Authors: Nikki Hoff

Happily Ever Afterlife (5 page)

A waiter approached and asked for their drink orders. Lia ordered a glass of wine, but her smile slipped a bit when Michael said, “Just water for me.”

“Oh, sweetie, what are you doing?” Tessa groaned.

Saylor cocked his head. “What do you mean? What’s he going to do?”

“You don’t ask for water unless you’re planning to ditch out.”

“Maybe he just wants water.”

Tessa shook her head. “This is not good.”

“I had a lot of fun the other night.” Lia blushed and looked down at her hands resting on the table. Michael reached across the table and took them in his own.

“I did too. Thank you for that.”

Pursing her lips, Lia looked away and took a deep breath before turning back. “But…?”

“See? Even she knows it’s coming,” Tessa said, elbowing Saylor in the ribs.

“But – I think it’s too soon for me. You’re so amazing, and you deserve someone who can love you back.” He squeezed her hands as her eyes grew moist. “Not some guy who’s still in love with a ghost.”

Tessa’s heart tripped. Yes, she loved Michael with every inch of her being, but he needed to let go. “Damn it, Michael, give it a chance.”

Lia pursed her lips even tighter and nodded quickly, obviously fighting tears.

“Looks like she maybe got her hopes up a little too high,” Saylor said dryly, but Tessa felt bad for her. She’d gotten her own hopes up, too.

Michael caressed Lia’s fingers, but wouldn’t look at her. “I’d like it if we could still be friends, and maybe after some time has passed, if someone doesn’t sweep you off your feet,” they both smiled, “we can try again. But right now, we’d just end up –”

“You don’t have to explain. I understand. Though, after the way we ended the other night, I’d hoped you’d already moved on.”

Michael chuckled. “Yeah, I think I got ahead of myself by a few hundred miles.” He finally met her gaze. “Forgive me?”

Blushing and pressing her cheek into her shoulder, Lia smiled. “Of course I do.”

The waiter came back to take their order, but before Michael could ask for more time, Lia said, “Can I take a rain check on dinner? I kind of just want to go home.”

Letting out a pent up breath, Michael’s shoulders sagged, but Tessa could tell he was relieved.

“Sure. You want to go now?”

Lia nodded.

“Did you drive?” Michael stood and pulled a twenty from his wallet. He looked up when Lia didn’t answer, but she was still nodding.

Poor thing
, Tessa thought.
Looks like she can’t wait to be alone so she can fall apart
.

“Come on,” he held out his arm. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

When she’d put on her coat and gloves, they headed out into the fresh snow. Tessa noticed Saylor was oddly quiet, almost subdued. As Michael and Lia headed into the parking lot, Tessa stopped him, pressing her hand to his chest.

“What’s wrong with you? Are we running out of time or something? Did we fail?”

Saylor shook his head and smiled, but it looked forced. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s right on track.” He nodded toward the parking lot where Michael and Lia were talking to a group of men. “Go on.”

She scowled, but did what he said, following the two warm bodies. The parking lot wasn’t well lit, but the snow reflected enough light for Tessa to see one of three men in front of the couple holding a knife. She couldn’t hear them, but saw Michael hand over his wallet and Lia slide her purse off her shoulder.

“Saylor, hurry! They’re in trouble.” Tessa ran toward the group, no longer waiting for Saylor to catch up. She felt the snow squishing into her flip-flops and around her seafoam green toes, but it didn’t sting her feet. The snow hitting her skin didn’t feel wet and the air wasn’t cold, but her heart felt the doom closing in.

The three thugs looked dirty and desperate, and she didn’t blame Michael for just giving them what they wanted. He wasn’t huge, but he could certainly hold his own in a fair fight. Three to one wasn’t fair.

“Empty your pockets,” the guy with the knife waved it in the air, his threat clear.

Michael and Lia both dug around, but Michael was the only one to come away with anything in his hands. Keys and a few quarters.

“I don’t have anything else. Just take our money and let us go,” he demanded.

A thug with a nasty scar across his cheek stepped forward and reached for Lia. “Money’s not the only thing worth taking.” Lia stepped back and Michael pushed her behind him as the three thugs laughed.

“You leave her alone. No one touches her but me!”

The guy with the knife sneered. “If your woman’s worth dying over, I want a piece.”

