Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) (24 page)

“Do you dream of me often?”

“Every night.” The answer was just a whisper. “I’m
sure I would have been fine, but I never caught up to you in time
to tell you how I felt. I didn’t get a chance to explain why I held
you under the water. You left and you hated me.”

Her grey green eyes saddened and he put her hand on
her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into the touch.

“Don’t be sad. You were meant to leave. We knew
that.” He wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.

“Why didn’t you ask me to stay, Tyler?”

“I couldn’t. I couldn’t go through that. I couldn’t
have you agree to stay just to realize you’d made a mistake two or
three years down the road. It was easier to let you go then than to
lose you after having had you to myself for any amount of
time.”

“Would you be happy if I came back? Would that prove
to you that this was what I truly wanted?” Her eyes searched
his.

He smiled sadly. “I’d be ecstatic. I’d spend the rest
of my life making sure you didn’t regret your decision.” He kissed
her forehead then frowned at her laugh. She took a hold of his
tunic and pulled him closer.

“Well, that’s good to know,” she said with a smile.
“I’d hate to think I used the displacement stone just to be told
you wanted me to leave.”

His frown deepened. “I lost that stone.” The two of
them looked below at the sound of two of the tlarrisons
fighting.

“No, you didn’t. I took it.” She held his face in her
hands and he closed his eyes at the touch. “I took it in case I
decided to come back. I knew I could cross back over with the cross
gem, but I knew I’d have no idea how to find you if I did.”

The tightness in his chest deepened and he swallowed
hard.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered.

“I’m going to wake up from this dream and I’ll spend
a half a day trying to push you back down in your place beside
Trent. This is the worst one yet.”

“How do the dreams usually end?”

He frowned and opened his eyes. “I always think of
kissing you, or you tell me to kiss you. As soon as I lean in to do
so, we get interrupted and I wake up.”

She blushed and looked up into his dark eyes. “Why
don’t you try it now and we’ll see what happens.”

“I don’t want to wake up yet.”

She smiled, took his hand and kissed his palm. “Kiss
me.”

He took a deep breath, held her face gently in his
hands and leaned in closer. His forehead touched hers and he
paused, his lips a mere inch from hers. When nothing jumped out at
them, he closed the distance. Heidi leaned into the kiss and
pressed herself against him, her arms wrapping around him.

Tyler pulled back and looked at her with wide eyes.
“I’m not dreaming.”

Heidi grinned and shook her head.

“You’re really here?”

She answered him by lacing her fingers in his hair
and pulling him down to her lips. His hands ran up her back and
pulled her close. Her tongue flicked over his lips then touched his
lightly. He shivered and she sighed.

“By the moons, Heidi, I missed you.” He kept his
forehead against hers, his arms still pulling her tightly against
his chest.

“God, I missed you too.”

“What happened? What made you decide to come
back?”

She shrugged and smiled before kissing him again.
“It’s a long story.”

He raised an eyebrow at her and looked at the ground
where the three tlarrisons stood. “I don’t think time is an issue.”
He kissed her softly.

Heidi sighed and wrapped her arms around him. “I
still love him, Tyler, I do. But things were different. If I’d
stayed, I’d have spent the rest of my life shrugging off questions
about what had happened. Everyone was on edge around me all the
time. And the whole time I was there, all I could think about was
you; how you thought I hated you when I didn’t. I was scared and
mad when you held me under, I won’t lie about that, but after I’d
been home for a few days, I realized what you’d done. You saved me,
Tyler. Again.” She took a deep breath and looked up into his deep
brown eyes. “I had to make sure you knew how I felt.”

Tyler smiled softly. “You came back not sure if I’d
want you here? What would you have done had I told you to go
back?”

She gave a half shrug. “I would have stayed
regardless. Going back there if I came here wasn’t an option. It
was strange really. I mean, even though I wanted to see you more
than anything and that was my main reason for coming back, there
was also the fact that…” She frowned, unsure as to how to explain
it. “It… it felt wrong over there. Like something was missing. Now
that I’m back, I feel… whole.”

He nodded. “It’s the magic here. Once you’ve been
around it, I’ve been told it’s hard to leave it.” He pressed his
lips to her hair. “So you just left?”

Heidi shook her head. “I wrote a note. I explained
absolutely everything to them.”

“You told them you were coming back to Quelondain?”
Tyler laughed.

She grinned. “I didn’t want to lie to them. I’m sure
they’ve contacted the police and they’re out looking for me
thinking I lost my mind, but I feel better for it. I told them of
how I crossed over the first time and everything that had happened;
the camp, the tlarrisons, you bloody pains in the asses that you
are,” she hollered down to the trio below them. “I told them about
the Zerpanay, you falling, and all the times you saved me. I made
sure to tell them not to worry about me; that you’d take good care
of me.”

Tyler smiled at her blush. “And I will.”

Heidi reached up and brushed the bangs out of his
eyes. “I need to thank you.”

He frowned. “For what?”

She reached down and pulled her pant leg up to reveal
the knife in its sheath, strapped to the outside of her calf. “When
did you get it?”

Tyler ran his fingers over the knife. “We were in
Harring.”

“When did you put it in my pack?” Heidi let him pull
her leg up so that her foot rested on the branch in front of
him.

“About two seconds before you went through the
crossing.” He adjusted the straps and showed her exactly where the
sheath should sit on her leg. Her grey green eyes met his and he
caught his breath. “By the moons, I can’t still quite believe
you’re here.”

Heidi smiled, took his hand, and pulled him back to
her. She laughed. “I know!”

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. A
chirp overhead caused him to burst out laughing.

“Where have you been?”

