The camera zooms in to watch me run back toward the center of the field. In the background, parents crowd the sidelines. Cole raises the remote, making the film play in slow motion.
“There’s Xavier,” he says with a grin, pointing to the screen.
Xavier, unmistakable and unchanged, stands grinning on the sideline, clapping loudly and then whistling like a besotted parent. He had only been feet from me. I cover my gaping mouth with my hand, while Tau and Cole continue to watch the game. I turn, unable to deal with the reality slapping me in the face. Finding the stairs, I climb them to the floor above—my room.
Stumbling from the stairwell, I stop when a gruff, deep voice growls, “I told you I wanted to be alone.”
Xavier, stretched out on my teenage bed with his feet dangling over the edge, has his forearm slung over his eyes. His beautiful lips are twisted in a frown.
“I’m sorry…” I stutter. “I didn’t know you were in here—”
“Evie,” Xavier exhales my name, while sliding his arm back from his face to look at me. Music spills out from headphones as he pulls them from his ears. He turns it off.
“I didn’t mean to bother you. I’ll leave you alone,” I begin.
“No,” Xavier says while gracefully rising from the bed. His blond hair, rumpled from lying against the pillow, gives him a sexy, sultry air as his t-shirt straightens and falls back over the bare skin of his torso. “Stay,” he says in a silky voice.
I lean against the wall just inside the door, unsure of what to do. “They’re playing home-movies downstairs,” I say nervously, hitching my thumb over my shoulder.
“I know,” he says, while his hyper-masculine body draws nearer to me. “Cole was unrelenting with them. That’s why I retreated up here.”
“Me, too,” I admit with a nervous smile as I look up at his face.
His shoulders round toward me as he says in a secretive tone, “Someone stole your troll.”
“They did?” I ask, mirroring his tone and glancing at the shelf near my Nirvana poster.
He nods gravely, while saying, “The one with the purple hair. It was always on the second shelf in your room. You can still see the outline of its feet in the dust.”
“It was probably Eion,” I say as my eyes shift back to his. “He found it ironic because he said that trolls look nothing like it.”
“That is why I liked it,” Xavier remarks with an alluring smirk. “I’ll hunt him down and kill him for you.”
I look away from him as I admit, “He’s already dead. Russell killed him.”
“That will just make finding your troll more interesting,” he replies, undaunted.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say absently, while catching his scent and having it stir strange emotions in me.
“It does matter,” Xavier contradicts me.
“Why, it’s just a stupid toy?” I ask.
“It was your stupid toy,” he replies slowly, “and I won’t allow anyone to take another thing from you without severe repercussions.”
For a moment, I find the hubris of that statement very appealing. Something in my body language must be telling him that because his eyes become heavy-lidded.
“I saw you—just now,” I blurt out, “on the film downstairs. It was you—I was only seven and you were there…”
“Did I just become real to you?” he asks me seriously, while his hand reaches out to cup my cheek. His shoulders cave in toward me as concern touches his features.
Biting my lip, I nod, “Really real—you look…you look exactly the same.” My heartbeat pounds against the walls of my chest.
“You do know that we don’t age?” he asks me with his eyebrows coming together, while his thumb caresses my skin.
“Yeah, but seeing you there was like, I don’t know, like seeing a ghost,” I breathe, and then I think to add, “ and, yes, I’ve seen one of those before, too.”
“I believe they prefer to be called souls,” he corrects me with humor in his tone.
“Whatever,” I reply because it’s such a small point right now.
Xavier’s gaze lingers on my face and his smile grows wider. Seeing it, uninvited feelings of attraction edge to the surface, causing a blush to creep to my cheeks.
“Yes, I am becoming real to you,” Xavier says to himself while his finger traces the line of my jaw.
Brushing his hand away, I suddenly ask, “Why…why’d you come back? You were free of all this—of me. You had a chance to be happy and you ruined it.”
