Crest (Book #2,Swift Series) (4 page)

Tell me about it
, I thought to myself. “I’m a little tired, but not too bad. Did you all have a good day?” I asked, hoping to turn the focus off myself.

“Very productive,” Samuel answered.

“Yes, very productive,” Blake mirrored his response.

“Well, I can’t be as descriptive as these two,” Annette said mockingly, “but I did finish cleaning up the attic, so I guess I’m feeling that the day was also productive.”

Blake stood up and began to walk towards the door. “Let’s get you two something to eat; I’m sure you’re both hungry.”

Over dinner, Blake questioned me on the details of my training today and he couldn’t help chuckling when he heard what Abby had made me do. Now, looking back, it was actually pretty funny. Well, everything except the eating dirt... that was just disgusting. I could still felt the remnants of it in my mouth.”

When we were finished with dinner, Abby offered to do the dishes so Blake and I could leave for our evening without any more delay. She was so hot and cold sometimes, leaving me wondering what her true feelings were. There were times when I felt like she wanted me all to herself. That all she wanted was to teach me to be the best, strongest witch to ever exist. Then, there were times where it felt like she wanted me to have a normal life. Although, maybe she was just conflicted like me. There were times when I wanted nothing more than to learn as much as possible in order to protect myself and the ones I loved. Then there were times where I wished I could forget everything for just a few minutes and not have this constant worry resting on my shoulders.

Blake and I walked hand in hand. He was still being coy about our destination and in most cases, I would have begged him until he told me. Tonight, though, my mind was too tired to ask; and as much as I hated it, my mind was distracted with repeating the lessons from today over and over in my head. I wanted to perfect it tomorrow, just like Abby had thought I would. She unknowingly put so much pressure on me by the amount of confidence she had in my success. It wasn’t until Blake said something, that I realized I had totally been ignoring him.

“Meredith, are you alright? You’re being particularly quiet tonight.”

Turning to look at him, it was easy to see the worry on his face. I wondered if a day would come when he wouldn’t look at me like that, or if it would always be there since he knew that dark magic would continuously be lurking, seeking someone with my type of power. “Sure, everything’s fine.” I smiled, trying to comfort the concern in his eyes.

He sighed as he looked up towards the black night sky. “I hoped it wouldn’t come to this. I wanted to avoid asking you how you’re doing, but I can’t take it anymore.” His voice held a bit of frustration.

My eyebrows came together in confusion from his tone and I shook my head. “Blake, you just asked me that. Come to think of it, you ask me every day—almost every minute we’re together—how I’m doing.”

He inhaled deeply before responding. “That’s true, but you always say you’re fine when I know you’re not. I’ve just never pressed you for the truth. I know all of this has to be hard for you, yet you never say anything. You never tell me how you’re really feeling. You never show fear, stress, or any other expression that would be normal in a situation like this. In the beginning, I thought maybe you would at least talk to Abby about it... I thought that maybe you were just not comfortable talking to me about your feelings. However, Abby said that you respond to her the same way... you tell her you’re
fine
.” He stopped walking and faced me. “I just want to know how you’re doing... how you’re really doing and please don’t tell me you’re fine, Meredith.” His voice was serious.

My head spun at the total change in direction our evening had taken. We were supposed to be having a nice, romantic night... Or, at least, that’s what I thought he had planned for us. Now, after hearing his words, it felt more like he took me out to give me a lecture.

Taking in a deep breath, I tried to sort out my thoughts and think of the best way to respond to Blake’s question. It’s not that I didn’t trust him enough to tell him things. That wasn’t it at all. I just wasn’t the type of person to open my feelings up to anyone really. It was sort of a defense mechanism that I started after my family died. I never wanted to worry Aunt Rose, so I put up a shield and blocked her from ever knowing how badly I was actually hurting. The shield also went up for my teachers, friends and even strangers. I never wanted anyone to pity me or worry on my behalf.

Before I could find the words to say, Blake took a step forward; our faces only inches apart. “No more silence. Please talk to me.”

The pressure he was putting on me began to irritate me. They were my feelings, my thoughts, my fears. If I wanted to tell them to someone, shouldn’t it be up to me?

“What do you want to hear, Blake? Do you want to hear that I’m terrified? That I go to sleep every night afraid of waking up and not being here with you? Do you want to know how terrified I am that one day someone is going to come after me because of what I am and hurt you and your family trying to get to me? Is that what you want to hear?” I sighed in frustration, glancing down at the ground, feeling a little exposed that I just revealed my deepest fears to him.

