Cronin's Key III (14 page)

Cronin
frowned, his chest filled with a hollow ache at Alec’s grief,
which, of course, Alec’s empathic ability let him feel. Cronin
stood up and held out his hand. “To bed.”

In that very moment, Alec didn’t want anything more. With a
nod, he took Cronin’s hand and allowed him to lead them to their
room. He shut the door, shutting out the world, and took Alec’s
face in his hands. Cronin kissed his cheeks, his closed eyelids,
his lips.
Loss is never
easy.

I don’t want him to
die.

Cronin pushed Alec’s hair from his forehead and stared into
his eyes.
Your sadness is a
weight in my heart.

“
I’m sorry,” Alec
whispered. The bond between fated lovers meant they each felt the
pain of their mate.

Cronin scoffed with half a smile.
Don’t apologize, m’cridhe, for it is a burden I
willingly shoulder with you. I wish I could carry it for
you.

Alec melted against him, and Cronin wrapped his arms around
him.
You carry me more than
you know.

Cronin slid his hand along Alec’s jaw and kissed him
softly. Then, still fully dressed, he laid Alec on the bed and
pulled off his shoes. Then he took off his own
shoes and climbed in beside him. Cronin dragged
the covers up, pulled Alec in tight against him, and kissed the
side of his head. “Sleep, m’cridhe.
Rug mi ort
.”

Alec inhaled deeply and tightened his hold on Cronin. Those
words soothed him still.
I
have you, too.

* * * *

Cronin woke suddenly, his arms still
around Alec. Before he could wonder what startled him, Alec
flinched again in his sleep. He fussed and mumbled and flinched
again. “No,” he whispered, still deep asleep.

Cronin traced his fingers through
Alec’s hair. “Alec?”

He mumbled
again, words Cronin couldn’t decipher. And then Cronin felt it, a
bloom of unease and fear. He knew it was coming from Alec, his
empathic talent radiating from him, even as he slept. A bad dream,
Cronin realized, as uncommon as it was for a vampire to dream,
would be harmless enough. For a normal vampire. But Alec wasn’t
normal. Every known vampire talent bubbled under the surface, and
in his sleep, Alec didn’t seem aware his powers were affecting the
real world.

“
Alec!” Cronin said,
louder this time. The emotions Alec was radiating twisted in
Cronin’s gut. He shook his shoulder to try and wake him. Alec
struggled this time, still asleep, and mumbled
incoherently.

“
Alec!”

The bedroom door opened and Eiji and
Jodis stood, clearly concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“
He won’t wake up,” Cronin
said. He got to his knees on the bed and shook Alec harder.
“Alec!”

Alec shot
upright, hands out, and with a plume of energy, he sent Cronin
hurtling off the bed. Cronin’s back hit the wall, knocking a dent
into the drywall, and Eiji and Jodis made a start toward
him.

Alec startled again, realizing what he’d done, and this
time, he threw out his hand, fingers spread
wide. “Stop!”

And everything stopped.

Everything.

Except for
Cronin and Alec, but Eiji and Jodis were in mid-step, their hair
splayed out behind them, as though captured in a
photograph.

“
Alec,” Cronin whispered.
“What did you just do?”

He sat on
the bed, blankets twisted around his waist. “I don’t know,” he
whispered. He looked at Cronin, clearly trying to contain the fear
that threatened to explode outward. “I don’t know.” And only then
did he seem to realize that Cronin was on the floor, pushed against
the wall. “Did I do that?” He became panicked and scrambled off the
bed toward Cronin. “Did I hurt you?”

Cronin shook his
head
and stood up. He held his hand out for Alec, needing to touch him.
Alec looked at the dent in the wall properly, then and flinched
back from Cronin’s touch. Then he looked at Eiji and Jodis, still
frozen in time. It was the most frightened Cronin had ever seen
him. Alec shook his head. “What have I done?”

