Eternal Eden (33 page)

“Charles followed William on a mission, and he discovered the truth for William’s extended absences and increasing distance from the family.” Cora looked up at me through her full, light-brown lashes, and she sighed wistfully. “He was looking for her . . .
searching
for her.”

So this had been the woman Patrick had referred to yesterday. The one he was sure William would never get over until he met me. The woman I didn’t want to know anything else about, but my darned curiosity wouldn’t allow me to ask Cora to stop . . . not to say anything more about this mystery woman William had spent his life dreaming of and searching for.

“Charles was furious—he told William he was on a fool’s mission—that this girl didn’t exist, and if she did, he would never find her. She was lost in time and he would never know if she’d already existed, or if she hadn’t yet, when and where she would exist. Even if he did manage to find her—against all odds—how could he ever be with her when she was a Mortal?”

I gazed out the slider doors to the ocean waves yards in front of the cottage, and then down the shoreline where the four brothers had disappeared. I wanted—more like I needed—to be in his arms right now. To be convinced of his love for me, and assured that his decades of devotion to some nameless woman didn’t matter to him anymore. That the scars she’d left behind no longer held sway in his life since I’d entered it. I needed him to whisper those three words I thought would sound so insignificant next to the way I felt for him into my ear, over and over again . . . for at least ten years.

“It was following this argument with his father that William took on one of the most dangerous missions our Council dared to call out to our Alliance—infiltrating the inner circle of the Inheritor’s most dominant and prestigious Alliance. He volunteered for it readily. He said he was eager to face death if he and this dream woman would never meet, and that he might as well put his death to good use by gaining valuable information.”

A chill ran through my body at the thought of William dying. Would the world continue on as usual with the greatest of its creation gone? I was sure it wouldn’t.

The phone in front of Abigail jittered over the table from it’s vibrate mode. “Excuse me,” Abigail said formally, grabbing up the phone and exiting the room. I heard her answer it before she shut the door of the room she entered.

“She’s a Coordinator,” Cora explained, as simply as one would say their husband was an accountant.

My eyebrows must have pulled together, because she further explained, “Abigail’s Station is a Coordinator—she’s the one that takes the calls whenever a Foreteller has a vision. She gets the information to the right people and assembles the team.”

I nodded my head, but didn’t want to ask any questions as I normally would whenever a new tidbit of Immortal information was presented—I needed her to finish William’s story before I was ripped in half by the anxiety.

“A week later, William was gone, only occasionally able to check in with us to let us know he was alright. Patrick left a year later, practically begging for a commission similar to William’s, and our Council—greedy from the valuable information William was forwarding to them—was all too eager to let another brother from the same family infiltrate John’s circle of Inheritors.” Cora returned to her seat, and placed her hand over mine that was still wiping vertical streaks down my glass.

“Is this too much information for you, Bryn . . . am I giving you too much at once?”

I raised my eyes to look at her. There was no denying her genuine concern for me. “No, I’m fine. Please continue,” I said, attempting a smile.

“Alright,” she said, patting my hand affectionately. “We all moved here about ten years ago, splitting our time between here and our home in Montana. We wanted to see William and Patrick, and since they could only steal away from John and his crew for a day or two at most, we purchased this home so we could all meet here and be a whole family again from time to time. Things had been pretty quiet lately—no real news of anything good or bad happening up there in Newburg—until one night a couple of weeks ago, we got a frantic call from Patrick letting us know William had been caught interacting with a Mortal. He was panicked, not knowing what punishment, if any, John would have dealt out to William. Joseph and Nathanial got so worried they were planning a trip up to Newburg to rescue William and take Patrick with them, back to the safety of our Alliance and aborting the entire mission.”

This was the part in the story I was familiar with. I was the Mortal William had been caught interacting with. I was the reason the family had nearly called off the entire mission William and Patrick had fought for so many years. I felt a sickness swirling in my stomach as I let my mind wander to what could have happened if Joseph and Nathanial had tried to escape with William and Patrick. Who could have been hurt, or much worse?

“Patrick called us a few days later and explained what had happened. You can imagine our surprise when we learned of William’s additional gift.” Cora’s eyes widened and she shook her head, as if she still wasn’t certain she could believe it. “Patrick said he’d call us back when he could, but assured us that both he and William were safe and well for the time being, so Nathanial and Joseph stayed here and we waited. We didn’t get another call until last night when Patrick called and told us they’d be making a stop here today, and they’d have one other in tow.” She smiled as she pointed at me. “I could tell Patrick had no idea who you were—why William had risked so much to save you—but we all immediately knew who you were once we heard the whole account.”

Cora’s face lit up like a child’s would at the conclusion of a fairy tale when the happy ending is revealed. “You were
her
. . . the one he’d searched the world generations for. He’d found you, beyond all possibility and all reason, he
found
you.”

Her smile was blinding, but I was too stunned for it to take effect. I felt like a punch had just been delivered into my gut. My breath was swiped out of me and my mind was wiped clear of any rational thought. All I could hear was Cora’s voice in my head repeating,
You were her . . . he found you.

I
was the woman Patrick had been referring to yesterday. I was the woman he thought William would never get over, and, beyond every miracle, I was the woman he never would. It was too much to process, too much joy to take in at once. It overtook me in waves, with growing speed and frequency.

My body . . . my heart, couldn’t take it all in, and as I felt the instinctual response taking hold of my mind and body, all I could see was the image of his face above mine. He was wet, like he’d just been on a swim, and the starry night sky loomed above his perfect face. He was looking down at me, unequivocal concentration surrounding the aura of his face, while the center radiated with love.

