The Hollow (37 page)

As the discussion started immediately, Gage slipped off to follow Cybil into the kitchen. “What's got you spooked?”

“Oh, I don't know.” She poured herself a generous glass of cabernet. “Must be the death and damnation.”

“You don't spook easy, so spill.”

She took a small sip as she turned to him. “You're not the only one who gets previews of coming attractions.”

“What did you see this time?”

“I saw my best friend die, and the death of the woman I've come to love and respect. I saw the men who love them die trying to save them. I saw your death in blood and fire. And I lived. Why is that worse? That I saw everyone die, and I lived.”

“Sounds more like nerves and guilt than a premonition.”

“I don't do guilty, as a rule. On the plus side, in my dream it worked. I saw the bloodstone whole, resting on the Pagan Stone under the light of the full moon. And for a moment, it was brighter than the sun.”

She took a long, quiet breath. “I don't want to walk out of the clearing alone, so do me a favor. Don't die.”

“I'll see what I can do.”

Nineteen

OUTSIDE, UNDER THE DIM LIGHT OF THE WAXING moon, Layla kissed Fox good night. And that brush of lips slid into a second, soft and seductive as the night air. “I just think I need to stay here tonight.” But she melted into him for another. “Cybil's edgy, Quinn's distracted. And they've been poking at each other. They need a referee.”

“I could stay.” Gently, he grazed his teeth over her bottom lip. “Back you up.”

“Then I'd be distracted. I'm already distracted.” With a little groan, she eased away. “Besides, I have a feeling you'll be going to Cal's. The three of you are going to want to talk this over.”

“It's a lot.” He ran his hands down her arms. “You're up for it.”

“That wasn't a question.”

“No. I could see it. I can see it now.”

Very little could have pleased her more than that single, almost casual, vote of confidence. “Time to take the next step. And by the way, I need tomorrow off.”

“Okay.”

“Just okay?” She shook her head. “No what for, or who the hell's going to run the office?”

“Three or four times a year—that was the limit—we could take a day off school. We just said, I don't want to go to school tomorrow, and that was okay. Never had to fake sick or sneak a hook day in. I figure the same applies to work.”

She leaned into him, arms around his waist, hands linked together. “I've got a terrific boss. He even sends his parents in to check on me when he's out of the office.”

Fox winced. “I may have mentioned that—”

“It's all right. In fact, it's better than all right. I had a nice chat with your mother, then one with your dad—who dazzles me a little because you look so much like him when you smile.”

“Number One O'Dell Charm Tool. Never fails.”

She laughed, leaned back. “There's something I should tell you before you go. I've been working it out in my head for a while now, then today, when I was talking to your father, something occurred to me. Why was I working on it so much? Why couldn't it just be? Because, well, it is.”

“What is?”

“I'm in love with you.” She let out a half laugh. “I love you, Fox. You're the best man I know.”

He couldn't find words, not with so much blowing through him. I love you, she said, with a smile that made the words sparkle in the dark. So he lowered his brow to hers, closed his eyes, and gave himself to the moment. Here she was, he thought. Everything else was details.

Then tipping her head back, he kissed her brow, her cheeks before laying his lips on hers. “You're telling me this, then sending me home?”

She laughed again. “Afraid so.”

“Maybe you could just come over for an hour. Make it two.” He kissed her again, deeper, and deeper. “Let's go for three.”

“I want to, but . . .”

Even as she started to yield—what was an hour or two when you were in love—Gage came out of the front door. “Sorry.” He glanced at Fox, cocked his head. Fox nodded.

“How do the two of you manage to have a conversation without speaking?” Layla wondered as Gage strode down to his car.

“Probably has something to do with knowing each other since birth. I'm going to ride with him.” Fox caught her face in his hands. “Tomorrow night.”

“Yes. Tomorrow night.”

“I love you.” He kissed her again. “Damn it, I've gotta go.” And again. “Tomorrow.”

When he walked to the car, his mind was too full of her for him to notice the dark cloud that smothered the moon.

