Isela's Love (37 page)

“You didn’t find her did you?”

He ran his hand through his sweat-soaked hair. “She’s not here?”

Maggie shook her head. “I haven’t seen her.”

“She never made it to the farm, Mags. I gotta find her. It’s gonna get dark soon. Fuck! Where could she be?”

“Have you looked in all the shops in town?”

Brendan nodded.

“What about Aunt Gin’s?”

He nodded again. Maggie continued with her checklist.

“Yes, Maggie, yes, I’ve looked in all those places...except...”

He darted out the door again, sprinting down the street. It took him about fifteen minutes to reach the lake at a full run. He stopped next to a couple of large boulders, panting, trying to catch his breath. He glanced around, but Isela was nowhere to be found. He called her name. No answer. He called again. Still nothing. Just when his panic lever hit full tilt, Isela stepped out of the brush.

“Brendan, I’m here.”

He rushed to her, pulling her tight against him. “Thank God, I was so worried. I went to the farm and Mae said—”

“I’m sorry. I let my mind wander and I got lost. It was so beautiful here, I sat down and fell asleep.”

She shrugged, embarrassed.

He squeezed her to him. “I’m just glad I found you and you’re okay...” He looked at her and frowned. “Hey, have you been crying?”

Isela took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Brendan, let’s talk.”

He released her, his brow furrowed. “About?”

“Us. These past weeks with you have been amazing. I’ve never felt closer to anyone, but...”

“Isela, are you dumping me?”

She shook her head. “No, of course not. It’s just, right now we’re here in Inland, and it’s all happiness and”—she glanced around—“waterfalls and flowers. Once you go back to your world you’ll return to your place and your routine and I’ll be nothing more than a memory.”

“Isela, no—”

She choked back a sob. “I understand. I do...and I knew that when this started. I guess I didn’t expect to fall so hard for you.” She shrugged again, her bottom lip quivering. “I wanted to believe we had a chance at forever...no matter where we ended up.”

He wrapped her in his arms again, caressing her hair. Resting his cheek on her head, he whispered. “I love you, Isela.”

“But you still have to go back. I only wish you weren’t going alone.”

He stepped back, holding her at arms length. “Isela, does this mean if I asked you to, you’d go with me?”

“That depends. Are you asking?”

“Actually, no.”

She gasped, pushing him away. He hung on, refusing to release her despite her struggling.

“Jeez, will you let me finish?”

She stilled, but eyed him suspiciously.

“I do have to go back, but only to tie up loose ends, get my finances straightened out. I’m coming back. In fact, I was hoping...I mean...I thought we’d get a place here in Celio, in Inland.”

Isela’s hands flew up to her mouth. Brendan kissed her forehead.

“Isela, I love you with every fiber in me. I don’t care where we live as long as it’s together. You just got out of that godforsaken prison. I wouldn’t ask you to leave your friends...not now. I want you to have the chance to live free, to go where you want whenever you want. Inland is beautiful. You deserve to live someplace beautiful, free of death and danger. I just want to be there with you.”

Tears streamed down Isela’s face as she placed her hands on Brendan’s chest. She nodded her head. “I love you so much. I’m sorry I doubted you. Inland is beautiful, I agree, but it isn’t your home. It isn’t your dream.”

“Don’t you get it, Isela? You are my home and my dream...only you.”

She threw herself into his arms and they kissed, a fierce, demanding, possessive kiss, so full of passion it made Brendan want to lay her down right there. He pulled away, gazing into Isela’s amazing aquamarine eyes. They sparkled, he hoped, with happiness and yearning for him.

As if reading his thoughts, she nodded and took possession of his mouth. They fell to the ground and made love on the soft carpet of grass, lying there together afterward in silence. The sun set and they stayed, gazing up at the stars.

Brendan turned to her. “Do you want to make a wish?”

“No. What could I wish for that I don’t already have?”

Brendan propped himself up on his arm. “You know, I’m thinking we have enough wishes banked up, thanks to the whole Avascon thing, we could outfit an entire house.”

Isela giggled. “When do you want to start?”

Brendan closed his eyes. “I wish we had a house on the hill to the south overlooking this lake...with two bedrooms and two bathrooms and the kitchen of Isela’s dreams.”

They gazed over at the hill, but nothing happened.

