Timeless (Book One: Caylin's Story; A Watcher Duology; Young Adult Paranormal Romance)

by S. J. West

  “I’m so glad you could make it,” my mom tells them both. “But, where’s Mason?”

  “Oh, he’ll be here in just a minute. Romeo here,” Jess says with a tilt of her head in Aiden’s direction, “just couldn’t wait any longer.”

  My mom looks at Aiden. “It’s good to see you again, Aiden. Thank you for what you did for Caylin yesterday. I owe you more than I can ever repay for that.”

  Aiden shakes his head. “You don’t owe me anything, Lilly. I need her just as much as you do.”

  My mother nods and even though I can’t see her face I can sense Aiden’s words are exactly what she wanted to hear from him in that moment.

  Mason phases in behind Aiden and Jess, and I know it must be exactly six o’clock now.

  “Glad to see you could make it, Mason. Why don’t you all come on in,” my mom says, taking a step back from the doorway. “We’re just about ready to sit down and eat.”

  With his head slightly bowed, Aiden crosses the threshold first. When he looks up, his eyes immediately find me. A shy, lopsided smile appears on his face as he quickly looks me up and down, not lingering too long on any particular part of my body before meeting my eyes again. I feel sure my heart misses a beat or two even though it’s hammering so hard against the walls of my chest I can barely breathe. I faintly wonder if I’ll pass out from the rush of blood before the night has even had a chance to begin.

  I feel my cheeks grow warm as I allow myself the pleasure of slowly taking in every detail of Aiden’s appearance as he stands in front of me. I feel my heart melt into a puddle of bliss as I fully realize just how handsome the man who stole it three years ago is.

  He’s dressed simply in a black V-neck sweater and black slacks. His face is clean shaven and his naturally curly hair is gelled and swept back neatly away from his face, accentuating the angular planes of his cheekbones and high forehead. I can tell he made an effort to look nice for our first evening together, and the thought that maybe he’s just as nervous as me makes me smile.

  I’m not sure how long we stand there smiling at one another, but eventually I hear Uncle Malcolm’s voice break the spell between us in his own subtle way.

  “Are the two of you just going to stand there and stare at each other all night?”

  I hear a loud slap.

  “What was that for, Tara?” Uncle Malcolm complains.

  I glance at my uncle to make sure he’s all right and see him rubbing the sting out of his right shoulder as he waits for Aunt Tara’s answer.

  “Stop being rude,” she hisses at him. “If they want to stand there all night let ‘em. They’ve waited three years for this.”

  “But I’m hungry,” Uncle Malcolm whines.

  Aunt Tara makes a zipping motion over her lips with her fingers. Uncle Malcolm doesn’t look too happy, but he doesn’t say anything else.

  I look back at Aiden, and he smiles at me. Apparently, he finds my family as amusing as I do.

  “Caylin,” my dad says, “why don’t you show Aiden into the living room? We’ll call you when it’s time to eat.”

  I nod, silently grateful to my father for giving Aiden and me a moment of privacy before dinner starts.

  I walk the five steps it takes to reach Aiden and hold out my hand to him palm up. He looks at my outstretched hand for only a split second before smiling as if this is the moment he’s been waiting his whole life for and placing his hand into mine. He squeezes my fingers with his slightly, and I feel like my heart will burst with joy I’m so happy.

  I tug on his hand and he follows willingly.

  My dad’s built a fire in the fireplace in our living room, which makes it feel toasty warm and cozy. I sit down on the brown leather sofa directly in front of the fireplace and practically pull Aiden down next to me. He doesn’t seem to mind my man handling of him. In fact, he seems to be enjoying it if the smile on his face is any indication.

  I sit there and just stare at him for a minute, trying desperately to regain my bearings and think straight. But, I can’t seem to.

  My head, my heart, my soul are a jumbled mess and the only words I can seem to find to say to him are, “How are you?”

  Aiden’s grin grows wider, and I know it’s not because he thinks what I’ve said is funny. I get the feeling he thinks it’s cute.

