Everafter (Kissed by an Angel) (11 page)

I’m under the boat—trapped beneath,
she realized. She pushed off with her feet, then kicked and pulled with her arms, swimming sideways, not up, holding the last gasp of oxygen in her lungs until it was unbearable.
Angels!

Lighter—it was lighter over there. She swam for the gray area. Surfacing, she opened her mouth to drink up air. Rain poured down her face.

“Who’s there?” Ivy cried out. “Anyone?”

“Here!”

It was Dhanya, floating in her life vest, several feet away. White foam hissed down the sides of the waves between them. Ivy swam toward her.

“Dhanya? Ivy?” Max called out.

“Over here!”

“Keep together!” he shouted.

“Help me! Somebody help me! I can’t hold him.”

“Kelsey!” Ivy called back to her.

The sea’s sickening heave continually shifted her horizon. Then she saw Kelsey struggling to hold on to Bryan, who was slumped in her arms, unconscious. Ivy swam to her. It took forever, the waves pushing her back. “Put one arm around me, so we can keep him between us,” Ivy said.

“Where’s Chase?” Max shouted.

“Chase!” Dhanya cried out. “Oh God, he’s gone.”

“Stay with Ivy,” Max ordered her, then took off
swimming, stopping every few feet to call Chase’s name. “Found him!” he yelled at last.

Ivy couldn’t see either guy. With the rough seas, it was all the three girls could do to keep Bryan’s head above water.

“Turn him on his back,” Ivy said, “so his body will float.”

They did, and Ivy gasped. There was a long, bloody gash on Bryan’s temple. His green eyes were wide open, his mouth slack, his body limp.
He’s dead,
she thought. A queer feeling passed over her—horror but relief. Bryan was dead.

Then his body convulsed and he started spitting up seawater.

“Hold tight!” Kelsey begged the others.

Bryan coughed in violent spasms. When his body finally grew quiet again, he closed his eyes. The second time he opened them, it was still raining, but the worst of the storm had passed. Max had towed Chase, semiconscious to where the others were floating and holding on to one another, half in shock.

Suddenly, Bryan pushed away from them. Treading water, he grinned, as if glorying in the strength of his arms and legs. He raised one fist above the sea. “Alive!” he shouted, then threw back his head and laughed up at the stormy heavens.

“Bryan, stay close,” Max warned.

“Yes, Captain,” Bryan replied cheerfully, and swam close to Ivy. Holding on to her life vest, he whispered in her ear, “Vengeance is mine.”

AUNT CINDY STRODE TOWARD THEM. “MY HAIR’S
going to be snow white by the end of this summer,” she said, pushing back a swath of it that showed just a few silver strands. She looked from Ivy to Kelsey to Dhanya, who were sitting three abreast in the ER waiting room. Beth and Will had rushed in behind her.

“The Coast Guard briefed me,” Aunt Cindy went on. “I
am
glad you all had the good sense to wear life vests.”

Kelsey glanced sideways at Ivy; Ivy kept quiet.

“Next time, before boating, try checking the marine forecast!”

“But the squall came up really quick,” Kelsey argued with her aunt. “We weren’t the only ones caught by surprise.”

“Like I said, I’ll be snow white by next month.”

“How’s Chase doing?” Beth asked. “And Max and Bryan?”

Ivy filled them in. When Max rescued Chase, Chase was halfway out of his life vest and shifting in and out of consciousness. He was physically stable now, but confused, and undergoing tests. Bryan had received stitches and was being checked for a concussion. “They may be keeping both of them overnight.” For a few hours, Ivy thought, she and her roommates would be safe.

Ivy had already been cross-examined by Chase’s father, who was now talking to Max’s dad and Bryan’s uncle. Mr. Holloway had refused to believe that his son was at the helm when the boat flipped over. Aunt Cindy headed across the waiting room to talk to them.

When her aunt was out of earshot, Kelsey turned to Ivy. “Thanks for not telling.”

Ivy nodded.

“About the life vest, I mean. And thanks for making me wear it.”

Ivy nodded a second time. Every nerve in her body felt tightened and plucked, like the strings of an instrument.

“You mad at me?” Kelsey asked.

“Yes.”

But Ivy was more than mad. She was frightened—for Kelsey, the others, and herself. Kelsey had been hanging all over Bryan on the way to the hospital—hanging all over a murderer possessed by a demon.

“I couldn’t help it. I was drunk.”

