Safe Travels

by Alex Dafney

  I can’t help the smile that breaks across my face as he calls me ‘love’. I pour a bit of cream in his cup before passing it back to him. Our fingertips brush as I pass the cup between us, causing a surge of tingles to race up my arm. He smiles at me, letting me know he felt it too.

  Mom clears her throat from across the table, breaking the moment. I turn my attention back to her. “Where are you from, Cooper?” She asks diplomatically. I look back to him as he sips his coffee. “I’m from Scotland originally, but I haven’t been there in years, mam.” I look back to Mom to gage her reaction. She’s solid as stone. No reading that. Cooper gestures his hand around the room. “Are we past, present, or future? I like to keep my bearings.”

  “Present.” I answer him as Mom and Gamma scowl at me. I look between the two of them. “What? It’s not like he’s our hostage.” Mom sighs as I cross my arms over my chest in irritation. “Yet.” Gamma mumbles as she sits at the table next to Mom. “Let’s just get right to it. What are you doing here?” I turn to look at him. He looks around the table at the three of us before clearing his throat and sitting up straighter, focusing his attention on me. “Uh, well. This is quite awkward, but I would like to ask you to dinner sometime.”

  I raise an eyebrow at him as I bite my bottom lip. Seriously? He hunted me down to ask me on a date. Mom and Gamma make disapproving noises behind me. Just as I open my mouth, Mom interjects. “How did you find Ophelia?” I nod my head. Good question. Cooper taps his finger against the coffee cup in his hands. “I asked a friend of mine.” He shrugs nonchalantly. “What friend?” Mom asks slowly, drawing the words out.

  He shrugs. “Just a guy I’ve known for many years.” Gamma slams her hands on the table as she jumps up, quickly making her way to the kitchen counter and retrieving a wooden spoon from the spinning utensil rack. “That’s it, boy!” She raises the spoon as I jump in front of her, holding my hands up to block her. “You better start talking, Cooper. If she swings this thing I’m getting out of the way and she will come after you.”

  I see his eyes widen briefly as I look back over my shoulder at him. He stands and steps behind his chair. “The friend is in the Society. I’ve known him since I was a boy. I simply asked if he knew of an Ophelia from Alabama that would be joining the Society soon.” He shrugs as Gamma lowers the spoon. I lower my hands and turn toward him. “Are you Society?” He shakes his head. “No. I declined my invitation last year.”

  “What about your family? How did you know about Ophelia’s gift?” Mom asks from her seat at the table. Cooper nods at Mom before speaking. “My parents were both killed when I was sixteen. Hunters. They were present shifters, like yourself.” He closes his eyes for a brief moment as he takes a deep breath, clearly upset at the mention of his parents. “My grandparents both passed a few years before my parents. They were future shifters, paired by the Society. And…” He lets out a deep breath as his gaze reaches me. “And I don’t know how to explain how I knew about Ophelia.”

  I fold my arms over my chest and rock back on one leg, my hip jutting out. “I already told them about the images when we kissed.” His eyes widen briefly as he gives a nervous chuckle. “Well then. I wasn’t sure if that was something we would want to discuss in front of the family, love.” Gamma raises her spoon, trying to step around me as I snatch it out of her hand. She spins around, placing both hands on her hips. “You give me my spoon right this instant, missy!” I pull the spoon back behind my head and launch it into the living room behind her as she glares at me. “No. You’re not going to hit him with the spoon.”

  I throw my hands up as I spin around and begin pacing the kitchen. “Seriously. What is wrong with the two of you?!” I stop to look pointedly at Mom and Gamma before continuing my pacing. Flinging my hands up again and laughing lightly. “A guy comes to our door to ask me out and you…” I turn and point my finger at Mom. “You whisk us off to another house to interrogate him, while you…” I spin and point at Gamma. “Try to assault him with a damn spoon!” I fling my hands up yet again as I spin to continue my pacing. “What is wrong with this family?! Ugh!!”