“Huh, maybe you can’t wish for material things,” Brendan said. “No matter. I have some money saved. We’ll figure it out.”

Maggie kissed him tenderly on the lips. “I’d live right here with no house as long as you stayed with me.”

He sat up suddenly. “Oh shit, Isela. We gotta get back.”

“What’s wrong, Brendan?”

“I flew out Maggie’s door like my ass was on fire to go looking for you. She’s probably called in the cavalry by now.”

****

When they walked through the door to Darrios and Maggie’s house, they were surprised to find them having dinner.

“You weren’t worried about us?”

Maggie smiled sweetly. “Not at all.”

Darrios’s back shook with the laughter he was trying desperately to suppress. Maggie laid her hand over his. Brendan caught the gesture. She was trying to keep him silent.

“What, Darrios?” he demanded.

“Maggie, I’m sorry, babe. I can’t. I just can’t.”

He turned to Brendan, with amusement dancing in his eyes. “She didn’t have to worry about you because she knew you were fine.”

Brendan sighed, wondering where this was going. “How did she know that?”

More laughter from Darrios in spite of the way Maggie glared at him. “I told her.”

“And how did you know?”

Brendan thought the sip of Mulsket Darrios had taken might come out his nose he was laughing so hard.

“I saw you two...making up. Well I saw you. All I saw of Isela was her feet.”

“Oh no, excuse me,” Isela squeaked, running out of the room.

“Nice, Darrios,” Brendan hissed bolting after Isela.

“Honestly, Darrios, hasn’t that girl been through enough?” Maggie scolded, throwing her napkin down onto the table.

Brendan found Isela lying face down on the bed. He sat down next to her and stroked her back.

She rolled over to face him. “Forget the house on the hill. I’m never leaving this room.”

He smiled. “It’s no big deal, Is. Darrios can be something of an ass sometimes.”

“He saw us, Brendan, making love out in the bushes like a couple of animals. What must he think?” She pulled a pillow over face and groaned. “And your sister. God, she must hate the idea of us being together.”

Brendan pulled the pillow away from her. She sat up. “Hey, my sister adores you, and I’ll tell you why. Besides the part about you being beautiful, smart, funny, and sexy as hell, you make me happy, and that will always come first with her. She wouldn’t care if we did it on their kitchen table as long as it made me happy.”

“Well, I think we’ll revisit that theory another time,” Maggie said from the doorway. “But my brother’s right, Isela. You are beautiful and smart. The fact that you make him happy too? That makes you family as far as I’m concerned.” She came in and hugged Isela. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed because you and Brendan can’t keep your hands off each other. That’s how it’s supposed to be. God when I think of all the places around here Darrios and I—”

“Aahhh,” Brendan interrupted. “My ears are burning. Thanks very much for those mental images. I wonder if Jezbah has any mind eraser tonic.” Isela and Maggie laughed.

“Thank you, Maggie. I’ll try to exhibit a little self control in the future,” Isela said, smiling.

“Bullshit,” Brendan said.

Maggie pointed her finger at them. “Stay off my kitchen table. She backed out of the room and closed the door.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

After Maggie’s pep-talk, Isela felt slightly better about facing her and Darrios in the morning. She had declined dinner the night before, feeling a bit too vulnerable, but now she was starving. She must’ve overslept because Brendan was already gone.

When she rounded the corner into the kitchen, Maggie and her friend Sandra were sitting at the table. Isela had met Sandra a couple of times in passing.

“Isela, you remember my friend, Sandra, don’t you?”

“Sure, how are you?”

“I’m fine. You look well. Better than the last time I saw you.”

“Thank you. I am.”

“Evan came over to get Darrios and Brendan. Apparently, Bernie received some news from the Council. They’re going to meet him.”

“When did they leave?” Isela asked.

“A couple of hours ago. You want breakfast?”

Isela placed her hand over her rumbling belly. “I’d love some.”

Maggie set a plate of pancakes down in front of her. Isela doused them in syrup and popped a bite into her mouth. “Oh my, this is the best pancake I ever ate.” She looked at Maggie thoughtfully. “What’s it like, Maggie? The other world?”

“That’s a tough question. The ‘other world,’ as you say, is so much bigger than this one. There’s wondrous, marvelous things to see and do, but there’s also a lot of bad things too. It just depends on where you are.”

