Discovered

by E. D. Brady

  “How do you run the business that way?”

  “Through hired proxies,” Issy answered. “We claim that we’re off in China opening another headquarters, and that we’ll be gone for a few years. Then when we feel that enough time has passed, and our parents are ready to retire and hand the business over to us, we show up again.”

  “Don’t you lose a lot of time researching that way?”

  “We don’t really go anywhere. That door that you entered Vallen Enterprises through was not really set up to escape masked men. It was a way for us to travel to our labs without being noticed.”

  Layla nodded.

  “Do you have any other questions?” Issy asked.

  “Not at the moment,” Layla replied, her sour mood returning.

  Issy narrowed her eyes. “What’s bothering you now, Layla?”

  “The situation with Jay,” she answered.

  “What about it?” Issy pushed. “Layla, Jay is crazy about you. Don’t you realize that?”

  “But what’s the point,” Layla snapped. “He’s going to live forever, maybe, and I’m—” Something suddenly dawned on her, something that she hadn’t pieced together until that moment.

  “What?” Issy asked, sensing a change in Layla’s mood.

  “You said that when you first drank from the fountain, you felt as though every cell in your body was bristling,” she replied. “You said that it was more like a shot of adrenaline.”

  “Yeah?” Issy responded, looking at Layla suspiciously.

  “This morning when I banged my head after those guys shot out the window, when I woke up, I remember feeling as though I had jolts of adrenaline running through my body,” she said.

  “Um…” Issy trailed off, biting her lip nervously.

  “He gave it to me, didn’t he?” Layla asked, Issy’s nervous behavior confirming her question. “Tell me what happened, Issy?” she demanded.

  Issy blew out a hard breath. “Okay,” she said, nodding. “A piece of flying glass stuck into your neck and severed your carotid artery.”

  “What?” Layla bellowed, shock coursing through her.

  “It’s true, I’m afraid,” Issy replied.

  “What happened?” Layla questioned.

  “While we are all skilled surgeons, we didn’t have the proper tools to deal with something that severe, and even if we had, there was no guarantee that we could stop the bleeding on time. Jay was frantic…hysterical. I’ll be perfectly honest with you, Layla, I’ve never seen him cry like that in my long life, maybe only when Lucia died. He was paralyzed from grief. It was Ben that ran to the basement ahead of us, and Joey, instinctively knowing what Ben had planned, picked you up in his arms and ran after Ben while I tried to console Jay. By the time Jay and I caught up with them outside the basement elevator, Ben and Joey were already feeding you the water. We were desperate to save your life.”

  “What’s going to happen to me?” Layla asked, trying to squelch the fear that was building inside her.

  “That I don’t know,” Issy admitted. “We only gave you one small dose. I have no way of knowing what the effects would be if you didn’t have anymore. We take a dose once a month and have done so for five hundred years. I’m pretty sure you’d only age rapidly by a month, if, in fact, that’s what happens.”

  “Have you ever stopped taking it?” Layla demanded. And then the deadpan look on Issy’s face made her sorry she’d asked. This was not good.

  “Once,” Issy admitted.

  “What happened?”

  “In the 1970s, Ben and I thought that perhaps we’d like to have children but realized that it would be too painful to watch them age and die, so we decided to stop taking the water. We hoped that we would just continue to grow old at a normal pace,” she said.

  “But…?” Layla pushed.

  Issy looked down uncomfortably. “Apparently, the water is physically addictive, and the pain of not taking it after two months became too much for either of us to bear.”

  “Oh, no,” Layla said, horrified.

  “But that’s not to say that will happen to you,” Issy blurted out quickly. “We had been taking the stuff for over four hundred years at that point. I’m sure there’s a big difference.”

  Layla threw her legs off the bed and stood up.

  “Where are you going?” Issy questioned.

  “I need to talk to Jay,” Layla replied. “I need to find out if he’s keeping any more secrets from me.”

  “Please don’t be mad at him,” Issy begged.

  “I’m not really mad,” Layla responded. “But it’s just one revelation after another, and to tell you the truth, I’m a little sick of it at this point.” She barreled out of the room.

  Halfway down the stairs, she came face to face with Jay.

  “I was just going to check on you,” he said. “How are you feeling? I know—”

  “Issy told me what happened this morning,” she said, cutting him off.

  “Are you angry?” he questioned.

  “Not necessarily about that,” she replied.

  Jay bent down so that he could look her in the eyes. “But about something?” he asked.

  “Jay…” she trailed off and sighed.

  “Yes?”

  “I need to know if you’re keeping anything else from me. I don’t think I can handle any more surprises.”

  Jay nodded. “Come for a walk with me, Layla. There’s something else you need to know.”

  Jay

  Chapter 24

  Layla threw on Issy’s jacket and followed Jay out through the sliding doors that led to a large wooden deck above the sand.

  They walked down the steps and onto the beach, the breeze blowing her hair around her face. She tucked her hair behind her ears and followed Jay to the shoreline.

  “Walk with me a little,” he said softly, holding out his hand for her to take, and sighing silently with relief when she willingly grabbed on to it.

