Falling Into Place (11 page)

She half laughed as she covered her face.
“He proposed.”

“And you said no?” he asked, taking a step
closer to sweep her hair behind her ear. “Liz, what happened?”

“Swear to me you won’t kill him,” she
insisted.

Amusement danced in his eyes. “He made love
to you?”

Her mouth fell open and her eyes grew
round.

“Honestly, I’m surprised he managed to wait
this long, but he’s always been mindful of your needs. He’s good
for you, Liz. Don’t you see that?”

“He doesn’t know about Sinclair. He doesn’t
know what happened. How could he look at me the same way?” She
turned away, and she felt his hands on her shoulders.

“Believe it or not, he won’t blame you. He
knows right from wrong, and what Sinclair did was wrong. No real
man could ever see what happened to you as your fault, Liz. It
doesn’t matter that they were related by blood. It doesn’t change
the fact that the boy is in love with you and has been since he
laid eyes on you. It would take a damn fool to not see that.”

“I don’t deserve him or his love. I’ll ruin
what he shares with his family.”

“No. You are wrong about that. It would
force Kathryn to see you in a different light. Wilhelm has already
given his blessing, and so have I. We’re not stopping you, we want
you two to be happy, and the two of you together would do
that.”

“It’s too soon. I’d be forced to settle
down, have children,” she snorted, the thought was preposterous.
“I’m nineteen, Tremaine.” She turned around and looked into his
deep brown eyes. “I can’t be a wife. I can’t be what he needs. I’m
not even really a lady.”

“Could have fooled me about being a lady.”
His eyes did a quick up and down before he smiled at her. “You’re a
beautiful young woman. Any man would be lucky to have you. Besides,
he’s the neat freak. Let him do the housework. He also likes to
cook. I think it would work out fine.”

Liz shoved him and stomped off. Making light
of the situation wasn’t helping her at all. “This isn’t a joke,
Tremaine. If I say yes, things change. He’ll expect me to let him
protect me. I don’t want that. I want to be me, without restraints,
without expectations of what being his wife would mean, especially
to his family.”

Her stomach twisted in knots. There were so
many reasons that marriage wasn’t going to work.

There was a knock on the door, and Liz
almost bolted out the back.

Tremaine caught her arm and spun her around.
“Let me guess. Instead of telling Robert all of this, you ran?” His
eyes lifted to the ceiling as he shook his head. “You need to tell
him this. I have a feeling he’ll give you all the time in the
world.”

“You aren’t making this easy,” she muttered
before pulling free and walking back to the door. She opened it and
crossed her arms over her chest, trying to stay strong against her
warring emotions.

“Liz, you don’t have to say yes right now. I
get it. It was too soon.” Robert ran his hands down his lapels as
he looked down at the ground. “I got ahead of myself. I
apologize.”

She grabbed his neck and pulled him down for
a kiss.

When she pulled back, he looked to Tremaine.
“I swear to you, I’ll bring her back if she wants me to.” Then they
were in her room, standing beside the window.

She threw her hands up. “Are you trying to
piss Tremaine off?”

“No, but I need you to listen to me.”

“Don’t apologize again,” she whispered.

“Talk to me then. What happened?”

“I’m not ready for everything that comes
with marriage. I want what we have, but I’m not ready for the
rest.” She gave him a sad smile. “I love you, Robert. I always
have, but being your wife changes everything. I need to be me, to
prove myself. If I marry you, then that gets swept away. I’m not
ready for that.”

He took her face in his hands and brushed a
kiss over her lips. “Then I’ll wait. I would have told you that
before you ran out of here, but you didn’t give me the chance. You
have to understand that I’m not letting you go until you beg me to,
and even then I’m not sure I have the power to do that.”

“You aren’t upset?” she whispered.

“No.”

Her brow arched.

“Yes, I was hoping you would say yes, but
even if you did, it wouldn’t change anything but your last name.
Not to me, not ever. But if it’s too soon, then it’s too soon, and
I will wait until you are ready.”

“You’re always so damned perfect, Robert. I
don’t deserve you.”

