by C. Elizabeth
Getting caught up, I bounced too. “I am!” Throwing my head back, taking a deep breath. “It’s hard to believe.”
“What’s hard to believe?” Todd asked from behind, giving me a little poke in the side, then putting his arm around me.
Norma’s eyes shot down to the ground. She still liked him like crazy and still hadn’t told us what happened that night he went to her house, but they seemed better afterwards. I sidestepped away from him, as I did every time he tried.
Becky had no problem telling Todd what was going on. “Nathanael finally”
“Saydi Gardiner!”
We all whipped around to the voice. Nathanael was coming up the walk. Angie nudged me, then stepped away, yanking Todd with them as he groaned.
With a huge smile on my face, I nodded once in a greeting.
The look on his face was nothing short of determination, and in one quick stride, he took my hand and got down on one knee. I gasped, then peeped at my girls. They all had their hands up to their mouth, with big eyes.
“I asked your father if it would be okay to do this. It is my ultimate promise to love you always.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out a ring.
I sobbed and gasped all at the same time.
Holding it out to me, he presented a small diamond with two sapphires on each side.
“This is a promise ring, proving to you that I love you and only you. Eventually an engagement ring will replace it.”
I could feel his emotions, what he was presenting was real, a true promise. It wasn’t just a plan, it was an undying promise from his heart.
He loved me.
His eyes darted when it seemed that I faltered. “Please, let me promise to love you.”
There were happy cries coming from all around me, along with a ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ from Todd.
“Yes, of course, yes!” I blurted. Tears started to flow for me and him.
He jumped up and twirled me around, then slid the ring on my finger and kissed me.
Some more languishing sighs came from around, then cheers, which abruptly put an end to our kissing.
Nathanael’s face was pure red as he licked his lips and hugged me tight. “Thank you for accepting. Your father was most gracious allowing me to show you what you mean to me.”
“How could I not accept it? You’re all that matters.” I cupped my hand around his neck and brought myself close to his ear and whispered, “Without a doubt, you are all that matters.”
“Oh! What? Didn’t your itty bitty girlfriend give you enough last night?” Todd provoked from out of nowhere.
Nathanael was gone, leaving me to fall forward almost onto my face again. All I heard was a gasp and gurgle.
“Oh my God! Nathanael!” I freaked.
“Nathanael!” Becky cried.
He had Todd by the throat three feet off the ground. Nathanael’s facial features were twisted in such anger he was barely recognizable. His forehead protruded out in a very ugly way and his breath came fast and furious. And his eyes...his eyes were fire. The voice came from a different realm, deep, slow, and quiet, like a growl. “You would do well to heed what I am about to say. This is your second chance. There will be no strike three, you’re out. Next time, you won’t even know I’ve struck. Got it?” Todd gripped Nathanael’s arm, trying to loosen his hold and nodded quickly. Then he tumbled to the ground.
Nathanael pivoted and with angry breath said, “He’s okay.”
We all ran to Todd.
“Are you okay, Todd?” Angie asked, helping him to his feet.
He shook her off. “I’m fine!”
Becky handed him his books. “You really have to stop antagonizing Nathanael.”
Todd sneered hotly. “Becky, shut up!”
“Todd!” Nathanael boomed.
Todd stumbled back a bit, not sure what to do, then huffed and went in the school.
My girls all gave Nathanael a quick wave, me a small hug, and followed Todd.
Nathanael moved closer to me and cautiously kissed my head. “I wouldn’t have hurt him.”
“I know, it was just a shock to see that side of you.”
“I’m sorry. That’s not the side I ever want you to see again.” We held onto each other for a minute, then he said, “Do you have any exams today?”
“Uh-uh.”
As he led me down the steps he said, “Good, because today was the day for me to attend to a certain family matter and I was going to do it alone, but I’ve changed my mind. I need you there for moral support. I’m not sure I can do it.”
“You can, and I think you’ll be happy you did.” I squeezed his waist.
Thirty-four
We pulled up in front of my house and he put the car in park, looking down. His heart was racing with fear.
Holding his hand, I assured, “It’s okay.”
With a nod and a weak smile, he turned my ring around my finger. “You are mine,” he exhaled.
Putting the palms of my hands on his face, I kissed him gently. “I always was.”
He kissed me back, then sighed. “Well, let’s get this over with.” And before I could see his leg leave the car, he was on my side opening the door, holding his hand out for me.
We were still holding hands when we walked in the house. Mora was there to greet us with a smile, though her eyes deceived that smile.
“Hi Nathanael, Saydi,” she said.
Instead of acknowledging her, he dragged me down the hall and into the kitchen. I barely got a wave off to everyone else in the living room as we passed, then he sat me down and put the kettle on. Mora quietly joined us and waited. He rampaged through the cupboards, found a bag of cookies, threw some on a plate, ate a couple, then, well...threw them on the table. A few slid off, but he didn’t notice. The aching he was feeling crawled up my spine, masking a fear. And with that, he shut it off—hid it from me.
Mora was gazing at him with an amazing smile, so happy to be in the same room as her baby.
