Echoes From the Mist (3 page)

Kayla was happier than ever than she had made arrangements for her and Liv’s accommodations away from Old Town. Worried green eyes glanced at her in question, and the look on the younger woman’s face reassured her lover

Liv let out a shaky breath, saying a quick mental thank you. The house on Cobb Island loomed very fresh in her memory and she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to relive that experience so soon.
But that’s what Kayla does all the time, right? You don’t see her complaining. She loves her job. And you haven’t given it a chance. So stop bein’ such a baby.

Mr. Keith tore off a piece of bread from a loaf that sat in the center of the table and used the chunk to sop up the juices and blood from his steak tartare. He popped the sodden treat into his mouth.

Liv looked down at her food to block out the vile image. Kayla’s lips formed a thin line and even Glen began to resettle her napkin in her lap rather than watch Mr. Keith eat.

"But there’s a fine line between healthy fun and having rivers of blood running down the walls, wouldn’t you agree, Ms. Hazelwood?"

Liv sighed. Her fork was nearly to her lips when Mr. Keith piped up. Her stomach churned and she nodded her agreement, officially giving up on lunch. "No… er… I’m pretty certain that would not be a good thing."

The man grunted his approval over Liv’s answer and turned to Kayla, who was trying to get a few bites down while he was talking. "I expect that you’ll confirm the existence of something otherworldly, preferably having to do with the body snatchers, Burke and Hare, or perhaps medieval witchcraft. But nothing evil and certainly
nothing
that could be physically dangerous."

Kayla’s blood began to boil. Glen had some serious explaining to do. This man didn’t want a real scientific explanation, he wanted something to put on his brochures for the tourists. She was about to say as much when Mr. Keith added, "Scary sells. Evil repels. And what I saw was clearly the work of something terribly wicked."

*  *  *

Liv and Kayla sat silently in the back seat of the taxi that sped its way down Portobello High Street. The blonde woman’s forehead rested against the window as she watched the houses and shops fly by. Portobello, which was only a few miles from the heart of Edinburgh, dated back to the eighteenth century and was a popular seaside resort. By the early part of the nineteenth century, however, it had been annexed by Edinburgh and was now considered a sleepy hamlet of the city. A bit rundown, it still had its own brand of charm.

Kayla’s eyes closed as she contemplated this assignment and Liv. She sighed. Liv hadn’t said a single word since they’d left The Witchery.
Not that I have to ask but…
"Are you mad at me?"

Liv reached up with one hand and rubbed her temple, pressing against the throbbing pain that had developed there. "Yes, but I’m mostly tired, Kayla."

Oh, boy.
Kayla tapped the driver’s shoulder and he wordlessly pulled over and accepted several crinkled bills from her out-stretched hand.

The women collected their bags from the front seat and began walking downhill along a short road that dead-ended at the beach. The temperature had dropped throughout the day, and a cold wind was blowing in from the gray sea, which was visible several hundred yards away. The sun was gone and a blanket of heavy, dark clouds had settled so low to the ground that Kayla imagined she could feel their weight on her shoulders.

Liv adjusted her bag over her shoulder and stuffed her hands into her pockets for warmth. She could taste the salt of the ocean on the back of her tongue. "I never realized we were so close to the water," she said absently. "Tomorrow I think I should buy a jacket. I should have thought to bring one."

"Hold up." Kayla placed her hand on Liv’s forearm to stop her stride.

It didn’t work.

"Hey." Kayla took several quick steps and moved directly in front of Liv to block her path. "Liv, please."

Liv let out an explosive breath and reluctantly stopped. A gust of wind sent her shoulder-length hair into disarray and Kayla found herself wanting to reach out and smooth down fair bangs.

"What?" Liv asked, her frustration from lunch returning with a vengeance.

"I’m sorry."

"Okay." The word was pronounced precisely. She shifted her bag higher on her shoulder and, cocking her head slightly to the side, looked Kayla dead in the eye. "Anything else?"

Kayla blinked a few times. "Uh… I guess not."

