The Gathering (34 page)

"Yes, but I believe that your feelings for our hostess might interfere, Stephan.
 
Perhaps with patience and caution, you would get her to see the right path."

"You have always known me better than I've known myself, Old Friend.
 
I miss Anne so much some times.
 
Perhaps it is just my own loneliness that drives me to desire Alia Stark rather than a woman of our faith."

"Perhaps, although it could also be that Alia is quite beautiful and you have been known to take up a challenge."

Stephan laughed and rose from his chair, walked outside and leaned against the edge of the balcony.
 
He looked over at the castle and saw the turret, the gold and red curtains blowing gently from the window.
 
The Lord would show him the way.
 
Then he remembered... he had a meeting in a few hours.

43

Ian and Kaley had delivered the Liam and Jerry to the Turners and explained what had happened.
 
Ellen went to put the boys down and Grant left to find Alia and Sean.
 

Ian went outside and sat on a chair on the balcony without a word to Kaley.
 
She stood, silently fighting back the tears as she watched him, her frustration growing.
 
Finally, a tear rolled down her face and she turned and left.

Ian had been thinking about everything he had seen in the last twenty-four hours.
 
He ran his fingers through his long hair and turned to Kaley.

He saw she was gone, rose from the chair and walked into the room.
 
He looked in the kitchen and down the hall and then ran back to the balcony to see her walking back to the castle.
 

"Dammit!"

He ran after her.
 

Kaley was furious with herself.
 
She bit the inside of her cheek to try to keep from crying harder and let her hair fall in her face to hide the tears.
 
She heard his words in her head over and over.
 
He said he loved her, he couldn’t live without her and now he just didn't care.
 
How could he turn it off so easily?

She was at the steps of the castle when she felt his hand on her arm.
 
She turned and tried to break free of his grip, hitting him and pushing him away.

Ian stood quietly as she began to sob and she slapped his face, and then again.
 
When she tried a third time, he caught her hand in mid-air and looked into her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Kaley. I am so sorry."

Kaley's sobs continued as she struggled against him in vain.
 
He held her to his chest, fighting every urge to break down with her.
 
Soon she collapsed against him, her face against his chest, sobbing.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Kale."

Kaley raised her head and looked at him.
 

"You…ignored…me.
 
I …tried to…comfort you…and you… and you… ignored…me.
 
Do you…really love…me?"

"Oh, God, yes, Kaley, more than anything!"

Kaley continued to cry and Ian held her until her sobs subsided.
 
He lifted her face to his and he gently wiped away her tears and offered her his handkerchief.
 
They sat on the steps and Ian took her hands.

"I was thinking about everything that's happened in the last few days, these weird demons, Jerry getting infected…and Scott.
 
That was real what happened to them.
 
I can see that, but what your mom did and the healers…that
was
real magic.
 
My whole life, I've been taught about Jesus and the power of the one true God.
 
But that wasn't in God's name or Jesus Christ's.
 
I don't know what to believe.
 
I’m so confused right now.
 
I guess I was kind of… I guess I am kind of shell-shocked."

Kaley once again felt foolish for her behavior.
 
There was so much she didn't know about men.
 
She wiped the last of the tears from her face and took a deep breath.

"You know, my dad was Catholic.
 
So was my mom once.
 
She never stopped believing that Jesus was the Son of God.
 
Actually, she believes in everything."

Ian shook his head.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"My mom believes in one great power.
 
She believes that this power isn't good or bad; it's both because like in nature or in us, there are both.
 
She believes that it makes up all the gods through the faith of the believer.
 
It's all about the manifestation of the power.
 
Jesus existed, we know that; he's the Son of God because there were many who believed and it was their faith that brought him to earth.
 
My mother follows the path of the Morrighan, the Celtic goddess.
 
She chose the path of the pagan because of her own issues with Christianity.
 
Magic happens everywhere, Ian.
 
