Vacancy, page 40
I shook my head, wondering why that of all things would be evidence, but Jaylani jerked me back to the present, demanding, “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, sis. Namely the fact that all the news reports claim that this roommate of yours—Thalia—was murdered ten fucking years ago.”
Shit. I winced. “Oh, yeah… That.”
Lordy, but how was I even going to begin to tell Jay about Thalia?
Reading my expression, she released a breath and cringed right along with me. “Ah, jeez. Please don’t tell me you’re seeing ghosts again.”
My mouth fell open. “Excuse me?”
With a heavy sigh, my best friend took my hand and led me toward a chair. “We should probably sit for this.”
“Jay?” I asked, blinking at her in astonishment before I pointed in warning. “Don’t you dare…”
But she dared.
“Remember that girl, Lizzy Maine, that we met when we were, like, nine or ten?”
“Oh God,” I grimaced, already shaking my head. “No. Please don’t say it.”
“I thought she was just an imaginary friend you made up, and you had a really vivid imagination with that whole story about her being a runaway and hiding from her abusive dad so we couldn’t tell any adults about her.”
“Jay…” I breathed in utter astonishment. “Why the hell didn’t you say something?”
Jaylani only shrugged. “I don’t know. It was exciting. I just wanted to play along. I thought it was fun to sneak her food and try to hide her from everyone. I mean… I usually ate the food myself when you weren’t looking. But then, a few months after you stopped seeing her and said she must’ve gotten away and found somewhere nice to live, I heard my parents say the name Lizzy Maine, so I asked them who she was.”
Sucking in a breath, I shook my head and covered my mouth with my hands before rasping, “Her dad killed her after all, didn’t he?”
Jay winced apologetically and nodded. “About five years before we ever met her.”
“Damn…” One of the guys breathed from across the room.
I was too busy gaping at my best friend to take in the rest of the reactions around us. Finally, after a moment of letting all this sink in, I demanded, “Why’d you keep this from me?”
“Come on, O,” Jay pleaded pathetically. “It would’ve broken your heart to learn she never got away from that monster. You thought we saved her. I…I couldn’t do that to you. Besides…” She shook her head. “You never went through anything like that again, so I thought maybe it was just a phase that you grew out of.”
“A phase?” I shrieked in dismay, gaping at her in betrayal. “You’re unbelievable. You even knew my apartment was quite possibly haunted and didn’t tell me then. Did it not occur to you that my roommate might not have been of the living either?”
“Well…no,” she admitted with an apologetic wince. “You had me convinced it was the aunt haunting the place. And you didn’t mention experiencing any paranormal activity, so I just shut up about it so you wouldn’t get freaked out.”
“But…but…you’ve always—always—been an adamant nonbeliever.”
“No. You’ve always been the adamant nonbeliever,” she countered. “And I didn’t want you dropping me because you thought I was crazy.” When my mouth opened, she winced in apology. “And you obviously had no idea what kind of abilities you had. I didn’t want to scare you. So I just acted as if it was a bunch of malarkey to keep you from thinking I wasn’t off my rocker.”
“Oh, Jesus.” Pressing a hand against my brow, I told her, “You’re just like Damien. That was the big secret he was keeping from me, too, by the way. You know, all that stuff you were suspicious of him about…?” When Jay nodded, I said, “He didn’t know how to tell me his sister was already dead, the same way you couldn’t tell me about Lizzy Maine. God. This makes it official. Every important person in my life kept this from me.”
Wasn’t that just lovely?
Jay squinted as she glanced around at Damien’s friends. “Where is lover boy, anyway?”
Tears filled my eyes all over again. “He was stabbed,” I sobbed. “Professor Zweifel stabbed him when he showed up to save me. He could be dead right now, and it’s all my fault.”
“Oh, sweetie, no…” Jay insisted as she popped from the chair to pull me into a big hug.
