Chrysoprase (The Chalcedony Chronicles) (25 page)

“The girl?” I questioned back.

“He tried to ask you out for months, but never had the nerve to. He figured you’d turn him down, but eventually he asked you and you said yes,” Seth added. That didn’t sound like Logan. He could have asked any girl in my high school, ones with or without boyfriends, and all would have said yes to him.

“I wasn’t the girl no matter what
the girl
means,” I replied.

“The girl he said was the one. You know. The one person you find that will make you see the world in colors, and without them your world is dull,” Seth replied.

“Wait a second,” I added. “It was never like that with us. I mean, yeah we dated. I kissed him, but never went as far as I did with you. It wasn’t like that between us. It was more like puppy love. We would look at each other and sigh kind of love. It wasn’t real like this is.” I tapped his chest. He needed to know there was a difference. No one would ever compare to Seth. What I had with Seth was much more than I ever anticipated. “What we have is real. What I had with him was first love, puppy dog love,” I explained. Seth had to know the difference. “I’ve never felt this way with anyone before, and I doubt I ever will with anyone else. Logan has to know that. I love you and only you.”

Seth pulled me to his chest and nuzzled into my head. I guess I said the right things.

“I know what we have is different. This is what Logan thought he had with you. I feel kind of bad for the guy, because what you describe with him is nothing close to what I feel for you. But he thinks it’s this anyways. I have a good feeling he isn’t coming for me,” Seth added. It was exactly what I was thinking.

“Probably not,” I replied.

Seth held me tight and shared his warmth with me. I was safe in the crazy world of the past. Now I just needed to keep it that way.

“What do we do now?” I asked. I had seen from the window that we could make our way out of the palace if we wanted. There was a direct line from the window to
the wall, and the wall wasn’t even solid here. I wasn’t sure what was right outside, but it was worth a risk. I had no doubt my mother led us this way to escape. It might have been her original escape route she used years ago.

Seth looked at the window, too. He must have seen the way also.

“We wait here,” he said. “And hope your powers recover from sending your mother home sooner than they find us.”

“Why don’t we run?” I asked. I was curious that he didn’t deem that an option.

“Because they will be looking for you in the city,” Seth replied. “Your mother escaped the city while they searched the palace for her. They never expected she would leave the palace. I doubt they will be as careless this time. They will be looking around the city first this time. We might be able to go unnoticed here long enough for the stones to recover. It’s safer to sit and wait.”

“Might?” I asked. I didn’t like the sound of that.

Seth shrugged. “I don’t know. I just know that I’m not leaving your side, and I’m not putting us into further danger. Sitting here is the best option for now.”

“And I won’t let you die for me,” I replied stubbornly. He wasn’t going to win that fight. I just had to survive two more days, and the chrysoprase would be rejuvenated. I could send him home any time with the carnelian that still laced my arm.

Seth hugged me tight. “How about this. We sit here and wait. If anyone finds us, you can send me back, but until then we sit together. If we stay long enough, your stone will be recovered, and we can both go home,” he suggested.

That was an option I could live with. It didn’t seem like anyone was looking for us for now. I could hope they wouldn’t even come to this section of the palace. I nodded and leaned back against this chest. He stroked my head, and I again felt the sleepiness come over me.

“I can’t believe you’re the one that Logan pined over. We avoided him after you broke up with him. He was always in a terrible mood. I even remember his father calling him during one of our dinners, he yelled at him right in front of us. Every guy that ever asked you out was given a one way ticket to another time, courtesy of Logan. He was scarily powerful, yet his father had more power, and could keep him in line. You’re right, Logan changed, and it wasn’t for the better,” Seth told me as he stroked my head. My sleepy mind was listening, but it seemed unreal. It seemed like the sweet Logan that I thought I knew didn’t ever exist.

“I don’t know what Logan thought we had, but I do know he was delusional. I could never compare what I feel with you to what I felt with him. This is true love.” I kissed his chest as he held me tight.

“Sleep, love,” Seth told me gently. “I’ll stay awake and tell you if anyone comes.”

“Promise?” I asked. It wasn’t unlike Seth to be a martyr. I had to be sure he would actually tell me.

“Yes, I promise,” Seth replied. “You can save me if you promise to get back to me as soon as you can. I need to give you more credit for what you can do. I trust that you will come to me.”

“Always,” I replied, closing my eyes.

Light was streaming
into the window by the time I woke. Seth was still sitting against the wall as my pillow and his eyes were half cracked open when I sat up and stretched. I was a little stiff from lying on the floor all night, but I was rested.

“No one came?” I asked, stretching my arms a second time, and trying to crack the kink in my back.

“Nope, not even a sentry around the wall. They must still be searching the city,” Seth replied, sitting up now that I wasn’t sleeping on him.

I looked down at my arm. The red carnelian lines snaked up my arm as normal, but the green was only around my wrist. It wasn’t anywhere close to being recovered, but it was better than being completely gone. Seth took my arm as I looked at it, examining it himself.

“How long did the lines take to come back when you came here?” he asked.

“I don’t exactly know,” I replied as a blush started to creep into my cheeks. “I was a little distracted,” I admitted while turning away. Seth chuckled and pulled my face back to him. He kissed me and then asked.

“Distracted by what?” he asked innocently, teasing me. I pushed him and stood up.

I walked over to the high-cut window and stood on my toes to peer out. No one was outside, and I had no clue where we were in the palace. The room we were sitting in was just as sparse as I thought it was when we came in the night before. It would have been nice to have a tour of the palace before my mother left, but there was nothing I could do now. We would sit and wait for the power of the stone to come back. I moved back beside Seth and sat down.

“I think it is your turn to sleep,” I told him, touching the dark lines under his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept well in weeks. Maybe he hadn’t.