  I hear Cooper chuckle from across the room, spinning I cast a glare at him, noticing Mom and Gamma doing the same. He holds his hands up toward us in an apologetic fashion as his shoulders bob and he tries to contain his laughter. I stop in the middle of the room as I look at him. “Are you a past shifter?” He nods. “Your parents were present shifters and your grandparents’ future shifters.” I hear Mom and Gamma both gasp. “How far have you traveled?” He tilts his head to the side giving me a quizzical look. “I think the farthest I’ve ever traveled was Ancient Rome. Sometime around 30 BC.”

  He looks at the three women in the room before settling on me. “What? You don’t go out with past shifters?” I shake my head from side to side. “No. I mean, yes. I mean, I don’t know.” I can feel my face heating as I sputter over my words. I take a deep breath before looking at him. “It’s like the couple from the archives. The stars and moon have to align.” He looks at me with his brow creased. “You’re talking about the Prophecy?” I give a small nod as my cheeks heat.

  He lets out a low whistle before giving me that side grin that highlights his dimple. “I wanted to start with dinner, but if you want to skip straight to the power couple, I could be persuaded, love.” He winks at me as I scoff. “Shut up.” I can’t help the smile that creeps up my face. I glance over at Mom and Gamma at the table when I realize they’ve been extremely quiet. They both wear the same shocked facial expressions. “Power couple.” Mom quietly mutters, looking between the two of us.

  “The Prophecy, Lil.” Gamma whisper shouts. Mom shakes her head lightly as she stands from the table, Gamma standing next to her. She faces me, a worried look on her face. “We need to get back to the party.” Gamma grabs her hand as she holds her other out to me. I blow out a breath as I look behind her at Cooper. “I’m not going back to the party. Tell them I have a headache and went to bed.” I find Mom’s eyes. “I’m going to dinner. I’ll be home later.”

  I can see Cooper smiling from behind her as she gives a slight nod. “My keys are on the hook.” Gamma gives me a slight smile. Cooper steps from around the chair for the first time since the spoon came out, holding up one finger. “Um, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go back to your house to get my car. It’s parked down the street.” I shake my head. “Nope. We’ll drive over. I don’t want to deal with Callie, or anyone else if we try to leave the house.”

  Mom turns to face Cooper. Her face has softened toward him, but not by much. She points a shaky finger at him. “If anything happens to her…” He shakes his head lightly. “I can assure you, mam. My only intention is to take a beautiful, funny young woman to dinner. Nothing more, nothing less.” Mom nods. Seeming to be appeased. She grabs Gamma’s hand and they dissipate.

  I let out a loud sigh once they’re gone. Cooper chuckles as he starts toward me, my heartbeat quickening. He stops just in front of me. “Well, that is definitely not how I had this planned in my head.” I throw my head back laughing.

  Chapter 5

  I glance over my shoulder to the fridge in Gamma’s kitchen. “Did you have anywhere in mind for dinner? I could always throw something together here.” Cooper gives me a boyish grin as he runs his hand through his hair. “Well. I don’t really have a plan for tonight, but I can come up with something.” I wave my hand toward him as I walk over to the fridge, pulling it open and peering inside. “I can make spaghetti.” I glance over my shoulder as he smiles widely at me. “One of my favorites.”

  My cheeks burn as I grab a few things from the fridge, closing it with my hip as I deposit the goods on the counter. I grab a cutting board from the cabinet and set to work, hyper aware that Cooper is leaning back against the counter watching me. He pushes himself off the counter and grabs a knife from the butcher block, stepping closer to me and grabbing an onion.

  His body is so close to mine I can feel those familiar tingles running along
my side. We finish chopping the vegetables and I take the cutting board, scraping them into a sauté pan. I stand in front of the stove as he leans back against the counter next to me. “Your Mom and Grandmother are something else.” I scoff as he snickers. “They’re… overprotective. To say the least.” He chuckles as he pushes off the counter, walking across the kitchen. He steps back into my view with a bottle of red wine in hand.

  I tilt my head to the drawer that holds the corkscrew and he pulls it open, scanning the contents before pulling out the corkscrew. “Gamma’s going to kill me for drinking her wine.” Cooper shrugs as he pulls the cork out. “I’ll go and buy her a replacement bottle.” I furrow my brow at him. “I thought you said you declined the Society last year? That would make you nineteen.” He gives me a grin with a shrug. “I was late with my declination. I’m twenty-one.”

