Rise (Roam Series, Book Three)

by Stedronsky, Kimberly

  “I understand. As of now, the wedding is still on. I know… that this is all so… big… but is it wrong for me to ask you if you’ll be home in time for the next fitting?”

  Brides. I sighed deeply, and watched a slow smile spread over West’s face as he listened to Morgan’s urgent words. He cleared his throat. “I’ll have her back in time, Morgan. What’s the date?”

  “August third. I’m sorry, I’m just trying to find some… normalcy… and I really need to see Eva,” she added softly.

  “August third. We’ll be there,” he confirmed.

  I listened to them in confusion. “Love you, Morgan.”

  “Love you, Roam.”

  West hit ‘end’ for me, and I shifted uncomfortably in my sundress. “I fell asleep?”

  “I think you… escaped. How are you feeling?”

  I traced my finger over the numbers on my arm, sighing heavily. “Like so much is missing.”

  “We’re going to go slow,” he promised, reaching for my hand. I curled my fingers around his, and then lifted my arms for him. He sighed, gathering me against his chest and pulling us both to the pillow. “I don’t have… words… for how much I’ve missed you.”

  I pressed my face to his chest. “I’m so afraid that this is just another dream.”

  “Roam,” he traced my jaw, touching my forehead to his lips. “I’m not leaving your side.”

  “I’m sorry I was so angry… I understand why you did this. West, the baby…,” I covered my stomach with my hands, and he wrapped his fingers around my head, pressing my forehead to his.

  “You know, Roam.”

  I nodded, squeezing my eyes shut. “What happened to the other world? Will, Asher… what happened?”

  “It still exists.” He tightened his hold on me. “My father- Asher- saved you by turning back time here. He couldn’t stop the prophecy already in place, but he could save you… and give Will a chance to save his world. For that, I gave up my immortality.”

  “You’re aging?” I stared at him through the darkness, and he nodded.

  “Yes. I’ll be thirty in March.”

  “That night, at the castle…,” West sighed. “Will used the numbers tattooed on your arm to finally locate Asher. He’d been searching for him for years. Once Will removed his chains, Asher’s magic returned. He was chained in that dungeon, beneath hundreds of levels of complicated catacombs, since the day I thought he’d burned in the fire.”

  “Hundreds of years,” I breathed, remembering the elderly man’s shaking voice and gentle eyes.

  “I learned as much as I could that night. An immortal man produces immortal children. That is why Violet, Eva, and Will are immortals.”

  “Will told me; in the castle. All of our children will be immortal.”

  “Not anymore,” he looked down at me. “I am no longer, remember?”

  “And your father took away our memories?”

  “If you touched me, or I touched you again, you would remember everything, and time would also reverse for that world… as it did in ours.”

  “Did that happen?” I widened my eyes, sitting up quickly.

  “I don’t know. I have to assume it did.”

  “Oh my God.” I glanced toward the hallway. “Eva-…,”

  “She knows that you’re her mother. I’ve talked about you like you were here since the day I brought her home. She knew it was you yesterday… but she’s innocent enough to not ask questions, and just accept that you’re here, and be happy.”

  “Is she awake?” I asked, but he shook his head.

  “No, she fell asleep after the movie.”

  My thoughts skipped fitfully. “Then the other world is still burning?”

  “Slowly. Time moves much slower there.”

  “I know,” I whispered, fighting away the tears that burned my eyes. My contacts shifted uncomfortably.

  “Roam,” he pulled me closer. “I know that you’re hurting.”

  “I tried to fight him at first… but I wasn’t strong enough…,”

  “You are the strongest person I’ve ever known.” He brushed away my tears with his lips.

  “We still have the numbers… West,” I tensed, gripping his arms. “Is Asher still alive?”

  “I don’t know. We traveled within minutes after he cast the spell. One moment, I was holding you, watching you drift away… and the next, I was standing in front of a classroom of seniors, introducing myself. In the same way Eva traveled from the Cleveland fountain to the other world.”

  “And now it’s up to Will to save the kingdom? Without hurting Eva?”

