Hidden Worlds

by Kristie Cook

  “I want to show you something.”

  The wicked smile and twinkling sapphire eyes said he was up to something that could potentially get me in trouble. “I can’t. I have homework. Tons of it.”

  “We’ll be back before six. You’ll have plenty of time to do your homework.”

  He made it so hard to say no, but going anywhere with him was wrong and unfair to Eirik. Eirik already didn’t like the fact that Torin was always around whenever I needed help.

  “I don’t know.” I started walking, forcing him to continue his backward walk.

  “You can ask me anything.”

  “Anything?”

  He squinted. “Within reason.”

  “That’s not fair. There’s always a limit on what you can tell me.”

  He stopped in front of my front door and crossed his arms, making it impossible for me to go inside. “I’ve already broken many rules for you, Freckles.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “Really.”

  “Why?”

  He frowned. “I don’t know. I told myself I’d keep my distance from you. I tried, but there’s something about you that calls to me.”

  I wanted to laugh, because that was the corniest line ever, but his eyes were serious like he was truly puzzled. I chewed on my lower lip as I thought about his offer.

  “Come on. I promise to bring you home in one piece. ”

  That was the least of my worries. Eirik was coming to dinner. Seeing us would hurt him. Still … “Okay, but we have to be back before six. I have a date with Eirik.” Torin’s eyes flashed, and for one brief moment, I thought he’d say something, but he just nodded. “I’ll get a jacket.”

  “Or you can borrow mine.” He started to shrug off his leather jacket.

  “No, thanks. I also need to put my laptop away.” He continued to frown and realization hit me. He was worried I might change my mind if I went inside the house. “You can come inside and wait.”

  “Okay.” He stepped aside, and I opened the door.

  “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.” I ran upstairs, threw my laptop on the bed, and searched through my closet for a warm jacket, anticipation coursing through me. I shouldn’t be feeling this way. Not with Torin. I was supposed to feel like this with Eirik. He was familiar, safe. Torin was opposite Eirik in every way. Impulsive, dangerous, yet I couldn’t walk away from him.

  I grabbed a furred-lined leather jacket and shrugged it on. Torin was waiting at the foot of the stairs when I started down. A tiny smile tugged the corner of his lips. He didn’t move out of my way, forcing me to stop on the second to last step.

  “Just a second.” His eyes not leaving mine, he reached for my face, and my breath stalled in my chest. He lifted my hair and adjusted the collar of my jacket, his hand brushing my neck. Heat shot through me, and my legs grew weak. “You have beautiful eyes,” he whispered. “They change with your mood. Golden-brown when you’re relaxed, green when you’re excited, like now.”

  I swallowed. “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?”

  “Say things like that.” My face grew warm, and I knew a blush was coming. “Can we go now?”

  “You don’t like compliments?”

  “That’s not it,” I stammered.

  “You’re not used to being complimented,” he said with such certainty I didn’t bother to contradict him. “What’s wrong with Seville?”

  “Nothing,” I said quickly. “He’s perfect.”

  He rolled his eyes and ran his knuckles along my cheek. “Your skin is warm satin.”

  My mind told me to move back and break the contact, but I couldn’t move. I gripped the banister for support, my heart pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it.

  “Your hair is pure silk.” He speared his fingers through my hair and gripped the back of my head. I stopped breathing. He stepped on the first step and moved in, bringing with him heat and forbidden desires. His head lowered. “Lips perfect for—”

  The ding-dong of the doorbell resounded in the house, breaking the sensual haze he’d created around us. I blinked. Torin growled, then he stepped down and indicated the door.

  Somehow, I managed to get off the stairs and walked to the door. It was the crone from across the street. “Hi, Mrs. Rutledge.”

  “Lorraine,” she said, then leaned sideways and waved with much more enthusiasm. “Hi there, Torin.”

  “Mrs. Rutledge,” Torin said, coming to stand behind me. “You’re looking lovely as usual.”

