by L. Filloon
*
Chapter Thirty-Seven Tharin
I sit quietly listening to Lily tell me about Kal is, her parents and most of all, about caring for me. I heard everything she said, and it’s strange, but I also heard everything she didn’t say. Somehow the Binding has enhanced the connection between us . When she’s finished , she sits quietly looking out the window, but I feel her misery. Does she love me and not know it? Or , are my own feelings getting in the way ? Am I reading her wrong?
No. I felt her pain when she told me I should give the name to Kalis. I also felt how sad she was about not being able t o take it for herself. If that’s the case, would she actually sacrifice her own happiness for mine? I watch her quietly as she becomes lost in her own thoughts. Despite her misery…I feel ecstatic . She loves me. I know she does, I just have to get her to realize it now. For the sake of not being hit again, I keep my happy thoughts to myself . It ’s an effort not to start whistling.
I promise, as soon as we reach Velesi, I will explain to her about Kalis . I broke it off with her back at the abandon ed house in Vegas. When it happened, I expected tears or even rage from Kalis as everyone knows her temper, despite everyone’s effort to keep it from me. Instead, her face turned hard and she gave me a sardonic smile befo re cutting off the call. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that. Immediately , I realized my mistake. She deserve s better. When we reach Velesi I’ll go to her immediately and speak to her about it. I’m sure she’ll understand. I owe Kalis that much , to explain to her in person. Once I’ve settled things with her, I will tell Lily everything.
I glance back at Lily and all I want to do is to pull her close to me. However, t o tell her at this point will only scare and confuse her even more because I don’t think she fully understands her own feelings. I don’t like seeing her miserable like this, but knowing s he’s miserabl e over me makes me feel…happy. Then a thought hits me . I quickly steal a glance her way. I’m starting to know how Lily thinks , and if she thinks that she’s coming between Kalis and me, I have no doubt she’ll try and skip the wedding . She’ll leave me standing at the alter ― alone . I sigh heavily, shaking my head at the thought. It would be exactly something she would do. No way in hell is that going to happen .
It’s another three, maybe four hours before we reach Snow College and the clearing. I’m ho ping we’ll get thro ugh the portal before sunrise. We’ll pull over at the next rest stop so we can change drivers . I’ll get some much—needed sleep before arriving at our destination. When I next glance over at Lily , her eyes are closed and her breathing is steady, her mouth slightly open. I reach out and take hold of her hand on her lap and gently rub the back of it with my thumb. She moves slightly, briefly squeezing my hand before her gentle grip loosens again to sleep. I don’t know how it happened, but in a blink of an eye , the girl I wanted nothing to do with, I now want everything to do with. Where at first I couldn’t care less if she stumbles and falls, I now want, like her father with his wife, t o move mountains out of her way, and hand her the moon so she can walk where she wants and see where she’s going.
John Michaels. I loved the man as an uncle and respected him as a friend. Did he and Senestra know at the time when they signed the treaty that Lily and I were meant to be together? Did Senestra see us in one of her dreams? I s what ’s happening now to Lily and me fate ? Or is it just by luck that I would find her and fall in love?
Whatever the reason, I do know this. Lucas, or Falsad, or whoever now possesses him, will die before I let him or anyone else come near Lily. I know Lily believes that Lucas is her brothe r , and the time will come when I’ll have to tell her the truth about him. For now, I’ll let her believe that she will find Lucas. It’s the only real reason she agreed to come with us in the first place. I woul d be a fool to think other wise.
*
Chapter Thirty-Eight ~ Lily ~
I a wake to the sound of rain . I sit up and stretch as the rain hits the windshield like tiny fist s trying to break through the glass to get in from the cold. I look over at Tharin only to find Alorn sitting in the driver’s seat. He glances at me and nods toward the backseat. I turn and find Tharin sitting up against the door behind Alorn, with his long legs fully extended and propped up against the opposite door’s armrest . He’s using his coat as a blanket covering his upper body and part of his chin. His long hair is disheveled while his head rest s against the window , h is black beanie nowhere in sight. His soft snoring makes me smile , and he looks so young while sleeping . Like a kid of fifteen or so , with no worried frown on his face or hard stare of determination. I want to reach out and smooth his hair in place; and maybe adjust his hea d a bit as the position he’s in looks uncomfortable. I sigh and turn forward. To help control my breathing , I focus my attention back on the rain.