The miracles of the Catholic Church are magic, just like what we saw at the Hall, only in the name of Jesus Christ and not the Morrighan.
 
There's no reason for you to doubt your faith.
 
Your God is real, as long as you have faith."

"You know, I should have just told you how I felt in the first place."

"Yeah…maybe I should have asked you what was wrong."

Ian smiled and shrugged, then looked over at her.

"I'm sorry, Kale."

"Me too.
 
This whole 'love' thing is harder than it looks."

Ian raised his eyebrows.

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Yeah, it's hard."

"Oh.
 
Yeah."

Kaley was looking at him as he looked down at her fingers and she shook her head as she silently went over her words in her head.
 
Then it struck her and she smiled.

"But it's worth it."

Ian smiled and looked over at her.

"You sure?" he asked.

Kaley nodded.

"Because I love you, Ian Turner."

He smiled and sighed, leaning into her face, their lips touching as they gently kissed.
 

"I don't ever want to be away from you, Kaley."

He kissed her again and they sat on the steps of the castle and talked, oblivious of everyone around them.

43

The healers of Lia Fail had spent the remainder of the day making talismans and when they had finished Vivian and her staff distributed them.
 

Alia had called a meeting of the dignitaries and everyone agreed that they would worship in their respective areas for the duration of the Gathering.
 
Alia assured them that the talismans, in the fashion of their beliefs, would work as long as they had faith and to the Atheists, Shintos and Buddhists, she asked that they indulge her and just wear the jewelry that had been so thoughtfully made for them.
 

Day had once again given way to night and the people were celebrating the Gathering.
 
Music was playing and people drank and danced, seeming to forget about the events of the last twenty-four hours.

Coeli sat on the bench in front of her father's memorial, looking at the reliefs and remembering.
 
She was lost in her thoughts when she felt a wet nose in her hand. She looked down and smiled as Madison licked her hand.

"We've been looking for you."

Sam slid onto the bench next to her.
 
Without thinking she leaned against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him.
 
He didn't hesitate to reciprocate.

"What's wrong, Shay?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

Coeli smiled, pulled back and looked at the memorial as Sam caressed her face.

"I was just thinking about my dad.
 
I miss him."

Sam leaned over and kissed her cheek.
 
She smiled but her eyes welled up with tears and he frowned.

"Aw, c'mon, Shay.
 
Don't cry."

Coeli shrugged and looked down.

"With everything going on, I just realized we only have a week left.
 
The last two days have gone by so quickly and with everything else, it just seems like… I don’t know."

"What?"

"It's not enough time, Sam.
 
I want more time."

Sam took a deep breath and nodded.
 
Coeli got up and walked to her dad's memorial.
 
She moved her hands across the portrait of him and another tear slid down her face.

"I didn't have enough time with him, Sam.
 
It's not fair.
 
Why do we have to cram everything into ten days and then wait another six months to see each other again?"

Sam looked at her and raised his eyebrows.

"I thought we were talking about your dad."

Coeli shrugged and walked back over to the bench.

"No, we were talking about time.
 
Time we have left and time to do the things we want and say the things we want to say.
 
Pretty soon you'll go home and we won't see each other for another six months."

"Why would we have to do that?
 
Pasadena's only a half a day away."

"You'd travel all that way, just to see me?"

Sam nodded his head and smiled.

"Yeah, of course I would."

"I don't want you to leave."

"Well, I don’t
have
to leave."

Coeli looked down at him.

"What?"

Sam took Coeli's hands as she sat down next to him.

"I'm telling my parents that I'm staying.
 
Actually, I think Scott's staying too.
 
Maybe we can get jobs helping Vance's dad or maybe enlist.
 
Maybe I can train with the healers.
 
I don’t know, I'll figure something out."

"You would stay?"

"Yeah, I'm staying."

Sam smiled, leaned in and kissed Coeli, his hands on her face, strong and gentle.

"You really think that I could leave you now?"