“I’m going to take us somewhere we can talk.”
“You mean, like, opening a portal?” I asked, trying hard to breathe.
He raised his eyebrows. “Yes, exactly. It’s called gleaming. You’ve done it?”
“Some.”
“I’ll have to hold you,” he said.
Warily, I stepped closer to him. I expected him to maybe hold my hand, but he wrapped his arms around me instead. Man, he was tall. Then it happened just as fast as when I’d done it before, only this time we landed on our feet.
I looked around. We were standing next to a bubbling brook, and the sun was shining. I could see it sparkling in the water. Some wildflowers were growing along the bank. Akil walked over to some large rocks and sat down. He gestured for me to come closer.
“How do you feel?”
“Better.” I sat down next to him and went on checking out our surroundings. “I don’t remember this place.”
He looked up at the sky. “I don’t think you’ve ever been here. I wanted to bring you somewhere calming. There is so much you need to know. I’m not sure I know where to start.”
“Maybe at the beginning?”
“For us, the beginning was more than a thousand years ago.”
“For us?”
“Yes, that was the time of our birth. The time we came into existence. You and I, and my twin sister, Akina. We were all born very close together.”
“You mean…to parents?”
“To gods. Yes. But the attachment is not the same. Our young grow so quickly that they are like adults within a year’s time on earth. There is very little bonding between gods and their young. But we were the best of friends. The three of us were inseparable.” His turquoise eyes took on a faraway look.
“So, we lived together in the Otherworld?”
“Lived and played and grew. It’s very different from here. There is a deep sense of peace there.”
“Wow. Why would anyone want to be here if they could be there?”
“Why, indeed.” He leaned forward, picked up a few stones and tossed them back into the water.
“So, you…you came to get me? But how did I get here? And where is Akina?” The lovely face of a young woman with long, dark hair and eyes like the sea flashed before my eyes. I suddenly felt a panic rise within me. “Akil? Why isn’t she here?”
The pain split through me again. It was so sharp that I had to suck in my breath. I bent over and tried my best not to keel. I looked over at Akil.
He looked back at me and nodded. “She’s gone.” Then he gently touched two fingers to my forehead.
~ ~ ~
I was running through a field at incredible speed. My hair and robes flew out behind me in waves as I dashed across a creek in my bare feet.
“Maya! Maya! Come!”
It was Akina. She was standing at the other end of the field holding a large bunch of flowers in her arms, and her white wings were shiny in the sunlight.
“I’m coming!” I yelled in return. I stopped briefly in the water to splash some on my face.
Suddenly Akil appeared behind me and splashed water at me and laughed at my wet hair. Droplets of water fell from my white wings. His laughter sounded so beautiful, more like a song than a laugh.
“You think you’re funny, do you?” I said, lunging toward him. My own strength should have been dwarfed by his, but it wasn’t. We were quite evenly matched. We playfully attacked each other, each trying to push the other off-balance and into the creek. At last, wearing each other out, we both fell into the water. My own laughter sounded strange to my ears.
“Look at you, two. “Come out of there.” Akina held her flowers in one hand and rested the other impatiently on her hip.
As we pulled ourselves out of the creek and walked up onto the grass, Akina raised one hand and held her palm out toward us. A powerful but warm wind blew all around us until our clothing and bodies were dry once again. Akil ran his hand through his thick black hair. Something about him seemed to be different. It dawned on me that his wings were white.
When he smiled, it reached all the way up and into his eyes, where there were little crinkles around the edges. He was the loveliest creature I had ever seen.
“Thank you, sister,” he said.
He was so charming and ridiculously sexy.
Akina wasn’t fooled. She gave him a mock scowl and turned to go.
“I think she’s angry with you, Akil.”
“And I suppose she’s not angry with you?”
“Why should she be? Who was it that started it?” I skipped up alongside Akina and held my arms out for her to give me some of her flowers.
“If I give you these, you have to promise me you’ll behave for the rest of the day.”
“Fine. I promise.”
“What about me? Don’t I get any flowers?” Akil teased.
“Ha! I share my eyes with you, dear brother, and that is quite enough.”
~ ~ ~
I suddenly felt like I couldn’t get enough air. Looking around, I realized that I was back sitting on the rocks alongside the brook with Akil.
“Breathe deeply,” I heard him say.
I took a deep breath. “What happened? Was that real?”
“It once was. Now it’s only a mere shadow of what has been, like a memory.”
“You mean I wasn’t really there? But, we were all together. We were so happy. I don’t understand.”
“You will understand soon. For now, we should rest. It drains me to keep you in past memories for too long.”
“Can’t you just tell me about it?” I felt nervous as well as impatient about what I might find out. I didn’t want to wait.
“It’s better this way,” he said. “You have seen the Otherworld for yourself. Would you have the words to describe it?” A slight smile played on his lips. But it was nothing like the smile I had just seen by the creek.
“I guess not,” I said. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.
“Is that why you picked this place? I mean here, by the brook.”
“I suppose so. It brings back fond memories.”
“Memories of that day?”
