Unfaithful (17 page)

Spread out in front of me like a treasure guarded by the forest was a majestic crescent-shaped waterfall that plunged into a river stretching as far as the eye could see. The rock ledge over which the water flowed—a jagged semicircle edged with white foam—was far, far overhead. I cast an incredulous glance at Evan, who took my hand.

“Come with me.” He squeezed my fingers, almost as if afraid to lose me as he moved toward the cascade.

The cool breeze left my skin damp. “What are you doing?” I shouted, puzzled.

Facing the rock wall, Evan pointed at its top and smiled. “Time to climb.” It sounded like a warning.

“What?!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll hold you.”

I could barely hear his voice over the deafening roar of the waterfall. No matter how dangerous his suggestion seemed, my trust in Evan moved my feet forward. When we reached the slippery wall he stood behind me, pointing out handholds in the rock. I doubted anyone else ever climbed it to reach the top—there must have been a different, less dangerous way—but knowing Evan, I was sure he wouldn’t even consider it.

My fingers slipped on the wet rock, but Evan acted as a safety net behind me, pressing me against the wall as if we were one being.

“This way,” he shouted when we were halfway up.

I did a double take when he pointed not up but over at the center, right in the middle of the white inferno. Resisting the urge to look down, I tried to focus on the mossy wall instead.

“You can’t fall,”
his voice whispered in my head.
“I’m right behind you. If you slip, I’ll catch you.”
He held me from behind, accentuating the contact with his body to let me feel he was there. I nodded and began to move cautiously toward the center. The horizontal climb turned out to be harder than the vertical one. I began to worry after few yards when the rocky surface became even slicker and the water splashed onto me from every which way.

“You sure this is the right direction?” I shouted, unable to restrain my anxiety. The sound of the water was too loud for Evan to hear me, but his body shook as if he was laughing.

A few steps farther ahead, my heart in my throat, I found a broader ledge to rest my feet on. I was almost afraid to look but Evan stepped in front of me and held out his hand. When I grabbed it he pulled me to him and held me tight. I let myself take a deep breath and stared at the darkness behind him, puzzled. “Where are we?” I asked.

The sound of the water had grown fainter and my voice echoed with unexpected volume against the walls. I glanced behind me and saw a thick layer of water, as transparent as a glass wall, separating us from the outside, enclosing us in a rocky cavern.

“Why didn’t you carry me here on your shoulders? I wouldn’t have slowed you down—or risked having a heart attack,” I grumbled with a hint of sarcasm.

“The only thing you would have risked would be missing out on all the excitement. Don’t deny it—I could sense it,” he shot back confidently. “You can’t separate powerful excitement from the fear generated by the risk involved. That’s what pumps the adrenaline into your system. You have to take the whole package,” he said, a mocking look on his face.

“What is this place?” I whispered, still shaken. Giving in to the urge to touch the crystal curtain, I reached out my hand, wanting to feel the water flow through my fingers.

“No!” Evan grabbed my wrist before I could. “The current’s too strong. It could drag you down.” His firm voice echoed against the rocks.

I looked over his shoulder. It was totally dark. Dense shadows seemed to be crowding forward to swallow us up. A shiver drew my thoughts to the ominous darkness and he smiled as the water thundered behind me, forming a barrier as invisible as it was impassable. Looking me in the eye, Evan cupped his hands together. I frowned, not understanding, but in the blink of an eye, a silvery light came to life in his palms, glowing like a firefly in the night. Amazed, I stood there staring at the little speck in Evan’s hand as it grew into a sphere of soft white light about the size of an apple.

“This is angel fire,” he explained, watching my reaction.

“It’s white,” I whispered, fascinated. Although I’d heard about it, I’d never seen it with my own eyes.

“That’s because it’s pure,” he said.

Inexplicably drawn to its light, I stared at it for a moment and reached out to touch it, but something distracted me. Another light, a sparkle coming from another direction. I instantly sensed its power. The hazy, silvery light from the fire that burned on Evan’s palm—as delicate as a will-o’-the-wisp—had lit up the darkness of the grotto and reflected against its walls, taking my breath away.

