Chapter 74

“I warned you.”

“I’m sorry!” Brent said, bracing his arms over his head like the apparition might strike him.

“You did not apologized. You accused!” My rage seeped into the voice I projected through the ghost baby, making it roar. “My mother did not summon me to haunt you. You did!”

“Oh, God… Oh, please…”

“With every false accusation. Every moment of cowardice. I see. I know.”

“I didn’t mean it, I swear!”

“You will not escape me. Not unless you do as I told you. You will beg for my mother’s forgiveness. Others must see.”

“It will ruin my life!” he said, somehow still defiant in the face of such horror.

“You have already ruined it. Now is the time to make amends. This is more than you deserve!”

“Yes,” he said, muttering now. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll tell her. I promise.”

“In front of others!” I didn’t want to be misinterpreted this time.

“Okay! Yes! Right!”

“Very well,” I made the baby say. My strength was waning. My rage had burned too hot too fast. I couldn’t make it last. “Now, go.”

I gasped as I released the apparition. I sunk down against the side of the tree I’d been hiding against.

Brent looked around, but when only the quiet of the park sounded around him, he darted down the path toward the exit, leaving me blessedly alone.

Summoning the apparition of the crying baby here in the middle of a public park had been reckless. Anyone could have walked by at any moment.

Though Brent had perhaps selected this location for a reason, as no one came running out of the bushes at any point. I was relieved. My anger had made me careless.

Now, it made me exhausted. My legs were so weak I didn’t think I could even walk home.

For a time, I leaned back against the tree and listened to nighttime sounds. Crickets. The hoot of an owl.

I thought of sitting at the scenic overlook with Asher, and resting my head on his shoulder.

I waited for a while, for some strength to return to me. But several minutes passed without much success. Even Lilith was quiet, fatigued.

A night chill creeped into my bones, making me shiver. I’d have to sleep to recover, but I couldn’t do that here.

I had only one option, but I really hated to call Asher this late, to drag him out of whatever he was doing to come get me. He’d have questions I couldn’t answer. I might hurt him again.

But… He’d likely be even more upset if he found out I was here helpless and didn’t call him.

I dialed his number and he picked up without fanfare. “Cynthia.”

“Don’t be mad,” I said at once.

He said my name again, more urgently. “Cynthia.”

No backing out now. That tone of voice demanded answers.

“Um… can you come get me?”

“Over here!” I called when I heard Asher trudge through the bushes. I still couldn’t stand, but I’d tried fixing my clothes and hair to be more presentable. In the dark, I wasn’t sure how successful I was.

He quickly found me. The glower he wore only darkened when he looked me over. Maybe I wasn’t so successful, making myself look good.

Kneeling beside me, he plucked a leaf from my hair and flung it aside. He glared at that leaf like it had murdered someone.

Then, unceremoniously, he scooped me up into his arms, holding me in a bridal carry close to his chest.

“I, uh, guess you want some kind of explanation,” I said, as he walked to the exit of the park. He hadn’t said anything yet. It was unnerving.

“When you are safe, you can explain.” A muscle ticked at his jawline. “Unless you plan on lying to me.”

“Aimee went to meet Brent in the gazebo. I followed her.” I could say that much, at least. “Then I got really tired, and I… well, here you are.”

He sighed. “This was dangerous. If you had called me before you went, I could have gone with you.”

I supposed now that I could have done that, though I wouldn’t have been able to summon the apparition with him there. Yet… “Everything happened kind of fast. I didn’t even think about it.”

He sighed deeper. “This is why I worry about you.”

“Hey!” I playfully swatted his shoulder. For a moment, his eyes sparkled with mischief, but worry quickly overtook it again.

“Rest,” he said, and wouldn’t speak to me again until I was in my room.

He sat me on the bed, then kneeled beside it to remove my shoes for me.

“You… don’t have to…” I said around a yawn. My energy reserves were beyond depleted. It was a miracle I could keep my head up at all.

“I’ve got you,” he said.

I shivered. Had I heard him say that before? Or had that been only in fantasy?

Either way, I fell into the darkness of sleep, with the feel of his hands warm on my ankles.

When I woke up again, I was in my pajamas in my bed. Heat burned on my cheeks. Had Asher changed me into these clothes?

The man himself stood beside my window, looking out. The morning light illuminated his handsome features, tracing the hard lines of his face in gold.

I couldn’t ask him if he changed my clothes for me. Or if he had stayed the night – though those were definitely the same clothes he’d been wearing the night before.

Those questions were too embarrassing. And I wasn’t sure I’d recover if he told me the answers. If my assumptions were correct, my heart would beat out of control. If they weren’t, disappointment would swallow me whole.

I flopped my head onto my pillow.

“You’re awake,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

I wiggled my fingers and toes. “Lilith?” I asked in my mind.

“I’m here,” she answered, strong.

“Much better,” I said to Asher.

“Good.” He looked at his phone. “Get dressed then, if you are up to it. There’s something happening, and I don’t think you want to miss it. It’s about Aimee.”

I got dressed in a rush, then followed Asher out my dorm. A crowd had formed in the courtyard between my dorm and Aimee’s. Over the rumble of the chattering people, I heard someone speaking on a megaphone.

Asher weaved a path for us toward the front door of Aimee’s dorm. There, I spotted the guy with the bullhorn.

Brent.

“I am the worst kind of scumbag!” Brent shouted, his voice amplified further by the megaphone. “I abandoned Aimee. I was the father, and I cowardly ran away!”

Brent didn’t seem as afraid now. Instead, he looked… determined.

How disappointing that the shift in him only came after I had scared the wits back into him. If he had been this way before… well, I guessed it didn’t matter now.

What was done, was done. He was here now, seeking atonement.

I only hoped it was enough to convince Aimee to give herself a second chance at living again.

“Aimee. Oh, Aimee, please forgive me!” Brent called.

Aimee herself, it seemed, had yet to appear.

“I don’t know how you did this, but you did,” Asher said. He stood close to me, protecting me from the bustle of the crowd trying to inch closer to Brent for a better view. “This is all you, Cynthia.”

“But is it enough?” I replied.

“Look!” someone behind us shouted. “There she is!”

At once, everyone looked to the front of the dorm…

As Aimee herself pushed through the front door.