MySoultoSave (20 page)

Logan blinked at the plates. “Well, at least it’s chocolate.
I think.”

“So it could still be mud.” The pie looked as unappealing as
it sounded—ragged wedges of pale brown crust with dark brown sludge oozing from
them, topped with irregular blobs of white foam. A fork protruded drunkenly
from Logan’s piece and a spoon lay alongside his, half thrust into the soupy
filling.

Shrugging, she plucked the fork free and scooped up some of
the mess. “Let’s find out.” She hesitated, braved a bite and then flashed a
satisfied smile. “Definitely chocolate,” she said.

“If you say so.” He picked up the spoon. It took a few
tries, but he managed to get some of the pie into his mouth.

As bad as it looked, the taste of it was pure bliss.

Logan was watching him, her eyes crinkled in amusement.
“Good?”

“Incredible.” He had to force himself not to cram the entire
plateful into his mouth at once. How had he never discovered chocolate? First
Dove, and now this—it was almost too much of a good thing.

He ate quickly, and when Logan claimed she couldn’t finish
hers, he polished that off too. When both plates were empty, he leaned back
with a contented grin. “What else do they have here that’s chocolate?”

She laughed. “I think that’s enough for now. Trust me, your
stomach will not thank you if you eat any more.”

“Very well. Then we should have chocolate for breakfast.”

“I’ve created a monster.” She sipped at her water and
favored him with a curious look. “You’ve really never tried chocolate before?”

“I…”

“Excuse me, folks. I’m sorry to interrupt.”

The male voice startled Jaeryth and at the same time
relieved him. At least now he wouldn’t have to answer the question. He turned
to see the young man from the kitchen standing nervously a few feet away,
attempting to look as if he wasn’t staring at Logan. He wore an apron similar
to the waitress, but his was straightened and tied neatly, and absent a
nametag.

“Hello.” Logan smiled at him. “Did you make the pie? It was
really good.”

“Nah. We get those from a bakery downtown.” He shuffled his
feet, cleared his throat. “So, um, I don’t usually do stuff like this,
but…you’re Logan Frost, right?”

“Yes,” she said slowly, shooting a worried glance at
Jaeryth.

“Good. Yeah.” A clumsy smile spread on the young man’s face.
“I caught your show earlier—well, sort of. I mean, the place was full, but I
hung around outside. You guys kicked ass. I’m Matt, by the way.”

“Thanks, Matt. I’m Logan…but I guess you know that.” Her
cheeks flushed pink, but the worry left her features. “And this is Jaeryth.”

Matt offered a wave. “Hey, man. Nice to meetcha.”

“Likewise,” he said, feeling strangely flattered to be
referred to as ‘man’ in such a friendly fashion—as though this Matt had just
welcomed him to the human race.

“So anyway. Um.” Matt wiped his palms on his apron and
glanced over his shoulder. In a lowered voice he said, “Look, I’m sorry about Melody.
She’s been real down lately. Working here sucks, you know? And I was
wondering—” Another glance back. “She’s a big Ruined Soul fan. She wanted to
hit the Pelican tonight, but she had to work a double and she missed your
Saturday show too. Same reason. If I tell her who you are, think you could say
hi to her, maybe sign an autograph or something? It’d make her night.”

Logan’s smile was bright as the sun. “I’d love to.”

“Really?” Matt let out a breath and his rigid stance
relaxed. “Thanks. You’re awesome. I’ll be right back with her, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

When Matt went through the door, Logan grabbed her water and
drank half the glass at once. “Holy crap,” she said. “Twice in one day. Is this
crazy or what?”

Jaeryth couldn’t help smiling. “Not at all,” he said. “It’s
natural that they love you. You are amazing.”

“So are you.” She set the glass down and laid a hand over
his. “Thanks for being here with me. I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather
spend tonight with.”

He held back a shudder of pure emotion. “Nor can I.”

Matt chose that moment to reemerge, with a reluctant Melody
trailing behind him. The young man stopped and urged the waitress forward with
whispered words. She shuffled ahead and met Logan’s eyes with apparent
difficulty. “Matt says you’re with Ruined Soul.”

