Authors: Jamie Magee
“You can’t. You said yourself The Fall changes you. You will not come back the same.”
“I will come back at peace, for all those I was meant to watch are safe.”
She leaned back on my shoulder so she could look me in the eyes. “Why are you meant to worry for them? Why must you do it alone? Why can I not go?”
“If I could take you, put you at my side, I would. But it takes time to understand that beast. There is no one beyond my grandfather and Lorecan that has ever studied it as long and diligently as I have. I have little fear that it will change me.”
“But you are going with false ideas.”
We were back to this. Skylynn was the
only
one that had ever straight out told me that ending my twin was the wrong thing to do. I wished I had heard those words years ago, that I had time to believe them, to meditate and contemplate on a different outcome than one I’d spent my life preparing for.
“I
’m not going to hurt anyone unless I have no other choice,” I stated, knowing there would only be one choice before I ever spoke those words.
“There is no one else that can go?”
“There is a crest on my soul that I share with Cashton. Guardian has it, too. It was told to me that the two girls that went had one that resembled ours as well. There are five of us that bear this mark that I am aware of. I need to go; the Allurest predict change, and for all I know that change is the close of that passage. The only thing I am certain of is that I must go. I have to heal Cashton’s family, take away any lash that the Hermetic Realm could use against The Selected.”
“You are not going for them. You
’re going for your twin.”
“Only because he is near them. I can
’t tell you how dangerous that is. I never imagined how on point the Allurest at my birth was. Before Cashton did what he did, I never saw a justifiable reason to stop my twin. Karma usually played its role in his life, and even if it didn’t I felt no real connection to the evil he was creating. It was too distant. And the way I perceived time, I always had the hope that he would change, that at his next cycle of life he would steer clear of darkness. In some he came close, so close; others, he seemed born for misery.”
She was silent for a long while.
“I don’t know who I am without you, and that angers me.” I felt the tension in her body and decided not to stop her words, but to let her find her voice instead. “This is not my true beginning. My beginning and our end are over there.”
I hissed a curse under my breath. It took all I had not to stand with rage and tell her to forget all that she had seen with that man before, for her not to bring that doom to us. That I had the solution and all I needed for a safe passage was for her to believe in me.
Boldly, she held my gaze, blue to green. “I began what I am right now, this dream at your side, knowing everything. There was no discovery. I can tell you what my favorite color or food is, what music I adore, but I can’t tell you why. I have no lessons I have learned firsthand. I watched it all from a distance. I crave the sensation of feeling firsts, for deciding what I like and don’t like and knowing why. I want a new beginning, but I can’t have that until my dues are paid.”
“They
’ve been paid,” I said quickly, hating where this conversation was shifting. “You are a miracle. You were created with a knowledge that takes others lifetimes to find. I understand that you could grieve for the loss of experience or worry that you saw it in a future—not a past that is sealed in some odd realm of time. But I swear to you, this is our beginning. I awoke with you. In a day’s time, this trepidation will be past us, and I will ensure that you have every first you ever want. You do not need to travel to that abyss to find a beginning when clearly you fell from the Creator’s side.”
She let my words settle in her thoughts before she spoke again. “I agree that all those that bear this crest you speak of should be together. I don
’t agree with the price that has to be paid for that. That much I know. That thought is mine.”
“It will be swift. Not even a day
’s time. I swear to you, I will return the same—if not better than when I left.”
She reached to caress my face as if she were committing it to memory, her fingers brushing through the dark locks of my hair. All the anger and worry I had was fading as I became intoxicated with her touch. “In the end, we will be at peace, for we will find the problem that we are the solution to, no matter what reality that problem rests within.” Her fingertips grazed my lashes. “I
’m yours, and I am grateful that we had this time, no matter how fleeting it is; it will warm me in my darkest moments.”
Even if I wanted to argue with her, tell her that I would protect her from her worries, I had no words that I could grip when I felt her hinting touch on my face.
I leaned forward and gently claimed her lips. She breathed me in as if I were a life force. Raw passion was born then. I pulled her across my lap and reached to touch every part of her. Her gasping breaths were setting me on fire.
When I pulled the strap of her gown off her shoulder so I could kiss the skin there, chills came across her body. I would take credit for that if I did not feel the chill of the night myself.
