at the small of my back as I stepped closer to the mirror. My skin
was splotchy from all the crying I’d done in the past few hours…but
the scars were gone. I stared at myself, at the face I’d wished for
since the accident, the face I’d always had – except it wasn’t me
anymore.

What’s the
matter?

I looked in the mirror at
Sam who stood behind me.
I don’t recognize
myself.

I do. You’re
beautiful.

I burst into tears again.

“
Come lie down,” Grandma
ordered.

Sam led me out of the tiny room and
all but lifted me onto the gurney. Instead of going back to his
chair, he sat beside me. His body heat and scent calmed me. I loved
him so much that I would go through everything we’d just gone
through again just to be here with him.

“
What happened?” Grandma
asked from the foot of the bed.

“
It was raining really
hard, and the car just hydroplaned. It was dark, and I ran off the
road.” After Airis had sent us back to the scene of the accident,
we called the police, and the ambulance brought us here to the
hospital. While it hadn’t been raining when I wrecked the car, it
did start right after, so I didn’t have to stretch the truth too
far. “I called Sam while I was waiting for the ambulance, right
after I called you.”

“
Well, thank you for
coming, Sam.”

“
Anything for
Heven.”

The nurse bustled back in carrying
some crackers and a ginger ale. Her eyes bounced back and forth
between me and Sam.

“
Hello,” Grandma said,
drawing her attention away from us. “Is that for Heven?”

“
Yes, ma’am.”

I turned to Sam, “Would you mind
getting me some ice for my soda?”

He frowned.
I stay with you.

It will get you away from
nurszilla over there for a minute.

He looked like he might
protest.

I’ll be fine.

He nodded and rose from the bed.
“Could I get you some coffee?” he asked Grandma.

“
Well, yes. Thank you, Sam.
Decaf, please.”

His eyes returned to me
before he ducked out, and they flashed gold.
I’ll be right back.

I smiled and waved. When he was gone I
turned to my grandma and the nurse. “How much longer do we have to
be here?”

The sooner we got out of there the
better.

“
If you could have any
super power, which one would it be?”

“
Uh…”

I giggled, “I guess you already kind
of have a super power.”

“
I wish I was
normal.”

“
I love you the way you
are.”

He shifted beneath the
covers in my bed to face me. It was late and I didn’t think we’d
ever get here. It took me awhile to convince everyone I was fine,
and then I’d had to ride home with Gran and Sam was left to find
his own way (Grandma thought he had his truck at the
hospital,
and we let her believe it). I
know it made him crazy to let me go off with her alone, but there
was no other choice. Once we got home I took a quick shower and
then stood in front of the mirror staring at my new face. The face
I had to die and then be brought back to life by an angel to get.
It was all so unreal, and every time I caught a glimpse of myself,
I did a double take. I didn’t recognize myself. How could I not? I
looked like this all my life and only spent ten months disfigured,
so how did that girl become more familiar to me than this one? It
wasn’t like I was unhappy to have this face back because I was
happy. It just felt strange, to get back something that I lost,
something I had learned to accept.

Sam shifted beneath the blankets,
bringing my attention back to him. “I didn’t think I would ever
hear those words from you.”

“
I love
you,” I whispered. Just saying those words spread joy
throughout my body.

“
I love you,
too.”

I scooted forward, and he
wrapped me in his arms. It’s like my body knew exactly where to go
and where each
part of me fit perfectly
against him. My eyes drifted closed at the familiar safety I felt
only with him. For the first time all day I relaxed. “Sam? I’m not
sure I want super powers or to be a Supernatural
Treasure.”

“
According to Airis you
have always been a Supernatural Treasure, so it shouldn’t be
anything new.” I heard a smile in his voice and looked
up.

“
Do you think this is
funny?” I couldn’t help but smile.

“
No,” he said, running his
fingers through my hair. “But I can’t bring myself to be upset that
you are a Supernatural Treasure, if you weren’t you might not be
alive.”

