Page 63 of Living with Death

“I have it from here. Thank you.”

He shrugs and pulls the car over in an emergency lane. I open my door and step out. The driver has his window down, and I reach into my pocket for the cash that wasn’t here moments before.

“I'll need you to return in the morning. There's a hotel a few miles from here.”

Tomorrow.I do dread tomorrow. “This should cover your stay and the costs of your service for tonight and tomorrow.”

He looks at the wad of money with wide eyes. “Thank you. Yes, I'll be back tomorrow, waiting here.”

“Thank you,” I reply. I walk to the other side of the car, where Mabel stands, looking up toward the overgrown forest surrounding the manor she doesn't know is there.

Being here will be a treat for her. She loves old things and fantasy books with dragons and high lords. There's a heavy dose of romance in the books she reads, even though her real life has none.

I've learned that her style is what the mortals refer to as Dark Academia. To say I adore it is an understatement. I find Mabel's dresses and stockings and tweed blazers appealing. Especially on her.

I've watched this woman for two years. From the In-Between, I've witnessed Mabel's tears. That breathtaking, slightly crooked smile, and sweet soothing laugh, even though that hasn't been a big thing in her life. I grab her hand. “We'll walk a little, and then I'll fly us up.”

“Up where?” she asks, looking toward the thick forest.

“Inquisitive as ever, Ms. Carmichael.”

“I have to be with you.”

I laugh lightly. “But are you ever disappointed?”

As soon as I say the words, I feel a sense of dread. How much will Mabel hate me after discovering what I've done? I tricked her into spending time with me and forced her to make an impossible decision.

“No,” she says. “If anything, I've been amazed by you every step of the way.”

I nod. “Happy to hear it. Come.” I grab her hand, and we walk toward the drive. We step over broken limbs and thick branches before we're far enough away that no one can see us or my wings.

I feel their weight, and I stretch them. Mabel's eyes dance over the dark feathers, and she sticks her hand out, running it over the edges. I shiver. Grabbing her hand, I place it around my neck before doing the same with her other. She looks up at me, and I wrap my arm around her back, lifting us.

We clear the tree line, and Mabel gasps. “A manor?”

I smile, loving the look on her face. I was captivated by this woman the night I saw her photo on the mantel when I took her grandfather.

But I fell for her one evening after she'd had a long day at the store. She came home, kicked her shoes off, uncorked a bottle of wine, and went for a long bath. She ran down the stairs and put the record player on when she'd nearly drunk half the bottle.

She danced throughout the house, singing to the top of her lungs. I'm shocked the neighbors didn't come to check on her. I stood in the shadows with a smile playing on my lips. In nothing but a t-shirt and panties, she looked edible. I nearly showed myself then.

I kept thinking I wanted her to share a moment like that with me. I wanted to dance with her and get drunk on her. Afterward, I'd lay her down and slowly remove those panties, pulling them down her thighs and over the tips of her toes. I would kiss my way up and push her legs apart, watching as her head fell back once my mouth landed on her center.

She would fall asleep in my arms instead of facedown on that couch. She didn't know, but I took the bottle from her hand and put a blanket over her. I sat in the chair her grandfather sat in and watched her sleep for hours.

I've broken many rules when it comes to her.

After that night, I couldn't stop watching her. I'd stand in the grocery store while she placed icing back on the shelf near that portal to heaven. Her red hair was so vivid in the fluorescent light that I wanted to reach out and touch it. See if my hand would catch fire.

She had no idea I was there, nor the other lost but found souls waiting to ascend. It's a crowded area, that portal. I'd listen to her thoughts. How she wanted to redo the house, but once she got home, she only wanted to bathe and collapse on her bed. She'd read a book and fall asleep to get up and do it all over again.

There was no excitement in her life, no fun. I hated watching her do the same things over and over. From the In-Between, I'd encourage Mabel to go out with Sam, even though I was not too fond of her potentially taking a man home.

I would interfere with that, of course. I wanted Mabel to have fun, but there were restrictions on how much I wished her to have.

If she were going to sleep with anyone, it would be me.

“I had no idea this was here,” she says as we near the enormous pond. It still holds water, but you can see the rocky bottom in the dry months.

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