A mental argument came then, one that said the cold would be the last thing on our minds, the next telling me that she deserved a better first from me. Then a solution was born.
I pulled her up with my vim. She gasped, feeling my energy surrounding her. My lips clasped hers, even as I pulled her out of the tent. I only opened my eyes to find my direction. Those balcony doors were still open in the manor. I picked her up and wrapped her around me, then moved us there.
I forgot my plan, my goal, for a few moments as I relished in the sensation of her lips on my neck, on the power of the pull. She was drowning me in passion without even trying.
I slowed the rush of my hands, catching my breath and glancing around. This was a bedchamber, a lavish one at that. The bed was shrouded in a dark silk, and high back chairs and couches were arranged in sitting areas.
“One second,” I said as I pulled her arms from me.
In a flash, I secured the balcony doors, pulling the drapes over them. I moved to the low burning fire in the stone wall and added more logs to it, then to the door that led out of the room. I opened it only slightly to see where we were. I found a quiet hall, with only a few lamps burning. I closed the door and secured the lock, took in a deep breath, then turned to face her.
She looked like an angel standing at the foot of the bed. Her skin was blushed. I could see exactly where I had touched her before; a gleaming glow was beneath her skin where my hands had caressed. Her chest was rising and falling slowly. The gown was pointless at this point; it hid nothing.
Slowly, I walked to her, losing my shoes, my belt, and the first buttons of my shirt as I approached her. Her eyes were wide with wonder and obvious desire, yet a glint of uncertainty was there, too.
I knelt before her. She sighed when she felt my hands on her calf. I slowly raised her gown, taking my time, letting my lips brush across her legs, not leaving even one trace of skin that had not been felt by my lips or the seductive caress of my hands.
As I neared her waist, her hands braced my shoulders, as if the strength to stand had left her. I kissed the tender skin around her navel, breathing in her scent, that innocent bouquet of ivory. Her hands were fisting through my hair, and near silent moans were escaping her throat in perfect rhythm with each part of her body my lips found to explore. I rose from my knees, pulling the gown over her head.
My eyes found hers, and I saw passion there; I saw everything she was, from the fierce soul that I tried to unveil to the timid girl that was trying to understand who she was. I saw my reason for awakening in my existence.
I sighed as I felt her hands on my chest, as I felt them tremble, trying to hold back, to keep this slow pace but struggling to do so. Her lips met my neck, and I leaned my head back, feeling her hands and those rose-tinted lips across my chest. I could not stop my hands from exploring everywhere my lips had yet to venture.
I was losing my battle to stay gentle. With a passionate rush, I picked her up and wrapped her legs around me and moved to the bed. The feel of her against me, flesh to flesh, was indescribable. If I ever had any doubt this woman was made for me, it would have left at this moment; our bodies fit together just as perfectly as our souls had. I had never once known a sensation like this.
We lost ourselves in a fit of passion for countless moments, rolling from side to side, trying to find as many ways as possible to drive the other one wild.
More than once she covered my mouth with her lips, trying to swallow my laughter or moans. We had no idea who might be on this hall with us, and honestly, at times we didn’t care.
At one time, I even regretted coming inside; both our bodies were glistening with glowing, light perspiration.
All at once, we slowed down. We were edging closer to the point of no return; for all I knew, we had already passed it in her mind.
She was lying beneath me in the cage of my arms, her legs daring to cradle me. My hands caressed the hair out of her eyes.
“This is real. Tell me you know that—tell me that you know that even if I passed you on the street without the visions I witnessed, that you understand I still would have felt this pull to you. That I would still know that we are made of one.”
Her eyes glistened. One slight nod was her response.
My hands moved down the side of her body. “You are my everything. The rhythm of life that I craved from my first breath.”
“I love you, Aden,” she breathed. I felt her move under me, her assuring me that she would have no regrets if we gave in to our bodies
’ demands.
Holding her stare, I moved, bringing our bodies to the oneness that our souls had shared before.
I was the one covering her mouth with mine, swallowing her near silent cry. I stilled, knowing that she had given me something that she could never give another. Her blue eyes gleamed as she reached to pull me closer. That was when I lost it, when whatever control I could hope to have vanished.