“That day and others.” For a brief moment, that look of sadness came back into his eyes, and all at once I was afraid. Why couldn’t I just remember, dammit? More than ever, I felt the need to know, because after seeing Akina, I knew for certain that I had loved her. I had loved her like a sister. And I was anxious about what I might find out. I knew those feelings of both love and dread weren’t coming from nowhere. I had the sense that something terrible must have happened.
“You must be hungry,” he said. “What would you like? Anything at all.”
“Oh, I dunno. I guess anything that’s not Mexican.”
He gestured for me to come closer and I let him put his arms around me again. Part of a wing brushed against my cheek. It was the softest thing I had ever felt. An odd thought suddenly came to my mind. Hadn’t his wings been white in the memory?
When he released me, I opened my eyes. At first I wasn’t sure where we were. We had ended up in an alley again (sooo not my favorite). And then I heard the unmistakable tones of someone speaking Italian.
“We’re in Italy! But I thought you couldn’t be around people.”
“We’re in Naples,” he said. “The people that live in a more modern world have lost their connection to the old world. They tend not to notice me. Life moves much faster here. People are focused on their own lives, their cares, their work. I thought you might like some pizza?”
“You eat pizza? Really? I kinda figured you wouldn’t need to eat.”
“It’s not necessary physically for me to eat, but I eat for pleasure. I enjoy certain foods from time to time. And there’s this little place around the corner that makes a truly amazing margherita pizza.”
As we started to walk to the pizzeria, he opened his wings slightly, as if he were shielding me. We entered the pizzeria and
took a small table at the back. Considering it was the holidays, it wasn’t all that crowded. As we waited for our pizza to arrive, I took a moment to check in with Matt. I hadn’t felt much from him, and I wasn’t sure what that meant. There it was again. Resignation. I sighed.
“Maya? Are you all right?”
“Just hungry. So why did we have wings when gleaming is so much faster?”
He gave a slight laugh. “If you had flown in the last few hundred years, you would know the answer to that.”
“Am I ever…I mean, do you think I’ll ever get mine back?” With all the crazy crap that was happening to me, it wasn’t like it couldn’t happen, right?
He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I don’t know. I think it might be possible in the Otherworld. But not here.”
“Why not?”
“You’ve been here for a very long time, Maya. It’s not natural for you to be away from the Otherworld for so long.”
His eyes dropped to my necklace and that strange look crossed his face, then, just as quickly, his face softened again. Okaaaay. What was it with my necklace? It obviously bothered him. I wanted to ask, but of course that would take more guts than I had. Being the total wuss that I was, I settled on a slightly less important question.
“Do I look the same as I did then? Other than the wings, I mean.”
“Mm…mostly.”
Mostly?
“You were taller.”
“Taller?” I mean, I’m five eight. Short for a supermodel, maybe, but tall compared to your average American. I wasn’t used to hearing that.
“Yes, taller.”
“How much taller?”
“Perhaps this much, at least.” He held up one hand. Six feet!
The pizza arrived, and we each took a slice.
“I’m not short, you know,” I said taking a bite of just about the most heavenly thing I had ever tasted.
“Yes, you are.”
“Okay, shorter.”
“Short.”
I was suddenly aware that we sounded exactly like we had by the creek in the Otherworld. We were teasing one another, except we were doing it while we split a pizza. It was just bizarre. (Talk about your identity crisis. Again.) But it came to me that we must have been very close to just fall back into old habits after all this time. And then I realized something else. I was beginning to trust him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lyssa thought she was going to have to pick her twin’s chin up off the floor. Okay, the guy standing in front of them was a total hottie, for sure. He had pretty chestnut brown hair that matched his eyes and hung down a little too long in the front. He definitely had that hot academic thing going, with his tortoise shell glasses and a leather satchel filled with what she figured were books. Yep, he was Damian’s type. Not that Damian had ever really had a type. As far as she knew, he’d never even had a date. But this guy just screamed Damian.
Thank God Matt broke the awkward silence. “Good to meet you, Nate. I’m Matt.” The two shook hands, and when Nate smiled, Lyssa thought Damian was going to faint dead away.
She quickly stuck out her hand. “I’m Lyssa. And this is my brother, Damian.”
“Nice meeting you.” Nate set his satchel on the kitchen table. “So…you’re all juniors, is that right?”
“I’m a senior,” Matt said.
Nate smiled. “That should make things easy enough.”
Without another word, Matt walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Lyssa started to follow him when she noticed that Damian hadn’t moved. She tugged on her twin’s sleeve.
Come on!
Sorry.
Everyone sat across the table from Nate, waiting to hear the news about what subjects they would study. Lyssa really couldn’t give a rat’s behind what they studied. As far as she was concerned, it was the study part that sucked. Period.
Nate handed out paper and pencils. “We’re waiting to get an approved list of topics from your school in the States, so for now, why don’t you each make a list of your current classes?”
“You sound British,” Lyssa said. “Are you from the UK?”
Nate nodded. “I am, originally, yes. I haven’t lived there in quite some time. My mother is from Madrid.”
