Two Halves Series (16 page)

“Are you coming?” Mrs. Gobert smiled politely.

“Yes, of course.” He pulled his hand away from the vase, almost knocking it over.

“Be careful, William. Wouldn’t want those to end up on the floor,” she teased. The hardwood flooring squeaked when she strode over the aged strips of oak.

William followed her into the kitchen, watching her long, navy-blue dress dance over the tiles as she swayed her hips and hummed under her breath. Her hair, wound into a thick brown braid that fell to the small of her back, swung in rhythm, and the collection of heavy bracelets on her left wrist chimed, occasionally revealing a small birthmark while rattling. She turned to face William and gestured for him to take a seat. He pulled the chair out; when he looked up again, Mira and Xander stood across the table.

“I’ll let you three be. Holler if you need anything.” Mrs. Gobert patted the siblings on their shoulders and then strolled down the hall, no doubt headed back to the basement and its thickening fog.

“Thanks, Mom!” Mira called. She immediately turned to William. “Has she seen you?”

“Yes, but she didn’t know it was me.” He tried to add certainty to his guess.

“I doubt that.” Xander snorted and gripped the back of the chair in front of him, knuckles white. “You don’t give Sarah enough credit. Oh, that’s right—you don’t really know her.” He stood tall and straightened his shoulders. Xander was shorter than William by an inch or so, but the way he presented himself made him seem taller than anyone in his company.

The half-breed studied Xander’s tense neck muscles, his flexed arms, his head tilted slightly to the side in challenge, and William knew it would be difficult to persuade the shifters to let Sarah go.

“Why are you here?” he asked William, suspicion covering his deep voice.

“I need to tell Sarah the truth. And I need you to be okay with—”

“Why are you here in Pinedale?” Xander’s jaw tensed.

“Sarah’s in danger. The seekers have sensed her. They’re on their way here, about a week away. I’ve been able to divert them with her scent as a lure.” Now came the hard part. William wanted to exhale, but there was no air left in his lungs. “I have to take Sarah away.”

“No way!” Xander growled. His muscles hardened to solid rock, and he didn’t bother hiding his sharp teeth.

“Play nice, kids,” Mrs. Gobert called from the basement.

Xander hid his incisors behind his lips. William held his back.

“Xander, I’m sure you understand the severity of the situation.” He tightened his fists under the table and tried reasoning. “The seekers will take her from you if she stays.”

“And they won’t from you?” he challenged.

Why am I better for her?
William wished he could answer with his heart and what he felt. “I can take her to a place that’s safe where she’ll be protected.”

“Where’s that?” Mira asked. She’d been observing the men from the side, her eyes narrowed as if she was waiting for William to make a mistake she could argue against.

“I can’t tell you.”

And there it was.

“And we’re supposed to let Sarah go to hell knows where?” she echoed her brother’s tone with a sneer.

“Yes. It’s the only way she’ll be safe. And I know you’ll do what’s best for her—the way Ekim wanted.” He drawled to make his voice more pleading, more believable.

“And what does Ekim say about it? Why isn’t he with you?” she asked.

“You know he doesn’t want Sarah to know her father is alive—not yet. And, she wouldn’t trust him. She’ll trust me because she knows me.”

The siblings rolled their eyes. “We should still run it by him,” Mira replied.

“It’s not possible to reach him. He’s on the run, diverting the seekers,” William lied, hoping they’d believe it.

“William, you have to understand that our promise to protect Sarah binds us until we’re released. It’s not that simple. We can’t just let her go,” Mira explained.

“I understand, but this is what’s best for Sarah.” he countered, softening his voice. The only way Sarah’s watchers and best friends would agree was through reason.

“I’m going with you.” Xander stood taller.

“You have to stay here to cover our tracks. For Sarah’s safety.”

“William, you must know what our orders are, what we promised Ekim. Our nature will not allow us to break that promise. Mom!” Mira yelled toward the basement.

Mrs. Gobert came back upstairs. The smell of fresh herbs and spices followed her. She walked into a kitchen filled with tension and offered her opinion without having to be asked. “You have to let her go, darling.” The witch brushed Mira’s face with the back of her hand.

“Will she be safe?” Xander asked.

