Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(97)

She moved up to the rock floor, stood there and sensed the brewing of a perfect storm; the calm of this place coming face-to-face with the emotional turbulence raging inside her. He had not loved her!

The folded pictures in her pocket felt heavy like a rock.

Slipping them out, never looking at them, she ripped them into shreds.

“You want to blame someone? Blame him!”

She dropped down on her butt. Her chest ached. The hairline fractures in her heart gave way to become real cracks. Then she felt them—the tears she’d vowed not to cry. Looking at the tiny pieces of photographs in her hand, she caught one glimpse of her daddy’s smile. She threw the shredded photos into the water, wanting them and the pain to go away. To stay away.

The still water started moving in circles, slow at first, then faster. Fredericka’s breath hitched in her lungs. The wake of the water brought all the bits of papers into a little cyclone. Round and round they went until piece by piece, like a jigsaw puzzle, all those tiny bits of images came back together.

She blinked, not believing it.

Then the ebb and flow of the water brought the strip of four images back to her. Left them at her feet.

Through tears, she saw the two smiling faces staring up at her. Her father and her at their happiest moment.

Stunned and completely leery of the power it took to undo her destruction, she scooted back away from the images.

Sobs, sad little hiccups suddenly filled the alcove of rock. It took several seconds to realize that noise came from her.

A shift, a movement behind the wall of water brought her wet eyes up. Then a shape moved through the liquid divide.

Ready to kick ass and ask questions later, she got up onto her haunches. But the person emerging was the last person Fredericka would hurt. She dropped back on her butt and looked up at Holiday.

“Kylie said it was calling you,” Holiday said.

“I don’t want to talk about this.” Fredericka found just an ounce of strength to pull herself together.

The redheaded fae came and sat down beside her.

“I won’t push you to talk about anything, but … I need to tell you that you have an envelope with what looks like a couple of letters in it, waiting for you in my office. And I just want to make sure that you’re okay. You were so upset and I—”

“I’m fine. I always am.” For the first time, Fredericka looked around. As serene as the outside of the falls was, inside was even more beautiful. The sun came through the falls and cast flickering rainbows on the cavern walls. Colors danced and meshed and melded together.

“What is this place?” Fredericka asked.

Holiday looked at her. “You have Native American blood in you, don’t you?”

“Yes. Why?” Fredericka asked.

“The Native Americans used the falls for spiritual ceremonies. They considered it a private place. Very few people are called to visit. It’s believed that some descendants of those Native Americans are among the few who are called.”

“What do they want with me?”

“It’s different for every person, but … coming brings peace, or … prepares us for difficult times. It’s like a spiritual hug.”

“I have my quota of difficult times. And I don’t do a lot of hugging.” Fredericka stood up and took a step to leave.

“You forgot this.” Holiday held out the strip of images.

Fredericka’s gaze shifted to the photos of her father holding her, laughing. “I don’t want them. I’ve torn them up once.”

Holiday stared at her a little confused, then looked down at the photos.

“It put them back together.” Fredericka motioned to the water and half expected the woman to accuse of her lying. She didn’t. “Does weird shit like that happen here all the time?”

“Sometimes.”

“Too freaky for me.” Fredericka turned to leave again.

“Fredericka?” Holiday called. When she turned around, Holiday had a slight frown on her face. “You should know that … that sometimes coming here brings on some special gifts.”

“It’s not my birthday. So no thank you.”

“That doesn’t seem to matter,” the fae said.

Fredericka hesitated to ask. “What kind of gifts?”

“It’s different for everyone, but … a very common one is … is being able to communicate with spirits.”

“No.” Make that a hell no! “Tell them to keep their gifts, and their hugs. I just want to be left alone.” Fredericka ran off.

*

She went back to the workshop, only to remember she’d lost the key. Recalling the death angels had lied to her and said they’d had it, she was tempted to just break the door down. She stopped herself a second before she barreled her shoulder through the entrance. Just because she felt emotionally destroyed didn’t give her the right to destroy property that didn’t belong to her.

Her emotions still spiraling, her phone dinged with a text.

She looked at it, and muttered a curse. She’d forgotten she was supposed to meet Cary. She considered texting him back and claiming she had a headache. But no. If there was a time she needed a friend it was now. She started toward his classroom where they always met. Her heart ached and her head searched for a way to tell him what had happened. As she neared his office she envisioned his arms around her. So shoot her, she wanted … needed a hug. Not by a death angel but by a friend, a boyfriend, or at least a potential one.