by Lila Felix
“You said your female had spoken the vows.”
I bowed my head. “Only hours before we found her grandmother dead.”
“And your brother… here.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe the loose ends need to be tied up before any… trips are taken.”
“I’m not sure.”
“Become sure. Become surer than you ever have in your life.”
A sliver of golden lightning could be seen out the back door, followed by a messier flash of silver. The silver was Ari. The gold was Colby—and she wasn’t pleased about something—knowing the Synod, there was just no telling. I smiled at the way I knew her by her flash. Gold meant annoyed. Gold meant I had to take her down a notch, which was my pleasure.
“I can leave if need be. Pema is gone for a while and Sanctum will not bother you this afternoon. He said something about business to attend to.”
“I’d appreciate that, Collin. Thank you.”
“I’ll just be in the city if you need me.”
“Make sure your phone is on, please.”
He dipped his head, almost bowing, before correcting himself. Instead, he reached sideways for the car keys. It was left at Xoana’s home for anyone who used the house. Collin made himself scarce, but he was right, of course. He always was.
If I were going to visit the Fray, I would need something to hold me to this Earth, and not just in theory or in my heart. At the very least, I needed to be formally betrothed to Colby.
“I wish you could’ve been at that meeting. Ari gave them hell.”
I chuckled at her voice, not because what she said was all that funny. The relief I felt when she was around was just enough to calm me.
“About what?” I played along.
“They were demanding to know all this crap and then Ari blurted out that I’m only subject to your dominion, not theirs anymore. Dude, you outrank the Synod. How cool is that? And by the way, I am so not comfortable with the word dominion.”
If there was one thing in the world I could bet my ass on, it was that if my girl was using the word ‘dude’, then all was only well on the surface.
Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she pretended not to notice that I knew her games better than she did.
I bought a ticket on her ride. “She used the word dominion?”
“Well, not exactly. I can’t remember.”
I looked around, wondering where Ari was. “Where is she?”
“Oh, Ari? She decided to go home and get some other clothes. She’ll be back tomorrow. Said something about sleeping in her own bed. She’s such a baby.”
“So we’re alone.”
She nodded while taking a very long swallow of something from a carton in the fridge. Drinking from a carton was the exact opposite of Colby in every way.
“Tell me what happened and don’t clown it up.” I stood my ground, though in that moment, everything in me wanted to wrap myself around her.
“I would never.”
I canted my head in her direction. Her cheeks were flushed and the redness creeped down her chest to areas hidden by her dress. I balled my hands into fists thinking about how far down it extended.
“Sorry.”
“Let it go,” I whispered. Her shoulders slumping and the great breath she exhaled told me she had. All her barriers were gone because with me she didn’t need them anymore.
I moved to sit on the smaller couch near the breakfast area. Every step felt like I was sludging through swamp mud.
Each muscle movement took twice as much effort—twice as many breaths—twice as much thought process.
“They challenged Ari—so to speak—I was only under your rule if we…”
“We are sealed.” I had to say it for her. What began as a tiny chuckle, snowballed into a full-blown, chest-wracking laugh. My poor mate was once again stuck between me and a hard place. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed that hard.
“It’s not funny.”
“It—is—can’t even force you—to marry me.”
With arms crossed over her chest, she glared at me, but instead of making me slow down, it only made me laugh harder. I laughed until my stomach muscles reared back.
The whole thing had become comical—only because I had no sadness to give.
Finally, after one of the hardest laughs of my life, I stilled.
If nothing else, we would be sealed for her own protection, though she had vowed to marry me before. She was fuming, but if these were my last moments with her, fuming wasn’t the emotion I was looking for.
“I’m sorry, Colby. I know you wanted to wait.”
“It feels forced.” If it wasn’t her idea, it was forced.
I took her hand, but she didn’t hold mine back. “But we were going to do it anyway. At my parents’ house…”
After a few minutes, she relented, threading her fingers through mine. “And I meant every word—I did. It just feels like another way we are their marionettes.”
I winked at her. “Come on, Querida, you’ve never been anyone’s puppet. No one can tie you down.”
The air around us changed, throttled by the change in Colby. Her eyes dilated and her cheeks blushed. “I want to be tied down to you.”
I jumped all over her statement. “When?”
“Before—something happens. I’m losing you more and more by the second.”
She was right, of course.
“We have to tell your mom first—it may be under duress, but our sealing should be proper.”
“I have to find her.”
I love the rush she was in. It was the Colby rush I’d had all my life. She closed her eyes to begin the process of seeking out her mother, but I’d already zoned in on Cybill. “She’s in Portugal. She’s actually not far away.”
“You’re getting good at that.”
I shrugged. Her tone made it seem like the comment was neither a compliment nor a cut-down.
She called her mom. As they spoke on the phone, Colby leaned against my side, cuddling under my arm. I pressed my face into her hair, running my hand up and down her arm. On her, I could focus. With her, the voices quelled.
She’d been in the ocean, the salt and brine still clung to her tresses.