  “What else did you have to tell me?” she asked with trepidation.

  “First, I’d like you to try very hard to stop being angry at me,” he answered. “While I’m thoroughly aware that I took away your free will this morning, the fact that you were unconscious and dying had already made it a moot point.”

  “I’m not angry about that,” she said. “I told you I wasn’t angry, but I really need to know if there’s going to be any more big disclosures coming up.”

  “Would it be considered a big disclosure if I told you I almost lost my mind when I saw that piece of glass sticking out of your neck?” he asked.

  She shook her head.

  “I think I may have died right on the spot,” he said quietly. The terror of the moment came back to him full force, and he had to swallow a sob. “Thank God Ben and Joey acted quickly.”

  “How come there was no blood on me when I came around?” she asked.

  “We didn’t dare remove the glass,” he explained. “You would have bled out in seconds. After Ben and Joey got the water into you, we just sat around in silent horror until we saw the glass begin to ease its way out on its own.”

  “I’m worried about what’s going to happen to me now,” she admitted. “Issy told me that the stuff is very addictive.”

  “So I’ve been told,” he replied. “I think we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it. But remember, like any addictive substances, it’s more severe the longer you take the stuff. I seriously doubt that one dose will be that bad.”

  “You’ve never stopped it?” she questioned.

  He shook his head. “There were times when life seemed meaningless to me, but then I’d think of my family and knew I had to find the will to go on for their sakes. And it’s funny, if you look inside deeply enough, you’ll always find reasons to enjoy life. But by the middle of the nineteenth century, things started changing so fast that just being a spectator was thrilling in its own right.”

  They walked up the isolated beach in silence for many long moment
s. The only sign of life was the seagulls flying overhead.

  “How come I can’t see any other houses from here?” Layla asked suddenly. “Aren’t there loads of houses on this beach?”

  “Yes, there are, but it’s the way the shoreline swerves outward,” he answered. “It’s the reason that Issy picked this particular house. After another hundred feet or so, you will be able to see the next house over, after we’ve turned the bend.”

  “Oh,” she whispered. “It’s really beautiful.”

  “So are you,” Jay said quietly. He looked out at the autumn sun dancing on the waves. The cold wind was invigorating, and combined with the smell of the ocean, was having a calming effect on him. For good or bad, depending on her reaction to what he was going to tell her, he felt sure that he’d never forget this moment.

  “Would you not prefer to live somewhere like here?” she questioned. “Not that your house in Greenwich isn’t lovely, but still…”

  “That kind of ties in with what I wanted to talk to you about,” he said quietly.

  “What do you mean?” she questioned suspiciously.

  “I’ve always loved this place,” he replied. “But in a strange way, it always made me feel very lonely.”

  “I don’t understand,” Layla admitted.

  “Look how beautiful this place is, Layla,” he said, stopping and turning to face her. “This isn’t something that one person can fully appreciate alone. This place is meant to be shared, shared with someone you love very deeply. It’s the romance of it that’s always hurt me a little, made me feel all alone in the world.”

  “But you’re not—”

  He shook his head to silence her. “It’s not the same,” he replied. “I know what you were going to say. You were going to remind me that I have Joey, Ben and Issy, and to a certain degree, you’re right, but it’s not the same.”

  He sat down on the sand and urged her to do the same. He crossed his legs, lotus style, and reached out for her hands. He gathered what courage he could, knowing that this was the moment he’d been dreading for the last few hours. “For five hundred years I lived without a partner, without someone to fully share my life with,” he said, looking deep into her eyes. “I felt the loss, but never so severely until I met you.”

  “Why?” she said quietly.

  “I’ve never been in love before,” he replied. “I know you may find that hard to believe, but it’s the truth.”

  “I know,” she responded. “Issy told me.”

  “While I’ve always loved the idea of it, having watched the joy it brought my mother and father, then Ben and Issy, I’ve never really felt the void of not having it, until now.”

  “I’m not sure if I’m following you,” she admitted.

  Jay sighed deeply. “I’ve carried around tremendous secrets for years, making me somewhat isolated from the rest of society. When I first got to know you, Layla, I knew you were very different, I knew I wanted to spend time with you, that I loved being with you, but also considered it impossible. When you went up to Issy’s guest room a few hours ago, it hit me that I felt a weight had finally been lifted off my shoulders. I felt that telling someone—someone I cared a lot about—my deepest secret made me feel lighter than I’ve felt in centuries. I felt as though I’d finally connected with someone on a deeper level. Does that make sense?” he asked.

  “Yes, it does,” she said nodding. “Is that what you wanted to tell me?”

  He shook his head. “What I really wanted to say is that I’ve never been in love until now,” he admitted, then held his breath, waiting for her reaction.

  Layla stared back at him pensively, and then her face broke out into the most beautiful smile. “That makes two of us,” she said then bit on her lip.

  “Really?” he answered, wallowing in her beautiful words.

  “Yes, and for longer than I’d probably care to admit,” she added. She reached over and put her hand on his cheek. He melted into her skin. Closing his eyes, he rubbed his cheek against her tiny hand, allowing her touch to fill him to the brink with peace and contentment.

