by S. E. Akers
“That’s sweet,” I gushed. “But those won’t get me out of this driver’s seat.”
“Then it’s a good thing they’re not for you,” Tanner replied. And he was serious too.
My eyes couldn’t have forced a blink if they tried. “Oh,” I mumbled. Then I turned to reach for the key, silently hoping that a loud rumble from an engine would drown out the roar of my embarrassment. But even I knew there wasn’t a fat chance of that happening.
Tanner leaned towards me and let his lips linger beside my ear. “When it comes to showering you with flowers, I can do better.”
So now I was back to feeling tip-top again, completely free from all the awkwardness my foolish assumption had poured over me. I pulled back onto the road and continued pressing onward, as per his instructions, eagerly waiting for him to direct me to our destination. He finally did about thirty minutes later when he pointed towards a clearing off the main road.
“Park over there,” Tanner requested. The spot in question was just a dusty patch of earth lying adjacent to the hillside. There really wasn’t much of anything else around. “We’ll have to walk from here,” he added.
Tanner exited the car, flowers in hand, and then promptly came around to open my door. Any other time I would think it was strictly due to his gentlemanly nature, but I felt pretty confident that some of his intent was for me to hand him the keys — which I didn’t. But I planned to before our drive back. I simply didn’t think he needed that information just yet. However, I did let him know they were safe and snug when I gave my pocket a couple of cutesy pats.
I scanned the panorama below looking for clues. Aside from the rocky hill we were standing on, the only other points of interest within our immediate vicinity turned out to be an open grassy field and the miles of sea to our west. Though I did notice the colored blur of a city way off in the distance.
“That’s Terracina,” Tanner said, feeding off my curious stance.
“You could have parked closer,” I replied, hoping he would throw me a more clarifying bone.
His only response was a sly, tight-lipped grin before he grabbed a blanket out of the trunk. Then within a matter of seconds, the two of us began our bumpy hillside descent to wherever he was leading me. The only thing he would reveal was that our walk would take a good fifteen minutes. Naturally that gave me a little time to squeeze in a few of my burning questions — aside from who the bouquet was really for. That answer would be coming soon enough, and I didn’t want to be wasteful.
“So how does teleporting work with water?” I asked.
“Not as easy as a sapphire,” he admitted. “I have to carve out an amethyst and let it bathe in the light of two full moons first. Then I can use it to craft a portal. But my gateways aren’t restricted to any limiting factors like one of Kamya’s rubies, so I can solely create and connect my own. Though there is some wait-time and travel involved. The kind that requires two legs, if you know what I mean.”
“Where else do you have portals?”
“I’m not telling you all of my secrets,” Tanner smirked. “I might need to make a hasty getaway one day.”
I jabbed my elbow into his side. “I’m serious. I’d like to know. Are there any in West Virginia?”
“Actually, there used to be several around Welch, but not anymore,” Tanner grumbled. “You-know-who destroyed them.”
“How did he do that?” I asked.
“Dunamis claims an earth element. Ensuring a portal remains intact is easier when it can be contained, like in a shower or a fountain, especially if it’s kept a secret. It basically comes down to whose magic outweighs the other. There’s a lot of earth that makes up those riverbeds and the lands surrounding them. All he had to do was discover where they were and then command the earth to seal the link. You could just as easily destroy one with a bolt of lightning.”
“That would’ve made going home for Naomi’s wedding in the fall a breeze,” I said.
“There’s still one left in West Virginia,” he insisted. “Up in Berkley Springs, if you don’t mind running the rest of the way wet.”
“Really?” Of course it wasn’t a stone’s throw away from Welch by any means. The town of Berkley Lake was nestled in the state’s eastern panhandle, squished between Virginia and Maryland. Their hot springs were hailed far and wide as the country’s “first official spa”. And that came straight out of George Washington’s mouth in 1748. It was just another charming spot hidden within the hills. They even laid claim to an actual castle. Whoever said hillbillies don’t have a little class?
