by Kade Cook
“The new Batman is playing in Ellsworth and I thought that maybe...”
“You really want to go see a movie?” She scrunches her nose at the suggestion, lifting the already frosting beverage, and swallows down a long ice-cold mouthful of beer.
“Yeah, why not? I thought it might be fun.”
Her eyes meet his as he lifts his drink to rest against his bottom lip, letting the liquid flow freely into his mouth.
“Fun, huh.” She looks away, staring out through her kitchen window, and takes another drink, watching the moon’s reflection dance on the surface of the lazy rises of the ocean.
“And it’s a known fact that a little distraction every now and then is good for the soul,” he says, dimples dipping hard inward within his cheeks as his lips curl recklessly at the edge of the bottle as he waits for her response, hoping she will take the bait.
Her eyes lower to inspect the label on her beer and she sighs. “I know,” she says. She appreciates what he is trying to do, and having something to distract her from everything would be great, but she isn’t convinced this is the right ‘distraction’—too much violence and death for her right now, a definite anxiety trigger. “Thank you, but I just don’t think I am up for a movie tonight.”
Shane’s face drops its happy edges as he shrugs his large shoulders. “Okay,” he says, picking up his beer again. Taking a big gulp, he moves in toward her, towering over her, and places the bottle on the cupboard behind her. She can feel the heat from his body soaking into hers as he stares down at her wearing a Cheshire-cat grin. Lingering in the greenness of his eyes, her body starts to respond to his closeness, feeling her pulse quicken beneath her skin. He closes in and kisses Gabrian’s forehead then slips a continued row of kisses down the side of her hair, and she can feel his breath warm against her ear, her skin prickling with each breath.
“Fine, no movie. I have a better idea anyways,” he whispers softly, setting her senses into overdrive.
Just as Gabrian turns her mouth to meet his, he pulls away and jumps down into the living room to head toward the wall covered with books.
Shaking her head to recover her senses and feeling the cool absence of his body, she stares in disbelief at him as he rummages through the multitude of books. His fingers rub lightly against their spines, sliding slowly from left to right in search for something. Stopping for a moment and tilting his head sideways to read the print, he grabs it quickly and turns to her with a victorious grin.
“Found it,” he cheers, tucking it under his arm, and marches toward her like a madman on a mission.
Confused by his odd actions but also intrigued by what has this fearless Shadow Walker grinning like the cat that just ate the canary, she has to ask, “Found what exactly?”
He stops in front of her and picks up his bottle, draining what is left inside, then places it into the sink and turns to her, still smiling. He leans forward and lingers for a moment in his glory, then kisses her forehead once more.
“Are you ready?”
“Ready for...?”
She barely has time to get the words out before Shane wraps his arms tightly around her, grabs her wrist, and pulls her into the Veil. Moments later, they stand under the stars on the top of a building. Gabrian studies the open space and recognizes the white little shed sitting by the side of the twisted gravel driveway, barely visible through the trees. Assured of her location, she turns to Shane. He marches over to a small wooden table in the corner of the terrace and sets the book down then slips a couple steps to the right to open a round hatched doorway.
She laughs as Shane squeezes his large torso through the small door, disappearing within, and quickly re-appears with a large rolled up mat and a six pack of beer under his arms.
“What are we doing here?” she asks him, not because she doesn’t love being at the cabin, but out of curiosity of his peculiar behavior.
He grins at her but continues to work away at whatever he is planning.
“Well, you said you weren’t up for a movie, and I know you rarely ever watch TV, so I went another direction.” He proudly points at the large book sitting on the table where he had laid it.
“You plan on reading to me?” She scratches the side of her head then folds her arms in front of her from the chill of the damp night air.
Shane’s lips curl impishly to one side as he lays down the mat on the space in front of him. His messy curls fall forward, partially hiding the emerald sparkle of his eyes illuminating in the dark dim light. He stops, straightens himself, and rubs his chin. “Well, sort of, yes.”