“Really. Are you in college?” Lyssa asked.
Lyssa!
Whaaat!
“I start at Columbia in the fall, actually.”
“Good school,” Matt suddenly said out of nowhere.
“Thanks.
Lyssa looked up from her list. “So are you, like, seventeen? Eighteen?”
Alyssa!
“I’m eighteen, actually,” Nate said. “I’m taking some time off to travel before I start school.”
“Cool.”
They spent the next couple of hours catching Nate up on what they’d been studying before they left for winter break. Matt was unusually quiet. Not that she had to guess why. She made a mental note to herself to ask Cesar to check on him. Damian barely said two words, either, but she did catch the impressed look on Nate’s face when they discussed Damian’s classes.
What is the matter with you?
Nothing. I’m trying to focus on my work. You’d need less help from me later if you did the same.
Fine.
When noon finally arrived and Nate was gone, the twins headed to Damian’s room to look over their work. They copped a squat together on the floor.
“So what d’ya think?”
“Of what?”
“Of Nate!”
“Actually, I’m not so sure about the way he approaches inverse functions—”
“Oh. My. God. Do not even—you totally dig him!”
“Oh, yes, Lyss, I totally dig our eighteen-year-old British tutor. That wouldn’t be slightly inappropriate.”
Lyssa grinned. “Doesn’t matter. You do. I know it.”
“Whatever you say.”
That may have been what he was saying, but it was certainly not what he was thinking. Over time, Lyssa had learned to read when Damian had his mental wall up the same way she had learned to read his mind. He did not want her to know what he was thinking right now. Her twin had spent his entire life trying to make everyone else happy. Always trying to do the right thing. But he deserved to be happy, too. And he was gonna be if she had anything to say about it.
After a few minutes of trying to focus on equations, Lyssa gave up and decided to find out what Cesar was up to before it was time to help Alma make lunch. But she walked down the hall and smacked straight into Selena.
“Oh, Lyssa, I’m so sorry,” Selena said.
“No worries.”
“How did the tutoring go this morning?”
“It went, that’s for sure.”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing. Hey, do you think maybe we could talk for a sec?” What the hell did she just say? She immediately wanted to kick herself.
“Sure. Why don’t we go to your room?”
They walked into Lyssa’s room and sat down on the bed. Lyssa picked up a pillow and started playing with the fringe. She felt like they were about to have the talk. Eww. She’d never even had one of those with her mother.
“Is everything okay?” Selena began.
“Yeah. Sure. Everything’s fine.”
Selena smiled. “So, what’s up? I hope the new tutor is okay.”
“I’m not so big on the whole school thing. But Nate’s really good. I, uh, I just wondered if you had ever been, you know, mated.” She dropped her eyes and felt her face flush.
“Wait…is this about Cesar?”
“Well, uh, kinda. I just, you know, needed to know if certain things are, like, normal.” WTF? She spoke two languages fluently and she couldn’t even get out a decent sentence?
“Oh? Like what?”
“Er…”
“You can ask me anything, Lyssa. Really. I don’t embarrass easily. And I promise to keep it between us.”
“Really?”
S
elena gave her a warm smile. “Really.”
Lyssa let out her breath. “It’s just that one day I was this person…and then, the next minute, I was in this relationship. And…”
Selena nodded. “It happens very fast.”
“Yeah. And even though I feel so, like, so at peace when I’m with him, I just…”
“Hey, it’s okay. Look, Cesar’s a shifter. So there’s a real sense of completeness for him now that he’s mated. I don’t think it’s healthy for you to compare your experience with his. Or with Matt and Maya’s either. Am I getting warm?”
“Uh-huh. It’s like, yesterday, we were talking about whether we should go home or not. Right away, I said there was no way I was leaving him. But after I said it, it really bugged me out.”
“What do you think bothered you? That you were so certain?”
“It’s like the decision was made for me. Like I didn’t have a choice.”
“Okay,” Selena said. “Here’s the thing. You’re mated to Cesar so you feel the pull that goes with that. But you’re not a shifter, so you don’t have the instinct that comes with being one. Cesar feels the same attraction you do, but he also has instincts that are telling him everything about the mating is right.”
Whoa! Now there was a frigging slap in the face for someone who prided herself on living on instinct. But Selena was right and she knew it.
“Does that mean it can’t work between us?”
“No, not all. But I think it does mean that you’re going to have to give it some time. Cesar and I have been friends a long time. He’s endlessly patient. You’ve definitely got the right guy. If you decide you need some time, he’ll give it to you.”
“I don’t want to hurt him.”
“I know you don’t. But I also know this is a first for you, Lyssa. You got slammed hard with this. You need to trust him. And you need to trust yourself.”
“Thanks, Selena.”
Out of nowhere, Selena wrapped her arms around her. Lyssa relaxed into the hug and stayed there until she couldn’t deal with the smell of Selena’s patchouli oil any longer.
“Feel better?” Selena asked.
“Yeah. Actually, I do.”
Jaguar Moon (Jaguar Sun Series Book 2) Page 5
