Magical Tendencies (19 page)

Just as the intro music began for
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
, I noticed that Celeste's eyes twitched. It was a minuscule amount but I caught the movement in the ridge of my eye. Every nerve in my body stood at attention as my breathing became deep and erratic. There was no telling what she was going to do so I kept my eyes on her for the duration of the movie. After that movie I stared at her through
Sweet Home Alabama
,
Leap Year
and then
Moonstruck.
Unfortunately nothing changed after that first twitch. It must have been an involuntary reaction or she was deep in a dream.
Or maybe she had an itch and her body was reacting
.

The rest of the night and the majority of the next went very much the same. I wouldn't give up on the idea that hearing a familiar movie would make her wake up. Even when I began to turn to the more Sci-Fi natured videos in Celeste's repertoire—
Aliens
, then
Predator
, then
Alien 3
and then
Alien Vs. Predator
, and finally the entire recent series of Dr. Who shows. The entire time I kept my eyes trained on her face, watching for the slightest reaction to anything that might happen in the background noise from the TV.

After an exhausting marathon of movies and BBC sci-fi content, I gave up and decided to move Celeste to the bed for her comfort. She was definitely going to get a crick in her neck from laying on the couch so long. I scooped her up in my arms after I flicked the TV off. Pushing up off of the couch, I kept my eyes on her as I walked slowly to the master bedroom.
This is how fast I would walk if I were human… carrying her
.

Celeste turned her head slightly and nuzzled the cotton of my shirt. Stopping abruptly I could feel my pulse quicken, I held my breath as I whispered, "Celeste?" Looking down at her, I gripped her a little tighter and shook her a tiny bit. "Celeste." This time I didn't whisper. "Celeste!" I yelled directly at her face, which was at most five inches away from mine. "Dammit woman, FIGHT!" I shook her in my arms and I heard her teeth rattle in her head.
That was a bit much, don't you think? No need to hurt her.

Sighing, I continued to walk into the master bedroom and trudged over to the king sized bed. Eyeing the sea blue comforter, I finally laid her on top of it, smoothing the fabric out beneath her as I did. When she was finally laying on top of the bed my eyes grazed her body with the softest of glances. I wanted to take everything in, record it for future reference… just in case this was my last opportunity. She was utterly perfect and I was without words.

My mind took stock of the fact that Celeste had no makeup on. She never really did wear makeup—she didn't need it. Once she had been asked by Von why she never took to wearing any kind of base or blush and she gave him a look of disgust, "I don't wear it because I don't feel
real
in it, and out of all of the things that I need in my life is to keep myself grounded in the real world. So I avoid makeup at all costs because, besides the fact that it is a complete waste of money, it causes my face to sweat and I would prefer not to worry about powdering my nose in the middle of a meeting with the generals." I had snickered when she stuck it to him about makeup. It was always a pleasure to watch him wriggle in discomfort around her.

Closing my eyes I felt the temperature and tasted the air. It was getting chilly so I pulled the comforter from the other side of the bed and folded it over her like she was the meat in the world's largest burrito. I smiled as I tucked the edges underneath her body so that there was no place for the cold to slip under. She was safe… from the cold at least.

Looking down at her, I considered what I was going to do if she never recovered.
I would keep her safe
. But her body would wither and die eventually.
Then I would destroy the world because it took her away from me.
Yes. That would have to do.

Shaking my head, I looked down at her and thought about all of the time I had spent… watching, protecting, wanting, and waiting. There had never been a moment that I
didn't
want her. Even when I first laid eyes on her I just
knew
.

Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair and flicked my eyes over to the mist-covered window. The weather was growing thick outside, even considering that it was night time and fog was usually not thick enough to see from the windows at this time of night. It seemed a bit unnatural.