“Why didn’t The Onyx zap that one?” I asked.
“He couldn’t because it’s a true healing mineral spring, nor can he tamper with any others like it across the world,” Tanner explained. “They contain traces of Veil magic. The Guardians blessed them with certain healing powers so humanity could access them at any time. It protects my stone’s magic from being countered.”
“I could fly the rest of the way,” I submitted and waited for him to take the bait.
“Sure you could,” he replied and gave me a consoling hug. “You would just topple a forest of trees in the process.”
“My aerial skills have improved a great deal,” I huffed playfully. “And so has my bow shooting, I’ll have you know.”
“I smell a potential wager,” he egged.
“As long as I pick the arrows,” I replied. “Now that I’m aware of your cheating ways.”
“It was an advantage,” Tanner stressed. His eyes cast a faraway gleam. “And it did make you try that much harder.”
“Yeah well, I think I’m due a few untainted rematches.”
Tanner grabbed my hand and stopped to pull me into his arms. “I think I can accommodate that.”
His admission about portals in my neck of the woods was still lingering in my thoughts. So was the way he’d kissed me upon our arrival this morning via the one in his shower. Personally, I couldn’t think of any finer, first-class way to travel.
“Did you come to Welch often?” I asked.
“Of course. I was responsible for watching over the wand,” he replied, carrying a more serious tone. “I had to make sure Adamas’ treasure remained safe.”
“So you knew I was the one fated to claim the diamond early on?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
“Did my totem glow?”
Tanner grinned. “Practically since the day you were born.” Then after a quick stolen kiss, he guided me towards the field and we were back on our set course. And so was I, with more questions.
“When did Daddy find out?” That was something I’d always longed to ask him.
“Shortly after that,” he answered.
It was a little strange talking about Daddy and Tanner’s relationship. It made me wish for one of those time-traveling / fly-on-the-wall kind of moments. “How did he take it?”
“He was angry at first,” Tanner confessed, “like any other father would be when they realized the danger their child was in. He refused to accept it in the beginning, but it didn’t take him long to recognize what an honor it was. You had been bestowed two of humanity’s greatest gifts — hope & peace. That put everything into perspective.”
My mind drifted back to one of the last conversations I had with Daddy around our kitchen table. I should have known something was up from the way he was acting and his out of the blue “me making the world proud” remark. A lot of parents brag on their kids, but that one was certifiably over-the-top. I truly wished he had told me about “my destiny” that morning. I knew in my heart Daddy would still be here if that reality was even a possibility. But being as familiar with Fate as I was, it just wasn’t in the cards.
I could feel my mood turning a touch somber, so I decided to switch gears. “So when did you first see me?” I asked, hoping it didn’t prove too dicey.
Tanner stopped abruptly and turned to me. “The very first time?” he submitted.
I nodded eagerly. I really did want to
know, even if it happened to conjure a few awkward images of the girl he’d been kissing running around in pigtails or her Pampers.
Tanner gave my hand a tender squeeze, though his head never lifted an inch. “A few days after you were born,” he confessed. His gaze rose level with mine. “Beatrix was there as well. That’s when she took charge of keeping you safe.”
“I wish I’d been around her more,” I admitted. “I loved spending time with her when I was little.”
“Little girls grow up and things change along the way,” Tanner acknowledged. “There isn’t a soul out there that doesn’t regret taking a pass on a fleeting opportunity here or there . . . or even a few of their decisions,” he added.
I sensed a trace of sadness in his tone, naturally. The total amount of time and memories I’d shared with Beatrix was a drop in the bucket compared to Tanner’s centuries and centuries. Dredging up grief was the last thing I wanted, so I quickly ended my interrogation. Though I did start thinking about what it would have been like if Tanner had been in my life back then. An introduction would have been nice before plowing into him on the ridge that day. And what would the real little girl version of me have thought about him? Right now it was easy to envision the endless sheets of notebook paper and all the drawings of frilly hearts with initials scripted in their centers. What else could a five year-old girl with a silly older-guy crush do for a release? Then again, if someone had told me then about my feelings for him now, I would have been the first kindergartener arrested for spray-painting our names on the town’s water tower for all of Welch to see. Suddenly Ty’s little twelve year-old stalker didn’t seem as deranged.
