“Yeah,” I shrugged and gave her a tight-lipped smile. “I didn’t know when I had those made that it really would be infinity. Well, two thousand years’ worth of it anyway.”
She smiled back and glanced at the mirror above my dresser. “May I?”
I waved her over. The torque was hers. Who was I to say no if she wanted to try it on? In my secret heart of hearts, the one I’d kept smashed down in the bottom of my soul, I wanted to see it on her again. Needed to see it.
Zoe moved in front of the glass, pushing her hair behind her shoulders and slipped the torque around her neck. She smiled at me in the mirror as the heavy metal settled against her delicate collarbones. My heart lurched in my chest at the sight of her, and of the jewelry sitting once again where it belonged.
“It’s beautifu…” Her eyes widened and then rolled back in her head as she collapsed to the carpet. I raced across the room, arriving just in time to keep Zoe’s head from hitting the floor. She twitched in my arms, her eyeballs moving rapidly beneath the lids. What the ever-loving fuck?
Lifting Zoe, I settled her against my chest and carried her over to the bed. She lay still against the fluffy blue duvet, her chest rising and falling so fast I feared she would hyperventilate. “Come back to me, Zoe.” I muttered the same thing over and over as the minutes ticked by and she remained unconscious. “Please. Please let this work.”
***
Voices, sounds and images rushed at me the moment I slipped the torque around my neck. I looked in the mirror, Alex’s gaze clashing with mine seconds before everything went black. I’d seen the fear in his amber eyes in that brief moment.
The next thing I knew, a much different looking Alex stood in front of me. Golden clips were interspersed through his long black curls, securing it behind his shoulders, and a pristine white tunic draped over his chest. Love shone from his completely normal, but beautiful, brown eyes. He bent at the waist, a smile on his lips as I felt myself reach up, place something around his neck and then caress his smooth left cheek. When he straightened again I saw that he wore the matching torque to the one I’d put on.
Cheers full of blessings and congratulations rang out around us. I’d never heard the language before, but instinctively recognized it as Ancient Macedonian. The Alex from that time cupped my face, his lips brushing mine. I closed my eyes and opened for him, our tongues brushing against each other in a slow, sweet kiss. This man… Oh, how he loved me.
My eyes opened again to find a different Alex leaning over me, his face etched with tears and spattered with blood. His bloodstained fingers brushed over my face, stroking the hair from my brow as I gasped for breath. I coughed and more blood spattered his handsome face. It occurred to me then—this was my death. The very first, and the one that pushed Alexander to the lengths he’d taken to sacrifice his life for mine. A warm tear splashed my cheek, our eyes meeting as my heart stuttered. “Don’t leave me, мојата сакана еден.” I knew the words meant ‘my beloved one’ and my soul wept for him as I felt the life begin to fade from the original me. I knew now—this wasn’t the end for me; but, watching the sorrow on Alex’s face as he pleaded and bargained for my life broke my heart.
Life after life flashed by—one for each century following the first. After Alex’s deal with the gods to save me, I’d woken up to discover my husband gone and our baby growing in my belly. A child Alex had no knowledge of when he’d disappeared in service of the gods. The daughter who would grow up to be the grandmother of my next reincarnation—a pattern which would follow for the next two thousand years, every Mesha woman naming her first-born daughter Zoe in honor of the original woman who had lost her husband. None of them knew how Alexander had supposedly died. I’d passed it off as a sudden sickness that took him swiftly while we were away on holiday; his body burned to prevent further spread of the illness. Our love, and tragic ending, was the stuff of legend through generation after generation of the Mesha family.
The last image faded, my mother’s face as she held me for the first time, and a soft feminine voice whispered, “Zoe, wake up.” Darkness enveloped me and I relaxed into it, certain of what I needed to do when I woke up.
My eyes fluttered open sometime later, my cheek resting against a hard chest. His heart thumped beneath my ear and his fingers traced slow, familiar patterns down the length of my spine. Alexander and I had spent many nights snuggled like this during our brief marriage. I let out a breath, turned my face toward Alex’s chest and hummed softly. He stopped stroking my back and shifted beneath me.
“You still smell the same.” Alex rolled until I lay on my back. His handsome face hovered above mine, hope shining in his eyes. I smiled as I reached up and tangled my fingers through the thick curls of his hair. “But, I wonder… do you kiss the same, мојата сакана еден?”
He grinned and leaned in, lips brushing mine as he’d done in the vision of our wedding. I smiled against his lips and opened, sweeping my tongue out to meet his in a kiss that was two thousand years in the making.
A solid weight thumped against my side, pulling my focus from the warm mouth and soft lips pressed to mine. I reached down, my fingers wrapping around cool metal. The other torque, I realized. Alex’s wedding band. I picked it up, bringing the gold band up between us. Our eyes met and I smiled, recalling the final moments of my trip through memory lane.
Alexander tensed, his muscles rigid where they touched mine. His brows furrowed as he glanced at the torque, and then at me. I reached up, running the fingers of my left hand through his hair.
“Do you want to be free, Alex?” He pulled back as if I’d slapped him, eyes narrowed. I twirled the torque between my fingers and smiled. “It can be done. Right now. All you have to do… is put this on, and repeat our wedding pledge.”
He closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath. “It can’t be that easy, Zoe.” Alex re-opened his eyes, amber colliding with my brown, and shook his head. “The gods wouldn’t make it that easy.”
