by J. E. Taylor
When he started winding down, I added, “Grime.”
That wound him up some more, but the grip on my hand belied the laughter coming from his lips. I turned his head towards me and planted a kiss. He drew a breath in and held it.
When I pulled away, his gaze locked on mine. “Maybe we should just kiss for the rest of the flight,” he said. The clouds now blocked all views of the landscape. The plane climbed above the cloud layer and then leveled out.
“When did you figure out you were attracted to me?” he asked.
I met his chocolate gaze and sighed, thinking back to the day he moved in. I watched his bronze-skinned back as he carried his things from the moving van into his condo. He glistened in the midday sun, and the edge of his gray sweatpants darkened from the trails of sweat flowing down his skin. His bare muscles stood out from the exertion. I’d considered asking if he needed help, but I was enjoying the view too much.
“The day you moved in.”
“So, we both have wasted four and a half years?”
“No. We became good friends.” I glanced out the window at the cloud bank below us. “Besides, if we had jumped in right away, it never would have lasted more than a few weeks. I would have been the rebound. I’m not interested in being anyone’s rebound. Been there, done that. It never ends well.”
His hand relaxed around mine, and he leaned back in the seat. “Good point. But still, the idea that I missed the intensity we shared earlier for the last four years...” He shook his head and sighed. “Seems damn foolish.”
“Well, maybe we will have a chance to make up for lost time.” I didn’t know if we would or not, but just saying the words seemed like the right thing to do. I certainly hoped to be able to explore this further, despite my initial reaction on the beach. Yes, I wouldn’t age, but Alex had quite a few years before he hit the standard of old. Perhaps if we made it out of this alive, I would tell him exactly what I was and give him the option.
If he knew the truth, would he still be all in like he seemed to be at the moment?
“What’s going through your mind?”
I shrugged. “I’m wondering if you’ll stick around once you get to know the real me.” I closed my eyes and sighed at the fact the automatic editor of my words seemed to have been left back in San Diego. If I hadn’t been a little sleep deprived, I would have never said that aloud.
“Kylee, there isn’t anything you could do to drive me away.”
I leveled a smile of sorts. “You may rethink that statement after all this is done.”
Chapter 6
Athens. I stood outside the airport, taking a few deep breaths before I had to go back inside. The sweet tang of the ocean entwined with the air, soothing the dryness in my skin even though I couldn’t see the water beyond the mountain range. The feeling of home wrapped its arms around me. I sighed at the melancholy that came with this particular homecoming.
Alex looked like he had been stuck in a plane for close to a day. His usual neat hair had become the bedhead look that most men spent hours cultivating. His long black eyelashes barely covered the dark circles under his closed eyes, and the bristle on his cheeks gave him a rugged look that I liked better than the smooth, clean-shaven cheeks I was used to. He took a deep breath of fresh air.
Being outside did us both good. The sea air bred life into me, and I was thankful to be so near my only true means of survival. When he finally opened his eyes, he smiled.
“I don’t think I want to get back on a plane for a while,” he said.
“We still have another flight left to go to get to Crete, but the bonus is we have enough time to grab a decent meal and the flight is only an hour.”
“Can we just stay put for a day or two? Go sightseeing instead?” he asked.
The way his brown eyes begged reminded me of the cutest puppy in the world. I almost said yes, but I knew a day or even an hour detour from this hunt meant someone else might die.
“I can’t, but you’re more than welcome to stay behind and see what Athens has to offer.”
His gaze hardened, and his lips pressed into a thin line. He shook his head. “As much as you’d like that, I’d never forgive myself if something happened and I wasn’t there to back you up.”
“We aren’t the dynamic duo,” I said, rolling my eyes. I reached for the door.
His hand landed on my arm. “I didn’t mean to piss you off.”
I stopped. “You didn’t. I’m just tired and a little hungry.”
He nodded. “Me too. Let’s go find some food before you jam me on a plane again.” He opened the door and let me lead the way through the gates.
I decided on La Pasteria because I wanted a real meal as opposed to getting my food at a counter like a fast food stop. Although, I could probably stand through the entire meal after close to eighteen hours in a plane.
They sat us at a small table near the concourse, and I was content to people watch. When I glanced at Alex, he was staring at me. I shifted and tried to hide my unease behind a smile.
“How can you possibly look as beautiful as you do after being on a plane so long?” He blinked and blushed after the words tumbled out.
His kind ramblings made my smile a little less forced and I reached across the table, caressing his cheek. “I kind of like the stubble,” I said, ignoring his question. I may look good, but the anxiety wracking my body left me with more knots than a bored sailor.
The waitress came over and took our orders. I got a simple linguini in clam sauce and a glass of white wine. Alex ordered chicken parmesan and a beer. When our drinks came, he raised the bottle.
“To exploring whatever this is,” he said.
I tapped my glass against his and took a sip, thankful he hadn’t toasted to the success of my mission. I wasn’t sure I could drink to that right now. Sooner or later, I would have to tell him what I was and who I was going up against, but for now, I’d just enjoy my meal and his company.
