Fear (18 page)

“Gaia, listen,” Ed interrupted with an oddly grave tone to his voice. “I'm at the hospital. St. Vincent's. It's Heather, Gaia. Something's happened to Heather, and—”

“What?” Gaia cut him off. “What do you mean? What happened? Did someone—”

“She wants to talk to you, Gaia,” Ed interrupted again, sounding so disturbingly serious. “She wants you here
now.
Just you and me, she says. Can you get here now? You've got to get here now.”

Gaia was at a complete loss for words. Except for the one word that had suddenly begun to sting her brain.
Josh.

Josh had hurt Heather somehow. That's what it had to be. Just like Gaia
knew
he would. And Gaia had done nothing to stop it. Sure, she'd tried to talk some sense into Heather, to warn her, but Heather seemed to have given in completely to some kind of chemical imbalance. She'd succumbed to these weird fits of violence and paranoia and all kinds of bizarre delusions of grandeur. But Gaia should have cut through it somehow. She could have cut through it. She was strong enough.

Déjà vu had never felt so sickening.
Gaia had been through all this before with Heather. There had been another chance to warn Heather all those months ago—to
save
her, and she'd completely screwed that one up, too. She'd let her own pride get in the way, and it had ended up getting Heather slashed in the middle of Washington Square Park. And now here they were again. Heather was back in the hospital, and
somehow,
one way or another. . . Gaia knew it was her fault. Again.

Gaia managed to control the overwhelming wave of guilt washing over her long enough to answer Ed's question. If Heather wanted Gaia there, then Gaia would be there. She absolutely deserved every bit of punishment that Heather wanted to dole out, which was surely why Heather wanted so badly to see her.

“I'm coming,” Gaia said, a cold chill running down her back. “I'm leaving now.”

“Okay,” Ed said. “I'll tell her.”

The phone went dead before Gaia could say another word. Oh God. Ed must hate her even more than Heather did. He and Heather must be sitting in that hospital room cursing the day Gaia Moore set foot in that school. And they'd have every right. The Curse of Gaia Moore had spread like a deadly virus to the far reaches of Gaia's world. She was responsible for all of it. So many people's pain. Now she was just praying that Heather would be okay—that she could survive the curse.

“I have to go,” Gaia said, rushing for the door.

Tatiana flashed her a pained glance.

“It has
nothing
to do with me and Ed,” Gaia assured her. “I swear.” Gaia wanted to bring Tatiana with her, but Ed had made it abundantly clear that Heather only wanted to see Gaia, and Gaia wanted to be damn sure to respect Heather's wishes.
Too little, too late,
she chided herself as she opened the door. Still, something felt very wrong about leaving Tatiana alone in the house.

“Look,” Gaia said, trying to figure out some way to bring her along. “Do. . . do you want to come with me?”

“No,” Tatiana mumbled, keeping an entire couch cushion pressed to her chest. “I want to stay here. I don't want to move. You do what you have to. . . .”

“I swear this isn't about Ed,” Gaia said again, trying to figure which person in her life was making her feel the guiltiest right now. It was a tie. Between all of them. “I'll be back as soon as I can.”

“Just go,” Tatiana said.

“I'm
going.
Just do me a favor, okay?”

“What?” Tatiana grunted.

“I want you to lock the door,” Gaia said. “I want you to lock all the doors, close the shades, and steer clear of the windows, okay?” Tatiana did not answer.
“Okay?”
Gaia pushed.

“Okay,” Tatiana agreed reluctantly, curling up even further.

“Okay,” Gaia said more calmly. “I'll be right back.”

Gaia closed the door behind her and headed for the stairs. But she held up in the middle of the hallway and waited until she heard Tatiana lock the door. It gave her at least a moment of relief. But only a moment. Because the facts were still the facts.

Gaia and Tatiana had nearly died, and Heather was in the hospital. Loki's mind games were over.
He was way past his convincing double-talk and his cryptic little schemes.
Sometime in the last hour. . . he'd gone on the warpath. Either that or he'd lost what was left of his mind.

Don't miss any books in this thrilling series:

FEARLESS™

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#2 Sam

#3 Run

#4 Twisted

#5 Kiss

#6 Payback

#7 Rebel

#8 Heat

#9 Blood

#10 Liar

#11 Trust

#12 Killer

#13 Bad

#14 Missing

#15 Tears

#16 Naked

#17 Flee

#18 Love

#19 Twins

#20 Sex

#21 Blind

#22 Alone

#23 Fear

Super Edition #1: Before Gaia

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

First Simon Pulse edition September 2002

Copyright © 2002 by Francine Pascal

Cover copyright © 2002 by 17th Street Productions, an Alloy, Inc. company.

SIMON PULSE

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Fearless™ is a trademark of Francine Pascal.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2002101035

ISBN: 0-7434-4401-9

ISBN: 978-0-7434-5284-7 (ebook)