  “Thank you.” She touched her hair and smiled. “I told you to call me Clare, Torin. Around here we’re all informal with each other.”

  Yeah. Right. If I dared call her by her given name, she’d stare down her nose at me and call me impertinent.

  “Then Clare it is,” Torin said.

  I almost jumped when his hand brushed against mine. At first I thought he’d done it by accident, but then I realized he knew exactly what he was doing when he rubbed his thumb back and forth across my wrist. I yanked my hand away and crossed my arms in front of my chest.

  “What can I do for you, Mrs. Rutledge?” I asked.

  “That silly mailman put some of your mail in our mailbox again.” She thrust several bills at me. “I thought I’d drop them off.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Just being neighborly.” Her focus shifted to Torin. “Do stop by for a cup of tea, my dear. I don’t like seeing young people fend for themselves.”

  “I still have the meatloaf and the pie,” he said.

  “There’s more where those came from.”

  I stared at her retreating back, then turned and faced Torin. “Wow, what’s your secret? I’ve known that woman all my life and I still call her Mrs. Rutledge. She’s never invited me over for tea or dropped off a pie at my house, and she disapproves of everything I do.”

  Torin flashed one of his bone melting grins. “I’m irresistible, and I don’t call her a hag or a crone behind her back.”

  I frowned. “How do you know things like that? First the signal Eirik and I developed, then Derrick teasing me about my freckles, and now Mrs. Rutledge’s nicknames? Do you read minds?”

  “No. I just know things.”

  “How?”

  “Magic.” He grinned. “Can we go?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “But what?” He frowned.

  “You’re going to answer all my questions.”

  He shook his head.

  “Most of them?”

  “Yes.”

  “No mind games. I don’t like it when you mess with my head.”

  He grinned wickedly.

  “Do we have a deal?”

  “Deal.” He leaned closer until our faces were a few inches apart and whispered, “But you have permission to mess with my head any time you like.”

  My mouth went dry. He was so close if I moved an inch, our lips could touch. How would it feel to kiss him? My lips tingled.

  “What makes you think I want to?” I asked.

  “You don’t have to want anything, Freckles. You just do.” He shook his head as though puzzled. I couldn’t tell whether he was confused by why I affected him or by my inability to understand how I affected him.

  This time, I refused his help with the helmet. I was sure Mrs. Rutledge was cataloging everything we did. “This looks new,” I said, adjusting the pink strap.

  “I bought it for you.”

  That was sweet. “Thank you.”

  Another wicked grin from him, then he put on his helmet. Holding him was this morning all over again. His warmth sipped through our clothing and crept under my skin. I shuddered, hating the way my body betrayed me when I was with him, yet craving his nearness. Loving it.

  “Freckles?”

  “Let’s go,” I said in voice that sounded strangled to my ears.

  He chuckled and started the engine. We went at a regular speed until we hit I-5 and headed north. Then he picked up speed, just like this morning, until t
he scenery became blurry again. I wasn’t sure where we were going, and I didn’t care.

  When he slowed down, I saw the sign to Multnomah Falls, the tallest waterfalls in Oregon. It was about an hour’s drive from Kayville, but Torin got us there under twenty minutes. Unlike regular waterfalls, Multnomah Falls fell in two drops. The upper and longer waterfall crashed halfway down the hill to a pool before falling again. It was one of my family’s favorite spots, and the lodge at the base served amazing dishes.

  As soon as we parked the Harley, Torin grabbed my hand. “Come on.”

  His excitement was contagious. I didn’t complain or pull away. Holding his hand felt natural. Still, guilt followed as thoughts of Eirik crossed my mind. I pushed them aside as we ran toward the paved trail leading to Benson Bridge. The waterfalls were breathtaking against the colorful fall foliage, the climb to the bridge steep but exhilarating.

  It was a short hike. On the bridge, I let go of Torin’s hand, ran to the rail, and looked up at the top waterfall. Memories of family trips here washed over me, and my throat squeezed. I missed Dad. So much.

