Come To Me

by Genevieve Ash

  She could feel his presence moving closer to her. Seeking her out. In her mind’s eye, she watched his body become incorporeal as he dissolved to mist before slipping through the keyhole of her door. Lilah could not stop the whimper of anticipation that escaped from her lips. Even after all this time, the desire and the love had never died. The room was still and quiet as Peter materialized beside her bed. Neither of them wanted to break the almost sacred silence. Lilah had been devastated, thinking Peter had played a part in Cameron’s curse, but no one would ever let him explain that his Fae powers had not been used to aid in Loki’s capture. Gavin had tried to talk to his mother and great-grandmother on his father’s behalf, but his pleas had fallen on deaf ears. Unanswered questions hung heavy in the air, like rain-filled clouds on a summer day. Without breaking eye contact, Lilah rose up on her elbow and pulled back the covers. She could hear Peter’s sharp intake of breath as her naked form was exposed. She patted the bed and he did not hesitate to join her. He wished his clothing away and took her into his arms. Bending his head to take her mouth, she held him just a breath away.

  “What the hell took you so long?” were the only words Lilah spoke before she pulled him down to meet her desperate lips.

  Breaking the kiss, she had to ask. “Are you here to help the family?” she asked cautiously. “Not only for Cameron and Brita’s sake but for Amanda’s as well.”

  Peter’s face held a smile, as if he had known all along.

  “Peter?” Lilah’s tone was rigid as he looked at her coyly.

  “Yes, I knew about Amanda. I am the one who gave her the mirror to move things along.”

  “But, how…how did you know?” Lilah asked.

  “Cameron is my son, too. I have watched over those boys since the day they were born. You may not have known it, they may not have known it, but I was there.” His voice became gentler as he took her hand. “I would do anything for them, as I would do anything for you.”

  Kissing the back of her hand, he lifted it to his cheek, rubbing her knuckles against his stubble. Lilah trembled with the passion unleashed by this intimate gesture.

  ****

  Against her better judgment, Amanda allowed Cameron to carry her. Hot and tired, she felt lethargic. It was unnaturally quiet now and that frightened her more than the constant barrage of noise. He seemed to be taking it all in stride and she had to admire his courage. She didn’t consider herself a sissy, but this ordeal was much tougher than she’d anticipated. Her emotions were running on empty and her body was giving up. Knowing that he was here to protect her made it infinitely easier.

  Heading toward the nuclear glow lighting the sky, they trudged onward. Loki had planted an obstacle course of sink holes and quicksand along their path. Boulders appeared out of nowhere, causing sudden changes in their path. Cam was ever alert, anticipating the next detour. The physical tasks before them seemed to be nothing compared to the mental challenges they had already survived. Of course, that was easy for Amanda to say since she was being carried across the unfriendly terrain.

  Occasionally, a slight breeze floated by, serving only to taunt their sweat-soaked bodies with chills. She could hear his breathing become more labored as he continued walking. Immortal or not, he had to be in pain with the additional burden of her weight. She would have to do it on her own. That was how she normally operated anyway: alone.

  Now that she knew the whole story of the curse, she wasn’t in such a hurry to get into his pants as she had once been. What was she getting herself into? She loved him, truly she did, but—eternity? Watching her family and friends die would be tough. It had been difficult enough watching her father die. What if Cameron changed his mind and didn’t want her once the curse was broken? Would he leave her? Laughing to herself, Amanda wondered if there was an online dating service for immortals.

  “I’m afraid you are stuck with me.” His deep voice startled her from her morbid thoughts.

  “Stop reading my mind. I hate when you do that.” She scolded him half-heartedly.

  “Sorry, baby. Sometimes I just pick up bits and pieces.”

  “So?” she snarked impatiently.

  “So, what?” He looked puzzled. “Either you want me to read your mind or you don’t.”

  “What is it like watching those you care about grow old and die? What will happen when you get tired of me?”

