Rush (Roam Series, Book Four) (15 page)

“Try them,” he corrected.
He sounds defeated…

And so very… mortal.

“Let me,” I stopped him at the freezer door, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pressing a kiss to my head.

“Thank you, Violet.”

“How is she?”

He leaned against the counter, staring out the open window.

“She’s… happy. Just young and happy.”

I reached for the bag of frozen carrots, swallowing the enormous bulge in my throat as my nose burned. “And Logan?”

He raised his eyebrows slightly, still staring ahead. “He’s with her. He’s… always… with her.”

The tear that slipped down my cheek went unnoticed as I busied myself with Eva.

West ended up buying a house near the lake for my mother, and she insisted on paying him back with interest. She found a job with a local insurance company, and I made myself a room in her new house. By Christmas she’d fallen in love with a lawyer named Michael who worked for the very same insurance company, and on New Year’s Eve he proposed to her.

Michael was
the exact opposite of West- dark hair, shorter, smaller build, and talked non-stop. He was funny, and I was glad that he made my mom laugh- and also that he took her mind off of me and my plans.

Or non-plans.

One evening in May, I stood in front of the children’s vitamins in Walmart, scanning the shelves for the Disney Princess bottle. Eva refused to take any others, and also refused to eat the Belle ones because Belle was “too pretty to eat.” (And West let her pick them out. God.)

“No, you definitely want the
Toy Story
ones.
The Little Mermaid
has a fishy taste.”

I nearly dropped the bottle of vitamins in my hand as Logan stood next to me, grinning mischievously. He wore a black tuxedo, and held
a bottle of Tums in his hands.

My heart drummed in my chest.

Laugh
. I smiled, and he smiled, and we were both just standing there freaking smiling and, for ten long seconds, I thought he knew me.

He chuckled, glancing over my shoulder. I turned as Roam approached. Her
strappy, green gown made her eyes look like purchased accessories, and her long hair was done up professionally. I’d never really seen her in make-up, and it made her appear older and… prettier.

“Oh, you found them?”

“I think you just need to eat, Cam. It’s not heartburn.”

“I’m just nervous,” she admitted, flashing me the kind of amiable smile any  stranger would give in the middle of a the vitamin aisle at
Walmart.

“Prom is supposed to be fun, not
scary
. Let’s go! Good luck with the mermaid,” Logan called to me, winking as he led her to the check-out counter.

I drove the entire way home without crying. West had already put Eva to bed, and I made it just inside the door before crumbling.

Managing to sob through the entire Logan/ Roam sighting account, I accepted tissue after tissue as my father comforted me on the couch. After a while, I just sat in silence, staring at the muted History Channel with my head on his shoulder.

“
Roam was… pregnant. In the castle. With my child.”

His words, so quiet and broken, made me sit back with wide eyes. “What? During the fight?”

He nodded once. “When Asher turned time back here, he returned her to the moment I met her, in my classroom. Seventeen years old; untouched. Unbroken.”

“I’m so sorry,” I began, but he shook his head.

“That is what she deserves. She deserves peace. A new beginning. You do too, Violet. I wish you didn’t have to live with this pain.”

“You saved her life. You did what you’ve been trying to do for centuries. Except now you’re mortal, and I hate to think of you dying someday, while Eva and I just live.”

He turned to me, his blue eyes the exact same color that I saw in the mirror every single day. “I told Roam from the very beginning, and I’ll tell you now. All I’ve ever wanted was for the prophecy to end. To have our child, save this world, and be with her… finally,
to be mortal.
To die.
Immortality is just a lifetime of memories that will never go away.”

I sat back, considering his words. Loss was something I’d known
my entire life, and I tried to multiply that times the number of lives my father had lived and suffered through.

“She looked really beautiful,” I offered, finally burying the cold, childish resentment in my heart.

“I know.” He reached for the remote, turning up the volume.

June 15, 2014

“
She remembers.
”

I
let him take Eva from me, and she sighed sleepily as he gathered her into his arms. I had taken her to see the new
Ice Age
movie, not even realizing she’d fallen asleep half-way through the film.

“Then… my mom… Morgan and Jason…
Logan?
”

West
pulled at her small sandals, dropping them by the door. “They remember.”

I
glanced around the living room before lowering my eyes. “I’m sorry, I just…
I can’t miss him anymore.
I’m not changing anything-
he
broke up with
her
, he made that choice on his own, and-…,”

“Violet,” he reached for me with one arm, still holding Eva. I wrapped my arms around him. “I would have touched her.
The moment I found her by the bookstore here… it was inevitable. I would have kissed her. Roam is my
life
.
Thank you.
”

That night,
I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering if Logan still cared for me the way that he once did.
He remembers the castle, 1955… and yet, he remembers the past two years with Roam. He has a choice.

He doesn’t have to love me.

Worry kept me from sleeping soundly, and early the next morning, I turned as warm feet slid under the covers next to me.

“Vi?”

“Hmn?”

Eva snuggled closer, and I wrapped my arm around her.

“Is Roam my mommy?”

I slowly opened my eyes, gazing at her troubled face. Finally, I nodded against the pillow. “Yes. Yes, she’s your mommy.”

