Page 20 (1/2)

"What sort of things?"

She wouldn’t look at hiently tilted her face upwards "What did you do, Nikki?" he said, closing his heart to the pain in her eyes and her thoughts

"To" She jerked away from his touch and dashed the tears from her eyes "I’d refused to take part, and for some reason, Tommy hadn’t been able to etaway car But the police had received a tip and aiting"

Which didn’t explain the pain he could almost taste "What happened, Nikki?"

"Touards chased hiifts toto"

She hesitated again, and h he ached to hold her

She took a deep breath "He used my kinetic abilities to destroy several police cars One of the security guards he threw through a storeThe falling glass cut the guard’s throat Another was thrown into a wall and now lives in a wheelchair I couldn’t stop hiht so hard, but I just couldn’t stop him"

That hy she’d ainst her will A sob escaped her control, and he drew her into his aro of the pain she’d held in check for so long But it wasn’t over yet "How did you escape the police?" She laughed, a bitter, brittle sound that made him wince "I didn’t Tommy escaped They told rabbed uard"

"If one un to kill another, you blaer, not the weapon, Nikki" And that’s all she’d been, a weapon She sniffed, but wasn’t ready to let go of the past just yet

"How did he die?"

"The streets caught up with him His violence had made him a lot of enemies, and in the end, it cauilty about his death?

She shifted in his arainst his shoulder The warly wished they could just stay here, on this bed, and forget about everything but each other

"Because I drea to happen," she whispered "And I didn’t tell hi hers Link or not, she shouldn’t have been able to "Why not?" he asked, knowing that in the sahed as he died

But Nikki didn’t have three hundred years of weariness behind her

" Oh God" She hesitated, and her hand clenched against his "I told him that I hated him I told him he could burn in hell for all I cared Ten hours later he was dead I felt his soul leave his body, Michael I felt it encased in the fires of Hell I could have stopped it, but I didn’t Just as I didn’t stop my parents" death They all died because of me"

If she’d seen her parents’ death, why hadn’t she warned them? Surely not out of hate--she had loved the before you ca ood to me He cared for me"

He was pretty sure the only person Tommy had cared about was himself But she wasn’t ready yet to face that "He only wanted to make you trust his to subvert your will, Tommy used your emotions"

"But I loved him"

Yet even as she whispered the words, there was doubt in her thoughts For the first ti the man Tommy had been

"But he didn’t die because of that love, Nikki" He hesitated, the added, "He was a vicious thug who got what he deserved"

"Maybe But there’s still o she wouldn’t have confided this much And yet he sensed it wasn’t so e her demons Perhaps she saw the necessity as much as he "Want to tell me about it?"

"No" She took a deep, so aithoutme in the care of a nanny I was so furious with them When I had the dream, I didn’t tell thes at one time or another"

"Not all kids watch their parents die Not all kids feel the caress of their mother’s soul as she passes away"

Which was surely punishh for her childish rush of spitefulness "Would your parents have believed you even if you had told thehtly "No They would have seen it as a variation on the tantrued as fated to happen"

"Maybe Maybe not" There was an odd mix of uncertainty and hope in her eyes He smiled and pushed a strand of hair froh At least she’d seen beyond her guilt and released soer be a weapon for Jasper to use It ently touched the silver cross resting against his chest "Where did you find it?"

"In the tunnel" Fear danced lightly through her thoughts He placed his hand over hers, pressing her fingers against the flesh above his heart "Do you want it back?" She hesitated, then shook his head "No Keep it, if you want" He did want It was a slanced at the clock Seven o’clock Tih, perhaps, to ease the ache of the past and create a final aze There was understanding in her eyes, acceptance in her thoughts Just one more time, he vowed, and reached for her

Chapter Twelve

The old Michael smiled and brushed the stray lock of hair away froer in sleep, ale was a lie Nikki was an old spirit in a young body Her parents’ death and her brief tirow up far too early She’d lived through the nightmare and somehow survived Maybe now that she’d finally confronted her uilt, she’d be able to do more than that Maybe now she’d live--and love--without fear