Salem Moon (34 page)

Lily understood his pain and she was so very kind. He loved her even more for it.

He nodded.
“
She
was not allowed to live a full life
. She never had a chance to fall in love,
to marry and have children
. Or
to grow old beside one who loved her
, all of
that was taken from her. And what of all the lives she might have touched on her journey? All of it, gone, taken away
upon her hanging. And for what? She died in vain.
”

The horror of it
was
that he still lived, while she had perished
.
The heavy burden of guilt lay upon him, strangling him as surely as the hangman
’
s noose.

G
abriel pulled Lily gently to him and held her face in the palms of his hands. She turned her face up to him, looking into his beautiful eyes and saw the pain there. She would never tire of having his eyes look upon her, never. But oh, how she wanted to take the pain away from them. He kissed her tenderly
,
keeping
his
eyes open as if it would be the very last time
he
’
d ever
gaze into
her
eyes, the last time their lips would ever touch. As tender and lingering as this kiss was, it was full of passion in a soft and wonderful way. She did
n
’
t
know the extent of his pain. He
was not only tormented by grief, but a sense of loss as well.
He had to leave her.

“
I have to go back, Lily.
”
Gabriel
’
s voice strained as he spoke the words that were so simple and yet so cruel. The meaning of them
was
so finite
.
They
may never see each other again.

“
I know, Gabriel…
”
S
he
looked
down, away from his eyes
,
as a single tear fell like a drop of dew upon her face.

“
I will love you for all eternity, there can be no other and while I cannot bear a life without you
,
cannot imagine not being able to touch your face, kiss your lips and
hold you in my
arms
,
I must try
and
undo what has passed in time and I can only hope to do that by…going back. It is a matter of love and honor. Without honor we have nothing, and yet, without love there is nothing we would want
.
”
His
voice filled with sorrow. Knowing the words to be true, but not wanting it to be so.

She was his true soul mate
,
without her he was incomplete.
It made no difference
that they
’
d been born over
300
years apart
. True
love did not adhere to the mechanisms of time. It simply didn
’
t matter.

She ran her hand tenderly over his face, over his forehead, his eyelids, his perfect cheek bones, the small dimples there, down to his lips, drawing a finger gently around them
. She ran her hands down his strong arms and held his hands in hers.

She wanted to ingrain the very texture of him in her memories, for they might be all she
’
d
have left of him. She wanted to scream, wanted to sob and never stop, but she promised herself she would
n
’
t
cry
. S
he loved him too much to make his already painful decision more difficult
.
Instead, she leaned her face against his chest, smelling the very essence of him. He buried his face in her hair and put his arms around her, crushing her to him, savoring the moment desperately. Knowing, just as she did that this embrace might have to sustain them for all eternity.

Lucien had been silent during the entire exchange between the two, but now, in the near distance there appeared a soft, white light and the ethereal vision of her. Eva. The time was nigh, he must leave within moments. He would have no peace, no respite from her as long as he was in her sights. He did not know when or how she and the others would strike
.
Time
was not the same for angels as it was for man. He
’
d
been successful in hiding from them only because his was a restless existence, he moved constantly in the endless span of time.

“
Gabriel, if we are to leave here, we must do so at once!
”
Lucien commanded.

With his usual preternatural speed, he was immediately at Gabriel
’
s side.

“
Take my hand,
”
he said. Reluctantly, Gabriel placed on
e
hand in Lucien
’
s
,
the other held tight to Lily
’
s
.
She matched the strength of his grip with her own. Both made stronger by the power of love.

Above their heads, the sound of thunder, the flash of unnaturally intense lightening and here, Lucien pulling him, back and away from her as they tried with all their might to hold on to each other for as long as possible.

And Lily
’
s eyes desperate, the tears flowing freely as Gabriel
’
s image began to fade along with Lucien
’
s.

“
I love you Gabriel!
”
Lily
shouted
over the deafening sound of the booming thunder. The lightening illuminating their faces, turning the night into day as if it were just made for the two of them
, so they could
look upon one another fully.

