Watch Over You
Page 17
With the absence of the coffee shop, the shadow walkers swooped in fast. Eric didn’t fight them. He didn’t run away. The only hope he had was to beg them to let him continue. It had worked this time. She was closer now; she was in his world. She had spoken to him. It would be easier.
It took him weeks after that to get back to her. He kept getting closer, but his strength of mind wasn’t enough. He’d make it so far and then catch sight of his reflection somewhere. The manifestation of Devan would dissolve immediately and he would turn back into Eric once again. His soul was fading fast now. The shadows were relentless. As soon as something went wrong, they whipped him out of there and dragged him back to…whatever that place was. It wasn’t heaven that was for sure. Limbo.
They had put the swallow in his hand. It was his final chance they had told him. It carried his soul. His soul bled with sadness and poured from the swallow’s eyes. She was to touch it. That was the key. The swallow would carry her soul back to them and to where she was meant to be. He just had to get her to understand that she was dead before she did that, though, otherwise she would just get trapt in this in-between ether. She was standing on a bridge the next time that he found her. He had bandaged the swallow until she would be ready to touch it. He couldn’t risk the shadow walkers getting her sooner through it. Five weeks had perhaps passed since their first proper encounter.
He knew as he stood behind her on the bridge that it was the final stretch, and he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight again. There was no way he was going to lose her or cross over without her. He could not fail.
* * *
She lay on him now, listening as he explained everything to her; the shadows, the swallow. Why he was Devan and not Eric. The fact that the only solution he had come up with was to take her through their life together, to lead her to the end and hope that she would accept what she saw.
Eric was on his back and she was sprawled out on his chest, her chin resting on her arms as he talked to her. She was where she wanted to be. She had everything she could ever want. Tara couldn’t stop smiling. However, there was just one final piece to the puzzle left - except this time it was Tara who held the answer, not Eric. Her stomach fluttered with excitement. “Can I show you something?” she asked him when he had finished talking.
She moved up his body and ran her fingers through his hair. She chewed on her bottom lip as she studied his beautiful face. Would they always look this way? This age? She hoped so, but in other ways she didn’t. They’d miss growing old together.
“What is it?”
She pushed herself further up his chest and kissed him full on the mouth. She beamed at him, her face inches from his. Grinning, she was on her feet in the next instant. “Come with me.” Eric hardly had time to stand before she was yanking him up with her.
“Tara?”
She loved the way he looked at her. She loved his slender face and the dimple that formed when he got an expression that was neither confusion nor a smile, but something melded between.
“Take my hand and kiss me,” she whispered.
“That’s my line.”
“Shut up and do it.” He laughed but didn’t get the chance to carry out her order. She was already pulling him down and kissing him. When they opened their eyes, they were at their coffee shop.
“What are we doing here?”
“You’ll see.” It wasn’t the coffee shop that Tara wanted Eric to see. It was something much more extraordinary that she could give him. Tara understood more than anything why Eric had shown her the things he had. He was her swallow. Her mate for life - and death - but more than that, he completed her. Now she wanted to make him as full as she felt.
Tara’s heart almost burst from happiness as they watched the shadow girl approaching them. Only this time, she was no longer a shadow. She was a normal girl - young and slim, with dark hair that fell down her back in soft waves. Her eyes were an incredible shade of blue, one that Tara had only ever seen in Eric.
Tara bit down on her lip to keep it from quivering. Tears welled up in her eyes, but it wasn’t from sadness. It was joy.
Eric stood motionless as the girl moved towards them. Tara felt him start to tremble next to her. “Sam?” His voice was an inaudible whisper. Tears were streaming down his face as he took a tentative step towards her. “Samantha?” he croaked. The girl gave a nervous nod and then smiled at him. The next minute, she had flung her arms so tight around Eric’s neck that even Tara could feel it inside her chest. Her heart swelled as she heard Eric sob. “Oh god, Sam,” he cried, lifting his sister off the ground and hugging her tight.
As her heartbeat sped up in tandem with Eric’s excitement, Tara thought about what Devan had told her on the stairs not so long ago. It skipped and it jumped, and she was sure it was going to explode at any moment. It lifted in elation as Eric spun his sister around and refused to let her go.
It was the truth. Their hearts really did beat as one.
The End
Thank you so much for reading. Please feel free to drop me an email or visit me on Facebook.
Mason
masonsabre2@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/msabre3