by Diana Nixon
"See? Some of them are the same," Evan said.
"Yeah, but most of them are different," I added. "Who knows what those symbols on the ceiling mean?"
"My father should know," Christian replied.
"Know what?" Patrick asked, entering the office.
"What do those symbols on the Great Hall's ceiling mean?"
"Oh, it's a message left by the founding families to their descendants. Wait a second, I have the exact translation somewhere," he said, opening one of the drawers of his desk. "What do you need it for?"
"We found these pictures in the archive downstairs," Evan said, showing him our drawings. "We have been looking for some information about the hidden spell, and this is the result of our search."
"Interesting," Patrick said, looking briefly at the papers. "Here," he said, turning the pages of a book in his hands. "The symbols mean the following, "Let the light of the moon and the sun lead you to the source of power and the magic shows you the way to the stars."
"A very meaningful message," Evan said.
"It's just not our best day," I replied, smiling at his comment. "Anyway, what language was the message written in?"
"It's an old language, invented by the founders of Dever," Patrick said. "They used it to compose the spells and describe the properties of different objects. Unfortunately, we don't have any dictionary to translate the writing. And we don't even know the number of letters its alphabet consisted of. But there are some translations in other books where you can see the same symbols."
Patrick found those books and told us which pages kept phrases that would help us to decipher the map's writings. But it wasn't enough. We found only a few new words such as: a stone, a leaf, a flower and an arrow. The drawings looked like a mixture of lines and crosses. But we admitted that some parts of the maps we found were the same.
"Do you think these maps say where the spell is hidden?" I asked my companions.
"Anything is possible," Evan said, shrugging. "We should show them to Darcy. Maybe she saw something similar in Camilla's diaries."
"Not gonna happen any time soon," Christian said. "She went to London. Some family stuff, I guess. But she promised to come back on Christmas."
"So the only thing we can do now is to wait," Evan summed up. "Do you mind if I leave you guys for a while?"
"I thought Tara asked you not to interrupt her classes?" I said, squinting.
"Who said I was going to see Tara?"
"Whatever, Evan. Just behave yourself," I warned. He winked and smiled cannily, heading for the door. "We don't want her to run away in the morning!" I added.
"I'll be a good boy, mummy!" he shouted from the hall.
Christian and I left all the papers in the office and went out into the street. But the weather wasn't good enough to take a walk, and the chilly wind made us turn to the dorms.
We came to Christian's room and sat on a puffy carpet in front of the burning fireplace, warming our hands.
"You know what? When I was in Eric's dream, I could feel you there too," Christian said with sadness in his eyes. "Your image never left my mind. And even being unconscious, I felt some connection, some invisible bond with you."
"A part of you was always with me," I said, smiling. "The wind was sending me your messages."
"The wind?" Christian repeated, surprised.
"Yes. I could hear its songs everywhere it was blowing. And it was singing in your voice. As if you were talking to me, helping me and protecting me."
"Incredible," Christian whispered, watching me thoughtfully with a slight smile playing on his lips. "How many more things do I have to know about you?"
"You know everything, you just don't remember," I replied, laughing quietly.
"Can you still hear the wind?"
"Yes, but now its songs are different."
"What are they about?"
"About everything. About nature, love and life. About happiness and the most beautiful things in the world. About everything that worries me or makes me smile. About you...."
"About me? So what does the wind say about me?"
"Something that I don't know and something that you never talk about."
"Then it should know how much I love you," Christian said quietly, making my heart miss a few beats.
"And I had never had a chance to say how much I love you," I replied, remembering the moment I found out about his kidnapping. It was the first time I realized that I had never told him about my love. I thought that feeling my emotions through the bond, Christian didn't need any more declarations of my love. But apparently I was wrong.
"Well, you can do it right now," he said in a velvet voice. The flashes of the burning fireplace lighten his face, making him even more irresistible.
I moved closer to him, never breaking eye contact, and whispered, "I love you more than life." Then I put my palms on his cheeks and kissed his lips tenderly.
Time stopped and we lost each other in the warmth of our embrace.
No barriers were left. We belonged to each other and we loved each other so much. All I could think about was the man next to me, who enlightened my soul and my world like nobody else. Nothing could stop us from being together....