Xavier lifts his hand to thread his fingers through my hair at the back of my head. Pulling me toward him, he lowers his lips to mine, kissing me with unrestrained desire. After a momentary pause for shock, I push against his chest to get him to stop kissing me. I feel the reluctance in him as he lifts his lips from mine. Still, his face remains inches from me when he says, “I came back for you…I love you.”
“No, Xavier, don’t say that,” I say, closing my eyes.
“Say my name again,” he demands, softly. “I will live in the sound of it.”
My eyes fly open again. “You can’t kiss me,” I say instead with a shaky voice. “You can never kiss me again.”
Xavier’s lips twist in a lazy smile. “I will kiss you again and you will kiss me in return,” he replies, like a promise.
“I have an aspire,” I retort, upset by his blasé attitude.
Losing some of his smile, he replies, “You don’t even know what that means. The only reason you’re with him is because you had lost my aegis. I’m back now—you don’t need him.”
“You don’t know what I need,” I retort accusingly, as anger, coming from deep inside of me, bursts to the surface. “You deserted me!” I say between my teeth, feeling a betrayal so deep, that I hardly know where it originated.
Xavier’s face turns grim before he engulfs me in his arms, picking me up off my feet and holding me to him. “I tried my hardest to stay,” he says in a ragged voice before his lips brush tenderly over my hair.
As my cheek rests against his shoulder, I whisper, “Now, you have to try your hardest to let me go.”
He stiffens, holding me tighter. “I have no intention of letting you go, not now, not ever, so you’ll have to eventually forgive me.”
I have to hush my urge to cry. “I’ll forgive you if you promise not to challenge Reed.”
“Your terms are unacceptable,” he replies in a gruff tone. “I’ll have to live without your forgiveness because I’m unwilling to live without you. I need your smile, your kisses, your love—”
“You sound just like Brennus: I, me, mine…” I say slowly. “You barely know me anymore.”
“I’m nothing like him,” Xavier says, nuzzling my neck. “He’s dead…I’m very much alive.”
“You’re both overly affectionate,” I add, trying to pull away from him.
Putting me back on my feet, he reaches down and tips my chin up so that I’ll look at him. His blond hair falls over his brow when he looks down at me. “I’ve been gone for two long years, yes, but…we’ve sailed through thousands of years together—far beyond lifetimes. I used to know all of your secrets. I will again,” he says earnestly.
“Then know this secret, Xavier: I love Reed. I will protect him with my life,” I say plainly. “If you challenge him, you challenge me.”
Xavier’s eyes narrow to slits as he says through clenched teeth, “AHHH, Evie! Don’t say that! Let him go!”
“I can’t,” I reply, shaking my head. “I couldn’t turn back the tide of feelings that I have for him, even if I wanted to.”
“He was never meant to be a part of this,” Xavier says, stabbing his finger at me in anger.
“I’m not about to apologize to you for pulling him in,” I say, watching Xavier’s posture become rigid. “I wouldn’t even be here right now if it weren’t for him.”
“I won’t lose you,” he warns softly.
“I don’t know how you can prevent it,” I reply, looking down at my feet so I don’t h
ave to see the pain in his eyes.
“There are a thousand ways to get you back. I just need one,” he says, lifting my chin again so that I’ll look at him.
Seeing the fire of determination in his eyes, I take a step back from him. “What are you going to do?” I ask suspiciously.
His face goes blank, revealing little. “For the answer to that, you’ll have to learn my secrets.” His eyes give no reverence to my concerns. “There was a time when I knew your every action before you made it. If you want to stay ahead of me, you’ll have to learn mine.”
I turn my back on him and walk to the balcony. My eyes rise to the broken skylights in the ceiling. Sighing heavily, I say, “I won’t let you ruin what I have with Reed.”
“And, I won’t let you ruin what we had,” he counters while his arms grip the balcony on either side of me. The heat from his body radiates to me to be subsumed by mine. Xavier leans near my ear to whisper, “You have filled the void that I left in you with false love…I’ve returned to reclaim my territory within your heart.”
“False love! Are you serious?” I ask, responding to his provocative words. I have to turn toward him to see his face.
“Yes,” he replies.