“
And you, my love
,
will always be my lady. I have waited
300
years for you…
”

“
Promise
…you
’
ll come back to me!
”

“
If there is a way, I
shall
find it.
”
His image was fading away
, his words barely audible now.

Fading, almost ghostlike and finally, just a milky silhouette. Lily looked down at her hand,
as it
closed around nothing but empty air. The thunder and lightning came to an abrupt end. The sky above
was
now pitch
-
black
. The stars were
so vast and beautiful for
only
a moment before the moon loomed again large and swollen and pale yellow
.
Was he out there somewhere, perhaps looking at this same moon?

She sank down to her knees and sobbed. Her hand automatically went to her throat, to touch the locket and she closed her hand tightly around it. She felt a strange sensation on her fingers, like the tickle of a feather. When she opened her hand and brushed her fingers along her neck, there was nothing there
. The
locket like Gabriel himself had disappeared as if it had never existed.

She was so utterly lost in her
misery;
she didn
’
t see the figure standing a few yards away. A hooded
outline of a person stood
stock still in the shadows
, its
arms hanging by its side
s. Only
the grim line of the mouth
was
visible
. It was
just watching her.

The figure began to walk slowly toward her
. She
caught its movement out of the corner of her eye and she stood up at once
,
a gasp escaping her lips as her heart jumped into her throat and she began to tremble in fear.

When the figure became discernible, she let out a breath of relief. It was her brother, Dylan. He approached her, his face somber beneath the black hooded sweat shirt. In his hands he held a small book,
about the
size of a pocket dictionary
. Without
a word he held it out to Lily.

“
Take this, Lily, and use it wisely,
”
he said seriously; more seriously than Lily had ever heard him speak in her life
. Even
when he
’
d been at death
’
s door, even when she
’
d pulled him back from that very doorway.

She took
it from him.
The book was a faded red
in color,
like the stain of old blood
that
’
s
been washed, but will never completely fade away. The inscription upon its cover was written in old fashioned script. She looked hard at the title,
“
The Witches Book of Obscure Spells and Theories.
”

She looked at her brother. He nodded,
staring
her straight in the eye. Dylan had marked a place in the book with a torn match cover and had also brought a small flashlight so that she would have everything she
’
d need. Lily turned to the bookmarked page and read the caption there
:
“
The ability to travel through time by means of this spell.
”
As she read, her mouth agape at the simplicity of the spell, she felt something soft brush against her legs. It was her cat, her familiar, Magick. Its green eyes
glowed
in the darkness
as
she awaited her command. Where ever Lily went, so would
s
he.

“
I…don
’
t know about this Dylan…
”

“
I
do
know. I know that you love him. And I also know you fear your own powers. You must look
to your heart to tell what you
already know. If you never use your power
s
for anything ever again, use it for this one thing, Lily.
”

“
I…miss him already. My heart aches for him and it
’
s
only been mere minutes that I
’
ve
been without him…
”

“
True love does not even know its real depth until the pain of separation becomes a reality,
”
Dylan said softly.
“
I cannot fault Gabriel for leaving you to save his sister because I would do the same for you. But I think he needs you Lily
. You
’
re
strong and you make others around you strong just by your presence. If you choose to do this, do it here and now. The police are at our house right now. Nick and Trevor have been murdered
,
and they
’
re
looking for Gabriel to question him. Do
not
go home
.
”

Lily was stunned
.
Oh my God, Nick and Trevor dead! And she knew it was Lucien, without being told any of the grisly details.

She nodded, allowing the tears to flow.

She flung her arms around him and told him how much she loved him.

“
Okay…this is getting too mushy
. S
ay something
‘
Dylan-ish,
’”
she said breaking away from him.

“
Hmmm, how
‘
bout this? When life throws something at you, throw it back…and make it a fast ball!
”
He grinned and walked away, turning only once to wave goodbye. Magick jumped up into her arms.

“
Okay
.
”
she
took
a deep breath.
“
Here we go, Magick.
”

Lily closed her eyes for only a moment
before reading
the words of the spell
. She
allowed the power she
’
d denied most of her life to come surging through her
,
like a blast of hot air
. F
or once,
she
embraced
it and it took her into time itself, toward the past, toward
him
.