Watching his hand the whole way, Hailey slid her pinky only a little so it barely brushed his skin.
Then she stood up and crossed her arms.
“Cobon wants me dead, and Asher’s the only thing stopping him,” she blurted. She just couldn’t hold this in any longer. “Now Asher wants to kill me. But, onlytemporarily… Is that possible?”
“Hailey—that’s a really bad idea,” he told her, sitting up.
“Asher said he and Cobon came up with a planto—”
“This is Cobon’s plan?” Fin stood up. “Did it ever occur to you that Cobon is a manipulative, murderous liar?” He shook his head and whirled around at her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “And he’s insane! You saw what he did to Holly! He’s using Asher, he knows how to manipulate him—this is just a ploy to get Asher to kill you! Can’t you see that?”
“What am I supposed to do, Fin? I can’t stop them!” She was shaking all over when Fin wrapped his arms around her.
“We’ll figure it out,” he vowed, and Hailey sniffled into his shirt.
“You better wash this,” she chided, trying to laugh.
“I won’t,” he smiled, rocking her gently in his arms. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“You should be.” Hailey wiped her face with his shirt and looked up at him. “Save your aggression for the ice.”
“You still coming to the game this weekend?”
“That was this weekend?” she asked, feigning surprise as she wiped her last tears away.
“Yeah…you… Did you forget?” he stammered, sounding genuinely disappointed.
Hailey smirked, and he rolled his eyes.
“Are you kidding? I can’t wait to see what paranormal hockey looks like.”
Fin held her close as they walked into Eureka, saying, “I think you’re in for a surprise…”
Chapter thirty-two
Paranormal Hockey
"There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing." - Robert Burns
“This is incredible,” Hailey gasped as she took in the extraordinary view—dancing foils of light zinged across the heavens and streamers of glowing warmth in shades of violet and scarlet chased a glint of yellow through the cosmos, whirling together when they caught it then throwing off sparks of white as they broke apart.
It took her breath away.
She should have guessed Asher’s “telescope” used no ordinary optics. But she had no idea she’d be treated to a glimpse into the Aether.
“Now I know why you spend so much time here. It’s spellbinding,” she marveled. She blinked hard and pulled away from the eyepiece. “You said you were looking for forgiveness. What did you mean?”
Asher placed his hand on the telescope near Hailey’s shoulder, so close it warmed her skin.
“When you look through this aperture, you can see into the Aether,” he said. “In the Aether, one can find many things. I once betrayed a friend in her most desperate hour. She came to me for protection.” Asher’s face hardened slightly. “And instead of giving it, I tore her apart.”
Hailey froze.
Searching his eyes, she tried to discern whether she saw there more remorse…or annoyance.
“Her name was Kiya. We flung her energy in different directions across the universe, across the Aether. I don’t know where she went, but I intend to find her—piece by piece if I must.”
“Why didn’t you help her when she came to you?”
