A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones) (21 page)

He could make the accent disappear if he
really wanted to.

“
Charity has found a
companion. She’s in love with him,” Eve answered, absorbing the
details from my mind.

“
With a mortal? Really
Charity!” Marcus exclaimed.

“
Leave it be, he will not
expose anyone. He’s becoming part of our family. He’s good for
Charity,” Catherine said as she crossed the room to greet our
friends. “Welcome to Telluride,” she finished.

“
Welcome,” James echoed her
greeting.

“
Come,” Eve gestured with
her hands. “Give your new friend a proper greeting,” she smiled at
Link.

He walked forward, but came to a stop a few
feet in front of Eve. He seemed unsure of what to do next. Eve
closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Link took
an automatic step backward, stunned by her too quick movement. Eve
paused, waiting for Link’s reaction.

I went to his side and took hold of his arm.
Link looked down at me and gave a small crooked smile.

“
Link, may I introduce my
friend Eve,” I began the introductions. “Eve, as you’ve already
extracted from my head, this is Link.”

“
It’s a pleasure to meet
you,” Link finally spoke, and held his hand out in
greeting.

Eve grabbed him and hugged him tightly. When
she pulled back, she held onto his hands with her own and stared
into his eyes. She held his gaze for a few moments, taking him in,
absorbing him. The smile she wore grew broader, warmer, as she
silently got to know the man that I was helplessly in love
with.

“
So what’s the verdict?”
Marcus asked, resting his arm across her shoulders.

“
We like him,” Eve answered
as she let go of Link’s hands and wrapped her arms around Marcus’s
hips.

“
Good enough for me. I’ve
learned to never argue with your judgment. But really, Charity... a
mortal,” Marcus shook his head.

“
Lincoln comes from the
same bloodline as Charity’s first love,” Eve offered.

“
Fate brought us together,”
I said.

“
Fine...” Marcus conceded,
“Good to meet you, Link,” he said, offering his hand.

“
It’s good to meet you too,
Marcus,” Link smiled a more confident smile and firmly shook the
Witch’s hand.

A sharp intake of breath was immediately
heard as Link extracted his hand from Marcus’s grasp, and lightly
shook it at his side.

“
Marcus, be nice,” Eve
scolded.

“
I didn’t burn him. I was
just having a little fun,” Marcus turned toward Eve. She frowned at
him. “Sorry man, bad joke,” he added, offering Link an
apology.

“
That’s a good trick you
got there,” Link said.

“
You think?” Marcus quipped
and held out his hand, palm up.

A swirl of dim red light began to glow in
the center of his open palm. A tiny spark flew, then another, and
another. He was performing his “trick” in slow motion. A small
flame flickered and then came to life, dancing in Marcus’s hand.
The flame grew into a ball of fire. Marcus then brought his hand
up, closer to his mouth, and gently blew. The flame began to
separate, breaking off into six tiny shoots. Then, as if each of
the six were in a race with each other, they darted away from him
and flew across the room. Each flame brought to life one of the six
different candles that were spread across the mantle.

“
Marcus, you are such a
showoff,” Eve sighed.

“
It’s my one good power
darling. Can’t I make the most of it?” he smiled a seductive
smile.

“
It’s a good thing I love
you,” Eve scolded and kissed him full on the mouth.

“
How are you doing?” I
whispered to Link.

“
I’m fine. I’m with you,”
he flashed me my smile.

“
So, what’s been going on
with our favorite family of Immortals?” Eve began.

The movie was abandoned. Our old routines
fell into place and we sat down to talk. We often found ourselves
in deep conversation, for hours on end, when our friends arrived.
It was our way of catching up, of finding out what had happened in
the time we had spent apart. But we discussed none of the usual
things. Eve had learned about our current worries, when she had
done her thorough scan of Link, and that was first on her list of
topics.

“
So, the Lords have found
you again,” Eve stated.

“
Really, James, you must
let us stay and help out this time. I won’t take
no
for an answer,” Marcus
added.

“
But we don’t know that
they are aware of your existence. We’d be putting you at risk,”
James replied.

“
Nonsense,” Eve
said.

“
But they are only after
us. It is our responsibility,” Catherine pressed the
issue.

“
No more
buts
will be heard. We
are here. We are your friends. We will stay, until we are sure that
you are safe,” Marcus insisted.

“
I have to agree with
them,” Link spoke up. “After seeing the fear in Charity’s eyes, and
the concern in both of yours,” he directed to James and Catherine.
“I think a little extra help would be appreciated.”

“
You are right, Link. It
would be appreciated. I just do not want our friends to put
themselves in danger,” James explained.

“
You worry about your
family, and we’ll worry about ourselves. They’re just two mortal
boys,” Marcus countered.

“
Two mortal men with access
to an assortment of modern weapons,” James clarified. “And, I am
quite sure they are well trained in combat.”

“
We are not worried about
those boys. We do have a slight advantage. I realize that our
powers do not make us impenetrable, but they do tend to give us the
upper hand, and can cause a fair amount of damage,” she
smiled.

“
That’s my girl,” Marcus
beamed.

“
Thank you both,” I
whispered as a sense of calm washed over me. I knew that we were
not in the clear, but the odds had changed, hopefully in our
favor.

“
So, you spotted Levi in
the city of Montrose. Then he departed and was headed in the
opposite direction,” Eve replayed the details.

“
It’s only a matter of time
then, until they find you here, in Telluride,” Marcus
surmised.

“
What makes you so sure?”
Link asked.

“
They are hunters,
trackers. It is their life’s work. They have no other goal. And,
each generation seems to have become more skillful. If they are so
close again after just a matter of months then, I hate to admit it
but, Marcus is right. It’s just a matter of weeks or days even
until they discover us,” James concluded.

