A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones) (23 page)

They were perfect together.

Eve giggled and pushed him back, “Stop...
later darling.”

We went back to the house and waited for
Catherine and James. “Surprise awaits u @ hm,” I texted to both of
their phones. We waited for them in the kitchen, perched on stools
at the island counter, eating, drinking, and talking. These were
the friends I had allowed myself. No mortals. Only sturdy beings
that wouldn’t easily die on me, that wouldn’t see me as a freak. I
loved them for that, but was glad that I was beginning to let a few
mortals into my life. Especially the one seated beside me.

I put my hand on Link’s leg, loving the
strength I could feel radiating between us, and turned to my old
friend.

“
Oz, tell me where have you
been and what you’ve been up to these last few years,” I
inquired.

“
Traveling around Europe. I
played tourist for one month in each town that I visited. I spent
the last three with these two,” he said, pointing at his brother
and Eve. “We were in Scotland and England.”

“
Yeah, Oz got us in this
nasty car crash in Scotland and we had to high tail it out of there
before anyone started asking questions,” Marcus accused.

“
Nobody died, well
maybe
a sheep, but no
people!” Oz exclaimed.

“
You should really be more
careful. Both Link and Charity have lost their parents in terrible
car crashes,” Eve commented. “I would hate to be the cause of
someone else’s pain.”

“
You took that out of my
head, didn’t you?” Link asked.

“
I saw it last night. It
still pains you,” Eve observed.

“
I guess it does,” he
murmured.

“
Charity didn’t tell you,
but she was in the car with her parents the night of the accident,”
Eve went on.

“
Why didn’t you say
anything?” Link rubbed my shoulders.

“
I don’t remember anything
about it,” I admitted. “The last thing I do remember is headlights
coming toward us. I woke up in a hospital four days later and the
doctors informed me of my parents’ death. Apparently we were run
off the road. I was thrown from the car, but my parents remained
inside while it rolled down the embankment. They told me I was
probably in and out of consciousness for three days, hidden in the
brush, before anyone discovered the wreckage. Other than hitting my
head and obtaining memory loss, I was spared any major injury. My
parents lost their lives,” I recalled the only details that
remained.

“
It’s amazing that you
survived, stuck outside for three days and nights not knowing if
help would arrive. Maybe it is better that you have no memory of
the event,” Link concluded.

“
Maybe,” I murmured,
burying my head in his shoulder.

“
Charity is a strong girl.
She can survive any hardship placed before her,” Catherine said as
she walked in the room. “Is that my surprise?” she asked, pointing
to Cozmo. “I’m not sure if I really want it,” she wrinkled her
forehead in mock distaste.

“
Sweetheart, now don’t hurt
my feelings. I’ve come a long way to be made fun of by the likes of
you,” Oz stepped over to her, engulfing her in an exuberant
hug.

“
I’m so glad you came this
year,” Catherine squeaked out through the tight embrace. “We’ve
missed you.”

“
That scoundrel? He’s back
again?” James said with a laugh, from the entrance to the
kitchen.

“
I couldn’t stay away too
long. I know how you miss me,” Oz answered.

The next hour was spent playing two kinds of
catch up. Cozmo told James and Catherine what he had been doing
since we had seen him last and Eve shared the visions that she’d
gathered from people throughout town.

We went to church as planned. My strange
little group occupied almost an entire pew. Three Immortals, three
Witches, and one completely mortal man sat through a sermon on the
meaning of Christmas and the importance of giving. My friends from
school were in the pew directly in front of us. Rusty, Summer, and
her mom sat next to Delilah, her parents, and Burke. Dee kept
twisting her head backward, smiling at me and then letting her gaze
linger on Cozmo.

Poor Burke, I thought. I hope he had
alternative plans for college. It was only two months into their
relationship and Dee’s eyes were already straying.

Link held my hand and I rested my head on
his shoulder. I’m a lucky girl, I told myself. I had been given a
second chance... a second chance at love.

When the sermon was over, and the last carol
was sung, we stepped out of the church and into the cold. The
Tylers were walking toward us, towing little Sammy along. They each
flashed a friendly smile, curiosity present in their eyes. I
assumed they wanted to be introduced to our new friends. I was
gearing up to start the introductions that I just knew were
forthcoming, when Mr. Tyler started to share some information of
his own.

“
Dr. Johnston, I just
wanted to let you know that someone visited our home last night. I
answered the door to find some fella trying to act all official,
with a clipboard in hand, but something didn’t seem quite right. He
said he represented some company that surveyed urgent care patients
and wanted to know all about Sammy’s recent visit. He even asked if
he could check my boy out.

“
I have to tell you, I can
usually tell when someone is feeding me a line of bull. This guy
was full of it. I can’t see why somebody would be checking door to
door on medical care. I was real vague in my answers. I told the
guy that Sammy was asleep and I saw no reason to wake him,” he
explained.

“
Thank you Mr. Tyler. I’m
glad you’ve brought this to my attention. I’ll inform my other
patients and urge them to turn away anyone that may come around
asking questions. I’m so sorry that you were bothered in your
home,” James said.

“
No big deal Doc. I just
knew this guy wasn’t on the up and up, and thought you should be
informed.”

“
Thanks again, and Merry
Christmas!” James shook Mr. Tyler’s hand and then crouched down in
front of Sammy, “I bet there’s something good waiting under the
tree for you Sammy,” James smiled at the boy.

“
I got lots to open
tomorrow!” Sammy jumped up and down with excitement.

As soon as the Tyler family had said their
goodbyes and walked away, Eve motioned for everyone to gather
around her.

“
I scanned that family just
now and it’s not good,” she turned to me.

“
What?” I almost shouted at
Eve.

