The Secret of Strange Waters (The Light Keeper Series Book 2) (4 page)

The conversation was getting beyond awkward. “I don’t know.” I let out a long breath as I pondered the thought. I’ve noticed girls looking, but they all turned away when they saw me notice. It was very obvious at school that we were a couple. Would it be easier if it were that way at home? Probably not. But we have to tell them sometime.

* * *

At bedtime, I thought again about how we needed to tell our parents and how close I’d been so many times to telling Mom, but this was different. Talon and I were getting more
serious,
and he was wanting more lately. It was getting harder and harder to resist. If she learned about us, it would make it that much more awkward when it did happen, as if she might know instantly. Maybe I was being ridiculous. I wanted Talon and he wanted me. Why couldn’t it be that simple? I liked the kissing, but when would that stop being enough? The more I thought about it, the more it made sense, and the more I wanted to get it over with. I needed to make sure he was happy.
Why not now?
I thought.
Everyone is asleep
. I jumped up and ran to his room before I could change my mind.

I was surprised to find that he was still up reading his motorcycle magazine. “What’s up?” he asked.

I sat down on his bed, and without saying a word, took the magazine from his hands and tossed it aside. He stared at me like I was nuts. I turned off the lamp, leaving the room lit by the Riley’s outdoor light, and then slid under his covers, next to his warm body, and wrapped my legs with his.

“What are you doing, Lily?” He grabbed my hands and held them to his chest.

“What? Don’t you want to?” He always wanted to before. I’ve had to stop his wandering hands on more than one occasion and was constantly the one putting on the brakes. I figured once we started talking it would never happen, so I kissed him to shut him up.

He pulled away, still glaring at me like I was not myself. “Lily, wait. Are you sure? You mean right now, while our parents are home?”

“Yes, why not?” I asked. Quiet and still, he seemed to ponder the situation. We had hours at a time, on several occasions, and had managed to control ourselves, yet there I was, wanting to do it on a whim with both of them home.

I rolled to his side, and before he could move, the Light appeared. It was brighter than ever, shining like a warning sign. I couldn’t help but look—as soon as I did, my eyes locked in to the vision. Talon rolled onto the floor and out of the Light’s glow, while I found myself in a strange new place.

Talon and I laid on the floor in the living room. The carpet was soft beneath me, and something sweet and powdery lingered in the air. Between us lay a tiny baby with a perfectly round head and Talon’s eyes, who stared up at me as I stroked the soft fuzz on the top of his head. His tiny arms and legs kicked his blanket off, and Talon reached to straighten it. And as his tiny gaze met mine, I knew in that moment that I loved this little baby, as if he were my own.

My own? I studied the baby again; Talon’s skin, his eyes, and even the curly fuzz of his little head were like Talon’s hair. I looked up to find Talon staring at him with the same love, wonder, and amazement. The same pride. The way a father looks at his child. This baby was ours? This was our future, and not a too-distant one at that. I picked him up and held him close to me as the Light faded to black
.

Talon was holding me when I came to, and the Light was gone. “Are you okay?” he asked. I could hardly get a grip on reality. My mind was still dancing around in the future, along with my heart.

“Talon, you’ll never believe it.” I shook my head. “We’re—”

“What, Lily? What did you see?” His eyes were wide with horror, as if he wasn’t sure what he’d hear next.

“We’re going to have a baby!” I watched his face grow pale.

“Are you sure you’re okay? We
can’t
be having a baby, we—you—” He tried to sort it out.

“A baby, and he looks just like you.” I was still in shock. “I saw him! I saw the future!”

“Future,” he said, letting out a long breath, as if relieved. So relieved that he didn‘t notice the significance of me seeing the future for the first time ever. “Oh, well, yeah, one day I guess we will have a baby if you want. When we are like...old and married, and—”

“No, it wasn’t that far off. A year from now, maybe,” I responded, still in a daze.

“What? No way! I’m not having a baby anytime soon!” He pulled away from me.

