Intuition (6 page)

Without saying anything, he bends down and buries his face in my neck, tenderly kissing the curve behind my ear. The air around us seems to have changed, taken on a weight of expectation, and I feel a thrill of anticipation and fear run through me.

I'm so focused on his touch that I don't hear the voices on the
stairs until they're almost to the rooftop. Griffon must hear them at the same time because he jumps back from me, and the two of us frantically adjust our clothes as Kat and Owen appear at the top of the stairs.

“I knew it!” Owen shouts, and I can hear the pride in his voice.

“Oh. My. God.” It doesn't take a genius to recognize Kat's angry voice. “I told you not to embarrass me!”

I struggle to sit up, my heart still pounding at what almost happened. “Which is why we're up here
alone
and not making out in the middle of the living room.”

“Right,” she snaps. “Like everyone in the place couldn't look at the two of you and know what you've been up to.”

Griffon glances at me with a smile, and I can't help laughing. “So what are
you
doing up here, then?” I ask. “Just coming up to check out the view?”

Kat looks at Owen, and even in this light I can see her face get red. “As a matter of fact, we were.”

“Which is exactly what we were doing.” Griffon points to the other lounge chair. “Have a seat. It's not so cold with the fire going. I'm going to go get us a couple more drinks.”

I watch Kat and Owen settle into the chair, thinking about how much I don't want to spend the whole evening watching them make out. I want to go back to the place Griffon and I were just now. “I'll go,” I say. “Besides, I want to check on Rayne. I didn't tell her we were up here.” I slide off the chair before Griffon can object and grab the glasses. Bending over to give him a quick kiss, I whisper, “Be right back.”

I know I'm grinning as I open the door at the bottom of the
stairs, but I can't help it. As frustrated as I am at getting interrupted, it felt so right. I lift my sleeve up to my nose just to get the faint traces of his scent, to nudge the last ribbons of memory of what we almost did. Of what we're still going to do. Soon.

I'm not paying attention to anyone as I walk down the hall toward the living room, just thinking about Griffon up on the roof and how much I want to get back there with him. Which is why I'm caught totally off guard when I hear a shout coming from the crowd in the kitchen.

“Cole! Wait!”

I stop and glance through the doorway, but the person who emerges from the crush of bodies is the last one I expect to see at this party. I'm so stunned to see him again that I can barely get his name past my lips.

“Drew.”

“I heard you were here,” Drew says in his thick Australian accent, glancing behind him as he follows me into the hallway. “I've been looking all over for you.”

“I thought you were gone,” I say, taking a step back from him. Even though I know I can't avoid him forever, I didn't think I'd be face-to-face with him so soon. My hand goes automatically to the ankh around my neck, and Drew's eyes follow. He reaches out to touch its silver curves, but I shrink back from his hand, which seems to snap him back to reality—the reality where we barely know each other.

“You didn't call,” he says. He takes a step toward me, and I can feel the faint but insistent vibrations between us. “I was hoping you would.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” I say, staring at the hardwood floors to avoid the intensity of his blue eyes as he
looks at me. With his short blond hair, he's not my type at all, but I can't deny that he's very good-looking, and it's a little intimidating. As far as I'm concerned, Drew's just a jewelry designer who is practically engaged to Kat's boss. And also happens to be Akhet.

Drew takes a step back, and I can feel the intensity of his energy ease, as if he's consciously forcing himself to slow down. “Is that how we're going to play this?” He nods slowly, but I know it's not with approval. “I thought you'd be glad to see me after so long. All things considered.”

I glance behind him, half expecting Francesca to step into the hallway any minute, but only one fairly drunk guy weaves past us, not paying any attention. I look Drew straight in the eyes, hoping that I can stop this conversation before it goes too far. If we don't acknowledge it, then I can keep it from being true. “I barely know you. I met you twice in the shop, and you like my necklace. I don't know what else you think is going on here, but that's all we are to each other.” I hear the words and close my eyes, willing myself to believe them.
That's all we are to each other.
I can't let myself think about any other possibility.