“
Well, the guy that I keep
seeing walking the dog, is the same guy that Mr. Tyler just told
James about. And there’s more - Mrs. Tyler was looking out the
window while her husband was talking to the man at the door. She
saw the ‘clone dog’ in the back of a car parked out front.
Leviticus Lord was sitting in the passenger seat,” she finished
with a sigh.

“
They’re here,” I
exhaled.

James stepped between us, draping his arms
over Eve’s and my shoulders. “It’s time to go back to the house
everyone. We need to make a plan. They’re closer than I thought
they would be,” he said.

“
We should have left the
moment I saw Leviticus in Montrose,” I insisted, as soon as we had
all walked into the kitchen. “Then we wouldn’t be sitting here
worried, wondering when those lunatics will find us.”

“
Do we flee, or do we
fight?” James asked me. “I for one am tired of fleeing.”

“
It’s six, well seven if
you count the mortal, against two,” Cozmo pointed out. “Relax,
Charity, we can handle this.”

Oh can we? What if Leviticus or Ezekiel
comes up from behind and slices off my head with a sword? What can
we do about that? What if Link gets injured? He can’t heal himself
the way we can. What if one of the townspeople get hurt? All of
these thoughts ran through my mind. But I didn’t say them. I knew I
had to be strong for Link. But I was afraid.

Instead I answered, “You are right. We can
handle whatever they throw at us.” I hoped Link thought the
same.

“
As long as we stay
together, we can handle anything. I know it,” Link smiled that
brilliant smile and I forced myself to smile back.

It was a weak version of a smile, and I
prayed that he wouldn’t notice. I desperately wanted to believe
that all their words were true.

We made a plan. Tomorrow we would start our
hunt. We would find Leviticus and Ezekiel Lord and drag them out of
town. We would eliminate their threat to our family, by whatever
means necessary.

After the seven of us had worked out all the
details, Link and I headed upstairs.

We had decided to exchange one present on
Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning. It was a tradition
that his grandparents had started with his mother when she was a
little girl, and then his parents had carried on with him. I was
determined to keep this tradition going for him. We wouldn’t let
the day’s events spoil our Christmas Eve plans. I wanted to bring
some normalcy back into the exceptional world he now found himself
living in.

We sat on the bed and tore into the wrapping
paper as soon as the gifts were exchanged.

“
Oh wow, it’s that great
art deco jewelry set that we saw in Montrose. How did you get it?”
I asked.

“
You’re not the only one
with secrets,” he gave a sly smile and continued unwrapping his
present. When the paper was discarded on the floor, he pulled the
top off of the box, “A weapon!” he exclaimed. “My girlfriend has
bought me a weapon.”

“
Not just any weapon,” I
ignored his sarcasm. “It’s an exact replica of my gold rush era
push dagger. See,” I said as I unsheathed the matching blade from
the waist of my jeans. “See how ornate it is. Look at the intricate
carvings. It tucks easily into your belt and can be quickly
retrieved,” I explained as I curled my fingers around the
handle.

“
Sorry, it is beautiful and
handy, I’m sure. It is just the first weapon given to me as a
present. Thank you.”

“
Get used to it,” I told
him. “It’s the first of many.”

“
You mean there are boxes
of these things under the tree?” he teased.

“
No. It just won’t be your
last. And, I’m not telling you what’s under the tree,” I
smiled.

“
The tree,” Link paused.
“My Grandma’s ornaments, I forgot to get them,” he said with
disappointment.

“
We’ve preoccupied you
today. Once again, my crazy life is disrupting yours,” I berated
myself. “I’m so sorry.”

“
They’re ornaments,
Charity, you’re not disrupting my life,” he shook his head at
me.

“
But they’re important to
you. It’s not too late to go get them,” I offered. “I know it’s
after midnight, but I’ve always subscribed to the saying ‘the night
belongs to the day it follows’ so technically, it’ll still be
Christmas Eve when you place them on the tree.”

“
Why not, we’ll be back in
no time,” Link smiled.

We were on the road, and on our way to
Link’s apartment, within minutes. My cell phone buzzed almost as
soon as Link pulled out of the driveway. I looked at the screen and
read aloud, “‘Txt when u get there n txt when ur on the way hm,’
It’s from Marcus,” I told Link.

“
K” I texted him back
immediately.

“
We are completely alone
now. Can you please tell me what, if anything, there is, or was,
between you and Oz? Should I be jealous? Why does he keep looking
at you that way?” Link pressed for answers.

“
About fifteen years ago,
Cozmo decided that the two of us belonged together. He wanted me to
leave James and Catherine and come to live with him, Marcus, Eve,
and the others. I toyed with the idea for awhile. I thought that
maybe it was time for me to move on with my life and attempt to
love again. But it just never felt right. I couldn’t view Cozmo as
anything but a very good friend.

“
He tried to change my mind
and I tried to view him romantically. But in the end, he admitted
that it wasn’t love, it was companionship, he was looking for. I
told him I couldn’t leave my family. He was hurt, and has been
inconsistent in his visits ever since. It ended before it ever
began,” I confessed.

“
Did anything ever
happen
between the two of
you?” Link asked.

“
There were a few very
minor make out sessions, but as I said, it just never felt right,”
I admitted. “I never got that tingling feeling, that breathlessness
that I feel with you.”

“
Thank you for telling me
the truth,” he said. “I make you tingle eh,” Link
smirked.

“
And this is news to you?”
I scoffed.

“
No, I expected as much.
It’s always nice to hear that you like it,” he smiled.

“
Love it,” I
corrected.

chapter fourteen

THE STORM

The snow, which fell in delicate flurries as
we left Mountain Village, began to thicken the closer we got to
Telluride. It soon created a filmy white blanket that clung to the
air. By the time we reached the apartment complex, the wind was
whipping the flakes around violently.