by S. L. Baum
My Link in Time
The Immortal Ones
book two
S.L. Baum
Published by S.L. Baum - Smashwords Edition
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright 2011 by S. Baum – All rights reserved.
Revised – 2017
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
DESCRIPTION
Girl meets boy, falls in love, becomes engaged, and walks down the aisle. Oh, if only life were that simple. When an Immortal girl meets a Mortal boy, life is a little more complicated.
When Charity accepted Lincoln's marriage proposal, she thought they could handle anything that came their way... Link’s newly acquired lust for blood became the first problem to tackle... saying “I do” came next.
Is a no fuss wedding in Las Vegas too much to ask? It seems so when a Witch from their past is not what she seems, mortal friends from Telluride become thorns in their sides, and staying alive is harder than Charity has ever imagined it would be. What is an Immortal girl to do?
Suggested reading order for the series:
A Chance for Charity (book one)
My Link in Time (book two)
Of Fire and Brimstone (Elizabeth’s Novella)
Our Summer of Discontent (book three)
The Eve of Destruction (book four)
The Arrival of Dawn (book five) *coming soon
****
prologue
Did you ever wonder if the life you’re living was meant for you? I have. I still do sometimes. I got used to living the life of Rebecca, or Wendi, or Sarah, or Emily – take your pick. There are so many personas I have assumed over the past several decades. When you become Emily, does Charity disappear? I have wondered that. I’ve assumed that. Until Link.
When Lincoln came into my life, I realized that I never needed to give up Charity. I am Charity. Emily is just a suit that I wear, that I wear well. I have learned that I can step away from her whenever I need to.
Another question I ask myself is... What if Charity had never met Lulach? Then she (I) never would have (or could have) saved Link. I would still be an Immortal One, just not this particular brand of Immortal One. Crap, I don’t even know what kind of Immortal I am anymore. Lulach said I had changed, when he’d given me his blood so many years ago. But what had I changed into? And if I didn’t know after seventy something years, would I ever know?
There is one thing that I am absolutely sure of... there are no absolutes in life. Everything is fuzzy around the edges, nothing is what it seems, and within the darkness of black and the light of white there are always shades of grey. But sometimes, life is overflowing with color.
****
chapter one
SOMETHING OLD
“I am my own something old,” I tried to reason with Catherine and Eve.
They were attempting to help me pack for my wedding trip. We were standing in my room. Well, I was standing in my closet. Catherine had just asked me what my “something old” was going to be. I could hardly believe that in less than one week I would be a married lady. Sadie, Sadie, married lady – I hummed to myself as I let my eyes do a quick scan of each and every article of clothing in my closet. I was mentally putting together various outfits, trying to decide what to bring to Sin City. Charity, the girl who was most comfortable in pajama pants and a tank top, had the daunting task of packing... for an entire week away. I wasn’t sure that I was up to it.
I sighed but then thought, Who’s getting married in Vegas? I am! I am! I did a little dance in the middle of my closet, my ponytail swung from side to side on the back of my head.
“Focus, Charity,” Eve scolded, playfully.
“I am focused. Ugh, I don’t like this whole wedding planning thing. This is exactly why I picked Vegas – quick, fun, over, and done. Old, new, borrowed, whatever. I don’t care about the details. I just want to be Sadie! I mean married,” I corrected, in a huff. “I’m nearing a hundred here. Born in nineteen twenty-one! Well not quite a hundred, I have two months before I am officially even one year closer to a hundred. Did you hear me? A hundred! Hello... I am my own something old,” I repeated.
Okay, I may be getting pretty old, but that didn’t mean I looked like a woman nearing the century mark. There were a few amazing advantages to being an Immortal One. In addition to self-healing, precision hearing, and the still confounding fact that I’d somehow turned Lincoln into a tri-bred (part Mortal, part Immortal, and part Vampire) when I’d given him my blood to save his life... I was forever frozen somewhere around the age of nineteen. If I dressed the part and carried myself in the correct manner, I could pass for a student of sixteen or for an adult in her twenties.
Here in Telluride, Colorado – I was playing the part of seventeen-year-old (eighteen next week) Emily Johnston: The niece of Jason and Rachel (whose real names were James and Catherine), the recent High School drop-out (who was getting her diploma online), and scandalous fiancé to Lincoln Knight.
The scandal was that we were five years apart in age. What would the people of Telluride think if they knew I was a cougar, AKA a cradle robber, because the age difference was really over sixty years? But as they say, age ain’t nothin’ but a number.
The other scandalous part was... most people in town were assuming that I was with child – why else would a seventeen (almost eighteen) year-old girl be an engaged, High School drop-out (finishing it online!!). There would be no bump. Those on bump watch would be disappointed. Link and I haven’t “done the deed,” as Delilah kept referring to it. Thankfully, Summer told her to mind her own business, every single time she brought it up... and up... and up.
