Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) (14 page)

Better for her to think I was a jerk then to know how crazy this was all making me feel. There was a moment of silence before Selene spoke again.

"Of course. I don't want you to come straight to me, in case you’re being followed," she began; her voice now in control. "Take the 401 up to exit 57. I’ll text you an address that you can head to for the night, and then we can touch base in the morning. Okay? We have a lot to discuss."

"What do we have to discuss? Ri never spoke of you, Selene. Tell me how I’m just supposed to trust that you have my –our - best interest at heart?"

"Xander, I promise that I would never hurt you or Rioden, and
especially
not the Princess. I can get you back home, Xander."

"You what? Who the hell are you?!"

My patience for surprises had officially run out. I practically ran the vehicle off the road when I heard her say that she could get us home. Seeing Skye throw out a hand to brace herself against the dash caused me to back off the gas.

"I'm the sorceress who brought you here, Xander, and I have a portal to get you back. In a moment I'll send an address where you can rest for the night, and we’ll talk further in the morning. Call me if you run into any trouble."
Click.

The phone went dead.

Skye

Try as I might, I couldn't hear Selene on the other end of the phone; but I did watch Xander's face for clues and listened to his cryptic comments. When he yelled into the phone and almost ran us off the road, I think I may have had a mini heart attack.

I gripped his arm as he righted the car and slowed down. His deceleration had calmed me down just enough to keep my mouth shut. However, seeing the look of shock on his face when he disconnected the call, I was ready to blow again.

I started right in on him and began to fire off questions left and right. "Who is she? What's wrong? What did she say...?!?!"

"Wait, Skye! Just hang on!"

Xander put the phone in the center console and then his hand made a beeline for his hair. That was his tell-tale sign of stress.

He actually hit the steering wheel with his palm, causing me to jump in my seat, as he grumbled more to himself than to me.

"Damn! Damn! Damn! What the hell is going on? What was Ri doing?"

I sat quietly in the passenger seat and waited for him to regain his calm. The events of the day were flying through my head, culminating with the kiss we’d shared against the car. In the Wal-Mart parking lot. Oh. My. Sweet baby bunnies! That
kiss!
I felt my face turning pink at the mere thought of it, and thanked the lord that the sun was all but gone now.

Uncertainty washed over me at what had occurred between us. The questions that had retreated from my brain while in the moment were now dancing up a storm in my head.

Xander said that he’d known me my whole life, and that he had loved me forever…But how? That one word wouldn't stop circling through my mind. How? It was the bass beat that kept all of the other questions company in their dancing. It carried the whole tune. How?

Xander finally emitted a huge sigh.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you," he apologized needlessly.

I didn't care that he had yelled, and told him so.

"I get it, Xander, trust me…I feel like snapping too," I reassured him, and then the cell phone started to vibrate. My eyes darted to Xander's face as I reached out for it, and I saw that it was a text. I read the texted address out loud to Xander and then the instructions for finding a hidden key.

"That's it?" he asked, as if he had expected more.

"That's it," I confirmed, just as the phone vibrated again.

"Or not..."

I read the words to myself first, and then aloud.

"I know you are only doing your job, Xander. I know Skye is your priority...please just tell me Rioden is alright. You know as well as I do that Rioden would never send you to me if he didn't trust me. Trust me, please."

"Xander," I breathed, amazed at her words. "She loves him! Let me answer her back."

His eyes flew to my face in disbelief.

"What? What makes you think that?"

"It's obvious! She asked about him, she confirmed that she knew I was more important to you, but that she still needed to know. It's so obvious!"

"It is NOT so obvious. Skye, I've been with Ri for ten years! Ten years, and he has never
once
mentioned this woman to me. Never!"

"Maybe he thought he couldn't. Maybe he was protecting you...or her. Who did she say she was? When you asked her on the phone?"

"She…" The conflict was clear in his face.

I wanted to reach out to soothe him, but I kept my hands to myself. He looked like he was thinking through everything he had just learned.

"Skye, she said she was the sorceress who brought you here. She is the one who created the portal.”

"Holy hell," I blurted out without thinking.

"It gets better," he hinted, watching the doubt flicker on my face.

We had just found one of the only people in this world who knew my parents; the one who might be able to help me piece some of my past together. He was saying there was something more? For me, there was
nothing
more.

"She said she can get us home. She has the portal for us to go to Tyalbrook."

Or maybe there was more!

Shock. I think I was in shock. It was the only thing that could explain the slack jaw and numb fingers. I could feel myself sliding down in the seat. I felt like I was melting, falling to pieces. Could I have a mental breakdown at 17? Who
wouldn't
have a breakdown after this day?!

I took a deep breath and finally went back to the one thing I felt I needed to do. Flipping open the phone again, I typed Selene a message to alleviate some of her fear for the night. I told her that Rioden had led some pursuers in the opposite direction from us so that Xander and I could make our way to her. It might not be the whole truth, but it would be better than her worrying about it all night.

Xander said nothing, and if he disapproved of my sending the text he didn't try to stop me. Next, I pulled up the GPS app and entered the address for us; sighing when it said our location was 3.5 hours away.

I read out the basics for him and noted that, for a while at least, we would be staying on the same highway, so we could relax for a few hours before we had to worry about keeping track of the directions.

"So, she won't be at this address, I take it?"