LEAVE IT TO QUINN, LAYLA THOUGHT, TO FIND the perfect bridal boutique. Every minute of the two-and-a-half-hour drive had been worth it once they'd arrived at the charming three-story Victorian house with its stunning gardens. Layla's retailer's eye noted the details—the color schemes, the decor, the fussily female sitting areas, the oh-so-flattering lighting.

And the stock. Displays of gowns, shoes, headdresses, underpinnings, all so creatively contrived, made Layla feel as if she wandered along a wedding cake, with all its froth and elegance.

“Too many choices. Too many. I'm going to choke.” Quinn gripped Cybil's arm.

“You're not. We've got all day. God, have you ever seen so much white? It's a blizzard of tulle, a winter forest of shantung.”

“Well, there's white, and ivory, cream, champagne, ecru,” Layla began. “I'd go for the white with your coloring, Quinn. You can pull it off.”

“You pick one. That's what you do—did—right?” Quinn rubbed a hand over her throat. “Why am I so nervous?”

“Because you only get married the first time once.”

Quinn poked at Cybil and laughed. “Shut up. Okay.” She took a steadying breath. “Natalie's setting up the dressing room,” she said, referring to the shop's manager. “I'll try on what she's picked out. But we're all going to pick at least one gown each. And we have to vow to be honest. If the gown sucks on me, we say so. Everybody, spread out. Dressing room, twenty minutes.”

“You'll know yours when you see yourself in it. That's the way it works.” But Layla wandered off.

She looked at lace, silk, satin, beads. She studied lines and trains and necklines. As she stood, eyeing a gown, visualizing Quinn in it, Natalie bustled over.

Her cap of salt-and-pepper hair suited her gamine face. Small, black-framed glasses set it off. She was tiny and trim in a dark suit Layla imagined she chose to contrast rather than blend with the gowns.

“Quinn's ready, but doesn't want to start without you. We've got six gowns to start.”

“I wonder if we can add this one.”

“Of course, I'll take care of it.”

“How long have you been in business?”

“My partner and I opened four years ago. I managed a bridal boutique in New York for several years before relocating.”

“Really? Where?”

“I Do, Upper East Side.”

“Terrific place. A friend of mine bought her gown there just a few years ago. I live—lived—” Which was it? Layla wondered. “Um, in New York. I managed a boutique downtown. Urbania.”

“I know that store.” Natalie beamed. “Small world.”

“It is. Can I ask what made you leave I Do and New York, open here?”

“Oh, Julie and I talked about it endlessly over the years. We've been friends since our college days. She found this place, called me and said, ‘Nat, this is it.' She was right. I thought she was crazy. I thought
I
was crazy, but she was right.” Natalie angled her head. “Do you know what it's like when you find the customer exactly what she wants— exactly what's right. The look on her face, the tone in her voice?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Triple it when it's your own place. Should I take you to the dressing room?”

“Yes, thanks.”

There was tea in delicate china cups in a spacious room with a tall triple mirror and chairs with needlepoint cushions. Paper-thin cookies waited on a silver tray while blush pink lilies and white roses scented the air.

Layla sat, sipped, while Quinn worked her way through the selections.

“It doesn't suck.” Cybil pursed her lips as Quinn turned in front of the mirror. “But it's too fussy for you. Too much . . .” She circled her hand. “Poof,” she decided.

“I like the beadwork. It's all sparkly.”

“No,” was all Layla said, and Quinn sighed.

“Next.”

“Better,” Cybil decided. “And I'm not just saying that because it's the one I picked out. But if we're considering this the most important dress of your life, it's still not ringing the bell. I think it's too dignified—not quite enough fun.”

“But I look so elegant.” Quinn turned, her eyes shining as she watched herself in the triple glass. “Almost, I don't know, regal. Layla?”

“You can carry it with your height and build, and the lines are classic. No.”

“But—” Quinn blew out a breath that vibrated her lips.

After two more tries and rejections, Quinn took a tea break in her bra and panties. “Maybe we should elope. We could go to Vegas, have an Elvis impersonator marry us. That could be fun.”