I could not even see her anymore, though my eyes were wide open; I only saw stars, a scintillating light in her eyes. She was taking me past any fantasy I could ever have of this sensation, and I knew why it felt different than it had before. It felt different, it felt right, because she was mine. Only mine.
Chapter Nine
I lost count of how many times we had drifted to sleep, awoke, then begun this seductive dance once again. Sometime after the third time, I went back for that basket of food that was left in the tent and found all too much pleasure in feeding her that fruit, even letting the juices run across her skin, only for me to find a new reason to move my mouth across her body. After that little game, we found the bath chamber and lost ourselves once more.
Sleep had stolen her away from me once again. I leaned over her, tracing her face with my fingertips, thanking the Creator Himself for giving me this gift. I knew I would fight heaven and hell to keep her safe, and that desire all but sealed the reasons I needed to leave for The Fall. I hoped against all hope that she would sleep until I returned, that our night would leave her with blissful dreams and when she awoke I would have returned. All the worries of The Fall would have been quelled.
A gentle rap at the door pulled me from the vision of her exquisiteness. I found my pants before the fireplace and pulled them on. Another near quiet rap only allowed me the time to grab my shirt before going to answer it.
The light from the hall spilled in the room, so I had no choice but to pull the door closed as I moved out into the hall. Sebastian was the one that had roused me. A curious smile dangled on his lips as he watched me fasten my belt and pull my shirt on.
“What
’s wrong?” I asked in a low tone, sure that the door would hide our voices, that Skylynn would only hear the crackling of the fire that had filled the silence of the night. “Is it Guardian?” I admit that near the back of my thoughts, I was not at ease with bringing that girl here, especially not knowing how sound Guardian’s mind was after his travel and abrupt return.
“He has not left his bedchamber since you arrived with that girl.”
I was the one with a sinful smile now. I could not blame the man for that. I planned to lose myself in a quiet room as soon as I returned as well.
“I awoke you because I fear I have brought unwanted attention to The Selected.”
Any smile that might have been on my face faded; the last thing we needed was more attention.
Sebastian cleared his throat. “Tonight, the speaker of the Hermetic Realm arrived unexpectedly at our doors. I assumed it was to sway us to believe that Camlin was in no way responsible for any harm that might have come to Guardian.” He crossed his arms. “Halfway through dinner, after all the bleak pleasantries. I understood that not only had they not come to clear Camlin
’s name, but they were not even aware that we had been working with The Selected to quench Guardian’s dreams.”
With those words, I stood at attention. He raised his hand to tell me either to calm down or listen.
“I have been taught well by my father how to handle a business meeting such as this. I did not reveal what had transpired and listened as he told me of the unrest the other realms had toward The Fall, how they felt threatened by it, that it should be closed, that each of their seers had spoken of a great change. I asked him if he had heard of a Camlin. He hadn’t. He even told me that I was mistaken, that obviously I had been entertaining so many leaders from other realms that I was losing count of the faces and names I had spoken to. After he left, I made a few calls.” He paused as his judgmental gray eyes moved over me. “Camlin is a ghost. No one has heard of him.” He crossed his arms and let the silence linger for a moment.
My mind was racing, doing its best not to let fury override my better judgment. For months, we had lived with the threat of the Hermetic Realm, with the threat that they were seeking to shut us down—and now I was hearing they have not the foggiest idea what we were even doing.
“Do you want to explain to me where he came from? Why he was allowed near any of the crested members of your kind?”
“I have little to nothing to do with the communication at the palace. I wasn
’t paying attention, but I would assume a letter or some kind of seal came before him, stating Camlin’s arrival. That is the only way Tarek could have allowed him as close as he was. Yet, I can promise you he was held at a distance.”
“He was trusted on sight?” Sebastian assumed.
“Not by anyone. I can see words. I knew he was sent to discredit us. I heard that charge given to him clearly.”
“By whom?”
“I assumed his people.” I had been staring into Sebastian’s energy, watching this dinner conversation he was speaking of. I saw the images of the men he had dinner with. They were not the same people I had seen with Camlin.
“A wolf among sheep,” Sebastian breathed.
My jaw clenched in rage. A wolf that could have very well slaughtered crested souls. I was their only hope of returning unscathed.