“Wow.” I held my stomach and stared wide at him, amazed that something so major could happen so fast.

“Don’t do that.” He pulled my hands away. “We almost—you could have—” He put his face in his palms and then his eyes met mine. “Go to bed, Lily!” He jumped up and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“No offense, but I think I might be sick. See you in the morning.”

I sat there a few minutes, wondering what just happened. The shower came on, telling me that Talon wasn’t returning anytime soon. It didn’t matter, though; my head was already starting to hurt. But I remembered the little face in my mind. I’d seen the future. My future.
Our
future. I had so many questions now, and no answers. I marveled at the image I saw, and worried over what Mom and Tom would say about it. My nerves started to take over as the fear set in. I wasn’t ready for such a thing. Would it be inevitable, unstoppable? My answer came the next morning.

Talon woke me up early, stroking my hair. “Hey, beautiful,” he whispered as I opened my eyes. “We need to talk.” Those four words are usually not good ones when they get lumped together in a sentence, so I prepared myself for the worst.

“Lily,” he began, speaking very calmly and softly, but clear and precise with each word. “I love you, more than anything. You know I do, right?” I nodded, listening carefully. “I want to be with you, bad
. Really
bad. But, just as much, I don’t want a baby now and I don’t think you do, either.”
Of course not
, I thought. I nodded again to agree, unable to speak. “Well, there’s only one way to make sure it doesn’t happen—to be certain. We will one day, years from now when we’re ready. We can have babies, lots of them if you want, when we‘re married.”

I held my hand to my stomach. “But not
that
baby,” I said. I couldn’t help but feel bad. Not that I wanted a baby, because I didn’t, but the little baby I held in my arms, the little baby I loved instantly, would never exist. We erased his life with one decision.
Guilt broke my heart
.

He was meant to be, and would have been if I didn’t have my gift.
This curse
, I thought. Even though I didn’t want him at that time, I did
someday
. Someday we would have a baby; but not
this
baby. He was so much like Talon, like his
daddy
. We’d killed a part of ourselves, a part of our destiny. What if it changed everything? Tears pooled in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks.

“Lily, what’s the matter?” Talon wrapped his arms around me. It took me a minute to speak.

“Don’t you see—we
killed
it.”

Horror washed over his face. “That’s not true,” he said. “Lily, you can’t
want
this!”

“I don’t, not at all. It makes me feel horrible. You should have seen his little face, Talon.” I closed my eyes to imagine it. “I
loved
him!” The words seemed extreme, but as soon as I laid eyes on the tiny bundle, I knew I loved him.

Talon held me a while, then helped me up. He brought me my clothes, and I washed my face and pulled back my hair. I didn’t feel like going to school, but I couldn’t disappoint Hunter and Holly either. They’d waited all week for her to stay with me.

Talon walked me out to the car and opened the door for me. I slid all the way over and made room for him to follow in behind. I noticed Owen looking back at me, and knew he had to see the redness around my eyes. He eyed Talon suspiciously, but didn’t say anything. Finally, I heard Talon assure them that I would be fine as we got out of the car. I could never explain to anyone how I felt. It would sound crazy, mourning a baby that never existed; who was never even conceived. But I did. And a part of me would always remember that tiny face.

I SETTLED
DOWN BY LUNCHTIME
, but still couldn’t eat. The tiny face was still lingering, along with a terrible headache. I held close to Talon, and he tried to go on like normal. Everything would have been fine if I had only been able to control myself. The pain in my temples made it even worse.

“Lily, where do you want to eat tonight? We still can’t agree on a restaurant,” Holly said, giving Hunter a playful nudge.

“I don’t care. I don’t have much of an appetite and I don’t even want to think about food.” I covered my mouth. The headaches were getting so intense that they were making me nauseous.

“You’re not still sick, are you?” Hunter asked. “You look pale.”

I stayed quiet as Talon put his hand to my face. “You are a little pale,” he said.