“What about the place you and Brendan are from?”

She smiled. “I loved Missouri. Well, St. Louis anyway. It was wonderful. The bustle of the city was something I thrived on. The cafés and bakeries downtown. The arch, the zoo. It was a great place to live, but there were plenty of parts outside the city I could’ve done without.”

“What are the arch and the zoo?”

“The arch is a landmark. It’s a huge man-made arch by the river.” She gestured with her hands to help her description. “You used to be able to go up inside of it and look out. You could see for miles. It was breathtaking. I don’t know if they still do that, though.

“You should ask Brendan about this stuff. I know he wants to be the one to tell you. You know, Isela, he’d take you to see all those things if you’d ask him.”

“I don’t want to put him on the spot.”

“It wouldn’t, Isela. He loves you. The only reason he’s giving up Social Saviors and staying here is because of you.”

Isela sucked in a breath.

“Wait,” Maggie said, “I didn’t mean it like that. He’s staying here because he wants to be with you, and he doesn’t want to drag you away from your home.”

Isela nodded weakly. She was pretty sure there was more to Maggie’s statement than she was letting on. Hopefully Brendan might be able to shed some light on it. Isela certainly did not want him to give up anything for her and Maggie’s tone had strongly indicated he was.

****

Darrios, Brendan, and Evan waited in Darrios and Evan’s office at the farm. Darrios paced back and forth clenching and unclenching his fists. Evan looked up from the paperwork on his desk and sighed.

“Why are you so wound up, Darrios?” Brendan asked.

Darrios glanced at him, but Evan answered before Darrios had a chance.

“Because he’s nervous about what the Council’s decided.”

“Why?”

“If they don’t think the evidence against Guarros was sufficient, we could be in trouble.”

“Trust me,” Brendan said, “The evidence is more than sufficient.”

Darrios stopped pacing. “Things are different here, Brendan. There is no judge-and-jury kind of thing. It’s them and that’s it. No appeals, no lawyers. Just you and them. If they look at all the people who died that day...the people I killed.”

He started pacing again. Brendan stood up and blocked him.

“Of the people who were killed, do you think even one of them was innocent?”

“He’s right, Darrios,” Evan said putting his feet up on the desk. “We were real careful about that. You’re being paranoid.”

Darrios gazed out the window. “Where is that goddamned Bernie anyway? Can’t he ever be on time?”

“I am on time,” Bernie said as he walked through the door. “You’re just overanxious.”

“So, what’s the verdict?” Evan asked swinging his legs down to the floor. He leaned forward in his chair. Darrios and Brendan also gave him their full attention. Bernie chuckled.

“Some party this is. Lighten up guys, we’re all good.”

Sighs of relief filled the room.

“Yeah,” Bernie continued. “They ruled Guarros guilty of all charges and a traitor against Celio. If you hadn’t already killed him, he’d have been given a death sentence. In fact, the Council feels indebted to you, Darrios. They’re going to compensate you somehow. They’ll contact you when they make a decision.

Evan shook his head, laughing softly. “Well I’ll be damned.”

Darrios threw his fist in the air. “Yes!” he shouted.

Bernie turned to Brendan. “The Council was especially impressed with you, Brendan.”

“Me, why? Jesus, I’m the one who had to be carried out of there. How is that impressive?”

“You’re not a native or even a resident here, and you risked your life to expose a very bad guy. You were successful and a lot of lives will benefit from it.”

“You can tell the Council it was my pleasure.”

“They’ve invited you to stay here in Inland. They’re going to build you a house on that ridge over there at no cost to you...ever—he pointed out the window—“and I gotta tell ya, buddy, I’ve never seen them do this. They’re offering you an honorary position with them for consulting should this sort of situation ever come up again.”

Brendan gazed out the window and smiled to himself. The house he’d wished for by the lake. Bernie had pointed to the exact spot he’d had in mind when he made the wish. “Gotta love that whole Avascon thing,” he muttered.

He was met with raised eyebrows from everyone in the room.

“Never mind, forget I said that. Tell me about this house.”

Bernie narrowed his eyes. “Or maybe you should tell us.”

Brendan laughed nervously then cleared his throat. “Two bedroom, two bath? Really cool kitchen?”