Tanner noticed my far-away smile and gave me a nudge. “What are you thinking about?” he grinned inquisitively.
It was awkward enough that he could stream all of my personal feelings like supernatural Wi-Fi. Thank goodness my innermost thoughts were safely protected on a hacker-proof server. “Nothing,” I smiled and left it at that. Regardless of how under his spell I was right now, I still had enough of my senses not to hand over my master password — not yet, at least.
Our path eventually led us to a wide grassy field that bordered the beautiful azure-blue waters of the Mediterranean. It was an ideal spot for anything really, like a picnic or simply lazing the day away with its picturesque view. The location also granted all the privacy you could ever ask for. There wasn’t anything in sight for a good thousand-plus yards in all directions. In fact, the only thing our rural destination boasted aside from blades of grass was one lonely, stone column that stood roughly twenty feet high. But even it didn’t look too far from crumbling to the ground.
Tanner spread out the blanket, positioning it directly in line with the sea and the stone column. He sat down straightaway and patted the spot in front of him. “Are you the least bit curious why I brought you here?”
I plopped down and nestled my back against his chest. “More than a bit.” My head was spinning with speculations throughout his drawn-out silence. “Are you going to make me guess?”
Tanner pulled back my hair with the tips of his fingers and gathered it over to one side. “You can try.”
Guessing got pretty damn hard with his mouth icing my neck with sensual kisses. It wasn’t long before my brain started to cloud, fogging up like a windshield on a frosty winter morning.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Can’t you come up with one?”
“It’s kind of hard to think when you’re doing that,” I contested.
“I’d say it’s about as hard as trying to pick a flavor of ice cream when pressed,” he countered. “Particularly after stumbling into a kitchen to find someone dancing in front of my freezer and wearing my boxers.”
The sound my gasp rent the air like thunder. I whipped around, cheeks stinging. “You said you hadn’t been there long.”
“Oh, I was there long enough,” he winked.
I bumped my shoulder into his chest and turned around. How embarrassing, I groaned silently. Now I really couldn’t rally a decent guess for the life of me.
“I’ll give you a hint,” he whispered. “This is the place where my life began.”
“You were born here?”
“No,” he corrected. “The village I was raised in lies several hours north. This is where I was reborn as a Talisman.”
Kamya had made the comment that a Talisman was born out of tragedy. Without a doubt, something poignant was about to cross those perfect lips of his.
“What year?” I asked, looking straight ahead. I didn’t want him to actually see my eagerness, on top of sensing it. This was the one question I’d hounded him about the longest.
“48,” Tanner replied and then after a pause added, “A.D.”
“Whew,” I sighed, pretending to be more relaxed. “B.C. would have been a deal-breaker.”
He scolded my little joke with a pinch to my side and then pulled me back into the warmth of his chest. “I didn’t mean to tease you,” I said, angling my gaze to his. “I may not be able to sense your emotions, but I know when I’m about to hear a sad story.”
Tanner feathered my hair with tender strokes. “Only parts,” he replied. “But like I’ve told you before, there’s always something good to be found with any amount of bad.”
I found the way his hand brushed through my tresses to be more than just affectionate. They were almost tranquil, like a loved one would soothe someone in pain. Even his eyes looked like they were brimming with regret or possibly sadness when I glanced back. Yeah, I had been attacked on the night I claimed my diamond and had broken most of my bones doing so, but I didn’t think my tale was a tragic one. Bloody and painful, yes…but tragic, definitely not, with the exception of losing my father. It certainly didn’t hold the personal physical and mental horrors that both Kamya’s and Bea’s claimed, and what I suspected Tanner’s would. So I just sat there, smiling cluelessly from the sheer irony of what his gesture suggested, and patiently waited for him to tell me his story.
