Awakening (29 page)

“
How are you doing?” Athen’s voice reached me through the closed bathroom door.

“
Better if you were in here. I’m getting out now.” I told him hoping it would provoke something to finally happen.

“
We’ve got some free time, angel. My guess is that Arie is going to pull Cyril through all of Edmond’s shops, not just the bakery. I think that could be a good thing. How about you?” I could tell in his voice that his idea of good things was finally going to match mine.

“
Uh, yeah!” I exclaimed more excited than ever before, trying not to slip on the tile floor with my excitement.

I grabbed a towel and quickly wrapped my hair and pulled my robe on. I couldn’t wait to see what the rest of the afternoon had in store for me. The fear was completely drained from my body. I was back to my old self, or maybe my new self. Regardless, I felt great. I grabbed my bracelet off the granite countertop and hopped to the door. I swung it open to see quite a surprising sight before me. There were ivory candles of every size lit all around my room; red and white rose petals were trailing from the door to the fireplace. He had placed the sheepskin blanket in front of the fire, and alongside it were two flutes with champagne and my favorite chocolate covered strawberries. I had no idea how he could have accomplished everything while I was soaking, but he always managed to take everything up a notch. Once my eyes followed the path of rose petals, I met his gaze, which still took my breath away. His brilliant, green eyes made my stomach flutter. They looked especially mischievous. It brought me back immediately to the night I saw him in the pub for the first time. That first night I was fumbling and nervous and oh so self-conscious. I don’t even feel like the same person. The thought of even letting him see me without makeup, straight from the bath would never have happened with the old me. Now, I look in the mirror and am so happy with what I see. Granted I feel as if I look better after the phasing, but Athen swears it’s in my head, that I always looked like this. I have grown very fond of my own green eyes now, but they are still nothing compared to Athens. His are incredible.

As I looked at him, his eyes were moving slowly up and down my body. I thought that was so cute being that I was completely covered up by a plush bathrobe. He was so stunning. The thought that he was mine made me feel like I was in heaven. He held out his hands, eyes twinkling. I couldn’t resist.

“
Come on over here, sweetheart. I have some champagne for us. We can finally relax and unwind. You’ve certainly been through a lot since coming into contact with us again, huh? Sorry about everything.”

“
I wouldn’t take it back for anything, Athen. You have made my world complete. I have never been this confident, never had this much fun, I don’t know how I existed before. I was like a zombie, just going through the motions.”

I walked over and grabbed his hands. We settled down on the floor and held each other. It was wonderful, and for once I wasn’t being overly eager. I was eating up every second of what the afternoon had in store for me. I knew tonight would be the night. Like he said, the other times weren’t right. Tonight would be perfect. I was going to let him be in charge. We spent hours laughing, catching up on memories I had no recollection of. I was so intrigued to hear details about my life.

Athen wanted to walk the beach, and I thought that sounded wonderful. I quickly got dressed and met him in the kitchen where he was preparing a plate of smore’s ingredients. That made me chuckle.

“
What are you giggling about?” He asked.

“
Nothing. Sometimes it seems too perfect. Like I’m in a coma and will wake up at the worst moment.”

“
Nope. We belong together. Besides when you are together for as long as we have been, you don’t sweat the small stuff. That’s what people always get caught up in, but stretched over our lifetimes, most things are pretty inconsequential.”

He grabbed the skewers, the Ziploc baggies full of goodies, and my hand as we left out the back door. I hadn’t really gotten to visit the beach since I arrived.

I never noticed from the house, but they had little solar lights on the trail down to the beach, which was nice especially with my lack of coordination. The beach was amazing, not the typical sandy beaches that are on postcards, but rather shiny, multicolored pebbles with patches of sand and boulders encasing the path. Athen brought me to the largest patch of sand. Enough for a picnic or maybe sunbathing, not that there is ever that much warmth, I thought to myself. I looked over to the right and saw the ferry heading back to Edmonds, how special this place was. I was extremely lucky to be a part of it. The sun was gently saying its goodbyes for the evening, and I scanned the beach for Athen. Finally I spied him behind me gathering pieces of wood. I was wondering if it was for a bonfire or for a backup at the house. The twilight hours were so mind numbingly beautiful that it was easy to forget the chill that was hovering in the air.