Seth smiled and nodded. He was running on close to nothing.

“I make a pretty nice pillow.” I patted my lap, and he smiled. I was sitting against the wall and he leaned back onto my lap. He stared up at me and smiled. His dark brown eyes were happy even though they revealed his exhaustion.

“You know, this is the way I first met you,” I replied, gently rubbing his head.

Seth grinned. “Oh, I remember that day. I found you and sat beside you at that tree. You didn’t even notice me. I thought I’d be all smooth and sit down beside you. I’d give one of those lines I used hundreds of times, and you’d agree to go out with me. When you didn’t look up from your book, I didn’t know what to do. I never had a woman ignore me before. I just sat there and waited for you to be done with your book. Next thing I remember was waking up on the ground and you were gone.”

I giggled. “Well, you kind of fell asleep next to me and landed in my lap.”

“I did?” Seth asked in disbelief. He had no memory of the incident.

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure what to do. I sat there waiting for you to wake. You didn’t, and I freaked out, so I slipped out from beneath you and ran away,” I admitted. Seth laughed.

“That I can imagine,” Seth replied. “I did wonder for quite some time how I ended up on the ground where you had been sitting.”

“Glad you didn’t think I wasn’t worth the hassle with my bookworm ways,” I replied. I was happy he chased me down.

“I couldn’t. You captured my heart the first time I saw you. I just didn’t know it then,” Seth answered, closing his eyes.

“You had more hair then,” I commented as I rubbed the short hair he had now.

“And you were certain to stay away from me,” Seth replied. “A lot of good that did you.”

I smiled and bent down to kiss him. “I’m glad you didn’t give up.”

“Never.” Seth smiled and closed his eyes as I sat back up. “I will never give up on you.”

I stroked Seth’s face as he drifted off to sleep. His features softened as he fell deeper into sleep. This was my Seth, with his short, dark reddish-brown hair and smooth, tan skin. He was completely the Egyptian warrior he always was. Even back then, on my first day in college, he landed in my lap, shirtless. I smiled at the thought. He calmly slept on my lap. I couldn’t help but to think back to the day I met him in the fall. His hair was longer, but that was about the only difference. He was still Seth. I never pictured then that I would fall madly in love with this guy. If I had, maybe I wouldn’t have run away as quickly.

We sat for only a few hours that way as he got some rest. My mind wandered, thinking of the new world I was a part of. The past was too confusing, but when Seth walked into that party, I knew that this was where he belonged. He was a beacon of light in the strange world of the past, but by the way others looked at him, they thought he was the light to a new way. He was special, not just to me, but to everyone. I could take him with me to the future, but we would need to come back. He was meant to be in this world. I could see what the goddess meant. No matter how long I stole him for myself, he would eventually need to return and live out what fate had planned for him here. I just hoped it would be safe enough, and I could go with him. I wanted a role in this past beside him. I didn’t ever want to be without him again. He made me feel real; he made me see the world in more colors than I could imagine.

When he sat up and rubbed his eyes, I noticed my feet were completely asleep. I had no clue how long he had napped. The lines had grown a little on my arm.

“Any noise?” he asked, looking around.

“Nope. Nothing,” I replied. The wing of the palace we were in was eerily quiet.

“Good,” Seth replied. He stood and stretched his body. It couldn’t be comfortable sleeping on the floor like he had. At least I had more of him to use as a pillow and bed. He slept mainly on the floor with only my lap for a pillow. He walked to the window and looked out. It had to be close to midday. My stomach growled. Seth smiled and turned to me.

“Hey. I can’t help it,” I complained. “I didn’t grow up in a time where you went without food for days and thought it was okay.”

“How much did the chalcedony recover?” Seth asked, coming back to me and looking at my arm. It wasn’t much, but the line was longer. “If you need food, I’ll go find you some.” Seth offered.

“No,” I replied, grabbing his arm. “I can go without a meal or two.” I didn’t want to put him in danger.

“But not without water. When it gets dark, I will go get us water,” Seth told me. I had to nod. He was correct. We would at least need water. I could give him that much.

Seth sat back down and wrapped his arms around me. Waiting for the lines to recover was horribly boring, but to have him next to me was going to pass time nicely. I would never get bored of his touch.

“I was thinking,” I started. I had way too much time to think while he was sleeping. “That maybe we should come back here. Well, not here, here, but back here to the past. Like your place in the past. Something tells me you’re meant to be here, and if you are, then I am, too. I’m meant to be wherever you are.”

Seth squeezed me tight. “I’d like that,” he agreed immediately.

“What?” I asked, pushing back from his hug. “No lecture on how the past is dangerous this time?” The first time I wanted to go to the past he was determined to stop me. I never imagined he would agree that easily. I even had part of an argument to support my idea ready.

Seth laughed. “Oh, I’d lecture you if I didn’t think you had learned your lesson.”

“My lesson?” I replied.

“I have no doubts you see the danger of the past now,” Seth replied, pulling me close again.

“And I have no doubts you see I can handle myself,” I replied, using his words. I felt the chuckle of Seth as my head was pressed to his chest.

“Yes, Mari. Ty was right. I’ve met my match, and can’t wait to see where the world will take us.” Seth kissed my forehead as I stared up at him.

“You will let me come back with you?” I asked. This was too easy. I really thought I’d have to convince him it was best for us. I was prepared to argue my side.

“Under one condition.” He held up his finger to keep me from talking. “Our first trip back will be to find your father and ask his permission for us to marry. You will be my wife,” Seth stated.

That was all I wanted, too. He was the future I wanted, even if we were in the past. I hugged him. I wanted nothing more than to do just that, but I never got the chance to tell him. We both heard the footsteps at the same time.