  “I have not known many mortals. But, like anyone you care about, it is difficult to watch them die.”

  “You get to keep your family with you forever though. I don’t,” Amanda pointed out with flawless logic.

  “Most of them, but not all. We can die.” Cam seemed suddenly pensive. “It is especially difficult when you know it could be thousands of years before you see them again.”

  “Obviously, your grandparents have passed. I’m sure you miss them.”

  “Yes, I do, very much. But it is my sister that I miss the most.”

  “Sister? I didn’t know you had a sister. No one ever mentioned her.” She frowned slightly.

  “No, and no one will. We are not allowed to discuss it, and my mother prefers to pretend as if she never existed.”

  Amanda felt a rush of love and greater understanding for him. “I am truly sorry. I do not know how I would live without Megan.”

  “Somehow you manage. Elise and I were very close. The summer before I was cursed was the happiest I had ever seen her. Brita had been there for months and Elise felt as though she finally had a sister. She so hoped that I would marry Brita, but it was my stupidity that caused Elise’s death.”

  “Accidents happen. You can’t blame yourself.” She knew how hollow that must ring, coming from her.

  He stopped and set her down gently on a large stone. With his hands on his knees, he bent over and took several deep breaths. She wasn’t sure if he was trying to catch his breath or control his anger. The tension radiated off him in waves. Wanting to reach out to touch him, she instead sat on her hands, knowing that it wasn’t a good idea. She opened her mouth to speak, but he must have sensed what she intended and held up his hand to stop her.

  “I know you mean well, but you have no right telling me how to feel.” Cam reached over and lifted her head so he could meet her eyes directly. “Can you honestly tell me that you do not wake up every day feeling guilty about your father’s death?”

  Amanda’s eyes filled with tears. Unable to speak, she just looked at him.

  “I didn’t think so.” He started walking again and she had no choice but to follow. She had not made it far when he turned back to look at her. “And to answer your second question, there is no divorce or getting tired of one another in my world. It is forever.”

  She tried to mask the fear in her eyes and the pounding of her heart.

  Cam turned, holding his arms out wide, “What you see is what you get, baby. So you better be damned sure I’m what you want before we find our way out of here.”

  ****

  Amanda stumbled after Cameron, her fear distracting her from the sweltering temperatures and relentlessly changing landscape that tripped their feet. Her head down to concentrate on her footing, she hadn’t realized he’d stopped until she bumped into him. She peered out from behind him cautiously and was awe struck with the scene before her. Two beautiful young women ran through a flower-strewn meadow. The sun was high in the cloudless sky and a warm breeze blew gently across the tall grass. Their laughter filled the air with music as they danced about without a care in the world.

  She placed her hand on Cam’s forearm as he finally expelled a breath and shuddered at the vision. The pain in his eyes made her want to hold him. She stayed silent and still, slipping her hand down to entwine her fingers with his. She guessed that the lovely strawberry-blonde was his sister. She recognized a younger Brita; she had not changed a bit. He grasped her fingers tightly and moved slowly forward. Within just a few steps, they were no longer watching the girls from afar but in the meadow with them.

  He called out t
o his sister, and she seemed to tilt her head for a moment as though she had heard something before turning back to her friend. Cam dropped Amanda’s hand and walked toward his sister. His pace picked up and soon he was trotting, all the while calling her name. Amanda remembered how she had been teased with visions of her father, and she wanted to weep for Cam. He had to do this on his own. A picnic lunch covered the rough piece of fabric that Elise and Brita sat on in the sunshine. He reached for Elise, but she could not feel his touch.

  “Elise!” he screamed, the pain in his voice almost visible in the air. “It is me, Cameron. Please, I am here.” There was no response. He wrapped his arms around her and wept like a baby.

  Amanda’s heart ached for his loss as she watched the scene unfolding before her. She could hear the girls talking and moved closer to listen.

  “Brita, when you marry Cameron, we will truly be sisters. I cannot wait.”

