Eternal Starling (Emblem of Eternity Trilogy)

This is a work of Fiction, characters, names, places and incidents are either a product of the authors imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously

© 2011 Angela Corbett

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Library of Congress in Publication Data is Available

ISBN: 978-09827297-2-6

Hardcover isbn 978-0-9827297-6-2

First Edition

This book is typeset in Palatino

Cover design by Alma Tait

Cover Photography ©2011 Sweet Expressions Photography

Pendrell Publishing

Culver City California

www.pendrellpublishing.com

[email protected]

For Dan and Ashley

M
y constants

L
ove is the emblem of eternity

It confounds all notion of time,

effaces all memory of a beginning,

all fear of an end.

~
M
adame de Staël

Prologue

London, England

I let my fear carry me and I ran. I didn’t dare look behind me, too scared of who might be following. Lights flickered as I passed them, one thought pounding in my head: he had let me leave. Sadness and anger warred in my chest. Maybe it was love, maybe it was guilt, but he told me I had to go. I couldn’t stay knowing what he was part of, but despite everything, I wouldn’t deny I still loved him. The pain would diminish and though I wouldn’t remember it, our bond would always exist.

I sprinted through the uneven stone streets as my dress wound its way between my legs, threatening to trip me with every step. The narrow alleyways were hot and crowded. I pushed men and women out of my way and hoped they didn’t meet the people I was running from.

I ran from the illusion I was living and blinked away the tears clouding my vision. I ran to the one place I knew I would be safe. I opened the door and entered the stone house; the room was illuminated by candlelight. The heavy door shut behind me with a thud and a lock fell into place. I collapsed on the floor. It was over. I wouldn’t have to run anymore. Someone knelt next to me and took my hand. My body reacted to the touch and I looked up. This time, I made the right choice.

Chapter 1

When there’s a real possibility you might not live another day, you go through a range of emotions. I had already hit fear, then panic. I was currently dwelling on anger, which was leading me straight to blame and Luke Woods was the target of my wrath. It’s not like I even cared about him that much when we were dating, and I liked him even less when I walked into the history room during Senior Prom and found him getting to know cheerleader Crystal Benson in a way he’d never gotten to know me.

He blamed my “irrational morals” for his cheating. I called him an arrogant pig with a brain the size of a pea. He said I looked like a marshmallow and it escalated to a full-on war from there. At one point, a rumor circulated that my classic Mustang was seen leaving the high school parking lot after the oil was drained from the engine in Luke’s Dodge Ram. Rumors are crazy like that.

I dealt with the gossip from the other kids at school until high school graduation then moved to Gunnison, Colorado, three months before the beginning of my freshman year of college.

“Stupid, rotten, snake-of-a-boy,” I mumbled to myself as I stomped through wild grass, bushes, and if the itching on my leg was any indication, probably some poison ivy. “That dumb jerk! I’m lost in the middle of the freaking Rocky Mountains and it’s
all
his fault!” I’d been talking to myself for a while now and tried to remember if shouting at no one was a sign of a panic attack—I already knew it was a sign of insanity.

In my current, frazzled state of mind, I rationalized that if Loser Luke hadn’t cheated on me, I wouldn’t have left the safety of my parents’ Montana home, wouldn’t have decided to go hiking in the unfamiliar mountains of Black Canyon, and wouldn’t be lost. In an impressive feat of deflected responsibility, I convinced myself Luke was at least somewhat accountable for my impending death. Blaming him made the thought of dying much easier to handle. If I’d had a pen on me, I would have written a note implicating him so that when the rescue crews found my frozen body, they’d know who to arrest.

Okay, so it was partially my fault. I had a perfectly good hiking bag at home equipped with a blanket and GPS, but I hadn’t grabbed it when I left because I wasn’t planning on a long hike. I had been searching for a way down the mountain for three hours and spent the whole time mentally, and sometimes physically, smacking myself in the head for leaving the house unprepared.

