The Willows: Haven

by Hope Collier

  “Gabe, please. What’s going on?”

  His hands rose to either side of my face, his thumbs stroking my cheekbones. Gabe stared deeply into my eyes, searching. My heart ached as his expression fell.

  “I can’t do this anymore.” He sighed and shook his head. “This is wrong. I didn’t mean for this to happen. It wasn’t supposed to.”

  “Can you please just tell me what’s happening?” I begged.

  “I need you to try your best to hear me out. Allow me explain everything before you speak. Can you do that for me? Please?” He studied my face, his torn.

  I nodded.

  Gabe tugged me over to the faded green sofa and pulled me down beside him. “How to begin?” He glanced around the attic. “Here, open it.” Gabe picked up the dirty trunk from the table and offered it to me.

  I lifted the box and focused my attention on the detail as I turned it around in my hands. I tried to raise the lid but it stuck. A familiar looking tree locked the top and bottom halves together.

  “That looks like yours,” I said. Without thinking, I pulled the collar of his shirt to the side and gasped. His necklace wasn’t there.

  Gabe extended his hand, the tree charm flat against his palm. “You deserve to know,” he whispered.

  I rolled the metal between my fingers, seeing what I missed before. A key. The curved end fit perfectly into the opening in the front. I took a breath and carefully raised the lid. A memorable tune chimed from the wheel inside. The same melody sang to me as a child — the same one I had unthinkingly played on the piano.

  My eyes found Gabe. He motioned for me to search the box further.

  I lowered my hand into the hollow space. A delicate silver locket lay inside. The front was engraved in a language I couldn’t read but recognized. I lifted the locket and unfastened the catch. Affixed within the oval halves were two photos. A flowering meadow with a pool of water was tucked in the left side. On the right was a photo of my father with a woman that could only be my mother because she looked very much like me, only much more beautiful.

  My breath caught in my throat.

  The couple smiled as the man stood behind the woman, both their hands around her swollen abdomen. Tears blurred my vision.

  “How … how did…”

  “I know this?” he finished. “I’m going to tell you, but remember your promise.” Gabe squared his shoulders. “I’m not who you think I am, not exactly anyway.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Forbidden Fairytale

  “What does that mean?” My eyebrows fell.

  Gabe continued, gauging my reaction with every word. “I’m not exactly normal.” He laced his fingers together and stared at the floor.

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “This is harder than I imagined.” He frowned. “Your mother wasn’t average either. I knew her long ago. She was a very dear friend of mine — my best friend.”

  I felt the speculation on my face. “How is that possible? You’re not much older than I am.”

  The corner of his mouth pulled down as he shook his head.

  “Were you … together?” I grimaced.

  “No, no!” he said quickly. “We were only friends. Nothing more. She was more like a sister to me.”

  “So, you actually knew her?” My heart swelled with unfamiliar hope.

  Gabe nodded. “Your mother was royalty in a sense. She was the daughter of the most powerful family in our world — and mostly happy to be so. She loved her people and wanted to be a generous and loving leader, but to lead by example. The one exception to her happiness was she didn’t want to live her life loveless and empty.”

  Royalty? Shock coursed through me.

  “Your mother spoke with her parents often, asking them to allow her to find a mate so she could fall in love the real way, marry, and have a family. They refused her time and again, stating that outsiders could never be part of our world.”

  My eyes narrowed. “What kinds of people forbid love and families?”

  Gabe’s tone softened. “Our ruling families have certain ways of doing things. If those guidelines aren’t followed…” He shook his head. “The repercussions don’t outweigh the benefits. A few of us are allowed to venture among the world. We gain both experience and connections to share with others. Some choose to live permanently with the people they meet, but that comes with … consequences.”

  “Well that’s stupid,” I spouted, not caring if I sounded like a child. “Why didn’t she have a choice?” A sense of resentment boiled inside. How did she feel about everything?

