I turned back around, let out a slow breath, and stepped into the cool water. The grey water had a chill, like the wind. My steps were slower now as I walked further into the water. My feet were wet, then my legs, and before I knew it I was up to my waist. Wasn’t that far enough?
The voice laughed. “Keep coming.”
I listened. I had come this far already; I wasn’t going to stop. I resisted the urge to turn back toward the shore to see James. I needed to keep my mind clear. I stepped further into the water until it reached my chest. Then I stepped a few more times, closing my eyes as the water splashed my face. Two more steps, and I was under water.
10
Ainsley
“You can open your eyes.” The voice spoke, but this time it wasn’t in my head.
I listened to the voice, surprised when water didn’t flood my eyes. I let out the breath I was holding. Breathing. I was breathing. Underwater. At least I thought I was underwater. Hadn’t I been headed that way?
I saw nothing at first, only more greyness, but after blinking a few times I noticed the outline of a man. His clothes, skin, and eyes were all grey. His chin was covered in a thin layer of stubble, but under the hair I could see it was the same shape as mine.
He was in his mid- thirties maybe, but it was hard to tell with all the monochrome color. One thing was for sure. He was too young to be my father. Disappointment flooded me.
“You look a little bit like your mother.” His grey eyes peered into mine. “But mostly you look like my side of the family.”
“Who are you?” I forced myself to maintain eye contact.
“You know who I am.” His lips twisted into a smile.
“You are too young to be my father.” I let the words spill out.
“Age is different for a Guardian. James will age slowly too. As will you.”
“Umm…” I struggled to come up with something to say. Evidently the ability to breath underwater didn’t come with better communication skills.
“I wish we would have met before I passed from the living. But that is a selfish wish.”
“Why would that be selfish?” I wanted the same thing, and I didn’t view it as selfish at all. Shouldn’t a father want to know his daughter and vice versa? Wasn’t that only natural?
“Because it would have put you in danger when you were younger. The way things worked out you actually got a normal childhood.” His expression was almost wistful.
“I would have rather known you.” All those years of questions, most importantly why. Why had my mother chosen to keep him from my life—or had it been him who decided it? I needed to be honest. “And I need to know something. Did you know about me? Did you choose to leave?”
“Of course not. Your mother was trying to protect me. I know that now. She was misguided, but you shouldn’t blame her.”
“Protecting you how?”
“She thought my basketball career was more important. Which it wasn’t. Not by a long shot. I was only using it to help pass the time.”
“No one plays basketball for the Tar Heels to pass the time.” I had spent enough years in Chapel Hill to know that.
He smiled. “I enjoyed the game, but I knew my destiny was always to return to Energo.”
“So even if you had known me, you would have left?”
He shook his head. “No, I would have taken you with me if your mother agreed.”
“What if she said no?” Maybe it was silly to push him on what ifs in a situation that could never happen now.
“Then I would have come back to visit.” He smiled again. “I wish that would have been our biggest problem.”
“You wish a lot of things.” The words spilled out before I could process what I was saying.
He chuckled. “True. I am sure most of the dead feel the same way. We are all full of wishes for things we could have done or said.”
“Am I dreaming? Not that you’d be honest, but none of this seems real.”
“You’re awake. As hard as it is to believe, this is real.” He spread out his arms.
“Elron said the world isn’t grey for you.” For some reason that really mattered. I didn’t want my father seeing only grey for the rest of all time. And he was my father. I knew it; it was impossible to deny now. I was filled with conflicting emotions: relief to know who he was, sadness that he had died before we had a chance to meet, and confusion over what to do now. Interestingly anger at my mother for keeping him from me wasn’t part of my feelings. It was as if his wish for me to not be angry was impossible to ignore.
“No. It isn’t. It’s colorful in a different way than my life before.”
“Am I what you expected?” I knew we were short on time, but there were some questions I needed answers to.
“What do you mean?”
I looked around at the grey waves surrounding us as I tried to come up with the right words to rephrase my question. “I’m asking if I’m a disappointment.”
“Why would you ask that? Of course not.”
“Because I am pretty sure I can’t do whatever it is you want me to do. I assume you brought me here because you need me to do something.” He had to have wanted something from me. Getting me to come to the realm of the dead was a pretty drastic move if he only wanted to meet me.
“Why do you doubt yourself so much?” He reached out as if to touch me, but then let his arm fall to the side. “Why are you lacking in confidence?”
I found the easiest excuse I could. “I am out of my element here I guess.”
“Anyone living is out of their element here.”
“You know what I mean.” I rolled my shoulders. Every inch of me was stiff.
“And I know you will be fine. Heroes aren’t born as heroes.”
“Meaning?” I hoped he wasn’t implying I would become a hero, because I knew for sure I wouldn’t.
“Meaning, you step up to what life puts in your way.”
“Oh.” I guess that made sense.
