Immortal Memory (Book One) (24 page)

Simra inhaled the scent of wet grass.
The sparkling stars and crescent moon brightened the dark night
sky. Her worries crept up and drifted to Jeff. She hoped Tristan
wouldn’t harm him.

Simra screamed when the demon leaped
onto Zach from out of nowhere. He pinned the angel down and
grumbled a demonic prayer over him. Simra’s hands trembled, and her
feet remained frozen to the ground. She needed to get Tristan away
from Zach somehow. Leaping onto the demon’s back, Simra tried to
pull him off his brother.

Tristan bolted up to shove her off and
left the angel motionless on the ground. The demon stepped closer
to her with flames igniting in his eyes. “I'm much stronger than
you, baby. Surely you know that.”

Simra hurried away from him, but he
caught up to her in no time. Tristan pulled her against his hard
chest. His eyes stopped glowing, and a wicked laugh escaped from
him. Simra turned to Zach, but the angel seemed to be in
pain.

Tristan shifted his gaze toward Simra
again. “I’m taking you where no one will ever find us. Only you and
I will be there. Always and forever. We’re beginning our lives
together starting now.” He swept her up into his arms and carried
her away.

Chapter 29

"And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
-Ephesians 6:17

Tristan carried Simra through many
cities, forests, and deserts. Dizziness swept through her torn
emotions. The demon traveled with her much too fast. The ocean's
night tides crashed around them for several moments. She tasted the
salty breeze slapping against her face. Simra closed her eyes as
the quick passing waves made her dizzier.

She couldn’t control her lips from
parting when she saw where Tristan took her. Dolphins chirped in
the distance, and white sugary sand tickled her feet when he
released her. The place looked so familiar.

She saw it several times in her dreams
during her engagement to Tristan. No one except her and the demon
were in the vision. However, Simra never understood the meaning of
the mysterious repeating dream. Her nose twitched at the scent of
burning wood.

Tristan picked her up again and carried
her to a crackling campfire near the shore. “Welcome home,
princess. Look familiar? Zach won’t ever find us here. This place
is well protected.”

Simra struggled to free
herself from his firm grip and lifted her chin in defiance when he
let her go. She fought her rising panic in the face of a dangerous,
possessive demon. “I don’t know what this place is to you, but it’s
not my home. I’m not staying here and
will
escape. I’m not spending the
rest of my life with someone like you.”

His lips slithered into a wicked grin.
“You don’t have to fight your love for me. I'll never hurt you
again. It’s time to start our lives together, and it’s too late for
you to go back now. You’re far from Texas. This is your home now,
and there’s no way to return except by me. We’re staying here
forever.” He always denied the fact that she didn’t love him
anymore.

Although Simra yearned to discover a
way of escaping, her feet remained frozen to the ground. She
doubted there would be any chance for her to leave the island.
Tristan might harm whoever passed by, and Zach may never find them.
Texas seemed so far away.

The Lord was her only hope. It wouldn’t
surprise her if she had already died and went to the lake of fire.
Maybe it explained why she dreamed of this place so
often.

Tristan rested his hand along the
hammock tied to the palm trees. “It’s late, princess. You should
sleep. Zach keeps you up all night to do work for him. You know I'm
not that selfish. Want to eat before you rest? I can fix up a meal
in a matter of seconds.”

Simra stormed toward him with clenched
fists. Her blood boiled from rage. “Selfish? You think Zach’s being
selfish? The reason we’re working so hard is because of you! You’re
causing all of this destruction and turmoil for everyone, including
your own family. You persuaded Quint to kill your own father
because of selfishness. I can’t even count the other selfish things
you've done!”

Tristan stood up and framed her face in
his hands. “I admit I did horrible things, but I'm saving you,
baby. My brother wants to hurt you. He intends on doing more damage
to you than he did to Lucinda.”

Simra felt her cheeks growing hot with
fury. “Don't even attempt to go there. You're nothing but a liar,
and I don't believe anything you say. No one will ever hurt me like
you have.”

She turned away from him to hide the
tears misting her eyes. Did Tristan succeed? There were many
reasons why this shouldn't come to pass. Lucinda needed her, and
Mandy couldn’t run their business alone. What would Mandy do
without Simra now? They were always there for each
other.

Tristan turned her around to face him.
“You’re worried. My brother’s fed you lies about me, hasn’t he? I
promise I'll never hurt you like that again. You'll be happy. I'll
even watch over your family to be sure they'll be all right. We'll
have our own family too. This island is our home now. I won't let
Zach hurt you."

Simra tried with all her might not to
slap him. “Are you deaf and blind? I love and believe Zach, not
you. And there's nothing you can do or say to change
it!”

She gazed through the forest of palm
trees and tried to see if she could find a way to escape. Maybe
there was a boat somewhere on the island, but she tried not to
search too hard. Tristan might catch her looking for a route of
escape if she wasn’t too careful.

He read her thoughts so well. She
needed to be cautious of what went through her mind. Tristan
tortured her raging emotions and confused spirit. The conniving
demon must be shown how he did not affect her.

“What is this place? I’ve seen it many
times before now.”

Tristan leaned against one of the palm
trees and seemed hesitant to answer her question. “I sent you
dreams of this island for several nights. I wanted you to see our
future home one day. This is where we’ll spend forever. It holds
many powers, and I placed a number of spells on the place. We are
and always will be the only ones here.”

Simra felt the blood draining from her
face. “Why’d you choose this place?”

The demon lifted his arms into the air
for a brief moment and faced the trails leading through the forest
of palm trees. “Remember when you couldn’t find any trace of me for
several days? I disappeared here when I wouldn’t answer your calls.
My secret’s yours now, princess. I grew and stored drugs on this
island for many people. No one will ever discover the drugs. They
were brought back to civilization and sold to my clients when I got
low on money.”

