Revenge Page 13

  Cullen and Emlen cuddled the next morning and talked about how good Brenna was for Connor and how happy they were that he had someone that made him laugh.

  They all gathered around the table for breakfast, but about ten minutes in, Connor stood up. “Brenna, I have a question for you, but before I ask it, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  Emlen stuffed a bite of cinnamon roll in her mouth so she wouldn’t say anything and Cullen arched a brow at his brother, silently asking if he was sure. Connor gave Cull a nod and turned back to Brenna.

  “What do you know about magic?” Connor asked her.

  “Magic? Um, like magic tricks?” Brenna said.

  “No, love. Like real magic,” Connor said.

  Brenna started to laugh but stopped when she saw Cullen and Emlen’s serious expressions. “Wait, you’re serious?”

  Em nodded. “Yep.”

  Connor held out his hand, palm up, and let the lightning swirl above his hand. “Magic.”

  Brenna sucked in a breath, eyes wide. “Shut the front door! That’s awesome.”

  He let the lightning disappear and leaned over to kiss Brenna. “You’re awesome.” Then Connor dropped to a knee and pulled a small box out of his pocket in a well-known shade of blue. “Brenna Moran, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  Brenna tapped a finger against her lips and looked up at the ceiling, then sighed, “Oh, I suppose I could do that.” Emlen burst into laughter and clapped as Brenna kissed Connor and Cullen cheered.

  “Welcome to the family, sis,” Emlen told Brenna.

  Connor slid a square-cut emerald with diamond band on Brenna’s finger and kissed her again.

  “It’s perfect, Connor. I love you,” Brenna told him.

  Cullen called Eileen and James so Connor could share the news. Later that afternoon, Cullen and Emlen flew home, leaving the happy couple to celebrate the new year and their new promises together.

  Chapter 19

  Peter Wolfe was now too weak to sit in his chair. He lay in a hospital bed, attended by private nurses with regular visits by the soldiers in his inner circle. At the moment, he lay while a nurse rubbed lotion on his feet. His gaze was locked on the small shrine he’d had one of his men set up this morning. Valentine’s Day, February fourteenth, Valentina’s birthday was when he would buy her favorite gardenias and roses, put out his favorite photos and light candles.

  “Nurse, would you get the blue clay jar off the shelf in the parlor and put it on the cabinet over there next to the pictures?” Wolfe asked.

  The nurse paused, wiped off her hands on a towel and stepped out of the room. She came back a few moments later with the jar. As she held it in one arm so she could move a few of the photos around to make room, the jar slipped and she almost dropped it. The lid slid off against her chest and she carefully pulled it up and set it on the cabinet before placing the jar down. “Sir, there’s an envelope in here. Do you want it?”

  “An envelope?” Wolfe was confused. JJ was dead. How would there be an envelope?

  “Yes, sir. Should I take it out?”

  “Please, and bring it to me,” Wolfe replied.

  The nurse set the jar carefully in its spot and put the lid back on, then brought the letter over to Wolfe. When he saw ‘Brian’ on the front, he almost dropped it. “Open it for me.”

  The nurse opened the envelope and pulled out the pages. She unfolded them and held them for him to read.

  “I can’t read it. Please, read it to me?”

  The nurse sat on the chair at the side of the bed and cleared her throat before she started reading.

  “Dearest Brian, Someone is writing this for me because ghosts can’t hold pens very well.” The nurse paused and looked up at her patient. “Is this a joke?”

  “I…uh…what’s the signature?”

  “Always and forever, Snookie – your Vali girl,” the nurse said.

  Alarms went off and Wolfe’s body jerked and shuddered in the bed. The nurse dropped the letter and grabbed the cart, pulling out a prepared syringe and injecting some into the IV already dripping into his veins. A moment later, the seizure stopped and Wolfe drifted into sleep. The nurse knew he’d want her to read the letter to him when he woke, so she sat down and read through it. None of it made any logical sense to her, so she folded it back up, slid it into the envelope, and lay it on the bedside table. Right now, her patient needed rest.