He backed her into the wall, his lips
trailing over her ear. “Don’t ever tell me that again, Liz. You
deserve the very best, and you will always own my heart and soul.
His lips descended on hers, and she melted into him.

* * * *

Tremaine stood at his window, watching
Robert and Liz talk up in her room until hands disappeared under
clothes. At that point, he needed some air and went for a walk.

He made it down to a diner where Preston sat
alone, staring at his plate. Tremaine stepped into the diner and
took a seat across from the young mage. “You okay?” He asked.

Preston looked up, his pale blue eyes
narrowed. “Can I ask you something?”

Tremaine nodded. He had a feeling about
where this was going.

“Why is it, after every summer of proving
ourselves, and especially Liz’s character, Robert and I were told
that we’re to watch over her and keep her from making a mistake,
like she’s on an unofficial probation?”

Tremaine glanced out the window. “Maynard
has suspicions about where Liz came from. He has no evidence, and
he’s wrong. I’ve tried my damnedest to keep this from happening,
but I can’t change the inner circle, no matter how much I try.”

“It’s not fair.”

He let out a heavy breath. Even Draecyn was
upset with the way things went after her final test. “Did you know
that Liz nearly killed Maynard? They matched her with him, and she
channeled a storm into her spell. The instructors had to pull out
all the stops to shield the prick from being fried.”

“No one but his equally slimy son, no one
would have missed Maynard.”

Tremaine snorted. “Look, keep doing missions
the way you always have. Eventually, I hope they see.”

“That is horse shit. She’s the only reason
we always succeed. I still think you plan it that way.”

He nodded. “She’s always been my first
priority. Can you blame me?”

“No. Robert says the same thing. In all
honestly, I don’t want to see anything happen to her either. I
don’t see why she has to keep proving herself like this.”

“She doesn’t know. It would be best to keep
it that way for now.

Preston groaned. “Yeah, don’t worry.”

Tremaine looked out the window.

“So what brings you in?” Preston asked.

He looked back. “Did you know Robert
proposed to Liz?”

Preston’s mouth fell open. “Did she actually
say yes?”

“No, but they seemed to have come to an
agreement.”

Preston slid back in his seat. “I may need
to sleep on your couch or something.”

Tremaine chuckled. “Anytime, Preston,
anytime. Just try not to tell me what’s going on over there. I was
fine until I saw the way they were kissing. It was a sight I didn’t
need to see.”

He still wasn’t sure she was old enough to
be with a man. He’d never really considered her a woman until he
saw her meet Robert’s kiss with her own passion. If Robert wasn’t
so perfect for her, he might have had an argument.

Liz would always be his girl to protect, to
keep safe. Seeing her that way, made him realize she was all grown
up and needed to find her own way. She was in love with Robert, and
Robert would never let anything happen to her.

It didn’t mean Tremaine wouldn’t watch from
the sidelines to keep her safe. He would always put her first.

Preston scrubbed a hand over his face.
“Yeah, well I got an eyeful I never intended to get when she woke
up screaming.”

Tremaine sat up. “Nightmares?”

Preston nodded. “Yeah, you could hear the
terror in her voice. I thought something had happened, but Robert
was rocking her as he tried to calm her down. Neither of them had a
stitch of clothing on.”

Tremaine shook his head, trying not to think
about that. “There’s an image I can live without.”

Preston snorted. “Yeah, me too, because if
they weren’t so perfect together, I might want her as my own. That
would screw with my reputation, because I’m not ready to settle
down with anyone.”

Tremaine nodded. He never once had the
desire to settle down with anyone. “You and me both, kid.”

Twenty-one years ago.

Sixty good years had come and gone. They had
their rocky moments but Robert wouldn’t change a single one for the
world. He was curled around Liz who was asleep in their bed. He
traced a pattern on her skin as he stared down at her. It was time,
he felt it deep in his soul. Over sixty years together and all of
her excuses were gone.

He was ready to walk away from it all. The
council, his screwed up family, and all the things that couldn’t
manage to tear them apart. Liz and Robert were stronger than ever,
and he knew she would finally say yes.