  Arms wrapped around me from behind, offering me comfort. It was as though Torin knew I needed it. I let my head rest against his solid chest, my hands covering his. For a moment, we just watched the water cascade like a curtain of silk and crash below. When I was calm enough, I said, “It’s beautiful.”

  “It is.”

  “How did you find it? I mean, you’re new here.”

  He chuckled, and the sound rumbled through his chest and my body. The effect on me was weird. My knees grew weak, and I wondered if I would have crumpled on the ground if his arms hadn’t tightened around me. “I’ve been across this area several times before.”

  “Doing what?”

  “This and that,” he said vaguely.

  Of course he wasn’t going to tell me. I turned, and his arms dropped to his sides. I felt cold without them and shivered. He’d pushed his sunglasses up in his hair, baring his brilliant blue eyes, but the wicked twinkle was gone. His gaze was intense as he studied my face. Then he looked away, but not before I saw the flash of pain in the depth of his eyes.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Rules suck.” He glanced at me and smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I want what I can’t have and need what I shouldn’t need.”

  The cryptic talk made no sense, but then I remembered his words to Andris that night at the club. There’s no room for love and sentiments in this business, just rules and punishment if you break them.

  “Whose rules?” I asked.

  “My superiors.” He snagged my hand again. “Come on, let’s toss coins in the pool and make wishes.” He pulled out mixed coins from his pocket and put some in my hand.

  I walked to the other end of the bridge facing the lodge and threw a penny. Light bounced off the coin as it flipped through the air. It fell in the pool at the bottom of the second waterfall. I wish I could help Torin, so he’d stop hurting. When I turned, he was watching me with a peculiar expression. “What?”

  “What was your wish?” he asked.

  I cocked my brow. “If I tell you, it won’t come true.”

  The wicked grin came back. He threw his coin and watched it sail to the bottom. Then he chose another, but I grabbed his hand. “Don’t. One wish at a time. If you add more, you’ll dilute the first one.”

  “Says who?”

  “My father.” I stared at the viewing area of the lodge, remembering the first time we came to the falls. I’d skipped to the lodge’s viewing point, almost falling on the steps in my haste. My father had to carry me to the bridge. I smiled. “My family used to come here every summer. This is my first time here in the fall. It’s even more beautiful.”

  “Do you miss him?”

  I nodded, but I didn’t want to discuss my father or I’d end up crying. “Eirik said you were an orphan. Do you miss your parents?”

  He frowned. “Seville said that?”

  Actually, he’d said Torin didn’t have parents. “Yes. What happened to them?”

  “My parents died a long time ago. Do I miss them?” He made a face. “No. I might have at one time. Whatever memories I had of them were erased a long time ago.”

  I frowned. “You make it sound like it’s been gazillion years.”

  “About eight hundred.” He crossed his arms, leaned against the bridge beams, and watched me expectantly. I opened my mouth then closed it without speaking. “I told you I’d give you answers. Ask me anything,” he added.

  “What do you mean by about eight hundred?”

  “I’m an Immortal, which means I’ve lived for a very long time and will probably continue to do so for twice that long if I want to.”

  I tried to see if he was joking, but I couldn’t read his expression. “Are you saying you are …?”

  “Old.”

  I studied him, feeling hurt that once again, he was messing with my head. “Are you done poking fun at me?”

  He sighed. “You don’t believe me.”

  “Do you blame me?” Several people were walking toward us, so I stepped closer to the rail and stared at the waterfalls. Just once I wished he could be honest with me instead of playing games. Sometimes talking to him could be so frustrating.

  “Which part don’t you believe?” Torin asked, coming to stand beside me.

  “All of it. Look at you. You are what? Eighteen?”

  “I was turned when I was nineteen.”

  I blinked. ‘Turn’ was a word I’d heard him use before. He’d told Andris not to turn any more human girls. “Turned?”