  * * *

  Emlen rubbed her lower back and grimaced. The weight and strain had been rough to deal with last month but now it felt like a sack of bowling balls strapped to her stomach. She’d forgotten what her feet looked like and had got tired a while back of having to ask someone to help her with her shoes. Curled on her side, propped with pillows, felt like the only way she could get a deep breath. She had tucked herself in to the corner of her favorite sofa with her e-reader and tried to focus, but the pain throbbed in her back.

  Cullen spotted Em through the open door as he came in from outside. He shook the snow free and pulled off his outer gear before he stepped into the room, hands held out to soak up the warmth from the fireplace. “Hey love, I’ll come to greet you in a minute. My hands are chilled.”

  “Hey,” Em said. “Thanks. Warm ‘em up and you can maybe rub my lower back a little?”

  Cullen settled on the sofa beside Em and helped her shift so he could rub her back.

  Low groans slid from Em’s lips as she relaxed over the pillows and cushions, the tension eased for the first time all day. “Much better,” she mumbled.

  Cull reached for the bag he’d set next to the sofa and pulled out a small box of handmade chocolates. “Happy Valentine’s day, wife. It’s our first Valentine’s as husband and wife and I know you don’t like the holiday, but I wanted to do something to mark the occasion.”

  “Aww, that’s sweet of you. Thank you. Sorry, but I wasn’t in any condition to go out and get you something.”

  “Love, you’re carrying my children. That’s more than enough. Now, let me help you shift and I’ll rub your feet.”

  Em made a sound between pleasure and pain as she used his help to prop up against the pillows and lay her feet in his lap. She opened the chocolates and read the little card, then picked out his favorite to feed to him. “You rub my feet? I feed you chocolate. We can pretend we’re ancient Romans.”

  Cullen laughed and bit the chocolate as his thumbs dug into the arches of her feet.

  * * *

  Wolfe finally woke up after his episode and saw the letter on his side table. He called the guard over to him and asked him to read the letter out loud. It took everything within the man to restrain himself, but Wolfe had long ago stopped being Brian Peters. He wished he had his strength just one more time, so he could tear the letter into shreds along with whomever had sent it to him. Tears slid down his withered cheeks, thinking of the cruelty the writer inflicted upon him, pretending to be his sweet angel. Voice cracking with fury, Wolfe pulled the oxygen mask away from his mouth and ordered the day’s events to begin.

  A monitor had been pulled close to his bed and the man that had once been Brian Peters watched as a series of explosions were triggered. The guard turned away from the screen in time to see the heart rate monitor flat-line. A hand reached over and silenced the alarm, then tugged the blanket up over Wolfe’s face. “Evil fucker. Hope you rot in hell,” the guard muttered as he left the room.

  * * *

  Tina had been waiting for the moment she felt Brian connect with the letter. She hadn’t expected it to be just before he died.

  Tina made sure that Em tucked a small gemstone from one of Tina’s earrings in the envelope. They’d hoped it would be enough of a belonging to draw Tina to Brian. It had been. Barely.

  “Brian,” Tina said as she stood next to his bed. She could feel his spirit, still in his body. His heart had stopped moments ago but his brain did not yet register that he was dead. “Brian, stop dicking around. You’re dead. Accept it, already.”


  “No,” Brian said as his ghost started to separate from his body. “I didn’t get to see the end game.”

  “Suck it up, sweetcheeks. Your game is ended.”

  “Who the fuck are you, anyway?” Brian asked.

  “Open your eyes and sit up and you’ll see.”

  Brian’s ghost sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stared at his hands and moved his limbs, then lifted his gaze and saw Tina, arms crossed, one brow arched as she watched him.

  “Welcome to the Dead Zone,” Tina teased.

  “Valentina,” Brian whispered, then pushed to his feet and reached for her.

  Tina stepped back, “Woah, buddy. Back off.”

  “But my love, everything I’ve done is for you. Revenge against those that killed you!”