Logan stood and smiled. “Yeah, for a whole week now,” she
said.

“Oh my God.” Melody’s eyes widened. “You really are her. I
mean, you’re you. I just…I can’t…I’m so sorry. I was terrible to you!”

“No, you weren’t. The pie was great. Right, Jaeryth?”

“Absolutely.” He tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible.
The waitress looked on the verge of tears and he felt something for her that
might have been sympathy—though he had no idea what to do about it. “It was the
best pie I’ve ever had.”

“It was? Oh. That’s good.” Melody blinked rapidly. Her gaze
swung to Logan and she actually smiled. The expression made her beautiful.
“Wow. I can’t believe you’re here, in person.”

“Well, I have to get pie somewhere.”

A sniffle escaped the waitress, but her smile remained. “I
wish I could’ve gone tonight,” she said. “I heard you on YouTube, but it’s not
the same.” She squeezed her hands together and stared at the floor. “I don’t
suppose—no, that’s stupid. Never mind.” She looked up again. “Can I get you something
else? I could make fresh coffee. I’m really sorry about…earlier.”

Logan reached out and brushed the other woman’s hands. “What
were you going to ask? I won’t think it’s stupid. Promise.”

“Oh, it’s really dumb.” Melody’s face flushed red. “I was
wondering if you’d sing something. Like a few lines.” She raised her head.
“Told you it was stupid.”

“No, it’s not. And yes, I will.”

“Y-you will?”

“Sure.” Logan cast an uncertain glance around the place.
Only the girl in the back booth and one truck driver remained. Neither were
paying attention to the miniature drama unfolding at their table. “What did you
want to hear?”

“Um.” She swallowed. “Do you know ‘My Immortal’—the
Evanescence one?”

“Every word.” She turned to Jaeryth and smirked. “So I know
you said you’re not musically inclined. Can you whistle or anything?”

He laughed. “Not a single note.”

“Guess I’m going
a cappella
, then.” She took a
breath. “Okay. Just to warn you, this could be really bad. I usually have
backup.”

“Oh! Wait a second.” Melody produced a cell phone from her
pocket and her fingers moved across the screen. “I think—yeah, here it is. I’ve
got the karaoke version on here.” She blushed even brighter than she had
before. “Er. I sing in the car sometimes. Badly.”

“That’s way better than whistling,” Logan said with a smile.
“Fire it up.”

With a slightly trembling hand, Melody touched the phone. A
haunting piano melody drifted from the device.

Logan closed her eyes.

“I’m so tired of being here…

Suppressed by all my childish fears…”

Her voice rang out clear and enchanting, filling the room
with its light. There was a poignant edge to the words, captured perfectly in
Logan’s sweet, signature tones. Jaeryth could feel her power in the core of his
being—an almost painful warmth, as though he’d gotten too close to a raging
fire.

And he was not the only one. The man at the counter turned
to stare and the lone girl at the back table rose from her slouch, pulling her
headphones out as she drifted toward the impromptu performance. Both Melody and
Matt stood with mouths slightly open, their hands linking as though neither
could remain on their feet unsupported.

Logan sang not a few lines, but the entire song. When she
finished, and the last few notes of the piano faded, every member of the small
audience burst into cheers and applause.

“Thank you.” Melody replaced the phone in her pocket and
stepped forward, her face glistening with tears. “You have no idea what that
meant to me,” she whispered.

Instead of replying, Logan embraced the woman.

Eventually the group dispersed, after each of them
complimented Logan into blushing, stammered thanks. When they were finally left
alone, Jaeryth slid from the booth and stood—and Logan threw her arms around
him. “If you weren’t here, I never would’ve done that,” she said. “Thank you.”

He held her and breathed in the scent of her, unable to come
up with the words to express his feelings. They went far beyond gratitude. He
only hoped she could sense what he felt in his touch and his reluctance to let
go.

It seemed an eternity before she eased away. “I have to pay
the check,” she said. “I’ll just be a second, and then we’ll head out, okay?”

“All right.”