From what I could gather, her mom had stayed close in case we needed her. We hadn’t had a conversation with Cybill about what I was and what that meant for her daughter, but any person of our race knew my fate. If nothing else, history tended to repeat itself. I feared for Cybill’s safety, I feared for anyone who was close to me, even remotely.
I wished this gift had been given to someone more worthy. I wished it had been given to someone who knew what in the hell he was doing.
“I don’t know, Mom.” She crossed her leg away from me and turned in the same direction. Without saying anything, she made sounds of agreement to whatever her mom told her. I feared Cybill was playing the devil’s advocate and telling her daughter to run far away—in the furthest direction from me.
“Okay, see you then.”
“She’s coming tomorrow.” I nodded, but was barely listening. I needed to get away from the house with my female. I needed it like my heart needed oxygen.
But the pull to those in the Fray was so strong, I was afraid I’d picture them instead of where I wanted to go and be just as lost as the souls who called to me.
“Wanna get out of here?”
She smiled the smile that was reserved only for me. “Sure. Where?”
I conceded to my lack of control. “Just take me somewhere, meu amada. Não tenho a força.” She knew enough Portuguese to decipher the word strength—something I did not have.
“I can take you to your apartment—the one at home. They’ll never suspect we’re going home. Plus, that apartment isn’t in your name. They don’t have the address.”
Grabbing her hips, I pulled her flush with me. “I don’t care. Just for tonight.”
“Grab my hands.”
Instead of comply
ing, I wrapped my arm around her waist and held on for dear life as I felt the pull of our power release. It didn’t feel the same—not like when I flashed by myself. When I flashed alone, it was like I was pushing myself toward the place I wanted to go. When Colby and I flashed together, the power pulled at me. It propelled me toward my destination. I wasn’t in control.
Don’t tell Colby, but I kind of liked it.
In a breath, we were at my apartment, the one I’d left behind to chase the woman now in my arms.
“You’re like the cleanest bachelor ever.” She laughed but didn’t pull herself away. In fact, she tightened her grip on me.
I huffed out a breath through my nose. “The ladies don’t like a messy guy. I had to make a good impression when I brought them back here.”
Her left eyebrow popped up a little and I knew whatever was about to come out of her mouth would be nothing but mischief. “I bet they just stripped bare when they saw your non-germ-producing toothbrush cover and your freshly dusted surfaces. I mean, what girl doesn’t love a guy with a UV toothbrush sanitizer? So sexy.”
I loved when she gave me shit for being so clean.
“They did. And when they saw my ceiling fan duster, it was all over with. I couldn’t tear them off me.”
Colby turned and ran a finger along the surface of my desk, the one that hadn’t been put to use since I was in high school and tsked. “Not so sexy anymore, Eidolon. You’ve been falling behind on your duties.”
I hated it when she called me that.
I loved it when she called me that.
“Dusting isn’t really a priority anymore.”
“Neither is shopping.”
I plopped onto my bed and then sat up against the headboard. I hadn’t appreciated that time in my life well enough. I hadn’t appreciated the freedom of being in school, where the only thing to worry about was my grades and Colby. It wasn’t easy to be a male in a Lucent woman’s life.
Especially a female like Colby.
She’d stood me up on more dates than I could count—sometimes the reason was good—most of the time she’d just lost track of time while in Japan or swimming around the Great Barrier Reef. You know—the good excuses.
Nothing was normal with Lucent women.
I grew serious. “Tell me what they said to you.”
She rolled her eyes and breathed out the answer, “They asked me about Sanctum—Torrent.”
“And what did you tell them?”
She shrugged. “I played dumb blonde. Ari helped.”
“I’m sure. How did that go over?”
“Like a lead balloon.” The eyebrow again.
“And then she name dropped. It was all I could do not to pull those ugly earrings right out of her ears.” I bit my lips to stop the rising smile.
“Yeah, I mean, I am the—I mean you’re the Eidolon. She dropped your name like you were Eminem and I was your groupie of the week.”
“Eminem? Wow.”
“Shut up, Theo. I couldn’t think of anyone else.”
“Pathetic.”
That was the first time in nearly a day’s time that the voices left me. I knew it would only last a few short seconds. It was like being in pain for weeks and then being given a shot that curled around me like a warm blanket.
Her back was to me. Sometimes that was the only way she could speak words from her heart. “You want to go there. Just say it out loud. I don’t blame you—really, I don’t. If I could save someone—if I could save a life—I would be compelled to try.”
Inching closer to the edge of the bed, I reached out to her, my legs dangling over the side. She folded immediately.
“You knew and you said nothing. Segredos.”
A light went off in her pretty head. “Secrets. You said secrets. Don’t act like I’m the only one keeping them. You hide things from me under the guise of protection.”
There was no denying the fact that I protected Colby. “I do that. Yes.”
“Why? Am I that untrustworthy?” The lilt in her voice was almost on the verge of crying.
“You have my trust just like you have my heart. But why do I protect you? It’s hard to say. On one hand, I have to do what I was born to do. On the other, I don’t want to leave you.”
One tear streaked down her face. “But you will.”