“She has to go with William. It’s her destiny. The prophecy cannot be fulfilled if they are not together.”

William smiled with respect, glad her magic agreed with his plans. The siblings would listen to her, not because she was their mother, but because she was a powerful witch.

“Will you update us?” The siblings spoke together.

“I can send you a message once every three days.”

Mira’s shoulders relaxed.

“Use our falcon,” Xander offered unexpectedly.

“Thank you, Xander.” William bowed his head in appreciation.

“When are you going to see her?” Mira asked.

“Tomorrow.”

“I still don’t think this is right,” Xander said under his breath, gripping the chair in front of him. His knuckles were now bloodless. He was still wary. Sadness grew in his eyes.

“The seekers are close. I have to tell her the truth.”

“Come to dinner with us on Friday night. We’ll all tell her the truth,” Mira offered.

“Saturday,” Mrs. Gobert interrupted, winking at her daughter, innocently fluttering her eyelashes. Her personality did not always match the witch stereotype.

The siblings’ nature must be rubbing off on her
, William thought.

“Saturday,” Mira corrected, not questioning her mother.

“And you think she can take it? My existence and your uniqueness?” William asked.

“We’ll take our chances, dream-boy.” Xander smirked.

“Fine, I’ll wait until Saturday.” He paused before adding, “Unless there’s an emergency.”

That settled, the siblings became more hospitable. William cleaned up and changed into new clothes Xander offered him. The shifter`s grin gave away his thoughts as he handed the jeans, shirt, and a sweater to William:
She’ll smell they’re mine
. William didn’t correct him. Sarah would still know it was William, and once she saw him, Xander wouldn’t cross her thoughts. Xander’s smell could never overpower Sarah’s senses.

Chapter 6

I strolled through Riverside Park, appreciating the unseasonable warmth of this autumn morning. The sun was still low, its light spreading up, illuminating the park from below. A few clouds lingered in the sky. Stopping in the middle of the path, I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. The sun’s rays bathed my face.

The sharp tick of my watch counted down the twelve hours before I spilled my secrets to the siblings.
I hope they’ll believe me. I don’t want to have to show them.

A cool breeze from the west caressed my hair. Without the warmth of the new sunlight, the air would be crisp. Ground fog hovered, not yet surrendering the position it had held all night. It rose toward the tips of the grass and dissipated as it crept up the bottoms of the bushes and the broader tree trunks. Centuries-old willow branches swayed above the ground, their ends tiptoeing gracefully through the fog.

A shadow at the park’s entrance drew my gaze, nebulous in the fog drifting across the park. Hoping the man wouldn’t disrupt my morning, I resumed my walk; needing to be alone. Today, I’d decided I would take charge, take control. I would tell the siblings the truth.

My gaze on the gravel crunching under my feet wandered toward the stranger every few seconds, who ran toward me. Heat radiated from his body, like a space heater. The wind shifted direction, and I inhaled, feeling my lungs expand—then held the breath as the scent paralyzed my limbs.
William!

Instinctively, I veered toward him. My gaze caught and held his, telling him I wouldn’t let him go this time, but he was already running toward me at great speed. The muscles around his neck tensed, his eyebrows puckered with concern. He rushed, suavely but swiftly, determined to reach me, looking behind him as if he feared someone had followed him.

“Sarah, I don’t have much time to explain,” he began when we were close, his voice soft. He turned to look behind him, and I drew another breath, allowing his sweet and musky scent to raid my nostrils.

Nothing he said mattered. He was here. Instead of me finding him,
he
found me. “William?”

“Yes, it’s me.” His smile was tender. Then his gaze roved across the park, from one side to the other. “There’s no time to explain. You have to come with me. Helen wrote they may be getting closer.”

When his eyes focused on mine again, happiness overwhelmed me. His body’s warmth connected to mine, and his scent danced around me, pulling me closer and closer. I could almost see the sweet air form a finger and bend it repeatedly, beckoning me in. Leaning against him, I inhaled again, certain what he had to say wouldn’t resonate for a while. The last time I’d felt this intoxicated was after a bottle of wine.

“Did you hear me? We have to go. Now!” He tugged at my arm.