“You and your cousin Charlotte have a lot in common. You remind me so much of her.”
“In what way?” I was still getting used to the idea of having cousins.
“You are both far stronger than you give yourself credit for.”
I wasn’t going to argue with him, so I stayed quiet.
“There is so much I want to ask you, so many things I want to share, but unfortunately we don’t have enough time.” His eyes were sad.
“What do you mean? There’s a time limit?” I eyed the grey waves surrounding us. Would they suddenly fall and send me back into the water?
“Elron is playing with time. I am sure he understands some of the dangers, but he cannot possibly know all of them.”
“And that means we have to speed up?” I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye yet. We had only just met.
“It means you cannot afford to waste a second.”
“Ok. So what am I supposed to be doing?” He had to at least tell me that.
“You need to find a flower.”
I had to have heard him wrong. “Uh, what?”
“Charlotte is searching for something—she thinks she is getting it for one reason, but really it is for another.”
“Could you speak in normal language here?” I needed more to go on than that.
“I wish we could have met this way the first time you went to Energo. You had more knowledge.”
“Yeah, and I don’t quite get why Elron went back in time.”
“You were poisoned.”
“Poisoned?” Was he serious? “You say that so calmly.”
“Because I can give you the tools to rid yourself of it, if you so choose.”
“If I so choose?”
Monty nodded. “Life is full of tough choices.”
“Where is this going?” Once again I spoke my thoughts out loud.
“Our world, and I mean Energo when I say that because it is your world as much as it is my own, requires sacrifice.”
“Uh, like human
sacrifice?”
“Not in the way you are thinking. But sacrifice none the less. For every win there is a loss. It’s a balance I never fully understood when I was alive.”
“Ok… so what kind of sacrifice are we talking?”
“Do you feel anything for James?”
“Yes. I know I shouldn’t. I just met the guy, but—” I felt so much more than I could describe. Some of it was sexual—urges, needs— but other parts went deep into my heart and soul.
“You should feel it. Your connection is very rare.”
“Is rare a good thing?” I still knew so little about being a kindred.
“Rare is powerful.”
“And what does that mean?”
“You may have to sacrifice it.”
“Oh.” Sacrifice the bond? How was that even possible? I didn’t want to lose it. Was I crazy to care after knowing him for such a short time?
“And that sacrifice may destroy both of you.”
“Oh.” This was getting better and better. “And why would we do this?”
“As I said, this would make more sense if you had the prior memories.”
“I want the info.” I couldn’t make a choice without it. It would be like going into things blind.
“You will regain the knowledge. I can’t stop that from happening.”
“Oh. Is it going to be bad? Getting that knowledge? Does it mean returning to the other time or something?”
“It means eventually sending you back to the other time. You will see for yourself, but before you leave, I need to share something with you.”
“Share what?” Hopefully he would explain more about this flower. It would be hard to find something when I knew almost nothing about it.
“When you face Charlotte, tell her to remember her first kiss with Liam and what she went through afterward.”
“Ok, what?”
“She will understand, and I’m hoping it will snap her out of the desperate state she’s in.”
“Desperate state?”
“It will all make sense later.”
“Later, when?” My head whirled with questions.
“When you return to the other time, but first you have to find the flower. It’s absolutely essential to your chance of survival—oh and for your other home.”
“Um, you have completely lost me now. Please explain.” I was close to begging.
“You need to go to Mount Majest and seek council with the Elders. They alone can give you the flower.”
“And will they give it to me?”
Monty’s expression darkened. “Not without a price.”
“Great.” This whole situation was getting better and better. “What kind of price?”
“Stay strong, Ainsley. You are a daughter of Belgard. You will survive if it is your wish.”
“Will I ever see you again?” I wasn’t sure if this was a one-time use kind of thing. And what did he mean about surviving if I wished to? Wasn’t it only natural to want to survive?
“Not like this. But other ways.”
“Other ways?” Hopefully they did not involve returning to the land of grey.
“You are a very curious girl.”
“Of course I’m curious. I know nothing about what’s going on.”
“I look forward to the next time.”
“Wait. What?” Panic flooded me. “We’re done? That’s all you’re going to give me?”
“Your companions will help you along the way.” His eyes twinkled and a burst of light temporarily blinded me. The next thing I knew I was floating back toward the shore.
11
James
I waited right at the edge of the water. I was close to jumping in a few times, but Elron stopped me. I had seen with my own eyes the water open up to allow her in, but I was still worried. She was taking far too long. I needed to protect her. I should have gone with her, but she had insisted I stay back.
“Calm down. She will be fine.” Elron joined me.
“Easy for you to say.” He had no idea the emotions welling in me. I had never felt so out of control in my life, and I had been through my share of intense experiences before.
He chuckled. “I care too you know, but I understand your bond is doing this to you.”