I nodded, my forehead against the place between her shoulder blades.
“If I can help someone—just one person…”
She stiffened. “And who will help you? Who will rescue you from the Fray?”
I tightened the circle my arms made around her waist, splaying my hands out along the feminine planes of her stomach.
“I must rescue myself—through you.”
I ran my forehead up and down the curvature of her spine and she arched like a cat in response. This was the way it should’ve been. Normal—light—weightless love. But we had something stronger—a love that was unbreakable—able to withstand the bending of time and space—at least that’s what I prayed for.
Her next words bottomed me out. “Most Lucent mate out of love.”
I smiled against the harsh churning her words had caused. “You don’t love me then?”
“You know I do.” She threaded her fingers through mine. “But it should be the only reason.”
“It works out for me. We have many reasons to be sealed together—at least the greatest is our love.”
She leaned back, smelling of vanilla and ocean. She was the ocean—wild and unpredictable, never-ending and she had places no one, not even me, would ever get to explore. The back of her head hit my shoulder and she turned so that her mouth was next to my ear.
“I already have the dress.”
Her whisper sent a shiver down my body in all the right places.
“I have a suit.”
“My mom is close.”
“My parents can be in Portugal in six hours by plane. Or my mom can take up flashing again. A wedding would propel that kind of thing.”
She choked on her next words. “Rebekah will miss it.”
I squeezed her tighter. “No, she won’t. She’s watching, trust me.”
I couldn’t ever explain to her how I knew, but I did. I knew that not only was the great Prophetess watching over us, but we had her blessing.
We sat there, in the most uncomfortable position ever, for hours, it could’ve been days for all I knew. The sun falling into the Earth was my only clue of the passing of time.
Eventually, we broke from our stance. She ordered food and insisted I eat, even feeding me bites when I’d claimed to be full. We flipped through digital pictures of us on my old laptop. They showed the phases of life we’d experienced together. There wasn’t a homecoming dance or any other rite of passage where she wasn’t on my arm.
And I never wanted her to let me go.
“I wish I would’ve known—maybe there was a way I could’ve stopped it.” I clicked on the arrow to go through the pictures again, searching for some clue of what was to come.
She looked at me, the shock written on her face. “You regret it?”
“Don’t you?”
She shifted in my lap. “Of course not. Even before I knew what you could do, I knew that you weren’t meant to stay behind while I flitted across the world. We were meant to be together and you have always been something more than average. It’s like you’re from another time—like the Almighty crafted you straight from His heart.”
She blushed midway through her spiel. The more I was convinced this whole thing was a burden to her, the more she proved me wrong.
“Maybe it was a mistake.”
“There are no mistakes when it comes to who you are, Theo. You were born for this—me, on the other hand, that was just a big ‘ole mistake.”
“Look.” I pointed to a picture of us, a candid shot, me whispering in her ear while she pretended I wasn’t there as she grabbed a book from her locker. “See that? There’s no mistaking that you were made for me—you were m
ade for this life with me. We just have to learn how to live it together instead of fighting it at every turn.”
“Who will seal us if not Rebekah?” My heart broke for her. Rebekah was so much more than her grandmother. She was her guiding light and her best friend. Rebekah was Colby’s Yoda.
I shrugged and said, “Collin?”
“That’s kind of perfectly ridiculous. Sealed by the Viking.” It wasn’t anyone who could seal a Lucent couple—they had to be ordained, not through the internet or a church, but by the Synod. Sealing rights came with the Guardians’ training.
I ignored her jab. She didn’t mean it. “Sanctum will have to witness.”
“I think my mom would like to do it. Maybe she can get permission.”
“That would be better.”
In every sealing, a witness and a disapproving witness must be present. There was some law written by the Synod that agreeable witnesses were good, but one of those who did not wish the sealing to happen had to be present.
We never understood why and for some couples, it delayed the sealing ceremony until they could find the disapproving party.
We already had one. Hell, we already had plenty.
She shuddered in my hold. “Gross. Torrent smells like shoe polish.”
“He does not.”
Still laughing, she drove the stake in further. “He does. Sniff him. I think he huffs it. I also think he puts it in his hair. No one’s hair is that black and shiny. Either that, or it’s a toop.” She purposefully pronounced the word wrong.
The last thing I wanted to talk about was my mangy brother. “It’s getting late. Are you tired?”
She turned, still in my lap and pushed a chunk of hair out of my face. “I am, but what about you? Can you sleep here?”
“I’m not really worried about sleep tonight.”
After leaning forward, I placed a kiss on her exposed shoulder. She was wearing one of her infamous dresses again, one that would be so easy to pull off—she was too tempting for her own good.
“I’m gonna take a shower. You have clothes here, still?”
I shrugged, hoping I didn’t as she got up to check. I cursed myself for leaving a dresser full of things, just in case. She picked through until settling on a pair of boxers and a Smashing Pumpkins T-shirt I had stolen from my brother years before he disappeared. She went into the bathroom and not until I heard the water turn on, did I stop hoping she would change her mind and come out.