“I know. Why doesn’t
she
know?”

My heart broke for her. I sighed, pulling her closer. “She knows now. And she’s missed you so very much.”

“Can I go in Daddy’s room and see her?”

I turned and reached for my phone.
6:45 AM
. “Sure.”

She
crawled away from me, breaking into a run for the door. I adjusted my pillow, narrowing my eyes as a text slid through on my phone.

I didn’t recognize the number, but I immediately knew who it was from.
Every cell in my body warmed, and I smiled, really smiled, for the first time in two long, endless years.

I’m going to die if I don’t kiss you right now.

With shaking hands, I texted back.

I’m waiting.

Waiting until nine o’clock proved to be the most difficult thing I’d ever done. I changed my clothes three times, finally settling on white shorts and a bright blue tank top to match my eyes. Wearing a path in the sand, I paced, glancing anxiously toward the house again and again.

When I finally saw him, I
broke into a run.

In his dress blues
, his hair so short, and my heart flip-flopped in my chest as I jumped into his arms.

He caught me and, doused in sunshine, dove for my kiss.

Neither of us could form words. I cried, refusing to let go of his shoulders, and he threaded his fingers through my hair, carrying me in his arms. “
You’ve been missing.
I knew something wasn’t right.
I knew it all along, Vi,
” he managed, his tongue parting my lips. I sighed into his mouth, so alive, needing every word he spoke like I needed air.

Roam and West wasted no time; they planned to marry that evening by the ocean. Roam took Eva to find a dress while West organized the ceremony…

And Logan took me to my bed.

With his warm, naked body over mine, he took his time, slowly
tracing kisses over every inch of my neck. I shivered, gripping the bedspread and searching for his eyes.

“Do you remember… me?”

“Jesus, Violet, I remember
every part of you,
” he said, his breath hot against my throat. His dark eyes pleaded with mine. “You kept me alive in that castle. I can’t believe…
I’ve missed two years of you,
” he whispered, his hands sliding down my sides, kneading into my skin. His mouth trailed over my collarbone and chest, and his hands cupping my breast before his lips surrounded my peaked nipple.

“
Logan
,” I cried, arching against him, I closed my eyes, gasping for air. My senses came alive, remembering his touch as though we’d never been apart. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he groaned, pulling back and holding my face steady in his hands.

“Will you think I’m an asshole for bringing these?” He rifled through the pocket of his pants, retrieving one of several condoms. “
I didn’t come here… expecting you to… are you sure you want to do this? Is this too soon?”

I
reached for the foiled wrapper, tearing it open. When I took him into my hands, he moaned, satisfaction washing over his face as I wrapped my fingers around his hardened body. “I’ve been waiting for you for two years. It was almost
too late.
”

He grinned, lowering himself, his face hovering only seconds from mine as he slowly slid into me.

The pain took me by surprise, but was quickly replaced by the perfect feeling of
him
, his mouth on mine, and his gentle touch and soft words.

“
I can’t believe you’re here,
” he said, his fingers diving into my curls as he stilled for a long moment. I moaned, urging him to move against me.

“
Make me yours again,
” I begged, disappearing into my Logan.

The world fell away for the afternoon as we made love again,
and again, and it wasn’t until I heard the car doors below the house when I realized that we had to get dressed for the wedding.

He
smirked as I reached for my robe, tugging at a long curl. “You’re hair is big,” he teased, and I glanced in the mirror, cringing at my platinum-blonde just-fucked
mess
.

“Is it obvious? What we just did for three hours?”

He laughed, shoving his hands into my hair. “I don’t think your dad has anyone on his mind but Roam.”

I thought about his words, shrugging with a smile. “I think you’re right.”

The wedding was at sunset, and as I watched my dad marry Roam, I knew I had done the right thing by telling her. The love between them was visible; in her tears, in his touch, and in the way they spoke their vows to each other with Eva at their side.

Time, finally, was giving us a
fighting chance.

For almost two hours, I truly believed we could be happy. Even though Logan was mortal, and I would live forever, I wanted him for as long as he’d have me.

I wanted him for the rest of his life.

And just like that, the peace
that I had found in our new life ended with Roam’s desperate cry.

Everything crumbled when West realized that, by breaking the spell with his touch, he had reversed time in the
other
world.

And
that meant that Troy was alive.

When they left for the fountain
in Chicago, I had no idea if I’d ever see them again. They were going on the
Titanic
, and planned to be back the next day. Logan and I put Eva to bed and held each other all night. He talked about the castle, Troy, and Roam’s last, tortured days.

When he spoke of boot camp,
his short words and limited information told me that he’d endured more than I could ever imagine. I snuggled into the crook of his arm, sighing deeply. “I’m so proud of you. For everything you did. For everything you’re doing. You fight for what you want… you’re a fighter, and I love that about you.”

He breathed a short laugh, pressing a kiss to my hair. “
You
are a fighter, Violet. I think, together… we’ll be okay.”

I smiled, comforted enough to close my eyes.

The following morning, I made sure I was up before Eva, dressed and ready to get her breakfast. Logan beat me to the kitchen, already working diligently on what appeared to be chocolate chip muffins.