Everlasting Embrace (Embrace Series) (37 page)

“
What do you mean
? W
ho is she? Michael
,
you really need to stop being so cryptic with us,
”
I insist.

“
Sorry
. I
t
’
s just...she
’
s hard to talk about.
”
He takes a deep breath and begins
.
“
She is Claudia, and she is the reason for everything. Angels are not allowed to love, but it happens, and it happened for me, with her. She is special too
,
a
nd has been through so much since we found out. We can no longer be together
,
and she doesn
’
t even remember me anymore. I had to erase her memory in order to protect her.
”

“
That is terrible
! D
o you ever see her?
”
I ask

“
I check in on her every now and then. I need to make sure she
’
s okay. She is
Between
, a place where they train
nephilim
.
”

“
Ok
ay,
s
o I
’
m really sorry you lost your girl, but why is she so special
? And
even more so
,
why
am
I spe
cial?
”
Ben begs for answers.

“
The
Omega
symbol birthmark is a special sign
. O
nly a few have it. Claudia
—
and you
—
are the only ones I know about. If others find out
,
it could be very dangerous for you.
”

“
That still doesn
’
t tell me anything.
”

“
Well
,
why don
’
t you calm down and let me finish instead of
…
sorry, this is just a little emotional. Thinking
,
and talking
about her
i
s difficult for me. The birthmark is a sign that you posses
s
the
h
oly
s
oul
. Only Phillip, Margaret and Agnus of the Twelve know about this
, know that the holy soul really exists
. They told me so that I could protect Claudia
,
and I failed. She doesn
’
t even remember her mothe
r
—
w
ell
, the
woman
who
raised her. She is stuck in that stupid place
,
with all the watchers
,
and with him,
”
Michael growls.

“
With him?
”
I ask.

“
Never mind
. L
et
’
s focus on Ben. I decided not to tell them because I lost Claudia
,
and she lost everything. I want to protect you f
ro
m losing everything
like she has.
”

“
Well
,
thank you, but you said her mom was just the woman
who
cared for her
. I
s my mom
really my mom?
”
Ben
’
s face falls at the thought.

“
Yes
,
she is. No one knew about you
until the
venators
began hunting you. Claudia was placed with a watcher, a guardian angel she thought was her grandmother
,
and then she was placed with a woman
who
was brainwashed to believe Claudia was really hers.
”

“
So what does having the
h
oly
s
oul
mean for me?
”

“
For now
,
nothing. We are just going to go on protecting you
—although
,
we should find a way to cover the
O
mega, just in case.
”

Ebony
’
s Release

I haven
’
t really talked to Dakota since he kissed me the other day, but I think I may be ready to now. I head down to the school
,
and stepping off the elevator, he
’
s standing right there in front of me.

“
Hey
,
Ebony, I was just coming to find you.
”

“
I was looking for you too. I wanted
to
apologize for the way I acted when you kissed me.
”

“
No Ebony
,
you have nothing to
b
e sorry about. I was out of line; you had just seen Matt
,
and were emotional. I took advantage of you
,
and
for that
,
I
’
m so sorry.
”
He wipes a tear from my cheek.
“
Please don
’
t cry
.
I hate seeing you so sad.
”

“
It
’
s just so hard. I mean
,
I love Matt
,
and I don
’
t want to let him go, but I know I have too.
”

“
You don
’
t ever have to let him go
,
Ebony
. Y
ou
’
ll always love him
,
and that
’
s okay. You just need to open your heart to loving another
,
and to happiness.
”

Pondering what Dakota is saying, I realize he
’
s right. I don
’
t have to let Matt go. I do love him
,
and I always will. That doesn
’
t have to change
just because I let someone else in. I begin to feel peace with the situation
,
with this new realization. I have always felt a special connection to Dakota; I just never paid attention to it. Maybe it
’
s time
to explore that a little more.

“
Thanks Dakota,
I
really needed to hear that
,
and your understanding means so much to me.
”

“
I
’
ve done my best to prove that I
’
ll be here for you no matter what. I will continue to. I think I have made it obvious that I would love for you to explore our feelings. I just want you to know that you mean too much to me
;
that even if you choose not to
,
I will
still want to remain in your life. Your friendship is too important to me
,
and I refuse to sacrifice that for anything.
”

“
I do know that
,
and your friendship means everything to me
too
. You
’
ve been here for me through so much
,
and I just don
’
t know if I could have made it without you. Now
,
with that said, let
’
s go do something. This is too heavy
,
and I think we both could use some fun.
”

“
Great idea
. W
hy don
’
t we get Elyn and take her to the park
?
I
t will be fun.
”

“
Really? I ask you to go out and do something
,
and the first thing you think of is to do something with my daughter.
”

“
Yeah, sorry
,
I just
—
”

“
No
,
that
’
s not what
I
mean
.
I jus
t
…
y
ou
’
r
e
jus
t
…
it
’
s just so amazing that you would think to do something with her.
”

“
Of course I would
.
I
love that little girl as much as I love...I mean...um...sorry Eb.
”

“
No, don
’
t be sorry
. T
hank you so much. I care about you too.
”
Not realizing what I
’
m doing
,
I lean towards him and press my lips to his. Excitement rushes through me. Dakota runs his hand across my cheek and holds the back of my head. As if in slow motion
,
our lips move together
,
and everything feels right for the first time in months. Our lips part
,
and I take a small step back.

“
Are you okay
,
Ebony?
”

“
Yeah, I
’
m fine. It was time.
”

“
Well
,
thank you for that
.
N
ow
,
let
’
s not read too much into it. Should we go get Elyn and go out for a while?
”

“
That
’
s a perfect idea.
”

We head back up to the main house and through
the
passageway to the
guesthouse
. Florence is there with the babies. The moment Elyn sees
Dakota
,
she floats over to him, wrapping her tiny little arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. Then
,
before we can turn to leave
,
she spits out,
“
Koda.
”

“
Oh my
G
od, she just said her first word
.
‘
Dakota
’
!
Y
ou are her first word
,
”
I scream
,
running to the two of them and hugging them both as we all laugh.

Seeing how excited everyone is, Elyn continues
,
“
Koda, Koda, Koda.
”

Florence, Dakota and I all burst into a roar of laughter
.
Elyn giggles right with us. We tell Florence our plans for the day and grab the light pink diaper bag on our way out the door. After we get Elyn secured in her car seat
,
we take off down the drive and head to town for a
n
afternoon at the park. I
’
m excited to spend the day with Dakota
and see how it goes. I want to take this slow
ly,
and
for it
not
to
be just a rebound fling. I do feel more equipped to handle this now
,
and Dakota is just the man to
continue
with.

Going Away

Elijah has worked hard to finalize Nik
’
s adoption
,
and today we go to the
courthouse
to pick up the final papers. That
’
s it; Nik is mine and Nathanial
’
s son. We also get his passport and our plane tickets for our trip to Transylvania. We will spend at least the summer there
,
maybe longer
,
depending on what we find out
,
and who we find. I can
’
t take any chances
,
and Nik will be safest there. The Cerberus would never step foot on the home soil, at least not until they are ready to take on the Renata.