  I focus my attention on the stove. “Were your parents Society, you know, before?” He taps my arm and I turn to him, taking the wine glass he’s offering. I take a sip of the red wine. “No. My parents were part of the Assembly.” I tilt my head to the side and scrunch my forehead. “The Assembly?” He raises an eyebrow at me, giving me a disbelieving look. “You don’t know about the Assembly?” I shake my head. His eyes widen as he shakes his head slightly. “Wow. I don’t know that I’ve met a modern-day shifter who’s not heard of the Assembly.”

  I place a hand on my hip, narrowing my eyes at him as he chuckles. “Okay. Okay. Did you join the Society?” I shake my head as I turn to focus on the spaghetti sauce on the stove. He props himself against the counter next to me. Too close to me. Close enough that those tingles start trailing up my side. “You mean to tell me, you declined an invitation from the Society, but you haven’t heard of the Assembly?”

  I roll my eyes at him in irritation. “No, Cooper. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “Why didn’t you join the Society?” I give a slight shrug as I stir the sauce. “It isn’t right for me. Too many rules. I don’t want my entire life dictated.” I turn my head to look at him. “The one that got me is the arranged marriage bit.” I bite my bottom lip after saying it.

  He sips his wine as he looks at me, causing me to blush. Why? I don’t know. I flip my hair over my shoulder, focusing on the sauce on the stove, stirring it for all it’s worth. “What’s the Assembly?” He clears his throat, causing me to look over at him. He pours himself another glass of wine, motioning the bottle toward me. I pick up my almost empty glass and pass it to him. As he hands my glass back our fingers brush, causing me to shudder involuntarily as the tingling sensation passes through my hand.

  “You feel it too?” I sip my wine as I shrug. “Feel what?” He gives me a look that clearly reads, ‘really?’ I chuckle at his cute face. “So, what’s the Assembly?” I lean against the counter on the opposite side of the stove with my wine glass in hand. Cooper rolls those gorgeous baby blues. “I’m really surprised you don’t know. The only shifters I’ve ever met that didn’t join the Society, inevitably join the Assembly. I know a few lone shifters, but they all live in remote locations, completely off the grid.”

  I give him a confused look as he chuckles. “The Assembly is a group of shifters who decided not to join the Society. We seek to take down the Hunters.” A shiver courses down my spine and it’s not from being cold. I wasn’t reading much into the whole Prophecy thing at first, but now? As if he’s reading my mind, he says. “What’s your take on this Prophecy business?” I shrug as I shake my head slowly. “I’m not sure. It’s kind of far stretched to think that two people could take down the Hunters, singlehandedly. I honestly don’t know much about the Hunters either.”

  I sneak a glance over at Cooper who’s staring forward, looking like he’s in deep thought. I step away from the stove, grabbing two plates for our dinner. Once I’ve made our plates, I walk them to the kitchen table as he follows with our wine. We sit across from each other. He looks at his plate and gives me a big smile. “I know this is going to taste incredible. You haven’t any idea of how long it’s been since I’ve had a home cooked meal.”

  As we enjoy our dinner our conversation drifts back to the Assembly. “So, how does one go about joining the Assembly?” I ask. Cooper looks at me with surprise. “One doesn’t just join the Assembly. It’s a cause.” I roll my eyes at him as I finish off my wine. I start to stand, but he beats me to it. Walking across the kitchen and grabbing the bottle from the counter. He fills my glass before sitting back down.

  “What are your plans, Ophelia? College?” I shake my head as I finish my dinner, pushing my plate back as I wipe my mouth and sit back with my wine glass in hand. “No plans. Up until a few weeks ago I thought I was going to be another Society member.” I wave my hand in the air as I roll my eyes. “You know, paired up with the best mate, sent away to another town to be protected and raise another generation of shifters.”

  Cooper laughs, causing me to give him a playful grin. “Why is that funny?” He runs his hand through his hair, shaking his head lightly. “It’s not funny, love. It’s refreshing.” I pinch my eyebrows and narrow my eyes at him, not understanding what he means. He leans forward, placing his wine glass on the table and propping on his elbows. “Most people with our gifts don’t think twice about joining the Society. They want the protection from the Hunters, and the passive life they’ll have.”

