Cheyenne (40 page)

“
Did you know of my existence?” I wasn’t sure from what he’d already told me.

“
No, they hid it from us. They didn’t want to put our lives in danger. They knew we would have taken you in without question. We didn’t know until Callon told us. It was safer this way.”

My lips quivered, and my voice cracked, “What were they like?” I raised my eyes and saw the oceans of sorrow Dex had for me.

“
They were the most wonderful, caring people we had ever met,” Lilly said tenderly. “They had such a great love for each other and were determined to make things right for everyone. They wanted to ensure we as Timeless were safe from the Sarac clan.” She shifted in her seat. I knew she wanted to come to me, but she remained seated. Dex’s fingers touched her arm in support.

“
You have so much of both of them in you. Your father was musical. The guitar here was his. We could sit and listen to him play for hours. He had a way with the music, just as you do. He was strong and had a deep passion for life.”

A tear glistened in her lashes as she smiled. “Your mother had a passion too, but it was different. I see it in you as well. You remind me of her in so many ways…you’re just as beautiful. I can see you have the same determination and temperament; you’re independent and strong—just like she was. She was a fighter—you’re a fighter.”

She rose, stopping before me on her knees, taking my hands in hers. “Your parents loved you so much. They gave their lives to protect you. Gene and Alexis gave their lives to protect you, and we would do the same.”

I couldn’t say a word as I stared into her sincere blue eyes. Every feature about her was loving, caring, and truthful. I had no doubt in my mind she meant everything she said. The tears were building, and I was fighting to hold them back. They had known my parents; I could do what they had done—be brave and help defeat the evil in our world before it passed to the mortal world. I had their characteristics. I belonged to someone—and they loved me.

My younger years had been spent wondering about my birth parents, what had really happened, how they had died. I never knew if they loved me—I had known nothing about them. What I did know was my adoptive parents loved me; they treated me as their own and sacrificed to keep me from harm. They had given up so much for me to live. I never got the opportunity to tell them how I really felt about them. I never told them how much I loved them, as an adult, understanding all the sacrifices they made for me—I would never make that mistake again.

I sighed. There was so much more I wanted to know, but at the moment, I was emotionally overwhelmed and quickly losing control of my tears. I withdrew my hands from Lilly’s and rose from the couch. Colt reached for my hand; I squeezed his fingers and let them drop. I headed for the front door and walked out onto the porch, stopping briefly to look out into the valley. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and knew one of them would be shadowing my every move.

I stepped off the porch and headed for the river Colt had taken me to when we first arrived. I guessed the direction and strained to hear the sounds of rushing water. Footsteps followed at a distance; I knew it wasn’t safe for me to be alone. I fought to push the tears down. The fresh air was helping to clear my head. As far back as I could remember, when I was stressed or just needed to think things through, solitude is what I needed.

I walked for a long time; my head running through the last discussion. All the details I had been missing—the pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together. There was still so much I didn’t know or understand. I heard the sound of the water and lifted my head. I stopped at a nearby ledge overlooking the river. A shiver ran down my spine; this had to have been where Colt jumped. A path lay to the right; I followed it to the river’s edge. A large boulder sat in a shaft of inviting sunlight, and I climbed down to sit. I closed my eyes and listened to the water as it harmonized with the rocks it splashed over. It was a soothing sound.

Callon sat next to me, but I didn’t look up.

“
It’s a lot to take in, Cheyenne,” Callon’s empathetic voice said. I didn’t answer, but I agreed. We sat in silence for a long time.

“
There’s so much you need to know, so much I want to tell you,” Callon’s voice was warm, caring. “In time, we’ll be able to talk freely, and you’ll understand why I’ve held back.”

I curled my legs to my chest, wrapping my arms around myself. I rested my chin on my knees. I turned and saw Callon was facing me, his eyes searching mine. It was strange the way he was staring; it seemed as if it held a deeper longing. I tried to look away, but my gaze kept drifting back. His eyes were so mesmerizing the way the brown, green, and amber swirled together. There was so much more to him than I knew, so much I didn’t understand. It was as if at times he showed me his warmth, and then only a small crack.

I sighed. “Why are you so willing to sacrifice your life for mine, Callon?” I asked. “I don’t understand. You don’t have to do this…no one does.” A warm breeze touched my cheeks.

“
You’re right, I don’t have to do anything.” He paused. “I do it out of love and devotion. I do it because of who you are, and what you will become.”

I didn’t understand. “Love and devotion? How can you? You really don’t know me.”

“
I know you more than you think. You forget I’ve been with you for a couple of years. You just never knew it.”

I averted my eyes, staring down at my hands—at the rings. “You didn’t answer my question, Callon,” I said calmly as I began running my thumb over the Servak ring, letting my fingers feel the ridges in the symbols.

I kept my focus on the ring, as he continued. “I’ve watched over you for such a long time, observed you change into the woman you are now. The little things you do. I know when you’re upset, you like to be by yourself. You pull yourself inward to deal with your emotions. Sometimes you like to run or walk or you’ll play music to calm yourself until you can resolve the issue.

“
When you’re deep in thought, your eyes tend to turn grey. When you’re happy, they’re blue. When you’re sad, they’re a blue green. When you tease or contemplate something, you bite your lower lip.” He lifted his hand to mine, stopping me from playing with my ring, and I glanced up. “When you want to be distracted, you play with your ring.”