  His voice turned solemn. “You have to understand, the royal family never has that option. Your mother had responsibilities to her parents and her people. Her purpose would be served there. End of story.”

  I sighed, at a loss for how to feel.

  “What are you thinking?” Gabe’s eyes met mine. “You aren’t saying much.”

  “What can I say to that?” I shrugged.

  Gabe shook his head with a disbelieving laugh. “I’m confessing to you that I’m not normal, that your mother wasn’t anyone that you could have ever imagined, and you’re taking it all in as if I were explaining the migratory pattern of locusts. This isn’t how I expected you to react.”

  Yeah, me either. “I knew that you were too special to be anyone average. That part doesn’t exactly surprise me. And my whole life has been a question mark. Until a few days ago, I really never cared. It was always about me.” My gaze fell as shame warmed my face.

  He brushed a finger down my flushed cheek.

  “Then you showed up and turned my life upside down. In a good way,” I said when he frowned. “You caused me to think about my meaning and purpose, the affect that I have on those around me. In taking stock of my life, I realized just how screwed up I’d become. But meeting you, getting to know you, I wanted to be me again. I wanted to know you, and I wanted you to know me, but I didn’t know me. How could I explain me to you?” I bit down on my lip trying to control the depth of my honesty.

  “Ashton, I’m not admirable. You can’t believe that about me. There is so much I would change. I only came here to…” He sighed and looked away for a moment. “I came here to tell you the truth.”

  “About how you know my mother?” I peered up at him, hopeful.

  He gave a half-hearted smile. “Yes. I followed her one day when she left to visit relatives. I watched from afar as she came across a man in the forest. Something happened between them. A spark, a connection. I very nearly killed him myself then and there, just to keep her safe, knowing what it would mean, but Edlyn—”

  “Edlyn? Her name was Edlyn?” I interrupted, hearing the word for the first time in my life. Joy swelled inside me like I would’ve never expected. “It’s beautiful.”

  Gabe nodded, his expression tight. “It means ‘noble waterfall.”

  “Wow…” I straightened on the sofa, relishing in the small intimacy of knowing her name. “What happened between her and Charlie?”

  “I saw something in her eyes that I had never seen. I knew then that she’d found the one she was searching for. In that instant they were in love. Edlyn sent word to her relatives she wasn’t coming for now, and sent word back to her family that she had arrived safely and would remain there. She and your father ran away together.”

  Gabe gestured around the area as he continued. “After some time, I traced them here. I have a sort of knack for finding people — some people.” He frowned. “I needed to know she was safe. Your mother and father were married and she was happier than anyone I had ever known. I went home content that she had made the right choice for herself.”

  “Wow. What do I say to that?” I thought aloud, rubbing my fingertips across my temples.

  Gabe met my gaze. “Ashton, this is a very selfish thing I’m doing. Don’t think I’m offering you anything. People cannot know about us. It’s not allowed. Those of us who choose to live among humans are at a continual threat of being dealt wi
th.”

  “Dealt with?” I repeated quickly.

  “Your mother violated our laws. Even being royalty wouldn’t exempt her from the aftermath.” He paused, his face torn in anger and remorse. “I couldn’t protect her, and now I’m exposing you to the same. How could I be so selfish?” he moaned, his face hidden in his hands.

  “Don’t say that. You are not selfish. Why would you think that?” I put my hands on his face and lifted his teary eyes to meet mine. The smell of a warm cedar and fresh rain filled the air.

  “I’ve followed her, Ashton,” he said as if I’d missed the point. “I’m as guilty as she.”

  “I don’t understand.” I frowned. “How did you follow her? You mean back then? She’s gone now, how could you be guilty of anything?”

  The familiar exasperated look crossed his face, but with a hint of a smile this time. “Is it not obvious? Every moment that we’ve shared together, do you not see how crazy I am about you?”

  I shook my head, drowning in question.

  “And against my better judgment, I’ve subjected you to this danger,” Gabe said on a sigh. “What’s wrong with me?”