We were each other's reflection. Christian repeated my every move and I repeated his. Still kissing me softly, he carried me to his bed and covered my body with his.
His eyes were full of passion, tenderness and endless love. I think I stopped breathing, mesmerized by his gaze. And he laughed softly, touching my lips with his fingertips.
"I could have never imagined that one day I would be so happy with anyone," he said with his breath caressing my cheek. "But you make my life magical, Eileen. You make my existence perfect."
I couldn't find the words to say anything in response, so I put my arms around his neck and kissed him with all the love and need my heart was filled with. I didn't care anymore about his lost memories, because what we felt for each other was so real. He wasn't lying, I knew it for sure, and his affection wasn't an illusion. It was love. Pure and unconditional love.
He was my personal seduction and my cherished dream coming true. He was my life, my word, my protection and my hope. He was the air I couldn't breathe without. And he was there. With me. And nothing else mattered.
I could feel his palms sliding slowly down to my waist, and his kisses covering my cheeks, my neck and all the way to my breast. His hand slid under my sweater and pulled it up, making my skin shiver under his touch. He smiled and took off his own shirt, exposing his perfect chest. I smiled too and put my palm on his heart, beating fast under my fingers.
Every inch of me was craving for him. And he was giving me everything I ever needed, everything I ever wanted. He was giving me himself, making me moan and tremble in his arms. Making me the happiest girl in the world. His every touch was sensual, his every kiss was breathtaking and his every move was heart stopping.
We were closer than we had ever been before and nothing could be compared to that sweet and overwhelming feeling of Christian making love with me.
It was more than I could have ever dreamed of, as none of those dreams could be compared to the reality that was so much better than any fantasy, better than anything I had ever felt.
The world around us disappeared, melting in the songs of our hearts, beating together....
"As I wrap my arms around you
Forever freezes in time;
Nothing matters to me without you
When you are not here, when I can't call you mine.
You make my life amazing
You make right everything wrong;
You can drive me totally crazy
And you can make me powerful and unbelievably strong.
I will always be there for you; I will never let you down,
I will give you my heart and my soul
Just to see the light in your eyes - the most beautiful thing ever known.
I will always be there for you if you cry
/> To wipe your tears away with my kiss,
To take your sorrow away and to make you smile,
Because loving you is something I can't miss.
You are everything I can think about day and night;
Being with you I'm not afraid to cross the line,
Because loving you feels like reaching the sky and touching the light,
Because loving you is the greatest feeling of all the time...."
Epilogue
Christian
It was the first of December. The snow was covering Dever's surroundings with a pure, white blanket, turning it into a magical Christmas fairy-tale. We didn't have classes and most of the students were going home, looking for a whole month of holidays and fun.
I woke up about eight in the morning, waiting for a chance to see Eileen. I knew that she was still asleep, but there was news I couldn't wait to share with her. There was something we had been waiting for so long to happen.
Now when we were together again, everything was different. Somehow she eclipsed all the problems we have, and only she knew how to make me feel alive.
Every time she touched me I was losing my mind. Every time she kissed me I wanted more. Every time we made love I felt like the luckiest man in the world, holding in my arms the most beautiful creature I've ever seen in my life. And thinking about her perfect body, pressed to mine was driving me crazy.
The fire she sent through my veins was burning everything in its way. She was breaking me apart and loving me at the same time; shattering me into pieces and making me stronger; giving me herself and making me surrender with her every smile. She was like an illusion I was afraid to ruin.
She could be fragile and she could be strong. She could be happy and she could be sad. She could laugh and she could kill with a single gaze. But being with me she was always loving, tender and unbelievably tempting. Maybe she had no idea how sexy she was, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her, following her every move and every gesture. I loved her with all my heart and I was happy, because she belonged to me….
Today I wanted to surprise her, so I came to Eileen's room and opened the door with the key she had given me.
My sister's bed was empty as yesterday she went to Norfield together with our parents. I sat on the edge of Eileen's bed and touched her cheek lightly with my lips. She turned around and smiled sleepily with her eyes closed.
"Christian, what are you doing here?"