I stretch my arms at the same time I try to stifle a yawn . I sit back and continue to look out the window. We’re off the highway and driving through a small town. It must be late because most of the houses are dark. There are a few scattered homes with a porch light on here and there. There is also a spatter ing of individual rooms still lit , keeping insomniacs company all night. What can keep anyone awake in a quiet place like this is beyond me. I try to make out more of the scenery, but with the rain and the darkness, I can’t see through the faint light of the coming dawn.
I look over at Alorn. “I didn’t know we stopped,” I say keeping my voice low so as not to awake Tharin.
“A while back. We only stop ped to change drivers so that Tharin could rest. He hasn’t slept since we left Velesi two days ago.”
“Are you serious?” I ask in disbelief.
“Yes, Lily. I am serious,” he responds mockingly .
“Wow, it must run in the family.” After a pause I add, “So does that mean Mellis is adopted?”
For the first time since I’ve met him , Alorn actually smiles and takes his eyes off the road to wink at me. I laugh quietly, and then ask, “Where are we?”
“We’re in Ephraim, about an hour out of Provo .”
“Oh,” I said, wondering where Provo is.
As if reading my mind he says, “We’re still in Utah , but in a rural area of the state, it’s actually a mountain valley.”
“Mountains,” I whisper remember ing hearing their song earlier.
We drive through the rest of the town and make our way to a campus with buildings that I ’ve only seen in romance movies. A quaint little town in the middle of nowhere, where life is easy and the pe ople laid back. At least that’s how I’ve always pictured small towns. It’s no longer raining and as we pull closer to what looks like the ca mpus football field, Phoris who i s now driving the car ahead of us , slows down and pulls over.
“Where are we ?” I ask again as I look about noticing the large well-manicured field. One side holds a l arge bleacher section and the other side is strange ly vacant . On the field, a huge logo of some kind of animal ’s paw print is painted in yellow and white with a blue outline.
“Snow College , Home of the Badgers.” I nearly jump from my seat when Tharin’s head appears close to my own. I didn’t hear him wake, or even sit up for that matter. I turn sideways to look at him and he’s so close t hat if he turns his head toward me our lips would touch. Eyes still looking ahead, he lowers his head as if to kiss me. Instead, he closes his eyes and snuggles my neck sending my entire system to overload. Then, just like that, he pulls away and gets out of the car as soon as Alorn puts it into park. I sit for a second wondering what just happened and try to get my thoughts together. I glance over at Alorn and before getting out of the car, he gives me a smug grin and winks at me for the second time since we ’ve met.
I turn to also get out, but my door opens from the outside. Standing there is Tharin, but he’s not looking at me. I look around as I step out, wrapping my arms tight around me. It did stop raining, but there is still a light mist and with the cold air, I feel as if my nose would freeze off my face. Staring at Tharin, I
become more frustrated with his ever—changing moods. Did he not hear me when I told him I know about Kalis? Is he playing some kind of game where I’m the butt of the joke?
“What?” Tharin asks.
“What was that all about?” I reply.
“What?” he asks again. He lifts his palms as if truly not knowing what I am talking about.
“The whole neck thing,” I reply , pointing at my neck.
“You mean this,” and before I realize what he’s doing , he grabs hold o f me and snuggles my neck again.
With every effort I possess , I push him away saying, “Yes, that! What’s that all about?”
“Oh, well, that’s how we greet each other when we wake up in Velesi,” he replies shrugging his shoulder nonchalantly.
“Tolan told me when we first met that you’re unable to tell a lie,” I say accusingly.
“That was just a lie to calm you down and get you to leave with us,” he counters with a big grin .