“You can help being drunk,” Ivy replied, her voice shaking. She struggled to regain her composure. “Kelsey, when you drink you make yourself vulnerable. Anyone who wants to take advantage of you, can.”

“Like Bryan?” Kelsey asked with a smile.

“Anyone!” Ivy snapped. “Why do you want to be out of control? Why do you want to let
someone else
control you? That’s what happens, you know!”

Kelsey was silent for a moment. “It’s fun . . . as long as I’m with somebody I trust.”

Ivy knew that an argument against trusting “Bryan” would make him all the more appealing. “And if
that
person is drunk and out of control?”
And a demon
, she thought.

“Ivy, you’re going to bore your college friends to death.”

Ivy wanted to throttle her. She stood up abruptly and walked away, pushing through the automatic door to the
hospital parking lot. Outside she took deep breaths of the evening air.

It hadn’t rained in Hyannis; the storm was just an afternoon squall that had nicked the elbow of Cape Cod. Had Gregory caused the storm, or had he simply taken advantage of it? What did it matter, she told herself, the result was the same.

“Ivy,” Will said, catching her arm lightly. He and Beth had followed her outside. “What really happened?”

She had to tell them, she thought. They needed to be on guard and to help her protect Kelsey.

“Was Gregory involved?” Beth asked.

Ivy took a deep breath. “He was in Chase.”

“When the boat overturned,” Will guessed.

“Yes. Bryan, the real Bryan, died in the accident.”

Beth’s hand went up to her mouth, muffling a scream.

“Gregory is in Bryan the same way Tristan is in Luke. Bryan’s body is Gregory’s now.”

Will swore. “It’s going to be Gregory and Suzanne all over again! Ivy, be careful. You remember how Gregory used Suzanne to get at you.”

“We all have to be careful.” That warning was enough, Ivy thought; she didn’t need to endanger Beth and Will by revealing information about Bryan’s crimes.

Will glanced at Beth. “I think you should tell Ivy about your vision.”

“So that’s coming back too!” Ivy said. Beth was truly herself again, with her psychic gift as well as her writing.

“When we were paddling today, I kept seeing an image in the water.” With her finger Beth made a circle. “A snake swallowing its tail.”

“What does it mean?” Ivy asked.

“You know how it is with these visions,” Beth replied. “When interpreting them, all I have to go by is a feeling.”

“Which is?”

“I think that things are coming full circle. Be aware, Ivy. Somehow, your battle with Gregory will come back to where it started.”

WHEN IVY FINISHED WORK TUESDAY AFTERNOON
and was returning to the cottage with Kelsey, she found Dusty on the front step, his eyes dilated, his tail whipping back and forth.

“What’s gotten into him?” Kelsey asked.

“I don’t know,” Ivy said, then a chill ran up her spine. Nudging Dusty out of the way, she yanked open the screen door.

Bryan lay stretched out on the girls’ sofa. “Hey,” he said, and lifted the soda he’d helped himself to. “Can I fix you girls something to drink?”

Max, who was sitting on the chair near the sofa, must
have read the unwelcoming expression on Ivy’s face. “I told him we should wait outside.”

Ivy felt invaded, but Kelsey hurried past her and threw her arms around Bryan. He sat up laughing.

“You look a mess!” Kelsey said.

A bandage covered the gash on his temple. With all the blood last night, Ivy hadn’t noticed the bruising, which covered his cheekbone down to his jaw.

Bryan met Ivy’s stare. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“How are you feeling, Ivy?” Max asked.

“Okay,” she answered shortly. “You?”

“Not much in the mood for boating,” he replied with a wry smile.

He looked tired, and his eternal tan had turned a funny shade of brown, as if he had gone pale beneath it.

“Max has been playing nurse,” Bryan said. “I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

Kelsey sat down on the sofa with Bryan. “I can take over for a while.”

“It’s a concussion,” Max informed them. “Uncle Pat sure wasn’t happy. Bryan can’t be on the ice till his symptoms disappear—can’t risk falling and doing more damage.”

“So I’m on vacation,” Bryan said cheerfully.

It wasn’t good news. Bryan’s hours at the rink were the only time Ivy felt as if she could let down her guard.

“What are your symptoms?” Kelsey asked.

“I get a little confused.”

“A little! Uncle Pat just about lost it,” Max said, “when Bryan called him
Pete
.”

“He thought I was faking it.”

“Were you?” Ivy asked.

Bryan leaned forward and grinned at her. “What d’you think?”