My eyebrows lower in a scowl as I say, “I don’t even know what to say to you. Oh, wait. Yes I do. You’re delusional.”
I put my hand on his chest to push him back from me. He covers my hand with his, bringing it to his lips. When he kisses it, some sort of déjà vu leaks into my consciousness. Goose bumps, beginning at my wrist and traveling down the length of me, mingle with the intense, mental image of Xavier kissing me passionately beneath a tree in a place I’ve never been, at least, not recently. I blink as the hazy memory falls away, leaving me staring up at Xavier. My eyes scan his face as I think …it was definitely him—his mismatched eyes smiling at me…
“Evie,” Xavier says in a gentle voice as he turns my hand over in his and kisses my open palm.
In the next second, panic makes the color drain from my face. I know him, I think. I REALLY know him.
Xavier stills as he studies me. Then, his eyes widen perceptively as his head tilts to one side. “Evie, what is it?” he asks.
“Huh?” I manage to say. I try to pull my hand back from him. “It’s nothing.” I look away evasively.
“Not nothing,” he replies thoughtfully, holding my hand tighter.
“Let go, Xavier,” I order in a salty tone, trying to hide my panic, but my heart feels like it’s going to pound out of my chest.
“Not until you tell me what just happened,” he replies. “You…were staring at me with the sweetest expression for a second there…just as if…” He freezes. I attempt to pull my hand back again, while I bite my lower lip. “You remember something!” he says with a mixture of accusation and elation.
“No,” I say weakly, then add, “I don’t know…”
“What? What do you remember?” he asks.
“Let go of me,” I insist. “I can’t think.”
Those are the magic words that gain my release. Xavier, looking upon me with an expectant air, sparks a tumult of vague images in my mind: Xavier holding my hand, Xavier laughing, Xavier walking by my side, Xavier kissing me... Suddenly, the air is becoming too thin to breathe. Instead of answering him, I turn toward the open platform of the balcony and I bolt. Leaping into the air, my wings spread out as I dive towards the floor far below.
“Evie!” Xavier calls out behind me, but I ignore him.
When my feet touch the ground I don’t hesitate, but I run full-out for the door. Hearing Xavier behind me, I use a spell to quickly close the doors to the tower as I run past them, locking him inside. I pause just beyond them to glance down the adjoining corridors and find them empty. My heart pounds harder in my chest and I jump when Xavier reaches the doors and beats against them. The doors strain against the jamb and even with magic, they won’t hold long. I pivot on my heels and I sprint with supernatural speed in the direction of the South Tower.
Cccrackkk, the wood splinters as Xavier makes it into the corridor as I round the corner. Behind me his angry voice echoes off the stone walls, “EVIE, STOP!”
I run faster, feeling hunted. Ducking into a room halfway down the corridor leading to the South Tower, I realize it’s the room I used for combat training with my Gancanagh bodyguards. Molly and I had dubbed it the “War Room,” even though at one time it had clearly been a music room.
High ceilings with intricately cut molding, interspersed with exquisite, stone roundels, surround the room with a stately grace. Soft mats, an addition to the room when I began training here, still cover the dark wooden floors. But, beyond them, there is little else in the room to hide behind except for a large piano in the corner.
I creep back from the doors, breathing heavily and hoping that Xavier will pass right by this darkened room. Coming to rest against the back wall, I wait, trying to slow my breathing. But, when the doors are pushed inward and Xavier’s large frame fills it, there is no controlling it.
Hide, I think, and instantly, my clothing tears from me; they fall in tatters to the floor as my skin flattens and takes on the tones and contours of the wall behind me. Rigidity engulfs me as I press into the stone of the wall.
“Evie,” Xavier’s voice echoes in the cavernous room.
I can’t answer him, even if I wanted to; my skin, cold and gray, camouflages me from his sight. Xavier sniffs the air like a wolf. My heart beats faster.
Following his nose, Xavier scans the room, his eyes passing over me without seeing me. “I know you’re in here,” he says, turning in circles. “I can smell your scent…” he glances toward me again. Closing his eyes, he takes a step in my direction…then another. “I would know you anywhere by scent alone…so light, sweet…” he comes nearer, “you’re beginning to remember me, aren’t you?”