Summer and Delilah, my best (mortal) friends from Telluride High, were pretty great. They were also the first real mortal friends that I had allowed myself since I’d found out that I was an Immortal One. It just seemed safer that way. I usually kept to the sturdier brands of beings. Immortal Ones (like Catherine, James, and me), Witches (like Eve, Marcus, and Cozmo), Dark Ones/Vampires (like Lulach), and Shifters (like Lizabelle) comprised the pool from which I usually chose my close relationships. Until we’d moved to Telluride, that is.
“Fine, I concede. You’re old. You are very old,” Catherine acknowledged. “However, I am still your elder, and I want to contribute this little something. You are like a daughter to me,” she continued.
“And you are like a mother to me. The gown you made was more than I could ask for,” I smiled at her, and then turned to Eve. “And Eve, you are my sister at heart. Wow, how did I luck out with this awesome mix-up of friends that turned into family?”
“We love you too, dahling,” Eve drawled with a smile. “Now focus on the little box in Catherine’s hand. Pick it up, say thank you so much for thinking of me, Catherine, and then open it. I am dying to know what is in there, even if you are not. I’ve completely refrained from peeking into Catherine’s mind, so the suspense is killing me!”
“You are right, Eve, but you don’t have to be so witchy about it,” I teased. “Thank you so much for thinking of me, Catherine,” I repeated Eve’s words. “I didn
’t mean to ignore the box. I’m just so anti-traditional wedding stuff that I seem to be blocking things out. I honestly didn’t notice what you were holding.”
I hugged Catherine after she placed a little wood carved box in my hand. It was stained a dark walnut color and had small rosettes carved into all four sides. I ran my fingers across the small petals feeling the careful detail that had been put into each one. A heart was carved into the lid of the box, with the words My Love etched into the center of it. It was old, older than I was that was for sure. But it had been beautifully cared for over its many years.
“I would love for you to wear this on your wedding day,” Catherine explained.
I carefully lifted the lid of the box. Nestled inside, on a bed of silk, was a delicate gold ring. The center stone was a brilliant blue sapphire. It twinkled in the light. I wondered how it would shine with the sun glinting through the center of the sparkly gem. Tiny seed pearls surrounded the heavenly stone.
“Duncan gave this to me the day our little Mary was born. They used to say sapphires could ward off evil, even the plague,” she trailed off, letting the last few words come out as a whisper.
I hugged her even tighter than before. How could I continue to stand there, worried about what to wear in Las Vegas, while she was trying to share a special token of her first love – and her first heart-wrenching loss?
“I’m such an idiot sometimes. Forgive me. You sharing this ring with me... is such a beautiful symbol of your love, and I am thankful for it. I am thankful for you.”
“A sapphire is supposed to promote love and happiness, and ward off evil. So it struck me as a perfect addition to your wedding attire. Wear my ring. Remember that love is good, wherever you find it. And the best part of all is that it’s your something old – Duncan gave it to me over two hundred years ago, something new – because I just had two of the seed pearls replaced that had been missing for decades, something borrowed – yes I want it back, and something blue – a gorgeous sapphire. It’s four things in one,” Catherine concluded.
“It is simply, stunningly, perfection,” I stated with a huge grin.
And it was.
“How’s my favorite girl today?” Link asked, peeking his head into my bedroom.
He stood barefoot, in jeans and a tee, looking comfortable and happy. He wasn’t wearing his sunglasses today, and was barely squinting at all. I had hoped overcast days, and keeping all the shutters closed, would help Lincoln’s oversensitive eyes. So far my theory had proven to be true. That was good. It was easy to explain Link’s sudden affinity for sunglasses when we were out and about. But when we went indoors, around town, and he still kept them on, he got a few looks.
Sunlight had yet to burn his eyes, like it would a full-fledged Dark One, but the brightness of it did make it more difficult for him to see and concentrate. It wasn’t the best idea for him to go outside when the sun was intensely shining. Even with the darkest of sunglasses to protect his eyes, he would always manage to end up with one big whopper of a headache, and his vision would blur. We were learning.
I ran over to where he stood and thrust my right hand into his face. “Look what Catherine is letting me wear for our wedding. It’s my old, new, borrowed, and blue all in one! It’s perfect,” I beamed.
“It’s quite beautiful. Thank you, Catherine.” Link smiled, and my heart melted.
There is nothing in this world, which I could wish for, that would be better than to see that brilliant smile upon his lovely face. I would do anything to keep it frozen there, to keep him happy. Okay, frozen would be a bit creepy. I’ll just stick to the happy part. His smile is home to me. It is that familiar draw to my past (Link is the great nephew of my first love, Roger, who died in World War II), but Link is most definitely my future.
“You look happy today,” Link said, and placed a kiss on my nose.
“I am happy. Happy with my dress, happy with this amazing ring, happy with my friends, happy with my family...”