The phone rang, and he rolled to snatch it
up with a groan. “Hello?” He asked quietly.

“Oh, thank God,” Emily said, her voice
pained. “I need your help. The baby’s coming, and I can’t do this
on my own. Please, I’m begging you. Just you, no one can know.”

Robert turned back to Liz. His eyes closed,
but he asked, “How long?”

Emily screamed and then her breath came in
great pants. “It’s bad. I need you soon.”

“I’ll be there.” He hung up and brushed
Liz’s hair from her face. “Love, wake up,” he murmured against her
ear.

She stretched her long body, looking up at
him with a sleepy smile. “Good morning, baby.”

“I wish.” He sighed and glanced at the
clock. It was already eight in the morning. If this baby was fast,
he could be back by evening. “I have to help my sister with
something today.”

“You haven’t seen her in months. I’m glad
you’re going to go hang out with her.”

He nodded, but he couldn’t bring himself to
answer that. It was the only secret he’d kept from Liz over the
years. Eventually he did tell her about the Council forcing him to
keep an eye on her. He didn’t know how to tell her that his own
brother had raped their sister and got her pregnant.

“I’ll be back tonight, as soon as
possible.”

She rolled into him, her smile brightening.
“She’s your sister. If she needs you, then stay with her as long as
you need. Promise you’ll call me to let me know. That’s all I
ask.”

“Done. I should be back by five
tonight.”

She shoved him. “Go be with your sister.
I’ll make dinner, but I can always do that later if you let me
know.”

Robert leaned in and gave her kiss before
climbing from the bed. He got dressed and translocated to Emily who
was hiding out in Switzerland.

* * * *

Liz watched him go. It was good that he was
finally talking to Emily. Robert had hardly spoken to his sister
since their father passed away. Robert needed the connection to his
family.

James, well that piece of shit wasn’t it,
but Emily was. Even if Emily wasn’t her biggest fan, they were
still family, and Liz didn’t want to take that away from him.

She sat up and her stomach heaved. She shot
off the bed and dashed into the bathroom. There wasn’t anything to
throw up as she knelt at the toilet, trying to calm herself.

This was the third morning in a row and her
period was a week late. “Shit,” she whispered before another wave
of nausea hit her hard.

Once she could stand, she made her way back
to the bedroom and picked up the phone. She dialed the one person
she trusted with everything.

Tremaine answered on the second ring.
“Morning. Its morning, right?” he grumbled.

“Trem, I need a huge favor.”

“Liz? What is it?” He sounded a little more
coherent.

She pushed her hair from her face. “Can you
pick up a pregnancy test for me? Please.”

“Really? Liz, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m ready if I am.” She felt tears
stinging her eyes. “Please, don’t tell anyone. In case I’m
wrong.”

“I’ll be there,” he promised before he hung
up. He was always there though. She knew she could count on
him.

* * * *

James couldn’t find his sister. He’d
searched everywhere, but Emily was nowhere to be found. Robert
wouldn’t tell him where to find her. He had a feeling she was
pregnant. It made sense. She had disappeared without a trace eight
months before.

No plane ticket, no record of her anywhere.
Robert had made it so James couldn’t track his phone records or
anything else. There was no way to trace his calls, and he’d tried
to get into their mailbox, but Liz had cast her hidey-hole magic on
the box.

He finally found a way to make it past the
wards that protected her house. All thanks to his brother’s
mistake. Robert had created talismans for Liz to travel to and from
The Silver Council headquarters in Seattle. They had moved all the
way out to Edenton, Washington two years before.

Not many mages could translocate, and Robert
was the only one James knew who could travel clear across the
country, or world for that matter.

James looked down at his trembling hands. He
was growing weak, and needed his fix. Liz’s power would fuel him
for weeks, maybe months if he could only get close enough. She had
done an excellent job of being anywhere he wasn’t.

That was going to change. If his suspicions
about Liz’s parents were right, she might be the key to bridging
the gap between dark mage and true mage. Her rare brand of magic
was rumored to strengthen the connection to his own source of magic
and still allow him to feed off other mages.