Simra fumed at recalling how he
vanished and wouldn’t return her calls. “That’s the most
ridiculous, low-lived job I’ve ever heard of someone doing. This is
what you hid from me? You lied and told me you were away on
business trips.”

She paused and added, “See how much of
a liar you are? That should tell you why I can’t trust anything you
say.”

Tristan reached for her face
and framed it in his hands. “They
were
business trips to be kept top
secret. If anyone discovered how I made my money, I would’ve been
thrown in jail. You wouldn’t have agreed with my way of living if I
told you earlier in the relationship, but my dealing days are
finished. I no longer require such a horrible job. I don’t have to
make money anymore. The island belongs to us now, and that’s how it
always should’ve been.”

Curiosity plagued her, and Simra urged
him to answer more of her questions about the land. “You could’ve
made money in an ethical way by having a decent career like normal
people. Who else comes to this island? You know they’ll rescue me,
right?”

Tristan gave her a careless chuckle.
“No one ever comes here. The land holds many powers by me and my
dark master. The powers send them in another direction from the
island so it won't be discovered.”

“It just seems like a plain island to
me.”

Tristan bit his lip in hesitation.
“It's our own hidden paradise. The island doesn't exist to others.
You and I belong together.”

Simra lifted her chin with defiance and
stormed away from him in disbelief. “I’ll escape from your stupid
paradise if it takes all the faith within me!” She rushed to the
edge of the shore and screamed the angel’s name. "Zach! Please come
and find me!”

Simra closed her eyes for a
brief moment and said a silent prayer to the heavens over the
beach.
God, give me the strength to fight
this demon. Give me the willingness not to surrender to his tricks
and lies. Thank You for keeping my loved ones safe and for helping
me all this time. Amen.

A cold draft breathed down her neck in
the dark tropical air. This island belonged to Tristan, and no one
would ever find her if she didn’t have faith. It must be the
darkest location in the world. Being here with Tristan caused her
trust in God to become much too weak. She continued gazing out at
the enduring waters disappearing into the starry sky.

Tristan startled her from behind when
his cold hands brushed tresses of her hair to the other side of her
neck. “Zach won’t ever find you. This place is hidden from him. He
belongs with the Lord. God’s angels can’t see the island because of
the spell. I brought you here so we could be alone.”

Tristan took her hands and kissed their
palms. “I love you. I want to make you the happiest woman who's
ever lived. Let me take care of you and keep you safe. Allow me to
stand by your side and love you with everything I have. Zach
doesn’t love you. He'll hurt you. Marry me.”

Simra’s heart raced from the building
memories of the first time Tristan proposed to her. In the past,
she did love him as a wife loved a husband. Only pity filled her
heart for him now. Tristan destroyed her love by doing so many
awful things, which he continued to do.

No, Zach
didn’t
feel the same sick way about
her as Tristan felt. Zach loved her while Tristan had a revolting
obsession with her. Simra drew her hands away from him and squared
her shoulders. She grew more careful not to look into his appealing
blue eyes. His reassuring words in such a dreamy environment didn’t
help matters.

“You know, you’re right. Zach doesn’t
love me the way you do. He has healthy feelings for me, and it
doesn’t matter if no one comes. I have God on my side, and it’s not
His will for this to pass.” Simra trudged through the soft sand
toward the burning campfire and turned to him.

The demon revealed no anger or
frustration toward Simra and trudged after her. “Everything happens
for a reason. Even the things we think we don't want. God allows
them to happen. Therefore, you're meant to be my wife."

Hopelessness drained Simra at the
thought of never getting back to his body to bring an end to all
the madness. The demon and his chaos caused her to become weak with
fatigue. She didn’t have a good night’s rest in a long time because
of him. Tristan sat across from her when she eased onto a large log
by the fire.

The flames danced across his solemn
face while he gazed at the wood burning. Memories tore her heart to
shreds when she thought of how she fell in love with him. She
longed to marry him before he changed.

Torn emotions ripped her soul to
pieces, and they tried playing disguised tricks on her. He looked
identical to Zach. However, they were completely opposite. Pity
enveloped her for the demon. Misery and despair was drawn across
Tristan’s face.

She cringed at the sound of his voice
growing shallow from being on the brink of tears. “I've tried for
so long to stop doing bad deeds, but it’s who I am. I’m a demon,
and I don’t blame Zach for trying to stop me. I hate who I am, and
I hate what I’ve done to you. I’ve never loved anyone the way I
love you. You make me happy when no one else can. I realize you
should stay away from me. I’m poisonous. Venomous.”

Although she tried to fight the
sympathy building within her for the vile demon, Simra fought back
tears. Maybe he did feel guilty for everything, but he was right.
Demons caused much corruption and misery, and they were poisonous
to a human. Simra didn’t know what to say to him and turned in the
other direction.

She tried to avoid listening to his
soft cries in the night. No, she felt no guilt for him. He probably
wanted her to feel guilty since no other tricks of his
worked.

Demons couldn’t be trusted.
Unwanted sorrow overflowed in her aching heart for him. However,
she must still find some way to escape the evil island. Simra
lifted her gaze to the heavens to seek God in such an unfortunate
situation. She closed her eyes and placed all of her concentration
on God. Simra sought His will and asked for Him to touch Tristan’s
heart.
Let Thy will be done, Father.
Amen.

Tristan rested a cold hand against her
cheek, and tears streamed down his face. Such intense honesty
reflected in his dark blue eyes. “I’ve always loved you, and I’ll
love you forever. All I desire is to make you happy, and I want to
stop doing evil deeds more than anything.”