Wind ruffled through the trees while I continued walking, paying close attention to my surroundings in case I needed to backtrack. As I came to a clearing, the quiet of the mountain made it easy to hear the sharp sounds of twigs snapping. Great. A wild animal. I shook my head. As if being lost wasn’t enough of a problem, now I’d probably be eaten by a bear.

Running seemed like a good way to make myself look like dinner, so instead, I took a deep breath and tried not to panic as the noises grew louder. Whatever it was, it was big—and it was getting closer. I began backing slowly away from the direction of the rustling noise, wondering what animal was about to appear and use my arms as an appetizer.

So you can imagine my surprise when a
guy
stepped out of the trees. He looked a little older than me and was at least six feet tall. His dark brown hair accented bronze skin, and his white T-shirt did nothing to hide the hard lines of his chest, broad shoulders, or his massive biceps. His eyes were a bright shade of green that seemed to change from one part of his irises to another. I licked my lips without realizing I’d done it and had the fleeting thought that if he wanted to have me for dinner, I’d help him light the charcoal.

He smiled at me and I couldn’t look away. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, something flickered; those eyes and that smile, something about him was so—familiar. I’m not certain how long I stared, but it must have been a few minutes because I kept seeing his flawless lips move before his deep voice finally registered. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, more times than necessary, and still staring, I wiped my hand across my chin to check for drool.

“I think I scared you when I came out of the trees,” he said.

I watched him with wary eyes while he put his backpack on the ground and unzipped it. He took a water bottle out and as he handed it to me, I saw a black ring on his index finger. I probably wouldn’t have noticed it, except the face of the ring was as big as a quarter and it seemed to be some sort of polished stone. I took the bottle and assessed him as I unscrewed the lid. He didn’t look scary, and unless he was lost too, he probably had a compass and could get me back to my car.

I took a drink and answered, “Scared?” I made a
psssh
noise. “No, I was just . . . startled. You could have been . . . a bear . . . or something.” I mumbled the last part, realizing I probably sounded insane.

He raised his eyebrows like he was questioning how lucid I actually was. “You should have your reflexes checked, most people run when they think they’re about to come face-to-face with a bear.”

“I’m not most people,” I said, “and running is not what the ‘How to Survive the Colorado Mountains’ brochure tells you to do.” I had grabbed the brochure while I was in line at the grocery store a few days ago. Unfortunately, the brochure didn’t cover exceptionally hot guys who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

“What does your brochure say to do when you come across a girl who thought she was about to have an encounter with a wild animal?” His eyes were sparkling in a way that was almost as playful as his voice.

I didn’t know whether to flirt or glare. “Who’s to say I’m not having one right now?”

He smiled, his eyes lighting up again. “I’m Alex.” He stepped forward like he was about to shake my hand, but stopped and pulled back.

I watched him for a few beats and said, “I’m Evangeline. Thanks for the water by the way.” I tossed the bottle back to him.

He caught it and put it in his pack. “So have you hiked before, Evie, or is this your first time?” He shortened my name, which most people did, but usually not until they got to know me better.

I folded my arms across my chest in a defiant gesture. “I started hiking when I was a kid. I bet I know more about the mountains than most of the people who hike up here.”

“That’s interesting.” He pushed his eyebrows together and ran his tongue over the inside of his cheek as he assessed me. “So, if you were, say, ten feet from a cliff face with a two-hundred foot drop-off . . . that would be on purpose?”

I didn’t give him the chance to see the worry register on my face and answered, “Is it ten feet away? I thought it was five.”
Crap
, where
was I
?

The corners of his mouth twitched like he was trying to suppress a smile and failing. The attraction I’d had when I first saw him was quickly being undermined by his sarcasm. He was the definition of eye-candy—I just needed to get him to stop opening his mouth.

“And if I told you that you’d been walking in circles for the last three hours, would that also be on purpose?” he asked.

I scowled, but at the same time wondered how he knew that. “If someone knew I’d been walking in circles for three hours, I would say they’re a stalker and probably more dangerous than the bear I was waiting for.”

He laughed. “The ground around this area has been trampled; it looks like a circus came through here.”

Hmm. He was perceptive, I’d give him that.