Cronin
pulled Alec roughly against him and held him fiercely, and as soon
as he touched Alec, Eiji and Jodis came to life. They continued on
their way around the bed to where Cronin was, but Eiji stopped when
he realized Cronin wasn’t where he was a split second ago. He put
his arm out to stop Jodis and kept it there as if to protect her,
then turned to where Cronin now stood at the bed holding Alec. “You
didn’t leap just now,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

Cronin shook his head.
“No.”

Jodis
looked at
Cronin, then at Alec, and seeing how scared they were, she was
instantly on alert mode. “What just happened?”

Cronin tightened his hold on Alec.
“I’m not sure. But I think Alec just stopped
time.”

* * * *

Alec sat on the sofa, quiet and lost. Cronin sat beside
him, holding his hand.
I’m so
sorry. I’m so sorry
, Alec
kept thinking over and over, the words heartfelt and
hurting.

Its okay, Alec,
Cronin squeezed his hand.
You didn’t mean to do it.

I could have hurt you. I
could have killed you.

Cronin shook his head
. No. You couldn’t have. Alec, you were asleep.

That’s what makes it worse.
Alec brought his knees up and folded into himself.
I had no control over what just
happened.

Alec,
Cronin started
to say.

“
Can you tell us what
happened?” Jodis said, not aware of Cronin and Alec’s private
conversation.

Alec shook
his head. “Not really. I was dreaming…. I haven’t dreamed since I
was human,” he whispered.

“
Vampires don’t normally dream,” Jodis said, cautiously
eyeing Cronin.

Alec
shrugged one shoulder. His voice was quiet. “Just another thing to
add to my freak list.”

“
You’re not a freak,” Cronin said, squeezing his hand so
hard that if Alec were still human, he’d have crushed
it.

Alec looked at Cronin, his eyes filled
with tears. “I hurt you. I am so, so sorry.”

Cronin shook his head. “Alec, I was
not harmed.”

“
I threw you across the fucking room, Cronin.” Alec clenched
his jaw, but he squeezed Cronin’s hand in return. He put his free
hand to his heart. “I will never forgive myself.”

Knowing no
words would soothe him, Cronin put his forehead on Alec’s shoulder
and let his chest bloom with all the love he felt for him. He knew
Alec could feel it, because his breath caught and he sniffed back
tears. He pulled Alec against him, and Alec let himself be held,
the fight in him gone.

Every
one in the room
stood in silence, and Cronin was glad that Kole was still asleep.
Alec was burdened enough with knowing his father’s very human life
was, in its brevity, not something he would have forever. He didn’t
need to have his father worry for him as well.

“
Alec,” Jodis said
softly.

“
Please,” Cronin said
gruffly. “Give us a moment.”

“
No,” Alec mumbled, sitting up, though he kept a hold of
Cronin’s hand. “I’ll show you what I saw, then we can try and
figure out what the hell it was. I know I bitched and moaned about
you cataloguing my talents, Jodis, but I promise you I’ll do
whatever it takes if it means I never hurt Cronin
again.”

Cronin was going to argue that he
wasn’t hurt, but didn’t want to continue the argument. Instead, he
said, “You can show them my memory, if you’d prefer. I saw
everything.”

Alec nodded and a moment later, he relayed what had
happened
in Cronin’s mind
into the minds of everyone in the room. They saw how Alec flinched
in his sleep, they saw Cronin’s concern trying to wake him. They
saw Eiji and Jodis open the door, then they saw a very startled and
distressed Alec expel an explosion of energy from his hands. They
all witnessed how even though Cronin was blown backwards into the
drywall, he wasn’t hurt. His only concern was for Alec. And then of
course, how Alec yelled to stop, and how Eiji and Jodis were frozen
in mid-air until Cronin touched him, making time start
again.

Everyone was quiet as they processed
what they’d just witnessed. Cronin was the first to speak. “You
see, Alec? I was not harmed. You were not at fault.”