“Oh really,” I say leaning into him, “then why didn’t you snuggle Alorn ’s neck ?”
“Ha! I did, but you were staring out at the football field. What? I can’t help it if you get so wrapped up and lost in your thoughts that you don’t even know what’s going on around you.”
I look at him stun ned , shaking my head unable to believe a word he has just said. He gives me the same doubtful look, leans in and says accusingly, “I bet you didn’t even he ar me yawn, stretch or sit up. Did you?”
I step back from him frustrated and embarrassed, because he’s rig ht. I didn’t notice . Not sure what else to say to him, I push past him. I walk toward the others who a re now standing near the walkway to the front gate of the field. I try not to react to his laugh from behind me and head straight for Julia. As I get closer to her , I notice that Tolan is holding her hand and again I feel that pang of jealously hit me. Julia senses my approach and turns to me smiling. I shake off the unfamiliar feeling and smile back. How can I be jealous of her when I’ve never seen her so happy?
Without releasing Tolan’s hand, she takes a step toward me, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, of course, why wouldn’t I be?” I ask smiling back at her.
“Well, you look as if you’re ready to kill someone, or should I say a particular someon e?” she laughs as she looks past me.
“What did you do now?” she calls out to Tharin as he comes to stand behind me.
Innocent ly he shrugs his shoulders and gives me a smug grin. Part of me wants to reach up and kiss him , and an other part wants to put him to sleep with a swift kick to the head. Why is he acting this way, it’s just weird. He should be distant like before when we first met, especially knowing that I now know of Kalis and that he’s in love with her. He shouldn’t be so disrespectful to her while she’s not here.
I steal a glance at Tharin as Mellis turns to him. To be honest, I kind of like the way he’s been acting. He makes me feel ...I’m not certain how he makes me feel, but if I ha ve to describe it, it would be “girlie.” Ugh! All I know is that I like it, which makes it even harder for me to be near him. Even if Tharin won’t respect Kalis, I will. I wouldn’t want the guy who tells me that he loves me disrespecting me while I’m not around. I step away from him and make my way to the other side of Julia and Tolan.
“Tolan,” asks Julia, “why are we here? Are we meeting someone?”
“No, my l ove.” My heart skips a beat as Tolan calls her ‘m y l ove’ as if he’s been calling her that all her life. I try to avoid looking at Tharin as Tolan continues, “It’s like I told you earlier . This is where the clearing is, r ight in the middle of that field .” Julia and I both turn toward the dark field. “In that clearing,” he continues , “is the portal that Phoris will open for us.”
Her eyes still on the field, Julia asks , “Where will it takes us? Are you sure there’s a portal there, I don’t see anything.”
He pulls her closer to him and smiles, “Yes, it’s there. It will only open when Phoris makes the summons. It will take us to Crowfoot Mountain .”
“Where’s Crowfoot Mountain ?” I ask finally pulling Tolan’s attention from Julia.
“Alberta , Canada ,” he answers.
“What?” I did n’t mean to raise my voice, but Alberta , Canada ?
Tharin turns to me, stopping in the middle of his conversation with Mellis. I turn questioning him, “Alberta , Canada ? You’re taking us to Alberta , Canada ?”
He glances over at Tolan who realizes this is something Tharin meant to tell me himself. He lifts his shoulder at Tharin with an apologetic look.
“That’s where the doorway to the outskirts of Velesi is located, Lily. Does it matter where it’s located as long as we get to Velesi?” h e asks simply. He looks at m e as if waiting for a response and I’m not only confused but also unsure about what to say.
Julia has no trouble speaking up, however, as she steps away from Tolan asking, “Why didn’t you tell me you were taking us to Canada ?”
Tolan abashed quickly answers, “You didn’t ask . You were willing to go where ver Li ly was going. I t never occurred to me that it would matter where we were going as long as you were with her …and me.”
Julia mulls this over for a moment and then looks at me saying, “We never asked. You just wanted to go where you can find Lucas, and I wanted to go where you were going.” Julia doesn’t notice the disappointed look on Tolan’s face.