“
What are you doing? Is there anything I can help with?”

“
I’m about to start a fire. It’ll only take a second. I think I got it handled.” He said beaming. I noticed how proud he was whenever he did something to make me happy. My insides immediately warmed. I felt so special, so very lucky.

“
Oh yeah, the smores! How could I forget? I think I must be a little antsy.” I laughed.

“
Can’t imagine what for.” He said with his eyes reflecting the moonlight that was beginning to show itself.

I sat on the blanket near the fire, purely in awe of everything. As the sun drifted away, we were left with nothing but darkness. The gentle lapping of the waves mixed with the crackling of the fire was so soothing. I looked over at the glow as it danced in the darkness. I leaned my head against Athen, soaking up everything that this day had brought to me so far. I knew it was coming to a close. I didn’t want it to end. I looked up at Athen, wanting nothing more than him for all eternity. I knew he wanted the same.

“
Thank you Athen. Thank you for everything.” Then it hit me – the beach! My dream! This was my dream - this was the beach. Heaven was about to exist. I was certain of it.

Athen stood up, grabbed me from the blanket where we were sitting and cradled me in his arms. I could feel him moving, that he was taking me somewhere, but with the darkness I wasn’t able to judge where we were going until he gently laid me down against a boulder. The coldness of the boulder mixed with the heat of my body was shocking. I looked into his eyes, with the darkness around us, I saw that his eyes had a gentle, green glow, very soft and sensual. I wondered if mine had the same. I saw the man who I had loved for centuries and would for centuries more, but at this moment in this lifetime, it was a first. He began lightly kissing my neck as I began unbuttoning his shirt. The quiet sound of the fire crackling brought me back to reality for a moment before I heard Athen begin speaking.

“
Tonight’s the beginning of our eternity, Ana. I will not lose you again.” His hand was lifting my sweater up, and I could feel his breath on me like never before. It hovered over every inch of my body, bringing me to a level of pleasure that I didn’t think possible. I grabbed his neck and didn’t ever want to let go. I could feel the strength of his arms as he continued to caress and kiss every inch of my body. With every crash of a wave, an insurmountable flood of desire ran through me. A love that I had longed a lifetime for was finally my reality. A partner who would carry me into eternity was finally with me. Nothing in my life was predictable any longer, and that was fine with me as long as I had Athen by my side.

My body moved rhythmically with his, never wanting this moment to end. I had tried so many times before, and Athen was right. This was the right moment. I could feel his hands gracing every part of my body with the lightest of touch as he cradled me in between him and the boulder. His kissing became more intense and passionate, stopping every so often to hold my head in his hands to look me in my eyes. I had never been more connected to him. This was perfection for me. I knew this was the life that was meant to be mine again. I grabbed his shoulders and began kissing his chest more intensely as he held me closer. He lifted me from the boulder, carrying me to the blanket that he had so carefully laid out for us near the fire. His warmth came through me again. I knew that this night would continue for as long as I wanted. I hoped the fire between us would never die down.

As I closed my eyes, my dream infected me like a disease. I have lived this before. With every thrust my fear became more tangible, more real. For every moment in this reality was a moment suspended in my dream. My ecstasy fell as I realized my dreams were also visions of the future. I could lose Athen, not once but twice. My fear began escaping, leaving a trail between our two bodies; my spirit sinking with the newfound information. The serpent eyes could get him.

W
e were heading back up to Whistler to catch some skiing since the entire mountain was officially open. I did my best to push aside the darkness that dared to squash my most intimate moments. I made myself stop thinking about the night before and how glorious it was in every possible way. I wasn’t sure how I would be able to make it through a day without feeling his embrace again, but I was going to have to. Reality still exists. Knowing the gravity of the situation made me restless. Realizing that my nightmares and dreams were foreshadowing the future made me sick. I wasn’t sure how to stop the dreams from turning into reality but I was going to have to figure it out. I couldn’t let her win.

