My swimsuit was strategically in place beneath the training attire I’d left on for a couple of reasons. One, because I’d be taking them off soon anyways, and two, because they were pretty hot. I couldn’t help but feel a mix of Lara Croft and the Karate Kid whenever I slipped into them.
I leapt out the open window and, with one more leap, I sprung from the cedar shingle roof to the still warm earth beneath. I sprung through the yard, hurdling over the fence and Joseph’s green tractor still fresh with the smell of cut hay.
Having committed the map to memory, I sped through the fields, creating a rumbling whistle as the wheat rushed over my body. I was getting close and I knew this not because of the map etched in my mind, but because I could feel him. That feeling that was as indescribable as it was intimate. Something that wasn’t Mortal or Immortal, something that came from the soul that tied mine to his and his to mine.
My legs, giving action to my elation, leapt over a house-sized rock and then I was in view of tonight’s rendezvous location. The moon was dim, but the body of water before me was so still it glowed iridescent white. I scanned the circumference of the lake, but found no sign of him. He had to be close, I reassured myself. There was no mistaking that feeling only he could exude.
Sliding out of my sandals, I dipped my toes into the resting water and watched the silver rings spread from my foot into the heart of the lake.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
I startled, not anticipating his voice to come from the water. He rose from it with the kind of magnificence that would have made pagans believers. It didn’t seem right that this man was meant for me. Fate must have been taking the day off when our names were paired.
“No skinny-dipping?” I said eyeing his dripping wet boardshorts longer than necessary.
“I’m game,” he said, his gaze playing with mine. “You first, though.”
“Me first, huh?” I asked, channeling innocence as I thumbed at the belt circling the zippered leather vest.
He nodded, his eyes full of mischief.
“Gladly,” I said, unknotting the cloth belt and letting it fall to the ground.
The mischief in his eyes was replaced by surprise, gaping as my hands moved to my zipper.
I slid the vest’s zipper down, letting each note hang like an answered prayer, before I saw him gulp. I couldn’t tease him any longer. I rushed the zipper down, revealing the swimsuit beneath.
“Better luck next time,” I said, relishing the torture in his face. It was the look I normally wore.
He shook his head. “Temptress,” he accused, not hiding his approval as his eyes wandered over me.
“I could say the same.” I raised my eyebrows in a knowing fashion. “Tempter. How about that?”
“Unless you’re intent on teasing me any longer, or are planning on tossing aside any more clothing—which, for the record, I would have no problem with.” He winked, opening his arms wide. “Anytime you’re ready.”
Not wasting time answering, I let my pants fall to the sand and jumped at him. “Silly me,” I whispered, wrapping my legs around his waist. “Wasting precious time when there’s serious time to make up for and who knows when they’ll send you away again.”
He drew me closer to him and waded deeper into the water. “I don’t think you’ll have to be worried about me leaving anytime soon,” he assured, as the water continued to creep up our bodies. “I spoke with the Council today—”
“I remember,” I interrupted. “I remember you having to leave two minutes after I finally got to see you after a month. That was a low blow . . . even for your Council.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“Our Council,” I corrected, although I felt like the unwanted, jaded step-child entering a family like the Cleavers.
“I was actually the one who requested the meeting.”
“You requested it?” I asked, leaning back. “Was your matter really so important it couldn’t wait a few hours? Maybe even one?”
I could tell he was trying to hide his smile from the way the skin around the outside of his eyes was creasing. “There’s nothing more important to me than being with you and since you’re the pious one”—his smile broke through now—“and won’t allow that until we’re granted a Union, the matter today was urgently important.”
I swallowed. “You spoke with the Council about us?”
“I did,” he said, ceasing his march into the center of the lake. His legs spun like motors below me, rocking our bodies together in a way that made me both grateful and ungrateful for the clothing we’d left on. Mostly ungrateful, though.
“Did this meeting go any better than the last three?” It took a noteworthy amount of willpower to summon a coherent sentence together with our bodies moving together this way.
“I think I just might be wearing them out,” he said with a grin.
“WHAT?” I shouted, grabbing his face with both hands. “They agreed to a Union?”
“I wish,” he answered. “I may be persistent, but they’re cranky, old men stuck to their ways.” His attempts to lighten whatever the Council was doing to mess with us never invoked the response he hoped it would. I felt my lips pull into a tighter line.
“What did they say then?”
“They said they would take some time to consider my request and would let me know their decision.” He shrugged, looking off into the distance. “I know it doesn’t sound like much, and it’s a long shot from where we want to be, but it’s at least a start.”