The third man lunged for Lia, but Michael grabbed his arm and yanked him forward, spinning him until he had the man’s arm pinned behind his back. “Run!” he shouted to Lia.

She didn’t run, but she did move far enough away to stay out of reach.

“Saylor, what do we do?” Tessa pleaded. There was no way Michael could hold off all three of them for long. She spun around, but Saylor was nowhere to be found.

Michael used the man as a shield until he was able to kick the knife from the first guy’s hand. He twisted the arm he held until it made a sickening pop, then pushed the third man to the ground and dove for the guy trying to retrieve the knife.

“Help! Please, somebody, help us!” Lia screamed and looked around, like she expected to see people running to their aid, but there was no one, not even Saylor.

The second thug jumped onto Michael’s back as he wrestled the guy with the knife, but Michael was able to crack his elbow into the thug’s face and send him reeling backward. His head shot back when the first guy landed a punch to Michael’s face, but all that did was light a fire under Michael. He slammed his fist into the guy’s shocked features, each punch accentuating his words – “You can’t have her. She’s. Mine!” By the end of his sentence, the guy had stopped fighting and lay unresponsive.

When Michael came to his feet, the thug with the scar was coming back for him. Michael grabbed the thug’s head and yanked him down, cracking his knee into the guy’s face. He dropped like a brick.

Tessa felt close to passing out, if dead girls could pass out. How on earth did he manage to fight all of them? And where the hell was Saylor? It was as close to an adrenaline rush as she’d come since her death.

Michael looked around for the third man, but he’d run off, holding his arm and wailing. He spun to find Lia as she crept out from behind a car.

“Are you okay?” he called, limping toward her.

“I, I’m fine.” She said, though it was clear she was shaken up. Her fingers trembled as she reached for Michael. “What’s wrong with your leg?”

Tessa hadn’t noticed the trail of blood left in Michael’s wake. It wasn’t much, but it was still blood.

“He caught me with his knife. Nothing serious, I don’t think.” He looked down to examine the slice of his jeans, but stood tall as Lia fell into his arms.

“Oh my God, Michael. I thought we were both dead. You saved us.” Lia swooned against his body.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you.” His own hand shook as he smoothed it over Lia’s hair. “We’re safe.”

Movement from the corner of her eye drew Tessa’s attention. The man with the scar now held the knife and was creeping toward Michael as he held Lia in his arms.

“Michael! Look out!” Tessa screamed. Of course, he couldn’t hear her, his body merely flinching before the knife was buried into his back.

“No! No! Michael!” Tessa and Lia’s cries echoed each other as Michael sagged to the ground.

Tessa stood frozen to the spot. This was too much. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. She was supposed to find him love, help him move on, not get him killed.

A puddle of blood grew around Michael as Lia huddled over him, begging him not to go and the criminal ran into the snow. Tessa backed away in disbelief. The world around her, Michael’s world grew faint and she screamed. She wasn’t ready to let him go. She’d find a way to save him, if she could just have a little more time.

Darkness enveloped her, the sound of snow falling the last thing she heard, Michael’s limp body the last thing she saw. Emotion finally overpowered her and she sobbed into the darkness, praying for a miracle. Where was Saylor? She was desperate to see him again.

Gradually she became aware of a budding glow behind her. She felt a hand on her shoulder. “Saylor, where have you been? I needed you, but you were gone,” she cried. But when she turned and arms embraced her, it wasn’t Saylor at all. It was Michael smiling down at her, wiping her tears.

“Michael? What the –? I thought you were… Oh, of course. You are.” She reached for his face, letting her hand smooth along his chin, her thumb glide over his lips.

A grinning Saylor appeared beside them, tears gleaming in his eyes.

“Saylor, what happened?”

He cocked his head to the side and raised a brow. “Princess, you were only there to bring him home. Well done.”

She couldn’t believe it. How was this possible?

“For all eternity,” Saylor confirmed her suspicions. “You two belong together.”

Michael leaned down, his gaze full of wonder. “Can I kiss you now, Tess?”

“As long as you promise to never stop,” Tessa said as Michael’s lips took her own.

“Eh eh eh.” The kiss screeched to a halt when Saylor pushed them apart. “First things first. He has to check in with Pete, then you guys can do the nasty all night for all I care.”

The End

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By
Nikki Hoff