“She’s probably pregnant,” Owen said. He meant it as a joke, of course. And any other day I’d have elbowed him or stuck my tongue out at him, but no, it had to be
this
day, so instead my eyes puffed up red and threatened tears—tears that I did not allow to spill.

Talon gave Owen a harsh look, and Owen leaned in his face. “What did you do?” He was green with accusation and disgust. “I’ll kill you!” Hunter got in between them and told them to stop making a scene for my sake.

“You got it all wrong!” Talon insisted, not backing down from Owen.

I held back the tears but looked away from them, not able to speak, for fear that I would break. Holly stared at me wide-eyed while Talon held me close. Owen was still seething mad, and Hunter looked confused. Talon tried to console me, and glared at my anxious cousins. “We’ll talk about this
later
. Not now!” I didn’t see, but I was sure he motioned to Holly somehow. After all, if we did explain, even a little, Holly would know my secret. Owen kept on seething, his eyes burning through Talon. “Save your aggression for your game tonight,” Talon warned.

After lunch, Holly and I stopped by the bathroom on the way to class. I calmed down again. “Lily,
are
you?” I could hear the concern in her voice.

“No. It’s totally
not
possible.” I tried to smile for her benefit.

“Oh, well, if you need to talk about anything, I’m here,” she offered.

“Thanks, I’ve been emotional lately. Maybe it’s PMS,” I said, trying to sound as matter-of-fact as possible.

“Oh! Yeah, maybe.” She bought it. And, thankfully, that was the end of that conversation.

As soon as we got home, Hunter brought Holly in to meet Granny as Talon and I walked to our house. “Lily, you have to hold it together tonight. You need to focus. Hunter’s worried that you’ll accidentally summon the Light while Holly’s here. He doesn’t want her scared. She may not ever want to come back.”

“I’ll be fine really. I just—it’s complicated. I know we made the right decision.” I couldn’t explain it to him. I was afraid I would get upset again. He and Hunter were right. I had to focus.

Hunter and Holly came over a while later. Holly was beaming from meeting Granny. I could hear her as they approached my room: “I love her, Hunter,” she was saying. “She’s exactly like you described. Now I know where you get your sense of humor.” They appeared in my doorway.

“Here, will you look after her?” he asked, playfully pushing her through the door. “Talon and I have some
guy stuff
to sort out.” He went into Talon’s room and closed the door behind him.

“Guy stuff,” I repeated, raising a brow at Holly.

“Don’t ask me.” She shook her head and put her hands up. With those two, there was no telling. They’d gotten so close and had become best friends over the summer. I didn’t know what they were up to, but I hoped it wouldn’t be anything embarrassing.
Surely Hunter will behave himself tonight
.

After we fixed our hair, I painted Holly’s nails. She gazed around my room at the blank walls, and I could guess what was coming next. “You sure keep your room
clean
. Mine is full of stuff. Junk, mostly.” I figured I might as well get the story over with. She’d hear it soon enough, anyway. I had a feeling she’d be sticking around.

“Mom and I lost our home in the hurricane last year. I haven’t replaced everything yet.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Her face turned pink. “Hunter never told me that.”

“It’s no big deal. I have everything I need.” I motioned to Talon’s room and smiled. Then the conversation took an awkward turn.

“What’s it like? You know,
living
with him,” she asked. “Do you ever get tired of each other?”

I thought about it for half a second before answering. “No. Never.” She waited for me to continue. “It’s nice always knowing where he is and that he’s always there for me.”

“Do you...” she started, her face turning pink. “You know,
get
together
?” She turned away, embarrassed.

“No, and just so you know, our parents have no idea we‘re even a couple.”

“Really? Wow. How?” Her mouth hung open as if she didn’t believe me. “Sorry, I figured you’d certainly—well, by now.” I must have turned pink myself, because then she apologized. “I’m sorry, it’s really none of my business. I shouldn’t have asked you that.” She peered down at her wet red nails as I painted the last fingertip.

