Then he sighed again.
But this time, it wasn’t a hopeless one.
It was just a sigh.
And she smiled a little.
* * *
Oscar blinked drowsily.
What the—?
It took him a moment to realize where he was—still on the top of the damned lighthouse—with Teddy slumped next to him, her head on his shoulder and her warm body tucked next to him. Somehow, his arm had come to slide around her waist and a hand settled at her hip. He jerked it away, but didn’t have the heart to move and awaken her.
Did I really fall asleep?
He must have dozed or something, and his companion as well, for the night was very dark. And still. It had gotten much cooler. Maybe it was the chill that had awakened him.
The sky was as black as it got when there was a swath of stars glittering above. There was a quarter moon, and it hung high and distant in the sky, offering sketchy light that rippled over Lake Michigan below. Based on that, he guessed it was well after midnight, but not yet close to dawn.
He thought about moving, but he was comfortable, and Teddy was warm and soft next to him. Her head with its sagging, soft bundle of hair was just beneath his shoulder, and whatever shampoo she used had been teasing him all night with its smell, mingling with that of female, and now tinged with lake and the chill air.
He smiled in the dark. An interesting woman, to say the least. Practical, unruffled—except when it came to her unfinished book—and amusing, with the way her thoughts and words bounced around. Not to mention soft and pretty.
She hadn’t raged or cried or stomped around when they realized they were stuck up here. No accusations or recriminations. She’d just taken it in stride—maybe even better than he had done, he realized with a grimace.
Of course, he thought as his lips quirked into a smile, she probably didn’t mind, as this was a foolproof excuse for not working on her book. He gave a short laugh, thinking he might tease her about manufacturing the whole thing—at least when it was all over and they were down from here—when suddenly he felt the air change.
All at once, it wasicycold. Not just chilly from the lake wind, but like bloody winter in Vermont—it was a cold like he’d never experienced. A sharp, unnatural cold.
This shocking, startling chill front had come from nowhere. The wind wasn’t blowing…the frigidity was justthere.As if a cube of dry ice had been dropped on him.
As he looked around for some sort of explanation, he saw it.
What the hell?
A phosphorous-like substance, with the consistency of smoke or a cloud, hovered there on the gallery to his left, right next to the door from which he and Teddy had come out. It was bluish-green, glowing in the darkness…curling and billowing and moving…
Oscar fought to keep his breathing steady, and his thoughts from scattering.Some sort of alga,he told himself.Or moss.Growing on the side of the lantern—glows in the dark, so we didn’t see it before.Or some sort of plant or moss blown up from the lake or from a tree…like a glow-in-the-dark sagebrush…
He stared at it, his nose feeling as if it were iced over, his fingers like tiny shards of icicles, goosebumps all over his bare torso—and then Teddy bolted awake.
“So cold. It’s so— What isthat?”
But Oscar was already on his feet as the cloud—or moss or whatever it was—suddenly darted away, hovering for a moment above them. Then it sweptoverthe railing and disintegrated as it tumbled down into the darkness.
“What was that?” Teddy cried, stumbling as she dragged herself upright. Oscar automatically reached out to grab her so she didn’t accidentally launch herself over the railing. “That—that glowing cloud thing?”
“I don’t know,” he managed to say. He noticed the air temperature had suddenly gone back to normal. “Some sort of—alga or somethin—”
All at once, a horrible, night-shattering cry split the silence. Terrifying and shrill, it was as if someone was in agony.
Her eyes popped wide, Teddy grabbed Oscar’s arm as the scream reverberated in his ears.
Then it was gone, just as quickly as it had come.
Everything was silent except for Teddy’s panting breathing and his own heart pounding in his ears.