  “I’m fine,” he tells me and squeezes the hand he still holds gently as if to reassure me of his words. “How are you?”

  “Nervous,” I admit as I involuntarily press my free hand against my stomach as if that simple action will stop the flight of butterflies inside it.

  “Why are you nervous?” He asks in a quiet voice.

  “Because,” I begin but lose my train of thought when I look at him and simply shrug helplessly and shake my head unable to find the words I need.

  Aiden sits up slightly and leans in towards me.

  “I don’t want you to be nervous around me, Caylin,” he says in a low voice, for my ears only. “And you should know, I will never judge you. I will never expect you to act a certain way around me except to be yourself. And I will always remain by your side for as long as you’ll have me. There’s nothing you could do, nothing you could say that would make me ever think less of you. I want to become one of the people in your life that you will always feel comfortable to be with. Honestly, between the two of us, I’m the only one who has any reason to feel nervous.”

  “Why?” I ask.

  Aiden looks down at our hands still joined together as he says, “Because you’re in complete control here, Caylin. Any happiness I might find in this life is completely in your hands.”

  He looks up to meet my eyes. I see the uncertainty on his face and know without any doubt that Aiden believes what he just said.

  “If you ever decide that I’m not the man you want to be with…”

  “Stop,” I tell him, finally finding my words. “Don’t even finish that sentence because it isn’t necessary.”

  “But I want you to know…”

  “Stop,” I tell him again more forcefully. “Aiden…” I grow silent to compose my thoughts so he fully understands what he means to me. “Aiden, you’re all I’ve been able to think about for the last three years of my life. There hasn’t been a day, an hour, even a minute that’s gone by since I first saw you at Chandler’s concert when I haven’t thought about you. So please, don’t sit there and think that I would ever want anyone else but you because that’s not even a remote possibility.”

  “You don’t know everything about me, Caylin,” Aiden warns.

  “Whatever you did in your past is in the past as far as I am concerned,” I tell him. “If you feel like you need to tell me what you did, I will listen. But know this… no matter what you say to me, it will not change how I feel about you.”

  “I hope you’re right,” he says, and I see the doubt, even a tinge of self-loathing, cross his face. “I hope it doesn’t because I will tell you one day. I have to. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.”

  “Then tell me when you feel like you need to unburden yourself,” I say. “But understand that it will only be for your benefit. I don’t need to know. Nothing you could possibly say will change how I feel about you.”

  I wanted to tell him that I loved him. I wanted to hug him so tightly that whatever doubts he might have about himself would instantly vanish. But, I did neither. It wasn’t the right time, and I didn’t want to scare him off by acting like a lovesick puppy or a lover who would leach the life out of him every time we were together.

  “And, Aiden,” I say. “I’ve lived around Watchers all my life. I know the good and the bad to being one.”

  Aiden nods. I assume he understands I know about the blood lust attached to the curse from God. My Uncle Malcolm told me about it once, and how he was able to overcome it with my mother’s help.

  “I thought you might have already figured out what I let myself become,” he says. “But, I still need to tell you everything. I don’t feel lik
e it’s fair to you if I don’t.”

  “And like I said, do it when you feel like the time is right. I will listen. But, it won’t change my feelings.”

  Aiden smiles but it’s a sad one. “I hope not.”

  “Caylin,” my dad calls out from the dining area, “it’s time to eat.”

  I look over at my father and see his eyes travel between Aiden and me. Just from the expression on his face, I can see he has his doubts about whether or not Aiden is good enough for me too. It makes me want to scream at them both that there will never be anyone else for me but Aiden. The sooner they both realize that the better off my life will be.

  I look back at Aiden. “Ready to eat?”

  “Are you really asking if I’m ready to be interrogated by your family?” He says, half joking, half not.

  “Don’t worry,” I assure him. “They won’t rip you to shreds and pull out your guts the first dinner.”

  Aiden stares at me as if he’s slightly confused by what I just said but finally gets my sense of humor and grins. When he chuckles at my joke, I feel a bit of his tension fade.

