Immortal Grave (8 page)

“You can’t do that, Ree.” His breathing was heavy as he nuzzled her neck.

“Why not?” Ree pulled her hands down and lifted his face so she could see him better.

“Because I don’t think I would be able to stop. I want… I want you so much.” His eyes stared into hers intently, and she could feel the truth under his words.

“Then why stop? I want you, too.” Ree ran her thumb over his bottom lip to catch a drop of water that had travelled down his face.

“Because now isn’t the right time.” Paden slid his hands down so they wrapped around her waist. “Not here, not in the mud.”

“Our whole world is a mess. We could die tomorrow. Why not here, in the mud?” Ree widened her eyes.

“Did you really just pull the ‘we could die tomorrow’ card?” Paden’s body shook against Ree’s with laughter. Leaning down he kissed the top of her head. “God, I love you Ree.”

“So, is that a no?” Ree couldn’t help but laugh, even if she was disappointed.

“That’s a ‘not right now’. When I make love to you, I want to be able to take my time. And I don’t have any protection. The last thing we need to be worried about right now is you being pregnant.” The laughter left Paden’s eyes and he looked at her seriously. Ree shivered, the word pregnant bouncing around in her head like the sound of a gunshot.

“So, I guess we should head back to the house?” Ree sighed.

“Probably. It’s after dawn and the others are most likely up.” Paden kissed her gently, his own feelings of disappointment making her feel a little better. Stepping back, he fixed the button on his jeans. Ree blushed a little and looked away. She reached behind her to redo her bra clasp and tried to shake the image of Paden with his pants undone.

She had done that, unbuttoned his pants and been ready for more. Consequences had been the farthest thing from her mind. Trying to calm herself, she turned and ran her fingers over the rough bark of the tree.

“So, when did you start a fire?” Paden asked.

“Hm? Oh, on the beach? I didn’t. That was Aphrodite.” Ree didn’t turn to look at Paden. Her mind caught by something familiar surrounding the tree.

“Aphrodite?” Paden moved closer to her, his voice confused. “Uh huh.”

“The goddess of love. I guess we looked cold.” Paden sounded odd, so Ree looked at him and smiled.  “It is their island, you know.”

“Kind of creepy when you think about it.” Paden shook his head and looked to where Ree was touching the tree.

“You know, this tree is really spectacular.” Ree let her fingers travel over the rough bark with interest. “It feels alive, like it has a personality.”

“I know what you mean.” Paden touched the bark next to Ree’s hand. “I swear it’s happy when you’re around.”

Ree used her senses to reach out to the tree and was surprised to feel it did indeed seem happy she was there. And even more importantly when she looked with her extra sense, she could see the fog that surrounded her when she travelled to the god’s realm. Could this tree be a bridge of some kind?

“Paden, last night before we talked I visited the god’s realm again. And I think this tree is the reason I’ve been making trips over there.” Ree looked over her shoulder at him and realized he was frowning again. “What?”

“You were over there with them again? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We had other stuff to talk about. We needed to get through our mess before we could talk about the rest.” Turning around, Ree grabbed his hand. “I couldn’t function, thinking that I had ruined my chance with you.”

“You can’t ruin your chances with me, Ree. I’m a sure thing.” Paden touched her cheek gently. “But, please tell me if anything like that happens again. I can’t take care of you if I don’t know what’s going on.”

Ree nodded, but didn’t say anything. She was pretty sure that there was nothing Paden could do about her traveling to the god’s realm and she felt that, in a way, it had helped her to understand more of their situation. Obviously Paden could sense what she was thinking, but he didn’t say anything, just tightened his hand around hers.

“So what happened last night before our talk?” Paden started walking toward the house, his fingers urging her to come with him.

So, she told him about Aphrodite, about Melanie and Roland, about the gods being worried about her power. She explained what she understood about the gods’ plans, how there were connections between them all, how they had acted like politicians playing with her and her friends’ lives.

“Paden, they sat around discussing us like we were things. Nothing more than tools or pets that needed to be kept in line. All of it, everything they do, is probably to point us in some direction, or in hopes of getting us to react a certain way.”  Ree kicked at a rock as they walked and watched in shock as it flew much further than she thought possible. She looked at Paden with big eyes.

