by Avery Duncan
“Don’t ask Talon for anything but his love,” Mike commanded, glaring at her sternly. He was never going to forget her almost inebriated state, and her obsession with purple. She didn’t even nod, just fell asleep, curling into Talon’s back.
He was faced towards the wall opposite them, his body stretched out, reeking of beer. Mike grimaced, sending out a small notion to wake him up with a clear mind. Things had to be explained, and quickly. He didn’t have much time till Kevin began to bitch at him, and he would rather not destroy the earth with their useless fights.
“Hey, budddddd,” Mike said, snapping his fingers. Talon stared at him with unfocused eyes, and then jerked.
“What the fuck.”
He jackknifed into a sitting position, snapping to attention and reaching under his pillow.
Mike frown. “Bad boy. I just did you the favor of your life and you’re about to kill me.”
“The hell are you talking about...” Talon growled and pulled out the blade, holding it with a steady hand and climbing off the bed -- and straight through his sleeping Jamie. Mike couldn’t help but laugh when she made a little sound and batted at the air, falling deeper into sleep.
Talon’s eyes snapped to the direction of the sound. A gust of air left his lungs in a rush. “This has to be a dream.”
Mike shrugged, lifting his hand out for the dagger. Talon didn’t have to place it in his hands -- it was there the second he asked for it. “If you want it to be, I can wake Jamie up and tell her all of her hard work was a waste and just let her die...”
“No,” he barked, backing up till his feet were against the bed, poised over Jamie’s body.
He smiled. “Alright then. Sit down and listen to what I’m going to tell you, because I’m not going to say it twice -- mainly because I don’t have the time, and it’s boring.
Talon swallowed, staring at Jamie’s form. He made no move to get close to her, didn’t even reach out to touch her. Mike wondered about it till he realized that Talon was shaking, great tremors wracking his body.
“How... How is she here?” Talon asked lowly, still staring at her as if she were a ghost -- which she was.
“See, that’s what I need to explain to you. First off, she can’t have children when she’s solid. It’s impossible and if you did, it would mean the end of the world because of one pissed-off super-baby. Second, you have to wait till she is completely solid to wake her up or everyone is fucked -- including myself.”
The only thing Talon could manage in response was a sound in the back of his throat. Mike continued. “That witch, Amenia. You knew her, right?”
Talon nodded.
“Ah, that’s great. So did Auro and Lyne.” Mike paused a second, to see if he would say anything. Apparently this was old news to him. Mike shrugged and sat down on the bed, right next to Jamie. Talon was too stunned to say anything about it.
“Now, when Lyne killed his wife, do you remember much of what happened after that? I do, it was like watching a elephant stand on the edge of a cliff. Lyne and Auro called on her sister -- which happened to be a witch. And her, being the malicious bitch that she is, was all too happy to ‘curse’ you. But there was more to it than Auro and Lyne’s side.
“See, they couldn’t be fully immortal until they had you at the peak of your powers. So they hunted you down, waiting till they had the right time to steal you from your wife -- and complete the curse. Jamie has been with you since the beginning of time. You guys just died too soon to leave a legacy behind and become immortal.
“So Auro and Lyne waited, and failed, to grab you both at the right time. Their powers were quickly depleting and they were becoming desperate. I think that right when Auro realized his brother was dead, that if he found you, he would bring his brother back with his newfound powers. Or at least, that’s what I would have done. Auro was, sadly, always a bit dense in the head when it came to things like that.
“Anyways! So we go on our merry way down our story and we find Auro -- alone. And in desperate need of help. So of course he calls on the only being that can actually help him -- which is the woman that murdered Jamie -- oh boy, I forgot to tell you something!” he chirped, clapping his hands.
Talon sat down on the bed -- hard. And yet he still didn’t touch Jamie. “What would that be?” he asked numbly.
“Jamie is Zyn’s daughter -- they both know that now, but don’t mention it.” He held his fingers to his lips, grinning at the look on his face. “Yeah, I know right? Anyways, so, before, when Jamie was seventeen, she was killed by a fryst, and you know how painful those things can be, right?”