Gabrian laughs out loud and scrunches her hair up at the sides, visualizing the comedic gesture of him doing so. “Well then I can’t wait. This is will be so much better than a movie, but you might want to hand me one of those beer just in case.”
“Oh, thee of little faith,” he teases, handing her the entire six pack from the floor. Once the ends of the mat are centered, he takes the beer from Gabrian and sets them down beside the mat, grabbing a bottle by the neck and handing it to Gabrian, popping the top with the opener that emerges from his pocket. With his free hand, he cups her jaw gently within his fingers, tracing the edge of her bottom lip with his thumb. He leans in, flesh meeting flesh, and rests his head upon hers once more—breathing her intoxicating cinnamon scent—getting lost for a moment in what she means to him.
Gabrian feels herself unwind from his touch and with each exhale, lets go of pieces from the day’s stress.
“Oh, the blanket,” he gasps, scaring her half to death. He jumps sideways and disappears through the hobbit hole again, this time returning with a fluffy plaid-patterned duvet in his clutches. Marching directly to the center of the floor, he spreads it out across the mat. Shane reaches down and grabs the top end of the blanket and folds it backwards to allow the opening below to show.
“Just in case it gets too cool for you,” he says, staring up at her with a boyish grin, proud of his thoughtfulness. Without haste, he rushes back to retrieve the giant book on the table then sets himself within the rolled down lip of the duvet and slides his feet under the covers. He lifts his gaze to meet Gabrian’s, her mouth painfully pursed and wedged at the sides from trying to contain her amusement at his romantic attempts.
Shane’s grin broadens across his mouth and he pulls back the duvet, opening up the spot on the mat beside him.
“Come on now, don’t be shy. I won’t bite.”
Gabrian lets out the laughter that she has stifled since he began the chivalrous scene and rolls her eyes at his coy seduction but drops down on her knees and slides herself in close to him, feeling the heat of his body vanquish the chill that lingered on her skin.
Her face softens as his arms reach to embrace her, allowing her a moment of gratefulness that he is there and he is who he is. Being close to him always makes her soul seem to slow down—the touch of his skin on hers always tames the restlessness that whirls within, surrounding her with a quiet calmness that she has no words for.
She tilts her head back and he opens his eyes to the blue-eyed muse staring at him from below.
“So, what do you want to do now?” he hums.
Her pulse quickens, responding to his sultry tone. She studies the beauty of his rugged jawline as he speaks. He flashes Gabrian a cheeky smile, moving in closer to her, then slides the mammoth-sized black book in between them and opens it to page forty-three, pointing at a picture. Her eyes fall away from him in frustration then drop to where his fingers press against the page, making her brow rise in confusion to his excitement. His finger rests on a picture of a star map—the constellation of Orion the hunter, to be exact.
She lifts her gaze back to Shane and watches him in silence as he struggles searching the sky to find it. After a moment, his fingers shoot up into the star lit night. “There it is,” he hoots, turning to her with a grin of triumph in his findings.
She shakes her head amicably. “Yup, there it is.”
“What?” He shrugs, qu
estioning her sheepish grin.
“Nothing,” she answers, shaking her head.
Shane lowers himself back down beside her, resting his weight on his elbow, and sighs. “Well, since you didn’t want to go see the stars on the big screen at the movies, which I figure is mainly due to the fact you would be packed into a tightly confined space surrounded by people that may be just as cantankerous as those of the Covenant—as you so often describe them to be—I thought the next best thing would be to take you to see the stars upon the largest screen that I could think of.” He waves his hand across the open space in front of him, his skin cascading shadows along the creases of his muscular physic and his face alight with the glow of innocent accomplishment. “And I knew that your favourite constellation is Orion, so...”
Gabrian can’t help but beam as she watches his attempts, however corny they may be, and laughs softly, acknowledging that these kinds of things are what makes him such an incredible soul.
“So,” she coos softly at him. “This is wonderful, Shane. Thank you.”
