Ageless (16 page)

“What did you do for your
eighteenth birthday, Margo?” Violet asked, sipping out of the
plastic cup and looking up again at the stars.

“My parents threw me a very grand
party,” Margo said with a bemused smile. “Tommy Roden proposed to
me that night.”

Violet almost choked on her drink.
“You were engaged?”

“It wasn’t that unusual back then,
Violet,” Margo said. “Eighteen was an appropriate age to get
married.”

“What did you say?”

“I said no,” Margo said with a
laugh. “Tommy Roden wasn’t my only suitor at the time. Plus he was
dumb as a box of rocks. Sweet though.” Margo picked at her jeans
and Violet wondered where her thoughts had gone. Then Margo looked
up and squealed. “Presents!” She clapped her hands.

Violet was taken aback. “Oh no, you
guys didn’t have to get me anything.”

Jonah leaned in and knocked her
shoulder with his. “It’s your birthday. Of course we
did.”

It felt natural, sitting there joking with the three
of them. Violet wondered if that had to do with her past, and the
fact that the Ward and Montrose families had lived side by side so
long ago. She felt herself drawn to wanting to know more about
them. But more importantly, she wanted to know how her past was
going to impact her future. Based on the fact that her skin, which
had now returned to its normal state, seemed to be ready to glow at
any time, it was clear there was a lot that she needed to know.

Three small boxes appeared at her feet. Margo was
practically bouncing in her seat and Violet grinned. It made her
feel a bit better that no matter how strange the circumstances,
Margo could be counted on to be completely over-the-top normal.

“Which one?” she asked.

“The pink one is mine,” Margo
said.

Violet picked up the box and admired its exquisite
wrapping. The pink paper was adorned with a white bow that had been
elegantly tied on the top. The gift screamed Margo. Violet pulled
the ribbon loose and then gently started to work on the paper.

“Oh, just rip it open!” Margo
exclaimed.

Violet laughed and then she dug her
finger underneath the paper’s seam and ripped the paper open. A
small blue box was inside. Violet opened the top and gasped. Inside
was a pair of large diamond earrings. She looked up at Margo, who
grinned. “Diamonds ARE a girl’s best friend, Vi. You only turn
eighteen once,” she said. “And now you can give me my rubies back
and you’ll have something equally awesome.”

“Thank you, Margo,” Violet said,
reaching up to her earlobes. She had forgotten about the earrings
Margo loaned her the night of the party. They were still in her
ears.

“Put them on!” Margo said, bouncing
again.

Violet cautiously took the ruby
earrings out and handed them to Margo. Her hands were shaking as
she pulled the diamond studs out of the box and carefully put one
in each ear. She was afraid that she was going to accidentally drop
one in the sand, never to be found again.

“How do they look?” she said,
looking at each of the trio in turn.

“Smashing, darling,” Jonah said
with a fake drawl. Both Violet and Margo giggled. Jeremiah just
watched pensively.

“Here’s mine,” Jonah said, placing
a box in her lap. It was gaily wrapped in bright yellow
paper.

Violet was feeling the effects of
the champagne. This one she didn’t hesitate to dive into. She was
baffled, though, as she opened it. Inside she found a set of keys.
She looked at Jonah.

“Margo may have mentioned that you
didn’t have a car on campus,” he said with a sheepish grin on his
face.

Violet’s mouth dropped open. “You
bought me a car? I can’t accept that, Jonah.”

He waved his hand. “Seriously, Vi.
It’s not a big deal. You’ll need a car when you go off to college,
right? It makes me happy to be able to do this for you.”

“We’re going to talk about this
later,” she grumbled as she leaned down and picked up the final
present at her feet. This one was wrapped in a deep scarlet red
paper that she thought would have perfectly matched the dress that
she had worn to the party. “So I guess this is from you, Jeremiah?”
she said, trying to play it off like she wasn’t dying to know what
was inside.

His violet eyes were bewitching. She had a hard time
looking away after his short nod. She quickly diverted her
attention to the box and opened it. Inside she found a locket. It
looked old, but the etching around the edges took her breath away.
It was like her body started to hum as she pulled it gently out of
the box. Slowly she opened it, and her throat clenched as she saw
the pictures of her parents looking out at her. Tears welled in her
eyes.

“That locket has been in the
Montrose family for quite some time,” Jeremiah said quietly, but
his words carried easily to her. “It is always important to
remember and cherish those who went before us.”

Blinking away the tears, she
nodded. Clutching the locket in her hand, she managed a strangled
“Thank you” before she practically dashed out onto the beach,
closer to the water’s edge. She continued along the beach further
away from the fire. She didn’t stop until she couldn’t see it
anymore. The desire to celebrate and forget everything that was
going on was gone. In its place was just the deep sensation of
loss.

She jumped at his voice in her ear.
He had followed her. “It’s not safe for you to be alone. I didn’t
mean to upset you,” Jeremiah said. His proximity was alarmingly
close, but she didn’t want him to step away.

Violet shook her head. “Really,
it’s lovely.”

Jeremiah reached down and took her
hand, slowly prying each finger away from her palm until the locket
was exposed. He took it out of her hand and undid the clasp. “May
I?” he asked holding it up.

Violet nodded. She turned her back
to him and lifted up her heavy hair. The metal chain encircled her
neck and as soon as the locket rested against her chest, she felt
that sense of peace again. She sighed. As lovely as the setting
was, she had to face that fact that it wasn’t reality.

“Jonah said that Elysa was using my
grandmother to get to me,” she said without looking at
him.

“Yes,” Jeremiah said.

“Why should I believe that?”
Although she already believed him, she hated that it came so
easily. With everything that had happened, she felt like he should
justify what he was putting her through.