  I chuckle. “That’s the last thing I want. I want to travel freely. Maybe find a nice non-shifter and settle down in a decade or so.” Cooper’s brow creases. “You know you can’t just travel through time freely. The Hunters are everywhere, and you’ll be high on their list.” I roll my eyes. “Why would they want me? I’m nothing special.” He shakes his head, giving me a slight smile. “You don’t know how powerful you are, do you?”

  I scoff as I stand and grab the plates from the table. I rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, standing and turning to find Cooper directly in front of me. He hands me my wine glass. Our eyes meet as our fingers brush, the intensity of the familiar tingling making my breath catch. He lifts his free hand, brushing my hair over my shoulder before settling his palm against my cheek. I can feel my heart beating rapidly in my chest.

  Cooper closes his eyes. “I’ve never felt anything like this.” He opens his eyes and stares into mine as I softly shake my head. I’ve never felt anything Iike this either. He drops his hand and takes a step back with a deep breath. “Sorry.” He mutters to the ground. I take a second to compose myself. Walking over to the kitchen table, I grab the bottle of wine before grabbing his hand and pulling him to the living room.

  I kick off my heels and settle on the couch, pulling my legs up beside me as Cooper settles on the couch next to me. “Tell me more about this Assembly.” He gives me that smile that sets off his dimple.

  Cooper explains the ins and outs of the Assembly. They’re a group that travel though time in search of the Hunters. Taking them out, one by one. I didn’t ask what that means, but I’m fairly certain that means killing. The more he talks about it, the more interested I am in the cause. They’re not like the Society. Sitting back waiting for someone else to take out the threat. They’re actually taking out said threat.

  As the night wears on we finish the bottle of wine between us, settling in on the couch with the TV playing quietly in the background.

  “Ophelia!” Ophelia! You get up right this minute!” I barely open my eyes to Mom’s hushed voice. Blinking rapidly, I look around, trying to orient myself. I move my hand to my face as something moves under my head. Sitting up quickly I size up my pillow. A very handsome, very much asleep, Cooper. “Shit.” I mutter as I pull my dress down over my ass. “Shit, is right.” I look up to Mom who has her hands on her hip and a fierce glare.

  Rolling my eyes, I stand up. “I’m an adult, Mom. Not that it’s your business, but it’s not what you’re thinking.” She motions her hand to the empty wine bottle and glasses on the coffee table beside her. “Last I checked, young lady,
you’re not of drinking age and you still live in my house!” Her raised voice wakes Cooper. He stands quickly looking from me to Mom, running his hand through his already disheveled hair. A smile tugs at my lips at his cute morning look.

  Gamma stomps in the room from the kitchen. “Now I’m going to have to burn the couch.” My mouth drops open as she jerks the wine bottle from the table, shaking it at the two of us. “Who the hell said you could have my wine?” Cooper raises his hand slightly. “I intend on replacing the bottle.” She narrows her eyes at him. “You better, boy, or I will get my spoon.” He looks down at the floor and I can tell he’s hiding a smirk.

  Mom huffs out a long sigh. “Get your things, Ophelia. It’s time you go home. And you-.” She glares at Cooper. “You are not to come around my daughter ever again.” Anger courses through me. I open my mouth to tell her how I feel just as Cooper starts to speak. “Mam. I understand how this may look, but I assure you my only intentions with Ophelia when I showed up at your home was to ask her to dinner. After you left, we had dinner and wine, and fell asleep on the couch. Nothing more.” Mom scowls at him.

  Gamma steps up beside her, placing her hand on Mom’s shoulder. “Lil. I think you need to take a step back. Ophelia is eighteen. You don’t get to say who she spends time with anymore.” Mom blinks a few times, taking a deep breath before settling back on Cooper. “Fine. If the two of you say that’s all that happened, then I accept that. However, there will be no more sleep overs while you live in my home. Understood?” She looks back at me as I nod.

  Gamma claps her hands in front of her. “Good. Now get the hell out of my house. It’s time for my stories.” Cooper coughs next to me, trying to cover his laughter as Mom huffs. Mom puts her hand out to me as I take Cooper’s. Once we’re back at my home, Mom walks toward the hallway, leaving us without another word. As the door to her room closes Cooper shoves his hands in his pockets, looking at the floor.