“It’s okay. We’ve come close. It’s complicated, really.” I needed to steer the conversation away from the tiny bundle if I wanted to keep it together. Luckily, Holly was easily distracted.

“Hey, nice ring. Did Talon give you that?” she asked.

I glanced down at the ring that had belonged to Alyssa. “No. I found it, actually.” I couldn’t tell her too much, or she
might
never come back.

“Wow! I never get that lucky,” she said, shaking her hands to dry the polish. Her nails were prettier than mine and natural.

Hunter came out of Talon’s room and stood in my doorway. “Oh no, don’t paint her all up with that mess, she don’t need it.”

“It’s only my nails, silly.” She held out her hand. Hunter appreciated Holly’s natural beauty. She rarely wore makeup, and though her hair was plain and straight, she was beautiful.

“You two about ready? I‘m starved.” He rubbed his stomach, looking over his shoulder at Talon who came up behind him and peeked in.

I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my handbag. “We’re ready when you are,” I answered.

Hunter opened the door for Holly on the way out. The whole night, he was a perfect gentleman. He let Holly choose seafood and which theater we went to. It was really strange to see him act so civilized. No joking around, no pranks—it must have been hard on him. He even sat through the movie quietly, and he’s usually the guy everyone shushes. He was too busy staring at Holly to even laugh at the funny parts. He passed on popcorn, and I even noticed he was wearing cologne and a new shirt. He was rather handsome, really, and the two of them were too cute together.

After nearly an hour of driving on our way back home, we turned on Bragg Road. Holly peeked back at me. “Hey, can we look for the Bragg Light?” This was the usual reason for people to come down the road, but we just happened to live on it.

I didn’t answer. Talon nudged me where she couldn’t see. “We better get back home,” I said, hoping to deter her.

“Have you guys ever seen it? You must have, living out here on the road,” she continued.

“Oh sure, lots of times,” Hunter replied.

Holly cleared her throat. “It’s swamp gas, you know. I’m not sure about all that ghost stuff, but I guess it could be real.” She looked back at me again. “You ever see it, Lily?”

“Once.” I didn’t know what more to say. I couldn’t tell her that I was the Keeper of it; that I could control it with my mind and use it to see the past and future.

“You have? Really? I want to see it, too.” She nudged Hunter, growing excited. “Let’s try for a little bit. It will be fun! Please.” I heard a plea in her voice. I should have known Hunter would give her what she wanted. Minutes later, we were creeping slowly down the road again, looking out into the darkness. Only this time, I was quite sure the Light wouldn’t appear, and if it did, it would be all my doing.

“Is it scary, Lily?” Holly laid her head on Hunter’s arm as he threw me a glance in the rear view mirror.

“Yeah, it kind of is. I really want to go now.” I tried to sound scared.

“Me too,” Talon agreed. “We could be out here all night. It’s not like it appears when you want it to.” He gave me a shrug, and we tightened our lips to keep from laughing.

“You’re right. This is a waste of time,” she said as Hunter found a place to turn the car around.

When we finally made it back to the house, Hunter and Talon got the fire started on the patio as Holly and I said hello to Granny. She was finishing a movie when we walked in the back door.

“Well, how did it go?” Granny asked with a smile. “You have a nice time?” She considered Holly with wide, hopeful eyes. I could tell that she really liked her, too.

Holly perked right up, beaming. “It was wonderful. Dinner was amazing.”

I motioned to Owen’s room. “Is he home yet?” I asked.

“No, he’ll be late. They were eating on the way home. The sports report said they won, so I’m sure he’s real excited,” she replied.

“I bet.” I couldn’t help but wonder how it went with his new speed and strength. I hope it wasn’t too obvious. I could see him now, outrunning the entire team or injuring someone in a tackle. I thought back to earlier at lunch, when he’d gotten so aggressive with Talon.

I am usually secure in the fact that Talon can take care of himself in a fight, but knowing that Owen was taking the Waters, I was a little nervous that Talon might get hurt. And I couldn’t help but worry if he was still angry with him, or if he would say anything when he got home. “We’ll be up a while. Hunter’s starting a fire.”