  “I hope that it is so, but I am beginning to have my doubts.” The lovely Brita shook her head sorrowfully.

  “Doubts, why?” Elise looked troubled as she took her friend’s hand.

  “I do not believe Cameron wants to marry me. He ignores me when I am near. He treats me as if I were your sister—and his too.”

  “Well, perhaps we need to work on changing his mind. I know that our families want to see this through. There is too much at stake for the union to fail.”

  “What do you propose I do, seduce him?” Brita laughed nervously as a blush crept to her cheeks.

  “That is exactly what I am proposing. I have heard my brothers and their friends talking about women. I know what they want.” Elise hung her head in embarrassment, her innocence and purity obvious.

  “Who knew that you were such a wanton woman?” Brita teased her.

  “I am not!” Elise protested hotly. “I just like to eavesdrop on my brothers, and sometimes I hear things that I should not is all.”

  “All right, tell me what I need to do.” The two young girls put their heads together, whispering even though there was no one around to hear them. Cam could not seem to stand listening to his sister talk of such things, so he rose and walked back toward the rock where Amanda sat in the shade. The forlorn look on his face kept her silent as he sat lost in his thoughts. Finally, he turned to her with tears on his long eyelashes and his hazel eyes rimmed in red.

  “I know I cannot changes things, but there must be closure. I do not want to think of her being trapped here in Hell.” Amanda opened her mouth, but he raised a hand to silence her before continuing. “You were the same with your father. I have to try. If we can see their spirits, they are trapped here. We must try to set their souls free.”

  This time the tears were Amanda’s. She hadn’t realized that her father’s soul was trapped in this horrid place, but she knew she did not want to set him free until she had closure as well.

  “Cam, I don’t understand. If this is a test, what does Loki have to gain?”

  “Souls, sweetheart, lots and lots of souls. If we do not set them free, they will remain here for eternity.”

  “We are the only ones that can release them?” she asked in frustration.

  “Yes and, if we do not, we will have to remain here with them until we do.”

  “How did they get here? They don’t belong in Hell. My father was a fine man and I’m sure your sister was an innocent.”

  “The wheels must have been set in motion a long time before us. There have been bargains made between good and evil since the beginning of time.”

  “You mean they had to suffer all this because of us?” She shuddered while wondering about the pain that she might have caused her father all these years—as if she didn’t feel guilty enough before.

  “I don’t know. It would certainly seem so.” He took her face gently in his large, strong hands and looked her straight in the eye. “The past is the past. We cannot go back and change it without altering the whole plan of the universe. What we need to focus on is the here and now.”

  He leaned down and gently brushed his lips against hers. His kiss was balm to her hot dry mouth. He pushed gently with his tongue, deepening the kiss as Amanda moaned softly. It was incredible to her that even in these circumstances, she could still feel such an immediate and desperate need for him. As Cam pulled her hips close to his body, she realized that the temperature wasn’t the only thing going up.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The heat and stress quickly curtailed their passion and Amanda rested peacefully in Cameron’s arms. Her body was tired and he needed her to be strong for what lay ahead. His plan could not fail; they were running out of time, but somehow they had to free her father and his sister before finding their way out.

  As she stirred from her sleep, he brushed damp tendrils of hair away from her heated face. Her eyes opened slowly and what he saw shining within them took his breath away.

  “If someone told me I would have to spend another thousand years in that mirror just to have a moment like this with you, I would gladly go back.” His voice rasped thickly with emotion.

  “And I would follow you because the thought of being apart from you for even a moment is more pain than I can bear.”

  “Oh, give me a break!” Freya’s strident voice startled them both. “Sorry to break up the love fest but, in case you had not noticed, you two are running out of time.”

  “What the…how did you get here?” Cam asked her incredulously.

  “My darling, you know I would do anything for you.”

