Divine Wrath, page 16
Humidity and the pungent odor of chlorine assaulted her. The room itself was dark as the night pressing against the glass walls and ceiling. Four small lights, two on each long side of the pool, played across the shimmering blue-green surface of the water and tapered out a few feet shy of meeting in the center.
It took a moment to realize the dark shape streaking the length of the pool beneath the water’s surface wasn’t part of the ambiance.
So much for being alone. Grace almost turned to leave, but she didn’t want to startle the swimmer. A head broke the surface in the deep end. Glistening black braids, smooth dusky skin. Evan. He didn’t seem to notice her, so she cleared her throat and tapped a foot on the tiled floor.
He whirled, whip-fast, sending a swell of water against the pool wall. For an instant he looked angry, but he seemed to shake it off and return to his usual solemn silence. Tipping his head in greeting, he sank beneath the surface, pushed off the back wall and torpedoed toward the shallow end to surface a few feet from the steps.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Grace headed for the shallow end, and the door beyond. “I was just going to get some fresh air.”
Evan stood at waist-deep level. Rivulets of water streaked his chest and arms, and Grace couldn’t help noticing how well defined those particular parts of him were. In fact, not an inch of him lacked definition. She suspected he spent a lot of time in the weight room—and she wondered why the water didn’t turn to steam when it touched him.
Whoa. Heat suffused her face in response to her outrageous thoughts. She’d never bothered with men—with her “condition,” sex might have landed her back in the nuthouse—and Evan was barely on the safe side of boy. He couldn’t be eighteen yet, or he wouldn’t be here.
Seventeen, she decided. An old seventeen.
“Light sleeper?”
“Huh?” Grace blinked, and realized she’d been staring at Evan’s abs. Her blush deepened. “Er, yeah,” she stammered. “You too?”
“Sometimes.” Evan shrugged and moved toward the steps. While he mounted them, Grace deliberately kept her gaze above waist level. It wasn’t easy. She breathed an inward sigh of relief when he grabbed a towel from a nearby railing and wrapped it around himself.
She swallowed, tasted chlorine and Evan’s clean scent. Damn. “You didn’t have to get out,” she said. “I was just...”
“Getting some air. I know.” Evan smirked. “It’s all right. I need a breather.” He unfastened the towel and rubbed it over his head, giving Grace an uninterrupted view of everything outside the form-fitting bike shorts he wore—and a hint of everything inside.
Christ. Even his feet were perfect.
She managed to look away before he finished drying his hair. “So, you’re a light sleeper sometimes? What does that mean?”
“Sometimes I sleep. Sometimes I don’t.” His eyes clouded, and he stared at the floor.
“I understand. Unfortunately, for me it’s more don’t than sleep.” Grace smiled. “How long have you been here?”
Another shrug. “A couple years.”
Grace stared, and then snorted laughter. “I meant, how long have you been in the pool?”
“Oh.” This time his smirk encompassed both sides of his mouth. “Maybe half an hour.”
Before Grace could think of something else to say, the door to the house opened and a curly-haired head poked through. “Hello?” a girl’s voice called. “Is someone out here?”
“Yes,” Grace replied.
“Oh, good. I’m not crazy, then.” A hand reached inside and flipped a switch to the left of the door. Soft lighting cast a glow around the room. Dawn emerged with David in tow. “David was hungry, and we knew Dorrine was asleep, so we were in the kitchen and I thought I heard voices out here. Hi, Evan! Grace, what are you guys doing?”
Grace shook her head. “Doesn’t anybody sleep around here?”
David let out a huge yawn. “Evan, are you swimming? Cool! I wanna get in, too.” He peeled off his shirt, dropped it, and started wiggling out of his shoes.
“David, wait! It’s the middle of the night.” Dawn leveled a stern gaze at her brother. “We need to get back to bed.”
“Aw, c’mon.” David flashed a dimpled grin. “Just for a minute?”
Dawn sighed. “I don’t know...”
“Thanks, Dawn!” David pivoted and ran for the deep end. He rounded the corner, jumped almost straight up at the edge of the pool, and hugged his knees on the way down. A column of water exploded up from his impact, and a wave sloshed the deck tiles.