Halfway through our food, he paused and studied me. “Do you regret what happened between us?”
“No. Not at all. Why?”
“You are unusually quiet.”
I took a deep breath and gazed out on the concourse and the flow of passengers scurrying from one point to another. “I have reason to be.” I turned back to him. “But this is not the time or the place.”
“Are you okay?” he asked after a few moments.
Was I okay? That was a good question. Before we landed, I would have said yes, I was great. But now that I was here, too many memories seemed to be resurfacing. I looked down at my half-eaten meal and pushed the plate away.
With a slow shake of my head, I softly said, “No.”
He reached over the table and took my hand in his. Just his mere touch seemed to soothe the growing beast inside me. Gratitude welled up in the form of tears that I quickly blinked away. But I wasn’t quick enough.
“I’ll be right back,” he said and stood, disappearing around the corner. When he came back, he collected our carry-on bags and took my hand. “We’re good to go,” he said and led me out of the restaurant.
I let him take me to our gate where he found a quiet unoccupied corner.
“What is going on?” he said, his voice low and concerned.
“Alex—”
He put his hand up, stopping me. “I’ve known you long enough, Kylee, so please don’t try to pass this off as jet lag or some equally insulting excuse.”
I stared into his worried eyes. “I’m not sure how to say this.”
He waited quietly while I formulated the words. “What if you were sent on a mission to kill one of your siblings?”
He uttered a sharp bark of a laugh before the humor faded from his face. “You’re serious.” My slow nod answered his question, and he leaned back in the chair and glanced out the window. “I don’t think I could do it.”
“What if they were responsible for at least five thousand deaths, and if you didn’t stop them, there could be countless mo
re?”
His gaze snapped back to mine and he huffed, crossing his arms. “I thought you said it was a siren.” An undertone of sarcasm laced his voice.
The sting of tears burned my eyes. “It is.” My words caught in my throat, and I wasn’t sure he heard me because the expression on his face didn’t change. I cursed under my breath at the sudden swell of emotion. I shook my head in an attempt to get a hold of the rising panic filling my soul.
I didn’t understand why it was so damn important for this man to understand. After all, he was just a mere mortal. The plane ride had done something to my ability to keep distant. My mind drifted to the way he had claimed me in the bathroom.
“My brother killed those people, and I need to stop him before he does it again.”
Alex leaned forward. “Why didn’t you just tell me that? Why did you have to make up something about a damn mystical creature?”
Anger flared under my skin. “I did not make it up, Alex. My brother is a fucking siren, and I told him to lay low, but the idiot didn’t listen to me, and now I have to take him out or I’ll end up...” My brain caught my mouth before I told him I’d end up in hell. That was too much for him to absorb right now. His incredulous glare told me I had let too much slip. “I have to stop him before he pulls this shit again, and unfortunately, that means I have to kill him.”
Alex slowly sat back in the chair with an unreadable expression.
“Really?” he finally asked and raised both eyebrows.
It wasn’t that cute endearing expression I was used to on the San Diego beach. This was a challenge with some dangerous undertones.
I had half a mind to show him just what kind of damage a siren could do. “Yes,” I growled through clenched teeth. Self-preservation kept me from letting loose.
His skeptical gaze dropped to the bracelet around my wrist with all my little trinkets, and the snark in his expression softened. He sucked the side of his lip between his teeth, and when his gaze came back to mine, it wasn’t as angry, but it still held a million and one questions.
Unfortunately, the concourse had started to fill up, and I couldn’t get into this without strangers overhearing. It was never good to talk about killing someone in an airport. Alex’s gaze wandered as people took the seats around us.
“We will talk about this when we land.”
There was no leeway in his statement, and the warrior in me bristled. I never took kindly to being told what to do, but I let it go. He had a right to know, especially since he walked into a relationship with me without a clue.
Chapter 7
The call for a flight interrupted our silent stew. I looked at my ticket and stood. Alex didn’t follow.
“I don’t think we are sitting together on this flight.” He showed me his ticket, and he was right. My seat was in the sixth row of the plane, and his was in the twentieth row. A part of me was relieved, enough so that I ignored the uneasy smile on his face and turned, taking the opportunity to board with the premiere passengers instead of waiting for him. I was situated in my seat when he walked by. Our eyes met, and he offered me a terrified smile, trying to feign bravery.
“You’ll be fine,” I said, and he nodded, but I doubted my words did anything to settle him. Guilt bit at me, and I glanced back to see him slide into a window seat.
“Would you like to sit with your friend?” the woman sitting in the aisle seat asked.
“Thanks for asking, but he’s a big boy. He’ll be fine,” I said.
“Yes, but will you be, dear?” she asked.
I met her gaze with a smirk. “I’ll be fine,” I assured her, amused by the grandmother’s comment. I needed the break. I needed the quiet without that questioning look. I also needed Alex to noodle on his own thoughts for a while. Maybe once we landed, he wouldn’t corner me and force my hand.
