Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) (5 page)

“You care about her? It’s not allowed - you know that, Xander.”

“I know,” I sighed. “It makes me weak, but it doesn’t prevent me from doing my job. Ri, let it go.”

Rolling to a sitting position, I began to explain the situation with the Semvon from the night before.

“There was only one, but it was watching her and she saw it. I saw her fear so visibly that I knew it wasn’t the first time she’d seen one. I took off after it and was able to dispatch him pretty quickly, but he told me there were more on their way.”

“We need to get her home, Xander, she’s almost 18. I’m sure McClintock will continue to send more and more after her until they succeed. We need to find out what’s going on there.”

I could hear the longing in his voice at the word ‘home’, and it was almost painful to listen to. His yearning was for the home he had lost 11 years ago. I had been only a small child when we left, so I had no memory of Tyalbrook. Rioden was 24 when he had gotten wind of the information that sent him chasing the Semvon through a portal into this world. He remembered home well, and he missed it dearly.

“How do we convince her to come with us?”

I replayed in my mind her admission that I made her feel something, right before she ran away. “She feels the connection,” I spoke aloud, more to myself than to him.

“She what?” he inquired.

“The Guardian connection,” I explained, as I walked to the closet to grab my bag. “When I found her in the parking lot, she felt me before I had even spoken to her. I tried to ask her what she felt…to prove to her that
something
we said was true.”

The memory of the warmth that I felt in my chest whenever I was near her swam across my mind, and I stood there reveling in it; knowing she could feel it too. Rioden cleared his throat; his watchful eyes taking me in.

“Go on.”

Shaking myself out of my own head I finished, “She denied it at first, but before she ran off she said that I made her feel something. I think I can use that to get her to trust me. She just needs time to admit it to herself.”

“I have a feeling that she’s going to believe us sooner rather than later,” he remarked ominously. “Let’s just hope we aren’t too late to save her when she finally does.”

That final chilling thought sent me racing out the door to track her down and keep a watchful eye on her.

Skye

I wandered around town like a zombie for most of the afternoon, as I replayed the few things I had allowed Rioden and Xander to say. It seemed even crazier now than it had this morning. Demons, other dimensions, Guardians…what was this - The Twilight Zone?

Heading back to Janelle’s house around 4pm, I found her sitting on the front stoop watching Rex as he worked under the hood of his beat up Chevy.

“Skye!” She jumped up and gave me a bone-crushing hug. “Where the hell have you been?!”

Taking in my wrinkled clothing from the day before, her eyes narrowed on me like a parent’s would.

“Rex and I didn’t see you leave last night, and we got worried when we couldn’t find you.”

My head struggled to come up with a plausible story. She knew me well enough to know that I didn’t sleep around, so telling her that I’d actually been with someone would open up a whole can of worms.

“Oh, you know...” I started in, stopping when I began to feel a comforting warmth as it crawled through my stomach and up to my chest.

Startled, I whirled around and looked for Xander. I knew that it had to be him, because I could feel him just the same as I had that very morning. After a moment there he was…he stepped out from behind some bushes and walked across the dusty, grassless front yard.

A sharp intake of breath reminded me that Janelle was standing next to me. At war with itself, part of my brain was telling me to run and the other part - or maybe it was my heart - was telling me to stay. That perhaps I should hear him out, and maybe even admit the truth to myself.

“Well, well, well," whispered Janelle, primping a bit. “Who is this handsome devil, and what
have
you two been up to?”

She winked at me.

“Hey Skye, sorry I couldn’t wait for you to come back tonight.”

I watched as he negotiated the potholes scattered throughout the front yard and made his way to my side; shocking me as he pulled me close and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek.

“I missed her too much,” he confessed to Janelle while keeping his arm around my waist, effectively trapping me into his side.

“I’m Xander,” he introduced himself as he held out his hand to Janelle. She looked like she would pass out while watching his display of affection.

I squeaked out a laugh and pushed Xander away, trying to pass it off as being playful, but his grip tightened and he wouldn’t budge. I looked up at his profile as he and Janelle carried on a conversation about the party and how we had supposedly met.

My eyes traveled up the strong arm as it held me, taking in his broad and obviously muscular shoulders. I followed the curvature of his neck to his strong jaw, which was lightly covered with a days’ worth of stubble. He had a narrow, straight nose. His most striking feature, besides his towering height, was his beautiful eyes.

Blue eyes. Crystal blue eyes.

“Skye,” snickered Janelle as she pulled me from my admiration. “You coming to the party tonight, or do you have other plans?”

I transferred my gaze back to Xander as I felt his hand squeeze my forearm, and I tried to answer nonchalantly. “I don’t know for sure, but you know, I think I might just stay here tonight,” I added, as I tried to ward off Xander’s plan to get me away from my house. Xander seized that moment to start coughing uncontrollably, as if he were choking on something. I stood there amazed as Janelle fawned over him and asked if he was alright, and wasn’t at all surprised when he asked for a glass of water.

“Sure,” I hissed sweetly. “We wouldn’t want you to choke, now would we? Come on,” I called as I ducked out of his embrace.

I opened the screen door of the small box of a house I shared with Janelle, Rex and any one of his friends who might show up on any given night, and motioned for Xander to step in.

I watched as his eyes took in the boxy room with a small hall that opened to two bedrooms on one side and a kitchen and eating area on the other. The furniture was all scratched, dirty or makeshift. I felt a sudden stab of mortification at what he must think of my living arrangements.

I peeked out the window to be sure Janelle wasn’t within hearing range, and then turned on Xander. “Why are you here?” I demanded.