  Tina leaned in, pointed finger in his face, “You fucking moron,” she hissed, “You killed my friends. You killed a lot of innocent people. You got off on the killing. You are not the man I loved.”

  Brian tried to grab Tina’s finger, so she curled it into a fist and slammed it into his chest. He stumbled back and sat on the bed, hand lifted to rub where she hit. “How can you do that?”

  “Moron. We’re both ghosts,” Tina said.

  Brian looked around before his gaze settled back on Tina. “Where’s the white light?”

  Tina snorted laughter. “Riiight. Like you’re going to go to heaven? No. First you go Between. Then you get sorted from there.”

  “So why are you not sorted?”

  “I chose to stay. You, however, don’t get that choice.”

  “Why not? Everything I did, I did out of love for you.”

  “No, Brian. Everything you did, you did because you got a rush out of it. Power, control, life, death – it was all in your hands, right?”

  Brian smiled,”That’s right. I did control it all. Today, I took out the last set of leaders. PLEA’s UN offices are nothing but smoke and ash.”

  “No, Brian. Oh, my gods, what did you do?” Tina had a moment of panic, then huffed a breath and grit her teeth. “Fine.” She took a deep breath and shouted “Ryan.” Ryan appeared beside her and looked at Brian.

  “Ryan, Brian blew up PLEA UN. I think we’ve had enough of him, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, we’ve had enough,” Ryan said and grabbed for Brian.

  Brian struggled but Ryan just smiled. “Hold on, ya little turd.”

  Tina grabbed Brian’s other arm and they dragged Brian toward the window. The clear glass panes shifted to smoky gray, then black. Tina let go and Ryan shoved Brian towards the blackness. When Brian tried to turn back, Ryan kicked him into the black and watched as Brian’s ghost fall into oblivion.

  “We’ve got to get to Emlen. Connor was at the UN offices today,” Tina said.

  Ryan took her hand and they disappeared, only to reappear in the manse.

  Chapter 20

  “Emlen,” Tina started to say and then stopped. “What?”

  Emlen was on her hands and knees, gripping the back of the couch, rocking and panting.

  “I’m…in…labor…” Em gasped out as she looked at Tina. “Did you…get him?”

  “He was dead. Ryan shoved him Between. Where’s Cullen?”

  “I’ll go find him,” Ryan said.

  “Cullen’s getting the car and the guards,” Eileen said as she came into the room. “How are you doing, Emmy?”

  “They’re close. Really close,” Em said.

  Eileen bit her lower lip. “You okay with me taking a look under your skirt, honey?”

  “It burns, Ma, like fire,” Emlen said, fingers curled tight into the cushions and frame of the sofa. “Should have left the minute my water broke.”

  “Yeah, well…” Eileen crouched down and lifted the hem of Em’s dress. Her eyes went wide and she got to her feet. “Emmy? You’re not going to make it to the hospital. Stay where you are and whatever you do, do not push.” Eileen raced to the door, yelling at the top of her lungs. “Cullen, get down here. James, call Michaelson next door. I saw his car this morning, so the good doctor is home. Mrs. A? Get clean sheets and towels, hot water, dental floss, and your sharpest scissors. Now, people!”

  Cullen slid into the doorway, grabbed the door frame and hurried to Em. He knelt in front of her, behind the couch and gripped her hands. “Hang on to me, baby. I’ve got you.”

  Eileen spread towels on the couch and floor, washed her hands in the scalding water and folded Em’s dress up over her hips. Em screamed, pushed, and the first baby’s head slid out and started to turn.

  Tina blinked out of the room for a moment and returned with Camille and Joel, the three of them staying in the hallway. Emlen yelled again and Camille moved closer. “I’m here, Emmy. You’re doing great. Breathe between pushes.”

  “Mama, it hurts so bad,” Em said.

  “I know, honey, but you’ll forget that soon enough.”