Heidi raised an eyebrow as he laughed harder.

“You’ve been following me? Bloody hell, Bird!” His
laughter calmed and his smile softened. “Alright, then. You might
have been right.”

“What did she say?”

“When you crossed back, Bird told me to follow you.
When I told her you had a mate, she told me it was me. I told her
she was wrong.”

“So what was she maybe right about?”

“Well, as I recall, we’ve established that this feels
more like home then the other world and that you wanted to tell me
you weren’t mad at me for almost drowning you.” His eyes bore into
hers. “We haven’t actually discussed if you feel like following my
moody tail around for the rest of your life.”

Heidi’s lips twitched as she tried to hide her smile.
“Well, then, I suppose that depends on whether you feel like saving
me from every human hating being out there at the risk of your own
life until the day you die.”

Tyler took her face in his hands, his thumbs running
lightly over her cheeks. “I’ll fight shifters and rogues alike to
keep you by my side,” he whispered. His heart jumped as she closed
the distance between them and pressed her lips to his.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” she whispered
softly against his mouth, “but I’m sort of in love with that moody
tail of yours.”

He blinked and pulled back slightly so he could look
into her eyes. “What did you say?”

Heidi looked up at him, suddenly shy. “I said I love
you.”

Tyler took a deep breath, savoring the feeling her
words sent through him. He bent and kissed her tenderly, his
fingers running through her hair. He pulled away with a groan. “By
the moons, Heidi, I love you.”

Heidi snuggled into his chest. “So what’s the plan
now? Where are we going next?”

Tyler ran through his options in his head, kissed the
top of her head, and smiled. “Home.” He waited for the dreaded
feeling he usually got at the mention of heading to Sageden. When
it didn’t come, he pulled her up and kissed her deeply. “We’re
going home.”

Epilogue

Heidi watched with a smile as Tyler was
tackled by a cheetah cub. The slight tensing of his muscles showed
her he’d been aware he was being stalked and everyone laughed at
the exaggerated show he put on as Emma jumped onto his back. She
felt a tug on the sleeve of her tunic and looked down.

“What is it, Nina?”

Nina grinned and pointed to where Tyler and
Emma were still rolling around on the ground.

“You think we should help your sister?”

Nina nodded.

“I think you’re right,” agreed Heidi. The two
of them ran over to the pair and Tyler grunted as they joined Emma
on top of him.

“Not fair!” he laughed. Heidi dug her fingers
into his side and he rolled himself into a ball. “Help!” Not really
needing any, he shifted under them and shook them off.

“Cheater!” Heidi was laughing so hard she was
having trouble breathing. Tyler loped away and turned to face off
with her.

“Oh, god, don’t you dare!” She squealed to
his cousins’ delight and turned to sprint away from him. She heard
the running steps of the wolf behind her. Tyler shifted mid stride
and his hand caught her arm.

“Who are you calling a cheater?” Tyler
smiled, pulling her to his chest. A short distance away, he caught
a glimpse of his mom and dad watching them, smiling. His aunt and
uncle were rounding up his cousins so they could go in the cabin to
eat. “I am definitely not cheating.” His dark eyes met hers and his
heart jumped. “I never cheat.”

She grinned. “Sure you do. You’re doing it
right now.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Right, just like that. See? Flashing those
big puppy dog eyes and trying to look all innocent.”

He laughed.

“Tyler! Heidi! Lunch is ready!”

He waved to his Uncle Jasper to let him know
he’d heard. Heidi’s bright eyes met his and her smile softened.

“What?”

“I was just thinking how happy you look.” She
kissed him softly.

“I am happy,” he whispered before kissing her
again. “Having you here, being home…” His eyes saddened slightly.
“The only thing missing is Trent. I wish he was here.”

Heidi held his face gently and watched as
emotions filled his eyes until he settled on one that made her
catch her breath.

“I love you, Heidi.”

She smiled. “I love you, too.”

His arms wrapped around her and she
sighed.

“Come on. We’d better go in for lunch and
then head for home. Phlann said he’d stop by for a visit on his way
back to the Scannoves’ meadow.” Tyler took her hand and gave it a
squeeze.

It was taking a bit of time, but he was aware
that slowly, the ache he felt at the loss of his brother was
starting to wane and was being replaced by a peace he never thought
he’d find.

He looked at his family’s smiling faces as he
sat at the table and passed the smoked deer meat to Heidi.

It was nice to finally be home.

Books by Mireille Chester

Adult Novels

The Chosen One Trilogy

Crossover

Journey

Destiny

Angered Seasons (the serial novel)

The Worst Birthday Ever (volume one)

Zombies, Aliens, and Meat-Eating Vegetarians? (volume
two)

You Mess With the Bull, You Get the Horns (volume
three)

Young Adult Novels

Knights of Dorathan

Chael’s Luck

Tales of Quelondain

Tyler’s Story

About the Author

Mireille Chester was born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1979
and moved to Saskatchewan when she was eight. Writing is one of her
many passions which also include reading, drawing, painting,
animals, and the outdoors. She is a stay at home mom and wife.

Her first series, The Chosen One Trilogy, is the
first of her adventures which are based in the world of Quelondain.
The three stories, Crossover, Journey, and Destiny follow the
adventures of Hayden Carlson when she suddenly discovers a world
filled with magic and finds herself caught up in a war that could
wipe out almost every being that lives there. The trilogy has been
described as a great mix of epic and paranormal fantasy for
adults.

Mireille lives with her husband and their three
children as well as multiple animals. She hopes to keep readers
entertained with her magical worlds and enjoyable characters.

http://mireillechester.blogspot.com is where you can
learn more about her books and follow her blog.