Set In Stone

by Balmanno, Beth

  I looked toward the house. “Noel?” He wasn’t by the door. “Is there a towel? I think I’m done.”

  Something moved by the waterfall and I turned to look. Noel stood at the edge of the deep end, the moonlight illuminating his naked body as he dove in, slicing cleanly through the water. I barely had time to catch my breath as he swam toward me with superhuman speed. I blinked and he was surfacing next to me, raking his hair back with his hands.

  I smiled. “You changed your mind.”

  “You changed my mind.” He pulled me to him and I melted into him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He kissed me, holding me up in the water and I sighed.

  “I’ve been wanting to do this all night,” he murmured. “No one should look as beautiful as you.” His lips moved to my chin and then to my neck.

  “I’ve missed you—and this—so much, ” I whispered.

  “I’m sorry.” He held me to him as he rained cool, wet kisses along my neck and shoulders.

  “Don’t be sorry,” I told him. “Just don’t let me go.”

  Noel’s only answer was to grip me tighter. He swam us to the deep end, pushing me forward, his lips locked with mine again. My back bumped the concrete side of the pool and I steadied myself against it. His kisses deepened then and suddenly his hands were everywhere, tangling through my hair, cupping my face, exploring the length of my body. But something in his touch was different.

  “Valerie,” he breathed. “ I want you.” His hands snaked behind me, searching for the clasp on my bra.

  “I want you now,” he whispered against my mouth. He pressed his body against mine. “Say you want me, Valerie.”

  I was too stunned to think.

  “I want it all,” he murmured. “You. The stone. Say you’ll give it to me. Promise me.” He kissed me again.

  My eyes widened. The stone? What was happening? I struggled against him but he held me tight.

  “Noel, wait,” I began but he silenced me, crushing his mouth to mine. These kisses were different. They were rough, stinging and bruising my lips.

  I pushed against him with all of my strength. “Stop!” I turned my head away.

  His eyes were black. “I can’t.”

  “Please,” I pleaded. “I don’t want this.” But if he heard me, he didn’t listen. He lowered his mouth to my neck and I closed my eyes, feeling the bitter sting of tears. I couldn’t stop him, not when he was touching me like this, drugging me with the stinging touch of his mouth on my skin.

  I braced myself for his next assault but it never came. Abruptly, he let go of me and I scrambled out of the pool, scraping my knee on the rough concrete side. Safely out of his embrace, I turned to look at him. He wasn’t alone. Leo was in the water with him, fully clothed, his arms tightened around his brother as he struggled to restrain him.

  “Get in the house,” Leo barked at me. “Now.”

  I hurried inside, stopping just long enough to collect my crumpled dress. I slammed the doors shut and stood in the middle of the rec room, dripping wet, frozen with confusion. I tried to comprehend what Noel had just done. The change he’d warned me about, the change we both knew was inevitable, had come. I wanted to break down and sob right there because one of my greatest fears had finally been realized. Noel cared more about the stone than he did about me.

  The doors swung open and Leo burst through, his expression grim. He tossed a towel at me. “Get dressed. In the bathroom” He jerked his head toward the door. “Do it now.”

  I looked at Leo, a golden-haired angel in this nightmare, the most unlikely of rescuers I could imagine.

  “Now, Valerie!”

  I did as I was told. I quickly toweled dry and slipped into the dress, grimacing as it clung to my wet underthings. I fumbled with the zipper with shaking hands.

  He rapped on the door. “We need to go.” Leo’s voice was urgent. “Now.”

  I opened the bathroom door and he grabbed my arm, pulling me through the house.

  “Wait,” I said. “What are we doing? Where are you taking me?”

  “Away from him.”

  I picked up my shoes on the way out the door. Leo’s red sports car was parked in the driveway; I was certain it hadn’t been there when Noel and I had arrived. He shoved me into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. A second later, he was behind the wheel, peeling out of the driveway. We drove in silence and I began to worry as a new fear surfaced. Why would Leo be any safer than Noel right now? Had I just sealed my fate in a different way by leaving with him?

