Droplets (DROPLETS Trilogy Book 1) (22 page)

23. Love

The morning sun peeked shyly through my windows. I could see it beneath my eyelids, and knew it was time to get up, but my body resisted. Instead, I lay back thinking of last night. My heart fluttered and a smile crept across my face. Pressing a finger to my lips, I remembered what it felt like to kiss Patrick in the cave. The mere thought made my heart beat rapidly inside my chest. 

     Slowly, I opened my eyes to the morning light in the guest bedroom. I heard footsteps from outside that were coming closer. Acting quickly, I brushed my fingers through my tangled hair knowing there wasn’t enough time to fix it completely. 

     The door to the room opened carefully, slowly revealing Patrick as he poked his head in and looked directly at me. My chest tightened and I smiled. Something had changed last night. We had come together in the cave in a moment of passion, but the memory was not what made my heart skip a beat. Instead it was him; all of him, his past, his fears, his courage, and his kindness. That was what made me look at him the way I did. How could I ever tell him what he meant to me as a person?

     Pushing the door open with his bare foot, his hands revealed a tray laden with food. As he walked toward the bed I sat up in order to make room for him and the tray on the end of my mattress.

     He set the platter of food on the bed and without a moment’s hesitation handed me a plate. Our fingers brushed slightly and a surge of something I had never felt before ran through my skin. The connection I felt around him frightened me. I was alive and scared and excited all at the same time, and uncertain of what to do. 

     With a moment of clarity the kiss we had shared in the cave flew through my mind. I remembered what it was like to touch his face and run my fingers through his hair. Warmth flushed over my cheeks and I ducked my head in the hopes that he would not notice.

     “Thanks,” I said and picked up a fork to begin eating. Each bite sounded impossibly loud.

     “Yep,” he said casually, and picked up his own plate. “How’d you sleep?”

     I kept my head down. I still was uncertain of what was going on in my mind. “Fine,” I said thinking it sounded casual enough.

     My eyes stayed focused on the plate of scrambled eggs, wedged potatoes, and bacon. Glancing up, I caught site of Patrick devouring his own food with rigor. A small laugh escaped my mouth. 

     “What?” He looked up, his lips quirking. The awkward embarrassment between us shattered.

     “You look like you haven’t eaten food for days.” I laughed again and he smiled sheepishly.

     “Well, I wasn’t when I first woke up, but since you slept in so long I got hungry.”

     Looking outside I tried to see where the sun was in the sky. “What time is it?”

     “Just after nine.”

     “That’s not even late,” I pointed out.

     “Yes it is, I usually get up at five,” he bobbed his head up and down. He looked out the window and sighed dramatically, his demeanor changing in an instant from serious to silly. “I don’t know I guess all that kissing really had an effect on you. We will just have to be more careful next—”

     But he didn’t get to finish, because I swung a pillow at him and hit him square in the shoulder. He laughed so hard at his joke that I couldn’t help but laugh with him. 

     “So, what’s on the agenda for today?” I asked, trying to distract him. He pursed his lips for a moment.

     “I don’t know,” he said as he ran a hand through his golden-brown hair. “We could go for a swim if you would like to. Might as well make the most of our freedom for now.” 

     Somehow his words made the situation we were in seem trivial. We were both outcasts, stuck on an island while the Lathmorians decided what to do with us. And Morven was a threat to our very existence, but the way Patrick referred to it so casually made it seem comical. Slightly giddy, I grew excited about what the day would hold.

     “That sounds like a good idea to me,” I agreed.

     “Are you sure?” He quirked his eyebrow. “I know you don’t know how to swim so it’s not very much fun for you to just sit there.” A mischievous glint trilled through his eyes.

     “You are so full of it this morning,” I said, shaking my head pityingly.

     “Hey, that’s just me babe,” he said and shrugged his broad shoulders. “Are you finished?” I nodded and handed it back to him.

     “Let’s go now,” I said excitedly. There was a tingling in my legs telling me that my body was ready to transform.

     “All right,” he smiled, “as long as you won’t drown. I don’t want your death on my hands.”

     “Oh, come on!” I exclaimed as I jumped out of bed and headed for the door.

     “You know what?” He said behind me. “I just might have some water wings or a raft somewhere around here for you. Maybe we should take a look around.”

     Gritting my teeth I turned back around to face him with my hands on my hips. “You aren’t going to give this up are you?”

     “Why would I?” He asked and walked toward me. His eyes gleamed with a light I had never seen before. He walked forward and passed me by the door and whispered, “You are just too easy to aggravate.” Laughing he stepped out the door and I followed him.

      The sky was completely different from the day before. It was bold and beautiful without a cloud in sight, and its electric blue hue lit harmonious colors on the island.  When we reached the waterfall it was as beautiful as I remembered on the first day Patrick had taken me to it.

     The water beckoned to me, calling to my inner creature in a desperate voice. My instincts strained toward the edge until my toes grazed the surface. A feeling of home coming enveloped me; I would forever be attached to the water.

     “Ready?” Patrick asked and I nodded my head.

     I fingered the black pack which Kryssa had given me that lay flat against my stomach. Anticipation surged while I watched Patrick hit the water. I moved quickly, arching slightly over the water, stripping off my clothes and slipping through the surface into the cool blue liquid. I was a blur to the human eye, my movements taking no more than a split second. Immediately my legs locked together and my shimmering lavender fins appeared, sending sparks of light throughout the pool

     Returning to the surface, I tossed the water-tight case onto the grass beside the water and turned back to Patrick. His brown eyes found mine and there was an expression of astonishment on his face. I blushed instantly, wrapping my arms around my shoulders while my hair pooled around me. He was seeing me in my true form for the first time.

