“More than you think,” London assured him.
She didn’t see Remi at all for three weeks. He was watching Neven, Aran told her. Neven’s transition had not been an easy one and he needed close attention for a while. That was also why London couldn’t see him.
“You’re human,” Alex had told her gently. “Aran makes light of it, but Neven nearly tore him to pieces. It took four of us to hold him back. He’s not ready yet, London. Give it time.”
Time. Well, she had time, now. Time to think. Time to worry and wonder about the future.
Sydney and Alex and Rafe were understanding and undemanding hosts. They left her to her own devices, giving her room to recover and reflect. If she wanted to talk, they seemed to be happy to listen.
Sydney did keep her updated on the final arrangements to shut everything down in Serbia. “Sofiya is gone. In the end, Veris was forced to deal with her personally. She was relentless and the people in the depot were at jeopardy, so…” Sydney shrugged. “The rest of Kristijan’s men were all dumped back in the Sudan in 1932. If they’re smart, they’ll join the French Foreign Legion and live to fight in the Second World War and maybe carve out a life for themselves. If they’re stupid, they’ll die in the desert, or at the hands of Bedouins, or some other natural hazard of the time. Back there, they have a fighting chance of surviving.” Sydney smiled. “Veris wanted to drop them in Jerusalem while it was under siege during the First Crusade. None of them would have survived that.”
“That just leaves the village to fend for itself,” London said.
“And the village will survive if everyone there can figure out fast enough how to earn a legitimate living. Brody and Aran built a transmitter and installed it on the radio tower that overlooks the village, while Alex and Rafe tracked down cables and cut them. The transmitter kills Wi-Fi. The entire village is cut off from the Internet, so their hacking days are over for now.”
“They could hook up via satellite,” London pointed out. “There are so many ways to connect these days.”
“Including moving to another village, which many of them will do. The transmitter, the cut cables, will discourage enough of them that the wholesale organized hacking will never be able to set itself up again. Not in Božidarko, anyway.”
Sydney had patted her hand then and got up. “It’s over, London,” she said gently. “You can do anything you want, including returning to your life in England, if you want. Or not. Think about what you do want and when you’re ready, we’ll listen.”
The empathy of Alex, Sydney and Rafe might have helped under normal circumstances. The three of them seemed to have an uncanny appreciation for how she was feeling. Only, the uncertainty about her future built up into an almost intolerable pressure.
When Aran told her the family would be holding a picnic at the foot of the Aquinnah Cliffs on Martha’s Vineyard, London had politely declined. The idea of socializing, even with these sympathetic people, was unbearable.
Alex put his tablet aside. “Aran, give us a moment, please.”
Aran nodded and left the room. Alex bent forward. “Everyone goes, London. No excuses.”
“But…”
“No excuses.”
“I’m not family.”
“You are, now,” he said firmly. He picked up the tablet again. “Time to dip your toe in the water.”
She had dressed in her borrowed clothes and waited for Aran to jump her over to Martha’s Vineyard. All the jumpers in the family were bringing everyone to the beach. She might have been able to jump herself there, except she did not know the location.
Aran was cheerful about that. “Next year, you will know where to go,” he told her.
When Aran jumped her there, London realized she was one of the last to arrive. Nearly a dozen people were already there. A bonfire of drift wood had already been lit. It was early November and the fire would be needed.
Sydney came up to London. She wore bare feet and a warm smile and slid her arm through London’s. “You’re in time.”
“For what?”
“To watch idiots try to break their necks.” She lifted her chin and gestured towards the top of the cliffs, that soared over the beach. “The first one to reach the top is declared top dog for the year.”
“No trophy?” London asked.
“It’s a pride thing.” Sydney rolled her eyes. “It has been Brody and Veris and Rafe chest thumping for the last couple of years. This year, though, Aran and Alan voted themselves into the madness, too. I can’t believe Veris agreed. I think he’s growing mellow in his old age.”
London glanced at Aran, as he stepped into safety harnessing and checked the rigging carefully. “Or perhaps Veris has learned his children can take care of themselves.”
“Maybe,” Sydney agreed. She squeezed London’s arm. “Look. There’s someone here you should say hello to.”
Almost as if her words were a cue, the people gathered around the fire stepped out of the way.
Neven was standing there. Remi was beside him.
As London saw him, Neven drew in a deep breath. “Hello, London.”
Remi just smiled.
London didn’t remember crossing the sand. She was in Neven’s arms, her eyes dripping tears she couldn’t control. He gripped her tightly. He was shaking, too. Remi tugged at his arms. “Softly, softly,” he breathed. “You’ll squeeze her to paste.”
Neven lifted London’s chin. His black eyes met hers. “I could never hurt you.”
London kissed him, knowing he spoke the truth.
* * * * *
Long after Rafe had been declared this year’s top dog and the sun had dropped down below the horizon, after the fire had been built up once more to give more light, Neven picked up London’s hand and drew her to her feet and away from the fire.