Kelsey pulled him back. “I think that you remember what you want to.” She rested her legs on his lap. “And you had better remember me. We’ve already had one convenient amnesiac this summer.”

“Whoa! I hadn’t thought about that!” Max said. “It’s kind of eerie, two guys pulled out of the water off Chatham, both knocked silly. But at least you know who you are, Bryan.”

Bryan glanced sideways at Ivy. “I do.” Then he turned back to Kelsey. “What did you say your name was?”

She gave him a smack on his arm, and he and Max laughed.

Ivy studied Bryan. When Tristan had taken over Luke’s dead body, Luke’s mind and spirit had passed on completely. Tristan had had no access to the memories of Luke. So wouldn’t Gregory have the same problem? But Gregory had been lurking about since the night of the séance, so he’d had plenty of opportunity to learn things about Bryan. There’d be slip-ups here and there,
of course, but he’d muddle through, especially with the excuse of a concussion. What exactly did Gregory know about Bryan’s crimes? Enough to continue Bryan’s threats against “Luke”?

“So guess where I’m going for vacation,” Bryan said.

“You’re leaving the Cape?” Kelsey asked, frowning.

“Leaving
my friends
?” Bryan grinned at Ivy. “No. I’m staying at Max’s house and enjoying his toys.”

And the perfect freedom that the situation would give him
, Ivy thought,
with no restraints from Uncle Pat or the job
.

“Lucky me,” said Max.

Bryan gave Kelsey a little push off the sofa. “Come on, let’s roll, babe. I’m tired of sitting around.”

“Just give me a minute to change my shirt.”

“Meet us at the car,” Bryan said, and tossed Max the keys. As Max exited, Bryan turned back. “Ivy,” he said in a voice so soft and so close to her face that she half heard him, half read his lips. “Tell Tristan thanks for the tip.”

“THE TIP?” LACEY ASKED, REPEATING IVY’S WORDS.

Tristan said nothing. He had given up trying to reach Lacey earlier that evening and was a little annoyed when the angel showed up immediately after being called by Ivy. The three of them sat at a large dining table in front of a set of sliding doors at the Steadmans’ summer home. The light of a round moon silvered the deck outside, and beyond that,
whitened the meadow of sea grass. Ivy had opened the sliding door and pulled the vertical blinds back a few inches to let in a salty breeze.

“What was he talking about?” Ivy asked. “Did Gregory come here?”

Lacey’s eyes widened. “He came and you told him who you were?”

Tristan felt cornered; he knew they weren’t going to like his answer. “I went to Chase’s house Sunday night.”

“Tristan!” Ivy chided.

“I can’t sit here and do nothing, Ivy! I promised Philip I’d take care of you.”

Lacey jumped in quickly: “Don’t blame Philip. You know what’s at stake.”

For Tristan, the only thing at stake was losing Ivy. “At first,” he said, “Gregory didn’t know who I was. He tried to take over my mind.”

“Then he realized he was up against something not quite human,” Lacey guessed.

Tristan nodded.

Lacey turned to Ivy. “This is getting scary.”

“No,” Tristan argued, “it’s getting better. With both of us trapped in a body, it levels the playing field.”

Lacey looked at him as if he was crazy. “What—you think this is some kind of sport?”

“The thing is, Tristan,” Ivy said, “you were
placed
in
Luke’s body. But Gregory managed to do this on his own.”

“Exactly,” Lacey declared. “Which means he is gaining dangerous powers.”

Tristan shook his head. “Gregory’s not that smart or that powerful. He hears the same voices as I do. The voices must have told him how.”

“Let me get this straight,” Lacey said. “You’re feeling all upbeat and confident because the voices, which told a demon how to do something that only God is supposed to do, also have a hotline to you!”

Tristan pushed back from the table. He wasn’t afraid—it was time to act. “The fact that Gregory is now inside Bryan makes it easy for me,” he said, standing in front of the double doors, gazing out at the tall grasses and the sea beyond them. “Now, finally, destroying Gregory will mean simply killing a murderer.”

“No!” Lacey cried. “Destroying Gregory will mean destroying yourself. It doesn’t matter what he or Bryan has done. If you kill him, you’ll damn your own soul.”

Tristan saw Ivy close her eyes. In the moonlight she looked pale. “Tristan,” she said, her voice quavering, “the goal is not to destroy Gregory. The goal is for you and me to be together.”

Don’t you see?
Tristan wanted to shout at her.
Gregory will never allow that!
But for a moment she looked so fragile, worn thin by fear.