Forever (12 page)

“Thanks.”

He smiled briefly, then went back in the living room. I headed for the bathroom; after my bike ride, I needed a shower. By the time I was done, Len and Caeran had gone to bed.

Amanda was sitting in the living room, watching a late night talk show with the sound off. I went in to say goodnight.

“Finally,” she said, glaring at me. “I’ve been waiting to brush my teeth.”

“I’m sorry. I should have asked if you needed the bathroom.”

“Yeah.” She got up and started down the hall.

“Amanda?”

She turned, arms crossed. I didn’t want to leave things on that note, so I followed her and lowered my voice so as not to disturb the others.

“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I know I’ve made it uncomfortable for you here. Would you rather sleep in the bedroom? I don’t mind switching.”

Her frown faded and she sighed. “No, you don’t have to do that. Sorry, I’m just cranky. Guess I’m a sore loser.”

“Is that it? Want to play a few hands with me? I’m sure you’ll skunk me.”

She laughed. “No, thanks. I’ll beat Caeran next time, maybe. We’ll have plenty of chances for a rematch.”

“Yeah, I was thinking about that. I’m not used to this routine yet.”

“I’m not either. I hate it.”

That surprised me. It must have showed in my face, because she went on.

“This is how Savhoran got infected. Hunting alben. I hate thinking about him out there. Not that he can get any more infected.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. The thought that Lomen was in danger that way made my gut sink.

I went to bed, expecting to like awake fretting, but the day had been long and stressful and I fell asleep almost immediately. If I dreamed, I didn’t remember.

I woke up feeling warm. Gradually I realized it wasn’t a physical warmth.

I opened my eyes. Lomen was in the room.

He was sitting on the floor with his back against the dresser, eyes closed, hands on his knees. Looked like he was meditating. I figured I shouldn’t disturb him.

Going back to sleep was not going to be possible, so I lay on my side and watched him for a while. Just gazed at his face, memorizing its lines. The morning sun seeping in around the edges of the curtains cast a soft light on his features.

At rest, he looked peaceful, Buddha-like, except for the tiny crease that never seemed to leave his brow. I wondered if it was etched there. Ælven might not age, but stress could do things to a person’s face.

He didn’t seem stressed now. His body was relaxed. His hair was loose and spilled down his shoulders over his chest. I loved that it was long.

Now that I knew both of them better, I didn’t think he looked at all like Caeran. That puzzled me, because I knew that they were extremely alike physically. It was themselves showing through the physical that made them feel so different.

Caeran was more formal, more serious. When I looked at him I did not have the same gut reaction that I got from looking at Lomen. He was different, plain and simple. Not to mention, he was taken.

I liked Len. I’d never want to hurt her. She’d always been helpful when she worked in the library and I needed some obscure book. Amanda, too, but it was Len I had first made friends with.

And now, because of that friendship, I was here in her house, gazing at my new lover who was just breathtaking. In the last few days I had seriously changed the course of my college education, and possibly my future career. I’d quit the job I had counted on to offset my already-frightening student loan balance.

I was either a brilliant risk-taker, or a stupid ass.

A knock on the door startled me.

“Waffles,” Amanda called from the hallway.

“OK,” I said thickly.

I looked back at Lomen, who had opened his eyes. “You hungry?” I whispered.

He nodded, and the sharpness in his eyes told me hungry was an understatement. I threw off the covers and got up, stepping around Lomen to rummage in my bag for fresh jeans. There were none; I found a pair of shorts and pulled them on.

A hand on my thigh made me gasp. He was still on the floor, looking up at me, touching me with a different kind of hunger in his gaze.

I knelt beside him. He touched my face, then closed his eyes as he leaned his forehead against mine.

I really must eat something.

OK.

His weariness surprised me, worried me a little. I felt him smile.

Don’t fret. I’ve been neglecting to rest, is all. The last few days have been...eventful.

No kidding. Did you find anything?

No. We searched the area around the university, but there was no new sign of them.

I kissed his cheek, then pulled back.

Let’s get you some waffles.

I stood and adjusted my shorts, wishing again for jeans. Maybe I’d ride home after breakfast and collect some more clothing.

