“It doesn’t bother you that after all that time my grandmother intends to turn over responsibility to a total stranger?” Paola asked. She examined his features, wondering what kind of man he was to be that self-sacrificing. The kind of men she normally dealt with were all about themselves. Although yesterday in her office should have clued her in to the fact that he was nothing like the men with whom she normally dealt.
“You’re not a stranger. You’re her granddaughter.”
Not a hint of resentment or anger entered his handsome features, and she was drawn to him once again, but this time because of the honor she was sensing within him.
“If you’ve been with my grandmother all your life—”
“I met your father, although I was very young. Seven or eight. My family had come to live on the plantation shortly after you and your mother left.”
She wondered how much he remembered about her father. Her mother rarely spoke of him and what little she had revealed the other night was troubling. Maybe Rey could provide a different perspective. “What was my father like?”
Rey smiled fondly. “Caring. Friendly. A leader,” he said, but then a shadow passed over his face and settled in his eyes, darkening them to almost black.
“Rey?” she questioned and took hold of his hand, returning his earlier comfort since it was impossible to miss his distress.
“My parents died at his side, protecting the plantation from a band of rogue loggers.”
Cupping the strong line of his jaw, she ran her thumb down the hard planes of his face. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“As I am for yours,” he said, but some of the friendliness had evaporated from his tone.
The plane did a sudden bank again, and she tightened her hold on his hand as he leaned forward to peer through another window. When he sat back, he advised, “We’ll be there soon. Make sure you’re buckled in tight. The landing can be a bit bumpy.”
Bumpy was an understatement. Less than five minutes later, her body and stomach flew high up despite her tightly buckled seat belt when the pontoons smacked into the river’s surface. The fuselage of the tiny plane creaked, rattled, groaned and shook violently as the pilot completed the landing.
She was sure she had left crescent moon cuts in the palm of Rey’s hand from the force of her grip, but Rey did nothing to acknowledge his wounds or make her feel foolish. If anything, he gallantly stabilized her as she wobbled when she stood and helped her from the plane onto the nearby dock.
When she teetered again as the floating timbers shifted, he offered her his arm and escorted her down the long dock to where a group of people waited. The crowd was a mix of the indigenous natives and those descended from the European colonists who had claimed the area for their own. The people were chattering noisily as she and Rey approached, but when they were almost upon them, the crowd parted to reveal an elderly woman amongst them.
She looked regal standing there, her head tilted upward almost defiantly. A gorgeous silver mane of hair was upswept from a face that could have easily passed for that of a woman nearly three decades younger.
Her grandmother, Paola thought, since there was no denying the family resemblance. It was like staring into a mirror and seeing herself in the future. Her mother had not lied when she said that Paola favored the Lopes side of the family.
There was only one problem.
For a woman who was close to ninety and supposedly near death, she looked surprisingly hale and hearty.
Paola paused, shooting an accusatory look at Rey and releasing her hold on his arm. “I thought you said she was ill.”
“I said she wished to see you before her time came. At her age there is no guarantee of tomorrow,” he clarified.
“You led me to believe—”
“That she wanted to see you. As a lawyer I thought you would be more careful about reading other meanings into my words.”
Anger surged through her at his deception, but then she recalled that he had said he was a determined man. He had been resolute to get her here and he had done just that.
“You and I will settle this in private,” she said, not wanting to air any dirty laundry before the group waiting expectantly. Her grandmother’s keen-eyed gaze traveled over both Rey and Paola, clearly assessing them.
Paola pressed forward until she stood before her grandmother. They were both tall. Age had seemingly done nothing to diminish her grandmother’s stature. She stood straight and tall, meeting Paola’s gaze directly.
“Do not be too angry with him, child. He was only trying to please an old woman.”
“Are you ill?” Paola asked, just to be on the safe side.
A wry smile split the old woman’s mobile lips. “I am far healthier than some half my age,” she confessed.
“Then why bring me here? Why the rush after so long?”
Rey walked up to them, easily carrying their assorted bags in his arms. “Please take them to the main house,” her grandmother said and then reached out and looped her arm through Paola’s.
“Come, child. There is much you need to know about your legacy.”
Chapter Four
“I think she handled it well, don’t you?” Patricia Lopes said as she sipped a glass of cachaça mixed with fresh fruit juice made from some of the mangos and papayas grown on the Lopes plantation.
“I think she’s probably in her room packing her bags,” Rey said and eyed Paola’s grandmother over the rim of his glass of straight rum. He had felt the need for fortification after their post-dinner discussion about the Lopes legacy and Emilio Ribiero’s annoying presence during the meal.
Patricia released a hearty laugh. “She won’t run, but just in case, why don’t you go check on her?”
Rey pointed to her with the hand that held the glass. “Do you think you can fool me that easily after all this time?”
Patricia shook her head ruefully and chuckled. “No, Rey. But there was no missing how Emilio was eating her up during the meal. He will make his move on her soon.”