He watched her walk to the cash register at the far end of
the counter, where Melody waited. When Logan tried to hand her money, the
waitress shook her head. She leaned over and spoke, too low for him to make out
the words—but Logan’s expression changed from bemusement to empathy, and when
Melody finished, she circled the end of the counter to hug her again. They
exchanged a few quick words and both were smiling when Logan walked back to the
table. “You ready to go?”

“Anywhere, as long as you’re going.”

He followed her outside, where she took his hand and linked
her fingers through his. “We’re looking at a half-hour walk here,” she said.
“Are you up for it?”

“Of course.”

“Good, because the buses don’t start running for a few hours
yet.”

They crossed the street and hit the sidewalk, and she didn’t
let go of his hand. The constant contact made him ache for more. He couldn’t
believe the intensity of his feelings—she’d turned on something within him that
had never been touched, and it was at once exhilarating and frightening.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Logan said,
“Melody told me that I saved her life.”

“What?”

“Yeah. I thought she was exaggerating, but…” She breathed
out hard. “She had it all planned out, she said. After her shift, she was going
to go home and take an entire bottle of Vicodin. And wash it down with vodka.”
A violent shiver moved through her. “But after the song, she just…felt better.
She said it made her believe life was worth sticking around for.”

Jaeryth gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I don’t believe she
was exaggerating,” he said. That was what he had first sensed from the
woman—her suicidal despair. “You did save her life.”

“Well, if I did, I’m glad. No one should feel so terrible
that they’d rather be dead.”

“Agreed.”

They lapsed back into quiet, simply enjoying the walk. Not
long after, Jaeryth came to a realization so startling and complete that he
nearly halted in his tracks. He managed to keep moving casually, though he felt
as if he’d been struck by a hundred bolts of lightning all at once.

He loved Logan.

Kobol had been right. He loved her—he had always loved her.
His obsession with turning her had been nothing more than a desperate attempt
to separate himself from this feeling, the one emotion demons despised above
all else and obliterated whenever mortals and angels tried to spread it. The
impossible had already happened.

And his love was also his sentence. He would never be
permitted to love a mortal…and the punishment awaiting him was far worse than
Kobol’s.

Chapter Seventeen

The sun was coming up by the time they reached the house.
Logan didn’t even realize how exhausted she was until they got inside. Jaeryth
looked just as beat and there was no way she’d make him sleep on the couch. She
led him into the bedroom, where he sat down heavily on the bed while she headed
to brush her teeth.

When she came out, he’d taken his boots off and curled up on
the far side of the bed, already asleep. She emptied her pockets, tossed her
phone and cash on the dresser, then crawled in next to him and promptly blacked
out.

Eventually, consciousness returned, and with it came an
incredible reluctance to move. She’d never been this comfortable in her life.
It took a minute to figure out that the warmth blanketing her came from
Jaeryth. Somehow she’d ended up pressed along the length of him, his body
cradling hers. One of his arms draped across her waist and his fingers curled
loosely around her forearm. She felt completely safe.

Not wanting to wake him yet, she lay there letting the
drowsiness bleed away and remembered last night. Well, technically this
morning. Life was funny sometimes—a couple of words on a candy wrapper had led
to the best time she’d had in years. Being with Jaeryth was seeing the world in
a different way. She’d rediscovered so many little things that used to make her
happy just by watching him experience them. He’d saved her sanity and held her
up more than once, just when she would’ve fallen. Literally and figuratively.

She didn’t even know his last name. And she was falling in
love with him.

“Good morning.”

Jaeryth’s voice rumbled against her back, stirring places in
her that definitely shouldn’t be stirred at the moment. “I’m pretty sure it’s
afternoon by now,” she said.

“Is that all? We should sleep more, then.”

“I wish. But once I’m awake, that’s it for me.” She pulled
her hand back and twined her fingers through his, then shifted under his arm to
face him. “Did you think I was going to run away?”

He offered a slow smile. “You were shivering and you’d laid
on top of the blankets. I didn’t want to wake you. So I was keeping you warm.”

“Oh.” She returned the smile. “Well, it worked.”

“Good.”

She should probably say something else. Like offer to make
breakfast or announce that she was getting in the shower. Anything that would
get her moving. But despite her intentions, she was just lying here, staring at
Jaeryth and thinking about how much she’d like to kiss him.