  “I want you to stay with me, Layla,” he whispered, his eyes still shut tight. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I want you to stay with me always.” He turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand.

  “I want that too,” she said softly.

  Jay’s eyes sprung open. “You do?” he said feeling relief…then joy…then euphoria.

  Layla laughed. “Yes,” she said, beaming back at him. “I love you too. If I had to be completely honest, I’d say I have since the night you told me that you wanted to do our report on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You had me at Deathly Hallows,” she repeated, rolling her eyes playfully.

  “Really?” he beamed. “Those were the magic words?”

  “Oddly enough…yes,” she answered.

  He leaned over and gathered her into his arms. “Layla, Layla, Layla…” he hummed into her hair, rocking her back and forth.

  She pulled away from him abruptly. “But, Jay…” she began, her face turning serious. “How can we make this work? You’re over five hundred years old and have a corporation to run and—”

  “Like I told you this morning, the corporation more or less runs itself at this point,” Jay said. “And technically, I’m really only eighteen.”

  “I know, but in twenty years—”

  “I know,” he said, cutting her off. “But I know I still have twenty years left. Give me those twenty years, Layla. At least they’ll be the happiest of my long life.”

  “I’ll age in that time,” she muttered.

  “You don’t have to,” he answered. “Ben and Joey knew the consequences of what they were doing before they did it. Besides being desperate to save your life, they were initiating you into our family, if you want it.”

  “I don’t know…my mother…” she shook her head, confusion obvious on her face.

  “You don’t have to decide that just now,” he said. “And I don’t really care how you age in the next couple of decades, anyway. That choice will be yours and only yours.”

  “I’m still in school,” she muttered, looking perplexed.

  “At the moment, so am I,” he reminded her.

  “You’d stay in high school for me?” she asked.

  “I’d go to kindergarten if you wanted me to,” he answered without hesitation.

  “My mom would expect me to stay put until school is over,” she added.

  “She’s a smart woman,” he quickly replied.

  “But you’ll be up here.”

  “I have a house three miles from you,” he said. “And I can be anywhere I want.”

  “When this is all over, you’ll come back with me?”

  “If you’ll have me,” he responded, nodding. He gazed at her, watching her face twist with emotion, then, to his horror, she burst into tears. “What?” he demanded. “What did I say?” He felt a knot twist in his stomach suddenly.

  She shook her head frantically.

  “Layla, talk to me!” he pleaded.

  “You’ve…you’ve just made me the happiest person in the world,” she stuttered between sobs. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

  Jay wrapped his arms tight around her and looked out at the ocean.

  It had taken him five hundred years to find her, but he knew, he realized at that very moment that the wait had been worth it. For this kind of love, five hundred years seemed a tiny price to pay.

  He placed his lips against her ear. “Te amo,” he purred quietly. “Te amaré por siempre.”

  He put his finger on her cheek and turned her face toward his. He pressed his lips to hers and submersed himself in the happiest moments of his unnaturally long life.

  Layla pulled away with a glazed look in her eyes. She looked up at him with love written all over her beautiful face.

  “What?” he asked, touching the tip of her nose.

  “I just like loo
king at you,” she admitted shyly.

  Jay laughed out loud. To hear those words coming from the beautiful girl before him was a high he would never have believed possible.

  She shivered suddenly. “Maybe we should head back,” she suggested.

  Jay jumped to his feet and helped her up. He flung his arm around her shoulder. “Whatever my girl wants, she gets,” he said. “Consider me your humble servant.”

  “I don’t really want a humble servant,” she stated frankly.

  “No, Ms. Sparks?”

  “Nah, I’d much rather have a dreamy Spaniard.”

  Jay was well and truly aware that his ego was inflating out of control but couldn’t help loving the feeling.

  Layla slipped her arm around his waist, and together they walked back toward the house.

  “Deathly Hallows, huh?” Jay said teasingly, sporting a smug look. “That’s all I had to say to win you over? I didn’t realize that you were so easy.”

  “Shut up,” Layla moaned playfully, nudging him with her hip.

  “Who do you think you’re bumping?” Jay scolded. He stopped short and turned to face her, putting both hands on her waist. “Huh, pretty girl?” He started tickling her mercilessly.

  Layla fell backward onto the sand, wiggling and squirming frantically, pulling Jay down with her. “Stop it!” she squealed.

  Jay knelt over her. “No, I don’t think I will,” he answered, digging his fingers gently into her belly, watching in awe as her beautiful face lit up with laughter.

  “Stop it!” she bellowed again, laughing hysterically.

  “Yeah, stop it, Arthur!” a gruff, sarcastic voice yelled from behind them.

  They both froze instantly.

  “Figured I’d stop by to see if you were really dead,” Robert called out. “Needless to say, you’ve recovered miraculously from your gunshot wound.”

  Jay jumped to his feet quickly and pulled Layla behind him.

  Robert walked slowly toward them with Jason and Sam. “Forgive me for walking in on such an intimate scene. There’s nothing as heart-warming as young love.”

  Jay stood protectively in front of Layla.