“I’ll bet he is,” Granny said with a wink. She was so happy to see Hunter with someone. It was a good thing she liked Holly; I’d hate to see how Granny would be if she didn’t. Her boys were everything to her.

Holly and I stepped out to the patio and found our seats. I leaned over on Talon’s arm and closed my eyes, listening to the sounds of the night as they talked about school. I didn’t even realize that I was napping until Talon shrugged his shoulder to wake me. “Lily, Holly’s talking to you.”

I stretched my arms up and yawned. “What?” I said. “Sorry, Holly. I guess I’m not being the best hostess.”

“It’s okay. I know you’ve had a long day. We can go in anytime you want.” Her smile faded with sad puppy eyes as she glanced to Hunter, who wasn’t ready either.

“Oh, there’s no need. You can stay here and visit. Talon and I probably could stand to give you two some alone time.” I nudged Talon.

“Yeah, Lily’s had a rough day, and I ate so much I’m kind of sleepy,” Talon replied, as he stood and pulled me to my feet.

“Knock on my window later and I’ll let you in.” I winked.

“Is your mom going to care?” Disbelief set in her raised brow as she glanced between Talon and me. “I’d never sneak in or out at home.” She seemed afraid of parental figures, making me wonder how afraid she was of her own.

“No, she’s too wrapped up in Tom’s last few days at home to care. Be quiet and they’ll never know. Have a good time.” I patted her shoulder as I walked past her to leave. Talon’s hand clasped mine and we walked home.

“They are so cute,” I said, once we got out of ear shot.

“Yeah, Hunter is crazy about her. She’s nice, too,” he agreed. “I know a much cuter couple, though.” He pulled me to a stop once we reached the porch and leaned in for a long, slow kiss. As I was getting really into it, he pulled away to open the door, leaving me a little light-headed.

We tiptoed inside and to his room, where I kicked my shoes off and climbed onto his bed. He turned on his lamp and came to sit with me. “Well, what do you want to do?” he asked.

I shrugged and then met his eyes, staring deeply into them as I raised a brow. “What do we
usually
do?”

Before he could speak, I pulled him back on the bed with me, his lips pressing softly to mine.

“You okay?” He stopped long enough to ask, searching my eyes. “I mean, you know it can’t go too far.”

“Yeah, I know you’re right. I mean, even if we’re careful it could still happen. After all, I
intended
on being careful all along and it was
obviously
going to happen somehow.”

“I know. We’re really lucky.” He held my face in his hands. I wish I could feel the same. Yes, we were lucky, but I fought back the image of the little face as I gazed deep into his dark eyes and kissed him again. “There are other ways to go about it,” he whispered. His hot breath tickled my ear as he wrapped me tight in his arms and he pressed against me.

I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t think about anything else but having him. As soon as I closed my eyes, he suddenly stopped kissing me. “Lily,” he said.

I opened my eyes and saw the Light had appeared over our heads, shining brighter than the lamp and getting even brighter. Before I could look into it, he took my chin in his fingers and stared into my eyes. “Stay with me.” He kissed me again, but the Light didn’t go away. “That’s kind of distracting,” he whispered. “You’ll have to learn better control.”

I laughed softly as the Light vanished. “So will you.”

* * *

An hour later, I decided that I should be in my own bedroom in case Holly tapped on my window. Talon regrettably agreed and took off to take his shower. He was long done and in his bed asleep before the tapping started.

Loud, aggressive, and impatient, the tapping continued until I flung the blinds open to see Owen starting at me.
I should have known
.

His hair was wet and he was wearing a white under-shirt and shredded jeans. “Where’s Holly?” I asked as I opened the window.

“Who cares,” he said. “She and
lover boy
are off making out somewhere.” He was in a mood, and not a good one.

“They aren’t on the patio?”

Owen shook his head. “I was just out there, no sign of them. Hey, can you come out?”