“David!” Dawn rolled her eyes, and turned to Grace with an exasperated expression. “I hate it when he does that. Well, I guess we’ll stay for a bit. Wanna soak your feet with me?”
“Uh... sure.” Grace glanced at Evan. He looked just as good dry. “Are you going back in?”
“Soon.” Evan watched David splash in a clumsy circle. The boy bobbed up and down, squirting a stream of water from his mouth every time he surfaced. Evan’s smirk returned. “When the excitement level drops.”
Dawn laughed. “He’ll settle down in a few minutes. Come on.”
They moved to the deep end. Dawn removed her shoes and socks, rolled her pants legs up, and Grace followed suit. Dawn surveyed the streaks and puddles on the tiles, and frowned. “We’re gonna have wet butts.”
“Probably.” Grace settled on the narrow strip of ridged rubber edging the pool and slid her legs into the water. “Is it always this warm?”
“Yeah. It’s heated.” Dawn sat a few feet away. “Nice, isn’t it? I bet it cost a ton to put this baby in.”
Grace struggled to contain her repulsion. For a moment she’d forgotten whose money had provided this little piece of paradise. The pool lost some of its appeal. “Sure,” she said evenly. “It’s great.” She turned to look for Evan, and spotted him standing near the glass wall, watching them. Watching her? In the low light, she couldn’t be sure.
David clambered out at the shallow end and walked down the length of the pool toward them. “Isn’t anybody else coming in?” he called.
Dawn shook her head. “No way. My hair takes forever to dry, and I hate sleeping on it wet. It frizzes out like crazy.”
“Count me out,” Grace said.
“Fine. Wimps.” Grinning, David kept going until he reached the wall behind the deep end. “Betcha you’re about to get wet anyway.”
“David, don’t you dare!” Dawn scrambled to rise, but David was already running toward them at full speed. “Stop! You’re going to—”
It happened fast. David slipped, went down, and skated over the tiles like a wet bar of soap in a bathtub. He curled reflexively and rammed into Grace’s back. Frothy water closed over her before she realized she’d gone in.
Water muted the world. Garbled shouts reached her from somewhere above. The initial shock dissipated, and darkness rushed toward her. She was sinking, facing down. She twisted her body, found shifting and refracted light. Light meant up, surface, air. She let the descent continue. She would push off the bottom.
Her back bumped something solid. She extended an arm, touched the smooth vinyl of the pool floor. Felt a powerful tug on her shirt that refused to slacken. A vacuum grate.
Don’t panic. Bracing her palms against the floor, Grace pushed hard. Her shirt strained against her, tangled tighter. She bucked and thrashed, kicked her legs, tried to slip out of the restricting material. Her lungs burned and begged for oxygen. The light, far above, began to fade.
A distant splash sounded. A dark shape descended from a cloud of bubbles, blocking the light. Arms encircled her, wrenched her free. A body pressed against her. Weightless now, they rose through depthless blue and entered the light.
Grace gulped air and coughed out water. Evan held her firmly above the surface, waited for her breath to catch, and guided her to the edge of the pool. With Evan’s hands on her waist, and Dawn’s beneath her arms, they hauled her out and laid her on her back to the accompaniment of David’s babbled apologies.
“Oh my God. I’m sorry. Grace, are you all right? I’m so sorry. That was really stupid. Can’t you swim? Grace? Are you okay? I’m sorry! Evan, is she all right? She isn’t saying anything.”
Grace closed her eyes and held up a hand. “I’ll live.” She felt Evan climb out and settle beside her. “Thank you. The grate...”
“I know.” Evan’s voice had taken on a husky timbre. “You’re welcome. You need a towel.”
Grace grunted agreement. She remained still, drawing careful breaths until her dizziness subsided and the roaring in her ears diminished. At last, she opened her eyes and sat up.
Dawn released a shuddering sigh. “Well. I think we’ve had enough excitement for one night, don’t you?”
“I’ll say.” Grace spotted Evan approaching with an armful of towels. She struggled to her feet, stepped back from the pool, and looked at David. “I guess you were right about me getting wet.”