William’s words entered one ear and left through the other. “What’s happening to me?” The words slurred out of my mouth. Everything seemed so blurry around him. My body felt limp and I swayed on rubbery legs.

“If you stay here, you’ll die. You have to come with me.” William’s widened eyes hypnotized me even more.

My knees gave way. William caught me under my arms and held me up. “Die?” I pulled my limbs closer to his, dragging a hand up to stroke his biceps. All I’d wanted was to roam his body and ignore the urgency in his voice.

He pulled me toward the end of the park. I dragged my limp feet over the gravel.

“You changed your serum—it’s not working as well as it should.” William turned his head to look behind him again, sniffing the air. “The seekers are getting closer. You have to come with me now to the cabin. It will take us a few days to get there, but you’ll be safe there.”

“Okay.” Part of me realized my words swayed along with my body, like a career drunk, but I couldn’t understand why.

William kept walking.

“Who are ‘the seekers’?” I placed my nose against his shirt and inhaled deeply, to feel the limpness of a high.

“The cabin is protected. We’ll be safe there.” He spoke like an automaton, as if he’d planned what he was going to say. William nudged me toward the far end of the park—the end closer to my home.

“But I have a date today.” I tried to sound serious, but my response came in on a giggly laugh. “With Mira and Xander.”

William placed his finger under my chin, lifting it, pulling my stare from his pecs up to his eyes. He smiled. “I’m sorry I’m making you feel all drugged up. It’s the serum. You’re not used to the mixture you smell on me. But please, try to concentrate.”

“You can make me feel anything you want,” I replied, shamelessly indulging in William’s scented spell. He quickened his pace to a run, and I hurried to keep up.

“I’ll explain everything later, but now we have to run before it’s too late. You must trust me. Your father would have wanted you to come with me. He’d want you to be safe.” He widened his eyes, care and passion camouflaged by pain and loneliness.

Your father would have wanted you to come with me. He’d want you to be safe,
I repeated in my head. The reference to my father brought me back to reality. The high was gone, but the desire to be close to William dug deeper than Earth’s core.

William stopped, took me by the shoulders, and I glimpsed a tattoo on his wrist. “I know you’re confused, Sarah, but if you don’t keep it together, we’re doomed.”

I trusted him and didn’t want to fail him. Our eyes met and I took his hand. Time slowed. Palms pressed together, our fingers wove a familiar pattern. My heart begun to beat a new rhythm, yearning to be taken away from the loneliness and emptiness I’d been living in for the past few days—no, since birth. My heart was asking to be complete. After years of hope, William was finally here, with me.

William knew this. He knew how much I needed him, and the same yen shined in his eyes. William led, and I followed.

“Why are we not safe here? Where are we going? Who are the seekers? Why do you smell like Xander? And . . . you know my father?”

“In due time, Sarah, I’ll explain everything. I need you to stay quiet for now. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes.”

We ran in silence. Unlike mine, his footsteps made no sound.

“How do you move like a ghost?” I whispered, mesmerized by my escort.

“Years of practice. Shhh,” he hushed.

We turned the corner to my street, and William tugged me behind a masonry wall. A black Mercedes was parked in front of my house; tinted windows hid its occupants. As we watched, a gray cloud appeared out of nowhere, its shadow hovering above the car and the house, and nowhere else, as if nature wanted to warn us.

“Don’t speak, just follow me. Is the chest still at the house?” he whispered.

I shook my head.

“Can you take me to it?”

I nodded.

William removed a syringe filled with red liquid from his pocket. “Inject this. It will help us disappear before they figure out how close we are.”

Twirling the syringe in my fingers, I hesitated. This shade of serum was new. Biting my lip, I squeezed William’s hand so tightly that my knuckles, then my fingers, whitened. His breath warmed the side of my face as he bobbed his head in encouragement. I jabbed the needle without twitching. We understood one another’s facial expressions without having to speak.

I pulled him by the hand, and we turned to walk to the store, allowing the wind to push at our backs. Time slowed again. The liquid rushed in my veins, spreading throughout my body. Our heart valves pumped blood in the same rhythm; they thumped a synchronized beat. Just as in my dreams. We took the same steps, moved our arms in unison, breathed in and out at the same time . . . as if we were dancing, as if we were that one big raindrop on the path down the window.