  I stand and keep a hold of his hand as he follows my lead.

  As we walk to the dining room table side by side, I do sort of worry about what will be said by my family to Aiden. Not because I believe they will actually rip him to shreds, but I know my family. They’re not shy when it comes to protecting those they love.

  And if there was one person in the room that they all loved, it was me.

  CHAPTER SIX

  When we walk into the dining area, I see my father having a quiet conversation with Aunt Tara at his end of the table nearest to the kitchen. She looks troubled by what he’s telling her, but she nods like she understands, just doesn’t completely seem to agree.

  My mom and Jess are already seated across from each other on either side of where my father will sit.

  “Aiden,” Jess calls out, patting the seat of the chair beside her, “why don’t you take this seat?”

  “Caylin,” my mom says to me with a small tilt of her head towards the chair beside her, “come sit in your normal spot tonight, sweetie.”

  I know what they’re doing. I just don’t know why. I had fully intended to sit by Aiden at the table during dinner, but it seems important to them for us to sit across from one another instead.

  Aiden squeezes my hand reassuringly before letting it go and walking to the chair beside Jess. I watch him sit down and look back at me expectantly, waiting for me to take my designated chair across from him.

  With a quiet sigh of resignation, I do as instructed and go sit by my mom.

  Aunt Tara sits down on the other side of me with Uncle Malik sitting next to her. My dad and Uncle Malcolm take their regular seats at each end of the table and Mason sits on the other side of Aiden.

  Our plates have already been loaded with a pan-fried filet mignon wrapped in bacon, goat cheese whipped potatoes sprinkled with fresh chives, and sautéed asparagus with pancetta, pepper flakes and pine nuts. Small bowls of Caesar salad sit by the plates with a goblet full of ice-cold sweet tea to wash it all down.

  Like always, my Aunt Tara says a short prayer before we’re allowed to start eating.

  “Dear Lord, thank you for this meal and this company. Please bless us today and every day of our lives. And grant some of us patience tonight because you know we’re gonna need it. Amen.”

  Ok… that was a weird prayer, even for Aunt Tara. But, I don’t say anything. Sometimes Aunt Tara is just quirky like that.

  “Amen,” we all say before reaching for our napkins and silverware.

  “So, Jess,” my mom says, “what did you and Mason do today for your wedding anniversary?”

  “Slept,” Jess says with an almost guilty smile on her face. “Max and Brynlee stayed with Jonathan and Angela last night. It was the first night in a long time I didn’t have to get up because of Brynlee’s teething. We went to check up on them this afternoon, but Mason’s son spoils Max so much our little man practically begged to stay one more night.” Jess looks past Aiden over at Mason and smiles. “Don’t let me forget we need to get some matches later this evening.”

  Mason looks over at his wife and grins. “Oh, don’t worry. I won’t let you forget.”

  I have no idea why Jess and Mason are always needing so many matches, but they seem to use them a lot at their house. They’ve mentioned needing them often in the past three years.

  I look over at Aiden and see him staring down at his steak but not touching it since he made his first slice.

  “Don’t you like steak?” I ask him, not understanding why he’s not eating.

  Aiden looks up from his plate to meet my questioning gaze, and I know something is wrong because the happiness of this evening is gone from his eyes.

  “I like mine cooked a little bit more,” he answers.

  I look down at his plate and notice his steak is practically raw on the inside. It’s only been seared on the outside to appear cooked but the inside of it is bleeding red.

  “Oh, sorry, that’s my fault,” Uncle Malcolm says to Aiden off-handedly. “I told Brand you might like it a little…bloody.”

  I look down the table and see Uncle Malcolm grinning tight lipped at Aiden not looking in the least bit apologetic.

  Aiden’s expression is a mask of control as he turns his head to look at Uncle Malcolm and says, “I like my steaks well done actually.”

  I hear the scrape of a chair being moved and see my dad stand.

