*
Lucy watched Iestyn stride down the hill with the quick impatience of the boy she once knew.
But he wasn’t a boy any longer.
She sighed, remembering. Iestyn had been her first friend on Sanctuary, a gawky adolescent with a kind heart and a flashing smile. Seeing him all grown up made her feel . . . old.
She listened to the ocean’s long-drawn-out lament, the cries of the seabirds drifting over the water like the voices of lost children.
“You are disappointed,” Conn said quietly.
She turned her head to find him watching her, his silver eyes impenetrable.
She didn’t understand. “Disappointed?”
“That he is not returning with us to Sanctuary.”
She shook her head. “No.” She roused herself to give a better answer. Conn was forcing himself out of his customary reserve to communicate. To talk about her feelings, poor man. He was trying. They both were.
“I was just thinking how much he’s changed. Iestyn.”
“He is older.”
She attempted a smile. “Aren’t we all?”
“Not you.”
The magic of Sanctuary kept her from aging. In physical years, she was probably younger than Iestyn now.
Her throat tightened. “I feel about a hundred.”
“You are as fresh and young as spring,” Conn said.
“And more beautiful than the day I met you.”
“Oh.” He took her breath away. Tears welled in her eyes.
“You don’t have to say that.”
“Women need words, Morgan tells me. And it gives me pleasure to say them.”
He knelt before her on the grass.
“Conn.” She was shaken. Embarrassed. He was a proud man. Prince of the merfolk, lord of the sea. And at any moment, anyone could look over and see him kneeling at her feet. “What are you doing?”
“Something I should have done long ago.” He took her hands. Her fingers trembled in his strong clasp. “Lucy, my love. My heart. Will you marry me?”
The earth whirled and settled around them. She swallowed the ache in her heart, the lump in her throat. One of them had to be practical. They had duties. Obligations.
“What if I can never give you children? You need an heir.”
“I need you. I will always need you.” He looked up at her, his silver eyes blazing. “Recommit to me, Lucy. Here, in a church, in the sight of God, according to the custom of your people. Take me as your husband. Will you?”
Her tears washed her grief away. She forgot pride and obligation, forgot whoever might be watching. All she could see was Conn’s eyes, Conn’s face, full of heat and love and tenderness.
She felt an overwhelming rush of love for him.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, please, I will.”
He rose to his feet and pulled her into his arms, kissing her fiercely. The sun sank to the surface of the sea, trailing banners of scarlet and gold.
*
A fist closed in Lara’s chest. She didn’t trust Zayin, not for a moment. But she couldn’t bring herself to believe that the Master Guardian would actual y hurt her. She edged backward toward the door, feeling with her foot for the threshold, keeping her eyes on him.
“Please.” Zayin sounded more derisive than angry.
“Don’t put me to the trouble of coming after you.”
Again. The unspoken word echoed between them.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“We’ve been worried about you,” Zayin said. “Simon in particular.”
“I’m fine. You can tell him so.”
“Tel him yourself. Come home with me.”
Home. A vision of Rockhaven rose in her mind, glossy and sharp as a photograph, the strong, stone walls, the jewel-like windows, everything she’d once loved, everything that was permanent and safe.
She shook her head without speaking.
“Frankly, I’m relieved to find you alive,” Zayin said.
“This room stinks of demon. Demon and fish.”
Shocked, she met his gaze.
“You do know he’s possessed,” Zayin said. “Aqua Boy.”
Lara sucked in her breath. “You knew?”
“I knew he was a danger to you.”
“Not anymore. Iestyn cast the demon out.”
Zayin stared at her, arrested. “He did.”
“We did.” The memory of it straightened her spine.
“Together.”
“Well.” Zayin leaned back in the chair, his big body deliberately relaxed. “It appears we underestimated you.”
“So you see . . .” She exhaled. “You don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
“Possibly. But then you have an obligation to protect others
. Scire, servare, obtemperare.” His smile was dark and joyless. “The only way to regain the perfection of Heaven is through the Rule.”
“Do you really believe that?”
Black eyes flickered. “Simon does. And you are Simon’s disciple, are you not?”
Her chest felt tight. She didn’t know what she was anymore.
What she believed. “I can’t go back to the way things were.”
“No one would expect it. You’ve changed,” Zayin said, with an assessing look. “Other things can change. If you came back of your own volition, Simon would welcome you with an open heart and open arms. We need you, Lara.
What you have learned, you can teach to others.”
His words tore at her soul. More than physical safety, she craved emotional security. Simon’s praise and approval, a valued place at Rockhaven, were all she’d ever wanted.
The burden of freedom, the weight of fear, pressed on her heart. Her lips felt numb. She heard herself say, “What about Iestyn?”
“What of him?”
“I can’t just leave him.”
Zayin glanced around the empty room. “And yet he is not here.”
A flush heated her face. “He’ll be back.”
“For how long?” Zayin asked.
She stared at him, stricken, seeing Iestyn’s face, alight with joy. Hearing Iestyn’s voice, bright with hope. “With her help, I can learn to Change . . . I can go back to sea again.”
Zayin pressed his advantage. “Let it go, Lara. Let him go.
He’s free to be with his own people now. And you can be safe with yours.”
“So you’re asking me to trade a chance at happiness for . . . What? Security?”
“I’m telling you. Give up your infatuation with this boy for a guaranteed future.”
But there were no guarantees outside of Heaven. Iestyn had said that. The only thing certain was change.
Lara gnawed the inside of her cheek. She had changed.
She was more confident now, more sure of herself and what she wanted. She didn’t need to look to Simon for approval anymore or to the nephilim for safety and acceptance.
She had to trust herself. She trusted Iestyn. She wanted him, wanted what they could be together.