Talon tensed.
“Well, if it hadn’t been for the fact that she was already maturing into her powers with the presence of daddy-dearest, she would have stayed dead. I guess she just doesn’t want to die or something, because she came back in a whole new body -- same as before, but...different. Fixed. Not that big of a deal. Somehow, Zyn believed she had stayed dead. He found her right when she was dying, too. Poor guy.
“Back to our story. Jamie dies, comes back to life at the cost of her powers, and lives a normal human life until she meets you. That’s where everything takes a turn for the worst. If it hadn’t have been for that incident in the forest that killed her, she never would have had a shot at coming back this time.
“I took the witch’s essence, and gave it to Jamie. Yeah, there was a lot more that went into it and trust me, I’ve never heard a woman scream so loud or so much in my life --” Talon growled, and he stopped. He tapped the man on the shoulder and chuckled. “Okay, Terminator. Basically saying, if she had had any sort of paranormal essence in her body, I wouldn’t have been able to do jack squat.
“The body had to be pure of other races, and Jamie’s, fortunately, was. The witch's essence is settling in nicely, but we just have to take care of one small thing before I leave you...”
Talon didn’t even bother to talk, just stared at him with haunted eyes. Mike pulled out his pocket watch, placing it in Talon’s hands. “This is Jamie. When she’s solid, I need you to give this to her and as one, you have to open it. If you want to live with her for the rest of your merry days, this is how you do it. Don’t tell Zyn she’s alive, and do not let him leave this damn place.”
Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes on Talon. “I’m soooo getting you a mansion for your wedding present. Make sure to send me an invite!”
And then he was gone.
“It’s been two weeks!”
“I don’t care. Stay the hell out of here or I’m going to send you to Timbuc Tu.”
“That’s my daughter, boy. Let me fucking see her.”
“That’s my fiancé, asshole. I said no.”
There was grumbling. “I never heard her say yes to any proposal, so technically she’s free game.”
Jamie stretched, blocking out their conversation. She was so tired, she thought, looking around the room with unfocused eyes. Where was she? The walls were a deep cream, not purple -- she jerked up in the bed.
“Mike?” she called, staring around her. There wasn’t a spot of purple in site, not even the let-loose man that had saved her. She was tangled in the sheets, a thin night shirt covering her chest, and there was a bowl and rag on the other side of the bed, placed neatly on the nightstand.
The voices from the hall stopped abruptly, and then the door was shoved open to reveal Talon. His hair had grown to almost reaching the bottom of his ears, and he had a thicker beard than she remembered. All in all, he reminded her of that man from Cast Away. Her hands curled around the thick duvet unconsciously, and her heart thundered.
“Was that --”
Talon slammed the door shut, right in the guy’s face. She looked over his shoulder, snapping to reality. The voice had sounded somewhat similar to her, but the look on her man’s face stopped her trail of thought. Her cheeks heated, and she cleared her throat.
“What’s with the bowl of water?” she asked. His eyes closed, as if he were savoring somethi
ng.
He was so quiet, she thought he hadn’t heard her. “Talon? What’s wrong?”
And then he was striding to the bed, not even bothering to take off his shoes. Thick arms wrapped around her waist and before she knew it, she was being crushed to his chest and his face was in her neck, breathing her in. “God, never leave me again. I thought I was never going to hear your voice again...”
She pressed her cheek to his head, running her hands over his shoulders and neck, feeling him. Tears burned her eyes. “I would have done anything to be with you again.”
“I was so close to just...letting myself die. I didn’t care anymore. Jamie,” he said, pulling back to stare into her eyes. “I love you. Alright? I’ve never said those words to anyone but my mother, but I love you. So much that it fucking hurts, and losing you is something that I can never go through again. Don’t put me through that again, or I swear the next time I’ll just... cease to exist.”