“Yeah, that’s bullshit,” Keene said. “None of this was your fault. He—”
“Guys,” Thane broke in suddenly.
I looked up to find a doctor in the doorway, looking weary as he took a surgical cap off his head to address us.
With a gasp, I surged to my feet. “Is he…?” Unable to finish the question, I squeezed my fingers around my lips and held my breath.
The doctor nodded at me and answered, “We finally have him stable.”
Around me, all the guys murmured their relief. Alec hugged Keene. Foster pressed a hand to his brow and blew out a relieved breath. Parker and Thane clasped hands as if congratulating themselves. And Hudson threw an arm over my shoulder, hugging me close in support, which I was grateful for because my knees suddenly felt like jelly.
“We had four puncture wounds to address,” the doctor was saying, “All to the liver. It was touch and go there for a while, but we were able to locate all the bleeders and get him patched back up. Thankfully, the liver starts healing itself as soon as it begins to bleed, so I expect a full recovery. But for now, we plan to keep him under close observation in the ICU for the next twenty-four hours at least.”
I nodded and clutched Hudson’s hand for dear life. “C-can we go see him?”
The doctor sent me a soft smile. “His anesthesia should start wearing off any time now, so I expect he’ll wake soon. I’ll allow one person to go back with him so he’s not alone and can see a familiar face when he comes to.”
I whirled toward the others, already begging with my expression.
Parker rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Vargas?” he grumbled. “Of course, we’re going to let you be the one.”
“Thank you.” I sagged in relief and followed the doctor back to a single-occupancy room where a ton of machines were alive and working.
A nurse was already in there with Damien, and she turned when the doctor showed me in.
“Right on time,” she greeted. “We just got the breathing tube out, and he’s already been giving signs of waking up.”
“Can… Can I hold his hand?”
“Sure.” She invited me closer.
I lurched forward, immediately taking his fingers. His face was blanched; I’d never seen him look so pale. And his hand was chilly.
I squeezed my fingers around his, trying to share some of my heat with him, and his hand shifted within mine.
“Damien?” I breathed hopefully, lifting my attention to his face.
His lashes twitched as if he was trying to open them, then his lips parted before he pressed them back together and darted out his tongue to wet his dehydrated mouth.
“Oaklynn…” he rasped weakly just as his lashes parted to show me those amazing whiskey eyes of his.
“Hey,” I whispered, feeling tears on my cheeks as I smiled in return and brought his hand to my mouth to kiss his knuckles. “Welcome back.”
“You’re okay?” he asked weakly.
“Me?” I sniffed in surprise before waving out a dismissive hand. “I’m completely fine. They glued me back together, patted me on the back, and sent me on my way. I just had a little flesh wound. You’re the one we’ve all been worried about. You’re in the ICU right now, if you didn’t know.”
Confusion filled his face before he glanced around the room in wonder. “Wow. I guess I am.” His free hand moved to his abdomen. “That fucker stabbed me.”
“I know,” I said with a small laugh. “Four times too. But they think you’re going to heal just fine. All you gotta do is take it extremely easy for the next little while.”
He nodded and then squinted before asking, “And Zweifel? Is he…? I didn’t kill him, did I?”
I shook my head. “No. He’s already been treated and transported to jail. The police searched his house, and they found enough evidence to charge him with Thalia’s murder.”
Thinking that was enough for him to hear for now—I’d mention the rest later—I watched his eyebrows lift in interest.
“We caught him, then? We really got him?”
Smoothing my fingers over the back of his hand, I nodded. “We got him.”
“God… oh God.” Tears filled his eyes. “You have no idea… All these years… She finally has justice. Because of you, Oaklynn. Jesus, I can’t thank you enough.”
“Well…” I shrugged ruefully. “I reckon we can call it even after the way you saved my life. Thank you for looking for me when I went missing.”
“Always,” he assured. “I love you.”
I shuddered and said, “I love you too.” Leaning down, I pressed my mouth to his softly.