  “You … you’re crazy about me?” Of everything he’d told me that was a stretch. Gabe was perhaps literally one of a kind. Not even at my best could I ever do anything to be desirable to him. This was the first thing he’d said that sounded like a lie.

  “Ashton,” he whispered. He lifted my chin. The back of his finger brushed away the tear running down my cheek. The blue-green I’d come to love burned with fervor. Passion and hesitance weighed heavily on his face.

  Gabe’s focus trailed to my mouth; his thumb swept feather-light over my bottom lip. Warmth sparked from the place he touched and spread throughout my body. His eyes flickered to mine once more, caution registering there, before he slowly leaned in and met my mouth with his.

  Gabe’s lips lingered on mine, soft and testing. His scent enveloped me like smoke. Our current sparked to life and heat blazed beneath my skin. I pressed into him, wrapping my arms around his neck. Gabe’s lips parted with a moan as he knotted his fingers in my hair, securing my mouth to his. My heart beat unevenly in my chest as his hands fell, roaming the length of my back, and settled at my hips.

  I sighed against him, and he groaned then slowly pulled away.

  “Wow,” we both spoke at the same time then laughed breathlessly at the other. Gabe reached up to stroke my face with the back of his hand, his eyes burning with adoration.

  I inched closer and gently pushed him against the back of the sofa. Snuggling up beneath his arm, I laid my face against his chest and listened to the rhythmic pace of his heart. He wrapped his arms around my body, pulling me tighter.

  “Ashton,” he whispered, laying his cheek atop my hair. “You mean the world to me. I know it changes things, with what I’ve told you.”

  He began to pull away, but I held him in place.

  “I want you, Gabe,” I confessed, the words bubbling up with sincerity. “Whoever you are, or have been, or will ever be.” My lips trailed his, but he backed away.

  “Wait,” he breathed. “There’s more to explain.”

  “There’s more?” I tried not to grimace.

  “You need to know what this entails, what you’re committing to.” His hands balled up. “It’s the only way that I could live with what I’ve done.”

  Gabe reached into the box and lifted out a ring — it appeared to be a man’s wedding band and was crafted from a golden-tinted crystal. The material faintly sparkled in the soft light. Etched along the outside, the band was inscribed with the same words that the locket carried.

  “Charlie loved Edlyn more than life.” Gabe smiled, rolling the ring between his fingers. “It was impossible not to love her. She was so vibrant and joyful, especially after they met.”

  “You knew Charlie?” My voice rose.

  “We met once. He was a fool for your mother.” His smile slowly faded.

  “What happened?” I asked carefully, not sure I wanted an answer.

  “Edlyn never knew that I’d followed her the day she left. More than a year had passed since I checked on her, so I had no reason to suspect her family of watching me,” he murmured. “I wouldn’t have even made my presence known, but when I saw she was pregnant, I couldn’t help myself. I knew she would be pleased to see me once she understood that I wanted to celebrate her life, not betray her.

  “We spent the day together. She gave me the locket you held. The phrase inscribed on it and the ring that you found says, ‘With all the love I possess.’ She gave it to me as a token of our friendship and her new life here. I couldn’t understand it at the time, but I could appreciate it, envy it even. After seeing her and Charlie look at each other the way they did, it only sparked my own desire for love,” he laughed softly and ran his fingers across my arm. Warmth radiated from his touch, leaving a tingling trail across my skin.

  “I went away that day with the promise of returning around the time of your birth. So I took the locket and left her,” he breathed, his voice thick with emotion.

  We sat in silence as Gabe tried to maintain his composure.

  “Before she met Charlie, Edlyn had been betrothed to another — a male who fell under a particular lineage,” Gabe explained, an edge to his voice. “It keeps everything tied in as far as bloodlines, but it’s extremely complicated and was only magnified by the agreement.” His voice turned cold on the last word.