“I called Tarek. He was at rest, or so says his Allurest. I was told I could speak to you at dawn by Seneca. She said you would be at the shore without fail. I knew you were here, so I said nothing, not wanting to uncover more of whatever you and Guardian are scheming to do.” He looked over me once. “Dawn is but moments away. So I roused you.”
I was pulling my shirt together, so it took me a second before I met his stare once more. “I don’t know what evil Camlin was spawned from, where he came from, but I promise you: as soon as I secure the crested souls he put at risk, I will see to it that he harms no one else.”
One nod from Sebastian. “I
’m securing this manor as of this moment. Whatever you plan to do, you need to do it swiftly. The Hermetic Realm would not have reached out to me unless they already had a vast following supporting their views.”
“I
’ll be back before dinner,” I promised.
I slid into the room, wanting to steal one more kiss from Skylynn. She was gone from the bed. I walked to the bath thinking she was in there, only to find it empty.
I rushed back to the room to grab my shoes. At the base of the fireplace, I saw ashes painting words. “
The crest on your soul matches the one I created here. We all must be together.”
I had avoided letting her see my back by the fire all night because I didn
’t want her to have a reminder as to what my fate stated. She must have seen it when I went to the hall to meet Sebastian.
I didn
’t know what that meant by saying that it was what she created here. All I knew was panic. I extended every sense I had looking for her energy, only finding a white gleam of light at the balcony. I took in a shuddering breath as I stepped through her latest porthole.
On the other side, I found the shore of the emerald sea. I felt an ache in that moment, a ripping sensation. It was agony. Pure pain.
My eyes moved in every direction looking for her, but all I found was an empty violin box aligned with the guitars. She had jumped. She was moving through that Fall. No doubt in my mind. The pain I felt, the ache, told me it had already happened.
I heard the squeal of the alarm in the palace go off, saw the lights turning on. Precious seconds. I had to find a way to pull her back. Right then, I felt cool hands on my wrist.
Seneca.
I couldn
’t find a way to be calm with her. I grabbed her shoulders. “Did you send her off? Did you?”
“No,” she said in an all too calm voice. “But I heard her as I approached. She knew the creed, Aden. She knew it, and if you don
’t go now you will lose her for longer than the time that is already between you.”
“I don
’t care that she knew the creed! She has no anchor! She had no call!”
“The anchor is you. You are the call. She left with the same will that you will conquer.”
I viciously started to pull my clothes off. My men were rushing to the shore. I could swear I felt the eyes of my grandfather on me.
“I have sent the dreams to ones that will hold your course. I have thought deeply on this for more time than I have on any other soul. Your plan is set, your arrival is determined. When you once again hold the name you have now, your final battle will begin.”
“I’m more concerned about my return at this moment. I need to find her,” I argued.
“Today, the soul you are will perish. Your course will be challenged. You will strive to embrace symmetry whilst fighting egotism. The chasm of your being will never be alone, but one with all of us. You will hear us in your darkest hour. Embrace the simplest signs, for they are the voices of those who have gone before you and that remain behind.”
“I know the creed!” I bellowed.
Her hands were on my face, and a dulling energy went through me, taking me to the point of near sleep.
“Those made of one that question if the sacrifice of their love is needed for the greater good are the warriors that lead the way. There is no greater pain than being parted from half your soul, and those that prepare to bear that weight are the ones that lead tomorrow.”
Before I could argue, she went on. Any fool could see she was desperate to get every word said before it was too late.
“Only the deepest pain, the most wretched test of devotion will return you to whom your soul is one with. You will conquer trepidation; you will rise to teach others the same. And when your heart grieves, when your soul opens, then both you and her have found a logic that is completely illogical. You will have your beginning, and with that beginning you will find the passion of this end and marvel at how precious love is.”
The words she was saying were becoming my thoughts. No matter how hard I tried to keep my own focus on finding Skylynn, on finding Cashton, his sister, and stopping my twin from darkness, I heard her words as if they were my desires. I felt them swell in me, and for a brief second I heard my calling. I knew it was greater than anything I ever could have imagined, and in the end Skylynn would be at my side. We would be one.
“When she speaks, you will remember. Everything will return,” Seneca finished.
I dove into the waters in the next breath. No strong strokes came from me; instead, I felt the waters swirl against my flesh. I saw the life I had fading before my eyes. I felt the chill of death, and then I was pulled under into the abyss.