  “He swore that he would find another way. He has about two years there… which would be eighteen here.”

  “It’s still not over,” I realized.

  “We’ll protect Eva… together. And I’m raising her to know how to fight.”

  “To fight?”

  “She can already shoot the .22. And she has quite an aim.”

  “Are you kidding me? She’s four years old! You let her shoot?”

  “We spent a year going over gun safety. She’s very mature for her age. She just earned a blue belt in Taekwondo.”

  I stared at him doubtfully. “I shouldn’t judge the way you parent. I haven’t been here, and the things you’ve seen and gone through…,”

  “Every time I see her training, I think of the moment I found Logan dragging you out of the pool. You were gone, Roam. In seconds.” He sighed deeply. “I want Eva to have a fighting chance, if I can’t always be there for her.”

  “If Will is ruling, he won’t hurt her. I just… know.” I thought of Helena, and his vow to protect me.

  “I’m taking every precaution.”

  I closed my eyes. “Where do we go from here?”

  He laced his fingers through mine, brushing his thumb over the magic marker ring. “We’re going to do this… the right way, for once. This is our chance, Roam. If you’ll still be my wife.”

  My eyes opened quickly, and I grasped his hands in mine. “You still want to marry me?”

  “Baby,” he slid his fingers through my hair, his lips moving over mine. “None of this is your fault.”

  I nodded as he kissed each tear from the corners of my eyes, unable to speak.

  “You have this other life… college, a career… that I will fully support you in. But… if you want to walk away, I won’t blame you, and I won’t stop you.”

  “Walk away?” I shook my head, incredulous. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted, West… even when I didn’t know you.”

  His eyes turned indigo in the blue-black moonlight as he smiled. “Are you opposed to marrying me tomorrow?”

  I laughed, wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my face in his shoulder. “I don’t want to wait until morning,” I admitted, pulling away to search for his kiss.

  “Well, then, Miss Camden. We’ll do this the proper way.” He offered a chaste kiss to my lips, and then pulled away. “We’re going to have an old-fashioned sleep over tonight.”

  I watched him pull the blanket over us both, smoothing my hair away from my face. I turned into his palm, trembling. “West…,”

  “Tomorrow,” he hushed. “Happy birthday, baby.”

  I watched him sleep for most of the night, my mind turning relentlessly. Finally, I slipped out of his arms, reaching for my phone.

  “Where are you going?” He murmured.

  “Just to the balcony. I slept all evening; I can’t fall asleep.”

  “I’ll come with you-…,”

  “No, just sleep,” I kissed his cheek, at the corner of his lips, and he sighed deeply.

  My phone indicated three text messages. 1:15 AM.

  The first was from Morgan.

  Jason and I want Eva, Violet, and West to be in the wedding. I want to pair Violet with Logan. Too soon? Sorry I’m just stressing. Love you.

  I smiled to myself, moving on to the next text from my dad.

  Happy birthday sweetheart. Phone call no
t good enough. Face Time tomorrow. Love you.

  My dad and his iPhone were a volatile combination when it came to his daughters; if it were up to him, he’d keep surveillance on us 24/7.

  I settled into a chair, reading the third text. Logan.

  Cam call me when you get this. I don’t care what time it is. Still on leave.

  Sighing, I dialed Logan and waited. He picked up on the second ring.

  “Roam?”

  “Hey, ex-boyfriend,” I smiled at his familiar voice, relieved to find that I was no longer heartbroken over our break-up.

  “Hey,” he smiled as he spoke; I could hear his relief over the phone. “I was so worried you’d hate me.”

  “I could never hate you. Even if you hadn’t given up your freedom to stay with me in that awful place.”

  “It’s so strange. I remember it all… but I remember these past two years, too.” He groaned, and I could picture him brushing his hand over the back of his closely-shaven head. “I can’t sleep.”

  “Me, either.”

  “I talked to West for a little while. He told me about everything. I’m coming tomorrow to see you… and Violet. Is that okay?”

