Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) (27 page)

He stopped talking and both of his hands stilled as he took a deep breath. He moved his hand from my hip and even though I couldn’t see what he was doing, I could imagine that he was running it through his thick hair.

“Your eyes held mine and pierced through me as you said, ‘Xander catch. You no let me fall.’ I remember looking at you up there and I lifted my arms in front of you - as if I could really break your fall even if you did end up letting go - and I said…”

“You said ‘I’ll never let you fall,” I finished for him; wishing I could remember the event myself. “And you didn’t, did you?”

“Ha, you didn’t even need me! You were a jungle gym prodigy. You flew over those bars like a pro, and then went back over them probably six times before I think your arms finally gave out. Mom actually suggested you take gymnastics after that.

“So anyway, for the rest of the day you refused to let anyone help you but me, and every time you started on something new you’d say, ‘No let me fall’. You wouldn’t go any further until I’d repeated the promise to you. From that day forward, when you had trouble with something, you would always make me repeat my promise. Learning to ride your bike, roller skating, walking on the ice in the winter. It became our pledge.

“Even on the occasions when it really wasn’t about falling, but more about getting hurt or when you were scared. I remember your first day of Kindergarten I asked if you were ready for school and you said, ‘Of course, you’ll be there.’ I asked you what that had to do with anything, and again you said, ‘you would never let me fall, Xander.’

“That was when I realized that for you, those words were about you knowing I would always keep you safe. I always did too, until that last day.”

I heard the disgust in his voice as he spat his last comment out. I finally pulled myself away from his warm chest and leaned back so that I could look at him.

“I’ve felt safer these last few days than I ever have. At least since losing you, Xander. It isn’t your fault that I wasn’t found after that night.”

“But it is, Skye! I told you I would never let you fall, and then I sent you off all alone. I made a promise to you that night, and I failed you.”

“No!” I barked, louder than I’d intended. I put my finger on his mouth and shushed him as I added, “You found me now. You saved me.”

His lips brushed my finger and I pulled it away, feeling the sudden tingle he’d left on it.

“You know this – us - is supposed to be impossible, right? Especially here,” he confessed. He leaned closer to me and closed his eyes as he rested his forehead on mine.

I laughed. I couldn’t help it! Laughter just bubbled up out of me, and Xander pulled his face back only inches from mine. He stared at me as my shoulders shook silently in mirth, and I finally offered up an excuse for my behavior.

“You know what, Xander? I don’t really care right now.”

Before he could say a word, I straightened up and claimed his lips with my own. He kissed me back passionately, using his hand on my bottom to hold me steady on his lap. The arm that had been resting on my shoulder wound up my back, and his hand cupped my head; holding my lips to his.

A small moan escaped my mouth when Xander pulled his lips from mine, but instead of pulling back completely, he trailed his lips along my cheek and jaw line. He kissed a fiery path up to my ear and nipped at my lobe as he breathed into my ear, “If I could take you away and keep you safe forever you know I would, don’t you?”

The hand that held my head tugged on my hair, causing my head to tilt back; giving him full access to my neck.

Just as Xander had started to place soft kisses along my neck, thunder cracked through the sky, causing the ground to shake. The rumbling continued for a few moments before we heard Selene grumble. The noise had obviously woken her up.

Cursing softly, Xander released my head and pulled me back against his chest; whispering for me to pretend to be asleep. He put the blankets back in order and then stilled.

Tucked under his chin with my eyes closed and the blankets all but covering me, the only sense available to me was my hearing. The sound of Xander’s heart beating furiously and the heat radiating off of his body told the true tale of what had been going on between us.

The hand that hid under the blankets was still clutching at my rear, tapping me and then rubbing in patterns. It reminded me of my own hands when I was trying to keep myself from doing something I shouldn’t do. The thought that he was trying to control himself made me smile. I was a girl, after all. And knowing that perhaps I’d just driven Xander wild with passion made me want to puff my chest out a little.

“Xander…” I heard the sleepy and disapproving voice of Selene say. “Is that Skye in your lap?”

“Yeah. She woke up a while ago crying and freezing, so I offered to hold her while she tried to go back to sleep.”

“Xander, I don’t think you should allow her to keep getting close to you. What would Rioden say? Not to mention the Guardians when we reach Sheridan.”

I had worked my hand back inside Xander’s shirt again, and I could feel his heart rate speed up. Anger?

“What Rioden says doesn’t really matter right now, Selene. He already knows how I feel, so this won’t be news to him. As for the Guardians – well, if any of them had bothered to give up their lives or their families for her, then maybe they could have a say. But for now, they don’t.”

The venom in those words cut me to the core.

I snatched my hand from his chest and covered my mouth to keep from crying out. How could he say that? Is that really what he thought? He had sworn to me that he didn’t resent me for the loss of his parents or his childhood, but the anger in his words seemed to tell a different story.

As he felt me tense up, he tightened his hold on me and rubbed his cheek over the top of my head. It felt like he was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t get past what he had just said.

“It’s a dangerous game you’re playing, Xander. Dangerous…and most likely
you’re
the one who will be hurt in the end,” Selene insisted, and then she added a quiet ‘Goodnight’ and all was silent again.