“Oh, I almost forgot.” He jumps up again and leaves her sitting alone on the mat as he vanishes through the hobbit door once again. Hearing muffled cursing, she turns to get up but he rushes through the door just before she can move.
“What on earth are you doing now?”
“I got something for you today,” he says, his words not as bold and playful as before as his hand reaches out for hers.
Gabrian gasps at the awkwardness in the way he said ‘something.’
“Oh, umm all right.” She scrambles to perch on her knees and reaches out her fingers to allow him her touch, feeling a shiver through her skin as he does. The tips of her fingers tingle with warmth. Not knowing what to think or what exactly is coming next, Gabrian pulls in a breath and holds it.
He cradles her hand then flips it over, palm side up, and drops something in it then curls her fingers around it. Gabrian lets the tension in her hand release, revealing an exotic-looking bracelet that harbours a smooth stone within its mold. Her face wrinkles in the confusion and exhales, somewhat relieved.
Definitely not what I thought was going to happen. I really need to stop overthinking things.
She inspects the gift, turning it in the dim light coming in from the living room window in front of her. The stone resembles earth as it would seem from a thousand miles above its reach. It feels as if it holds the secrets of a million souls all condensed and packed tightly into this one tiny object like the universe itself, mesmerizing, speckles of its own stars shining from afar within the wraps of the harden surface.
“I know that you have been struggling with your memories about the night you were kidnapped by Adrinn. The legend of this particular stone is its ability to connect your mind to the truth, to center your thoughts and amplify your ability to think more clearly.”
“Oh.” Gabrian glances at the gift again and rubs her fingers along the details in the metal binding, studying its delicate precision.
“It is also a token of my devotion to you. It’s called a heart stone.”
“Hmm,” she hums. Her face tenses and her eyes press tight at the edges.
Shane scratches the side of his head and shifts his body, displaying the heaviness and awkward response from Gabrian. “I just thought it might help,” he says, tone solemn and almost deflated.
Lost in thought and admiration of this beautiful gift, she hadn’t realized that she was leaving Shane completely out of it. Hearing the saddened tone in his voice catches up with her brain. She tears her eyes away from the bauble and stares at him, feeling the wind being knocked out of her—in a good way.
“Oh!” she says, hands beginning to tremble with the weight of what this gift actually symbolizes.
“So, what do you think?” His breathing becomes shallow with his uncertainty of her answer, and he bites gently down on his bottom lip.
Gabrian’s face grows serious under his gaze and her mouth presses tight while she bites at her thumb, not looking at him. “I think that it’s...” her eyes lift to look at him, dampened with emotion, “...perfect.”
Shane exhales loudly, giddiness returning to its previous state though he tries to contain his exhilaration for her acceptance. “May I?” His fingers edge toward the gem and with a gentle tug, removes the token from her hand, glancing down shyly at her.
“Yes, of course.” She shakes her head to clear her thoughts, bringing her to the present.
Laying it softly against her skin, the metal binding unwinds from the gift and seeks out its hold on Gabrian’s wrist, delicately securing itself to her skin. Shane kisses the stone and releases her hand.
Gabrian gasps, and her eyes jar from the stone to stare strangely into Shane’s sea of green.
“Can you feel it?” he whispers.
“You mean that is real?” Her eyes shoot back toward the stone and inspect its placement. A low vibration tingles over her flesh where it lays then settles as a warm caress to her senses while the stone memorizes the signature of her soul’s energy. “What is that?”
“It’s the magic of the stone. It is getting to know you—you are the keeper of all it contains. It is yours and yours alone—well almost,” he says, shrugging away his seriousness as he pulls at a chord around his neck. From beneath the collar of his frayed worn t-shirt appears another stone, exactly like hers.
“It’s the other half of your stone—my heart’s gift to you. In this world, as long as we both wear it, it will hum with the magic of our bond, our hearts’ connection.”
So, it was what I thought only Schaeduwe style. Holy crap! Her face drops all expression as she tries to let the magnitude of what has just happened sink in.
