Genesis (6 page)

I loved being in the fae realms.
Despite my initial concerns, I hadn’t met a person other than
Ainessa I felt was truly evil. I didn’t know if even she was all
bad. Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t stand the woman, but what would
I be doing right now if I were in her place? If my only chance at
happiness meant hurting other people, would I be strong enough to
deny myself?

“
You are nothing like her,
Rayla,” Taylor commented, pulling my mind back to the task at
hand.

“
Thanks,” I said, wishing he
would explain why he brought me here.

He gave me a small smile before his
eyes drifted back to Lily. “I come to see her every
day.”

I followed him down to the grass,
taking in the deep, earthy scent of the morning. The dew seeped
into my sweats, but I was too focused on other things to care about
it. It would have been impossible for me to look away from Taylor.
In one glimpse, I was witnessing more emotion from him than I
thought he was capable of. He never looked away from Lily. It was
as though he was studying every angle of her face, memorizing her
in vivid detail.

“
Why?” I asked, my voice
hoarse. Why would he want to torture himself like this?

He lifted a shoulder lazily. “Not much
time remains. She will be called home soon, and I will be without
her for good.”

Rustling sounded down the path.
Taylor’s expression shifted from sadness to concern in less than a
heartbeat.

I watched the path, thinking it was
just a bird or small animal. To my surprise, Adam Wilder from IPS
rounded the corner. His face was flushed as if he had been running,
just like the last time I’d seen him. That was before I knew what
the lords had planned for me, before I knew I would never have a
normal life.

He heaved a relieved sigh when he saw
Lily. “Sister.” He gave her a brief smile. “I hoped to find you
here.”

No longer the exuberant girl I had seen
in the borderlands, Sister Mary Margaret stood, facing Adam with a
guarded narrowness to her brown eyes. “What can I do for you, my
dear boy?”

Pulling a familiar device out of his
pocket, he studied it for a moment then looked at her. “I have new
evidence.”

Evidence of what? On further inspection
Adam didn’t look so great. He was skinnier and his blue eyes had
become sunken and wary.

“
I’ve already told you I
cannot help you in this regard. You need to move on with your life.
Jessica is gone.”

“
She isn’t,” he insisted.
“She can’t be.” Without taking his eyes from her, he turned on the
recorder.

A gravelly voice could be heard,
barely, but it was discernible enough to make out the conversation
Gibbit had with Ainessa in my room. It seemed like ages ago. Time
was no longer measurable for me. Days seemed like years or hours
depending on the circumstance.

Sister Mary Margaret scowled. “How does
this concoction of yours relate to Jessica’s
disappearance?”

He flinched when she said concoction,
and his mouth turned hard. “She was working on a theory with me.”
Adam hesitated, as if he was embarrassed to say what came next.
“About otherworldly beings who live on Earth.”

“
Aliens?” asked Sister Mary
Margaret. I had to give her credit. She kept a straight
face.

“
Well, sort of.” He shuffled
his feet uncomfortably and ran his fingers through his short hair,
making it stick up like he had just gotten out of bed. His eyes
suddenly hardened. “Why won’t you talk to me? She was your aid. You
have to know, more than anyone, who might have taken
her.”

She gave him a soft
expression and an even softer tone. “Jessica was a disturbed young
woman. You have to accept that. Anything
could
have happened to
her.”

Adam’s hands fisted, his mouth drawing
into a thin, white line. “I will find out what happened to her,
with or without your help. Think of her parents. Jessica is their
only child!”

I should have never agreed to help
Adam. I wasn’t sure how he got a hold of that tape. I didn’t
remember giving it to him. I hadn’t had time. My fingers absently
pressed the note I carried with me—everywhere I went now. I
shouldn’t have kept it. Adam was better off not knowing what
happened to Jessica. Even if he found out the truth, he would still
be left without her. She would still belong to another man for more
time than Adam would be alive. Sister Mary Margaret was
right.

He needed to move on.

“
This will not bring her
back to you, Adam,” said Sister Mary Margaret. “Her parents have
accepted that she is gone. You need to do the same.”

He reached out, grabbing her elbow in
what looked like a tight grip. Taylor tensed at my side. His lip
curled back like an enraged lion ready to pounce.

I squeezed his arm. “Give her a chance
to take care of this.”

He gave me a sideways glance, but he
was focused on her an instant later. “How dare he touch her.” His
voice had come out soft, but an unyielding tension made his
statement reverberate in my mind.

“
I don’t think he’s hurting
her.”

Adam paled under the
Sister’s bold stare. “Forgive me,” he said, his voice barely a
whisper. “I just need to know she’s okay. I don’t understand
exactly what’s happening here, and I’m not trying to out anyone or
any
thing
. But I
will not stop until I’ve found her, alive or dead.”

She patted his hand that lingered on
her arm. “I am truly sorry for your loss. You have no idea how much
I wish I could help you, but pushing this will only lead you to
sorrow. Better to move on while you are still young. You have a
life to live.”

Any sparkle of life he had left fled
his eyes. “Not without her.”

I couldn’t believe how much this was
affecting him. This was Jessica he was talking about. I shrugged.
Maybe I could get the letter to him—mail it or something. He needed
closure, yet, would it bring him solace? It was more likely to
cause him pain.

“
I have a meeting with Alex
Wayne later. Maybe he will help me. After all, his brother is
missing too.” A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes before he
straightened his back. “I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

We all stood there, stiff as three
corpses five days old, watching him leave. I had a feeling this was
not just going to go away. The determination in Adam’s eyes was
that of a man possessed. He would not give up. Even if his evidence
could be discounted as faked, it would raise suspicion. It would
also turn the paranormal investigation societies on their ear. How
many people had he shown this to? With my luck it would end up on
one of the TV shows that were so popular now.

