“Here we are,” the waitress said, placing all the real food in front of Darius and a sad little salad and a cup of water in front of Allie.
“Um, thanks,” Allie muttered, resisting the urge to throw a full-on hissy fit.
“Can I get you anything else?”
“I think we’re good,” Darius said, sliding one of his Cokes toward Allie.
As soon as the waitress turned her back, Allie went for the white pizza.
“Cheese, where have you been, my friend?” She nearly wept at the delicious tangy taste of garlic and parmesan.
“Make sure you save room for that salad,” Darius said.
“Shut it. Wait, can I try your wings?”
“Go for it.”
Allie managed to get back to the conversation after her second slice.
“So what do I do with this?” She took a giant gulp of her Coke.
“You want the honest truth?”
“That’s why I came to you.”
“Nothing. You do nothing.”
“How can that be the best use of this … horrible ‘gift’?”
“Because you are seventeen years old with about a million lifetimes ahead of you. Don’t stress about this gift, Allie. You can be the adult who polices the world someday, but right now, you do nothing. You’ve got responsibilities to yourself. We don’t get much of a childhood. Enjoy what little normal life you’ve got while you can. Take stock of what you see, learn how to use it in every possible way, don’t suppress it, and maybe someday you can put it to good use, but not now. It’s not your responsibility.”
“Not quite what I expected from you.” She smiled.
“I can be responsible from time to time. I could just see it. Our very own little redheaded vigilante roaming the streets. Something tells me I’d have to arrest you.”
“Thanks, Darius. I can always count on you to make me laugh.”
“I’m not going to lie, I’m totally going to use you. I just have to figure out how to get you a badge. You could just come along with me, tell me who’s got the guilty soul.”
“Well, something tells me you’re pretty good at figuring that out all by yourself.” Allie picked at the last piece of pepperoni, feeling only a little queasy from all the greasy food. She’d probably pay for it later, but it was worth it.
“Come on.” She slid out of the booth with a groan. “We need to find you some decent coffee. I need to send you back to adulting in a better mood. Your poor coworkers will thank me for it later.”
“Ahh, they know how to put up with me.”
“You should remember they’re mortal and can’t keep up the pace you set.”
“I do suck at remembering that.” He frowned.
“Most of you do.” It was weird how much she still identified as a mortal, but she was completely in this life now. The Immortal world was Allie’s domain, but she still felt trapped in the middle somewhere.
~~~
As she walked back to her car, Allie’s heart raced. She could feel her face flush as visions whirled through her mind. She could hear the clack of her boot heels on the asphalt as she crossed the parking lot, but in her mind, she wandered through the orchard again.
A warm, familiar hand encircled hers, grounding her in the midst of uncertainty. She was drawn to him in such a strange way.
Focus on the important details and discard the rest.…
The world went green all around them. A warning for her to pay attention. But this was so different from anything she’d ever experienced before. This wasn’t a nightmare. It wasn’t confusing. It was a simple happy moment with a guy she cared for deeply. This felt so much like her clairvoyant dreams, but she was too happy. She rarely saw happy things in her visions. It made her suspicious.
She couldn’t see his face, but she knew he was one of the most important people in her life.
The sparkle of his midnight blue eyes sent her heart hammering in her chest as he turned to face her.
“Darius?” That couldn’t be right.
~~~
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
“All right, Red! Let’s get started!” Gregg sauntered into his office like it was any other day. Like it hadn’t been months since she’d last seen or spoken to him.
“Really? That’s how you want to play this?” She scowled up at him from her perch on the couch.
“Probably not.” He took a seat opposite her and gave her a rueful smile. It was good to see him again but she couldn’t decide if she wanted to throat-punch him or hug him.
“You drop a bomb like that and then you leave? For months?” She tried to keep the venom out of her voice, but his leaving had hurt.
“I’m sorry for that. My attention was needed elsewhere, but you’ve never been far from my thoughts these last months, sweetheart. I just figured you could use a little time to yourself.”
“We need to work on your definition of ‘a little time.’” She picked at a paint stain on her jeans. “A little time is a week or two. It's been five months, Gregg. Five months with that information rolling around in my head and no one to talk to about it.”
“I assumed you would have confided in Aidan by now.”
“I did … recently.”
“I know you’re angry—”
“Angry? Anger doesn’t even begin to describe what I’m feeling.”
“Aye. You’re so much like your mother. I should have known this would eat you alive.”
“Kassandre was a stranger who gave me away. Her lineage means nothing to me.” Allie furiously scraped at the paint on her jeans, refusing to look at Gregg for fear of bursting into tears. She’d missed him more than she realized.
“She gave you up to protect you, Allie.”
“Hooking up with my birth mom a thousand years ago doesn’t make you an expert on why she made the choices she did.” Allie shot to her feet to pace the office. She felt like throwing things. She was so angry. The constant churning rage, boiling just below the surface—it wasn’t her. Or it wasn’t the person she used to be. She could feel how closely linked her anger was with her power and she feared that if she didn’t conquer her anger issues, she would lose control of her power.