He faced the cupboards, putting the palm of his hands on the countertop, head down. Then he spoke quietly, “Why now?”
Mora didn’t wait. It was like she knew he could bolt any second. “Nathanael, I was chosen to be Saydi’s Magister since she was born.” She stalled for a second, seeming to make a decision. “It was a wonderful joy to find out you and Saydi are in love.”
He sighed, and responded snarkily, “Really, Mom?” The word ‘Mom’ slithered from his throat. For him it was a most disrespectful way to address a parent.
Mora didn’t seemed swayed by his disregard for her. “Yes, really,” she sweetly replied.
I could see his fingers flexing into fists. “You have ten seconds to explain something that will grab my interest, and if not, I’m walking away. This is your one and only chance.”
Without even a slight hesitation, she started, “I didn’t leave you of my own free will, Nathanael. I didn’t know who your father was until you were born and I was so blessed to be able to spend that month with you and your brothers. Your father banished me from you. It had always been his plan. He wanted his heirs, and the only reason he allowed me to be with you for that month was because you were ill and he needed me to nurture you.”
She took a very large breath.
“Andrew had no intention of allowing me to stay in your lives. He planned it for years and only so he could have the strongest of all Half Nights. You and your brothers have inherited my donum as well as your father’s.”
Nathanael’s breathing was nothing short of a bull about to charge. Something inside had stirred—he felt for her. Then just as quickly as it was there, he blocked it out and returned to his earlier guard.
His shoulders shuddered. “Then that would make me half Pyre, quarter Tov.”
“Yes.”
He grunted. “It also makes Job and Joshua half Pyre, quarter Tov, giving them more strength as well.”
“Yes.”
“How do we find out if we have more donum?”
Mora wasn’t taking any chances; she was quick and precise with her answers, not flowering it up with a mom’s needs. “The usual way, by chance and circumstance.”
He didn’t say another word, but didn’t leave either.
Mora took that to mean she should talk. She told him how she could see some of the decisions he was making. He even cracked a smile when she told him how she wanted to ring his neck for hanging Joshua upside down out a two story window when they were thirteen. She confessed she dropped the plate she was drying when he did.
His heart beat faster and a little flutter of love passed quickly through, that one snuck by his guard. Yet he resisted. She talked nonstop for an hour. Though Nathanael never faced her, he did listen.
“Why didn’t you try to see us when we turned eighteen?” he asked.
“I did.”
That made him take notice and turn around.
There was pleading in her eyes that he would see the truth and not the wicked web his Dad had spun.
“I finally confronted your father and told him that as adults it would be your decision to see me or not. He wouldn’t hear of it, so I left it at that.”
Mora then quickly started studying her hands, leaving me to believe there was something more to what she said. Unfortunately for her, Nathanael caught it too.
His green/blue eyes turned dark, suspicious, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Let me get this right. You finally decide to confront the monster of the man who took your sons away, and when he won’t allow it...you just leave?” Nathanael narrowed his eyes.
“Something tells me there’s more to that story and if you’re already lying to me, there really isn’t more to be said.” He was gone. The front door slammed. When I turned to look at her, she was gone too.
I ran to the front door hoping Nathanael hadn’t gone far. Mora held onto his arm and was talking frantically. He wasn’t looking at her, but he wasn’t trying to fight her off either, and I sensed he was opening up to her, feeling her. Out of nowhere, his pulse began to race and a darkness converged on him. His face twisted up as he gaped at Mora, but his anger wasn’t directed at her. Actually, it wasn’t an anger at all. It was pain.
He snapped his head toward me, then back to her as she continued explaining. It was hard for me to decipher what he was feeling, because it seemed to be all rolled into one huge ball. Finally, the intensity of it all spiraled downward, leaving a sadness behind. He dropped his eyes to the ground as Mora touched his cheek. He nodded.
Wrapping her arm through his, they walked up the sidewalk together. When they came in, she touched my arm and disappeared into the living room, leaving Nathanael with me.
He swallowed hard, hugging me, his chest surged forward with a stuttered breath as he started crying. I held onto him tightly.
“Nathanael, it’ll be okay. Come on.”
Taking his hand, I brought him to the kitchen. He wiped his eyes and backed me against the cupboard. We folded ourselves around each other, as he proceeded to confide what Mora had said.
“It seems that Mora tried to contact us often, but Father wouldn’t allow it. But it wasn’t just that...”
His chest heaved again and he hesitated while getting control. “He promised her he would kill me if she made contact.”
“No!” I cried out.
His eyes teared when he looked in mine. “My own father would kill me, just so he could keep her from getting to Job and Joshua.”
Our hearts strangulated together, wrestling with the pain. “How could he, and why you?” I prompted, not believing it.
He put his lips on my forehead. “He knows she’s connected to me more than Job and Joshua and that if it were me, it would finish her.”
I tugged him tight against me. “He wouldn’t. It was just a threat. How could a dad do that?” A panic settled in my voice, though I tried not to convey it.
“Saydi, my father is pure Pyre. He has no loyalty to me, and he’ll keep his strongest to help achieve their goal at any cost. It would be nothing for him to snap my neck.”
