by Karen Monroe
“I don’t know. This institute has been my life. I am too old to start over, but I guess I’ll have to.”
Marissa didn’t want him to start over. It would be wonderful to have Jon with her in Eritrea. As the visions echoed in her mind, she looked at Tylan, knowing he was aware of the direction of her thoughts.
He nodded slightly, and she smiled tremendously in return.
“Why don’t you come with us? There is so much to study, Jon, and I know you would love it.” Marissa paused using her trump card. “You can help me study … this,” she said, inclining her head toward the tank. “There aren’t any biologists there. We could start a school…” Marissa trailed her words off looking at him, hoping Jon would acquiescence.
“Go, Jon. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime,” Shannon added, looking past her shoulder at Tylan. “And I am sure you will never get this chance again. Take it you fool, don’t be an idiot!”
Jon’s voice was still undecided. “Well … well … I guess. As long as it’s not too much of an imposition.”
“There is plenty of room, Dr. Nash. I want you to come,” Tylan said, his voice dark, and rich. “There is no imposition.”
“Go, Jon.”
Shannon seemed the most decisive voice of them all, and finally Jon nodded, turning his head to stare at the institute.
“Yes, I want to come. But there’s something I want to give to you, Marissa. It’s yours and I can’t hold on to it any longer,” Jon said, reaching into his pocket. “Here. Take it,” he urged, holding the necklace in his possession.
Marissa didn’t want to. She could still feel the power of The Necklace radiating as Jon swung it back and forth in his grasp.
Yet, a part of her wanted to take it, wanted to hold it in her palm.
As much as she wanted to deny it, the necklace was a piece of her, and she couldn’t stop the movement of her arm, as she reached to take it.
Still, she didn’t put it on.
Staring down at the blood red stone, she pocketed the piece of jewelry. Maybe later she would look upon it, and try to discover it’s mysteries, but not now. At this moment she just wanted to be around the people she loved. Her gaze switched to Tylan, and she stared at him, knowing he was the one.
He was behind the door that all her dreams led her to, whether she knew it or not.
He was the one.
EPILOGUE
Marissa stared at Baline as she entered the private sanctuary of her chambers.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“Sit, child.”
“This feels so weird.”
“What? Sitting?”
“No, having you call me child after…” Marissa remembered the memories of them—Baline, Tylan, and herself.
“Well, maybe we can try it again, after you’re a few hundred years, then you won’t be a child anymore.”
“That’s really funny.”
“So, what do you want to speak with me about?”
“The Necklace.”
Baline stared for a long moment. “It belonged to your mother. Your real mother.”
Marissa scowled. “Look I know that. It’s just I had those dreams … I mean I had them before I even found it.”
“And what were the dreams about?”
“It’s really hazy now, but … I remember trying to open a door and then when it opened I met a woman. I didn’t know who she was then, but I felt like I knew her. She sort of looked familiar to me.” Marissa raised the necklace further in her grasp. “I guess I was just wondering if … it … means anything, or does something I can’t do.”
“What do you think it does?”
Marissa sighed. “I don’t know.”
“So, it doesn’t do anything,” Baline answered strategically.
“Well, it’s helped. I thought of it often in the days that have passed.”
“So, it does do something.”
Marissa grunted. “You’re talking in riddles.”
“No, I’m simply telling what you’re telling me. Let me see it.” Baline held the stone closer to her eyes. “Hmmm … this is a very rare stone. There are very few traces of rubilon left in the kingdom, and even fewer places in the depths were it could be found. Plus, this is a very rare jewel because it’s formed over a piece of xerilon.”
“I know. Tylan told me. The rubilon is like gold or diamonds, or something.”
“Yes, they are very valuable.”
Marissa rose from her seat, eager to leave. “So, that’s it. It’s expensive. And everyone thinks your counsel is so esteemed. You haven’t told me anything.”
“Sit down, Marissa,” Baline ordered. “I hesitated to answer the question because you had already answered it for yourself.” She frowned at her, lifting her brows. “I will elaborate more because of your youth.”
Baline motioned her into the chair beside her, and Marissa sat back down, huffing a whiff of air.
“Your mother found the stone when she was a child. It was her greatest prize. She wore it everywhere … said it brought her luck.” The healer stared mightily. “Do you think it means anything that she made sure you had it after she died?
Marissa glanced at Baline, trying to gauge her words and thoughts. “I don’t know. Does it mean anything?”
“What do you think it means?” Baline asked.
Suddenly, Marissa could see the water, she could see it encompassing her, could see her destiny.
“Good Lord, I will have to learn to block from you.”
“You will in a few hundred years, when you aren’t such a child.”
Marissa scowled. “That’s getting real old now.”
Baline tossed the necklace at her, staring her fright down like a soldier ready for battle. “This is just a piece of jewelry, Marissa.”
“But, I felt it vibrate in my hand. I felt it calling to me,” she said, looking down at the blood red stone in her hand.
“You felt it calling to you because you were denying yourself, denying the true essence of your being. It didn’t call you. You called it to yourself. So ask me again if the Necklace does something,” Baline said, but this time her face was impassive, like she didn’t care about the answer.
Marissa stared at Baline, though inside she could feel Tylan calling, feel the sea calling her. “Does the Necklace do something?”
“Anything you want,” Baline answered, her voice impassive. “Anything you want. Now go take to the sea with your King.”
The End
About the Author:
Karen Monroe sails all over the world in the United States Navy. In her travels, she's had the pleasure of encountering some very sexy men of different cultures and appetites. Her stories are born from fifty percent experience (she calls it research) and fifty percent vivid erotic fantasy.
Karen's love for romance novels started in the sixth grade, when a far-sighted librarian overlooked a Harlequin Temptation she had mistakenly slipped into her check-out stack. After that fateful day, her lot in life as a writer was sealed. A stint at erotic dancing helped mold her perception of its contribution to today's lifestyle. The experience and understanding of that growing sub-culture provides Karen with the basis of some of her best stories.
In addition to writing and sailing the seven seas, Karen enjoys exotic cuisines, window shopping (she's in the Navy, give her a break!), sightseeing, learning new languages, and—most importantly—meeting guys. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of California in Los Angeles and is currently working on obtaining a Masters in English. When not out boating, Karen calls San Diego home, where she keeps a stash of one dollar bills for Ladies Night Out.
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