I couldn’t really remember. I’d put that whole time period under the rug. But when I really thought about it, I recalled feeling like this incredible power had taken over me, like I’d suddenly become blood thirsty. Like I hated Maximus and wanted to hurt him. I relished the hate, the desire to destroy and inflict pain. It was me and not me at the same time and if Maximus hadn’t stopped me, I didn’t know what would have happened.
“It’s happening to him,” I said quietly. “Something is inside him, sharing his space.”
Maximus nodded gravely. “That’s what I think. But Dex is still there, just as you were still there. We’re going to have tread lightly with this one.” He didn’t have to explain what he meant by that. Dex would never hurt me in a million years. If it was the real Dex I was going to return to downstairs, he was going to hurt, badly. Far more than he had hurt me.
But if it wasn’t Dex, who was it?
“I don’t know,” Maximus said and I realized he was picking up on my thoughts. “But it’s not good.”
“Are there ever any good tales about possession?” I pointed out. I sighed. “Is it Michael?”
He pursed his lips. “That’s a bit of a stretch. As far as I know, a living person can’t possess another living person. Even the Jacobs couldn’t do anything like that, and we had an awful lot of power at our fingertips.”
I didn’t want to get off the subject but I couldn’t help but suddenly ask, “What was that like?”
He cocked a brow. “Being a Jacob?”
I nodded.
“I can’t really say. I mean, I don’t have anything to compare it to. We’re supposed to cycle in a way, keep living new lives with new memories, so the burden of immortality never really sits in, but you always remember something.”
“Burden,” I mused caustically.
“Well, it is a burden. All life should have an expiration date. To keep living on, it’s not natural. To watch all your friends and family die again and again, there’s nothing like it. It’s an eternity of loneliness. When I realized I could give it up for Rose, I didn’t hesitate. And, no, I don’t regret it.”
“Especially now that you’re back with Rose,” I said.
“That helps,” he said. “But as painful as life is sometimes, you have no idea what it’s like to be able to relate to someone, to know you aren’t alone. As a Jacob, I was alone and I was different. In some ways, I was condemned. Now, I’m just like you. I’m free.”
“And you’re not afraid of death?” I asked. “Because after all I’ve seen, I’m terrified of it.”
“I am afraid of death,” he admitted. “But not because I don’t know what’s on the other side. I do. I’ve been there. I’m afraid to leave Rose behind. To leave love behind. The idea that I can be taken from her and she from me…you don’t want immortality unless you both have it.”
“Well, I won’t have that problem,” I said. The subject of death was making me a little uneasy. Everything was making me uneasy. I gingerly reached up and touched my neck, feeling the tender skin. Somehow, I had to get past the idea that Dex had done this. It hadn’t been him. I couldn’t be afraid of my own fiancé.
“Do you want me to walk you back to your room?” he asked, ever the Southern gentleman.
I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. Believe me, if there’s a problem I’ll come straight here.”
“Be prepared,” he said, as I got to my feet. “And alert. But remember it’s still Dex. Until we know what’s going on, it’s still Dex.”
I nodded and quickly left the room. I went down the staircase and was back outside our hotel room door. I took in a deep breath and then slid my card through. The light went green and I went inside.
The room was black except for the bathroom light which was on. I could see Dex asleep in bed, his face illuminated. He was snoring lightly and his perfect face looked totally peaceful and almost childlike as he slept.
I quietly closed the door behind me and stood at the foot of the bed, debating whether to get in with him or sleep on the floor or in the bathtub.
But, watching him sleep, I could barely imagine him doing what he had done, even though my neck and throat throbbed with a dull ache. I was going to marry the guy and that meant for better or for worse.
Or for possessed, I guess.
Still, I picked up the corkscrew from above the mini bar and put it under my pillow.
You could never be too careful.
***
That night I dreamt that Dex had died. I woke up with tears in my eyes, cursing our mortality. I could still see the embers raining down from the sky.