Gregg’s jaw clenched irritably at her accusation. “Kassandre and Ashar meant the world to me. You have no idea how deeply I mourned them when they died. A piece of me died with them, Allie. They may be gone, but I am the closest link you will ever have to them. Do not disrespect their memory or their sacrifices. Not in my presence.”
Allie heard the anger in his voice, the regret and sorrow. But she saw something else in his eyes. He had secrets. He probably knew more than he was willing to tell her right now. She wondered briefly if he knew they were alive. She was sick of all the lying and secrets. Can't anyone in my life just tell me the truth? Does it always have to be a game of who knows what?
“When did they bond as Complements?” She didn’t know anything about her parents but she didn’t want to talk about Indriell, the prophecy, or anything about the future her parents saw for her.
“I don’t know when Kassandre finally recognized Ashar as her Complement. It wasn’t a blinding epiphany for her. It came upon her slowly, as the Complement bond often does.” Gregg eased back into his leather chair as if he sensed Allie’s need to understand who her parents were before she could face any of the other stuff.
“I guess I still thought it was an instant recognition. Like once she laid eyes on Ashar, at a time when she was open to the possibility of the bond, it just happened?”
“You are confusing it with the family bond. You’ve experienced that with Liam. But the Complement bond is different because it requires a choice to solidify the connection, and that takes time.”
“A choice? I never realized that.”
“I don’t think you are ready to see my memories of your parents, but I’d like to show you how Naeemah and I finally found each other.”
“I’d like that.” Allie was relieved for the
chance to talk about something else.
“Sit back and relax and let’s see what we see,” Gregg said.
Allie settled in for a trip through Gregg’s memories.
“I lived without Naeemah for one thousand nine hundred and thirty-seven years,” he began softly. “Much of my early life was spent as a soldier fighting in one campaign or another, but later when the world began to change, I found myself adapting with it. So many Immortals failed to keep up with the rapid progress mortals began to make in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I embraced the Industrial Revolution when many of my kind clung to the past. For a long time I lived the life of a lonely nobleman. I educated myself, looked to the future, and made a fortune that has kept this family worry-free for generations. But I longed for Naeemah like I never had before. I obsessed about her day and night and drifted away from my family.”
Listening to the soothing sound of his voice, Allie closed her eyes and waited for the sensation of falling into his memories.
The cool mist tickled her skin first and then she saw the dense fog of London in the late eighteenth century. She stood before a gated mansion on a busy street and realized this was the wealthy Londoner’s version of a townhouse. Allie’s head was full of her idealistic view of Victorian London so she wasn’t prepared for the filth and the stench of the reality. London was a city that had seen rapid growth during the early years of the Industrial Revolution, but there was still a hint of the ancient past. She watched as Gregg ventured out the front door of his townhouse and down the walkway to the street where she waited. He was dressed to perfection and his wealth was apparent, but the poverty of the London streets lurked in every corner.
By the look on his face and the manner of his dress, Allie assumed Gregg was on his way to a funeral. She was quite surprised to arrive with him at an elaborate mansion with a party in full swing.
“You are late, sir.” Allie turned at the accusation to find a beautiful woman waiting for Gregg to join the festivities in the ballroom.
“My apologies, Georgina,” Gregg said graciously. “I was unexpectedly delayed.”
Allie sensed the lie. Gregg wanted to be anywhere but at the mansion of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. She was the most fashionable woman of London and if Naeemah were a member of the ton, it was likely she would be drawn to Georgina’s balls. That was the only reason Gregg was in attendance tonight. He had no intention of staying long—only long enough to pay a visit to the Immortal ladies to see if any of them were the one he sought. More than a century had passed since he'd last seen Naeemah in Nepal, just before she disappeared. He was getting desperate in his attempts to find her, but he knew she was a regal woman of great fortune. He needed only to search the cream of the crop and he would find her … eventually.
“You owe me a card game, Greggory McBrien,” Georgina said in her flirtatious manner.
“You’ve lost enough of your husband’s money to me, Your Grace; give the poor man a respite from your expensive pastimes.”
“Nonsense. I always win.”
Gregg left the duchess to her admirers and made his way around the room, nodding at those he recognized. After taking a champagne flute from a passing waiter, he sat sulking in a corner, giving surly looks to any mortal woman who might have it in her head to dance with him.
Allie saw her first as she entered the ballroom behind him. Naeemah was breathtaking in her simple gown among all the overdressed women trying to outdo each other. The peach silk made her copper skin glow. Her hair was styled fashionably, but not ostentatiously. She was regal without even trying. She greeted Georgina warmly and followed her into the salon to greet the rest of the ton.
Allie watched Gregg, waiting for him to sense her. The look on his face went from blank and bored to complete awe in the span of a heartbeat. He stood, scanning the room for her, prepared to cause a scene if she should evade him again as she had in Nepal. He caught a glimpse of her as she slipped away, heading for the ladies’ parlor upstairs.
Gregg crossed the room, keeping his distance as he followed her down a long corridor. Allie saw the way he was shaking, completely terrified and uncertain how to proceed—completely un-Gregg-like.