“It is more than the bond. It is her.” I had felt something the first moment we met, and I refused to blame it all on a supernatural bond. What we had would have existed even if The Source had not willed it.
“I wonder if it went this fast the first time,” he said with wonder.
“You do not know?” I was surprised. He seemed to know everything. And for better or worse I was putting a lot of trust in him. Normally I would have resisted. I had learned early trust is something difficult to earn and easy to break, but this time it came easily, which scared me almost as much as my bond with Ainsley.
He shook his head. “No. I did not meet you right away.”
“Tell me about the poison. What does it mean?”
“It means she needed you, or she could not survive.”
“Needed me how?” I kept my eyes fixed on the water as I spoke.
“Needed you in the carnal way. You two could not be apart for too long or she would die.”
A pang shot through my chest. “No.”
“Yes. Your father turned her into a vessel.”
“Why did you choose to travel time? At what moment?” I needed to know even if I already realized it would be painful to hear.
My attention moved back to the water as I noticed something dark floating toward the surface.
“Ainsley!” I jumped in and swam out to her, pulling her back to shore. I cradled her in my arms. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She assured me. "I'm warm."
I ran my hand down her arm, enjoying the spark that built every time we touched. "But you are wet."
"I was underwater." She seemed to marvel at her own words. "That was crazy."
"The dead can only converse with us on planes they create. Monty choose to create one underwater." Elron explained.
"And that was really him?" She seemed to only be half asking the question.
"I can't imagine it was anyone else."
“It was really him, not just a projection or something?" She moved to sit up, and I let her, but I kept her in my arms.
"It was him or the part of him that resides here." Elron crouched down next to us.
She groaned. "Thanks for the clear answer."
Elron stood up. "I thought you wanted honesty."
"I did, or do." She leaned back against my chest. "But I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?"
"What did he tell you?" I wanted to let her talk at her own pace, but I also needed to know what was going on.
"We need to find a flower." She squeezed out some water from her hair, careful not to get it on me even though I was as wet as she was.
"A flower?" I made sure I heard her correctly.
"What kind?" Elron asked
“He didn’t actually tell me the name.”
“Oh…” Elron’s voice fell.
“But he told me who I need to get it from.”
“And why do we need this flower?” Did this counteract the poison? If that was the case I would stop at nothing to find it.
“It’s something Charlotte wants. I gather this is for bargaining purposes.”
“Genius.” Elron started to pace. “Of course.”
“Why would she need to bargain with Charlotte?” It made no sense. Charlotte had to be on our side.
Elron stopped pacing. “Because at the moment I left Charlotte had sent an army against you.”
“Sent an army?” I struggled to accept the words Elron had shared. “Impossible. I am one of her Guardians.”
“As impossible as your father’s return would be.” Elron met my eyes. “Nothing is impossible when true evil is involved.”
He was right, and it sent a jolt of fear through me. “Where do we find this flower?”
I did not want to believe Charlotte would turn on me, but maybe it was the other way around? If I was dark enough to poison Ainsley—whether it was intentional or not—I was capable of anything.
“All he told me was it’s called Mount Majest, and I need to find these people called the Elders?”
Elron paled. “Are you sure that is what he said?”
Ainsley nodded. “Yes. I remember what he said word for word since he didn’t say much.” She was disappointed at how little he had told her. I wondered if I knew that from her expression or our connection.
I understood Elron’s disbelief. I believed her, but I did not want to. I had never met the Elders, and I never planned to. Why would Charlotte want something from the nearly god like creatures that lived atop the mountain where the Source flowed from? And why would she not get what she needed herself if it was so important—or better yet have her Gerard or Guardians do it? “And he said nothing else on the topic? He gave no other advice?”
“No.” Ainsley looked down. “By the time he got to this part he seemed to be in a hurry.” She continued staring at her lap, and a small part of me wondered if she was holding something back. “I take it these Elders aren’t the type of people I want to meet?”
“First, they are not people.” I tried to explain as gently as possible. “That is a key part.”
“What are they?” Ainsley glanced up, and the fear in her eyes was plain as day. I could feel her fear. I wanted to ease it, but I had no idea how since her concern was completely reasonable.
“They are tantamount to gods.”
“Like the Greek gods or something?’ Ainsley stood up.
I felt her absence immediately and moved to my feet.
“That is a good way to think of them.” Elron turned with his back to the water. “And if you know anything about those beings, you know they like to play with mortals.”
“I remember that from school.” Ainsley ran her hands through her hair as if trying to brush it.
“Meeting them is not going to be an enjoyable experience, and I cannot imagine what we could offer them in exchange for this flower.” Elron frowned.
“I guess we will figure that out later.” She gazed toward the lake. “He’s not still there is he?” She pointed to the water. “There’s no point trying to find him for more answers?”
Forged in Light (The Forged Chronicles Book 4) Page 7