He hummed out a sound of approval and touched my cheek.
“I can’t believe it’s over,” he murmured, looking into my eyes when I pulled back. “I almost don’t know what to do with my life now.”
I chuckled. “That’s easy. You start living it.”
Interlacing my fingers with his, he said, “As long as I can live it with you.”
Nodding, I decided that was a pretty damn good plan. “Deal.”
EPILOGUE
OAKLYNN
“I think you need to take me shopping,” Damien announced abruptly. “For a new outfit.”
I lifted my gaze from the text message I’d been reading from my mom and glanced across the interior of his truck to where he was sitting behind the wheel and paused at a red light.
“Maybe two,” he said, tapping his fingers nervously against the steering wheel, only to release the brake and steer us through the intersection when the light turned green.
“Why?” I asked, shaking my head cluelessly, only for my eyes to light up. “Oh my God. Do you have an interview? For, like, some kind of forensic psychologist job.”
He glanced at me in bewilderment before saying, “No. Oaklynn… Thanksgiving is in three days. Your parents will be here in two. I need to look presentable. To impress them.”
“Oh…pfft.” I waved out a hand, completely unconcerned. “Don’t even worry about that. They’re going to love you.”
“I mean, are you sure?” he pressed, still looking worried. “We’ve been dating less than two months, and we’re already living together, spending Thanksgiving together, plus making our two sets of parents meet each other. You don’t think they’ll worry that we’re rushing anything?”
“Hey, we’re not announcing that we’re pregnant or getting married or anything like that. So yeah…no, not rushing.”
“But…” he countered uneasily.
“Trust me,” I reassured, quieting him by placing my hand over his. “We’ll be fine. And besides, the only reason our two parents are meeting is because both sets offered to come here for Thanksgiving. So it’s just as well that they meet since we’re in this for the long haul…” Glancing at him, I lifted my eyebrows. “Right?”
Finally, his eyes changed intensity from worried to satisfied. “Yes, ma’am, we are.”
As soon as he tangled his fingers with mine, I added, “Besides, I’m meeting your parents for the first time, too. Do I need to get a new outfit?”
He huffed out a harsh laugh. “Absolutely not. You tracked down their daughter’s murderer. They already think you hung the moon.”
“Well…” I flushed sheepishly and rolled my eyes. “That was more of a group effort, and besides, you saved my life from a murderer, so…”
“So nothing,” he insisted as he turned down a side street and then pulled into the tight parking spot behind his aunt’s brownstone. After killing the engine, he turned to face me. “Zweifel would still be out there and free, hurting people, if you hadn’t learned the name Josh or that he was a professor at Haverick. He’s been caught and put behind bars because of you.”
Okay, when he worded it that way…
“That was kind of awesome of me, wasn’t it?”
“Mind-blowing,” he agreed as he smoothed a hand down the side of my arm.
I grinned at him, only to glance toward the back door and heave out a long breath. “It feels weird being back here.”
“You don’t have to go in,” he started quickly.
But I lifted my hand. “No… No, I want to. I… Well, I need to say goodbye to…the place.”
This was where I’d met Thalia.
Where my life had changed completely.
Where I learned I had supernatural abilities.
Where I’d met Damien.
This apartment would always hold a special place in my heart.
I mean, I hadn’t been back since I’d almost lost my life to a sadistic murderer here, but I was going to miss parts of it.
It still hurt, knowing Thalia was gone, though, and that she’d never actually been here to begin with. I wished I’d gotten to know her while she’d still been alive, but I guess… I was honored to have met her at all.
Heaving out a breath, I opened the door, ready to say goodbye to my room, and oh…the first and only bathroom I’d ever had to myself. Plus the window…the very window that had shown me my first glimpse of Damien.
I was definitely going to miss that window.
“You think we brought enough boxes?” I asked as I climbed from the truck and grabbed a travel caddy full of cleaning supplies to haul out with me while Damien reached into the bed to lug out the empty boxes.