“Oh my God,” I exclaimed, turning around and around to study the rocky ceiling. The universe seemed to have sprung into life above us. A multitude of stars twinkled in the darkness of the cave. Night sparkled with its silver mantle in this tiny corner of heaven.

“Are they . . .
stars
?” I murmured, my gaze lost in this night with no firmament. I pivoted slowly, fascinated by the twinkling specks that completely covered the rock walls. A mantle of stars that sparkled within reach, shining with their own light. “It’s impossible . . .”

“They’re not stars.” The second Evan finished speaking, the fire he held in his hand glowed brighter. Its rays bathed the walls, revealing their secret.

“Diamonds,” I whispered, fascinated, as the white light was refracted off the crystals in the rock, casting silvery prisms that chased each other across the walls.

Evan nodded, happy to have surprised me. “I used to come to this place a lot when—” He stopped, trapped in a memory that still seemed painful for him. “When I thought I had no choice. I’ve never been so happy to be wrong,” he sighed, his gaze melancholy.

“You would come here,” I murmured, studying the sparkling walls. I imagined him all alone in that twinkling grotto, reflecting on our secret encounters in my dreams—reflecting on my death.

“I didn’t understand what I was feeling. The emotions were too strong for me to ignore and I couldn’t explain why I was suffering at the thought of having to—” He looked away, his fist clenched at his side. “I just wanted the pain to go away. Not understanding it made me desperate.”

“Evan—”

“So I would come here, listen to the water, watch the gems sparkle, and try not to think about it, try to forget. But every time my light struck one of the diamonds, I would see your eyes reflected in it. It was torment. I was obsessed with you.” There was anger in his face. For a moment I thought I saw his eyes glitter with unshed tears, as though the memory was still too painful for him. “I already loved you, I just needed to realize it,” Evan said, smiling now to himself.

I slid my hand into his. He lifted his other hand, the one holding the flame, and the light rose into the air, floating above our heads and illuminating the cave. I resisted the urge to press my lips to his; I felt uncomfortable expressing my feelings in that place, as though it were forbidden, but Evan sensed my desire and came closer. I raised my chin, moving just in time to avoid his mouth as it sought mine.

“Don’t go there. We’d better not attract too much attention,” I said, sealing his lips with my finger. Although I was the one who’d done it, the refusal drove me wild and I couldn’t tear my thoughts away from Evan’s lips. All I wanted was to enjoy their soft fullness, their delicious fruity flavor as he moved them against mine and the whole world revolved around us.

He took another step toward me and our bodies touched. His tone became velvety, challenging my self-control. “You can’t reject me like this,” he whispered, stroking my lip with his thumb. “Come on, just one kiss,” he whispered directly onto my mouth.

I stood there, paralyzed by his hot breath as the need to kiss him trembled under my skin. He moved toward me slowly but I pulled away at the last minute. “This is no place to sin. It’s like being in church!” I stammered, dazed. “I would never kiss you in a church!”

I composed myself as Evan straightened up, unsatisfied but smiling. “At least let me give you a present.” He raised his arm.

“What kind of present?” I asked, worried.

He drew a semicircle in the air over his head and lowered his closed hand. When he opened it, a speck of light sparkled on his palm. A diamond. An instant later I saw another sparkle appear on the rocky crust as a new diamond silently formed in its place as though created by the rock itself.

“Don’t worry,” Evan whispered, sensing my fear that someone would discover us. The diamond rose from his palm, dancing in the air, and floated toward me before my eyes. With a wave of his hand he guided it to my neck, from which hung the butterfly pendant on which he had engraved our names. I looked down to follow the diamond’s movement and watched as it incrusted itself in the white gold.

“Evan—”

“Shh.” He rested his finger on my lips and winked at me. “It’ll be our secret.”

I touched the cold, sharp-edged jewel that sparkled under my fingers. “I’m speechless, Evan. It’s really too much.”

“You could always find a way to show me your gratitude,” he said provocatively, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re so stubborn!” I tilted my head, holding his gaze. His face was right in front of mine.

“I’ve heard that before,” he whispered, drawing his lips closer for a few electrifying seconds.

“It’s a shame I’m even more stubborn than you,” I said, stepping back and leaving him hanging. “Does Ginevra know about this place?”