“For someone who knows more about this mountain than ninety-five percent of the people who hike it, you seem pretty lost,” he said.

“There’s a difference between being lost and exploring,” I mumbled, not caring if I froze to death as long as it meant I didn’t have to ask
this
guy for help. “I’ll find my way back to the trail eventually.”

“Huh,” he said. “When you do that, do you plan to roll down the cliff, or slide?”

“I’d rather slide, but rolling would get me to my car faster.” I was not about to give in.

“Or to the hospital,” he said. The concern lacing his tone seemed odd. Alex had just met me. Why would he care if I went careening off a cliff?

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” I said.

Emotion flashed across his face, but before I could analyze it, he caught me staring and turned away. “Well,” he said. “I’m hiking down the mountain. Since we’re already together, and one of us is lost, maybe the lost party should follow the person who actually
knows
where they’re going, back to the parking lot.”

Apparently, like every other hot guy on the planet, Alex had caught a particularly potent strain of arrogance. I gave him my best impression of a beauty queen smile. “Sure, Alex, if you want to follow me, I wouldn’t mind. I understand how confusing these mountains can be.”

“I’m the one with the compass, Evie, so I should probably lead.”

I pushed my eyebrows together. “How do you know I don’t have a compass?”

He paused. “Would you have wandered in circles for hours if you did?”

I stared, not wanting to admit he had a good argument. “I usually hike alone you know.” For some reason, I thought pointing that out would redeem me for getting lost.

“Then it’s a good thing I found you. Maybe in the future you should reconsider your policy for doing things alone. Are you ready to go?”

I put my head up, shoulders back, and walked forward instead of answering. I purposely avoided looking at Alex’s face, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed his mouth curve into a smug smile as I passed him. As much as I hated to admit it, I was glad I’d run into him. I really didn’t know if I could have gotten off the mountain without his help.

I decided since Alex was keeping me company while we hiked, I should try to be nice. “So when you aren’t pretending to be a bear, Alex, what do you do?”

He hesitated like the question had caught him off-guard. “I help an organization, kind of volunteer work,” he replied. “What about you?”

“I just graduated from high school. I start school at Western State College in three months.”

“Do you know what your major is going to be?”

I nodded. “Psychology.” He glanced back at me as we kept walking. “Do you go to college?” I asked

“I did. I already graduated.”

Already graduated? I thought he was older than me, but not bachelor’s degree old. “Oh, you look younger than that,” I said, trying to sound offhand.

“I’m twenty-one.”

I was confused. “So you graduated early?”

“I was in an accelerated program.” He said it in a nonchalant way, like he was trying to impress me with his intelligence by not making a big deal out of it. The attitude bugged me.

“That’s nice,” I said, trying to be polite. “So, you only volunteer places? You don’t have a job?”

He lifted his shoulder slightly. “I don’t really need one.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean you don’t need one? Don’t tell me you’re one of those trust-fund babies,” I teased.

“Well,” he said, “obviously the baby part isn’t accurate.”

“Oh.” It was as much of a response as I could come up with. As aggravating as he was, Alex was still the most stunning guy I’d ever seen. We definitely had chemistry and for a millisecond, I’d hoped something might happen between the two of us. His financial revelation made that thought obsolete; I knew there was no way I would have a chance with him. Guys like Alex dated ridiculous six-foot tall super models with a waist the circumference of a DVD.

We walked along in silence for a while until Alex changed the subject.

“Why do you always hike alone? Where’s your boyfriend?”

That was subtle, I scoffed to myself. “I’m not dating anyone. What about you? Couldn’t your girlfriend come with you this week, or is she one of those girls who won’t get dirt on their six-inch stilettos?” I asked, still picturing the Angelina Jolie look-alike he was surely dating. I had stood next to Angelina at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and I was pretty sure I was twice her size.

He gave a soft laugh and I thought I heard him mumble something about being feisty before saying, “I’m not seeing anyone at the moment either.”

“Well, it won’t take you long to find someone, trust me.” I stopped short, realizing what I’d said. I hadn’t intended the sentence to make it out of my head and escape my mouth.