I missed watching those. The otherworld
had always fascinated me. I had only been given a glimpse of what
it truly was, but I was eager to learn more.

As if she could sense us, Lily tipped
her head toward the grass. “I know you’re here, you know. Why not
show yourself?”

I gasped, moving toward her. Taylor
held me steady, shaking his head.

“
Don’t you want to really
see her? Before it’s too late?”

With more sadness radiating from him
than anyone should have to bear, he shook his head. “It is
forbidden. We are not allowed contact with our bondmate once she is
returned to the mortal realm.”

It hit me then, why this man had been
so distant to me from the beginning. He was in love with Lily.
Still. After all this time of her being away from him.

I wouldn’t be able to do it. Looking at
someone you love without being able to touch them, to laugh with
them, to share your dreams with them.

He really was torturing
himself.

His sad eyes studied her again. “I have
loved before her, Rayla. Never this intensely, mind you, but the
loss gets more bearable as time passes. I have allowed myself this
one pleasure, but I have to move on. It is not healthy for me to be
here. I do know that, but I find I cannot stay away.” He gave me a
timid smile. “I could offer this to you. It would take time to
develop a relationship, time for me to put her behind me, but I
wanted you to see that I am capable of giving you what you
need.”

What I didn’t need was another
complication in my life. I swallowed hard. I hadn’t expected him
capable of deep emotion. He seemed sincere, yet how could I know
for sure? I stared at him, capturing his attention. “What I really
need right now, Taylor, is a friend.”

His resultant smile gave me hope we
could figure things out, to his advantage and mine. “So this is
your proposition? An alliance?”

I nodded, hoping he would
bite.

He turned back to watch Lily again. “I
would do almost anything to be able to say goodbye to her. The
right way. I was foolish when I let her go. I wanted her to hate
me, for her to find a man that could truly be hers. The truth is I
doubt I will ever be rid of her.”

I’d experienced Lily’s heartache right
along with her when I read her journal. It was the only time I felt
connected with her. She had been devastated. It didn’t take her
long to join the sisterhood, and I fully understood why she had
done it. How could she think about another man when she had already
experienced the deepest love possible? I wanted to help them both.
Somehow, I thought she needed the closure more than he
did.

“
Uncloak me,” I
whispered.

His head whipped around so fast, I
nearly laughed at him, but I kept a straight face to make sure he
knew how serious I was about this.

Distracted, he bit his bottom lip, not
saying anything for a really long time. He would know what I had
planned the instant I thought it, and for once, I was happy I
didn’t have to explain myself.

“
I agree,” he said so soft I
barely heard him.

The air around me kicked up, swirling
strands of my hair around my face.

Lily let out a tiny scream before
recognition glimmered in her gaze. She ran to my side, scanning the
area as if for unseen attackers. “Rayla, what are you doing here?”
She stepped back, studying me. “For a moment, I thought you were
someone else.” Her tone exploded with worry. “You shouldn’t be
here, child. Don’t you know you are being hunted?”

What was new with that? I gave her a
reassuring grin. “I’ve brought some protection with me.”

Her whole body tensed, but her face
flushed. Her breath came unsteady. “I was right? Wasn’t I?” She
spun around as if trying to catch a glimpse of him. “I did feel
him? Why does he not show himself?”

Taylor stepped directly behind me.
“Tell her it is against the rules, and she knows it.”

I made a face at him over my shoulder.
“He would really like to, Lily, but it’s against the rules. May I
call you Lily, or do you prefer, Sister?”

She ignored my question, speaking only
to him. “Damn the rules, Taveon. I have days left, if that. I need
to see you…one last time.” Tears streaked her cheeks. “That I may
know you weren’t merely an elaborate dream.”

His soft groan tickled my neck, sending
shivers along my spine. “Very well.” He moved out from behind me,
the air shifting again—growing thick, almost tangible.

“
Hello, Lily,” he murmured,
stepping out of a background that danced for a moment.

Her eyes widened in shock, but soon
carried only one emotion: pure love. I hoped one day I would be
able to give that sort of look to a man.

Soon, I told myself.

She walked forward, but he held up a
hand. “Do not touch me.”

She nodded, circling him, eating up
every bit of him with her eyes. She appeared so young, but I knew
she had to be pushing a hundred.

I should have felt uncomfortable, but
for some reason, I was right at home watching this play out like a
movie I’d longed to see.

“
How have you been?” she
asked. The shyness in her tone surprised me.

He chuckled. “Lonely.”

She didn’t laugh at that, instead, she
stared at him, compassion softening her lips. “I never wanted that.
Just because I chose a life of solitude didn’t mean you had to
follow.”

“
I wasn’t ready to move on,
Lily. I have missed you every day since we parted, and I will
continue to miss you for the rest of eternity. You brought joy to
my half-life. For that, I will always be grateful. I
am…sorry—”

She put pale fingers to his lips. “I
will hear none of that. It is I who should be thanking you. You
showed me what true love was. I will take you with me into
eternity, Taveon. No matter what happens to me, you will always own
my heart.”

Silent tears wet my cheeks, as if I was
heart-deep into a Shakespearean tragedy. This was wrong. There
should be a way for them to be together. Wasn’t love supposed to
conquer all? These two had the purest love I had ever witnessed,
yet they would be forever separated. How was that fair?

I stepped back, not able to bear the
heartache in their eyes. I couldn’t stand to see this: my fear
coming to life before me. Man, I wanted to love like they had, but
look what it had done to them. Could I go through that? Did I even
want to?