Jamie’s throat clogged. As she stared into his eyes, she saw the world. Their world. Their life. As one. She held his face, loving the feel of him under her hands. They were as close as they had ever been before, and they didn’t need the lack of clothes to make it as intimate as it should be. A tear rolled down her cheek. “I love you, Talon.”
He went stock still, as tense as a rock, unmoving. And then he blew out a huge breath of air and crushed her to his chest. She felt something hot and moist touch her temples, and realized it was his own tears. “You’ve turned me into such a sap,” he murmured, caressing her back, sending heat through her body.
“As long as you’re my sap, I’m okay with it,” she said shakily, laughing through her own tears of joy.
He was silent for the longest time, and then he set her down. Got off the bed. Braced himself on one knee.
“Jamie, I don’t have the ring yet, or I would do this the proper way. I was too busy grieving over you and trying to take care of you to get it, but I swear that when I do? It will be the most amazing thing, it’ll almost match to your beauty --”
Heart in her throat, she shook her head. Tried to smile. “You’re rambling, love.”
He inhaled, and then grabbed her hand. Talon stared into her eyes as he visibly built up his courage. “Marry me. Be mine. Mate me. Anything...just be mine...”
She threw herself into his chest, taking them both to the ground. “Yes!” she screeched, clutching herself to him. “Yes yes yes!”
He chuckled, but even she could hear how nervous he was. “Maybe we could try out that date again...”
If Jamie had it her way, there would be more than just “dates”. Smiling with her heart in her eyes, she pressed her lips to his, sealing the deal.
She wasn’t going anywhere without him anytime soon.
Epilogue
A few months later...
Jamie looked up at the knock on the door. She was sitting with the kitten Talon had gotten her as an engagement present in the large greeting room, waiting for him to return with their lunch. After two months of being with him, he still didn’t let her leave much, and when he did, Talon was always with her.
“Yes?” she asked, picking up the black ball of fur. The small bundle stared up at her with bright blue eyes and mewed softly, pawing her in the face. She laughed and answered the door, shocked to see Zyn.
“Hey,” he greeted, standing there awkwardly. His shoulders were down, nervous.
“Hi. Come in.” Jamie stepped back from the door to their house, swallowing as his hulking frame fit through the door.
“I just wanted to come say hi, and talk to you about wedding plans. Your mother has been on my ass -- er, butt, about it and I figured I’d come to the main lady.”
Her mother had flown in from Texas several weeks ago. It had been awkward, watching her cool eyes land on the man that she had conceived Jamie with. She had expected to see tears, love, or something, but there had been nothing. Evidently, Jamie hadn’t been made out of love.
It hadn’t bothered her. Jamie was planning on matchmaking for the solemn man that kept his distance. As soon as he had found out they were actually getting married, he’d backed off to the point where he only said two words to her.
Insecurities warred in her as she watched him look around. Talon had said it’d been a present from a friend of theirs, but she had yet to find out who it was. Whoever had given it to them, though, was amazing. It was all she had ever imagined and was big enough to host parties and had the most amazing kitchen.
Which, fortunately, was full of lucky charms.
“Ah. She gets a little uptight about party planning, I guess. She’s trying to make this the wedding of the century,” Jamie said drolly, rolling her eyes. The kitten in her arms purred, rubbing its head against her shoulder.
She handed the ball of fluff to Zyn, and walked to the kitchen. “Let’s go into the kitchen. I can get you something to eat.” Jamie didn’t look behind her to see if he was going to follow her, just went to the kitchen, grabbed two bowls and two spoons, and then a box of lucky charms.
She heard the fridge open behind her, and then a jug of milk appeared in her face. She smiled at him and poured the cereal, stomach already growling. Jamie was just bringing him the bowl of cereal when he blurted out, “You’ve grown to mature. And pretty.”
Her lip kicked up in a smile, and she set it down, handing him the spoon. “You haven’t grown at all... Well, except more hairy. But that’s fixable,” she laughed, trying to play off her nerves.
“Thanks... I think.”