     “What?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

     Slowly he shook his head from side to side, the silence surrounding us on all sides while I waited for him to speak.

     “I’m just... you are…” He broke off.

     “What?” I prodded again.

     “Beautiful.” He sighed the word as though it was a struggle to get it through his lips. He blinked rapidly, making me all the more aware of my appearance and how I must look to him.

    “Stop it,” I said and I splashed water in his direction, trying to diffuse the awkward moment.

     “I mean it,” he said, his face completely serious. “You really are.” A flicker of a smile passed over his mouth and then like a wave washing over the shore something changed. One moment his eyes swerved over me, taking in everything in one continuous glance, and the next it stopped. His eyes ceased to melt and instead hardened like congealed lava, though they still burned. I shrunk back as the fiery anger he had revealed in Lathmor returned.

     Moving away, closer to the waterfall, I kept my eyes on him. I wondered what was happening, but didn’t know what or how to stop it. His eyes were glazed over, the pupils dark and masked with something I couldn’t name.

     I dove under the water thinking it would be safer to pull myself away from him, yet still unsure of what it was I had done. Reaching the bottom, I glanced around at the little nooks and crannies in the rock walls. A current from the thundering waterfall up above pushed me down to the bottom of the pool. Lying on the sand I glanced around.

     My lavender tail glowed radiantly in the sunshine, patterns of interlocking light dancing on the rock walls. A surge of movement in the water caught my attention and I looked up. Patrick was slowly moving himself over to the submerged rock where he could stand. Knowing I needed to speak with him, I took a deep breath. The water satisfied my lungs.

    I broke through the surface, my hair drying quickly and beginning to ripple in the wind. Moving cautiously, I glided forward with as little disturbance as possible. His back was to me, and in the sunlight I was able to see the scar on his shoulder. It was long and coarsely cut, beginning at the base of his neck and angling sharply until it reached under his right arm. There was something translucent about the wound that reminded me of my own. The gray scar was not raised, instead it was a smooth and faded shimmer of misty gray that contrasted against his tanned skin. Remembering that Nerissa had placed a blade inside the wound, I flinched. 

     He turned around on the ledge, obviously having heard my quiet approach. His eyes were once again his own, no longer hardened by the anger that was so prevalent before.

    “Hey, you.” His voice matched the quiet rumble of the waterfall.

     “Hey,” I said, relieved the Patrick I knew was back. “You okay?”

     “Yeah,” he shifted, slightly uncomfortable. “I sometimes have issues with my anger.”

     I nodded as though I understood even though I didn’t. He sighed.

     “King Oberon thinks it has to do with the blade Nerissa put inside me.” His voice was sincere, slightly abashed. “I get caught up in the past to easily if I think about it. In particular, I have a hard time when anything reminds me of Morven.” 

     I moved closer to him, almost within reach. “It’s fine,” I said, my lips slightly curving at the corners.

     The side of his mouth pulled up in response. “You are too forgiving.”

     “I don’t think so,” I said and lifted a hand to shield my eyes from the sun.

     “Come on,” he said. “Let me show you this underwater cave.”

     Intrigued, I dove over the water and waited at the bottom for him to catch up. Moving with strong kicks, he came up beside me and rolled his eyes. I laughed and shrugged as if to say it wasn’t my fault that he was so slow, but he ignored me and instead pointed at a dark spot in the rock wall. Without a second glance I shot toward it and heard him moving behind me as I began to explore the depths of the cave.

_______________

     We spent the rest of the day swimming at the waterfall and enjoying the moments we had with each other.

      When dusk crept over the water and shades of purple colored the sky, we left the waterfall side by side. We chatted while walking, the moments from the night before had changed our connection. We no longer remained distant and respectful. Now that the truth of who we really were was out in the open we could talk freely and without hesitation. There were no secrets now. He knew me I knew him.

     “I don’t understand how you do that.”

     “It was really quite simple,” he said as he waved a hand in front of us. “I just continued to practice breath control until I could hold my breath longer and longer.”

     Earlier he had amazed me with his ability to hold his breath for minutes at a time as we swam below the surface.

     “Just admit it,” he nudged my shoulder with his own. “You think I’m a fascinating creature.” I shook my head but couldn’t help smiling as we stepped into the clearing that led to the cabin. Glancing up, my eyes widened. Light was pouring from the windows and I immediately froze. Fear seeped into my veins.

     “Lissie?” Patrick asked, but his voice sounded far off, there was a rushing in my ears as I tried to maintain control.
How had he found us?
“Seriously, are you all right?”

     I tried to find my voice but couldn’t. Lifting my hand, I pointed at the cabin and waited for his anger to return. I hoped he wouldn’t pursue him
.

     “
He’s
here,” I said so softly he had to lean forward to hear me.

     I shivered, thinking of what could happen once he realized who was up there. A shooting jolt of trepidation ran through my blood.

     Slowly, comprehension passed over his face and I waited for the dark eyes to return, but they didn’t. He was calm.

     “He’s not up there,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s probably Kryssa, or maybe even Tunder.”

       Doubt surged, but reason prodded my mind. They had said they would come, why hadn’t I thought of that before? Why was my immediate reaction to think it was Morven? Would my fear of him always reign in my mind? Was it really Morven that I was afraid of? Or was it the Morven in my nightmares, the one who destroyed the man by my side, that sacred me the most?

     Like a soothing balm, Patrick continued to waylay my fears. “Morven has no way of knowing I’m here. He hasn’t found me for seven hundred years, and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.” I nodded, letting his words surround me while I pressed a hand to my heart to try and still its throbbing pulse.