Dimples showing, Gabriel said, “You too, Heather.”
“Are you new to Avalon? I’ve lived here all my life and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before. I’m pretty sure I’d remember.” She may as well have batted her lashes for all the flirt dripping from her tongue.
Scarlet rolled her eyes.
“Yes, I’m new to town.” Gabriel smiled politely, his brown eyes glancing at Scarlet.
“Well, then, welcome to Avalon. And welcome to the Kissing Festival.” Heather went up on her tiptoes and gave Gabriel a kiss on each cheek.
“Thank you,” Gabriel said, graciously receiving and returning the kisses.
“Would you like to join us as we go watch the kissing relays?” Heather said, rubbing her hands together like sweating people kissing in between sprints wasn’t disgusting.
Gabriel hesitated.
“You should come,” Scarlet said. “I might throw up. It’ll be fun.” Something about Gabriel was…nice. She wanted him to stick around and continue using his lovely voice.
He smiled. “As much as I would love to watch you vomit, I can’t. I have to go.”
Scarlet nodded her head and tried to keep her smile in place, not showing her disappointment.
Heather said, “Will you be here tomorrow night?”
“Uh….” Gabriel looked at Scarlet, blinked for a moment and said, “Yes. Yes, I will.”
“Fantastic! We will see you tomorrow then.” Heather again gave Gabriel two cheek kisses goodbye.
“It was nice to meet you, Heather,” Gabriel said. He looked at Scarlet a moment, and showed his dimples. “Goodbye, Scarlet Jacobs.”
“Goodbye,” she said, as casually as possible, even though she wanted to shout, Don’t leave! You make me feel normal!
Gabriel smiled one last time before disappearing into the crowd of kissers.
Not two seconds passed before Heather turned to Scarlet with her mouth hanging open. “O-M-G, Scarlet. W-T-H?”
Heather actually spoke in text language. It took Scarlet a long time to get used to this—mostly because Scarlet had to learn text lingo in order to decipher conversations with Heather.
Sure, Scarlet wakes up in the woods with a complete understanding of the Spanish language…but ‘LOL’? Nothing.
“What do you mean?” Scarlet asked, sucking down the remainder of her pink lemonade with a sigh. Gabriel was gone and so was the feeling of normalcy Scarlet had briefly enjoyed.
“Um…hello? Hot guy chattin’ you up at the Kissing Festival? Where did you find him?”
“Find him? He’s not a cereal toy, Heather.”
“No—but ooh! How awesome would that be? You open a box of Trix and wham! Out pops a hot guy! I would so eat more cereal. He’s gorgeous. I mean, like, Greek-god-gorgeous. How did you meet him?”
“He just came up and started talking to me while I was waiting for you to finish at the kissing booths. How’d that go, by the way?”
“Worth every penny.” Heather tossed her hair. “Tell me more about this Gabriel.”
They walked together past a breath mint stand. “His name is Gabriel Archer. He’s from New York. And he doesn’t like snakes.”
Heather raised her eyebrows and waited for more. “That’s it? That’s all you got?”
“Well, pretty much. It wasn’t an interrogation. We just…talked.”
“Did you kiss?”
“No,” Scarlet said.
“Lame.”
Scarlet sighed. “I know.”
“Tomorrow,” Heather said. “Tomorrow, I will make sure you two kiss. And I will also be in charge of your outfit. You, clearly, cannot be trusted to dress yourself.”
Scarlet looked down at her green top and innocently said, “What? You don’t like my green shirt?”
“It’s not a shirt, it’s a curtain. You look like a bad set of drapes from the 70s. But, no worries! Tomorrow, I will make sure you look stunning. Now,” Heather began with a crooked smile, “let’s go watch grown-ups run laps and pass the baton of saliva.”
Wonderful.
Let the retching begin.
Scarlet mocked a gag, but followed her friend through the crowd anyway.
Something about meeting Gabriel had put Scarlet in a better mood. She almost didn’t hate the festival anymore.
Almost.
Just as they left the grassy park, Scarlet caught sight of her mystery boy-in-black. He was farther away this time but she could tell he was still looking at her. His gaze was more intense than before and Scarlet’s heart started to pound.
Her mind sparked at the promise of a memory again.
She slowed her steps to eye him more clearly, but a group of people passed in front of her, blocking her view.
When the crowd cleared he was nowhere to be found.
Scarlet stretched her gaze across the park as far as she could but found nothing. He’d been there one moment and was gone the next.
Just like the memory.
2
Familiar pain gradually reentered Tristan’s veins as he drove away from the festival.
Away from Scarlet.
He tugged on the collar of his black shirt, adjusting to the chronic ache he suffered without her.
Tonight had been an accident; seeing Scarlet . . . feeling her so close to him. Had he known she’d be at the festival, he never would have gone.
He’d almost gotten used to the grief that wracked his body in her absence; almost learned to live with it. But tonight had undone any hope he had of peace without her.
Tristan rubbed the back of his neck as his green eyes stared at the dark Georgia road ahead of him.
Long ago, he’d been cursed with a fever of desperation.
Nonstop, unrelenting desperation.
Bursting from his heart two years ago, it had taken him by the soul and wrung his insides dry with need.
A need so impossible, so all-consuming, he could not deny it.
And he could not silence it.
The sound of his soul, crying out for Scarlet, was deafening.
Two years ago, the summons had started as a murmur; soft, faint and gentle.
But over time it grew into a scream; bleating out in need and resonating in his chest without reprieve.
It was the sound of Scarlet’s heart, alive and awake, beating steadily inside her chest, and echoing in his.
Haunting him.
Like a call. A ruthless demand to find her—to be with her.
He’d tried to ignore the supernatural pull. He’d tried to pretend his soul wasn’t screaming in separation.
But it was.
He’d resisted the siren for years. And it nearly drove him mad.
Scarlet’s heart calling to him, begging him.
Like it always did
And he had broken down and answered.
Like he always did.
He had come to Avalon. Close enough to ease the fever. Close enough to quiet his screaming heart.
But distant enough to maintain his sanity.
Until tonight.
His accidental nearness to Scarlet tonight at the festival had eased his torment, but filled him with a longing he couldn’t indulge.
He needed to stay away.
Far away.
Tristan drove into the thick woods outside Avalon and made his way to the large cabin he shared with his brother.
After seeing Gabriel talking to Scarlet tonight, Tristan was furious.
He turned his car down the cabin’s driveway and parked.
Cursing under his breath, he exited the car and made his way inside.
The cabin sat upon twenty acres of forestland and had a main floor, a basement, and an upstairs. The main floor held the kitchen, a living room, the den, and an office. The upstairs and basement were identical in layout; each with a sitting room, master suite, and a spare bedroom.