My William screamed, “No, Bryn. Don’t go . . . stay with me.”

And as I felt my body rocking back in the chair, before my mind shut down temporarily from the overload of emotions running within it, I recognized this vision of William was not a dream; but when he’d pulled me out of the ocean that night and tied me eternally to him when he shared his Immortality with me.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

COLLISION

“What did you two do to her?”

An angry voice stirred my peaceful slumber which had been fraught with the happiest of dreams.

“It’s Cora’s fault. She couldn’t keep her mouth shut.” Another angry voice broke through the diminishing haze.

“I didn’t mean to upset her,” a trembling voice added. “She was fine one minute, and went out cold the next.”

I didn’t want to open my eyes. I knew there’d be multiple pairs of sapphire and pale blue staring down at me anxiously; but I knew the pair I loved the most would be nearest, and with that reassurance, I opened them.

“I didn’t think Immortals could pass out like that,” said a husky voice, which sounded like Nathanial’s.

A loud, rolling laugh—definitive of Patrick—roared. “Hey William, I think I’ve figured out what Bryn’s gift is.”

William ignored him, and relief soothed his wrinkled face when my eyes fluttered open.

I couldn't let Patrick’s comment slide like the saint looming above me could. "Hey Patrick," I called out, and the surrounding laughter was instantly silenced when everyone heard and saw I was awake. "If my talent is passing out, what's yours . . . being the most obnoxious Immortal in existence?"

  William was the first to erupt in laughter, and the rest joined in soon after. I was pretty sure I even heard Patrick join in about mid-way through.

"Actually, smarty-pants." Patrick walked over so he was in view. I’d been laid out on a sofa and a pillow was positioned under my head. "My gift—or
talent
you might call it—is casting a hypnotic spell on beautiful young women with my good looks and debonair charm." He smiled his most charming smile, as if to prove his point, but it had no affect on me.

All I could do was roll my eyes and return them to the man I loved, still hovering beside me. When I looked at him, I was reminded of the many times he'd put me in a near hypnotic state, and knew Patrick was wrong—it was his older brother that possessed this
talent
.

"How are you feeling?" William's hands ran over my face as a mother might search for a fever on her child.

"Stop fussing over her, she's fine," Patrick directed, taking a seat on the fireplace edge. "She's back to her sweet old self—verbally abusing me every chance she gets." Patrick formed his mouth into an overstated pout.

"I'm fine,” I assured the face hanging above mine. “I can't believe I went out like that. I'm sorry you had to come back so soon." I reached up and ran my fingers through his hair.

"Don't worry about it," he reassured me, as he reached for my hand and drew it to his lips. "We were on our way back anyways."

He pressed his lips into my palm. "What happened?"

The reminder of the knowledge I'd acquired before my body shut down from the overwhelming joy that had flooded it, caused all the euphoria to return. The muscles in my cheeks ached as they pulled my smile wider.

"Dinner's ready!" Abigail called around the corner before I could answer his question. "Don't even think you're not going to sit around the table with your family tonight, William. It's been months."

I saw William's mouth open in objection, but I raised my finger to his lips before he could offend his sister-in-law. I wasn’t going to give her another reason to not like me, and William didn’t look like he was planning on leaving my side.

"Let's go, that banana bread has been calling my name all afternoon." I swung my legs around and stood up without a problem, but William couldn't resist the urge to assist me in everyway possible. He practically carried me into the kitchen, needless as it was.

"Let me know if you need any more help there, William. She's looking a little pale again,” Patrick called out as we rounded the corner.

William turned his head, examining me carefully for signs of another swoon on my horizon. I scowled at Patrick as he took his seat at the table and stuffed his mouth with a heavily buttered piece of bread. He met my scowl with his own toothy smile, continuing to chew through it.

William sat me down in a chair at the end of the table and he took his seat at the head. Nathanial sat opposite him at the other end. When everyone was situated and sipping their coffee in between mouthfuls of the bread that tasted even better than it smelled, and laughing merrily as a family should, my eyes fell on the quietest member of our party of seven.

Abigail’s eyes sparkled as she gazed with love at every member of her family sitting around the table, minus me, the wannabe Hayward. If William was the head of this family, Abigail was the mother. Her maternal instincts were apparent in the proud gleam of her eyes, to the way she made sure everyone else was taken care of and eating before she took her own seat. This family was her life.

The informal dinner continued; endless stories were told, and retold, and the eruption of laughter was infectious. I found myself laughing close to tears on several occasions. My favorite part of the whole gathering was witnessing the light-hearted joy that flowed from William. With his family, his smile was as easy as Patrick's and as brilliant as Joseph's.

His laughter rang throughout the entire house and reverberated off the walls. It was the purest sound I'd ever heard. The family ties were strong, and given these two couples would split their time in two locations just to see their single brothers on occasion, their love and commitment to one another was without question.

We were finishing up dinner when William squeezed my hand. "Do you mind if I steal you away for awhile?" He lowered his voice. "I've been dying to get you alone all day, and it doesn't appear they're going to let that happen unless I grab you and escape." His
pale blue eyes
sparkled with excitement, causing my mouth to go dry. I'd been wondering—more like hoping—we'd have some time alone to ourselves soon.

"Steal me away," I whispered back.

William smiled and stood up, pulling me with him. "Thank you so much for the amazing dinner, Abigail." Her face lit up at his thanks. "But if you'll all excuse us for awhile, Bryn and I are going for a walk."