Drew stands so close I can feel the warmth of his breath on my skin. “You and I both know that isn't true. You know exactly who I am to you. Who I've been to you. I can tell that you remember.”

“You're wrong,” I say, looking past him. Not daring to look right at him for fear of what I might see there. “I don't remember.” I inhale, trying to make myself believe those words. “I don't remember anything.”

“Why would you say that?” Drew asks, and something in his voice makes me meet his eyes. I'm surprised to find a glimmer of hurt behind them. His voice trembles as he continues. “It's taken centuries to find you again, and I thought you'd be as thrilled as I am to finally be together in the same place, in the same lifetime.”

I think of Griffon upstairs on the roof and want nothing more than to be back there. No answer I can give will satisfy Drew, so I turn to run back to the stairs, back to Griffon so that I can make this all disappear.

But Drew's reflexes are quicker than mine. He reaches out and grabs my arm as I turn, and it feels as if a strong current of electricity is connecting the two of us. Drew is a more powerful Akhet than I'd imagined. I can feel his hands catching me as my knees buckle from the impact of the jolt and the memory that starts crashing all around me.

The ground beneath us trembles from the pounding of the horses' hooves. I look up at Connor, fear crawling over my skin even as I try to deny what is coming.

“We must run,” I say, throwing myself into his arms. Panic rises through my body. “We have to go.” I turn to pull him down the long stone hallway, but he stands fast. “They'll find us here!”

“My dear Allison, there is nowhere left to hide,” he says quietly, with more comportment than I thought possible at such a moment. His calm control of any situation is one of the things that drew me to him, but right now I want to beat on his chest and spur him into action. What little time we have left is fleeting, certainly he must see that? “They have the grounds surrounded,
I'm sure of it,” he continues, lifting my face with his strong hand. “We have no options left. To fight them now will only put us both in danger. I will not risk your life as well.”

There is a distant pounding at the main door, although I know the servants have long since gone to the country. “We can't just surrender into their hands!” I cry, frustration at the situation spilling over until I can no longer stop the hot tears from flowing.

Connor reaches around and frees the pendant from my neck, then slips the ruby earrings from my ears. Folding them into my palm, he whispers, “With these jewels and the others in your chambers you shall have means to get away. Keep them hidden, whatever you do.”

He bends to kiss me, and for one brief moment it is as if we are the only two people left on Earth. I cling to him desperately, wanting to remember what may well be our last moments together. His lips press against mine, the intensity of his emotions matching the beat of my heart and the heat from our bodies causing the silver in my hand to warm. I feel our connection growing stronger even as our time together grows shorter.

I barely register the noise in the hallway as the soldiers gain entry. It is only when Connor is ripped from my arms that the reality of the moment catches hold and I start to scream. “Connor! No! Make them stop! You can't leave me!” I fall to my knees before the tallest soldier as his compatriots hold my husband roughly by the arms. “I beg of you, sir. You are making a grave mistake!”

I smell the leather of his spotless black boots as the man towers above me, a thick piece of parchment in his hands.
“Connor Wyatt,” he proclaims. “You are to be remanded to the custody of His Majesty's representatives to be tried for treason against the crown.”

The soldiers shout as they wrestle Connor down the hallway, although he is putting up very little protest. The tall one brushes me aside as if I am nothing but a speck of manure on his boot as he turns to follow the others toward the door.

“Connor!” I scream, disbelief rising at the scene that is unfolding before my eyes. “Don't leave me! Connor!”

With one last burst of energy, he manages to turn back so that I can meet his eyes. “I will always love you, Allison. Never forget. No matter what happens, I will love you.
Ad vitam aeternam.”

For eternity. At those last words, the soldiers reach the door and wrestle him out to the waiting horses, which snort and paw at the ground. The dust has barely settled on the drive when I collapse on the cold stones of the doorway, fully and completely alone as silence descends upon the house.