"Uh, no. She said she wanted us to stay there, away from her, in case we were being followed. We’ll make contact in the morning."

"What if we are being followed, Xander?"

I spun around for the thousandth time as I tried to see if anyone was following us. There were still a good number of cars on this highway - people still making their way home from work at 6:00 in the evening – so I wouldn't be able to tell if we were being watched unless the person was right next to me.

"I'll feel the Semvon and we'll run."

"What about the men who were there?"

I recalled how he had said that he didn't think he could win against them, and my fear rekindled.

"I don't think they’ll come, Skye. I don't know why, but I think we’re going to be okay. Rioden gave us enough time."

“What about Janelle and Rex, Xander? When I don’t contact them or come back, they will eventually report me missing.”

Xander blew out a frustrated sigh and told me to call Janelle. “Make up a story, Skye. One that she will believe, ok?”

“Got it.” I dialed her number and listened as it went to voice mail. Thank the Lord for small favors!

At the beep, I dredged up my most cheerful voice and happily tried to convince the voice mail I was going MIA.

“Hi J! So guess what? Xander is OMG, so amazing and he has a place out on the coast. Girl, we are heading off into the sunset for a little R&R at the beach. Don’t worry about me, I will try to call you soon but I wanted you to know I’m fine. J, I am more than fine, I’m happy and feeling good for the first time in a long time! Love you!”

Beep.
I turned the phone off and glanced sideways at Xander. He had a small grin on his face and I blushed at how ridiculous I must have sounded.

“Don’t say a word. Janelle is always talking about wanting to move to the coast. She will totally believe I’m shacking up with you if you own a beach house somewhere.”

“Not a word,” he laughed and crossed his heart mockingly. “I was actually smiling at how happy you sounded. I like hearing your voice like that. I wish it were real.”

I didn’t bother to tell him that the last part of my voice mail was the truth. That even with demons running after us, I
was
feeling good for the first time in a long time. Something about having Xander around made me feel alive.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” Xander apologized lightly.

“No! You’re right, I should be happy more. I haven’t felt like I’ve had a whole lot of things to be happy about in the past …oh, say 10 years. I mean, it’s hard to smile when your nightmares include real-life-glowing-eyed demons, ya know?”

He held his hand out to me and I placed mine in his open palm. He lifted it to his lips and lightly grazed my knuckles across them. That light touch sent fireworks through my veins, and it was at that moment that I let the fear go.

"Skye, one thing you do need to remember is that they aren’t going to hurt you. Okay? McClintock wants you for a wife, but he doesn't want you dead."

The reminder that I was needed alive washed away the rest of the fear. I was starting to feel better, until one thing came to mind.

"Xander, what would they do with you and Rioden?"

"Oh - well make no bones about it, they want us dead," he acknowledged; his voice so matter-of-fact that I could have sworn that ice ran through his veins.

"That's not going to happen, Xander," I promised
him
for a change. "I will never let you fall."

"You what?" he asked, his eyes darting to mine.

His hand squeezed mine tightly.

"I won't let you fall. You will
not
die for me. I can't live with that, Xander, and I would rather let them take me before I let them kill you."

He opened his mouth to argue with me, but I held up my hand.

"Don't argue it. There’s no point. I've made up my mind."

He shook his head at me but didn't argue. Instead, he promised as he always did, "If anything happens to you…if we get separated, if you martyr yourself…anything, Skye. As long as I am breathing, I will always find you. Always!"

Those were just the words I had counted on him saying.

TWELVE – HIDEAWAY

Xander

We pulled into a dark driveway lined with gravel around 10pm. The gravel crunched under the tires as we slowly made our way up a slight hill. Skye had reclined her chair back about an hour ago, and was sound asleep. It had been a crazy day and night, and I couldn’t wait to get some sleep myself.

I shifted into ‘park’ and glanced around at our surroundings. I couldn’t see much in the pitch black of the forest, but I could make out a large house of some sort in front of us. There were no lights on; no welcoming committee.

I jumped out of the SUV and left the headlights on before taking a quick look around. I let my senses sweep out, trying to feel for anything that shouldn’t be there.

Selene said there would be a spare key hidden inside the lining of the flower pot by the door. I glanced back at the car several times as I made my way to the porch. Spotting the only flower pot, I picked it up and carried it into the headlight’s beam.

I shook the plant loose from its pot and the plastic liner containing the greenery came loose. The plant remained in my hand while the metal pot fell to the ground. Picking up the pot, I felt around in the dark for a key box. I found something plastic taped onto the bottom and guessed it must be the box. I tugged it out and held it to the headlights. Unwrapping the plastic, I found a small key box similar to the one Ri kept the spare car key in. I opened the box to find a key, and decided to wake Skye up before I opened the door.

I scanned the area one last time and made my way to the car. Feeling secure in our safety, for now, I walked around to the passenger side to wake Skye.

I cracked open the door and watched her for a moment under the interior lights. Her long hair was in tangles around her seatbelt, and when the cool mountain air hit her face she flinched. Shaking her head, she nestled down in her seat and tried to get comfortable again.

I lifted my hand to stroke her cheek and whispered, “Skye, sweetie, time to get up. We’re here.”

A slight smile touched her lips as she leaned into my hand, and I watched her sleepy face come to life as she woke. A smile came to my own face. She trembled from the cooler air blowing on her, and finally opened her eyes; slowly stretching as she did so.