“Your mother would kill you,” Cybil reminded her as she broke one of the delicate cookies in two and offered Quinn half. “So would Frannie,” she added, referring to Cal's mother.

“Maybe I'm just not built for the gown kind of thing. Maybe a cocktail dress is a better idea. We don't have to go so formal and fussy,” she said as she set down the tea and picked another gown at random. “This skirt is probably going to make my ass look ten feet square.” Her glance at Layla was apologetic. “Sorry, this one's your pick.”

“It's your pick that counts. It's ruching—called a pickup skirt,” Layla explained.

“Or we could just go for completely casual, a backyard wedding and reception. All this is just trappings.” She spoke to Cybil as Layla helped her into the dress. “I love Cal. I want to marry Cal. I want the day to be a celebration of that, of what we are to each other, and to what the six of us have accomplished. I want it to symbolize our commitment, and our happiness, with a kick-ass party. I mean, for God's sake, with all we've faced, and are going to face, one stupid dress doesn't mean a thing.”

As Layla stepped back, she turned around. “Oh my God.” Breathless, she stared at herself. The heart-shaped bodice of the strapless gown showed off strong, toned shoulders and arms, and glittered with a sprinkle of cut-glass beads. The skirt fell from a trim waist in soft ruches of taffeta accented with pearls.

With her fingertips, Quinn touched the skirt very lightly “Cyb?”

“Well, God.” Cybil knuckled a tear away. “I didn't expect to react this way. Jesus, Q, it's perfect. You're perfect.”

“Please tell me it doesn't make my ass look ten feet square. Lie if you must.”

“Your ass looks great. Damn, I need a tissue.”

“Remember everything I just said about the dress and the trappings not being important? Now forget I said any of that. Layla.” Quinn closed her eyes, crossed her fingers. “What do you think?”

“I don't have to tell you. You know it's yours.”

SPRING BROUGHT COLOR TO THE HOLLOW WITH greening willows reflected in the pond at the park, with the redbuds and wild dogwoods blooming in the woods, along the roadsides. The days lengthened and warmed in a teasing preview of the summer to come.

With spring, porches gleamed with fresh paint and gardens shot out a riot of blooms. Lawnmowers hummed and buzzed until the smell of freshly cut grass sweetened the air. Kids played baseball, and men cleaned their barbecue grills.

And with spring, the dreams came harder.

Fox woke in a cold sweat. He could still smell the blood, the hellsmoke, the charred bodies of the doomed and damned. His throat throbbed from the shouts that had ripped out of him in dreams. Running, he thought, he'd been running. His lungs still burned from the effort, and his heart still drummed. He'd been running through the deserted streets of the Hollow, flaming buildings around him, as he tried to reach Layla before she . . .

He reached over; found her gone.

He leaped out of bed, snagging a pair of boxers on the run. He called out for her, but he knew—before he saw the door standing open, he knew where her own dream lured her.

He was out the door, into the cool spring night, and running, just as he'd run in the dream. Bare feet slapping in a wild tattoo on brick, asphalt, grass. Fetid smoke hazed the deserted streets, stinging his eyes, scoring his throat. All around him, buildings roared with flame. Not real, he told himself. The fires were lies, but the danger was real. Even as the heat scorched his skin, as it seemed to burn up through the bricks to sear his feet, he ran.

His heart hammered even when he saw her, walking through the false flames. She glided through the smoke, like a wraith, the mad lights from the fires rippling over her body. He called, but she didn't turn, didn't stop. When he caught her, yanked her around to face him, her eyes were blind.

“Layla.” He shook her. “Wake up. What are you doing?”

“I am damned.” She almost sang it, and her smile was tortured. “We are all of us damned.”

“Come on. Come home.”

“No. No. I am the Mother of Death.”

“Layla. You're Layla.” He tried to push himself into the haze of her mind, and found only Hester's madness. “Come back.” Chaining down his own panic, he tightened his grip. “Layla, come back.” As she fought to break free, he simply locked his arms around her. “I love you. Layla, I love you.” Holding tight, he drowned everything else, fear, rage, pain, with love.