He stares at the strange manifestation of her face and takes her by the hand, holding it gently, but Gabrian can feel the subtle tremor in his grasp. Fear grows again in his eyes, and he opens his mouth to say something, but she presses herself forward and runs her fingers through his curls, tangling her fingers within them. With her body beginning to ache for his closeness, she pulls his mouth to meet hers, tasting his tongue hungrily and searches for more of him, the fire of her desire threatening to consume her.
Shane’s heart pounds wildly at the touch of her skin against his, every part of his body hurts but in a tender way. His doubts of her possible rejection melt away with every second they mesh—aching to push further is nearly killing him—but he withdraws his lips from hers. It fills him with torture but he forces himself to do it anyway. He clamors at calming his breath at the sight of her small slender face, closed eyes and mouth slightly still ajar from their kiss.
Gabrian’s eyes open to see him gazing down, still tangled up in the moment.
Sliding the back of his knuckles along her cheek, Shane traces the outline of her jaw. “So, what constellation do you want to find next?”
With a loud and obvious exhalation of frustration from each of them, Gabrian smiles and slips the book from its spot wedged between them and shakes her head slowly, pulling herself together. Any measure of sadness she had felt that day has disappeared as her heart swells in a new level of affection for him.
They spend the next few hours searching the night sky for constellations they find in the book, enjoying each other’s company, and laughing in the simplicity of it all. As the night grows cooler, they quiet and pull themselves close, tucked beneath the plaid duvet, staring silently up into the heavens. They listen as the whispering winds of the night sing to them the lulling melody of the ocean’s song.
“Do you think we will be together in the next life?” Gabrian’s soft whisper breaks the sound of the wind.
Shane feels his heart tighten at her question and holds her just a little closer to him and smiles, pressing his mouth against the back of her hair.
“As long as there are stars to shine through the darkness of night and there is breath to fill my lungs, there will never be a place in this world or the next that my heart won’t find yours.”
G
abrian pulls his arms more snugly around her and rests her head upon his chest, hearing his heart gently beating in rhythm with her own, and knows she will never feel more safe than she does right now. Just for tonight, only for a moment, she allows herself some peace, and closes her eyes in hopes of finding sleep.
18
WHO’S TO BLAME
GABRIAN’S VISION BLURS, the weight of fatigue pulling heavy on her eyelids but only for a second—or so it seems. An unfamiliar noise stirs her from her slumber, and her eyes catch on something bright breaching the barrier of darkness around her. Pressing her eyes hard to focus on the light, it seems to shift its position slowly at first then its course quickens as it shoots across the sky, trailing a spectacle of stardust in its wake.
She follows it to the edge of the horizon then lets it go to find something else intriguing—the silhouette shape of a woman with silvery eyes and long billowing hair staring at her. Drawing her in, Gabrian squints her eyes, straining to focus as the waking sun rushes the night sky, removing the woman’s shadowy cloak.
Gabrian knows exactly who she is—Cera.
Having not dreamt of her since she pulled Gabrian back from the depths of her coma, Cera is a sight for sore eyes, and Gabrian’s lips curl upward in recognition to her rescuer, her birth mother, and those hypnotic silvery eyes staring back at her.
Slipping herself out from under her blanket, Gabrian moves out into the night and quietly treads toward her visitor, pushing past the long timothy that dances sullenly around her. With each step she takes toward the woman, she grows further and further away. A wave of panic—an urgent need to see Cera—jolts through Gabrian’s senses, forcing herself into a run to try to catch up. But it is no use. The woman slips away from her and into the edge of the forest.
Pushing her legs harder, Gabrian feels her muscles burn, trying to move faster but the harder she tries, the more she becomes stuck. Her incessant need to continue on, to gain ground, finally leads her from the clearing, to the edge of woods. Seeing a small part in the trees, a path of sorts designed by the fallen pine needles that have soured the ground, she steps into the trees which quickly consume the space around her. Each step takes her deeper into pointy tangled branches that grab and pull at her hair, ripping her clothing with its sharp barbs.
