Valon: The Ghost of Cambria - Book Three

Chapter Twenty-One

Valon didn't understand how his master saw into his thoughts, but the exposure filled him with dread. He did everything to keep from thinking over his decision. It was unsafe to picture such a powerful action in his mind, much less tell it to Kristen. Still, Valon would speak to her again, if only to beg her to run away from them both.

A day had passed since Valon revealed the truth of Ryan Hoffman's murder, the reason he'd killed the man. He had seen the unmistakable pain in Kristen's eyes when Penelope woke her from her nap, and his shame kept the ghost at a distance. But he wouldn't allow himself to wait any longer.

Valon lay beside Kristen on the bed to watch while she prepared to go down for the night. She'd feigned being unwell and turned in early. Either Tony or Maloc had taken the hint and left Kristen in peace, leaving the house on an unvocalized errand. Valon took his master's absence as another opportunity.

The ghost entered her slowly when she at last found sleep, finding Kristen wandering through a light dream about an amusement park. She was near the edge of a terrace railing a dozen feet above a lake, seated alone at an ornate white bistro table. In the distance was a huge classic rollercoaster that roared when a new car took off a rocket, accelerating up the first incline every couple minutes, eliciting the joyful screams of its riders. Beside it was a towering Ferris wheel that bore the likeness of Mickey Mouse at its giant center. The cartoon character smiled down at the laughing world beneath him, almost proudly.

In front of Kristen on her table was a hurricane glass filled with several distinct layers of colored cocktail that shone as brightly in the sunlight in the view beyond it.

Valon waited for her to notice him, but soon approached when her eyes didn't turn back, taking a seat beside her.

"You don't know where we are," she said, affecting a slight smile though keeping her eyes on the view.

"Not really," Valon answered, then nodded at the giant smiling mouse that towered over the lake, "but I know who that is."

"This was all created after you died," Kristen said. "But any American might guess where we are."

"Disneyland?" he asked.

"More or less," she answered and lifted her cocktail to take a sip.
"Is this part called Boozeland?" Valon asked.

Kristen let out a healthy laugh and sat back in her chair.

"More or less," she answered. "Would you like to try? They call this a Mickey's Fun Wheel, and it guarantees a swell time."

Valon took a sip of the rainbow-colored drink and tasted the liquid as it splashed joyfully over his tongue. A large smile broke over his face as the lovely sensation overcame him.

"There it is," Kristen remarked with no small measure of satisfaction. "Do you like it? It gets me every time."

"It's difficult to feel any other way about it," Valon answered. "But this is your dream, so it no doubt bound me to love it just the same way."

"I'm glad you came to find me when you did. I can't control my dreams—they happen when and how they will. But when you arrive, I realize it's a dream and gain the ability to control it more. I intend to remain right in this happy spot for as long as I can."

Kristen lifted her face and closed her eyes against the warm sunshine that fell down upon her. It lit her hair to blaze like fire while the afternoon breeze carried curled wisps. From a spinning carousel across the lake came the sweet melodies of a carnival organ.

Even as Kristen seemed perfectly content, Valon saw a slight line of stress furrow between her eyes, and she lowered her head in resignation.

"When I'm with you, it's all... different," she admitted. "My wakened mind processes the world through a different lens. But with you here, I fear nothing. And no matter how painful it was, I don't hate you for what you did to Ryan," she said.

Kristen shook her head as if her words were unreasonable.

"When I'm with you, I can barely remember him," she whispered and looked off into the crowds. "I know so much about you. I've never been so intimate with anyone in my life. The most painful thing was that you lied to me. Or at least, you kept the truth from me."

Kristen looked back to Valon. He saw tears forming in her eyes, and he reached across the small table to take hold of her hand.

"I love you," he whispered back to her. "But you need to leave this house as soon as you wake up."

Kristen's brow furrowed again.

"I spoke to Maloc about you," Valon continued. "I told him about my feelings for you, and he agreed I could visit you like this when I wanted."

She exhaled with obvious confusion at his disparate statements.

"You don't have long until he's done with you, not if he's willing to share you with me. I sensed death upon him when he came home last night. You're not safe around him—no one is—and the less possessive he becomes of you, the easier it will be for him to change his mind about you." Valon shook his head. "I don't want to live without you, but I won't see you harmed. Go now, while there's still a chance."

Kristen drew her hand away from the ghost.

"What makes you believe I can get away from him now? Maloc knows where I live—Tony does, anyhow. And even if he didn't, he can read my thoughts when he's near me. How would I ever hide from him? He's not bound to this house as you are."

"But if you leave this very moment, he might let you go," Valon countered. "He might not find it worth the effort to follow you. He's in love with living right now. He's probably off in search of another person to enjoy as we speak. If you leave this minute, he might pick another woman to covet."

"And Tony?" she asked impatiently. "I should just up and leave him to his fate?"

"Tony's gone," Valon raised his voice. "The only reason Maloc might separate himself from that body is if it no longer functions."

"Maloc told me he would never hurt Tony, that he cares too much for his mortal body."

"Today, that might be true," Valon stressed. "What about tomorrow when he decides he wants a woman's body instead? What will you do when he decides he'd rather feel the ocean breeze through Kristen Cole's skin? Damn it, don't you understand? He killed me without a second thought—trapped me here in this house for so many years... I can't remember them all."

Kristen didn't respond but reflected the ghost's fear through her eyes.

"I begged him to set me free. I told him I was useless to him, that there's nothing for me to guard now that he's risen. Do you know what my master's answer was? 'No.'" Emotion gripped Valon to hear the finality of the word again in his soul. "That's all, just no."

"I won't abandon Tony," she responded. "Not while there's a chance I can help him."

Valon rose from his seat, wariness overtaking him, and he turned his back on Kristen. Before him, the amusement park disappeared. He left her bedroom and moved through the house to find quiet.

He must consider it throroughly before his master retured, the course he'd chosen. Maloc might have powers the beyond the ghost's comprehension, but the body he possessed certainly did not. It was mortal, like all the men Valon had killed. There must be a way to destroy it, or at least make it undesirable. Without Tony De Luca's body, Maloc would surely seek another, and he'd need to leave this place to find it.

Valon didn't believe what he'd told Kristen, about how the demon might desire to command her body instead. Maloc was everything but submissive, and the notion of him tolerating any but the mortal vessel of a dominate male seemed too unlikely to consider. Perhaps Valon's instincts made him a fool, but he trusted them regardless.

He was certain the demon would seek another male to possess. The only thing that might delay Maloc from that goal would be to first punish Valon for his betrayal.

"There must be a way to survive it," the ghost whispered to himself.