For a minute, I didn’t have the strength to look up at him. I didn’t mean for it to come out so harshly, but he had asked for it! Then, as quickly as my anger came, the guilt for just saying those things, came even quicker. There was no reason for it to come out like an attack on him. He was only trying to help me because he cared about me. When I finally got the courage to look up, his face was expressionless as he stared out into the darkness.

“Blake, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. I just... I’m not the best when it comes to expressing my feelings. That’s why they usually stay bottled up.”

He glanced back at me with a twisted expression, shaking his head. “This is what I wanted. I wanted to know the truth from you. If you’re angry, be angry. If you’re scared or sad, just tell me. I want to be here for you; whatever you’re feeling. I’m glad you just told me those things and that you actually put some feeling behind it. I’m just confused by what you’re feeling is all. Here I was thinking that you were upset because you missed home—you missed your aunt, Jack, and your friend, Roger. My family and I were all convinced that you had regretted your decision in coming here and–”

“Blake, no!” I gasped. “You and your family risked everything for me; you came across over a hundred years of time to save me. Coming here to warn you what was going to happen that day in the church was the least I could do.”

He laced his fingers through mine and stared at our hands for a moment before meeting my gaze. “It helps to know how you feel. We all care about you and want what’s best for you.”

“Well, I can’t make any promises, but from now on, I’ll work on being more open with how I’m feeling,” I said, swallowing hard.

 “That’s all I ask. You don’t have to confide in me if you’re not comfortable. Abby is here for you, too. We’re all here for you.”

We arrived at Tinkers Island and I couldn’t help but smile. This was the first time he had brought me here since that first night in my own time, the night where I had learned about who I truly was. I had also come here by myself that day after the Harpers left to return to their time, but tonight was different. Tonight there weren’t a million questions running through my head and there wasn’t the confusion, fear, or sadness I’d felt the last time I was here.

 As we walked along the sand, I noticed that he had been right. The island hadn’t changed much from this time to that evening in the future. I was sure that he was leading me towards the makeshift bench he had taken me to that night, but I could see something in the distance that made me wonder if I was wrong. He glanced back towards me and smiled, then with one swift wave of his hand, a burst of light erupted a hundred feet in front of us. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, other than it being the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I stopped and stared for a moment. I couldn’t remember ever seeing anything so amazing—no, I was sure, I’d never seen anything so amazing.

“How did you do that?” I asked, looking up at him, totally impressed.

“Magic, of course.”

“Yeah, I figured that. I mean, I haven’t seen a spell that could do something like that before… you know, with fire.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit of an advanced spell. My father actually had to help me with it. When I asked him about the spell the other day, he said that he would have to dig around and see if he could find it in one of his old spell books.”

“So this is what you two were working on today?” I remembered how strange Samuel acted this morning and how coy the both of them had been when I asked them about their day today.

“Just most of the afternoon.” He smiled and continued to guide me down the beach.

The closer we got to the beautiful glow; it became clear on what was in front of me. I could now see there was a blanket perfectly laid out and that a ring of candles were surrounding it. My stomach was in knots when I saw what he had done and knowing that we were alone... on a beach... Under a star filled sky.

“Hey,” he whispered, bringing my attention back to him. “It’s just a beautiful spot for you to relax and take your mind off everything for a while.”

We both laid on our backs, staring up at the stars. For the first few minutes, no words were spoken between us and I had to admit, if felt nice to lay there and not think about anything except the moment. It was rare when Blake and I got alone time like this, so as much as my mind wanted to drift off and think about the lesson I’d learned that day, I pushed everything from my mind and just concentrated on being there with him. It had been a long time since I’d felt like this—totally at peace—and I tried to think of a way to stay here, to never go back to the estate and to never have to think or deal with magic again.

“Are you relaxed?” Blake asked, turning on his side and propping himself up on his elbow.

“Completely.” I sighed.

“No thoughts of magic or spells?” I could hear the smile in his voice.

“None, whatsoever.” I sighed again, this time even louder.

“Good. Then my plan is working.”

“Your plan, huh?” I turned to face him, looking in his eyes.

He smiled. “I wanted you to have a night off—to not think about anything or anyone, except for the one you’re with, of course.” He pulled me closer in one fell swoop, our lips just inches apart. My heart leaped into my throat at the sudden change in position and at his lips drawing closer to mine.

The hours passed too quickly. It wasn’t long before I felt like it was almost time to go. It’s not that we had a curfew, but I knew that I would have to be up early for training in the morning.

“We should get back. I’m sure Abby is rolling her eyes as we speak.” Blake exhaled, planting a kiss on my forehead before sitting up. “You know how she likes to have you fully rested on
school
nights and all.”

I didn’t follow his movements. Instead, I laid there frozen—not wanting to move—not wanting this amazing night to end.