Rey held back from telling her that he had already staked his claim on Paola. Instead, he focused on the real heart of the issue. “What if Paola does not wish to stay?” he said and gulped down what remained of the rum.
A crease of worry marred the smooth plain of Patricia’s forehead. “I am more worried that she is like her father and will find it difficult to battle the allure of the sacred space.”
For as long as Rey could remember there had been rumors about Javier being addicted to the holy ground. That he had shifted once too often, weakening his hold on this plane. Patricia’s words now pretty much confirmed to him that the tales were more than just gossip.
“Is that why he came back with his wife and Paola?” Rey finally asked. Guardians were not tied to this bit of land and could freely move about. They were human and only different spiritually. But the stories swirling around the plantation had said that Javier had been growing weaker in the States. Fading away, some had said.
“I think he damaged his human form by undertaking too many shifts and remaining with those on the other side for far too long,” Patricia confessed in a rush of words. Clearly, she had been holding back the truth for some time, or maybe she’d been unwilling to admit that her son had become addicted to life in the alternate plane the Guardians were supposed to protect.
Rey understood the temptation, but he also recognized the limitations of his powers and Paola’s. “There is a full moon tonight.”
Patricia nodded, closed her eyes and raised her nose upward, as if scenting the air. “The energies are strong tonight. A perfect night for a virgin shift.”
When Patricia faced him once more, no words were needed. He understood what she wanted him to do. He just hoped things would not go too badly. Traveling into the other plane was both physically and spiritually draining, especially if it was your first shift.
Guardians learned to shift when the conditions were right, as they were tonight, or in cases of extreme emergency. Javier Lope
s and Rey’s parents had died in one such emergency, trying to safeguard the boundaries of the space against the rogue loggers.
The main threat tonight was to his heart and Paola’s, but it was a risk he needed to take to show her why she had to remain with them. Why she had to accept her role as one of the Guardians.
With a nod to Patricia, he rose and headed to Paola’s room.
She had thought living in New York City was noisy. There was the constant hum of traffic and occasional scream of ambulances or police cars. The chatter of pedestrians and music from a nearby bar. The earthquake rattle of the subway passing beneath her feet. The city that never slept.
But this place was far more alive and decidedly more boisterous than the city, even at this late hour.
From the jungle, just a short distance away, erupted an assortment of noises. The screech of monkeys and the gossip of birds and other animals. A low growl from a big cat and a repetitive rustle from the underbrush, like the susurrus of waves. That cacophony was joined by the noises from those in the house and the animals in the nearby buildings. The whinny of a horse. The rush of water from a well as someone pumped up a bucket and dragged it into a handmade hut toward the far edge of the compound.
Paola wondered if the plantation had been like this when her father had lived here and decided that it had. There was a sense of timelessness here that she couldn’t explain. Maybe it came from the stability of her grandmother’s long tenure over the place.
Maybe that could explain the connection she was feeling to this home and the land. A connection far stronger than what she had felt in New York City. Or maybe it was because she had been placed in her father’s old room. A room filled with pictures of her and her mother, making it almost feel like home. Providing a false sense of permanence considering that her parents’ relationship had not lasted all that long.
A knock came at the door, jolting her from her ruminations.
She tucked her robe tight around herself and answered.
Rey stood there, fingertips tucked into the pockets of tight jeans that hugged the powerful muscles of his thighs. He arched a dark brow and asked, “Are you up for an adventure?”
Paola peered at her watch and then shot him a disbelieving look. “Seriously? It’s almost midnight.”
“And yet you’re still awake,” he challenged with a friendly smile.
Chagrined, she shook her head and said, “It’s too noisy here.”
Rey laughed, but then immediately turned serious. “Have you given any thought to what your grandmother explained?”
“No.” In truth, she had driven that discussion to the back of her mind, trying not to deal with something that sounded much too lunatic to be believed. Alternate planes of time? People who needed their protection? It sounded like something from a 1950s sci-fi movie.
“I don’t blame you. I didn’t believe it at first, either,” he admitted and then gestured within her room. “May I come in?”
She stepped aside and waved her arm in answer. She suspected he would not let her rest until they’d had this discussion.
“I’m a practical person, Rey. I don’t believe in—”
“Legends? Tales of a sacred space?” he immediately countered. “But seeing is believing, isn’t it?”
Disbelief propelled her to say, “You want me to see this supposed alternate realm?”
“I want you to visit it with me. Tonight,” he said, but she detected a bit of unease in his voice and stance.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” She walked back toward her bed, sat on its edge, forcing herself not to recall what had happened the last time they had been in such close proximity.
But Rey kept his distance. He folded his arms across his muscled chest and inclined his head as he peered at her, his gaze dark. Almost calculating. “Visiting the sacred space can be…addictive. Rumor has it your father went there too often.”
