He was crying. She"d never seen a man his age cry, and it hurt in a way that was scary. But there was something else in his face. Something like relief .
. . peace.
Kneeling there, with his overcoat spread around him, Mr. Belizer said, "I kn ow my daughter is in a better place. Whoever did this, I forgive them."
A shock like cold lightning went through Gillian, and then a spreading warm th. She was crying suddenly. Hard. Tears falling straight down from her eye s. But she was filled with a hope that seemed to lift her whole body.
And then David drew in his breath sharply, and she realized he"d raised his head. He was staring at something above Mr. Bel izer.
Gary Fargeon was hovering there. like an Angel.
He was crying. And saying something over and over. Gillian caught "-sorry, I"
m so sorry. . . ."
Forgiveness asked for and given. If not exactly in that order.
That"s it, Gillian thought. Her knees began to tremble.
David whispered huskily, "Can you see that, too?"
"Yes. Can you?"
n.o.body else seemed to see it. Mr. Belizer was getting up now. He was walk ing past them, away.
David was still staring. "So that"s what he looks like. No wonder you though t-"
He didn"t finish, but Gillian knew. Thought he was an angel.
But . . . why was Gary still here? Wasn"t the forgiveness enough to release him? Or was there something else that needed to be done?
Gary turned his head and looked at her. His cheeks were wet. "Come in a littl e farther," he said. "I have to say something."
Gillian untangled from David, and then pulled at him. He came, jaw still sa gging. They followed Gary past a thicket and into another clearing. As the trees and the darkness closed around them, they seemed suddenly far away fr om the police noise and bustle.
Gillian guessed even as Gary sank down to face them. But she let him say it.
"You have to forgive me, too."
"I forgive you," Gillian said.
"You have to be sure. I did some terrible things to you. I tried to warp you, damage your soul."
"I know," Gillian said steadily. "But you did some good things, too. You h elped me-grow up."He"d helped her conquer her fears. Gain self-confidence. Discover her herit age. And find her soulmate.
And he"d been close to her in a way that she would probably never be with a nyone else ever again.
"You know what?" Gillian was on the verge of tears again. "I"m going to mi ss you."
He stood facing her. He was shining just dimly. His eyes were dark and brui sed looking, but his lips were smiling. And he was more beautiful than she had ever seen him.
"Things are going to work out, you know," he said softly. "For you. Your mo m"s going to get better."
Gillian nodded. "I think so, too." "And I checked on Tanya and Kim. They"re going to be all right. Tanya"s still got all her fingers." "I know." "You sh ould go see Melusine. You could help them a lot with Circle Daybreak. And they can help you deal with the Night World."
"Yes. All right."
"And you might want to talk to Daryl at school. She"s got a secret that Kim w as spreading rumors about last year. It"s that-"
"And-Gary!" Gillian held up her hand. "I don"t want to know. Someday, if Dar yl wants to tell me her secret, she can do it herself. But if not-okay. I ha ve to deal on my own, now."
She"d already thought about school, all last night while she"d been lying al one in her room. Things were going to change, obviously. It was surprisingly easy to sort out which friends mattered.
Amanda the Cheerleader and Steffi the Singer and J.Z. the Model were all righ t. No better and no worse than any of the less popular girls. She wouldn"t mi nd if they still liked her.
Daryl-who was not Daryl the Rich Girl anymore, but just Daryl-was better th an all right. The sort that might turn out to be a real friend. And of cour se there was Amy. She owed Amy a lot.
As for the others-Tanya and Kim and Cory and Bruce and Macon-Gillian didn"
t really want to know them. If she never went to another Popular Party, th at was fine.
"And I don"t want to know if J.Z. really tried to kill herself, either," she sai d now.
Gary shut his mouth. Then his eyes actually seemed to twinkle. "You"re going to do all right." And then, for the first tim e, he looked at David.
They stared at each other for a moment. Not hostile. Just looking.
When Gary turned back to Gillian he said very quietly, "One last thing. I di dn"t change my mind about killing him because I couldn"t go through with it. I did it because I didn"t want you to hate me forever."
Oh.
Gillian put out her hand. So did he. Their fingers were close together, blurri ng into each other . . . but they couldn"t touch. They never would.
And then suddenly, Gary looked startled. He turned to look up and behind h im.
At the dark, starlit sky.
Gillian couldn"t see anything. But she could feel something. A sort of rush ing. Something was coming.
And Gary was lifted toward it like a leaf on the wind.
His hand was still stretched toward her, but he was in the air. Weightless.
Bobbing. And as Gillian watched, his startled expression melted into somethi ng like awe.
And then joy. Joy and . . . recognition.
"I"ve got to go," he said wonderingly.
Gillian was staring at the sky. She still couldn"t see anything. Not the tun nel, not the meadow. Did he mean he had to go to the between-place?
And then she saw the light.
It was the color of sunlight on snow. That brilliant, but not painful to look at. It seemed to shimmer with every color in the universe, but all together th e colors made white.
"Gary-"
But something was happening. He was moving without moving. Rushing away in some direction she couldn"t point to. Getting smaller. Fading. She wa s losing him.
"Goodbye, Gary," she whispered.
And the light was going, too. But just before it went, it seemed to take on a shape. It looked something like huge white wings enfolding him.
For the briefest instant, Gillian felt enfolded, too. By power and peace . . . a nd love.
And then the light was gone. Gary was gone. And everything was still.
"Did you see that?" Gillian whispered through the ache in her throat.
"I think so." David was staring, his eyes big with awe and wonder.
"Maybe . . . some angels are real."
He was still staring upward. Then he drew in his breath. "Look! The stars-"
But it wasn"t stars, although it looked like star-dust. Crystalline points of li ght, frozen beauty sifting down. The air was full of it.
"But there aren"t any clouds. . . ."
"There are now," David said. Even as he said it, the stars were covered. Gillian felt a cool touch on her cheek.
Like a kiss.
And it was ordinary snow, just an ordinary miracle. She and David stood hand in hand, watching it fall like a blessing in the night.