“I was twenty-eight when my destiny came calling,” Tanner began. “The Roman army was coming to my village looking for rebels. I was one of them. My people were tired of being thrown the capital’s scraps and suffering its abuses . . . and we wanted free from Rome’s hands. The elders of my village devised a plan and then sent out a little over a hundred of our bravest men to ambush the small battalion before they could even reach our borders.” Then his chest slowly lifted with a heavy sigh. “Unfortunately we didn’t know there was a spy in our midst, and the traitor ended up leading us straight into their trap. My sister, Adean had followed me that night. She was nineteen and headstrong . . . and wanted to fight for her village just as much as any of us. Seeing her getting rounded up came as an even bigger shock than the ambush.”
His admission sent my gaze seeking out his eyes. The lavender hue I spied didn’t come as a surprise, not with the undeniable regret I sensed guiding his words.
“Then they brought us all here to Terrancia to serve as slaves for our treachery,” Tanner continued. “Adean was forced into the custody of one of the Senator’s while the rest of us were thrown into the cells of the coliseum to be fodder for the gladiators. We’re sitting in the exact spot where the arena once stood.”
“The leather harness on the bust in the study is yours?” I submitted.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “Gashes and all.”
I stroked his hand. “How long did they keep you imprisoned?”
“A little over a week,” Tanner replied. “I was sent in to be slaughtered by their reigning champion a few days after I arrived.” A proud laugh lightly breathed past his lips. “But the Senators didn’t take too kindly to me severing their most decorated warrior’s head. They immediately ordered thirty of Rome’s finest soldiers into the arena with their sharpest swords and spears drawn.” Tanner secured his hold on me with a tender squeeze. “I killed every one of them and then shouted for the bastards to bring me more.”
I felt his heart thum
ping faster against my back. “I’m sure they didn’t like that either.”
“No, they didn’t . . . particularly when the crowd turned sides,” he revealed. “And then they really took offense when I roared that their blood would spill before another drop of mine would soil the earth. I vowed to claim the head of every soldier, Senator, or patrician who stepped in front of me brandishing so much as one of their fingers.”
I could picture him saying it too. “What did they do?”
“They stopped the games immediately and locked me back in my cell. Fear besieged me for the rest of that day, but not for me . . . for Adean. I was so afraid of what they would do to her for my actions. The pain of knowing what horrors were headed her way because of my actions was unbearable.” Tanner inhaled a deep breath. “But, what I didn’t realize at the time was that there were more important eyes on me during my bouts . . . Nerina’s. She had been watching me the entire time. She sent Kamya to my cell that night when the guards were sleeping,” he revealed, both his mouth and eyes smiling. “So there I was . . . sitting in my cell and stewing with regret over my actions, and then along comes a woman in a red hooded-cloak swinging a set of keys.”
“Did she rescue you?”
“Far from it,” he assured. “She came into my cell and offered herself to me as a dying request.”
“Oh,” I mumbled. Right now, considering all of the things Kamya had done for me, I genuinely couldn’t bring myself to think one bad thought about the ruby vixen. I was simply pulling for a respectful and very much censored ending to this tale.
Tanner nuzzled his lips against my ear. “I refused her of course . . . and thanked her for the generous offer.”
I’d never boomed a heavier silent sigh of relief in my life, and I couldn’t have cared less if he’d felt any of it either.
“Then I told her if she was truly the seer of last men’s requests that she could do me something better,” he continued. “I wanted her to find my sister and help her escape the city. Then Kamya knelt beside me and stroked her hand down my cheek. I still remember how warm it was. I’d never felt someone whose touch was that hot before without them being struck with fever. She leaned in and gave me a kiss, rose to her feet with nothing else to say, and then turned away from me with the slyest of grins. The entire exchange was mystifying. I knew there was something different about her, just from the blaze I’d caught in her eyes. But when she melted a section of the bars and exited the cell unrestricted, without turning the first key, I knew she was the answer to my prayers.”