“I think you’re going to need to do some of the training we did while you were learning to use the power. It takes some getting used to.” Paden’s fingers squeezed hers reassuringly.

“Even this.” Ree gestured at her body with her free hand. “Even this change is because of something they planned. I don’t like being used like a toy.”

“We need to just get through this war, then we try to claim our lives.” Looking at Ree as they walked, Paden frowned. “We don’t really even know what all you got from Sophie. You didn’t get the fangs, but what about the healing?”

Ree thought about that for a moment. She hadn’t even thought about the fact that she hadn’t gotten the fangs. She wasn’t used to having them, so not having them hadn’t been something to worry about. “Did you heal me, back at the tree? I felt your fangs scratch me, but it went away really quickly.”

“I think it was automatic. I knew I had hurt you, so healed you at the same time. Maybe I didn’t need to.” Paden stopped walking and turned her to face him. “I’m sorry about that. I got a little carried away.”

“It’s okay.” Ree touched his face. “But, maybe we should test the healing thing. We can do something small, and if it doesn’t work then you can heal me.”

“I can’t hurt you, Ree.” Paden’s brows drew together. “I don’t know if I can keep from healing you. It’s part of who I am.”

“We can start small.” Ree looked around the little path.

“Start small? What do we need to do to prove you heal? Cut out a lung?” Tugging on Ree’s hand, Paden demanded her full attention. “We can try something, but we aren’t going to do something crazy. A paper cut would let us know.”

“Maybe. Let’s see if I heal at all first. But, I want to know what I’ve got to work with. I don’t have fangs, and there might be other things my body didn’t transition for. Let’s face it. You had the genetic makeup to change into a Guardian. My lowly human genes weren’t made to do this.”

Paden looked around the clearing in frustration, before he finally reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. He flicked it open and looked at Ree seriously. “Fine. But, something small. Don’t cut off your finger.”

Ree frowned at him and took the knife. She thought about it for a moment and then lifted the blade to the skin on her arm. Biting her bottom lip, she dragged the blade quickly across the soft skin and tried to not hiss. Paden made an odd sound that had her looking up at him and away from the cut. His hands were glowing, but he backed away from her slowly so he couldn’t heal her. His eyes looked slightly panicked, but otherwise he seemed in control. She looked back at her arm and smiled. The cut was mostly healed, just an angry pink line was left.

Feeling relief, she lifted her arm to show Paden and gasped when she found him standing right in front of her. His fingers wiped away the blood and he looked carefully at the skin.

“I heal!” Ree looked at her arm, feeling smug.

“Yes, but I don’t think it’s as fast as we do.” Paden’s green eyes looked troubled.

“Well, any healing at all is better than what I had to begin with, right?” Ree pulled her arm back and pulled her sleeve back down.

“Of course it is. But I don’t think you will heal quite the same way we do. You might not be able to take as much damage as we can.” Paden took her hand in his and started back toward the house.

“So, I still have to be careful.” Ree twisted her mouth in thought. “But, it’s better than before, Pay. I mean, now I don’t have to worry about someone kicking me and collapsing my lung. Or hitting my head and getting a concussion.”

“True. But let’s stay on the cautious side. We still don’t know how your body would handle a large wound. Even we can only take so much.” Paden didn’t look at her, just kept his eyes on the trail. Ree could feel his confusion and worry floating around them, and it frustrated her. This could be one of the best things to come out of all this mess, and he wasn’t excited. Obviously attuned to her the way she was to him, he raised an eyebrow and frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Me? What’s wrong with you? Do you realize what this means?” Ree lifted her arm. “I heal Paden. What if I don’t age anymore either?”

Paden stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her with bright green eyes. For a moment, he just stood there looking at her. Then he had her in his arms with his mouth pressed to hers. After a moment he pulled back and looked down at her, his face almost boyishly happy.

“That means I wouldn’t have to live without you. I couldn’t even think about it before, because I didn’t know how it would be possible.” He framed her face in his hands and kissed her again gently. “This may be the best thing that’s ever happened to me. To get to have you forever.”

