The First Touch (14 page)

He answered casually, “A little over two hundred years.”

She gasped, “Two hundred.” She paused asking, “So forever then, huh?”

He smiled and said, “Yes, forever.”

She laid her head back on
the couch and closed her eyes, “Wow,”
in amazement, “Forever.” She sighed, “It will take me a while to wrap my head around that one.” He smiled at her closed lids.

Autumn was just about to fall off to sleep
,
when she caught herself adding
, “Ivan as soon as Grayton touches Sophia and he sees that I a
m right about her being a kiss girl
.
I want to go straight to the coffee shop and look for your kiss girl. I don’t think I could live
with myself if you died
testing one of my stupid theories instead of being at that coffee shop tomorrow
.”

He replied, “No worries, Love.” She huffed again as her mind tugged at her a bit and he looked at her curiously. She mumbled her eyes still closed, “You always say that when your lying, bet you’re a
horrible card player.....” With
in seconds she was sound asleep and Ivan watched her until the sun rose the next morning.

Guests

Autumn
awoke to Ivan shaking her han
d a li
ttle and as she awoke groggily,
“What
,”
still disoriented.

Ivan said in a low voice, “Grayton is here.” Autumn sat up
quickly,
wiping the sleep from her eyes and accidentally knocking Jack out of her lap. He complained with a shar
p meow, and she apologized,
“S
orry Jack.” Jack did not seem
too bothered as he jumped back up on to the couch and sat in her warm spot. Seconds later
,
a knock sounded at the door. Autumn motioned for Ivan to answer it and she said, “I will get dressed.”

He nodded and walked towards the door. Autumn bolted for the bed
room and choose some jeans and a plain
long-sleeved shirt. She dressed quickly and rushed to the bathroom and washed her face and brushed her teeth.

She looked at the cl
ock, five thirty am
, no wonder she was so tired, it was
early
. She decided then that she had plenty of time to apply her makeup,
regime;
Sophia would definitely not be up for hours
. She smiled at her reflection as she finished
,
happy that she was having a good skin day. She skipped the perfume today thinking that she would probably be better off without it and came out.

To her surprise there were two people in the living room. Ivan had his sleeve up and was showing the female something on his wrist. She was chastising him for something though
Autumn
was not certain what it was
since she was speaking a language that she had never heard before. When she stepped
close
r,
she watched as the two stepped back. The woman was especially taken a back placing her hand over her chest. Then Ivan said, “You see?” The woman nodded and the man simply stood unmoving, unblinking.

Autumn looked back at
them
,
the woman was utterly breath taking. She had the same pale skin as Ivan with beautiful long luxurious curls that settled perfectly around her heart shaped face. Serena
,
she guessed had large cow brown eyes and beautiful thick lashes that commanded all of the attention from the rest of her face, though it was lovely, just the same. It was sealed by plump lips that were stretched out a bit too far giving her an exotic feel.

The man on the other hand had to be Grayton though he was much younger looking than
Aut
umn
had expected. His hair was
brown shaggily cut with perfect pale skin
,
like the other two
,
only he had eyes like nothing she had ever seen before. They were grayish blue and deep like an old soul, those were exactly as she had expected. That was not how she had pictured him at all; he was supposed to be an old man, not this. He had a strong jaw like Ivan’s but he had a roman nose and lower cheek bones. He looked as if he were from a foreign country as well; one that she suddenly wished that she had managed to visit.

She swallowed hard and continued to stare at him, trying to memorize his face
, almost afraid to blink for fear that he would disappear, just like her dreams. A
feeling hit her, she had remembered trying to do this many times before now and she smiled to herself, she was finally meeting Grayton. She was not crazy; a feeling came over her that she could only describe as
sheer
joy.

Ivan cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked a
t
Autumn
, causing her to switch
modes instantly as she said, “
You must be Serena and Grayton.
”
As she said these words she slid her hand out to greet them. They both flinched involuntarily, and
Autumn
reacted
by pulling her hand back quickly. Then she shot Ivan an angry look, causing him to close the distance between the two of them instantly.

He looked at her seriously explaining
, “They can’t touch you.”

She looked confused now and asked a little hurt, “Why can’t they touch me?”

Ivan opened his mouth to explain and Serena cut him off, “He hasn’t told you?” her hands were now on her hips and she looked angrily at Ivan.

Ivan scowled adding,
“It’s complicated.”

Grayton snapped at h
im, “So she is not refusing you. You
just have not asked her?”

Ivan growled back, “I did ask her but it was too soon after she had a vision of me jumping a crossed the table and killing her.”

Grayton snapped close to rage, “What?”

Ivan snapped back, “When there is danger they come
to her
.”

“You were the danger. No correction, you are the danger.”

Autumn winced as they spoke and slowly backed
away. Both men’s eyes were now j
et b
l
ack and Serena watched
Autumn’s
reaction like a hawk. Her eyes dilated then and she put her hand up
and snapped, “Stop fighting
!” Grayton an
d Ivan both looked at her
and gasped again. Autumn’s eyes were fully dilated and her skin had turned as cold and lifeless as their own. Serena pushed pa
st them with her eyes still
black and moved in closer her posture primal, her hands rose protectively.