  “That’s enough, Grand. Hello, sweetheart,” Lilah said as she moved from the shadows, hand in hand with Peter. Before Cam could respond, Gavin and Astrid followed.

  “Amanda, close your mouth honey. That is not your best look.” Freya quipped.

  Cameron was speechless, seeing his parents together.

  After all the hugs and kisses were finished, Peter spoke up. “We are here to lead you home. There is not much time, so you must listen closely to our plan.”

  “We can’t leave yet,” Amanda blurted out. Cam silently took her hand and squeezed it tightly.

  “And why is that, my dear?” Peter asked patiently.

  Cam looked at Amanda and then at his parents. After a deep breath, he began to speak. “Because we must first save Elise and Amanda’s father.” He held his mother’s gaze, watching the myriad of emotions run across her face. The pain evidently still as fresh for her as it had been on that terrible day. Peter moved his hands to encircle Lilah’s waist for support.

  “What are you saying, son?” Peter asked Cameron, his voice heavy with sadness.

  “I am saying that Loki has trapped their souls here to aid in our destruction. He is using them to lead us from our path.” Cam settled his arm around Amanda’s shoulder as he heard her weeping softly.

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t leave here without freeing my father or Cameron’s sister.” There was no doubt in Amanda’s voice.

  Freya stepped forward and took Lilah’s hand in her own. “My darling granddaughter, I feel your pain as deeply as if it were my own. We cannot bring your dear baby back to us, but you gave her life and now you have the chance to give her peace.” Lilah nodded silently, the tears flowing down her cheeks.

  “Let’s not forget about my Brita. How are we going to find them?” Gavin asked desperately.

  “You aren’t whining already, are you genius?” Freya asked, her eyes fixed on his, showing him no mercy. He closed his mouth, deciding to remain quiet.

  “It is quite simple, really.” Freya continued. “We will use Cameron and Amanda as decoys to lure Elise and Amanda’s father out and then together we should still wield enough power to free them and take them back to Valhalla with us.”

  “I believe it is our guilt and fear that brings them to us, our need for their love and forgiveness,” Amanda’s voice wavered with emotion as she spoke.

  “Well then, my dear girl, that shall be our weapon. We will separate and then send you into the wilderness to dredge
up your pain.” Freya smiled in satisfaction at the sureness of her plan.

  “No way am I letting Amanda go alone,” Cam said defiantly.

  “You do want this to work, don’t you? She must do this alone. I will be close by in case of any danger. You will be looking for your sister.” Freya retorted sharply.

  “But, I…” Cam could tell he was defeated by a force greater than his was, this time.

  “It’s okay, Cam, really.” Amanda sounded unnaturally calm. “I can do this. We will never be free to love each other without this. We must let go of our past if we are to have a future.”

  “Spoken like a true romantic, dear,” Freya added drily.

  “You know, Freya, for being the goddess of love and sensuality, you are a bit of a cynic,” Amanda quipped.

  Everyone held their collective breath, waiting for Freya to blow. But instead, they watched as she put her arms around Amanda and held her tightly, whispering something for Amanda’s ears alone.

  “Astrid, you will work with Gavin to find Brita and bring her back to us. Lilah, you and Peter stay near Cameron. I will be watching over Amanda. Any questions?” Freya barked.

  “Amanda, I know I cannot change your mind about this. You are strong and smart and I know that you will succeed. Please, please be careful. Love is a powerful motivator, but we must not let it cloud our judgment now,” Cam implored her.

  “And you, my love?” Amanda’s voice was gentle. “Are you ready to free yourself from the pain too? You must be strong. I will be holding you in my heart and waiting for your return. Soon we will be together forever. Very, very soon.”

  ****

  Once again, Amanda found herself alone in the oppressive darkness. She tried to draw air slowly into her lungs as the panic began to rise. “I can do this!” she said aloud, a little unconvincingly. Slowly her breathing became more even and she closed her eyes. Reaching deep within her soul, she opened the box of memories she kept carefully hidden away.