I try to move, but I only manage to tear away a small seam where my arm meets the wall because I’m mortared in place. “Don’t be afraid of me,” he says, like a caress. “I only want for you to know me again.”
Nearing me, he opens his eyes again and spots my shredded clothing on the floor in front of me. His eyes rise from them as if following the contours of my shape against the wall. Leaning down he picks up my clothes before saying softly, “That is a brilliant façade, Evie, and if I hadn’t been the one who suggested this sort of trait be added to your arsenal, I may have been fooled by it.”
His hand reaches out and traces my shape up, following my silhouette. His fingers are soft against my hardened, rough exterior. He whispers something to me in Angel before he adds, “Amazing.” His fingers trace my face, and finding my lips, he caresses them with his thumb. “I want to be your love again, but for now, I’ll have to be content with being your mentor. You’ll be safe with me, I promise.”
He leans near, touching his full lips to my stony ones, kissing me with a gentleness that makes me want to cry. In the next instant, I change shape again, shedding my rock-like prison to burst forth into a swarm of swirling, bright-red butterflies. Shimmering around Xavier in a storming color of crimson, I ratchet upward in a twisting stream away from him.
“No, Evie, don’t go…” Xavier says in a voice full of pain, “I won’t become just a part of your past…”
Ignoring Xavier’s order, I fly in a mass of fluttering, velvety wings toward the broken glass doors that lead outside. As I escape through a shattered windowpane, I pass swiftly into the cold, night sky.
The air is crisp with the icy aroma of the sea. Spiraling around the outer edifice of the South Tower, I’m swept and tossed by the salty wind. Drawn to a corner garden room by a different scent, one that is like nectar to me, I fly above a sleeping, walled garden and stone path to a set of lead-glass windows. I use magic to unlatch its wrought-iron clasp. The wooden-framed glass opens enough to fly through.
Reed, reclined on a massive, four-poster bed, reading an old, leather-bound book, sits up when the first of my butterflies land on his
chest. One-by-one, I cover him in scarlet-winged creatures. Gently, Reed lays his book aside. Then, when the last of me flitters to rest upon him, my shape implodes to become my true form. Lying on his chest, I shiver from the cold before his arms snake possessively around me.
I kiss him with a panic-filled passion that only the fear of loss can elicit. “Never let me go,” I breathe against his mouth.
“Never,” Reed promises me without question.
CHAPTER 21
Dancing In Rings
Lying on top of Reed in the luxurious, four-poster bed, he flips me over with carnal strength, pinning me beneath him. Green eyes, so perfect to mine, are covered in a fall of dark hair over his brow. Reaching up, I gently push it to the side, feeling the icy chill in my heart warm at the sight of him.
“Your entrance was poetic, love,” Reed says softly, as he smiles down at me. “I could just make out your delicate lines within the soft wave of scarlet, and not a minute too soon. I was trying my hardest not to search for you.” Then he frowns, “Why are you unaccompanied?”
“Dinner didn’t go as I planned,” I respond with a frown.
“You’re shivering,” he says while wrapping a thick blanket around me. “What happened?”
“What if I told you that we have to leave as soon as this is over, what would you say?” I ask with my eyes searching his.
Reed’s eyebrows draw together in concern, “You want to leave without the Seraphim?”
I nod solemnly.
He exhales, concern clouding his beautiful green eyes. “I’d say that I trust your judgment, but I’d wonder what brought you to that conclusion.”
“Can it be done?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says as the concern on his face grows. “That’s not the hard part, Evie. The hard part is remaining one step ahead of them. They’re very resourceful.”
“But, we can do it, right?” I ask with desperation in my tone.
“If it became necessary, we could,” he agrees grimly.
Throwing my arms around his neck, I hug him to me. “Good,” I whisper-breathe. “Let’s have a contingency plan. Keep it between us, just our group—Zee, Russell, Buns, Brownie, and Anya.”
Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) Page 32