I feel a solid wall at my back as I shake off the memory from so many centuries ago. Drew is holding me up by both arms, watching my face intently. He knows what's just happened. He may not know the details, but he knows I remember something. His blue eyes search mine as I feel a pounding of denial in my ears. Drew can't be right. He can't be Connor.

“Are you still going to deny it?” he whispers.

My hands are shaking and the feelings of abandonment and loss have settled into my chest as if that all just happened seconds ago. Tears jump into my eyes as I picture Connor's face again as he's led through our door for what I know is the last
time. I look around, taking in the murmur of conversation from the other rooms, the faint smell of candle wax, the clinking of glasses from the bar. I'm here in San Francisco at a party with my boyfriend, not in England in the sixteenth century. “I can't deny what happened then,” I say in a whisper. I force my eyes to meet his, the essence of Connor still lingering in my memory. I have to stay strong, keep my emotions in this lifetime. “But that has nothing to do with now.”

Drew grips my arms even tighter, his desperation almost visible. “It has everything to do with now, and you know it. After all we've been through.” He moves in closer and I can see the light golden stubble on his cheeks. “We're destined to be together, Allison. We've always been destined for each other.” I see his eyes shining as he speaks and know that he's fighting back tears of his own.

I can't let myself get pulled into these emotions. There's too much at stake now. Drew could have been anyone back then. Somehow he knew about the ankh and what happened. I remember loving Connor then, but I don't know anything about Drew now. “My name isn't Allison,” I say, with as much conviction as I can manage. “Not this time.”

Drew's stare is intense. “Allison, Cole; Connor, Drew. The essences are the same, no matter what the labels are.”

I take a deep breath and pull up as much conviction as I can. “I don't know why you're doing this, but you're not Connor. I would know.” I feel someone watching and glance over Drew's shoulder to see Rayne standing at the end of the hallway staring at us. “I have to go,” I say, quickly twisting out of his grip before
he can react. Without looking back, I walk toward Rayne, picking up the empty glasses where I must have dropped them.

I force my voice to remain steady as I reach her. “I was just getting some more drinks.”

Rayne turns and follows me, glancing back to where Drew is still standing at the end of the hallway. “Are you okay? What the hell was that all about?”

Ducking into the living room, I force myself to keep moving. “That? That was nothing.”

Rayne puts out a hand to stop me. “I've seen nothing before,” she says. “And that definitely wasn't it. Seriously, Cole. What's going on? Who is that guy?”

“He's crazy,” I say. I glance toward the doorway, but Drew is nowhere in sight. “He thinks we knew each other a long time ago. From before.”

Rayne grabs the glasses out of my hands and sets them down on a bookcase. Opening the front door, she says, “I think we should probably have this conversation outside.”

As soon as the door closes behind us, I take a deep breath. “I'm not cheating on Griffon,” I say quickly. “I'd never cheat on him. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I'd never do anything to screw that up.”

Rayne looks at me, confused. “I never said you were. I know how you feel about him.”

I catch myself. My emotions are stirring up guilt where it doesn't belong. “Remember the whole Lady Allison thing?” I ask.

“Yeah. The lifetime in England.”

“Right. And Lord Wyatt? Connor Wyatt? The one we looked
up on the Internet?” I continue. “Well, Drew says he's . . .” I let the sentence trail off and stare at her, hoping that my gestures will save me from having to say it out loud.

For the first time, the concern in her eyes wavers. “Are you trying to tell me that the guy back there was really Lord Wyatt from England all that time ago?”

“I don't know.” I shake my head. “He says he is, but I just don't know. He recognized this at Kat's shop a few weeks ago,” I say, tracing the ankh with my finger. The memory of losing Connor is still tugging at the edges of my emotions, and I have to force myself to focus on the present. “I've been avoiding him ever since.”