His face turned unexpectedly serious. “She’s a Witch. There’s absolutely no way she could ever set foot in here. They would detect her presence immediately. All hell would break loose.”

“That’s too bad.” I shrugged and moved toward the way out. “I’m sure she’d love it. She’s crazy about sparkly things.”

Evan snickered. “Yeah, she’d love it, all right. But instead of admiring the diamonds, I think Ginevra would spend hours staring at her reflection in them.”

I laughed at his joke, but doubt gripped me as I glanced at the transparent curtain a few steps from us. “I know that at this point you’re probably going to consider this a rhetorical question, but how do we get down from here?”

Evan looked at me with a raised eyebrow, hiding a grin that instantly struck panic into my heart.

“Oh . . . no,” I whispered. My eyes widened. “You can’t mean—” I stammered. I looked down, refusing to believe what I suspected he meant.

“Scared?” His challenging tone triggered a rebellious reaction inside me. “You’re excited about the idea of jumping. I can feel it,” he added, his tone even more mocking, his cunning gaze fixed on mine.

His remark triggered a vortex of confusion in my brain. Conflicting, indecipherable feelings rebelled in me, evolving and changing an instant before I could control them.

“You need to decide what to listen to, Gemma.” Suddenly his voice sounded far away. “What’s stronger?” A strange impulse tickled my skin. “Fear? Or—”

The impulse was stronger now and it drove me to react. Before Evan had finished his question, I succumbed to it and rushed past him.

“—excitement?”

My body hit the cold, crystal-clear wall of water as Evan’s last word reached me. It hung in the air, conveying an equal mix of amazement and admiration. And then the void. The cool breeze caressed my skin as I fell through the air, surrendering to its comforting embrace.

Right behind me, Evan whooped with excitement.

“It’s like flying!” I shouted, trying to make myself heard over the roar of the waterfall as we plunged down, almost gliding through the air. A surge of adrenaline shook me from within, its intensity matched only by the force of the water as it thundered down into the pool. We were so high up!

I felt light, free, as if the whole universe belonged to us.

Then, impact. The water enveloped me and carried my body up to the surface. It was pleasantly cool, slightly below room temperature, and my skin instantly adjusted to it.

I was still trembling from excitement as another sensation rose up inside me: wellbeing. A deep sense of peace spread over me as I floated just below the surface, drifting in the current. I bobbed up just a second before Evan resurfaced, shaking his wet hair. “Woohoo, was that awesome!” he shouted, swimming toward me.

The water was calm except for the spot, marked by churning white foam, where the waterfall plunged into it. Frightened by something moving below us, I flinched and jerked my feet up. I squinted through the water but couldn’t make out what it was. “Are those fish?” I asked Evan, amazed. They didn’t look at all like fish—I couldn’t tell where one began and the other ended.

Evan laughed. “No, those are more diamonds.” I admired them, fascinated by the kaleidoscope of color that wavered beneath us as Evan trod water next to me. “Here they’re worth about as much as a flower. The lakebed is full of them and when light hits them they emit shafts of colored luminescence that blend together in the current.” He stopped at my back, barely touching me. “Just like when you came into my colorless life.” He breathed the words against my neck and I turned around, floating in front of him.

“They’re beautiful,” I whispered, looking down at them again.

The lights darted around in the water and I tried to follow them, fascinated. Streaks of cobalt blue merged with iridescent currents ranging from pink to purple to light green to orange. Shafts of pearly light that moved toward me, pushed by the current as though alive. I instinctively dodged to the side but Evan grabbed me from behind and held me tightly against him.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered into my ear. For a moment the water felt warmer. Then I noticed where the heat was coming from: me. I began to burn up whenever Evan held me against his body. He clasped my waist. “You’re out of your mind, you know that?” he said, amused. “You jumped out of that cave. I didn’t think you’d actually do it.” My reaction had been so instinctive even Evan hadn’t expected it.

“I made up my mind, like you told me to,” I replied, extricating myself from his embrace to grin at him. I floated in the water, moving myself with one hand around his body, as if he were the fulcrum of some imaginary circle I was tracing.