After a few tense minutes Xander shifted me up a little closer to his face and whispered into my ear, “Skye?” I decided to ignore him and feigned sleep. He kissed me right next to my ear and whispered in an achingly sweet voice, “Sleep well, my Princess.”

I fell asleep with the taste of his lips still on mine.

TWENTY ONE - FOR YOUR OWN GOOD

Skye

If I never had to trek through the woods again it would be too soon! The next day brought rain. We had been awakened shortly after dawn with the arrival of cold, fat drops. It was futile to try to get anymore rest without shelter, so we grabbed our bags and set out again.

I had barely spoken to Xander or Selene since the night before. It was taking all of our energy to see through the driving rain, just to keep our bearings.

While I walked, I allowed the words I’d heard him say to Selene roll around in my head, and I decided to give him a free pass.

I knew that he was angry that the Guardians here would try to tell either one of us what to do, when they hadn’t been put through the things we had. He was angry on both of our accounts, but it still hurt that he’d made the comment about his life being ruined. The funny thing about it all, was that it was exactly what I had told him. I had tried to tell him multiple times that it was my fault! I guess I’d just gotten so used to him denying it.

I was such a mess! I couldn’t blame him for voicing what I had tried so hard to make him believe. He loved me. That one fact I knew without a doubt, and it led me to inch closer to him and grasp his hand as we walked through the forest.

“You okay?” he called over the pouring rain when my hand took hold of his. I nodded to him and we kept walking.

A few hours later we came to another rocky area, and it took a lot of finesse to navigate down the slick rocks. I had taken to sitting down and sliding over the rocks, using large tree roots to help anchor me. My dress was now covered in mud and was torn along the hem. I couldn’t wait to find cover and a hot bath!

Xander’s jungle gym training had evidently done him some good as a child. He led the way, lightly jumping from rock to rock and ledge to ledge. He called out to Selene and me, warning us when there was a particularly steep step to make ahead and helping us when needed.

It felt like hours of rock climbing had passed before we were finally back on smooth ground and the forest started to thin out a bit. It had long passed mid-day and the rain was still pouring down on us.

I found myself wandering a good distance behind Xander and Selene, my brain contemplating where we would camp for the night. I wanted a warm fire so bad! My feet felt blistered, my hips, thighs and backside bruised from sliding on them so much all day.

Lost in thought as I walked, I was taken completely by surprise when the ground beneath my feet suddenly fell out and I found myself being hurtled down a dark hole.

“GAHHHH!” I screamed, as I fell and landed hard on my side. “Oomph.”

“Skye!” thundered Xander. I heard him running back to me. Leaves and debris fell onto me as he came to the edge of the hole and dropped to the ground, peering down into the dark at me.

“Skye! God - are you okay?”

Feeling a bit dazed I called out to him, “I’m alright. It hurt like hell but I think I’m okay.” I sat up and dizziness overcame me.

“What the hell is this?” I could hear Xander’s anger. “How far down are you?”

I had no idea how far I’d fallen, maybe ten feet. The sky was prematurely dark because of the rain and storm clouds. Add the lack of lighting to the fact that I was covered in mud, and I’m sure they could barely see me.

I could hear Selene telling Xander something, but the pounding in my head made it hard to concentrate. I sat down with my back against a wall that dripped with mud and closed my eyes, trying to make the pounding subside.

“Skye - hang on! Selene and I are trying to get a rope together so we can pull you up,” I heard Xander mumble. Certainly he must have yelled that, but I only heard a faint mumble as my ears started to ring.

“Skye!?”

Xander

“Crap! Skye, are you okay? Answer me!” I spun around to face Selene, totally panicked now. “What do we do, Selene? I need to jump down there, but I can’t see her!”

My heart leapt to my throat at the thought of anything hurting Skye. It was too much for me to contemplate her being injured alone in a dark, muddy hole by herself.

“Calm down.”

Selene walked closer to the hole, her hands held out. She chanted something quietly and a moment later she held an orb of light. She dropped it into the hole and it lit the entire area up - including an unconscious Skye.

Her face was lying on the muddy ground and blood ran down her forehead. I didn’t even take time to think; I jumped right in as soon as I saw her.

“Xander!” hissed Selene, as I landed in a crouch in the hole.

Ignoring everything but Skye, I gently placed my fingers on her neck, looking for a pulse.

“She’s okay,” I called up with relief when I felt her strong, steady pulse. I carefully rolled her on her back ran my hands over her legs and arms, looking for any broken bones.

I felt her head for any large lumps and found nothing. Her face was scratched and there was a laceration along her hair line on the right side of her face, but that seemed to be the extent of the damage.

“I think she either has a concussion, or she just knocked herself out. She’s bleeding pretty badly from her scalp.”

I looked around at the interior of the pit. It looked to me like it may have been placed there as a booby trap. It was too square to be a grave, and since it looked as if it had been covered, judging by the larger branches and leaves laying on the floor, I assumed that it must have been dug to catch enemies encroaching on a camp.

“Selene! I think this was a trap for people. We must be close to the village.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. Rioden told me that it was about a two day journey. Let me scout ahead and see if I can find any trails.”

“Go ahead and make your way to the village, and see if you can get help. We can’t lift her out of here by ourselves.”