Lomen got up, rolling his shoulders as if they were stiff. I wanted to offer to rub them, but that would delay his breakfast.

Later, I will take you up on it.

He was still wearing yesterday’s clothes. I pulled on a t-shirt and we went out.

The hallway smelled of hot bread and coffee. Amanda was in the kitchen scooping batter out of a mixing bowl into a waffle-maker. There was a bowl of sliced strawberries on the counter and another of whipped cream, plus a carafe of hot maple syrup.

There was tea, too—there was always tea—and I took some of that, not wanting coffee that moment. Lomen filled a mug with tea and chugged half of it, then refilled it.

“They’re keeping warm in the oven,” Amanda said, leaning against the counter with both hands around a mug. Beside her, the waffle-maker gently steamed.

Lomen was still focused on his tea. I grabbed a plate and opened the oven, took two off a stack of Belgian waffles, and put one of them on a plate for Lomen. I added berries and some syrup to mine, pretending to be virtuous by skipping the whipped cream. Lomen slathered his waffle with butter, berries, cream and then syrup.

Ælven probably had great metabolisms, too. I’d only met a handful, but none of them were fat.

We shuffled out to the dining nook, where Len and Caeran were sitting.

“Morning,” Len said, cutting a bite of waffle. “Sleep well?”

“Uh-huh.”

I’m not much for conversation in the morning. I took a swig of tea and started in on my breakfast. It was wonderful, just like every other meal I’d had in that house. I watched Lomen wolf down his waffle and get up to get another. He looked a little better.

Caeran’s gaze followed him, and I realized he was waiting for a report.

Well, not my place to give it to him. I wiped up syrup with the last bite of my waffle and sat sipping my tea.

Lomen returned with a slightly less heaped plate. I got up to fetch more tea for both of us. I could hear Caeran’s voice, low and questioning, not in English, from the other room.

I took Lomen his tea. He and Caeran stopped talking, and I decided I was a third wheel, so I took my own tea out to the back porch. The air was cool out there, enough to raise goosebumps on my bare legs. I sat in a lounge chair and huddled with my mug.

I heard the screen door open and glanced up at Len as she joined me.

“There are more waffles,” she said.

“No, thanks. One was perfect.”

She sat in a chair and gazed out at the yard. “Less than two weeks to Evennight.”

“What is that?” I asked.

“It’s the equinox. The ælven celebrate the equinoxes and solstices—those are their big traditional holidays.”

“Oh, I see.” Even-night. And I’d even taken Latin in high school. Duh.

“It’ll be good to see Madóran. We haven’t been up there in a while. You’re invited, of course.”

“Thanks.”

“There’s a little ceremony but it’s mostly a party. A clan gathering.”

“I see.”

“You can skip the ceremony if you want, or just watch. It would be nice if you came, though—Amanda and Savhoran are going to cup-bond.”

“And what’s that?”

“It’s a committed relationship. It lasts for a year, and then you can renew. Caeran and I are cup-bonded.”

“So, sort of a practice marriage?”

She tilted her head. “Practice isn’t quite the right word. It’s a genuine commitment, it’s just short-term. The only other form of formal commitment the ælven have is a handfasting, and that’s for life, so it’s rare.”

“Divorce is a dirty word?”

“It’s a non-existent word, for them. If you don’t keep a pledge you’re in violation of the creed.”

“They take this creed pretty seriously, I gather.”

“Very seriously.”

“Is it written down anywhere?”

“I have a copy I made from one of Madóran’s books, but it’s in ælven.”

I turned my head to stare at her. “You speak ælven?”

“I’m learning. Manda is, too, a little. It’s not an easy language, though some of our words are borrowed from it.”

A hummingbird came up to a feeder hanging from the pergola. We watched it take tentative sips, hovering and keeping an eye on us, then finally settle onto a perch and start chugging the nectar.

“So do you understand the creed?” I asked. “I’d like to know more about it.”

“I understand most of it, I think. You know, I ought to try doing a translation. It would be a good exercise.”

“I’d like to read that.”

“Maybe I’ll start on it today. It’s kind of long.”

A second hummingbird flew up, had a sharp discussion with the first one, then they both settled down to drink.