  “Violet has missed you so much,” I assured him, “And judging by our relationship issues over the past two years, it’s obvious you’ve missed her, too.”

  “It really explains a lot, doesn’t it?” He sighed. “Are you okay?”

  “I don’t really know.”

  “Have you gotten to hold Eva?”

  “I’m sitting on West’s balcony, trying with all of my will to not go in there and climb into bed next to her.”

  “I’m so glad you’re together… finally.”

  “Logan… I’m going to marry him. Today. Can you be there for me?”

  “Of course I will. Morgan will be pissed.”

  “I’m not telling her, or my dad. We’ll have a bigger wedding later. For now, I just want to know that I’m his wife.”

  “I’ll be there. What time?”

  “I don’t know the details yet. Just come over and see Violet. First things first.”

  “I couldn’t stay away from her if I tried.”

  Smiling, I tapped my finger against my phone. “See you tomorrow.”

  The choppy, fitful night had me waking every half hour to forty-five minutes. As the first light of dawn finally appeared, I listened to the waves rushing the shore through the open window. When I opened my eyes, West gazed at me adoringly, and I smiled.

  “Your bride is going to have ugly circles under her eyes today.”

  “Your groom is having a hard time keeping his hands off of you.”

  Sighing, I snuggled closer. “I need to tell you… that I did some things in that castle… that were….,” I wrapped my hand over the edge of the bedspread, twisting. “I was going to try to kill myself. But instead, I cut my arm… and then I just… kept doing it.”

  “Do you want to do that now?”

  “No,” I admitted, searching his eyes. “Did Logan tell you this already?”

  “I talked to Logan for a long time while you slept last evening. He told me about what you went through.” His short, angry breaths exemplified his shaken wrath. “And that you were hurting yourself. I understand a need for control when there is no control in your life. I’ve done some terrible things to myself, too. We’re going to work this out together.”

  “I wish I’d have been the one to kill him.”

  He met my eyes. “You were, Roam. You convinced him to keep you alive. You killed him the… long way.”

  “And no baby.” I closed my eyes.

  “In time. And when we do, we’ll be together for every moment.”

  “And at the end, I’m going to opt for a hospital… and an epidural. No offense.”

  He chuckled low in his chest, grinning. “Absolutely. None taken.” He lifted my fingers to his lips.

  “You’re really going to marry me?”

  “Today, I’m going to marry you because I want to. Not for a prophecy… and not for any other reason but that… I love you, Roam, and I have loved you since the beginning of our time.”

  “West…,” I lay back on the pillow as he gazed down at me. “I want to kiss you forever… but after I brush my teeth.”

  He laughed as the door smacked open against the wall. In a flash of red hair, Eva made a running jump for the bed as I sat up quickly, holding my arms out for her.

  She curled against my chest, snuggling between West and me. “I knew you were my mommy.”

  “I knew you were my Eva,” I answered softly, pressing my face into her curls. West gathered us both against him with one arm, and we lay, watching the sun rise together.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “She’s pacing at the shore. She couldn’t wait in here any longer,” I took a step back and grinned at Logan in his Marine Corps dress blues, shaking my head. “You know, you’re going to completely melt her heart.”

  “I hope so,” he smirked, reaching to shake West’s hand. West pulled him into a brotherly hug, patting his back twice.

  “Thank you. For what you did for Roam.”

  “Thanks for trusting me when I came back.”

  “Okay, go- out to the balcony, down the steps. I want to watch this.” I ordered.

  He grinned and waved at Eva, and she waved back shyly.

  West and I watched from the balcony as Logan moved down the stairs to the sand. I knew the moment that Violet saw him. She ran to him, colliding with such force that he was nearly knocked backwards. In seconds she was in his arms being thoroughly kissed, and I smiled, gripping West’s arm.

  “That was like a movie,” my words wavered with tears, and I turned, hugging him. “I just can’t relax. I keep waiting for something terrible to happen.”

  “Not today,” he promised, tipping my face up to meet his lips. “Today is our wedding day. And tomorrow, I’m taking you on a honeymoon.”