“What part of any of this has been easy, my love?” I laughed softly and held the torque up, the ends caressing the back of his neck. “Two thousand years apart, unable to seek me out or make contact, was easy? Missing out on our daughter’s life, our grandchildren’s, was easy?” I leaned up and kissed him, a gentle brush of my lips against his. “Take what is yours, Alexander. To hell with the gods and their curse. What more can they take from you, from us? Lean back. Slide the torque around your neck, repeat our vow, and break free of them.”
Chapter Seven
Could it really be this easy? I closed my eyes, focused on where the ends of the torque pressed on the back of my neck, and recalled the promise we’d made to each other on our wedding day. The ceremony held no vows, per se, but Zoe and I had opted to make a promise to each other anyway.
Eyes opened, I bent and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “One mind. One body. One love. Forever.” I murmured the words and pushed back. The torque slid around my neck, it’s heavy ends resting on my collarbones, and sealed the commitment.
“One mind,” Zoe repeated. “One body. One love. Forever.”
Searing pain blasted through every nerve ending I possessed. I had the wherewithal to roll off Zoe before my muscles seized. Body bowed, I gritted my teeth to keep from releasing the scream built up in the back of my throat. A solitary thought wormed its way through the agony of my imploding consciousness—relief. I recognized this pain, welcomed it with open arms as I had the first time it tore through my body and bound my soul to the gods. Except this time, I was breaking the bond and setting myself free. Free of their malicious demands. Free of their childish behavior. Free of a solitary life without the other half of my broken soul.
Zoe’s voice echoed through the haze of agony, a soothing balm against the tidal wave of pain. “Breathe, Alex. Breathe, and come back to me.”
I wanted to, but the curse would have its final say and keep me locked in torment until its grasp loosened and I was set free. Through it
all, however long I lay there, Zoe remained at my side. Her presence and gentle touch soothed my mind. She was my beacon in the darkness. My love. My life. My savior.
The curse pushed another wave of pain through me, a final twist of the knife in my soul. Darkness encroached, and I let it take me as I felt my last ties to the gods release their hold. I felt my lips curl into a smile and flipped a mental bird to the gods as I surrendered to unconsciousness. Hasta la vista, motherfuckers.
***
“Welcome back, handsome.”
I opened my eyes and blinked to bring Zoe face into focus. She leaned over me, her auburn curls pooled on my chest and a wide smile on her lips. Sunlight shone against her skin and made her hair shimmer like a fiery halo around her head. I was forgetting something about Zoe and sunlight, but couldn’t think of what as I took in the ethereal beauty of her in the golden light.
“Fuck.” I shot up, pulling her beneath me to shield her from the harmful rays as the memory of her allergy rushed back. “What the hell, Zoe? You can’t be sitting in the sun. Are you nuts?”
Laughter bubbled up from where she lay crushed under my chest. I frowned and pulled back to look at her. She grinned and held up a bare arm, free of blemishes, into the stream of sunlight above my left shoulder. “It’s fine, Alex. The allergy seems to have been part of the curse. I’ve been sitting here enjoying the sun for the last hour while you were in la-la land.”
My right back pocket chose that moment to vibrate and I jumped. Zoe chuckled and brought her arm back down. “That thing has been going off like crazy since you passed out. Might want to check it.”
I sighed, rested my forehead against hers for a moment and pressed a kiss to the tip of her adorably upturned nose. “Whoever it is can wait. I’ve waited way too long to have you back in my arms. Five minutes won’t kill them.”
“Alex… I’m not going anywhere.” She brushed her fingertips over my temples and gave my earlobes a gentle tug the way she had so long ago. I’d forgotten how much I loved the little gesture. “And they’ve been messaging or calling non-stop so I’d say it’s a sure bet there’s something urgent that needs your attention.”
A series of curses slipped from my lips as I pulled the phone free of my pocket and rolled to my back. Half a dozen calls each from the other five warriors, and double the amount of text messages, waited in my inbox. Shit. I opened the last message from Noah and scanned the barrage of texts.
Dude?
What the fuck?
Fall? Did you do it?
Oh, man. You did. Congrats.
Fucktarts! Houston, we have a problem… A big, motherfucking, apocalyptic problem… of the Ra variety.
My heart skipped a beat at the mention of Ra. Bad things happened when The Eye got involved. Really, really bad things. Violent, bloody things. Fantastic.
I sent Noah a text instructing him to gather the others and regroup at my house, then turned my attention to Zoe, my heart sinking as the smile slipped from her face. Whatever my expression held, she knew it was bad. “What is it?”
“Hell.” I let out a long breath and blinked slowly. “Hell’s been let out for recess, and she’s coming for us. All of us.”
About the Author
Danielle is an International Amazon and All Romance eBooks Bestselling Author. She is currently pursuing her dream of writing, editing and graphic design while maintaining a full-time job.
She resides in Guelph, Ontario, Canada with her two beautiful teenage sons. Her incredibly supportive, and loving Partner is also never far from her side and cheering Danielle on like the Number One fan that He is.
Danielle welcomes email and you may contact her at [email protected]. Follow Danielle on Twitter @DanielleGavan or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DanieGavan/
Her guilty pleasures are her favorite television shows Supernatural, and Game of Thrones.
Danielle welcomes email and you may contact her at [email protected].
Find Danielle on the web:
Author website: http://www.daniellegavan.com
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Blog: http://dgavan.blogspot.com/
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Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Danielle-Gavan/e/B0047ZWBMO/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1465509165&sr=8-2-ent
Fallen (Northern Bites Book 1) Page 4