Then she says looking at Tolan, “At least that was the main reason at first.” The utter joy on Tolan’s face is completely shameful and I roll my eyes. I look over at Tharin who i s grinning over his brother’s happiness , and I can’t help but share the moment with him. As Tolan cont inues to hold Julia close , Tharin f inally turns back to Mellis who has been waiting patiently .
“Alorn and I,” says Mellis once he has Tharin’s attention again, “will check out the area first before heading out with the vehicles, just to make sure the coast is clear. As soon as we’re done, we’ll get rid of the vehicles and weapons.”
Alorn and Mellis walk over to the fence and instead of heading down to try and find an opening , they scale the fence in a blink of an eye, landing on the other side without making a sound. They casually split in opposite directions to meet in the middle on the far side of the field . Because the campus is close d , the field lights are out . I try to see them out in the dark , but t hey ’re nowhere in sight.
I sense Tharin coming up behind me and I move away from the fence, turning to face him. “Why do they have to search the area? Can’t they just sense if there’s danger around?”
Tharin smiles at me as if pleased that I asked, “Yes, I’ve already scan ned the area, Lily. However , there are a few who can shield from our senses and even fewer who have the gift of being able to see and speak while in the drift state. So, on the side of caution , not only do we scan with our senses, but we do a physical scan as well.”
“That’s incredible! Can I do that, too?”
“Yes, you can. Come here.” He pulls me forward, wrapping his arms around me. “Now,” he says, as if talking to a student, “the first thing you should know is that we call it drifting because it’s like drifting through a dream. Second, you need to close your eyes.”
He nods at me to go ahead and close my eyes. I do as he says and find it strange how not seeing make s me more aware of everything. I’m fully aware of his arms around me and how his soft breath feels on my cheek a s he speaks quietly in my ear, t each ing me how to drift with my senses.
“Now, I want you to picture us standing here next to the fence.” I do as he say s , and I actually see us holding one another so intimate ly that I try to squirm out of his hold. He tightens his arms and I stop, relaxing against him. I feel his heartbeat and I lay my head on his chest. Although he’s wearing his c oat, I can still hear his heart beat and feel it thumping against my ear, steady and strong.
In a soft low voice he continues, “Slowly pull away from us and focus on the field.
Send your senses out slowly. Imagine that you’re standing at the end of the field looking forward. Now, walk down to the middle, slowly, scan ning from side to side. Look up at the bleachers. Now imagine yourself there. See the field below you. Now, see yourself on the other side of the field, near the trees. Look around you, listen. Now back to the front of the field and scan before you, down the field.”
I follow his instructions tentatively at first. Then the feeling of being in flight once again overtakes me. The drifting sensation in my mind is exciting and thrilling at the same time . Although I’m warm and safe in Tharin’s arms, I can feel the cool mist around me, its crispness biting gently at my fa ce. I feel myself moving in the directions per his instructions . I soon find myself up at the top the bleachers looking down. The air is more biting here and the feeling of flight is enhanced . I stand scanning first the bleachers, then the field and then across from it. At Tharin’s prompting I find myself on the opposite side, standing next to a few trees. I sense myself trying to crane my neck to see around them and realize that if I wanted to, and with little effort , I can imagine being around them . Leaving that realization , I am back on the field moving forward letting Tharin’s voice continue to guide me.
As I approach the center of the field , I reach out to the far end. There i s a spot that I can’t quite make out. I’m unable to see past it to the other side. It takes me a minute to realize the darkness I see before me is not part of the night, but a separate entity. I stop myself from moving in closer, my heart missing a beat. I look around me, back to the fence area and see Mellis and Alorn speaking through the fence with Phoris and Tolan. I see Julia, still holding Tolan’s hand a little beh ind him watching Tharin continue to whisper in my ear . She has a smile on her face and I chuckle at how she ha s done a complete one -eighty about Tolan and doesn’t seem to care who knows that she loves him. It’s written all over her face.