“
I’m glad you agree,” said
Marcus.

“
So, we’ll comb the town.
I’ll scan everyone that I can get close enough to. If the name
Lord, or the image I got from Charity’s memory, is in anyone’s head
I’ll know,” Eve offered.

“
And if either of them
misplaces anything, I can tell you where it happened. Woo Hoo!”
Marcus bragged, with heavy sarcasm. “Worthless,” he
scowled.

“
The fire thing is pretty
cool,” Link assured him.

“
Thanks man,” Marcus gave a
half smile. “My brother got all the really cool stuff. He can
freeze every muscle in a living being. The effect lasts only about
sixty seconds, but the skill is very useful. He
knows
, without fail, if someone is
truthful with their words – Witch, Vamp, Immortal, whatever. Plus,
he’s got the fire power too. I got the lost and found
department.”

“
I got nothin’. So you got
two up on me,” Link offered.

“
True... True enough,”
Marcus admitted.

“
Hey, if you don’t mind my
asking, when were you born? It’s just that Charity will pop up with
slang words from a different era every now and then. But I don’t
get that from you, you seem more... I don’t know... modern,” Link
asked.

“
Born in the Nineteen
Thirties, my friend,” Marcus answered. “I make it a point to keep
up with the times. I don’t cling to the old. Twenty or Thirty years
ago, in England, Eve and I met a Witch that was still speaking in
this dialect that hadn’t been used for years. We could barely
understand her, the mortals had an even harder time. She definitely
drew a lot of unneeded attention her way.

“
Another time, I spotted
this Vamp who was wearing a... had to be an eighty year old suit.
He was walking down the main street of some small town in Idaho, of
all places, and sticking out like a sore thumb.
Everyone
was staring at him as he
passed by. Those kind of things stick in the mind. They make me
want to be aware of the changes around me. I dump my wardrobe every
few years, I observe the people around me, and at times I probably
watch too much TV,” Marcus answered.

“
I dress modern,” I
protested. “I admit right now it is High School modern. But I
blend,” I went on.

Link put his hands up in defense, “I never
mentioned your clothes. He brought up clothes all on his own. But
you have to admit to the slang,” he insisted.

“
Whatever you say Big
Daddy,” I smirked.

“
... coming from the woman
who is old enough to be my Great Grandmother. The best looking
senior citizen I’ve ever seen,” Link teased, then turned to look at
Eve.

“
Nineteen Twenties, like
Charity,” Eve offered the information before being
asked.

Link’s jaw dropped open, “Did you read that
out of my mind?” he asked.

“
No just a good guess.
Freaked you out a little, eh? I don’t read minds. I just scan short
and long term memories. If it’s locked up in your brain somewhere
then I can see it, hear it, and almost experience it the way you
did,” Eve explained.

“
Okay, I don’t even want to
go there. So... moving on then... Catherine?” Link asked. “You’re
the only one I don’t know yet.”

“
I’m the oldest one here...
and we’ll talk about it later,” she brushed the topic
away.

“
Older than James?” he
asked. Catherine nodded. “I’ll hold you to that,” Link
said.

“
So, Link, you up for
playing tour guide tomorrow?” Eve pulled his attention away from
Catherine.

“
I think I can manage
that,” he answered.

The next day while Catherine and I went into
the boutique and James went to work at the medical center, Link
took Marcus and Eve on a tour of the town.

After an hour spent pacing up and down the
center of the boutique and then fidgeting with the cash register a
little too much, Catherine sent me out to find them. I’m pretty
sure I was getting on her last nerve. As soon as Lisa Ann, the part
time sales girl, arrived, she practically pushed me out onto
Colorado Avenue. I couldn’t blame her though. I was getting on my
own nerves.

I sent a text to Link immediately, “Where r
u? Just left 2 find u.”

A few seconds later the phone buzzed in my
hand with his response. “Coming 2 u. Stay on CO.”

I slowly walked along Colorado, waiting for
them to show up. People were bustling along with their last minute
purchases in hand. Their heavy coats, thick scarves, hats, and
gloves protecting them from the bitter cold. Marcus was an easy
target to spot, as he strolled my way, Eve and Link were in deep
conversation right behind him.

I shook my head at him as he neared. “With
all that talk of blending in last night, you’ve failed miserably
today,” I chided him.

“
We told him bundle up
more,” Link and Eve chorused.

“
It’s so claustrophobic.
How do you put up with all the layers of clothing?” Marcus
replied.

“
I know the cold doesn’t
bother you. But at least Eve wore one of my coats and a pair of
gloves. Long sleeves... Really Marcus was that all you could
manage?” I continued with my criticism.

“
It’s a sweater!” he
protested in defense, raising his arm to show off the thinnest
version of a sweater I’d ever seen.

“
The least you could do is
shiver a little, pretend it’s cold out. Come with me,” I seized his
arm and dragged him into the nearest shop.

“
Take your time,” Eve
whispered in my ear, when we got inside, “I’ll see what they know,”
she nodded toward the two girls behind the counter.

“
A scarf and gloves,” I
stated, pointing to the rack that contained both items.

He stood still, not wanting to give in to my
demands.

“
Please,” I pleaded with
Marcus.

“
Okay, okay, but I’m not
promising to come here next Christmas,” he muttered. “What do you
call all the old people that flock to Arizona in the winter?” He
turned to Link.

“
Snow Birds?” Link
responded

“
Yeah, Snow Birds. Consider
me a Snow Bird – if there is snow on the ground then I’ll be flying
away from it,” Marcus replied.

“
You can’t fly, and you
love me too much to abandon me at Christmas. Anyway, you don’t hate
snow. You just don’t like bundling up. But we’re out in public, and
you know you like to blend. So blend,” I finished and threw a scarf
at him.