Laying down next to Celeste, I turned on my side and wrapped my arm around her bulky burrito comforter. I could feel the outline of her hands underneath my arm as I reached over to her hip and pulled her into me just slightly enough to feel her body heat begin to glow underneath the fabric and down. Her smell filled my lungs as I closed my eyes and listened. I listened to everything outside… the ocean, the tree rubbing the house, the wind whistling in the background… and then her… her heart, her whispery breath, her tiny snores now that she was laying on her back and had a tendency to do so when she was. I could listen to her for the rest of my life, snores and all.

29

Sitting straight up in complete darkness, my mind raced and my body sang with energy. I was still glowing faintly and it threw shadows across the room. I was lying in a large four-poster bed with flowing white sheets, wrapped in a fluffy blue down comforter. The room was large and curtains were pulled across a wide window. There was no light except for my own in the room.

As I turned around to scan the room, I felt something move around my waist. There was an ARM around my WAIST! I shrieked loudly at the thought of whom or
what
could possibly be touching me, sounding very much like a teenaged girl in a horror flick. The sound even shocked me.

Solomon sat straight up in the bed and reached over to turn on the bedside light. He turned back to me quickly, "What?! Are you okay?" His voice sounded relieved.

Was I okay? "Yes," I lied. I didn't know what to think about Solomon being in bed with me. How did I feel about that? Conflicted. "Where are we?"

"At the beach house. You fainted and I didn't want to leave you outside in the elements so I moved you to the bed." He shrugged.

I eyed him up and down—he didn't have his shirt on and his incredible muscles were everywhere. His broad chest and tapered waist drew attention to his low-hung jeans.
Was I hormonal or something? What was wrong with me?!

"I was afraid that you were going to teleport again, Celeste. I had to keep a very close eye on you to ensure that you were safe." He smiled down at me from his side of the bed.

Closing my eyes I reminded myself
he is your guard, your personal guard, he has always been allowed to be close to you. Just remember that
.

Shaking off my discomfort, I looked over at him. The question hung on the tip of my tongue but I asked it anyway, "Why did you accept the position of my personal guard?" It was just a moment ago but I was still wondering what went through his mind when he accepted.

"What?" He froze where he sat, "What are you asking?" One eyebrow lifted as he looked at me seriously.

"When you first met me, and killed the demon. Why did you accept the position as my personal guard?"

"You are getting your memories back. Celeste, you remember." It wasn't a question—he was stating the truth. Relief seemed to be washing over him.

"No," I shook my head and he looked at me, a little uncomfortable with the simple word. "I did not remember anything. I have just lived that moment in time." It sounded crazier than it felt.

"You… " His eyes glazed over as he thought about the past. Did he remember what had happened? Did he have a memory like the proverbial steel trap? I had no idea how his mind worked so I couldn't answer the question.

"You… "He pushed himself up off of the bed and paced around the room. His open discomfort always made me uneasy. "You were there. As you are now… your eyes… I should have known. But how would I know? What could I have thought? I didn't know you." His words were spoken to himself as if he were speaking to me. The conversation was one-sided but I listened intently to the way he worked through the mystery.

"And then you asked me to be your guard. You gave me full access to you. No one could give me orders except for you—not even Von." He turned to me, eyes huge, "Why would you do that?! That was unheard of."

"Tell me honestly, have you saved my life within the walls of my bedroom?" I was curious. Maybe I had made the wrong choice, but we obviously hadn't done anything inappropriate, or so it seemed, so what difference did it make?

"Yes." His answer came so quickly it actually shocked me.
When?
What happened?

"Did you ever save my life under unusual circumstances? Where someone wouldn't have normally been near me… if I hadn't given you full access as I did in the past?" My hair stood up on end, in fear of the answer to my question.

"Yes."

I bristled at the response, "So now you know why I did what I did."

Solomon looked deeply into my eyes and strode back over to the bed. He kneeled at my side and leaned on his elbows as he peered deeply into my eyes, "I always assumed that your personal physical attraction could have caused such a strong response towards me." He smiled broadly, "I thought that you always wanted me close for… other reasons."

I hiccupped unexpectedly. Did he just say that he thought I always
wanted
him?

An eyebrow shot up and he smirked at me. His expression was priceless. I rolled my eyes at his wicked grin.
Geesh!

