Siege (As the World Dies #3)(63)

By his junior year, his love for running landed him the role of track star. His enjoyment was short-lived when the school’s football coach decided he wanted to put Travis’ speed to use on the football field. Out of frustration, Travis had quit altogether. Even his choice of Leilani, an exotic belly dancer, who was also on the school newspaper, had been protested by others. A teacher even told him, “Travis, you could so easily have Jennifer if you’ll give up on Leilani.” Of course, Jennifer was the head cheerleader. He had managed to keep his alternative girlfriend until graduation, but she had to deal with being called “bitch,” “whore,” and “slut” until graduation day by those who felt spurned by Travis.

College had been a bit of a relief. He was finally able to just blend in and he had found joy in pursuing his political interests. He had plunged whole-heartedly into the laid-back, alternative lifestyle community that lived around the University of Texas campus in Austin and spent too many hours stoned out of his mind down near Town Lake.

He had surfaced from the madness a year later, tattooed, long haired, and feeling quite satisfied with his year of wildness. It was then he felt free to jump fully into academia, pursuing a double major. He studied architecture out of sheer love for the art of it and studied to become a city planner for the love of helping people. Things had gone well until he had met Clair, the woman that would change his life.

Her beauty and sparkling personality had worked magic on him. By the time he had graduated, he found himself ensconced in her father’s architecture firm building high rise buildings in Houston and living a life he had never imagined for himself. He won awards and was given huge bonuses. He dined at the finest restaurants and vacationed at the best resorts. But one day he woke up and it all meant nothing. He realized he had lost his soul and forgotten his desire to help people.

In months everything was sold, the girlfriend was in the past, his expensive suits were at Goodwill and he was in a truck heading into the Texas Hill Country to help restore an old historical town.



Now he was helping rebuild the town in a way he never imagined. People in the fort saw Travis as a leader. He saw himself as a helper. He was helping build a new life and making sure it was safe. He was Katie’s husband and their child’s father and that was good enough for him. All the rest of it, the looks of admiration, the looks of disdain, the arguments, the accolades, were meaningless when he looked down into Katie’s face and understood his role.



“I always loved looking at her when she slept,” a silky, deep voice said. Looking up, Travis saw a very tall woman gazing down at them. She was very slim and wore a black dress with long sleeves and a skirt that brushed over the toes of her black boots. She sat down next to Jason and smiled at Travis.

Blinking, he took in her short cropped brown hair with auburn highlights, amazing cheekbones and shining eyes. Ornate native jewelry decorated her throat and wrists.

“She just looks so innocent when she sleeps, though every once and awhile, she gets this furrow right here,” the woman said, leaning over to point between Katie’s eyebrows. “That is when you know she’s arguing a case in her sleep.”

“Lydia,” Travis whispered.

“Yes,” she answered with a dazzling smile.



He noted her hands were long and elegant. She wore a diamond wedding band. “Then I must be asleep,” Travis decided.



“Yes, you are,” Lydia assured him. She tilted her gaze to look at Katie. Her eyes glimmered with unspoken love and she smiled a bittersweet smile. “She looks beautiful pregnant.” Travis knew this was a dream, but he felt awkward. Meeting the-well, she wasn’t really the ex--but his wife’s former wife was odd.

“We…eh…oh…um…”

Lydia laughed. “Don’t worry, Travis. Life goes on for the living. I know that. I would never want to hold her back from loving again. From living. I will always love her and I just want her happy.”

“But,” Travis rubbed his brow, wincing with embarrassment. “I’m a guy.”

“Yes, you are.” She laughed with delight.



Travis continued to grimace. Lydia’s hand reached toward him, but she didn’t quite touch him. “It’s all right, Travis. The heart loves without boundaries. It is the mind that can trap the heart with cages constructed by society’s rules. Katie always had a beautiful open heart.”



Travis forced a smile, feeling nervous. “Why am I dreaming about you, Lydia?” He understood he was asleep and this was all a dream, but somehow it felt important. It felt amazingly real. Lydia’s smile faded a little and she sat back, crossing her legs. “Travis, you need to understand something important. I’m here to give you a message.”

“About Katie?”

“About you.” She tilted her head and gazed at him with a serenity that was both comforting and disconcerting.

“Oh?”

Leaning forward, her eyes gazed steadily into his. “You need to understand that the world has changed. The veil between the living and the dead is very thin now. The worlds have blurred and nothing is as it was. Many have died and will die as the world tries to regain balance of some sort. The dead are all around you. Not just the empty shells that are trying to kill you, but the spirits of those trapped by the massive upheaval that took place when the dead seized the world from the living.