Chapter 21
As the days passed by, Selena grew more and more concerned. She seemed to be in deep thought all the time, eyeballing everything she could around her and trying to dissect every situation. No nuance was too small for her to attempt to capture. Xavier, however, remained tranquil, as if a charge of such monumental proportions hadn’t been thrust on them. His dark eyes showed much more serenity than when she had first met him, and his presence pulled her to him with a tight embrace instead of an intense, jagged one.
“What’s wrong, Selena?” he asked as they sat on the bench outside of her house.
“How can you be so calm, Xavier?”
“What?”
“We don’t know who the greedy gifted are, and where are the clues? Why haven’t they come to us?”
“That’s why I’m calm.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe this thing with the key choosing us was a mistake. Your grandmother and my mother both said that we aren’t far along with our abilities to take care of the key.”
“Xavier, don’t you want to find it?”
His eyes fell on Selena for a few seconds as they grew darker in their pensiveness. “Would it be so bad if we didn’t find it?” he asked quietly.
“What are you saying?” Selena questioned, baffled.
“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad for the other side to find it.”
“How can you say that?” Selena asked, agitated.
He quietly stared at the floor while she was left trying to figure out why he would say such a thing. It didn’t take long for the answer.
“Do you hate your gift that much?” Selena asked, tenderly putting her hand on his shoulder. “That you would be okay with it being stolen?”
“I’ve always wished that it would disappear,” he uttered.
“Xavier,” Selena said, trying hard not to explode with frustration, “what will happen if so much power gets into the wrong hands?”
“I’m more worried about you.”
“Me?”
“What if something happens to you?”
“Not that again,” Selena grumbled. “I can take care of myself.”
Xavier took in a deep breath. “I worry that I love you so much that you're going to disappear just like all the people I’ve ever loved in my life have done."
Touched deeply and struck speechless, Selena gently caressed his face. "I know you've been through a lot, Xavier, but I'm not going anywhere,” she quietly but firmly said, finally getting her voice back.
"Promise?"
"Yes, promise."
His ardent kiss pulled Selena into him and she struggled to not breathe his light musk scent or her mind would go completely blank, and they had important business to attend to. After disengaging, she tried to get her thoughts in order.
He let out a deep never-ending breath. “I can relax now.”
“Well actually, we can’t relax.”
“What?” he asked, puzzled.
“We can’t relax. We’ve got to find the Key of Hearts,” Selena stated. “Or have you forgotten?”
“But there aren’t any clues,” he assured. “Maybe we’re not meant to find it.”
“We are, Xavier. We’ve got to find it. We can’t let it fall into the wrong hands. Don’t you see?”
“But—“
“Xavier, please understand.”
He stared solemnly at his hands with shame. “You’re right, I know,” he said quietly.
“So stop wishing for your abilities to disappear. Maybe that’s why the clues haven’t come.”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
“And besides, without both our gifts, you wouldn’t be able to see your mother.”
His fluid eyes abruptly shifted to hers. “I hadn’t thought of that,” he rushed, his face with the fullness of the new realization.
“Xavier, you think about it the next time you make your next wish.”
The Key of Hearts Page 21