  “Where are you taking me?” I asked again. “What do you want?”

  “I’m taking you home,” he answered. “I don’t know if you’ll be any safer there but it can’t be worse than being where you just were.”

  He didn’t answer my second question so I asked again, firmer this time.

  “I don’t want anything, Valerie,” he said, turning to look at me. Even in the dark, his body appeared to glow, emanating a warmth and heat that was much too comforting. A small part of me wanted to snuggle against him, to warm my wet body and soothe my chilled heart. Not because of some sinister magic he’d succeeding in weaving around me, but because I desperately needed comfort.

  “So now you’re my savior?”

  “I’m not doing this for you, alright?” He sighed. “I’m doing it for him.”

  I waited. We were stopped at a light, just a couple of miles from my house.

  He kept his eyes on the red light. “The last thing he’s wanted—through all of this—is that damned stone,” he said. “Wait. I’m wrong. The last thing he’s wanted is to hurt you. You’re important to him, for whatever reason. And he’s my brother. We may be destined to fight each other each year, to constantly be pitted against each other, but this is something I can do for him. This one small thing, to protect you and keep you safe.”

  I couldn’t believe Leo was offering to protect me. “What about you? Don’t you still want it, too? What’s going to keep me safe from you?”

  He looked pointedly at the pendant around my neck. “My brother recharges that every day he’s with you.” He laughed bitterly. “But I don’t know if you need it anymore. My power is fading. Can’t you tell? Take it off and you’ll see.”

  I kept the necklace on. I wasn’t so far gone that I would put my trust in Leo.

  “You know that won’t protect you from Noel,” he said. “The pendant…it’s specific to me.”

  I hesitated for a moment. “Can you…would you charge it? To protect me from him, I mean.”

  He pulled into my driveway. I was home. The living room light was on and I wondered if my parents were waiting up for me.

  “I would,” he said finally, answering my question. “But it wouldn’t be enough. He’s coming in to power now and I’m really no match for him. But if it would keep you safe until you got rid of the stone, I’d do it. For Noel.”

  “So what do I do?” I couldn’t believe I was asking Leo for advice. But there were no other options.

  “You decide,” he told me. “Now.”

  I gaped at him. “Now? Like immediately? This minute?”

  He nodded. “There’s no time. If you’re going to give it to Noel, he’ll probably be here in a matter of minutes. And if you’re not…well, he’ll be convincing you otherwise. Again, in a matter of minutes.”

  “But I’m not ready!” I cried. “I’m not ready to say goodbye.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t you get it? You don’t have a choice.”

  Chapter 50

  But then I remembered something. The bottle. I’d left it at the house. Tears streamed down my face. I was losing everything that night…the real Noel and the part of himself he’d offered to leave behind.

  Leo reached for me, intending to comfort me by the look of concern on his face, but I shirked away.

  “I left it there,” I sobbed.

  He frowned at me. “Left what?” The impatience in his voice was evident.

  “Noel’s gift. He gave
me a gift. For my birthday.”

  His expression cleared. “The bottle? This thing?” Leo held out his hand. A small brown bottle rested in his outstretched palm.

  I snatched it from his hands. I cradled it against my chest as if it were my most precious possession.

  “What is it?”

  I debated for a minute before telling him. He studied it with interest while I told him the story.

  Leo shook his head in wonder. “So Noel’s given you a little bit of magic, has he?” He closed his eyes, thinking. “And you aren’t ready to make a decision.” He hesitated. “There might be something you can do, something you can try.”

  I sat up straight. “What?”

  “If you use a drop of that oil on yourself and wish for protection from Noel, it might work. It should work,” he amended.

  “Are you sure?”

  “No,” he admitted. He pushed a lock of golden hair from his eyes and sighed. “But you seem bound and determined to keep him around. As far as I can tell, it’s the only viable option.”

  Immediately, without thinking, I unscrewed the lid. Leo’s hand came down on mine.