Athen had pretty much packed everything for us in Whistler. I loved the home here and couldn’t wait to come back to it for the holidays, but I was looking forward to seeing Whistler in full-blown holiday swing. It sounded like we would stay for a couple weeks. Athen was helping me with my bags as I remembered the last few things I needed that were in the bathroom.

“
So will those things be waiting for us up in Whistler?” I hollered from the bathroom as I tried to gather the last few hair accessories I could find.

“
Um, wow, that’s out of the blue again. I certainly hope not, but in all honesty nothing would surprise me so as usual we all need to be watchful. You need to let us know of anything odd that you notice as well. Your senses are really coming back to you at an impressive rate. I don’t think you should discount anything that you feel. Better to be safe than sorry. They haven’t found the snowboarder yet. It looks as if they are on the move. They located a yurt that fit your description. They definitely saw that it had been inhabited recently, but nobody was there. They are on the run. The poor kid has no clue.”

My stomach began to turn knowing how accurate he truly was about my senses. They were coming back, and I had to figure out what I was seeing, without anyone knowing. I pushed the thoughts of losing Athen away and focused only on the innocent bystander.

“
Oh, that’s a shame. It’s getting really intense trying to balance everything. It makes me appreciate what I have even more. I love you. Thanks for being there. Thanks for making me wait too, by the way. It was pretty incredible.” I told him as I threw my stuff into my purse. Then grabbed him lightly to reassure myself that he was still here and mine.

“
Anytime.” He said laughing.

“
Now you say that?” I rolled my eyes.

He went over to the French door and jiggled it to make sure it was locked before we left our bedroom and headed downstairs.

“
Everything all locked up?” Athen asked Cyril.

“
Yep. We are good to go. I loaded the last of our bags. Thank goodness we are coming back down for Christmas. The thought of lugging all the shopping bags Arie bought up to Whistler was enough to make me boycott the season.” Cyril ducked as instantly as he spoke to avoid Arie’s purse from hitting him.

“
I missed!” She exclaimed. “You are lucky.”

Matilda ran out to the garage excited at the thought of a car ride so we quickly followed so she didn’t have to stand in the cold garage. I began getting a feeling that I didn’t recognize and thought I would let Athen know.

“
Uh, guys? Something doesn’t seem right. I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s up I think.”

Arie stopped dead in her tracks and called Matilda back to the mudroom. I was hoping that I didn’t make too big of a deal out of this feeling I was getting. Athen grabbed my arm, ushering me back into the kitchen.

“
You sensed exactly what we did. You can’t formulate it yet. There is a creature out there again. Probably right near the garage door.” Cyril whispered.

“
Well, now what?” My heart was beating faster, and I was getting faint. “Should I be worried? Do we need to do something?”

Athen could sense my fear and wrapped his arms around my shoulder.

“
Sweetie, we got it. This one I think is the leftover minion.”

Cyril looked over at Athen who went dodging out as Matilda came running back in. I could see flashes of light, and before I knew it Cyril was back inside.

“
Minions are the easiest.” He told me as if this would explain everything.

“
Aaah, I got it. I’ll remember that for next time. Actually, I take that back. Let’s hope there isn’t a next time.”

“
True,” Arie agreed, “Now let’s try this again. The powder is calling.”

W
e arrived in Whistler with the familiar Inukshuk sculpture greeting us. The village was in full swing for the holidays. I was so glad to be back. We first stopped at my condo to make sure the contractors had finished putting everything back together from the first run in I had a short time ago. We all entered in as Matilda began running around the entire place as if she was making certain everything was as she left it. Sure enough, the contractors were finished. They had done a great job. While we were in Kingston, we decided to put this one up for rent. Then I would move into their larger condo. I was so excited to obviously be living with Athen, but there was a part of me that would miss this place since I had spent so much time here. I was glad it was still mine. I was only renting it out. I took the boxes we had brought into my bedroom and began putting in all of my clothes and things I didn’t want to leave without.