She shivered at the touch of the cold air and Neven pulled off his coat and wrapped it around her. “I don’t feel the cold the way I used to.”
“Do you mind?” she asked softly.
He took three paces in the sand before he answered. “The choice was death and never seeing you again, or this. No, I don’t mind. I don’t even mind not being able to jump anymore.”
London looked at him, horrified. “I hadn’t even thought of that! Then, you really can’t jump?”
Neven shook his head. “I’ve tried. Whatever it is that lets us jump, being turned destroyed it. I’m just plain…”
“Vampire,” she said softly.
“Neven,” he corrected her.
Her heart warmed. “Where is Remi?” she asked, looking around.
“He asked to meet us by the point. That’s where we’re going now.”
London bit her lip.
“What is it?” Neven asked. “I can hear your heart beating harder.”
London sighed. “Remi has been avoiding me. Today was the first time I’ve seen him since we brought you to Spain and he told me you’d survive.”
Again, Neven didn’t speak for several steps. Then he sighed. “I didn’t know that. I’m sorry, London. The whole time I was groping in the dark, trying to orient myself, I drew comfort from knowing he would be with you.”
His hand slid around hers.
“There’s time now, to get it right, isn’t there?” she asked.
“I think so,” Neven said softly.
His answer didn’t reassure her at all.
They walked along the beach, just above the reach of the waves, around the curve of the bay to the head. Long before they got there, London could see Remi’s silhouette picked out by the moonlight. He was sitting with his ankles crossed, his knees up against his chest, staring at the waves. Occasionally, he picked up something and threw it into the water.
As they drew closer, Neven’s hand tightened. “Whatever it is…we fight it. Agreed?”
Relief trickled through her. “Yes.”
When they reached Remi, Neven let go of her hand and sat on the other side of him. London lowered herself into the sand, s
ettling so that her shoulder was a bare inch away from Remi’s.
He didn’t react to their arrival.
London held herself still and patient.
“I was thinking,” Remi said at last, “that this would be a good place to say goodbye.”
Her heart lurched, then hurried on, pattering in a way that hurt. “You’re tired of us already?” she asked softly.
“No. God, no,” he breathed.
“Then why?” Neven said.
Remi wrapped his arms around his knees and rocked gently, staring at the waves. “You don’t want me in your life. Either of you. Look what I’ve done to you already.”
London got to her knees and turned to face him in the sand. She rested her hand on his neck, the most she dared to do right now. Fear was making her tremble. “What you’ve done, whatever you’ve done, doesn’t matter.” She kept her voice down so that the trembling wasn’t revealed. Then she remembered that they were both vampires and could hear every little tremor and inflection and the wild beating of her heart, too. She spoke normally, her voice quivering. “What I do know is that my life right now is far, far better than it was a month ago. You changed it. You and Neven.”
Neven picked up Remi’s hand and kissed it. “What she said.”
Remi lurched to his feet, tearing his hand out of Neven’s grip. He backed up the sand. “I’m not who you think I am. I’m…bad. Black inside.”
“You can’t be. No one so evil could love another and you love Neven.”
“Kristijan,” Neven corrected.
London shook her head. “No, he loves you, Neven. I saw it.”
Neven drew in a deep breath and turned his head to look at Remi. “It is true?” he whispered.
Remi thumped his fist against his thigh. “Stop it!”
We fight it, agreed?
London faced Remi squarely. “We should stop speaking of love?”
“You don’t understand! I killed Kristijan!” Remi cried.
London sucked in a deep breath, shock rippling through her.
Remi dropped to his knees and put his head in his hands. “I killed him,” he repeated brokenly.
How could she fight this? London looked at Neven and a secondary shock touched her. He was nodding.
“You knew!” she whispered.
“I suspected,” Neven said. “Even before I stepped into the house. It was one of the few explanations for why the estate was ticking on as if it was business as usual—because the second in charge was making sure of it, instead of running around looking for his missing boss.”
“Why? Why kill him?” London said, looking at Remi. He hadn’t moved from his bowed, abject position.
“Because of the shipment,” Neven said. “Because Kristijan had changed and finally, Remi saw it. Kristijan wouldn’t stop the shipment. The only way Remi could halt it was to kill him and then slowly sneak the prisoners out, while making it look as though nothing had changed.”
Remi groaned and lifted his head. “I killed him because he was putting a contract out on London.”
London froze, the shock this time stealing even her breath.
“He was going to kill her?” Neven said. His voice was hoarse.
Remi’s eyes glittered. Stunned, London watched actual tears form and roll down his cheeks. In the moonlight, they looked slightly pink.
Remi gripped his chest with clawed fingers, as if he could pull the pain from there with his hand. His throat worked. “I have loved you since the day I met you,” he said. He drew in a breath. “On your wedding day,” he added bitterly.