Even if he wanted to talk once we landed, we’d have precious few moments before I went out on the boat I chartered. I would not allow the man on board if he didn’t have those sound-canceling earphones, so that was a detour we would have to take, although I had no idea where to procure such things nowadays. I had requested that in my charter notes, and I hoped like hell the captain heeded my request. Otherwise, I would have a rabid man on board, and my brother would be the least of my worries.
As soon as we were in the air, I headed back to use the restroom. Alex’s gaze was locked out the window and his hands clamped on the armrests. I paused at the seat.
“How are you doing?” I asked.
His head snapped in my direction. His eyes were like saucers of raw fear, and the smile looked as forced as his voice sounded when he said, “Just fine.”
I traded a glance with his seatmate and continued on to the lavatory. Something about leaving him to deal with his fear of flying didn’t settle well. When I stepped out of the bathroom, he was there, waiting for the facilities.
He stopped me from passing and pulled me close. “If your brother is one of those things, what the hell does that make you?” He didn’t wait for a response. Instead, he slid into the bathroom and closed the door.
Retching noises came from inside and I paused, focusing on him instead of the sting of his question framed in accusation.
“Are you okay?” I asked through the door.
“Airsick,” he said and then retched again.
I put my hand on the door, sighed, and headed back to my seat. There wasn’t a thing I could do for him right now, and it looked like there would be no peace when we landed.
“How’s your friend?”
I glanced at my elderly seatmate. “Airsick. He doesn’t do well on planes.” I leaned closer. “And he followed me here, so...” I shrugged and gave her a smile.
She gasped. “He’s a stalker?”
“No, not at all. It’s really more complicated than that.” I glanced out the window. “I guess he just didn’t want to hit the pause button on what we started before I left.”
Her hand fluttered to her lips. “That is so sweet!”
I couldn’t help the smile that surfaced. “Yes. Incredibly sweet, but not incredibly practical.”
She patted my knee. “Sometimes those are the best people to have around.”
I looked over my shoulder to see if he was back in his seat. It was still empty. I chewed my bottom lip as worry prickled my skin. I unclipped my seatbelt and stood just as he came out of the restroom. He smiled sheepishly. After making sure he made it to his seat, I slowly sat down again. The ding of the seatbelt sign came on, followed by the announcement to right our seats and prepare for final approach. I collected my things, stowed them under the seat in front of me, and followed the stewardess’s directions.
The minute the wheels touched down, seatbelts across the plane were undone, and the passengers started gathering their things. For a moment, I entertained fleeing the plane and letting Alex fend for himself, but he would likely be foolish enough to try to follow me.
I stayed in the seat until most of the passengers departed and then stood to retrieve my bag just in time for Alex to stop and let me lead the way.
“I honestly thought you were going to bolt,” he said as we walked through the concourse.
“The thought crossed my mind.”
We stepped outside, and I raised my hand to flag down a cab.
“I’m not sure what to do with the conversation we had at the airport.”
I glanced back at him. “Look, I didn’t ask you to come with. In fact, I expressly said no for this very reason. If I’m worried about you, I’m more apt to make a mistake, so unless you want me dead, I suggest you table this conversation for later.”
A cab pulled up then, and I threw my bags into the trunk and slid inside, waiting for Alex to do the same.
As soon as the door closed behind him, I said, “Heraklion Yacht Marina, please.” I turned to Alex. “If I said I was, does that change the way you feel?”
He blinked and leaned farther into the seat. My heart sank at the torn expression
on his face. He stared at his hands a moment and then gazed back at me with the slightest shake of his head.
“So you’ve done some of the same things as your brother?” he asked, his voice soft enough for me to pick up over the rumble of the cab’s engine.
“A long, long time ago, yes.”
He paled. “How long ago?”
I chuckled and looked out the window at the passing scenery. “How far back does Crete civilization go?” I asked the cab driver.
He rambled about archeological discoveries dating as far back as seven thousand BC, but that the first evidence of pottery was dated between three thousand BC and twenty-five hundred BC.
I watched Alex’s profile as the cab driver explained the Minoan civilization and the timeline of the rise of modern civilization. His gaze turned to mine, silently asking the million dollar question. Had I seen the dawn of true civilization?
In fact, I had, but the devil caught me before I could see the true measure of progress of the Bronze Age. By the time I escaped the devil’s prison, the crude wood boats that easily smashed on the rocks had turned to more structurally-sound wooden vessels. A part of me wanted to use my voice to tempt the sailors, to claim their souls and witness the destruction. I could only envision how those vessels sounded as they crashed upon the jagged rocks.
Fate had intervened before I had another taste of death.
Alex’s pallor improved. When we stopped at the marina entrance, I peeled off the fare as Alex collected the bags.
“You look damn good for your age,” he muttered under his breath.
I stopped and faced him. “Alejandro Cervas, you were the one that insisted on making a pass and jumped on a transatlantic flight in some sort of misguided chivalry.”
He shifted and nodded.
“So, does this change what we started?”
He laughed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know. I’m tired as hell and need some solid sleep. Who knows, maybe this is just a bizarre dream, and I’ll wake up with you in my arms in your house.”