Autumn’s body took it as a sign of aggression and involuntarily she hissed. Serena stopped and stepped back. She shot back over her shoulder, “Are you sure you didn’t kiss her?”

Autumn tweaked her head unnaturally and rasped, “Ivan.” Her voice was different again foreign sou
nding and Ivan stepped closer, h
e looked different
,
some how almost apprehensive now.
Autumn slid her hand out and he slid his hand into hers and she pulled him close to her. She looked up at him and asked her voice cracking, “Why are you frightened?” His eyes looked up at Serena and he raised his hand and gestured for her to back up.

Grayton i
nterjected then smiling, “She is going to need a keeper.” Ivan and Serena both nodded in agreement. Autumn raised her and waved it at them to be quiet.

She ask again, “Ivan what’s wrong?” She slid her hand up and stroked his cheek and he closed his eyes in pleasure.
When Ivan opened his eyes again though they were still filled with worry, as
Autumn
twitched her head trying to understand his words, “Why are you worried?”

He swallowed and said his eyes wide now, “Because your changing earlier than you
should
.”

She replied, “
What?” He pointed at a mirror
on the mantel of the fireplace. She dropped his hand and walked to the mirror her legs suddenly feeling extra light. She reached out and took the mirror from the mantel and looked into it seeing that her eyes were jet black. Her pupils were fully dilated in spite of the brightly lit room and she asked confused, “What is wrong with my eyes? What do you mean I am changing early?”

Grayton spoke unexpectedly, “You are supposed to kiss your mate in order to start the process.”

Autumn twisted her head and looked at Grayton, “But I haven’t kissed anyone.”

Serena looked to Ivan and he replied
tightly
, “She’s telling the truth.”

“Well then it must have been started by contact just like yours.”
Serena offered.

Grayton looked at Serena and said, “Can that be true?”

Serena responded, “Maybe, she is she meant to be a
council
member
or the eye?”

The two men sucked in the air around them as Ivan sho
ok his head no, “She might be talented enough to be a council member
but the eye? That is unlikely.”

Grayton a
greed with him nodding and adding
, “Highly unlikely.”

Serena did not look convinced, as she added, “The last eye drank from the cup of her mate and her change began in a matter of days.”

Ivan looked at his watch and then at Serena and blinked, “We have only been together twelve hours.”

Grayton’s eyes
never left Autumn’s face, as
Serena added shrugging, “Perhaps it was all of the touching” Ivan growled a wa
rning and Autumn startled,
dropped the mirror that she had been holding and watched it move in slow motion. Then she easily swooped down and caught it just before it hit the ground.

They all watched her perform the action just as they would have
,
and Grayton added smiling again, “Definitely the touching.”

Ivan snapped back then, “Then why am I still burning?”

Serena seemed startled by this turn of events and said, “Perhaps if you just asked her
to do it
?”

Autumn interjected this time looking at Ivan with hurt in her eyes, “Ivan
,
I am your kiss girl?” Ivan looked at her coyly then and nodded. Autumn looked down obviously in pain asking, “Why didn’t you tell me? I was so worried and my dreams... Why didn’t you tell me?” She continued to look away afraid to hear the answer.
Muttering, “All this time I thought I was supposed to avoid the creatures in the darkness, not become one of them.”

Ivan stared back at her helpless,
explaining the reason for his hesitation feebly,
“We need to help Grayton first. I did not want to risk it.”

She continued her thought process, “So that means,” she swallowed
,
a pained look on her face, “So that is why I heard all of that…mess.”
God, those awful dreams
…. Unexpectedly, s
he
changed gears as a thoug
ht struck her, and she looked to
Ivan
,
asking
, “So does that mean that I am your ma
te?” Ivan didn’t look at her as
he looked at Serena instead pleading with his eyes.

Serena looked at
Autumn
and smiled almost warmly and then shot Ivan a stern look
,
answering, “We have the time, unless you have changed your mind about helping Grayton.” Ivan shook his head no, as Serena turned and answered
Autumn’s
question, “We are not sure yet, it is not really up to the two of you.”

Autumn asked
a
little impatiently then, “Why not?”

Serena smiled politely then, “It is complicated.”

Autumn huffed and replied, “I can handle complicated. Let’s hear i
t.” Serena smiled
genuinely now, eyeing
Ivan who continued to watch
Autumn
tensely
.

“Each person has a soul mate. Once the transformation takes place each soul is able to feel their soul mates soul calling out to them.”

Autumn jumped upon Serena’s words, everything seeming much easier to keep up with now, “So why did Grayton say that I had to kiss my mate to start the change then?”

Serena replied shooting Grayton a dirty look, “He said you
a
r
e
suppose
d
to, but it is not necessary for you to kiss your mate in order to change.”

“Does it work the same for Ivan?”

Serena shook her head then, “No
,
he has to seal a willing kiss in order to stop his body’s destruction.”