Zayin stood, big and dark and alien in the charming white room. Despite herself, Lara’s heart gave a little bump.
“We’ve both wasted enough time here,” he said. “I’m taking you back.”
“No, you’re not,” Iestyn said.
Lara’s head jerked around to the door. “Iestyn.”
“Hey, babe.” He smiled, but his eyes were cold. “We missed you at the party. You should have stuck around.”
Her eyes blurred. Her heart pounded. But a combination of pride and hurt and honesty held her back. Made her say,
“I wasn’t sure you wanted me.”
He winced. “I guess I deserve that. Stay. Let me make it up to you.”
“You don’t have to—”
“You’re too late,” Zayin interrupted. “She’s leaving.”
“Not with you, asshole.”
“You can’t stop her.” Zayin looked Iestyn up and down.
“And you definitely can’t stop me.”
Iestyn bared his teeth in a grin. “I’ve killed demons, church breath. Angels don’t scare me.”
Violence boiled up in the room, quick and hot as steam.
“Stop it, both of you.” Lara stepped between them, facing Zayin. “What I do and where I go is my choice.”
“Not after I get through with him,” Zayin promised darkly.
“But then you’d have to go through us,” a male voice announced from behind them.
Zayin’s black gaze switched over Lara’s shoulder. “Who the hell are you?”
Bewildered, she turned.
Morgan and Dylan stood shoulder to shoulder in the doorway backing Iestyn. They could hardly have appeared more different, she thought dazedly: Dylan, dark and lean, Morgan, broad and fair, Iestyn with his sun-streaked hair and hammered gold eyes. But at that moment, they were as close as brothers, united in her defense.
Her eyes sought Iestyn. He held her gaze, smiling crookedly. “I told you we missed you. I missed you. I came to get you back. Whatever it takes.”
A wave of relief, of reassurance and love, crashed over her.
She started to shake.
Sometimes you didn’t need words and guarantees.
Sometimes one look said everything and one act, one gesture of faith, was enough.
“Don’t be a fool,” Zayin growled. “Do you have any idea what you’re giving up?”
She lifted her chin. “I think so. I can go with you and follow the Rule. Or I can stay with him and follow my heart.”
Zayin stared at her, his eyes black and blank and opaque as always. “Simon will never understand. Will never accept your decision.”
She felt a quiver of anxiety, a flutter of regret. But she held his gaze without hesitation or apology. “What will you tell him?”
A corner of Zayin’s mouth turned up in a barely perceptible smile. “That I couldn’t find you, of course.” He bowed his sleek dark head, in acknowledgment of defeat. “I wish you joy of your decision.”
He stalked toward the door. Morgan and Dylan stepped aside to let him pass. As his footsteps faded down the hall, the tension leaked from the room.
Dylan cleared his throat. “We’ll just see him as far as the ferry.”
The two wardens followed him down the stairs.
Lara shivered in reaction. “Well.” She swallowed. “I’m glad that’s over.”
“Not over yet,” Iestyn said and then he was there, solid, warm, and real, wrapping his arms around her, driving away the cold.
She melted into him. Her heart began a slow pound in her chest. “There’s more?”
“There has to be. For me, at least.” He took her hands, holding them palm to palm between both of his as if he were praying. He kissed her fingers, his face serious.
Nerves knotted her stomach. “You don’t have to say anything,” she said. Don’t let go. “You don’t have to feel obligated to me because I chose to stay.”
He shook his head. “I’m not obligated. I want to be with you.”
She smiled at him wryly. Tenderly. “Yesterday you said we barely know each other.”
“I know what I feel.” He held her closer, her head against his chest. “I know that without you, I’m lost.”
“Not anymore,” she mumbled into his shirt. “You’re back where you belong now. You can go back to the sea.”
“I belong with you. We belong with each other.” His voice was sure, his heartbeat strong and steady. She could feel her body softening, adjusting to his, all of her pressed against al of him, breasts, belly, thighs. Heaven. “Give me time to prove it to you.”
All her doubts were dissolving away. But she eased back within the circle of his arms to look him in the eye. “How much time are we talking about?”
His grin flashed. “Five years? Fifty? Five hundred?”
“You want me to wait for you that long?”
“I want you to stay with me. Be with me. Here on the island.
They need you. I need you. I love you, Lara, by God I do.”
His voice shook. His arms tightened around her.
“I love you,” he repeated, resting his forehead against hers.
“If you don’t want to live here, we’ll go someplace else. Just don’t leave me.”
Hope welled inside her. “You love me.” She tested the words in her mouth, tasting their sweetness.
His arms tightened in frustration. “How many ways do I have to say it for you to believe me? Give me a chance.
Give us a chance.”
“A leap of faith?” she murmured.
“If you’ll take it, I swear I won’t let you down.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her weight against his hard, sheltering body. “I believe in you.
In us. I love you, too.”
“Thank God.” He cradled her face in his hands, tipping her head back to kiss her, her eyes, her nose, her cheek. Her mouth. Joy flooded her soul.
“You know, you could come with me,” he murmured after long moments had passed.
Lara surfaced reluctantly. “Come with you where?”
“When I go to sea. You could come inside me.”
She blinked. “You mean, spirit cast? Under water?”
He grinned down at her. “Why not? You said yourself we can do more together than we can apart.”
The possibility teased her. Tempted her. She felt no fear.
Only wonder that they had two worlds and all of their lives to explore.
“Let me share my world with you, Lara,” Iestyn said in unconscious echo of her thoughts. “My life with you.”
She smiled, twining her arms around his neck. “Why not?”
She threw his challenge back at him. “After all, there’s more than one way to fly.”
He laughed and covered her mouth with his.
Beyond their window, the bright sky blended into the shining sea.
Forgotten Sea Page 24