"Look, Solomon. I just want to know why you accepted."

He stood up and walked towards the heavy curtains over the window. Glancing behind the curtain, he ducked back and sighed, "I was… attracted to you. At least that was at first. Then it became abundantly clear that you already had a love interest in your life and I wasn't sure where I fit. When you asked me to be your personal guard I realized that you needed me and I couldn't think of a reason to decline the offer." He ran his hand through his tousled hair and closed his eyes, "I couldn't say no to you. My whole life was pinned on your existence. I didn't know why I felt that way, but I did. You… were the center of the universe for me."

He shook his head and walked to a wingback chair sitting near the bedside table. Throwing himself into the chair and dropping his head into his hands, he sighed deeply.

"I'm weak. I always have been when it comes to you." He shook his head and sighed, "I would have given everything up to be near you. I had no idea why. It was that first time that I met you—your eyes bored a hole in my heart. You were so sure that I was meant to be with you. My body agreed—I wanted you and I thought you wanted me. But through the years that we spent together it seemed like I was wrong. You spent the next fifty years with Von as your husband and it tore me up every second of the day."

He pushed away from the chair and paced to the other side of the room, "Dammit! I don't know why I'm telling you any of this—it's useless to share it."

I took everything in. It all made sense—why Von and Solomon hated each other so much. Why Solomon was so driven to find me when I went missing. Why Solomon was my personal guard… but…

"Solomon, why did you stay? Why did you stay when I was with Von?" I refused to say
married
. It just seemed wrong.

Solomon sighed and shook his head, "Because I'm stubborn… and I had vowed myself to you."

"What about other women?" My head quirked to the side.

"What about them?" Solomon's interest was piqued with that one question. Was that a smile on his lips?

"Well, have you… you know… "

Solomon stood up and shook his head, "Isn't that a little hypocritical of you to ask me if I was celibate during the time that you were… married?" He continued to smirk at me. I bristled at his words.

Turning my head away I simply said, "Just forget it."

"Ahhh, I doubt that I can do that." Solomon had a smile in his voice, "It is too close to jealousy. I think I like hearing the pangs of jealousy in your voice. It's actually very attractive on you."

"I am
not
jealous," I lied. I tamped down the feelings as quickly as I could. I had no right to feel that way about him. I was a married woman… supposedly.

A change of subject was in order, "What time is it?"

Solomon's smile dropped ever-so-slightly, "8:30 p.m."

"How long have I been… asleep?" I knew I wasn't asleep but I didn't see any other way to describe it.

"Two days," his voice was firm, stoic.

"TWO days?!" My voice shot up two octaves, "I was out for TWO DAYS?"

"It's okay, Celeste," Solomon pushed up and walked towards the door, "I called Von and Mortisha. They know you are safe and they are awaiting our arrival."

"You did?" The shock was obvious in my voice.

"Of course," Solomon smiled down at me, "I am your personal guard, not your captor." He shrugged as he began to walk out of the room.

"Solomon."

He stopped at the doorway.

"You never answered my question."

"About other women?" He smiled wickedly, at which I swallowed involuntarily.

"No, about why you stayed."

He looked past the door and turned back to me, "Because you are my destiny." He sighed before he walked out of the room.

Something inside me knew he was telling the truth.

30

The ride back to Portland was a quiet one for us. I spent my time flipping through my music, trying desperately to find something that would satiate my anxious feelings. Finally I settled on Linkin Park and a little Godsmack. Solomon raised his eyebrows slightly when I flipped over to Godsmack; he seemed a bit shocked by the foul language but I was angry and worried beyond belief. It wouldn't matter what they said as long as the music was hard and loud.

I watched the road as best I could, distracting myself with the scenery. I was allowing myself to get drawn in by the music, stretching out with my feelings to the highway, so it came as a bit of a shock when a dark shape ran across the road in a blur. My instincts said to put the brakes on and my body immediately tensed up to do that when I heard Solomon yell, "Don't stop! Speed up, Celeste! It's a demon!"