  “Valerie, can you think this through for a minute? Before you do this?” He drummed his free hand against the steering wheel while he thought about what he wanted to say. “You realize you have to choose. If not today, then soon. Right?”

  I nodded.

  “And you also realize this is potent stuff, powerful magic, the type you’ve never seen the likes of…with the exception of your little necklace there, of course.” He held the vial up and studied its contents. “I’d say you have about fifteen, maybe twenty drops. There’s a nice chunk of good luck bottled up inside. Are you sure you want to use it for this—to keep Noel around another day, when you know what the outcome is going to be? He’s going to leave, Valerie. It’s just a question of when. And what he leaves with.”

  “I know,” I whispered. “But I don’t want to leave things like this. I want to be able to say goodbye.”

  Leo sighed. “Well, I guess you’ve made your choice then.”

  I tilted the bottle against my wrist and a single drop moistened my skin. Noel’s scent filled the car. I leaned back and closed my eyes, allowing the fragrance to permeate my entire being.

  “Charge it,” Leo instructed. “Charge the oil with your intention. Quickly, before it dries.”

  “How?”

  “Say what you want it to do, what your wish is, and then rub it in.”

  I thought quickly. “I want Noel to leave me alone.” I rubbed the oil in to my skin.

  I turned to Leo. “How was that?”

  He shrugged. “Only time will tell.” He glanced at the clock on the dash. It was ten minutes after midnight and I was late.

  “I have to go,” I said. But then I looked down at my wet dress. I ran a hand through my snarled, dampened hair and groaned. “I can’t go in looking like this. My dad will go through the roof.”

  “Maybe he should pay more attention to your choice of boyfriends,” Leo commented wryly.

  I glared at him. “If I don’t go in now, I’m late and I’ll be in trouble. If I do go inside, they’ll know something is up. And I’ll be in trouble. I cannot deal with this on top of everything else!” I slumped forward, cradling my head in my hands.

  “Let me help.”

  I looked up and he held out his arms to me.

  “Come here.” His voice was warm and inviting.

  I eyed him skeptically and stayed put.

  He rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to bite you. And I won’t kiss you, either. Noel would battle me all over again for that particular infraction. Come here and I’ll show you what I can do. It’s painless, I promise.” The smile he offered was genuine, completely empty of malice.

  Reluctantly, I slid towards him and he wrapped me in his heated arms. His simple touch dried my dampened dress almost instantly. He nestled his head against mine and blew softly. The heaviness of my wet hair disappeared.

  He released me. “There,” he said. “Good as new.”

  “How…?” I asked, my voice trailing off.

  “Sun god?” He grinned. “It has some perks, you know.”

  I pulled the visor down and checked in the mirror. My dress and hair were dry but my eyes were still swollen and my jawline and neck looked red and chafed. I rubbed at it, wincing at the stinging sensation. How on earth had that happened?

  “A little bit of frostbite?” Leo asked. “From Noel’s kisses?”

  Was he serious? I was about to ask when he moved toward me again. His lips skimmed across those red, raw patches of skin.

  “There,” he said. “All better. And, just for the record, let’s not classify those as kisses; we’ll call them…therapeutic massage.” He smiled, a little of the old Leo showing through as he said, “You know what a real kiss from me feels like. And I’d never leave you with raw, frozen skin.” He nudged me toward the door. “Now go. You’re already late.”

  I reached out to open the door but my hand froze on the handle as I thought back to Leo’s words only moments before. “Do you think he’ll come here tonight?”

  Leo looked down, away from me. “I don’t know. Before you made your wish, I would have said yes, absolutely. But now? We just wait and see.”

  I gulped. “And if he does come?”

  He looked at me. “I’ll stay,” he said calmly.

  Relief, however misplaced, flooded me. “Thanks,” I whispered as I opened the car door.

  “I’ll be in touch tomorrow,” Leo promised with a grim smile. “If I don’t see you again tonight.”

  I hurried up the sidewalk and slipped through the unlocked front door. Maybe my parents had just left the light on for me.

  “You’re fifteen minutes late.” Dad spoke from his spot on the couch.