“Hey, take it easy,” I warned when he lifted the entire stack. “You’re still recovering.”
He sent me a dry glance. “They’re empty boxes. I think I got it.”
“Just be careful,” I said, starting after him like a worried mother hen.
“I am. And to answer your question, yes, I think we brought more than enough. The guys and I have picked up so much of your stuff over the past few weeks that you barely have anything left here at all. Today’s mostly just going to be cleaning up.”
Cleaning up for the next tenants who would live here.
Since I had decided to stay with Damien permanently, we were going to spiff up the brownstone today for someone else to rent it.
At the back door, Damien paused before opening it. “You sure you want to help with this?” he asked. “You don’t have to come inside if you don’t want to.”
“No, I want to,” I assured. “I need at least one last visit. For closure.”
Damien nodded in understanding, then opened the door to step inside. I followed a bit more slowly.
It smelled musty and abandoned.
Which broke my heart.
“I’ll go up and clean the rest of your stuff from your room,” Damien was saying as he entered the living room. “Do you want to get started cleaning the kitchen?”
“Sure,” I answered in a sad, empty voice, only to heave out a breath and ask, “Are you sure she’s gone? None of you guys have witnessed anything when you’ve come back for stuff?”
“Nothing,” Damien answered, cringing sympathetically. “I’m sorry.”
I didn’t know why he was apologizing. It was supposed to be a good thing that his sister’s ghost was no longer haunting anyone. It meant she’d found her peace and moved on. Her soul was at rest.
I just would’ve liked to have said goodbye first.
Nodding at Damien to let him know it was okay that his sister was truly gone, I gasped when I heard her voice floating down the stairwell.
“Oaklynn? Is that you?”
“Oh my God…” I breathed. Blinking in surprise, I peered past Damien’s shoulder, and my lips parted when I saw her step off the landing and stroll up behind him. “Thalia?”
Damien’s eyes grew and he whirled around. When his shoulders collapsed and he glanced back at me in question, I swallowed, wanting to cry when I realized, “You can’t see her, can you?”
He shook his head, only to turn back and whisper, “Where is she?”
Thalia walked right up to him and smiled into his face with watery eyes before lifting her hand to cup his cheek in her palm. “It always hurts to see how much he’s grown and moved on.”
Damien must’ve felt the chill because he reared back before touching his cheek right where she had.
“She’s right there,” I said needlessly.
Thalia sighed and dismissed him before turning to face me. “Now, can you understand why I prefer to think of him as the adorable, sweet ten-year-old I left behind?”
“So… You know what you are?” I asked in surprise.
She sent me an odd look. “Why would I not know what I am?”
“Well…” I blinked at her repeatedly before demanding, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Thalia merely shrugged. “If you couldn’t figure it out on your own, it didn’t seem like my place to tell you.”
I heaved out a reproachful breath. “So you just left it all on Damien’s shoulders?”
Damien glanced at me. “You’re talking about me?”
As I nodded, Thalia asked, “Do you think it would scare him if I told him hello?”
“Scare him?” I repeated with a confused frown. “Just how the hell do you plan on telling him hello?”
When the overhead lights began to flicker, Damien lurched closer to me. “Okay, that’s freaky.”
The lights immediately stopped dancing. “Sorry,” Thalia gritted out with an apologetic cringe.
I touched Damien’s arm. “She says sorry. She didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I’m not—” he started, denying any kind of fear. But then he stopped himself and nodded. “Just a little more warning next time would be nice.”
Turning to face Thalia’s general direction, he waved. “Hi…Thalia,” he greeted in a suddenly hoarse voice. “I miss you.”
When he slowly held out his hand in front of him, Thalia stepped close and wrapped both of hers around his fingers. I could tell the exact moment he could feel the contact; he sucked in a deep breath and his face went red with emotion.