David flushed crimson. “Does that mean you forgive me?”
Grace nodded. “Actually, I feel kind of refreshed.” She smiled, and David rewarded her with a dimpled grin.
“Here, squirt.” Evan stopped behind Grace and tossed a towel to David. While Dawn moved to help her brother, Evan draped another one gently around Grace. His hands stayed on her shoulders a touch too long, and his fingers trailed down her arms. A pleasant shudder worked through her body.
“Thanks,” she whispered. “Again.”
He didn’t answer immediately. At last he spoke softly beside her ear. “Just... don’t die, okay?”
“I won’t.”
“You guys coming?” Dawn called.
Grace shook herself and glanced at Dawn. “Yes. I think I can sleep now.”
“Me, too.” Evan smiled, small but genuine. “For about a year.”
They headed for the door behind Dawn and David. As Dawn opened the door to usher the boy through, David said, “This was kinda fun. Can we do it again tomorrow night? Except, you know, not the drowning part.”
“David!” Dawn admonished.
Grace turned to Evan. “Is he always this... happy?”
“Pretty much. David runs on two speeds. Hyper and asleep.”
“Mm-hm.” Articulate response eluded her. Evan’s proximity banished the chill from her damp skin and melted her thoughts in mid-formation. A twinge of disappointment accompanied speculation on what might have happened, if Dawn and David hadn’t interrupted.
It worried her that she wanted to find out.
They trouped upstairs in mutual silence, and parted amid murmured goodnights. Grace stumbled into her room, and didn’t bother changing her wet clothes before falling into bed.
Sleep claimed her instantly.
Chapter 42
Every day, the Adirondack house felt a little more like home.
The others accepted Grace completely. Even Bailey warmed up to her, after the girl realized she had no interest in Michael. In fact, Grace went out of her way to avoid him after their initial confrontation. He served as a reminder of the bleak life awaiting her when she was deemed ready. And, he was sleeping with her mother.
Grace’s observation gradually gave way to interaction. The detachment she’d always maintained had slowly eroded in the knowledge that almost everyone here shared what set her apart from the rest of the world. They knew what it was like to glance in a mirror and fear the image it reflected. They understood the confusion of hearing words without sound, not intended for their ears. They were company to her misery.
She had been shattered, and they didn’t know they were putting her back together.
Saturday afternoon found Grace, Megan, Dawn and Bailey in the pool. Ace and David had eschewed video games in favor of exploring the woods. Evan had declined a swim, and wandered off after the younger boys with a sketchpad and an iPod.
Grace lounged in the shallow end, watching Megan and Dawn sit on the steps and fail to play underwater ring toss. The object of the game was to land a series of heavy, bright-colored rings on a weighted stake at the bottom of the pool. Their throws fell consistently short or to the side, and Dawn insisted between giggles that the stake kept running away.
In the deep end, Bailey broke the surface near the edge and pulled herself out of the water in a single smooth motion. Her electric blue suit clung like skin, glistening in the bright sunlight reflected through the glass panels of the pool house. She crouched and executed a series of fluid stretches, stood, and dove in without a ripple. Her body torpedoed through the water, under the rope that marked the division between shallow and deep. She surfaced a few feet in front of Dawn and Megan holding one of the rings.
“You guys are doing it wrong.” Bailey wasn’t the least bit breathless after swimming the entire length of the pool underwater.
Dawn made a face. “Let’s see you do it, then.”
“Fine. Move over.”
They scooted, and Bailey settled on the step next to Megan. She held the ring out, waved it in the air a few times, and tossed it underhand. The bright yellow circle sailed in a smooth arc and plunked into the water, drifting gently down to ring the stake and slide to the base.
“Wow.” Dawn regarded her with frank admiration. “How’d you do that?”
Bailey smiled. “I’m not as blonde as I look. See, the water distorts things, makes them look closer than they are. You have to aim past the stake.”
“Cool!” Dawn grabbed a green ring from the stack next to her on the deck. She jiggled it in front of her and copied Bailey’s underhand toss. The ring wobbled in mid-air and hit the water at an angle. It nudged the stake during its descent, but failed to loop the post.