“Oh stop, dear. I’m going to gag here in a minute.” Eve smirked. “We get it, you are happy – deliriously happy – with everything!”
“Don’t blame her, Eve. She has no control of the delirium that has taken over. It’s my powers.” Link shrugged with a cheesy grin.
“Your awesome powers,” I corrected.
“Too sappy for me. I take my leave.” Eve raised her eyebrows, took a few steps backward, then spun around and left the room.
“I’ll give you two a moment alone as well,” Catherine said as she departed.
“Thanks again, I L–O–V-E it,” I spelled out as she walked down the hall.
“You’re welcome,” she called back to me.
I gazed into Link’s eyes, and immediately noticed a glint of trouble, pushed up into the corners. He was trying to hide something. I focused on my Link detector (that is what I called my special connection to him – I can locate him and know his general state of being, now that he carries my blood in his veins). His pulse was slower than usual. That trouble in his eyes, I concluded, was that he was tired. And not just any old human tired, tri-bred tired.
“What is troubling you?” I asked.
“Nothing, I’m good.”
“You can’t lie to me about these things, Link, not anymore. I know when you are not quite right. So spill. What is it?”
“Okay, okay... it’s nothing serious. I just feel a bit run down. No energy today, that’s all. No big deal,” he lied.
I’ve always known when people were lying. It’s not a supernatural power or anything. I’d just call it an instinct.
“When was the last time you had blood?” I asked.
Link grabbed onto my hands. “Charity, look...”
“When was the last time you had blood?” I cut him off, pulling my hands loose as I repeated my question.
Link looked over toward the door, desperately trying to avoid eye contact. He shifted his weight to the backs of his heels, and took a deep breath. “Ten days ago,” he mumbled, like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Ten days? It’s been ten days? What are you doing, Link? You know what Lulach said. If you don’t give your body what it needs you may end up doing something you’ll regret. Is that what you’re willing to toy with? What member of our community would you like to freak out on? How about Summer? Or Dee? Or maybe you’ll lose control while walking by the elementary school. That’d make a pretty picture. Whose heart are you willing to break? Whose life are you willing to destroy?”
I paced the floor in front of him, fists clenched at my side.
“Wow, Charity! Calm down. I am not in bloodlust here. I would know if I were. That’s a whole lot of unloading you just did on me. I’m run down. The bloodlust is not here, yet, but I know it is coming soon. I already called James. He is bringing some blood home for me today. If you hadn’t jumped on my back, I could have explained that to you.”
“I’m sorry, Link, you’re right, I freaked. I’m a worried mess about you sometimes. I still can’t believe that I did that to you,” I explained.
“For the hundredth time, Charity, you saved me. No one else in the clearing that night could have. There was only one way to save me, and this is it. I’m good. I’m dealing. I’m happy to be here. James and I are keeping close tabs on this thing. Ten days is nearing my threshold. We know that now.”
I stood perfectly still and looked him in the eye.
“We know that now,” I repeated his words. “So does that mean you’ve been testing your limits?”
“Yes, with James’s close observation. He’s bringing home blood for me today, but I’m keeping it on ice until I absolutely need it. I need to know my limitations, Charity, but I also need to try to push myself.”
“Why? Why do you feel the need to push yourself?”
“We will soon be leaving Telluride for Las Vegas. James will not have easy access to blood. Travel often gets delayed. I want to know, without a doubt, that I can make it. I need to know that e
verything will go smoothly while we are away.”
“You’re right. You do need to know these things. But why didn’t you tell me? It’s like some big secret. James and I,” I said using air quotes, “are keeping close tabs on this thing. Why wasn’t I kept in this loop?”
“Because you worry about me too much and because you are always trying to shove blood down my throat.”
“Well when you say it that way, it’s just gross!”
“Well you are. ‘Do you want me to call James?’ or ‘You look tired, do you need some blood?’ Let me handle this, Charity. I need to figure me out. I need to push myself, and it just seemed easier to keep it from you,” Link admitted, his voice heavy.
“If we are going to be together,” I began, as I rested my hands on his hips, “then we need to be together. That means with everything.” I paused, pursing my lips and then quickly softening my expression. “I promise not to be so neurotic about the blood, if you promise to let me know what condition you are in. Deal?”
“Deal.”
I held my pinky up in the air. “Pinky promise?”
“Pinky promise.” He smiled and linked his little finger with mine. “And sealed with a kiss.”
Link bent his head down to mine as I rose up on my toes to meet him. I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of him. His slowed pulse, thumped just a little bit faster as our lips met and that little jolt of electricity ran through our bodies. I loved the jolt almost as much as I loved the kiss.
Link’s lips left mine as he trailed little kisses down my jaw-line and rested his lips at the hollow of my neck. He placed a long slow kiss there.
“Oh, I can’t wait to get you to Vegas,” Link murmured against my skin as he playfully nipped and kissed the tender flesh there.