“Because I can personally guarantee
that no matter what my goals are, I would never put you in physical
danger, Violet.” Jeremiah’s voice was strained, and now she turned
to look up at him. “I have been keeping an eye on you ever since I
found out where you were, as evidenced by the fact that I sent
Margo to watch over you. I know that your grandparents were trying
to protect you from me. But I am not the one they should have been
worried about.”

“Are my grandparents okay?” she
asked. Her heart skipped a beat as she waited for the
answer.

Jeremiah’s eyes grew dark. “Our
first priority was to get you out of the train and away safely.
Once Jonah retrieved you, I went looking for Elysa. In the chaos,
it looked like she escaped and I believe she took your grandparents
with her.”

Violet felt shivers run through her
body again. She wondered what lengths Elysa was willing to go to
get what she wanted. She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Do you
think she’ll hurt them?” Her voice was small.

“I don’t know,” he said
finally.

“I’m scared, Jeremiah,” Violet
said, looking out over the water. “It seems like I’m losing
everyone I care about, and it’s all my fault.”

She was surprised when his arms
encircled her and pulled her against him. “I will protect you,
Violet. I swear it with my life,” he whispered in her ear. Chills
ran down her spine. The man who held her was dangerous, but the
feelings that were threatening to overwhelm her were even more
so.

She rested her cheek against his
chest and watched the waves. “Thank you, Jeremiah.” They stood like
that for several minutes. The silence was comforting.

As he slowly released her from his
embrace, she pulled away, but just a few inches. She didn’t want
the moment to end. Jeremiah looked down at her, and she saw a
hunger in his eyes. She knew what he wanted, and in that moment she
wanted it too. Damn the consequences, she thought, as she lifted
herself up on her toes and kissed the corner of his mouth
gently.

She felt herself pulled tightly to
him as his mouth turned the few centimeters so that he crushed her
lips full on. Her mouth parted and a thrill of heat and desire
rocked her when his tongue slipped into it. She didn’t resist him.
She didn’t want to resist him. All too soon he dragged his mouth
away from hers, breathing heavily as he released her. Immediately
she felt empty.

“I shouldn’t do this,” he said in a
strangled voice.

Violet’s cheeks were flushed and
her lips felt slightly bruised from the onslaught of his kisses.
“Why?” She didn’t understand. He had practically declared his
possession of her the first night they met, so his reaction was
confusing.

“My brother cares for you,”
Jeremiah said, looking away. “I won’t do that to him
again.”

Violet’s eyebrows rose at the word
“again.” She put her hands on her hips. “I’m perfectly capable of
making my own decisions, Jeremiah,” she said. “I like Jonah. He’s
nice and funny, but I’m not interested in him in that
way.”

“I could be accused of not caring
about my brother’s feelings, and that is something that I feel like
I’ve spent lifetimes atoning for,” Jeremiah said, pulling her chin
so that he could see her eyes clearly. “It is a long and sordid
story, but suffice it to say that until you and he have an
opportunity to clarify your relationship, I think it’s best that
nothing else happens between us.”

Violet was shocked. His response
wasn’t at all what she expected, and she was annoyed that it
sounded like Jeremiah wanted his brother’s blessing before going
any further. “I don’t understand,” she said.

His hand dropped from her chin and
he shook his head. “Once you do, if you feel the same, then we’ll
talk again. Right now, we need to get back to the fire. Elysa needs
to be dealt with, and we don’t have much time to plan.” His voice
was even and expressionless. He turned and trudged away.

Violet wanted to stop him, but
didn’t. She was confused and chagrined that he was probably right.
Jumping into something with someone she barely knew wasn’t the
smartest thing to do, regardless of how badly her body was
betraying her.

“Chill out, Violet. Get a grip,”
she said out loud to herself. Her hand strayed to her lips and she
could feel that they were swollen. The symbols on her right hand
had appeared again. Then her fingertips drifted to the locket
around her neck. She couldn’t think of a present that was more
appropriate or made her feel more special.

The Montrose brothers were going to drive her crazy.
As she followed Jeremiah back to the fire, she had a feeling that
she could expect a long sleepless night ahead of her.

As she approached the fire pit, she
could see that Jonah had moved from the piece of driftwood that she
had been sitting on to Margo’s. The two had their heads together.
She felt a small jolt of pleasure as she watched Margo throw back
her head and laugh at something that Jonah had said. She hoped that
Jeremiah was taking note of the interaction as well. Then Jonah and
Margo both turned and looked at her as they approached the inner
circle. The smile on Jonah’s face fell and his eyes glittered as he
watched Jeremiah enter the circle first. Margo lifted an
eyebrow.

“Feeling better, sweetie?” Margo
asked, standing up and gathering her into a warm hug. Violet wished
that she could tell her friend everything that had transpired and
ask for her advice, but it wasn’t the time.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Violet
said. She couldn’t decide which brother to look at so she looked
down at her feet instead. “Thanks again for the gifts, everyone.
That was really thoughtful.”

“Well, now that the celebratory
activities are over, I think it’s time for us to talk about what
happens next,” Jeremiah said.

Margo pulled Violet down to sit
beside her so that all three of them now faced Jeremiah. Violet
didn’t want to talk about what was next. She wanted to just sit in
the warmth of the fire and recover that feeling of irresponsibility
that she had earlier. She wanted to listen to music and dance under
the moonlight. She wanted to feel passion and she wanted to be
loved. Her heart skipped a beat as she raised her eyes to meet
Jeremiah’s.

“It’s too bad that we have to worry
about this at all,” Jonah said sourly. “If you had been able to
take care of Elysa at the train that would have been helpful. Or
perhaps if you took the time to ever include anyone else in your
secrets you could help the rest of us help you. And avoid any
unforeseen accidents.”

Violet shifted uncomfortably. She knew that he was
talking about the fact that he had almost killed her.