  “Oh, no, West, I don’t want to leave Eva…,”

  “We’ll be gone for a day. We’re going on a cruise.”

  “A… day cruise?”

  “Trust me.”

  “Haven’t I always?” I replied sweetly. He grinned, catching my lips in his before I could close them.

  West spent the afternoon making arrangements for the small ceremony by the shore and our honeymoon while I took Eva shopping with me. As I strapped her in the booster seat in the Lexus, she hugged me around the neck, planting kisses on my cheeks. She’s so familiar with me, I marveled, smiling at her.

  “Can I have a white dress like you?” She asked as I slipped the first of the three wedding dresses that the saleswoman chose for me over my shoulders.

  “You can have whatever you want,” I promised, turning slightly in the mirror and grinning at my reflection. The long, white gown was an empire waist, the bust intricately beaded with mother-of-pearl. A thin, halter strap at the neck gave the gown vintage appeal. Light and cool against my legs, the material moved as I did, not at all like the heavy gowns in the horrible castle.

  “This one,” I whispered, smoothing my hands over the skirt of the gown. The saleswoman nodded appreciatively.

  “When is the wedding?”

  “At six-thirty!” Eva exclaimed, bouncing in place. The saleswoman laughed, waving her hand at the flower girl area efficiently.

  “Well, then, we’d better get something for you, too, right?”

  Eva ended up with a white dress with a wide skirt trimmed with forest green satin. “Bronze would be a lovely accent for both of you.”

  An hour later, Eva and I left the boutique thoroughly spoiled. She pulled me to the back of the plaza, pointing over the railing of the boardwalk. “Look- alligators! There used to be only turtles in here, but now there are alligators and they don’t eat the turtles!”

  “Yikes,” I laughed, unnerved by the still-lying alligators in water. “Daddy and I ate dinner at this restaurant… a long time ago,” I pointed to the restaurant running along the
water, and she nodded.

  “I know Daddy told me.”

  “He did?”

  “He used to be sad all the time, but if we talked about you, he was happy. So we talked about you all the time.”

  My heartbeat quickened, and I pointed to the Lexus parked along the boardwalk. “Let’s go back and show Daddy what we bought.”

  “Don’t show me that dress,” West’s voice interrupted my words, and I grinned, letting him take the garment bags out of my hands. “I want to be surprised.”

  Leaning in for a kiss, I warmed, his lips moving over mine in the sunshine. “How’d you get over here?”

  “I walked. Abs- no longer immortal.” He patted his stomach, and I smirked as he loaded the Lexus.

  “So… we’re on for tonight?”

  “Everything is set. Six-thirty. Violet and Logan will keep Eva tonight, and we’re flying out after the ceremony. Babe,” he picked her up, placing her in the booster seat. “Mommy and I are going to take a trip for one day tomorrow. Vi and Logan will stay with you. Okay?”

  “Okay, Daddy.” She twirled the cubic zirconium-encrusted tiara in her fingers before tucking it into her curls. “Where are you going?”

  “Yes, Mr. Perry, where are we going?”

  He slid into the driver’s seat, and I climbed into the passenger’s. “First, Chicago. And that’s all you’re getting from me.”

  “I’ll just have to wait,” I murmured, staring down at my arm. As he pulled out of the plaza, a cold chill settled over my body.

  I shivered, and he reached to adjust the air conditioner. “Do you feel okay? You’re suddenly so pale.”

  “Something’s wrong,” I murmured, my nerves fraying at the unrecognizable feeling. “I don’t know… how to explain it.”

  “Nothing’s wrong, baby. Everything is finally right.” He reached for my hand, and I tucked mine in his, leaning against his shoulder.

  Back at the house, I ate lunch with Eva before cuddling with her in West’s bed. Our bed. After the restless night, our eyes were heavy, and we were both asleep in minutes.

  Darkness.

  Where is my mirror? I turn in slow, liquid circles with my eyes closed tightly; please, not the castle, not the castle.

  When I open my eyes, I am in the pool at the high school.