“My mother told me he would stay away for days at a time,” she admitted, but kept to herself the rest of her mother’s comment—that Paola’s father had seemed to be disappearing before her mother’s eyes. When her mother had first mentioned it, Paola had thought that her mother had been unwilling to face the fact that her husband might have been going into the arms of another woman. But after hearing her grandmother speak, it seemed as if it might have been something entirely different.
“We are not supposed to stay that long or visit too often. We are not meant to live there, only to protect it,” Rey advised her without hesitation. He clearly understood and accepted whatever rules there were about that alternate world.
“‘We’ as in the Guardians?” she questioned, wanting to be sure she had comprehended what her grandmother had explained earlier during dinner.
Rey nodded. “There are those amongst us who possess a different spirit. One that allows us to see beyond what is here—to the other side. The more powerful of us can even travel from this place in time to the other. The Lopes family has always had the strongest spirits.”
“Which is why my grandmother is the Priestess of the Guardians?”
With a nod, Rey said, “Are you prepared to go? To see for yourself?”
Paola was inclined not to believe their tales, but was also finding it hard to comprehend how so many people could be under the same delusions. Especially when they appeared otherwise sane. If such a place did exist, she needed to understand why her father had prized it above his wife and daughter.
There was the truth in a nutshell. The question she had asked herself time and again, much as she assumed her mother had: What had been more important to her father than his family?
But now there were so many other questions. What was expected of her now that she was here? If they wanted her to stay, would she be willing to leave the life she had made for herself back in New York?
Then of course there was Rey. Even now her insides clenched with need thanks to his presence. Could she just walk away from the way he made her feel?
So many questions and all without answers. She wasn’t sure of anything after their earlier discussion, but she had to see what her legacy entailed. Then and only then would she begin to find answers to those questions.
“I’m ready to go.”
“Do you have a bathing suit? It’s best to wear as little as possible to make the shift,” he advised.
“I don’t.” She hadn’t planned on this being a pleasure trip and so she hadn’t packed a suit.
“We have some spares near the pool out back. We can stop and get one,” he said and held out his hand in invitation.
She had never been one to follow, preferring to take the lead, but this one time she relented, slipping her hand into his. Even feeling that zing of desire awaken, as it did every time he came near, she found comfort in his solid presence.
She followed him as he led her to the cabana by the pool for a brand-new swimsuit. As he waited outside, she slipped on a string bikini, remembering his earlier admonition about less being better. The small suit barely covered all the necessary parts, leaving her feeling a little exposed, so she slipped her robe back on, earning a questioning look from Rey as she returned to his side.
“I’m not used to running around almost naked,” she confessed, and he chuckled.
“You may find that it’s not so bad.” He took her hand again, guiding her from the back of the house toward a well-traveled footpath that led into the nearby rain forest.
Although it was dark, a bright moon provided some light, and while she’d been in the cabana, Rey had picked up a portable lantern. Still, it was a little eerie passing through the swath that had been cut out of the surrounding jungle. The underbrush lay dense along the ground, and overhead, a thick canopy of trees only allowed shafts of moonbeams to pass through here and there, creating a surreal landscape as a slight breeze shifted the canopy. The area around them shimmered with the moon’s hoary touch, alive with motion. The moonlight caressed the leaves, flowers and fronds of the vegetation
with bursts of alternating shadow and light.
It was far noisier along the path than it had been in her room. The sounds were intensified because of their proximity to the animals inhabiting the rain forest. Luckily, there was no feline rumble because she couldn’t imagine what they might do if they ran across a jaguar.
They had been walking for about half an hour when the path before them opened into a large clearing. Here the moon’s light illuminated the space, casting its silvery glow on the many flowers in the trees and along the edges of a pool and waterfall. Clear water filled the pool and shimmered brightly beneath the moon’s rays.
Rey walked to the edge of the pool and then looked at her. “We need to swim beneath the waterfall,” he said and pointed to a spot in the center of the crystalline waters.
Before she could say anything, he was pulling off the dark blue polo shirt he wore, exposing that magnificent chest and a chiseled midsection. There wasn’t an inch of his upper body that wasn’t lean, powerful male, and the sight of him caused a skitter of need within her.
She had definitely been working too hard, she thought, splaying a hand across her belly to quell the flutter. As he began to pull down his pants, she looked away and unbelted her robe, slipping it off and folding it into a neat bundle, which she placed beside the edge of the water.
A splash alerted her to the fact that Rey had entered the pool, and she turned to find him treading water. His gaze slipped over her body, warming her once again with the desire she saw there.
“You’re very beautiful,” he said, no trace of guile in his voice.
She was coming to learn that Rey was direct and quite transparent. A welcome relief from the men she usually encountered. Because of that, she found herself relaxing some of her normal restraint.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she teased.
He smiled broadly, displaying a deep dimple at one edge of his lips. A refreshing hint of humble color flashed across his cheeks.
She stepped to the edge of the pool and jumped in feet first. It was deeper than she had expected, and she drifted downward for a moment before propelling herself to the surface beside Rey. But not before she caught a glimpse of his totally bare body.
Amazon Awakening Page 3