“So, the ælven don’t get married? I mean like we do.”

“They marry humans, sometimes. Caeran was married a couple of centuries ago.”

I looked at her, surprised. “Caeran?”

She nodded. “It’s a sad story. She couldn’t handle his immortality. Couldn’t handle getting older while he stayed the same. After she died he kept track of their kids, and their grandkids, but after a couple of generations he stopped. They had no connection to him, so it was just a painful reminder.”

“Does it bother you, knowing that?”

“You mean am I jealous? She died over two hundred years ago.” She finished her tea and set her mug down. “If I started worrying about his past loves I’d drive myself nuts. I don’t think he even knows how many he’s had.”

I took a swallow of tea. I should probably emulate her attitude.

“He entered her culture for her sake,” Len said. “I don’t think she really understood what a gift that was. I’m going to make sure I don’t take him for granted in any way.”

“They’re amazing,” I said softly.

“Uh-huh.”

“We have to save them.”

She met my gaze. “Yes.”

That was probably the moment when I fully committed myself, heart and soul, to the Ebonwatch project. We made a silent pact, Len and I. We’d give our lives to this.

The screen door banged open. The hummingbirds flew away. Amanda came out, coffee mug in hand, and sat on the other side of Len.

“They still talking?” Len asked.

Nose in her mug, Amanda nodded.

“Something must have happened.”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “Lomen told me they didn’t find anything last night.”

“They searched all night,” Amanda said. “They didn’t get back until almost dawn. Savhoran’s still got my car; he didn’t have time to drop it off.”

Len gave her a concerned look. “Well, if you need to go out there’s our car.”

Amanda shrugged.

I wondered how I could help her break out of her bad mood, then decided it was probably something she needed to work her way through. I finished my tea and got up.

“Think I’ll ride down to my place. Looks like I’m going to need some more clothes.”

“We have a washer and dryer,” Len said.

“Thanks, but washing the same ten garments every three days will get old, I think. Besides, I could use the exercise.” I paused by Amanda’s chair. “Anything I can get for you while I’m out?”

“No, thanks.”

I went in the house, rinsed my mug, then rinsed the other stuff in the sink and put it all in the dishwasher. Caeran came in as I was finishing.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Least I can do.”

Lomen brought in his empty plate and mug. I rinsed them and loaded them in the machine, then started it washing.

“I’m going to ride home and get some more clothes.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“I thought you needed to rest.”

I caught Caeran’s eye. He was frowning a little.

“It’s broad daylight,” I said to Lomen. “It’s just a few blocks. I’ll be fine.”

Lomen looked at me, eyes tense at the corners, then suddenly he relaxed. “You are right. I’ll rest until you’re back.”

I followed him down the hall to get my wallet from his room. I stuffed that and my phone into my pockets, pulled the remaining t-shirts and socks out of my bag and stacked them on top of the dresser, then sat on the bed to put on my shoes.

Lomen sat beside me and sighed. His arm slid around my waist.

“You really are exhausted.”

I’m getting better.

I looked at him, wondering if he was familiar with Monty Python.

Who?

Comedy troupe. Doesn’t matter.

I finished tying my shoes and leaned over to kiss him.

Rest up. I’ll be back soon.

You’d better. You owe me a backrub.

Yes, sir!

I grabbed my shades and put them on, gave Lomen a quick hug, then picked up my bag and went out. On my way down the hall I shielded.

I let myself into the garage, took note of the laundry room at the back of it, and opened the garage door. My bike was against the far wall. I wheeled it out onto the driveway, left it there while I dashed back and hit the button to close the door, then ducked out. Strapped my empty bag on the back, put on my helmet, and mounted.

The day was already warming up. The ride was an easy downhill in this direction. Traffic was busy on a beautiful September Saturday. I kept an eye out for inattentive drivers and got to my place without incident.

As I wheeled my bike up the sidewalk I noticed a piece of paper taped to my door. Just a sheet of copy paper, with “FAGGOT” written on it in black marker.

I
stood fuming, my gut twisting. I leaned the bike against the wall and pulled off the sign. I was about to crumple it, then changed my mind.