“
When you put it that way…”
I said, tucking my face into his neck. He smelled good.

“What kind of power do you
think I will have?” I said after a minute of us just lying there
quietly.

“
I don’t know.” Then he
laughed. “Maybe you’ll get x-ray vision.”

“
You
might want x-ray vision, but
I
don’t.” I said,
grinning.

He lifted his head and looked down at
me, wagging his eyebrows. “You never know what you might
see.”

I laughed. He pulled a pillow over our
heads. “Shhhh.”

I giggled. “Sorry.”

It felt so good to laugh
and just be together, especially after dying then coming back to
life. We lay there for a while in our own little bliss, and I
prayed nothing would break the moment. Of course, it did. I had
almost forgotten about the after effects of Airis ‘awakening my
abilities’ until another
tremor licked
through my body. It started in my legs and worked all the way up
through my head, and then it was gone. It made me a little queasy
and a little dizzy. I pressed closer to Sam.

“
What was that?” he
asked,
pulling back to look at
me.

I clutched at him, bringing
him close once more. “I’ve
been feeling
them all night. It’s like an after effect of
whatever she did to me.”

“
Why didn’t you say
something?” His was voice concerned.

“
I didn’t want to worry
you.”

“
I’m supposed to protect
you.”

“
It’s like your official
job now.” I giggled.

“
I wasn’t so
good at it tonight.”

“
But Airis didn’t hurt me,”
I protested.

“
I’m not
talking
about Airis.”

“
You mean China.” A little
bit of fear burned in my belly, and the image of Gran’s smoking car
flashed in my head.

“
Did you kill
her?”

He made a sound in his throat. “No.
She ran off, and I let her go because I was worried about
you.”

“
She’s still out
there?”

“
Don’t be afraid,” he
whispered, “she’s not coming back tonight. She’s injured pretty
bad.”

“
But she will come
back.”

“
Yeah.”

“
What are you going to do?”
I anticipated his answer and it made me nervous.

“
Kill her.”

While I didn’t mind so much about her
dying, I did mind that Sam would be doing the killing. I didn’t
want him to have to do something like that for me.

I will do anything for
you.

I can’t believe that God
wants you to kill someone to protect me.

Maybe that’s why I was
chosen. Hellhounds don’t have a problem with sin.

I gasped out loud and my hands gripped
his shirt. “Don’t say that. They chose you.”

Because I love you and
would do anything for you.

Yes. But you’re a good
person, Sam.
I yawned loudly.

Sleep, you’re
exhausted.

But I haven’t asked you
about what we’re doing now.

Talking through our
thoughts?

Yes. Do you know
how?

China told me about it
once. She thought it was a myth associated with being a hellhound.
It’s called a ‘Mindbond.’ Hellhounds can only do it with one person
during their lives. It is very strong and even distance cannot
break this communication.

You mean we’ll be able to
do this forever, no matter what?

Yes.

Pleasure bloomed in the
center of my chest.
You can’t do this with
anyone else?

I felt him smile.
No.

I can sleep now.
I was smiling too.

Sweet Dreams.

I love you

We slept

Chapter
Twenty-Four

Heven

The sheets felt rough against my skin.
Even though they were made of fine cotton, every movement I made
against them felt like sandpaper. I moved again, looking for
something to ease the feeling, and brushed up against something not
as soft as the sheets; its rough texture surprisingly something I
wanted more of. I moaned, but the sound was instantly swallowed by
a pair of soft, moist lips capturing my own. Again and again they
moved against mine, eliciting a delicious ache in the center of me.
Curious and hungry at the same time, I reached out to touch more of
this sensation, to pull it closer. I encountered more cotton –
sandpaper to my skin. In protest I tried to rip it away and soon it
was gone and a delicious warm weight settled over me. My lips moved
deeper, my tongue traveling out, finding something to dance with. I
pressed my body closer, moving with rhythm against the only thing
that could make this ache inside me go away.