  “Emmy, one more push and your first baby will be here,” Eileen called out, cradling the baby’s head as Em cried out and pushed and the sturdy little body slid free into Eileen’s hands. “Your son is here,” Eileen said as she handed the baby to Mrs. A and tied off the cord with the dental floss. “Cullen, come cut the cord, son.”

  Eileen handed her son the scissors as he stared at the baby covered in birthing fluids and wrapped in a bath towel. She nudged Cullen and held up the cord for him to cut, then took the scissors from him as he reached for the babe. “Go show his Mama and then we’ll clean him up. Still have his sister to get here.”

  Cullen carried the boy over and showed Emlen. “Oh, my. He’s gorgeous.” she whispered and reached out to touch his face. “Hello, little one. I can’t wait to hold…owwww.” Her words ended in a howl of pain as another contraction hit and the first placenta slid free, soon followed by the crowning of their daughter. The second one’s birth went a lot faster and it wasn’t long before both babies were washed and bundled, Em was cleaned up and all were settled up in the master suite. Dr. Michaelson had just pronounced them all in perfect health, weighed and measured and recorded the babies’ births.

  “Camille Eileen and Connor James,” Em said as she held her daughter to nurse while Cullen cradled their son who had just finished eating. “Okay, Cami, you’re done,” Em said and settled the baby on her lap. “Cami and CJ. Sound good to you?”

  “Sounds perfect. They’re perfect. You’re perfect,” Cullen said.

  They cuddled together and admired their beautiful children, Em’s head on Cull’s shoulder.

  The sound of a throat being cleared brought both their heads up.

  “Connor, when did you get in?” Cullen asked.

  “Uh, I don’t know?” Connor said as he looked around, confused. “Wait, you had the babies?”

  “Just a couple of hours ago,” Em said. “Meet Camille Eileen and Connor James.”

  “Cami and CJ,” Cullen said.

  “They’re…” Connor started to say, then he disappeared. Emlen sucked in a breath and Cullen froze.

  Emlen yelled for Tina and Cullen bolted from the bed, racing downstairs to the office.

  Tina appeared. “I heard you yell. Are the babies okay?”

  Both babies were fussing at the distress their mom was putting out. “The kids are fine. I need you to find Connor. He just appeared, looking confused, then disappeared,” Emlen said.

  “He’s dead?” Tina said.

  “I don’t know. He didn’t act like a regular ghost. He was at the PLEA offices in the UN.”

  “Oh, shit. I forgot. Brian said he blew up the UN. I thought he was just being a dick before we tossed him Between. I meant to say something but when I got here, you were kinda having babies coming out of your…”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know, I was there. Can you find Connor? Find out if he’s alive?” Emlen’s voice cracked and she rested a hand on her son. “I want CJ to know his uncle’s touch on this side of the veil.”

  “I’ll do my best, Em,” Tina said and disappeared.


  Emlen bowed her head over the babies, kissed them and curled her arms around them. “If you two have any power towards luck, please send it your Uncle Connor’s way.”

  * * *

  Tina found herself in the smoke and ash of the ruins where PLEA’s UN office had once stood. “Connor, where are you?” Tina called out. She made her way through the chaos of first responders and dogs, calling out until she heard a voice call back.

  “Here. I’m here,” Connor said, hand raised through the rubble in ghost form. Tina rushed over to him. “Hang in there, Connor. Help’s coming.”

  Tina stuck her head through the debris to see Connor’s situation, she saw that he was in a pocket created where two beams crossed and held a panel up to give him air and kept his body from being crushed. “Hang in there, Connor. I’ll get you help.”

  Tina pulled back out and looked around, getting landmarks so she could tell them how to find him. She popped back to Boston and spotted Scatha. “Hey Scatha, need to tell Cullen where Connor is. Can you translate?”

  ~Of course. What can you tell me?~

  “He’s in a pocket of rubble on floor two, between a storage closet hanging open that has blue paint on the inside of the door and a huge pillar that someone spray painted a red C on.”

  ~I’ll tell Cullen, he can relay it to the PLEA folks helping search. Come with me.~