“
I was dreaming,” Alec explained quietly. “Jorge was in my
dream. The Zoan
were there,
and Jorge was in immense pain. I don’t know why. But then I woke up
and you were against the wall, and Eiji and Jodis were running
toward you. I had to protect you. I mean, I know, I
know
they’d never hurt you, but I was scared. My dream left me
disoriented.”

“
I felt your fear,” Cronin
told him.

Alec stared at Cronin and whispered,
“I had to protect you. I don’t really remember what I did. I just
needed to stop everything and get my bearings.”

Jodis walked over and leaned down to put her hand on Alec’s
arm. “You stopped time,
Alec.
Yet Cronin remained unaffected.” She smiled warmly at him. “This
changes everything.”

“
Did you want me to try doing it again?” Alec asked. “We can
run some more tests, like we’ve done for all the other
talents.
I don’t know if I’ll
be able to recall the exact synapses that fired that talent, Jodis,
but I will try.”

Cronin knew that
Jodis was well aware of how much Alec had grown to despise
those tests, yet here he was willingly offering to do whatever it
took. She shook her head. “Later. Go and spend some time together.
I think you need it. Let us finish gathering what information we
can find.”

Cronin lifted Alec’s chin so he would look at him.
“Pick anywhere in the world, Alec,
and I will take you. The field at Dunadd? A hotel room in Budapest?
Anywhere you want.”

“
Just wherever you are,”
Alec said. “It doesn’t matter. As long as we’re
together.”

Cronin pressed his lips to Alec’s
forehead
. He got their boots
for them, and when they were ready, he announced, “We shan’t be
long.” And they were gone.

* * * *

Cronin watched Alec’s face as he took in his surroundings.
His mouth was open, his eyes
wide, and he stood, turning in a slow circle, looking at
the ceiling of ice above them. “Where exactly are we? I was
expecting to see the battlefield at Dunadd.”

“
Breidamerkurjökull Glacier, Iceland,” Cronin answered. He
couldn’t help but feel a little smug at the awe on Alec’s face. If
he wanted a distraction, this was the perfect choice.

Alec tilted his head and scanned the
walls of crystal clear ice. “Wow. How did you even know about this
place?”

“
If you live long enough
on this planet with the capability to go anywhere you want with a
mere thought, it doesn’t take long before you go, well,
everywhere.”

“
Cronin, this place is
magical.”

Cronin
laughed and the sound reverberated off the frozen wave walls. “If
you were human, you’d have to trek and abseil to get down here. And
given it is winter here, dressed in the clothes you’re wearing,
you’d have about fifteen minutes to live.”

But Alec was
right. It was spectacular. A truly wondrous sight.

“
Those colors,” Alec said, staring up at the ceiling of ice,
“are from the Northern lights, yes?”

The
slightest hints of green and blue refracted through the ice, it
would have been undetectable to human eyes. “Yes,” Cronin said. He
held out his hand. “Let’s walk.”

They
leapt easily
over the smooth frozen floor, deeper into the caves beneath the
glacier, and Cronin explained this glacier was older than even he
was.

That made
Alec laugh. “Please tell me you know of more hidden
places.”

Cronin stopped walking and pulled Alec
into his arms. “I will show you every single one.”

Alec tightened his hold on Cronin and sighed deeply against
him. They didn’t speak for a long while, and Cronin did his best to
clear his mind. He knew Alec was
constantly bombarded with the thoughts of others, so he did
his best to give him peace. It earned him a soft kiss to the side
of his head.

“
Thank you,” Alec murmured.
For bringing me here. For everything
.

“
I figured you could use
the remoteness,” Cronin replied. “There isn’t another mind to hear
for many miles.”

“
I feel better
already.”

Cronin smiled and pulled back so he
could kiss Alec softly. “I am glad.”

“
I am sorry about before,” Alec said.

“
I know you are, though
your reasons are unwarranted.”