"Let’s go then."

Kayla visibly relaxed. That was easier than she expected. "Great." She scrubbed her face and exhaled a long, deep breath. "That’s great. I was afraid you were really—"

Liv silently walked around Kayla and headed down the street, checking the address plates mounted on each of the old Victorian houses as she moved past them.

Two dark eyebrows disappeared behind equally dark bangs as Kayla eyed Liv’s retreating form.
Okay, it’s not that easy.
She jogged until she had caught up with Liv and was padding alongside her. "I said I was sorry."

Silence.

Kayla threw her hands in the air, her own frustration boiling over. "But you’re still mad?"

"It would seem so." Liv’s voice was flat as she continued to hunt for their Bed & Breakfast, suddenly longing for the tacky but highly effective neon signs that signaled motels back home.

"I don’t know what else you want me to say."

Liv came to a sudden halt at the undertone of uncertainty in Kayla’s voice. "How about an explanation, Kayla? Why didn’t you tell your friend that we were going to work together? That’s seems like sort of a big thing to forget about. And it would have been nice to know I was having lunch with one of your old lovers."

Kayla blinked. "How did you—"

"I’m not a moron." Liv could see Kayla was painfully adrift. "That made me feel really lousy. Like some sort of unimportant afterthought." Her voice cracked on the last word and she knew that her emotions were starting to get a little out of control. Her headache was getting worse, and she was overtired and hungry.

Blue eyes went round with sudden worry. "I…I—"

You’re freaking her out.
Liv winced.
Just talk about it later, when you’re not spoiling for an argument.
"Look, it’s not that big of a deal. You apologized. I’ll get over it."

Kayla couldn’t think of anything to say, so she reached out and slipped Liv’s bag off her shoulder, rubbing the spot where the strap had been. She slung it over her own shoulder where her bag was resting and gestured towards the pale yellow, three-story home just to their right. "This is it," she said softly.

A tiny smile edged its way onto Liv’s face despite her foul mood. "It’s lovely."

Kayla nodded quickly, eager to grab onto anything positive. "See the little garden." She pointed. "And they have a sunroom around back where they grow herbs and flowers, and a patio right on the sand. The owners are really great too. I’ve stayed here several times. It’s close to downtown but…" She looked around, at a loss for words.

"It feels different," Liv finished Kayla’s thought seamlessly.

"Yeah." Kayla’s face relaxed into a smile. "More cheerful."

"I can see that."
She’s really trying. God, I love her.

Not five minutes later, after a short but warm greeting by the owners, Kayla was turning the key to their room. They were on the second floor and she had specifically asked for the room whose large window faced the beach. She loved breathing in the crisp ocean air as she slept and was secretly looking forward to snuggling up with Liv in the room’s small, but comfortable, double bed.

"Oh, Kayla." The room was decorated in a delicate floral-pattern of ivory and pink. It was cozy and painfully clean, the large windows and high ceiling giving it an airy quality that most rooms its size couldn’t pull off. "It’s beautiful."
And not scary and dark in anyway.
"I…" Liv’s words trailed off when her eyes strayed to the bedside table.

Lying across a box of milk chocolates, Liv’s favorites, was a single orchid.

Kayla bit her lip and waited.

You little sneak
. Liv sat down on the bed and opened the box of candy, releasing the delightful scent of chocolate into the air. She all but swooned. Then she brought the fragrant bloom to her nose and sniffed appreciatively. "This was the phone call you made at the restaurant, wasn’t it?"

Liv had excused herself to go to the ladies room near the end of their meal. When she returned to their table, Mr. Keith and Glen were already gone and Kayla was just hanging up her cell phone. She’d been so angry with her that she hadn’t even bothered to ask what the call was about.

"I guess… I mean, yes." Kayla shrugged a little sheepishly. The look on her face reminded Liv very much of a painfully shy adolescent.

Kayla slowly removed the flower from Liv’s fingers and brushed its elegant petals softly against her cheek, smiling at the pink blush it left behind. "You see I’ve met this wonderful woman," she quietly confessed, causing Liv’s heart to melt a little more. "And she’s all I can think about."