  Gabe caught the questions in my eyes. “With our kind, there are requirements of us and differences among us. Those found in the mountain ranges — like the mate meant for your mother — are generally more temperamental and harder to get along with. They’re not … well, they’re different.

  “The man sent his brother to follow me here. He saw me with your mother as we sat by the beach at the water’s edge that day. More importantly, he saw that she was pregnant with you. Oren apparently reported his findings to Darach.”

  My blood felt like ice in my veins, and my breath caught in a startled gasp.

  Oren…

  CHAPTER NINE

  Changes

  “Oren?” I rasped.

  Gabe nodded, his face twisted in disgust.

  My stomach churned. I leaned forward, arms around my waist, and shut my eyes.

  “What’s going on?” Gabe asked.

  “Is Oren about six-five with black hair, gray eyes, and kind of creepy?” I breathed and looked up. Dread washed over me as anger marred Gabe’s face.

  “You saw him?” he spoke through clenched teeth.

  The room began to tilt despite my being upright. Just days ago, I had been within inches of the man responsible for my mother’s undoing. Why? What did he want?

  “Ashton.” Gabe shook me trying to get my attention. “Where did you see him?”

  “The day I met you. He was manning the front desk at the hotel in Arizona where I stayed. He was wearing a nametag?” That didn’t make sense. Why would he parade his identity?

  “It’s a threat. He’s warning me, flaunting that he’s found you,” Gabe answered, his face red with fury.

  “Why me? What did I do?”

  “Nothing. You didn’t do anything.” Gabe leaned his forehead against mine and shut his eyes. His embrace turned possessive. “You just don’t know the rest of the story.”

  “What happened?”

  “Cowan, Edlyn’s father, had me locked up. After I returned from my visit, he saw the locket in my hand. You have to understand, Cowan has a unique talent. He knows beyond question when someone is being truthful. He’d know if I lied, but still I refused to tell him where to find Edlyn, so he put me away. After discovering Edlyn was pregnant with you, he feared Darach would come. Cowan released me and ordered me to come here in secret and bring you and your mother to him. He didn’t want to follow the rules, but if he could get the two of you back, he could send you both away. No one would ever know.

  “I left right away, running as fast as I could.
It had been two weeks since I had been in the water, and I was weak.” The questions on my face were apparent but we both knew there wasn’t time for deep explanation. “I reached the lake before the house, so I was able to swim some of the way and regain a bit of strength. I wasn’t fast enough though. When I arrived at the house, she was nowhere to be found. I searched the entire property for her, hoping she’d perhaps taken to the water if she had somehow sensed Oren coming for her. I waited for several minutes and then swam out to look, but she never surfaced.

  “I decided to wait inside the house. I don’t know why, but I kept hoping maybe she was gone for the day and would come home. I didn’t want to risk her coming back and finding him instead of me. But when I saw the flowers on the table, I knew.”

  “Flowers?”

  “It’s like their calling card. Demented really. I hate them for it.” Gabe shook his head. I wondered if he meant he hated the flowers or Oren and Darach, though it was probably both. I thought back to his reaction to the flowers on our table at the truck stop.

  Gabe sat silently for a moment before his tone changed and he continued with a wistful smile. “I heard a baby crying. I ran upstairs to the empty nursery and listened. The dresser had been pushed against the passageway and the bassinet wasn’t in the room anymore. I pulled the dresser away from the door and ran up. The bassinet sat here, in front of this sofa, and there was the most beautiful baby lying inside,” he whispered, sounding awed and heartbroken together.

  “You found me,” I stated, recognition sinking in.

  “You remember?” Gabe’s tone rose.

  “Not like a real memory, but the color of your eyes, your scent … they’re familiar but hazy.”

  Gabe smiled briefly. “I lifted you up. You were so tiny, only a couple of months old. She saw Oren in enough time to hide you. She knew he’d want you, too.”

  He sat silent for a beat. “I still don’t know how she managed to hide you so well or how long you kept quiet, but she saved you. I can’t even do that. Now I’ve done worse.”