  “The moment I gave up my humanity and embraced immortality. I was born in England during the reign of King Richard the Lion-hearted. My father, Roger de Clare, was an earl and a favorite of the king, so I was able to join the army when England established a crusade to fight in the Holy War. It was an exciting time, and every nobleman wanted to be in the crusade or their sons to be part of it. I was only seventeen, and James, my brother, was nineteen. We traveled with King Richard, fought valiantly, and captured Cyprus. I was nineteen when James died saving my life. I gave up the de Clare surname and took up his name. He was a saint.”

  Of course, St. James. I studied his face, my heart sounding loud and erratic in my ears. No one could make all that up. “You’re serious?”

  He nodded.

  He was ‘turned’. “But you’re not a vampire,” I whispered.

  “No.”

  I swallowed, trying to wrap my mind around everything he’d said, things he could do. “What are you?”

  He sighed. “That’s one question I can never answer. I’ve broken enough rules just talking to you. Just accept that I’m an Immortal.”

  “But you promised to answer my questions,” I protested.

  “Some. As for my real identity, you’ll figure it out by yourself.” He sounded sad, like he hated keeping secrets from me, which was very unlike him. He always acted like he got a kick out of shocking me.

  “So St. James isn’t really your last name,” I murmured.

  “It is now. The de Clare line died when I ceased to be Mortal.”

  “But you were a nobleman.”

  He shrugged. “That was a long time ago.”

  It explained the trace of British accent. “Now you roam the world as an Immortal doing what?”

  He grinned. “This and that.”

  Once again, snippets of the conversation I’d overheard between him and Andris flashed in my head. “You, Andris, and the girls are here on some kind of a job, right?”

  A wry smile titled the corners of his lips. “You could say that.”

  “And it has something to do with the swim team,” I added.

  Torin stiffened and glanced over his shoulder. Several people were walking toward us. He gripped my arm. “Let’s head back to the lodge.” We started toward the trail. “Who told you about the swim team?”

  I couldn’t tell him I’d eavesdropped on him and A
ndris. “Does it matter how I know?”

  He became silent as he mulled over my question. “I guess not.”

  “Why are you after us?”

  He frowned. “You could say we’re scouts. You know, we search for talented, athletic people and recruit them.”

  Immortal scouts? Sounded surreal. From his expression, he was uncomfortable talking about it. Still, curiosity egged me on. “Recruit them for what?”

  He shook his head. “I can’t discuss that either. There’s only so much I can tell you without breaking more rules. Ask me anything, except about my job.”

  I sighed with disappointment. “Who turned you?”

  “A woman. She came to the battle field to treat the wounded. The first time I saw her, I thought she was an angel. She had a glow around her. I didn’t know they came from the runes on her body. I’d just promised my brother I’d do my best to survive, yet there I was fatally wounded and dying.” Torin stared into space as though reliving the moment, his expression hard to describe. There was sadness and regret. “She gave me two choices. I could either die peacefully and move on or agree to serve her and become an Immortal. I was stupid and cocky, and I wanted to be by my king’s side when he won the Holy War and conquered Jerusalem. I chose immortality.”

  He became quiet as we walked around the lodge and headed to the parking lot, where he’d left his Harley. “She used the runes to heal you?” I asked, hoping he’d continue talking.

  Torin nodded. “Yes. After that, my wounds would heal every time I was hurt. One night, after a gruesome battle, she told me it was time to intensify my training. While King Richard went home triumphant and my father and mother were given the news of my death, I went to her castle for further training. After several years of mastering the right skills, I became like her, moving from place to place, recruiting more able young men.”

  “What about women?” I asked.

  He chuckled. “Don’t give me that look. I didn’t make the rules. Women weren’t involved in wars. They stayed at home while their men went to war, so men were recruited. Things have changed now. Physical abilities aren’t measured by how you wield a sword or how valiant you fight. Skills are tested in arenas, stadiums, and swimming pools. We’ve adapted, but the objective stayed the same, recruit as many people as we can for the cause.”