Naeemah finally sensed him and halted on the stairs. She felt the intensity of his lifeline and her shoulders tensed as she reached for the weapon concealed at her hip. As she turned and laid eyes on her Complement for the first time, she swayed on her feet as the realization came to her.
The light in Naeemah’s blue eyes glowed golden and the hall blazed with heat and light.
“My God, is it really you?” she whispered uncertainly.
Gregg opened his mouth to speak, but the ancient Scott couldn’t form any words. He took a step forward and the two were in each other’s arms.
Allie glanced away; she didn’t want to spy on their special moment. She’d seen enough to know that they’d recognized each other and they were thrilled to finally meet, but they had not yet bonded.
The hall whirled around her like a kaleidoscope of colors and Allie watched the days and months following as the couple took the time to get to know each other. It was good to see them so happy and content.
“I’m so sorry, Naeemah,” Gregg said.
Allie found herself in a walled garden, watching the two sitting on a bench, enjoying a private moment together.
“It is not your fault, Greggory McBrien,” Naeemah said as she squished his cheeks together playfully. “You’re just a stubborn old man, that’s all.”
“Aye, I’m old, love.” He smiled as he took her hands in his. “I want to do this. I want to solidify our bond right now, but there is something in me that can’t seem to let go.”
“Don’t you dare do it now! I want our dear friends to stand as witnesses and protect us when we are vulnerable. Ming Lao and Jin Jing will be here soon enough.”
“To think of all the years we’ve each known them, and neither one of them ever thought to introduce us?” Gregg’s face was serious and grim but Allie could see he enjoyed teasing the woman who would be his wife. “It’s not that I’m afraid to die with you, Nae—”
“Death is a foreign enough concept to me and I’m one thousand six hundred and seventy-seven years younger than you.”
“You didn’t have to do the math. I know I’m old. I’ll get there; I guess I just need more time than I want to take.”
“We have the rest of our lives together, Greggory. I know your hesitation has nothing to do with how you feel for me. The possibility of death is nothing to take lightly—and you aren’t the only one struggling with it. We’ve each lived our lives as an ‘I.’ To become a ‘we’ is not easily done on a whim. Our power is the only protection we’ve ever had. It is no small thing to relinquish control, after all we have been through.”
Allie’s vision grew dark until tiny pinpricks of light shone overhead. It was night and the moon was bright. She was still in the garden, but others were present. Ming Lao stood behind Naeemah and Jin Jing behind Gregg. They were fully armed and ready to protect the vulnerable couple.
“We will be here as long as it takes, my friend.” Jin nodded to Gregg.
“Join hands and breathe deeply to relax your hold on your power,” Ming said. “It takes as long as it takes, so just let it happen and do not worry about us. We have been where you now stand. We understand the task before you is not an easy one.”
Allie watched for hours as Naeemah and Gregg joined hands and waited—for what she wasn’t certain. The moon gave way to the sun and the sun took its slow journey across the sky until the moon rose high again. Still they stood, together, staring into each other’s eyes.
Finally, she saw a glimmer of their power, stirring within their eyes. Gregg pressed Naeemah’s hand against his chest and whispered, “My power is yours for as long as we walk this earth together.”
Naeemah pressed his hand over her heart and murmured the same oath.
A light as bright as the moon radiated around them,
caging them in, with Ming and Jin standing guard outside.
Allie saw why it took them so long to perform this ritual. They were each surrendering the control of their power to the other. The level of trust that would take was astounding. Allie couldn’t imagine the effort it would take to accomplish such a thing after a lifetime of maintaining iron control.
The force of Gregg’s power filled Naeemah and she clutched his hand tightly in her free hand. The circle was complete when Naeemah’s power filled Gregg and they released control to the other, allowing their Complement to safeguard their power during the ritual. They stood inside the cage of light created by their mutual power, completely separate from the world around them. They were more vulnerable at this moment than they had ever been or ever would be. Ming and Jin’s protection wasn’t just a traditional part of the ceremony. It was necessary.
As their power mingled, it burst from the circle around them and arced high up into the sky. As the light dissipated, Naeemah and Gregg clung to each other, completely spent. But they were bonded now. Together they were a single entity. Neither was the same person who had entered the garden before the ritual.
Allie blinked at the lights overhead, and a sadness washed over her to leave such a beautiful sight behind.
“That was nothing like I thought,” Allie finally said. “That was an intensely personal thing you just shared with me.”
“Aye. I’ve never shown that memory to anyone.”
“Why did you share it with me?”
“You’ve struggled so hard to understand the bond and you’re not fond of talking about it. You haven’t grown up in our world. Unless you happened to stand witness to a ritual in the near future, you would continue struggling to understand it. You needed to see it and I’m happy to be the one to show you.”
“Thank you, Gregg. You know I love you both so much, right?”
“Aye, we know, sweetheart. And we love you too—as much as any daughter we could have.”
“I’m sorry for snarling at you earlier.”
“You have your mother’s she-devil tongue. It’s like music to my ears.”
Emerge: The Judgment: (Book 2) Page 12