Dawn laughed. “At least I hit it this time. Wanna try, Megan?” She passed a ring over.
Megan gave the stake a dubious look. “I still think it’s running away.” She shrugged, drew back, and flipped the ring out over the water. The inner edge of the ring caught the top of the stake and hung there. “Wicked! It does work.”
“Told you.” Bailey stood and ascended the steps. She crossed the tiled deck to a bench stacked with folded towels, leaving wet footprints on the surface in her wake. “Think I’ll try and soak up some of this poor excuse for sun.”
Megan tossed her head. “The sun’s not good enough for you?”
“It was better in Florida.” Bailey wrapped a towel around her waist, and spread a second one out on the deck. “The water was warmer, too.”
“Why don’t you go back to Florida, then?” Megan said under her breath.
Bailey stretched out on the towel. “Because I like the view here. And I don’t mean the mountains.”
“Michael’s taken, you know.”
“Not for long. She’s not like us. She’ll get old and ugly.”
“Do you mind?” Grace said before she realized her intention to defend Kendra.
“Oh, that’s right. She’s your mother. Sorry.” A tight smile appeared on Bailey’s face. “Well, not really.”
Grace uttered a sarcastic snort. “No matter how pretty you are, Bailey, you can’t compete with my mother’s money.”
“I don’t have to. The way I figure it, mistresses get the best of both worlds. He’ll use her money to indulge me, and I’ll warm his bed when that frigid bitch can’t.”
“Oh, give it a rest,” Grace said. “Michael doesn’t even look twice at you.”
Bailey pasted on a saccharine smile. “He hasn’t even looked once at you.”
Grace stiffened. “If you think I want anything to do with that piece of—”
“Guys! Do we have to fight?” Dawn swished her feet in the water and frowned. “Let’s talk about something else. Bailey’s from Florida. Where are you from, Megan?”
“Utah. Cedar City.” Megan grinned. “The middle of nowhere.”
“Does that mean you’re Amish?”
Megan laughed. “No. Utah’s famous for the Mormons, not the Amish. They live in Salt Lake, and there aren’t even that many there. We had electricity and everything.”
“We didn’t.” Dawn pointed her toes and circled a foot. “Me and David... I mean, David and I are from Kansas. We’re Amish Light—that’s what Mom always said. They kicked her out after she had me, but she still wanted to stick with the life.”
“Oh. Damn. I’m sorry.”
Dawn shrugged. “It’s okay. That whole live-off-the-land thing isn’t as cool as it sounds. It was hard because we were alone, but Dad came around sometimes. That’s how Mom ended up with David.”
“Whoa. You actually knew your father?”
“A little. He couldn’t stay very long, but he helped out a lot when he came.”
“Did you know he was...”
“An angel?” Dawn smiled. “No. Not until Michael found us.”
“Angels suck.”
All eyes turned to Bailey. She lay on her back, eyes closed, arms folded under her head. Her expression remained neutral, but a muscle twitched along her jaw.
“That’s not nice, Bailey.” Dawn’s voice trembled a bit.
“Why not? It’s true.” Bailey sat up, her eyes flashing fire. “Maybe your father turned up once in a while, but I bet he didn’t give a shit about you. Probably just wanted to bone your mother a few more times.”
Dawn flushed. She buried her face in her arms with a stifled sob.
“You’re such a bitch!” Megan whirled toward Bailey. “You’re not the only one who never met your father, you know.”
“It was my mother.” Pure ice edged Bailey’s tone. “She squeezed me out and took off. Left me alone with my father. Apparently I look just like her—at least, that’s what my father said when he started ‘confusing’ me for her. The bastard.”
“Oh, no,” Megan whispered. “Bailey, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I took care of him, when I got strong enough.” Something in her face shut down, and she shook her head. “Sorry, kid,” she said to Dawn. “Maybe your father’s all right, for an angel. But he’s still an angel, and they’re all jerks.”
Dawn released a watery sigh and raised her head. “It’s okay. I—” She broke off and looked to her right, out the back door of the pool house. “David?” She shot to her feet, splashing water everywhere. “David!”