  I tried to compose my thoughts and emotions. I knew Leo had taken care of my appearance but inside, I was still a mess. “Sorry, Dad,” I said. “We were talking and…”

  He tossed the file he’d been studying on to the table as he stretched and yawned. “I saw the headlights pull in twenty minutes ago so I guess, technically, you did make it home on time,” he conceded. “Next time, though, if you have extra talking to do, come do it inside.” He picked his papers up. “How did you like your birthday present?”

  I forced a bright smile. “It was definitely a surprise!” Unfortunately, whatever Noel had told my dad was still a mystery. I had no idea what he’d said he was giving me.

  Dad nodded. “A tour of the monuments at night is definitely a sight to see. I took your mother to do that right after I proposed…”

  I breathed a quick sigh of relief. “Yes, it was magical,” I said. The night might not have been but I was hoping Noel’s gift would be. I faked a yawn, overdoing it with a huge stretch of arms. “I’m tired, Dad. I think I’m going to head upstairs.”

  He studied me. “You sure you’re alright?”

  “I’m just a little tired…and a little burnt out. Birthdays…” I emphasized the word.

  Dad furrowed his brow but said nothing. “Get some sleep, then.” He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes.

  “You, too, Dad,” I said before hurrying up the stairs.

  Once in my room, I stripped off my dress and searched through my underwear drawer for a dry bra and panties. The stone was tucked toward the back. It glowed softly, sending almost imperceptible waves of heat toward me but I resisted the urge to pick it up. I slammed the drawer shut and opened another. I dug out gray sweats and a tank top.

  I tried not to think about the evening I’d just had as I changed. In the bathroom, though, I examined my skin for signs of redness, for signs of the rough, chafed skin I’d seen in the car, and refused to let my mind make the connection to Noel. They were gone, of course. If anything, the area looked smoother than before, a warmish glow to my skin as if I’d been kissed by the summer sun. But then, I realized with a horrified laugh, I had.

  I sat down on
my bed and waited. Not just for the sadness and despair to wash over me—I desperately tried to keep that at bay—but I waited for him. Would Noel come to my house? He’d sneaked into my room before. He had even more reason to want to do so now. I hurried to the window and, after a moment of hesitation, bolted the lock before returning to my perch on the bed. I picked up the remote and aimed it at the television. A music video blared from the screen and I turned down the volume before surfing the channels, trying to find something mindless to occupy my thoughts. Sleep was the farthest thing from my mind.

  I found a channel broadcasting old sitcoms and tuned it out, thinking instead about Noel. Would his own magic work against him or would he come barreling into my room, seductive and demanding? I tried not to think about how he’d been in the pool, those brief moments where he had changed. It was like the very worst Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I shuddered at the memory.

  I thought about the stone. Various scenarios played through my mind as I imagined ways Noel would attempt to secure it. Each way had me surrendering it to him willingly. I remembered Geoff’s outburst about climate change and the fate of the world—as if I needed that responsibility—and Hope’s steady, matter-of-fact voice as she reminded me that Noel would leave either way, regardless of the decision. I knew in my heart that I had to get rid of it, whether I was ready to or not. Whether I was ready to say goodbye or not.

  Tomorrow, I told myself as sleep finally found me. I would do it tomorrow.

  Chapter 51

  A burst of sunshine, warm and bright, shone through my window and I awoke with a start. Was Leo here, fulfilling his promise to protect me? I sat upright and looked around but saw nothing but the blinding sun, signaling another hot summer day. I glanced at my clock. It was nearly eleven.

  I bolted out of bed to check on the stone. It was still there, nestled among the soft cotton fabric of socks and underwear. I picked it up and held it for a moment in that darkened drawer. It was icy cool and glowed eerily, like a full moon in a blackened sky. My feelings of possessiveness were waning. Resentment was what I often felt when I held it, as if the stone alone was responsible for the decisions I faced and the choices I had to make. I set it on my desk and changed quickly into shorts, keeping my tank top on. I stowed the rock back in the drawer and ventured downstairs.