  “Give me your plate, Aiden,” he says, holding out his hand in Aiden’s direction. “I made some extra steaks just in case anyone wanted more to eat.”

  Aiden hands his plate to my dad. “Thank you.”

  My dad walks into the kitchen to fix Aiden a completely new plate. I assume this is because so much of the blood from the steak leaked beneath the side dishes making them inedible now.

  “So, Aiden,” Uncle Malik says as he cuts into his own steak, “I can’t say I know that much about you. What is it that you do exactly?”

  “I’m still in charge of the Watcher Headquarters in Memphis,” Aiden tells him, “but since the Tear closed, I’ve been helping Jess and Mason track down changelings when I can.”

  “And you’ve been keeping track of Baal for how long?” My mom asks.

  “Just the last three months. Andre Greco from the headquarters in Venice and I have been taking turns keeping track of his movements.”

  “I seem to recall you having quite a few friends in Venice,” Uncle Malcolm says to Aiden, making the word ‘friends’ sound dirty. “Happen to visit any of them lately?”

  Aiden’s eyes narrow on Uncle Malcolm, but that’s the only indication that what my uncle asked bothers him.

  “No,” Aiden answers. “I haven’t seen those particular friends for a long time now.”

  Uncle Malcolm raises a dubious eyebrow. “And you expect me to believe that?”

  Aiden just stares at Uncle Malcolm for a minute before answering as if he’s weighing his next words carefully.

  “You can believe what you want, Malcolm,” Aiden finally answers.

  “Aiden,” Aunt Tara says as if she’s purposely trying to draw Aiden’s attention away from my uncle, “are you going to be staying with the agency or do you have other plans? I know some of the Watchers have decided to quit and do other things.”

  “I’ve actually signed up to start an art history program in the Fall at a university here in the states.”

  “You have?” I ask him, gaining his full attention. “Which university?”

  Aiden smiles at me and happiness returns to his eyes. “Yale.”

  I bite the inside of my bottom lip to stop myself from smiling but it doesn’t help. I end up smiling so wide the sides of my cheeks begin to hurt. To know Aiden planned so far ahead to share my college experience with me makes me happy. It’s as simple as that. And I realize I shouldn’t have to hide something that makes me so happy.

  “Ahh, col
lege,” Uncle Malcolm says as if he has fond memories of collegiate life, “a place filled with a plethora of intelligent and impressionable young women ripe for the picking. Wonderful hunting grounds back in the day.”

  “I’ll only be interested in one young lady,” Aiden tells Uncle Malcolm.

  “And you imagine the other few hundred young women there will just ignore someone who looks like you?” Uncle Malcolm scoffs.

  “I really don’t care if they know I exist or not. I won’t be there for them.”

  “There was a time not so long ago that you would have cared.”

  “But I don’t now.”

  Uncle Malcolm snorts derisively. “Guess we’ll see.”

  “I give you my word the way I behaved in the past is not the way I behave now or will ever again. The past is behind me. I’m only looking towards the future that’s in front of me. I thought you of all people would understand that, Malcolm.”

  “People don’t change overnight,” Uncle Malcolm says, sitting back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest, “least of all someone with a past like yours.”

  I see Aiden’s jaw muscles tighten.

  “If I haven’t proven it to you by now,” Aiden says, in a controlled voice, “I guess I never will.”

  Aiden stands from his seat and turns to my father.

  “I’m sorry, but I think I should be leaving now,” he says to my dad.

  I feel my heart sink into my stomach as the perfect night is quickly turning into the perfect nightmare.

  I stand up.

  “No,” I beg, “please don’t go.”

  Aiden looks at me and I see the apology in his eyes before he even says, “I’m sorry, Caylin. I need to go before I say something I’ll regret to your uncle and ruin the evening for everyone else.”

  “Aiden,” my father says, drawing his attention, “please, sit down. You’ll have to forgive Malcolm…and me for that matter. I asked him to test you.”

  “Test me?” Aiden asks, a confused look on his face.

  “I needed to know how you would react to being confronted with your past in front of Caylin.”