Four Summoners Tales Part 30

His cell phone buzzed once, a text coming in. Exhaling, he shifted in the chair and tugged the phone from his pocket to discover that the message was from Skyler.

Open the d.a.m.n door.

Zeke almost didn't get up. He had never wanted to hurt Skyler, but since Savannah's murder the idea of loving anyone made him want to lock himself in the cellar and never come out. Love meant pain and loss; better to be alone.

But he had known Skyler a long time before they had begun dating, and he knew she would not go away just because he ignored her-seeing her earlier today at the Magic Wagon confirmed that. She had come out here with some purpose in mind and as long as she believed he was at home-and his car out in the driveway had already given him away-she would see it through.

"s.h.i.t," he muttered, rising from his chair.

When he opened the door, Skyler barged in without an invitation. She had made no effort to pretty herself up for the visit; her hair was in a ponytail and the only makeup he could see was mascara. Her hooded burgundy sweater fit her tightly enough to show off her curves, but it was frayed at the cuffs and the laces of her boots were untied, as if she'd made the decision to come abruptly and hadn't paused even to tie them.

"Come in, I guess," he said, letting the irony into his voice.

Skyler spun on him, there in the foyer, stammering nonsense for several seconds, the words crowding each other to get out. She paused and took a breath, so furious with him . . . and she was so beautiful that it made him want to shove her back out the door. He loved the fire in her, the pa.s.sion, but he did not want to love her.

"You guess . . . ? That's the greeting I get after you ignore me?" She looked as if she didn't know whether to cry or slug him. "I've given you all the s.p.a.ce you could ever have asked for, Ezekiel. I've respected your desire to be alone even though I think it's the opposite of what you need. But I come and bang on your door and you ignore me-"

"I didn't know it was you banging, Skyler."

"-hush, now, I'm yelling at you!" she said, waving a finger, blue eyes alight with righteous fury.

Zeke couldn't help smiling. "I can see that."

Skyler faltered, the corners of her mouth turning upward, tempting a grin. Instead she punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Don't try to make light," she said grimly, searching his eyes. She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I figure you know why I'm here."

Zeke glanced out the still-open door, then slid it slowly shut.

"I'm guessing it's to do with the meeting at the Magic Wagon today."

"You know it is."

He narrowed his eyes, turning to look at her. "That doesn't concern you, Skyler.You didn't lose anyone that night-"

"I lost you," she said softly.Angrily. "If you think I'm overstepping, well, I don't know why I should care.You've already put me out of your life. But I care for you, Zeke, and that's not going to change.You're a good man. Don't let yourself be talked into this." "Too late."

Zeke walked into the living room with Skyler trailing behind him.

"It's not too late," she said insistently. "n.o.body's done anything yet that they can't take back except for Alan Vickers and his little hoodoo conjuror, or whatever the h.e.l.l that Enoch fellow is."

He sat on the edge of the sofa with his arms crossed, staring at the knots in his pine floorboards.

"This about G.o.d?" he asked, not looking up.

"Partly, I guess. But it's more just about what's right. Up until today, I never gave a second thought to the rules I always thought the world worked by. Dead was dead. Maybe that's not so. Unless it's some kind of trick-"

"It wasn't a trick. It was Martha Vickers in there, I'd swear to it."

"Trick or not, it isn't natural, Zeke. You know that. Even if you can bring Savannah back, you'll never erase the truth from your mind."

"If she can come back, the truth'll be that she's alive," he said.

"The truth will be that you saw her get shot and you held her while her body went cold and she was dead, and the dead are not supposed to come back to us.You look inside your heart and you won't be able to run away from the fact that you're doing this for yourself, not for Savannah. You have no way of knowing what it means to come back from the dead, what she'll remember, or if she'll even be whole. All you have is this creepy little fella's word. Don't do this, Zeke. It's abominable.And if you bring her back, she'll be an abomination."

For a moment he could not breathe. He closed his eyes and ran a thumb over a spot on his temple that had begun to throb. Skyler only wanted the best for him; he knew that. And, in quiet moments, he had allowed himself to imagine a future with her. But how could she not understand?

She has no children, he thought. She can't feel what you feel. Skyler would never know the silent screaming that went on inside his heart, day and night. His wife, Anarosa, had been a G.o.d-fearing woman, but he had no doubt what she would have done if she were still alive. h.e.l.l, he figured if he gave up this chance,Anarosa would find some way to come back and haunt him, but Skyler would never understand.

To have lost his daughter, seen her die in front of him, and now to have a chance at restoring not only her life, but her lifetime-all the days the future still held in store for her-he would do anything. No matter how n.o.ble her intentions, Skyler wanted to rob him of that. For a moment, Zeke hated her for that.

He looked up at her. "You need to leave."

Skyler flinched. "Please, Zeke-"