I’d hurt his feelings. As good as he could be at hiding his emotions, he couldn’t hide that. Here he was repeatedly petitioning and being rejected by the Council who held him in such high esteem and I was acting unappreciative. “Of course it’s a start.” I tilted his face back towards me. “It’s a great start. Any progress with the Council is a victory.” I decided to stop letting my vocal chords demonstrate my gratitude and let my lips pick up right where my words left off.
“Thank you,” I whispered after pulling my lips from his.
“No, no. Thank you,” he said, running his fingers up my back. “However, I think I deserve a bit more thankfulness,”—I eyed him and he eyed me right back—“all things considered.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” I teased. “But let’s find something to do to fill the time while I consider.” I wasn’t sure if I initiated it or he did, but either way, neither one of us would be ending it anytime soon. His fingers knotted into my hair, crushing my mouth harder into his, and his body pulsed heat in such a way it made the fear of what could happen to us if we let one thing lead to another fade to near invisibility.
“Good evening.”
My lips turned to ice over William’s when I recognized the voice behind us and its anything but ambivalent tone.
William’s shoulders stiffened. “Father, what can we do for you this evening?”
Barely a whisper, I asked, “How did he find us?”
“He hasn’t told you?” Charles answered my all-but-silent question before William could. “My gift happens to be the ability to locate any Immortal anywhere in the world. A gift that comes in handy when you’re searching for a delinquent son.”
Mortified Charles had found the two of us so engaged, I attempted to remove myself from William’s vice-like hold. It only tightened the more I tried, so I succumbed, but I wasn’t able to look Charles in the face.
Now, Charles was no fool and I’m sure he knew more than William or I would have liked about our secret meetings and forbidden embraces, but this was the first time he’d ever caught us with our lips locked and I wasn’t sure how he’d respond.
“The Council came to a decision tonight regarding the request you made this morning,” Charles broke the fragile silence. “A final decision.”
“And what was your decision, Father?” William asked, trying to keep his voice level.
I chanced a glimpse at Charles. His face was tilted down, looking almost sad, but when he looked up at us, there was no emotion written on his face. “Your request is denied.”
The words fell like a window, shattering through me. My fingers curled deeper into William’s flesh, as if fearing Charles would rip him away from me.
A spasm ran up William’s back, branching into his chest and arms until his whole body was quaking. His jaw was locked and I was speechless, so neither of us responded. But really, what could we say? We’d just been told—for a grand total of four times—that our request for a Unity was denied. There was no negotiating around it; the Council’s decision was law. Our silence lengthened.
“An emergency has come up down south and you’re needed there immediately,” Charles directed at William, somehow spiraling my nightmare a level deeper. “You leave first thing in the morning.”
I hadn’t noticed the leather book in his hands until he rested it on the blanket William had laid out for us. Although I’m certain William hadn’t had reading on his mind when he’d spread it out. “I thought you might want to take this along for some light reading since you could be gone for quite a while this time. I’ve bookmarked a couple areas you might find compelling,” he said, turning to leave.
All signs of lightheartedness had drained from the man clutching me to him, still quivering in anger. It never ceased to amaze me how life could change in an instant; how one moment could be euphoric and the next could be devastating.
This wasn’t a time to delve into life’s philosophies, though. The trembling diminishing, his body went rigid and for the first time, his body felt cold against mine. Unable to think of anything other than easing whatever torment ailed him now, I attempted to lighten the mood. “You were saying what about cranky, old men stuck in their ways?”
His face remained unchanged, confirming my attempts to lighten anything failed miserably.
“Okay, say something—please,” I begged. “Because I’m not used to being the calm one and I don’t have a clue what I’m supposed to do or say next.” I slid the wet tuft of hair over his forehead to the side.
“Do I sound as miserably unconvincing when I try to cheer you up?” He looked at me and I could tell from experience he was doing his best to hide what he was really feeling.
“You’re much better actually,” I assured. “But you’ve got a bit more experience.”
“Just a bit,” he said, drawing me into an embrace that felt more desperate than passionate . . . more fleeting than welcoming, like he was saying goodbye—the forever kind. “You know how much I love you.”
It wasn’t a question, but I felt the need to respond. “Of course I do.” How could I ever doubt his love for me with the history of life threatening circumstances we’d encountered? How could I doubt his faithfulness to me when he’d spent a couple centuries searching for me? Did it make sense for him to love me? No. Did I deserve his love? Most definitely not. But did I doubt his love for me, misplaced as it may have been? Never once.