“Nathanael!” I spouted, shocked and horrified at the way he said it so nonchalant. Then insisted, “You would heal.”
“Saydi...” he gulped. “If I get hit with one blow, like someone reaching in and ripping my heart out...”
“He...” I stammered, under my breath, “Wouldn’t.”
“Or snapping my neck in the right place, there is no healing. I have a human heart... Therefore, I die.”
My stomach tied up in knots. The thought of losing him forever, the disbelief that a parent could even think of it, was making me sick.
“I’m his weak link. It would be nothing for him to do that. It’s strange, even knowing what he is capable of, I never thought that he would...”
It looked like he shivered.
“I’m struggling with the thought of having to fight them. I don’t want to see my father or brothers hurt, even if it’s for a good reason. Even if they are what they are, they’re my family.”
His insides were in an upheaval and there was defining emotion jumping from one end to another. Nathanael loved his dad. The horrible realization that he could be killed at his father’s hands in a heartbeat was the truest form of betrayal for a son.
My attempt at consoling him was lame, but there wasn’t much else I could do, except be there for him when he needed me. “I’m sorry, even with who he is, I can’t believe he’d do that.”
“Regardless...” A vacant expression passed over his face as he looked over my shoulder.
I kissed his chest. “Nathanael?”
His gazed fixed back on me. “I need to speak with everyone—but before I do, you need to know something...” He touched his lips to mine. “Father never said anything to me when I told him about mine and Mora’s first encounter. It probably pleased him to no end that I ran.”
When I wiped the tears away from his eyes, it didn’t help, they just continued to fall.
“But now that she’s made direct contact, his threat may become reality for me.”
“Nathanael! No! He can’t do that! You can stay here. We’ll run away and you don’t have to go back!”
He yanked me closer yet.
“He can’t,” I whimpered.
Speaking softly, Nathanael answered, “We need to get a plan in place.”
With that declaration, he took my hand and ushered us into the living room.
Everyone was talking quietly, then all looked to Nathanael. I sat down by my parents as he paced back and forth.
He sighed heavily. “It’s time you knew everything.”
They all agreed. Some nodded their heads, and some voiced it.
“My father knows Saydi knows who we are and what I am.”
Zack stood and with an accusatory tone. “Does he know you are to fight together?”
He turned an eye on Zack, and ignored the way the question was delivered. “No, that he doesn’t know. He’s not concerned that Saydi knows. He believes it to be the ultimate betrayal to her on my part, and he’s also expecting I will let him know how far along she is coming with her donum.”
We all strained to hear more, as Nathanael spoke quietly. “I will do what he expects, but will downplay what Saydi is capable of. Let them think she isn’t very good.”
Little does he know how right he is, how it will take a miracle.
He eyed me with a playful smile.
I smiled back.
“He also believes if she doesn’t fall for my traps...” He faltered. “I will hand her over to him in battle. I’m the ultimate spy.”
With no warning or discernible movement, Zack had Nathanael by the throat. “That will not happen!”
All of us were on our feet. I sprang onto Zack’s back, punching him. “Let him go!”
Nathanael was calm, though his words gurgled out. “No, of course it won’t, but I have to keep him believing it.”
Zack slowly released him, but not his glare. “We will be watching.”
Nathanael straightened his shirt. “I’m aware,” he said, rubbing his neck. Then he reassured me, “I’m fine, he didn’t squeeze too hard.”
They thought it was funny. I didn’t.
It was a well-known fact that the only way to get me to give up my Spirit Light, well at least as far as the Pyre knew, was for them to tempt me with desires. It occurred to me Nathanael hadn’t tempted me as of yet. That could easily result in him getting hurt or...killed. The notion sent a chill through me. “Nathanael, you haven’t tempted me at all and he’s going to know you haven’t.”
He put his chin on his chest, glancing up at me and whispering, “Saydi, you’d better research and study how to detect our traps.”
“What do you mean?”
The emotions he was feeling suddenly clamped down, hidden from me and his face went a slight shade of maroon. “We’ll discuss it later.” It was apparent he wanted to talk to me alone about it.
I scanned the other faces, then threw out a few thoughts that puzzled me. “Okay, another question. Back to what you said earlier, Nathanael, about handing me over. They don’t know I have to give up my soul willingly to destroy it, and if I’m not falling for the traps...” I glanced at Nathanael, then back to the rest, “How will they get the Rondure?”
The room fell completely silent. The only sound was the wind drifting against the window panes.
You don’t need to know that! Nathanael yelled in my head. Ignoring him, I panned the room, waiting for an answer.
“Well?” Dad stood.
Nathanael stepped forward and almost hid me behind him, as if Dad were the threat. “With all due respect, Mr. Gardiner, she doesn’t need to know.”
Dad touched his arm. “Son, we understand you want to protect her, but by protecting her from this, it could be detrimental to her resolve if that situation were to happen. Saydi must be prepared for all possible outcomes. She needs to know,” he insisted, ominously.
Resigned to Dad’s reasoning, Nathanael reluctantly released me. Dad took my hand and seated me between him and Mom.