"Morning, my angel. I'm sorry for waking you, but I couldn't wait any longer. I need to tell you something.”
"What happened?" she asked worriedly.
"This," I said, taking her hands in mine. Her eyes followed my move and she gasped, surprised, watching the light of golden lines lighting up the entire space between us.
"I can't believe that! The bond's back!" she exclaimed happily, throwing her arms around my neck. "When did it happen?" she asked with a few tears escaping her eyes.
"Last night," I said, smiling and embracing her tightly. "Something woke me up and I didn't immediately recognize what it was. But then I listened to myself and realized that it was your soul, calling me...."
"I'm so glad to hear that," she whispered. "Did you remember anything about me?"
"Yes. Everything. Including our first meeting when I was fourteen, your first day in Dever and our first kiss. Now I remember everything about us."
"God, I thought I would die without a chance to hear these words," she laughed, wiping away happy tears.
"I know how much you suffered from my amnesia. But I swear I will never forget you again. And I remembered something about your bond with Amanda. It did really exist. My parents and I were the only people who knew about it."
"So I was right about the bond. But it doesn't matter now. How do you feel?" she asked with her eyes shining with excitement.
"As if those endless months of emptiness in my head have never happened at all," I said, taking her face in my hands.
"And I don't have to tell you stories about our past anymore!" she smiled, pressing her forehead to mine.
"I can't but admit that some of your stories were even better than my memories," I said, pulling her to my chest.
"Now everything is just the way it used to be."
"No, now everything is much better," I replied, kissing her lips.
Those feelings Eileen and I shared couldn't be compared with anything else. We had to go through so much pain, and now we both knew what it meant to lose love. But what was even more important was that now we both knew what it felt like to have it back. And if anyone ever tells you that distance breaks the bonds of love, don't believe them. True love will overcome everything....
"There's one more thing I wanted to talk to you about," I said, reaching for my jeans to take something from the pocket. "I found this near my door."
"Oh, God," she whispered in a trembling voice, taking a small flower from my hands. Her smile disappeared and her aura immediately darkened.
"What is it, Eileen?" I asked, confused. "Is it about the flower? I thought you left it there."
"This... this is a mestaphia, Christian," she replied, horrified.
"So?"
"This is the flower breaking magic. And your room was charmed by Evan, so no one would enter it without your permission," Eileen said, with her eyes full of worry. "All I'm saying it that someone broke into your room last night...."
To be continued...
Acknowledgements
As always, first of all I wish to thank my family for their infinite patience and support; to my husband Alexander, who inspired me to write Love Lines series. Thank you, Honey for being always there for me.
Many thanks to my beautiful daughter Sophia, who is still too small to read my books but I hope one day, she will realize that my love for her helped me write so many beautiful moments of my stories.
A thousand thanks to my friends, readers and all those people who have supported me during my work on this book. I appreciate your assistance in making this small dream come true!
A special thanks to Mona Tippins for her priceless advices, and to my editor Dawn White for making this book even better!
I would like to say a huge thanks to Amina Black, whose book blog has been tracking my every step while I was writing Songs of the Wind. Amina has done so much to promote my books! She has become my unspoken PR manager and I know that my gratitude will never be enough to thank her for her hard work and support!
Many thanks to my cover designer, Jennifer Mucwami whose every work is a masterpiece.
About the author
Diana Nixon is a poet and the author of paranormal and contemporary romances. She was born in Minsk, Belarus, where she currently lives and works on her books.
In 2008 Diana graduated from Belorussian State University. She has a Master of Law degree and speaks several foreign languages, including English, Polish and Spanish.
Visit author’s website:
http://www.diananixon.blogspot.com/
More books by Diana Nixon:
Love Lines (Love Lines, # 1)
From Scratch (Love Lines, # 2.5)
Diamond Sky (Love Lines, # 3)
The Souls of Rain (Heavens Trilogy, # 1)
The Prisoners of Dreams (Heavens Trilogy, # 1,5)
Hate at First Sight (A contemporary romance)
* * *
[1] From French "Jeez!"
[2] From French "What curst weather!"
[3] From French "Thank you, sweetie"
[4] From French "Like in a fairytale"
[5] From French "Good afternoon, sir"
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