Liv fondly ran her fingers through Kayla’s thick hair. "Even when she’s grumpy and acting like a jealous brat?"

"Even then," Kayla said seriously. "Because she does the same for me." She ducked her head and chuckled to herself. "I’m not sure about the scientific reasoning behind it – I suspect an evil combination of adrenaline, hormones and endorphins – but being in love has caused a serious lack of blood flow to my brain." She looked up, then pressed her forehead against Liv’s, bridging the already small distance between them. "There was no sinister reason why I didn’t tell you about Glen or vice versa, Liv. The simple truth is that she never even crossed my mind. It, along with my heart, has been otherwise engaged. I’m sorry."

"I’m sorry for not accepting your apology earlier." Liv tilted her chin up and brushed her lips against Kayla’s, humming at the little thrill the contact stirred in her gut. "Mmm… You’re getting much better at this relationship thingie. You’ve got the making up nearly down pat too. And this is really only our second argument." She thought back to the many cross words they’d exchanged on Cobb Island, then decided those didn’t count. She hadn't really known Kayla then.

Kayla cupped Liv’s cheeks, looking deeply into her eyes. "Thank God." She laughed weakly and flopped back on the fluffy comforter, feeling utterly drained. "Are you as tired as I am?"

"Am I still awake? I find that hard to believe, considering how tired I am." A single pale brow arched over a bleary eye, as Liv plucked a candy from the box and began to chew it with exaggerated slowness. "Oh, God, this is good."

"Yes, you’re still awake," Kayla murmured. She gently took the box from Liv’s hands and put it on the nightstand. "But you don’t have to be."

Wordlessly, the women undressed each other, trading kisses and tender touches that spoke more of love than passion and tasted faintly of rich milk chocolate. The covers were pulled down and they slid beneath the cool sheets. Bare skin met bare skin, prompting twin sighs as the women rolled onto their sides and Liv snuggled back into Kayla’s warm body.

A peaceful sleep stole over them while
two
mysteries, begging to be explored, waited for them across the misty streets of Edinburgh.

K
AYLA’S EYELIDS FLUTTERED open. Sunlight was streaming through the window, painting yellow-gold stripes across the comforter tucked neatly around her and Liv.
It’s tomorrow already? Damn. I guess we were beat.
She didn’t move a muscle though, instead deciding to let Liv dictate when they got going this morning. Kayla was rarely awake before the linguist, and she wasn’t about to waste this precious time when she could simply hold her and think.

So much had happened in the past few weeks. She had gotten to know her sister better and their relationship now seemed like that of true siblings and not girls who just happen to live in the same household as children. With the discovery of the missing family history on Cobb Island, she’d been able to make some remarkable leaps forward with her own telepathic abilities. But as important as those things were, they couldn’t even touch what she’d found with Liv.

Kayla Redding, child genius, introvert extraordinaire, lonely adolescent and lonelier still adult, had actually fallen in love. It baffled her logical mind even as it thrilled her heart and she was torn between jumping up and down like a little kid and weeping. It was wonderful and exhilarating and she’d never been so afraid in her entire life.
I will not blow this
, she swore to herself
. I can’t. Yesterday was unacceptable.
Well, at least part of it.

Time, she decided, was what she needed most. Time to learn how to be part of a team and consider Liv’s feelings. And that, above everything else, was going to be the hardest thing. In her heart of hearts she wasn’t sure she had what it took to really be part of a couple. She’d spent many an hour wondering what exactly would be expected of her and what Liv needed her to be.

Which was funny in a way.… Because despite the fact that
she
was the experienced telepath and Liv was only on the very edge of understanding her own abilities, the blonde woman had quite easily read Kayla from the very start. Liv had insisted that all she ever wanted from Kayla was for her to be herself.
But that couldn’t be enough. Could it?
The concept alone was so alluring Kayla had a hard time believing it could be true
.