His eyes were such deep pools of emotions, emotions he was holding back. He continued, and I looked down once again. “Most of the time, you’re not afraid to show your feelings, and when you’re angry, you let it out. You spit out words and regret them later. When you’re happy, you spread the happiness to others around you.” His fingers began to caress mine. “You’re not afraid to be alone, and sometimes you actually prefer it. You have a passion for life. You’re not afraid to take chances, except in a relationship. You’re scared of heights, and you don’t like cliff diving.” He let out a soft chuckle at that.

His long fingers lifted my chin, and I was desperately fighting an internal battle. That unknown sensation was rising up from within again. The connection with him I didn’t understand.

“
I think I know you pretty well,” he concluded. “Probably better than you know yourself. This is not sudden for me; it has grown over a couple years.” He paused, and I grew panicked. What was he confessing to me?

“
There were times I had wanted to tell you who I was, what you meant to me. I couldn’t until now. All those nights I watched over you sleeping, all those days protecting you in the shadows. I longed to be the one to comfort you when Gene and Alexis died. How I wanted to hold you in my arms. This is why I can say I watch over you out of love and devotion. I’m devoted to you eternally.”

He released my chin, and I stared at the rock. I couldn’t believe he was saying he loved me. Why now? He could have told me earlier, but then again I probably would have bolted. He was right about one thing—relationships were hard for me. It took a long time to figure out I loved Colt. I had the hardest time admitting it, even to myself.

“
That’s not true.” At least for my immediate purpose, it wasn’t true. His gaze was questioning. “It’s not true about taking a chance in a relationship. If you remember correctly, I told Colt I loved him.”

“
Yes, you did, but I don’t think it had the same meaning you thought it did. I don’t know if you truly grasp the meaning of love.” He sighed. “You’ve only had a short nineteen years of life, much of which you never really expressed love. You loved Gene and Alexis, but not like you would have if they were your birth parents. You’ve held a part of yourself back because you were afraid that if your birth parents left you, they might too. You tend to hold your deep feelings back. Until you let them out, you’ll never know the true meaning of love.”

What was this feeling deep in the pit of my stomach? Was I actually sensing something more for him? “Are you trying to take me from Colt, Callon?”

“
I’m just telling you how I see it.”

I turned my head down, drew my hand back and began rubbing my ring again. His fingers passed into my vision, and I saw something I hadn’t seen before, a ring on his right index finger. I lowered my hand and took his in mine as I studied the ring. I twisted the thick silver band, and it revealed similar symbols to my Servak ring. Two clover-like symbols were the same as mine, but the others were different. I tilted my head in curiosity, and looked up.

“
You have a ring too?”

“
Yes,” he replied quietly.

“
Have you been wearing it this whole time?” I could have sworn I had never seen it before now.

“
No.”

“
Why?”

“
I didn’t fully understand it until recently.”

“
It means something to you?”

“
Yes.”

“
Does mine mean something for me then? I know it stands for the Servak clan, but is there more?”

“
Yes.”

He wasn’t going to give any more information than simple answers, but for once I didn’t want to get worked up about it. “You’re not going to tell me are you?”

“
No,” he sighed. “You need to figure this out for yourself. I’m sorry.”

I rolled my eyes. “You say you’re sorry, but somehow I think you just like to torture me, drive me crazy on purpose. Keep me guessing all the time.” A small smirk crossed my lips.

A slight smile appeared on his face. “You got me; you figured out my plan all along. Now what am I going to do?” he said sarcastically. He grasped my hand and helped me up. “Shall we?” He gestured back toward the cabin, and I followed. We strolled back lazily.

“
Callon, what’s your story? All this time I’ve been obsessed about finding my life story, and I never once asked about yours.”

“
Pretty normal,” he replied.

Stopping, I turned. “Excuse me? Normal? How can you say that? Being Timeless is not a normal thing.”

“
I had a mother and father. I was raised under fairly normal circumstances, and my parents died a long time ago,” he said without emotions.

I could see this wasn’t going to be easy. I was going to have to dig deeper to find out. I sighed, and we began walking again. I drilled him with more questions. “Where were you raised?”

“
Ireland.”

Surprised, I continued to question him. “Where’s your accent then?”

He chuckled lightly. “I haven’t lived there in over two hundred years. I don’t have it anymore.”

“
Where else have you lived?”

“
Around.”

I rolled my eyes again. “In the United States or different countries?”

“
Both,” he calmly replied.

He was being so difficult. I decided to try a different tack. “What’s your last name?”

“
O’Shea.”

I froze in place, narrowing my eyes and turned to face him. “Colt’s last name is O’Shea,” I said slowly.

“
Yes,” he replied flatly.

“
Are you brothers?”

“
Half-brothers.”

“
What about Daniel? Is he a brother also?”

“
Yes.”

“
Half-brother?” Why had I not seen this before? He nodded and I looked down. “Is this why you can communicate telepathically?”

“
Yes.”

“
Same father, different mothers?” A few pieces fell into place.

“
Yes.”

I felt his gaze on me as I thought about my next question. “How many wives did your father have?”

“
A few,” he replied like it was no big deal.

“
Are you the oldest?” I stared at his hand as it held mine.

“
Among my siblings, yes.”

I glanced up. “How many siblings do you have?”

“
About ten.”

“
Where are they now?”

“
It’s only the three of us now.”

Sympathy furrowed my brow. “I’m sorry, Callon,” I said with compassion. “I didn’t realize you had lost family also.”

“
It was a long time ago. I don’t think much about them anymore.”

“
How did the three of you survive all these years?”

“
When the outbreak of war started, we were older. The Sarac didn’t have any power over us.”

I glanced back down and ran my fingers over his ring as some understanding came to the surface. “You have the ring like me because you’re all that’s left of your clan?”