Sea Haven 02 - Spirit Bound
sunlight, but the resemblance ended there. The ventilation was paramount here, due to the chemicals she used and she had several exhaust fans overhead as well as windows positioned to provide a cross breeze with the doors open. He could see the studio had been well thought out.
A small refrigerator stood in one corner and he raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
“I wrap my palette full of paint in plastic and freeze it to prevent drying out.”
“I’m going to learn a lot from you.” He studied the paintings she had in various stages of treatment and drying.
“Do you like to paint?” Judith’s face lit up. She obviously loved what she did and anyone who cared that much, would want to share her love of creating.
“I play around with it, but I’m not that good. I find it soothing.” He had never told another human being that either. He painted, and then destroyed the canvas immediately. A man living in the shadows couldn’t afford to leave anything that personal behind.
He studied the exquisite silk kimono displayed on the wall opposite the French doors. The way the easel was set up, she clearly faced that beautiful garment.
“My mother’s,” she explained and there was love and reverence in her voice. “I like to keep her close to me. Out back, I have a Japanese garden and some of the plants I brought here with me, I actually dug them up from my mother’s garden before I sold the house and planted them here. If I ever move, I’ll take them with me. I have her tea set and a few other things. Part of my childhood was spent in Japan and then my father moved us here, to the States. She kept the house very Japanese. My father and brother loved it that way, and so did I.”
He felt the sorrow in her rising. She hastily pushed it away. “Don’t do that around me,” he said sharply. “I have no problem with any emotion you’re feeling, Judith. Be yourself with me. Feel everything from hate to love, happiness to sorrow. You’re allowed.”
She ducked her head and stepped out into the hall. “You know what can happen, Thomas.”
He detested the name Thomas. “Not with me. I’ve seen what you can do, and if you’re honest with yourself, you know I can handle it. You’re afraid of yourself, but you’ll never learn to control your talent unless you start using it.”
“Maybe it’s evil and not meant to be used.”
Deliberately, he gave a derisive snort. “You’re not afraid to admit you want revenge, Judith, so why be afraid of something so pure as the element of spirit?”
“That’s exactly why I’m afraid of it. I can twist not only my own element, but my sisters’ talents into something not meant to be. I don’t want that for them. I guard how I feel so I’m not tempted.”
His arm caged her in, hand on the wall beside her head, preventing her from moving. “You know better, Judith. I’m a violent man when necessary. I recognize violence when I see it. You may need revenge. You may even dream of revenge, but torturing a human being in your mind, and killing him there is far different than actually doing it. You would never, under any circumstances use your sisters to hurt another human being.”
Judith blinked back tears, her eyes refusing to meet his. Stefan caught her chin in his fingers and forced her head. “You’re ashamed of that. Ashamed you have the means of revenge and won’t use it. You feel guilty.”
She jerked away from him. “You see too much.”
“Judith, there’s no guilt in not wanting to twist those you love into something that would hurt another being, you already know that’s too high of a price to pay—and there’s always a price. There has to be a moral code, a line you never cross, a personal code, even in something like revenge.”
She took a breath. “You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”
“More than you know, angel.” He bent his head and kissed her gently, a tender, comforting kiss when she winced and shook her head. “You don’t like being an angel, even mine.”
“I prefer it when you call me your fallen angel. At least I know you aren’t putting me on an impossibly high pedestal.”
She was on that pedestal for all time no matter what she did. Any sin she had would never compare to his blackened soul. He stepped back to allow her to escape. Judith squared her shoulders and led the way toward the stairs. They passed the last door on the bottom floor without her touching it. Judith had been open about every part
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