London realized she was pressing her own hand to her chest, to ease the ache there. “The security detail. Escorting me to Serbia…”
“I was protecting you!” Remi cried, his fist thumping against his thigh once more. “I didn’t know what else to do, but watch your back and wait. He was of the Blood. He was never going to let you go. You’d die of old age, still bound to him, your life ruined and lonely. Then you filed the divorce papers…” His throat worked. “His anger was all-consuming. I thought he had gone mad. If he had been human, he would have worked himself into an embolism. He didn’t love you. I don’t think he ever did, only the idea that you would dare try to walk away from him…” Remi let out a deep, gusty sigh. “He told me to arrange the contract.”
“You refused,” Neven said, his voice flat and certain.
“Yes,” Remi said, sounding surprised that Neven would know that. “Then he said he would do it himself if I wouldn’t. He actually had the phone to his ear and I…I took it away from him. He was already mad with fury. That drove him over the edge. He fought me.” He dropped his head again. “He actually tried to kill me,” he whispered. “I had only one way out of it.” He shuddered.
Neven moved at the same time London did, prodded into it by Remi’s distress. They bracketed him and as Remi shivered, his tears dripping silently, they held him.
London rested her head on his shoulder. “I blamed you for too long. I thought you were the reason Kristijan was so evil. I was wrong about that. I was wrong to hate you. I love you, Remi. You terrified me, but I do love you.”
Remi stiffened. “You’re right to feel terror,” he said, his voice hoarse.
“She felt terror, because you never let her see the real you,” Neven said.
“I couldn’t afford to let you glimpse even a tiny part of the truth,” Remi said, his voice bitter. “I knew that Kristijan would kill us both if he suspected anything at all. In the end, he tried to kill us, anyway.” He sighed. “How can you even think of loving me?”
“I love both of you,” London said. She heard Neven gasp and picked up his hand, reaching across Remi to do it. “Nothing in my life worked until I loved and trusted both of you. You rewarded my trust. You gave me my freedom. Now I am free to choose. I choose you. Both of you.”
Neven sighed. “Thank the heavens,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I don’t ever want to pick between you. I couldn’t. I’ve been wondering what to do for three weeks. Hope wasn’t enough to go on.”
“That’s why you resisted the transition,” Remi muttered. “You bloody great fool.” He rested his hand on Neven’s neck. “London saw it first. I only just figured it out. We belong together. All of us. When there’s just two of us, we’re out of balance. When there’s three of us, it works.”
He picked up London’s hand and drew her around so that the three of them were together. “You’re sure, London?” he asked softly. “I am what I am, such as I am.”
“We are all going to have to start again,” Neven said. “I happen to know three people that are good at helping others start over.”
Remi stirred. “Let’s seal the deal,” he said, his voice firm. He was shying away from the heartache. London smiled, as she realized what he was doing. He would get used to dealing with his feelings eventually. She and Neven would make sure of it, even if it was only between the three of them.
“Seal the deal with what?” Neven asked curiously.
Remi’s smile was small, yet it was there. “I was thinking about that fantastic sex in Termoli.”
London caught Neven’s eye. Both of them pushed Remi to the sand.
“Here?” Remi asked, startled.
“Here,” London confirmed and kissed him, while Neven impatiently waited his turn.
* * * * *
Cuddled between the two of them, London didn’t feel cold, yet Neven draped his coat over her anyway. Remi tucked his arm around her and kissed her temple. “Bliss…” he breathed.
London stretched, feeling the aches and strains the two of them had put her body through. It had been just as fantastic as Remi had remembered. She looked up at the stars and bit her lip.
“About only the three of us working…” she said.
Neven stiffened. Remi pushed himself up on one elbow, alert.
“Do you think it would throw us off balance if there was four of us?” London asked them, sliding her hand down to her belly.
&n
bsp; Elsewhere…
Melina was still working at her desk when David moved through the cavern. She straightened up when he saw her. “Sire,” she acknowledged.
“You’re human, Melina. You need sleep,” David said. “What are you still doing here?”
“The timeline disturbances we were tracking, focused on Serbia in the point four timeline…I’m getting close to the source, Sire.”
“What do you have?” he asked, although he was only mildly interested. There were timeline disturbances every day, even large ones like the Serbia one. The merge team were still trying to figure out the full ramifications of the events that had gone astray. Melina was young and enthusiastic and trying to impress everyone by finding the source all by herself.
Her methods were unorthodox and got results, though, so David paused while she swiped and prodded at her controls. Then she nodded at the big screen. “There.” She touched her desk and the screen threw up image after image.
“Stop,” David said quickly. “Go back.”
Melina obeyed. The images flipped back.
“That one,” David said, when it appeared.
“What is it, Sire?” Melina whispered, as if some of his tension had reached her.
David stared at the image of a red-headed woman, her arm about a smaller, dark haired girl. She was looking over her shoulder while her coppery locks lifted into the air. Gray eyes, full red lips and a determined chin.
Invisible fingers walked up his spine. Fingers of fate…
“Do you know her, Sire?” Melina asked.
“No.” David stared at the red-head. “I will, though. Find out anything you can about her, Melina. I want to know everything.”
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Kiss Across Worlds (Kiss Across Time Book 7) Page 33