She nodded, taking a bite of the cereal. He set down the kitten, and it ran off through the large house. All of the windows were open, the sun was pouring in and illuminating the lights in his eyes.
They stared at each other till the urge became so great, she couldn’t stop herself. “What did you do with me? After I...died.”
He choked. She reached over and pat his back, watching him with wide eyes. “I gave you to your mother -- Did you have to ask that while I was in the middle of swallowing?” he asked, grimacing and rubbing his neck.
“I’m sorry about that. Can you just tell me...what you were doing that night? What you thought?” She prayed he didn’t ask why. The thoughts that ran through her head were embarrassing, and would only make her seem weak in front of him.
He didn’t ask. Instead, he stared off into the distance with haunted eyes, struggling to talk. “I was... horrified. It was the second time that I was too late to save someone I loved, so it was all a bunch of deja vu for me. It was worse, though, because you were my daughter. I was growing to love you even more than I had loved...
“I saw that fryst when I was on my way to find you.” He turned solemn eyes to hers. “I never thought you would actually leave the house at night, but I should have told you sooner why you shouldn’t. I should have introduced you to your world... As an heir, you’re meant to know everything there is about it. If anything happened to me, you would take immediate place as queen.”
She tensed, inhaling. “Go on.”
“I hadn’t thought he had actually done anything, but when I found you... it was too late. Your body was already splitting apart and your powers, which had been latent, were starting to burst. I wanted to kill myself -- and you, to end the pain that I knew you were... feeling.
“But I couldn’t. So I sat there, watching you die. I couldn’t touch you, I couldn’t do anything at all. It was the second time in my life that I cried. I didn’t cry when I watched my parents burn to death at the stake. I didn’t cry when I saw my brother die. But Jamie...
“I know I never knew you, and I know that I didn’t have any real right to love you like I did. I have lost everyone that’s ever mattered to me. I was so attached to you -- to the idea of you. When you actually started to open up to me, I realized that there were a lot of things... different between us. I never understood why you didn’t want to go to school -- well, I did a little. But things were happening quickly, I wanted you to have an education and I wanted
you to be social again.”
“So,” she said slowly, trying not to notice the crack in her voice. “You gave my... what to my mother?” He’d said she’d split apart, and Jamie really had no clue what that meant.
He swallowed. “As soon as your skin...split apart, it was replaced. The power in you, the strength, gave you a new body. But then it also wiped you of anything you had before.”
“I didn’t remember...until I saw it, I didn’t know it had happened,” she said, dropping her gaze. “So you thought I was dead then?”
“No,” he said, voice thick. “I knew you were dead. I saw it happen, just as quickly as you turned into a long-haired Snow White. I sent you to your mother and she must have taken you to a hospital. Am I right?”
Jamie nodded. “Yeah, it was really...fast. I mean, I woke up and she was crying. And I hadn’t even known they sent me to live with you until I talked to Mike about it.”
“Mike?” he asked, staring at her. Jamie nodded, but didn’t explain. She couldn’t expect Zyn to know who she was talking about when the purple guy was practically a god. Actually, one of the Four Creators.
“Did you ever think that I might...not be?” she asked, twirling her fingers together. The kitten, named Sky, came racing into the room and slid into the wall. He shook his head, mewed, then went off again. She watched his tail leave the room and had to wonder what Zyn was thinking.
“No one has ever survived a fryst before. It’s virtually impossible. One touch from them and you’re screwed more than a nail.” He paused, and she thought they were done. That is, until he asked, “Why did you want to know?”
Jamie stared at him, and then looked away. At that second, Sky ran into the room and clawed at the chair, catching nothing. She reached down, picking him up and holding him to her chest.
“Jamie? Answer me.”
She flicked her eyes over him, raising a brow. “Ordering me around, are you?” Even though, a warmth came over her and suddenly, with her heart in her throat, she blurted, “I thought you didn’t want me. When I was told you just gave me back to my mother, I thought... yeah.”