The Grave Shadows

58. Last Kiss

Under the thin canopy of red oak, Everett picked a crisp leaf from the freshly turned mud. The Coopers had a tree just like this in front of the trap they mistook as a home. Everett parked his truck under that desiccated oak and counted the fallen leaves while he waited for Cyan to sweep through the little door. The exercise was a type of meditation he had learned from Will's therapist. Will focused on the breaths but Everett the leaves. The vivid foliage was more practical to calm Everett's mind when the urge to kiss Cyan burst through him.

"Here." David slid Everett a piece of paper that tainted with crimson stains. The paper unfurled to be another sketch. "My favorite."

The illustration took Everett's breath away. Over a placid lake, Cyan lolled on a deck with the loveliest smile Everett had ever seen, in the company of people who seemed happy, free, and harmless. Luke was there, too, with a cat his lap, but the rest Everett didn't know.

"David," Everett said when fate was hurtful than Hector's wound. "Can you hurt someone you absolutely love?" His tune was the same as Hector's many nights ago.

"If I loved someone, I would protect them," David replied. "Even from myself." He finger-combed his hair.

"Good." Everett gazed at Cyan in the outline of the bitter promise. "Because I love that girl, and you have to watch her for me while I'm gone. Don't let anyone mess with her." He snickered, his attention shifting to Luke and other people in the frame. "I'll come back for my girl after I finish the Watts Clan."

"Deal." David snorted, bobbing his head. "Look at you. You're him."

"You knew, David." Everett thought about the sketch he had torn apart earlier. "I won't be there, but Hector will. And I'll probably encourage someone to stab you in the ribs if you let Simon kiss my girlfriend." Everett narrowed his eyes, and he felt powerful. "You're the Watts boy too. You have the obsession. So don't you—"

"Wolf!" David twisted around. "I'm not here to take Cyan away from you." He walked to Everett's grave and hunkered down to pat the soil.

"That was the first time I heard you said her name," Everett said, and David's arm froze.

"I managed my curiosity a long time ago. I've painted Cyan because she is the center of something I'm trying to accomplish. She's in the way; that's all. My mission has always been protecting the huldreke world. I've been watching over Cyan for years, brother. I would have pursued her if I wanted her."

"Nice try." Everett scoffed. "I almost believed it."

***

After burying his own body in the woods, Everett couldn't go back to Colt yet. Angelica and David reluctantly leave the quiet lounge of one small and secluded airstrip. After what Everett had sacrificed, it was hard for them to refuse his one last wish.

Was this another painting? Everett drifted to Cyan. She lay serenely on the couch with the right shades and delicate tracings. As David and Angelica distracted the other Watts boys and John in another room, Everett sank before the couch. Under David's compulsion, Cyan floated in a sweet dream. Everett was Hector now, so she couldn't be awake to look at him. Although Hector was the most stunning Watts boy, Cyan wouldn't want someone hell-bent on killing her. Even though Everett often wished that he was Hector, this extravagant vessel needed a careful reintroduction.

As Everett caressed Cyan's soft cheek, the brothers were yelling and arguing in the other room. The news of his death might have reached them. Luke's cry wrung Everett's heart. The glass breaking was possibly from Will and the wailing Latin from Simon. Everett held back his tears and took a deep breath. With Hector's commanding tone, he had already instructed David to toughen up the brats and took care of his angel.

Everett's chest was sore though the ballistic trauma had healed perfectly. This pain was more severe than having been shot in the heart. Everett and Cyan were so close to making it out of this mess. They could have been together forever, but he had to be gone. And the drought would stalk him back to Colt.

Everett saw Cyan enough. The brothers would storm in any minute now. His lips wanted hers one more time—another kiss. Everett grinned, satisfaction brushing across his face. Her lips were soft against his bruises and tears. The soul in his stomach fluttered. Strangely, he noticed this piece of mystery more clearly in Hector's body. The touch was faint and sweet, like the way she kissed him the first time, but even that was harsh enough to startle her.

Cyan's mesmerizing blue eyes flared. Jolting upright, she screamed and slapped Hector's face and embrace away. Terror twisted in her face when she wailed agonizingly, "You didn't stick to the plan."