Although his face was devoid of any emotion, I could tell that his eyes still continued to survey the house. The more he studied, the more they narrowed. His jaw tightened, and his lips drew together as if he were biting his tongue.

“What?” I hissed, as I stood there with my hands on my hips. “Not good enough for you, Xander?”

His blue eyes finally turned on me and he shook his head, as a wayward smile softened his mouth. “No, Skye,” he declared softly. “It’s not good enough for
you
.”

His answer was so matter of fact that I faltered. “You don’t even know me, Xander,” I reminded him. “You don’t know what’s good enough for me.”

I strolled into the room I slept in and stood at the window, trying to make heads or tails of my life. Since I had awakened that morning, my mind had been spinning with thoughts of my parents and my past. Something was trying to come back to me; it was almost like a memory was itching to get out.

The more I was around Xander, the harder the itch became, until my brain felt like it would explode. After a moment, he came into the room with me. He didn’t speak so neither did I.

We maintained our silence several minutes longer, as I stood there looking out at the somewhat yellowed, cream lace curtains that had been hung when I’d first moved in.

Finally turning around to face him, I steeled up my courage to try again to convince him to leave. Instead, I surprised myself when I spoke. “Xander, I’m scared,” I confessed. “I…I don’t know. I guess I know that the things you and Rioden tried to tell me are true, but I just don’t know how to actually believe them.” I hesitated, holding my hand up, “Does that make sense?”

He took three long strides into the room until he was standing almost chest to chest with me. He placed his hand over his heart, and quietly asked me the one question that I didn’t want to answer right then.

“Tell me what you feel here.”

“I feel…” I struggled to answer him and instead, looked down at the floor between us. He slowly held his free hand out and softly wove his fingers around mine; making my heart speed up.

“Look at me,” he implored, and I raised my eyes to his again, feeling the blood rush up my neck and creep into my face.

“I swear to you, Skye, I will protect you…with my life.”

I started at that, but he quickly went on. “Understand something now, because this is important. You are worth more than you could ever even imagine, and you deserve more than what you’ve lived thus far. I want to give you back your life, and I want to give you back your future.”

He squeezed my hand again once he had finished, and then lifted our hands together. He pressed my hand to my chest and rested his own over mine, “Do you feel something here when I’m around?” he asked.

After his speech, I could only nod my head in assent, acknowledging that I did indeed feel something every time I was near him. He smiled at me, a breathtaking smile that lit up his entire face, wiping away the seriousness he had been trying to maintain.

“Could you find it in yourself to tell me what it is that you feel?”

Drawing in a shaky breath, I obliged. “Earlier today, in the parking lot, I felt this warmth creeping into my stomach, and then it slowly traveled up into my chest.”

In a stilted voice, I tried to voice the feelings that I couldn’t really describe the best way that I could. “You know, it’s like when you drink something hot and it makes its way down your throat and into your stomach - how you feel the warmth seep into your body?”

He laughed at that, which made me blush again at how stupid I must have sounded.

“I’m sorry; I guess that’s not the answer you’re looking for?” I questioned him, and stepped back a fraction so he would release my hand.

He ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. “No Skye, sorry…I’m not laughing at you!” I looked at him skeptically and he pressed on. “Really, I’m not. I’m laughing because I’m…well, I guess you could say I’m kind of jonesing here. I mean, to finally be able to talk to you, and to know that you feel what I feel, and to -”

“Whoa, what do you mean? You feel something too?” I interrupted him, suddenly feeling lightheaded at everything that was going on.

He smiled brilliantly at me again and had started to reply, when we heard the screen door slam and Janelle called out, “You guys want to grab a bite with us?” She appeared in my doorway with her eyes trained on Xander.

Ignoring Xander completely, I shook my head no and made a choice I was afraid I just might regret later. “Thanks Janelle, but I’m just going to pack some things up and we’ll be on our way.”

Stepping around Xander, I opened the small closet and pulled out a duffle bag to put some clothes in. Janelle straightened up to leave and then stopped; crossing her arms as she spoke. “Hey, Xander,” she spoke. “Can you leave us for a moment? I have a small “girls only” item I need to speak with Skye about.”

He eyed me for a moment before acknowledging her request, and then he quietly withdrew from the room.

“Is he blackmailing you or something to make you leave with him?” she whispered, the worry evident in her raspy voice.

I guess after having never spent the night away, and never having brought a guy to the house that Rex or Janelle didn’t know, it seemed weird to her that now I was running off with Xander. I tried my best to put her at ease.

“No,” I reassured her, smiling stupidly as I rummaged in my drawer for clean underwear and pajamas.

“I want to go with him, Janelle,” I confessed. “I like him and he makes me feel so…” ‘
Safe’,
I thought in my head, “happy.”

I tossed some jeans and two clean shirts into my bag. Janelle laughed and clapped her hands, then grabbed me and spun me around. “Girl! You don’t know how happy that makes me!” she crowed. “Oh my word! He is so hot, Skye. Where did he come from all of a sudden, and how did you get so lucky?” she pouted prettily; joking with me.

Prying myself from her happy dance, I grabbed my brush and small makeup bag as I searched my room for anything else I might need.

I kicked the door shut and quickly stripped out of my dirty clothes before slipping into clean ones. I wore a sunshine yellow, cable knit sweater and some dark blue jeans, then pulled on my white tennis shoes. I pulled my long hair into a quick braid as I listened to Janelle go on and on about Xander.

When I realized that she was starting in on ‘the sex talk’, I almost choked. “Shhh!”

I grabbed her arm quickly and laughed, then as I started to say more, Xander knocked on the door. He didn’t bother to wait for an answer; instead, he pushed it open and looked around.