Ree laughed, relieved he finally understood her excitement. “As long as you can put up with me.”

“Promise me.” He kept her face in his hands, his eyes bright with something Ree couldn’t define. “Promise that I can have you forever.”

“Forever.” Ree whispered the word. She knew in her heart, that this was a very important moment for them. Their declaration of forever was as serious as the war happening to them. If she couldn’t be with Paden in this life, she would find another way.

Chapter Ten

The others were up and about, working in the training room, or in the office going through Sophie’s things. Ree went to the office while Paden headed for the gym, she needed some time to think, to figure out the next step and she hoped that maybe she would find something in Sophie’s office to help point her in the right direction.

Melanie and Roland were glaring at each other when she walked into the room, and Ree stopped dead in her tracks. The tension was almost overwhelming, and she needed a minute to sort it from her own feelings. Melanie was the first to acknowledge Ree’s presence. Nodding her head at Ree, Melanie closed the file cabinet and walked out of the room. Her friend’s back was rigid, her head held at a haughty angle. Ree stepped out of Melanie’s way, her eyes following her slow, angry steps. When her friend’s back disappeared from view, Ree’s eyes snapped back to Roland.

He stood there with his hands clenched at his sides, his face devoid of expression. His eyes slid to Ree’s and his shoulders drooped, as if all of his years weighed on him in that very instant.

“You and Paden have made up, I take it?” His voice was blank, as if he was past caring about anything.

“Yes.” Ree forced her arms to hang calmly by her sides. She wasn’t sure what to make of Roland’s emotions. He had them held tightly inside, and Ree’s heart clenched. She hoped one day he would be able to forgive her for the situation they were in and be friends again, because at this moment she had no idea how to proceed.

He jerked his chin to signal he understood, but just stood there staring at her. After a long silence, she looked away and bit her lip. There was nothing she could do to make this better. She would always be the girl he had suffered for; the girl that loved someone else. How could she right all of those wrongs?

“I’m trying.” Roland’s accent became more pronounced, as if struggling with his emotions made it difficult to keep his words clear. “I don’t blame you. I’m just trying to figure out what I do now. I waited for so, so long, only to have you love another.” He stopped, stumbling over his words. He looked at her with large, blue eyes, every inch the nineteen year old boy he appeared to be.

“I’m sorry.” It was Ree’s turn to clutch her hands at her sides. She wanted to comfort him in some way; she wanted to take away the pain in his eyes, but she would only make it worse.

“Never be sorry for loving someone, Ree.” Taking a deep breath, he looked away and stared into the empty fireplace. “We’ve all been put in this position by others. All we can do now is make the best of it.”

“Melanie…” Ree trailed off at Roland’s glance.

“Melanie is… angry with me. We’re all under a lot of stress right now.”  He shrugged his shoulders as if trying to work out the kinks. “I came in here to see if perhaps Sophie knew anything that might have been helpful.”

“Did you guys not share information?” Ree walked over to the desk and flipped through some of the papers on the Guardian’s desk. There were receipts for the antique shop, addresses scribbled on edges of paper, names underlined, and bills for the utilities.

“I thought we did.” Roland let out a harsh breath as he opened the file cabinet. He ruffled through the folders for a moment. “I never suspected Sophie was waiting to make a Death Gift to you. It never occurred to me they would use us in such a way.” His hands stilled and he took a deep breath. “I believed their lies.”

“We all believed their lies.” Ree kept her voice quiet, sensing the stress under his words.

“Sophie didn’t. Sophie knew they were planning on using her death to help save the world.” He swung his fist into the side of the filing cabinet, buckling the metal with a loud screech. “She knew she was walking around, waiting to die when she finally got her sister back. Some kind of sacrificial lamb waiting for slaughter.”

“She must have believed it was the right thing to do, Roland. Sophie was an amazing woman. I can’t believe she would have fallen in line with that plan if she didn’t think it was a good idea.” Ree felt tears well up in her eyes, but blinked them away. “Now, we just have to make her sacrifice worth something.”