Capri's Fate (29 page)

Thall stood and followed. "You do know it's a boat. On water."

"Tied to a dock." She stepped onto the deck. "It's not going anywhere. And besides, I have my own Superman captain. I know I'll be safe."

She patted the bench seat. Thall sat on the bench and held out his arms.
Capri sat, leaned back against him and stretched her legs out on the seat. "Mmmm, perfect. A lovely summer's evening. And just you and me."

"It can be like this forever."

"How? I'm human. You're…Thall."

He chuckled. "Apt description. While you were flying here, I went back and—"

Capri turned. "What's it like where you live?"

"Live is the wrong word. Exist is a better choice. And it's difficult to explain to you…human."

She rolled her eyes and settled back. "Give it your best shot."

"I exist in three planes. All, or at least most other Fates, only have two. I don't know if there are any others like me, who can become human."

"Okay, first off you are that beautiful shimmery glitter that I saw you and your sister as. And third, you are human, like now. What's in the middle?"

"A combination of the two. When I am shimmery glitter, to use your description, that
's my true self. And we don't live anywhere. We just are." He waved his hand around. "Think of it like your air. It's just here."

"Do you eat? Sleep?"

"Not in that form. As I said, we're like the air."

Capri
intertwined her fingers with his. "Kind of sad. You can't touch anything. Or do anything wonderful, like eat chocolate."

Thall leaned his head forward and breathed across her ear. "Or make love."

"So what is the combination version of you? Thall 1.1."

"When Xyno appeared in your kitchen and shifted to her corporeal form, she looked human to you, correct?"

Capri nodded.

"To you, she would've been like a ghost. You can see her but can't touch her."

"I could have put my hand through her?"

"Right."

Capri sighed and listened to the boat knock against the dock. The lights from the cottages bobbed on the surface of the water. "What were you going to say about when you went back?"

"I talked with Lachesis and she said there could be a way for us to be together. We need a link. Something to bind us."

"You mean something metaphorical, right? Not an actual something, like say a rope."

Thall snorted. "Of all the things on the planet, you thought of a rope?"

Capri pointed. "I was looking at the line tying the boat to the dock." She pressed her elbow into his ribs. "What did you think I meant?"

"The line. Tying the boat to the dock."

"Liar."

"Pulling the conversation back onto the correct track, yes the link must be a physical item if it is to couple us into eternity. If it is broken, we will both cease to exist."

Capri lowered her voice and glanced sideways at Thall. "When I…you know, will I be like you in the realm of the Fates?"

"You will exist with us.
I have fixed it to be so."

"For eternity?"

He nodded.

"That's a long time."

"Yup."

Capri
let the implications of that settle into her brain. "What did your mother give

our father?
"

Thall rested his head against hers. "Other way around, my father offered a ring of intertwined yellow and white daisies."

"Ah, that's so sweet. Did she get to be with your father until he…"
Capri glanced at the boat deck.

"No. As he was bringing the flowers to Lachesis, Atropos snipped his lifeline."

Capri gasped. "How horrible."

"You have to choose what links us. And you have to get it right on the first try because there won't be a second."

"Because…because, if I choose wrong Atropos might—"

"She holds your lifeline in ransom."

Capri clasped her hand to her mouth.

"She despises my existence. I did not know this. She called the union of Lachesis and my father a perversion. She
wants us to fail in choosing the right link between us."

Capri
shifted around to face him. "I don't know what to choose."

"I cannot help you choose this link. If Atropos suspects I have assisted you, she could…" He lowered his head and paused. "The thought of spending eternity without you." He shuddered. "Darkness will fill me. I will exist and yet, I will not."

Sadness filled Capri and a tear tricked down her cheek. "I won't fail. I've screwed up a lot of things in my life, but I won't this time." She bit back a sob. "I can't."

She stood and paced the deck. "A few months ago I was just me,
Capri, clawing my way to the top of the corporate ladder. Now, I'm facing death at the whim of a prejudicial Fate."

Thall reached for her hand and pulled her back to the bench.

She placed a hand on his cheek. "I say, bring it on, bitch. You're worth the risk." Pressing her lips on his mouth, she expressed her desire for him.

Her head swam with thoughts and emotions. A hunger to be with Thall forever. An overpowering fear of death. Confusion as to what to choose to link them. Joy that Thall wanted to be with her. Lust at the thought of an eternity of nights like last night.

Capri broke off the kiss and rested against his chest. She listened to his heartbeat and pondered choices. The link wouldn't be something obvious, such as a wedding band. It would be bizarrely unusual, like the fur off the back of a polar bear. A book? A pebble? What? She would figure it out. She had to. Loving Thall and being with him was the most important thing in her life.

She blinked. He was more important to her than her work. But work was her life. She glanced up. Thall's eyes were closed. Should she tell him she loved him?

She placed a hand on his chest. "Thall."

He sniffed, but didn't waken.

Since we have forever, I guess it can wait until tomorrow.

Ch
apter Twenty-Six

"Wakey. Wakey. Eggs and bakey." Bud's voice and his fist hammering on the side of the boat ripped them from their sleep. "Come on, breakfast's on. We're having
French toast with maple syrup."

Thall yawned. "What is that saying
? Some sort of familial torture."

"It was Mom's way o
f getting us all up in the morning, although usually it was a box of Cheerios waiting for us rather than, mmmm, my favorite, French toast with maple syrup."

"I never got around to pouring syrup all over your body and licking it off."

Chuckling, Capri stood, tapped her pockets and glanced around the boat deck. "We'll pick some up on the way home."

"What are you looking for?"

"My cell. But I'm thinking, maybe, I left it up at the cottage."

Thall stepped onto the dock, held out his hand, helped
Capri off the boat and together they walked back to the cabin. 

When they stepped inside, Tiffany looked up and smiled. "Good morning, you two. You know, you have a perfectly good bed here you can sleep on." She pointed to the table and everyone settled down to enjoy breakfast.

"It was such a glorious evening. We were chatting and the next thing I knew, Dad was pounding on the side of the boat."

"Pass the syrup
, please." Her mother held out her hand, waiting for the bottle.

As Thall passed it to her,
Capri glanced around the kitchen. "Have either of you seen my cell?"

Bud grimaced. "Hid the damn thing. It's been going off every hour since midnight."

Capri's gaze widened. "Uh oh. Must be something important. Where is it?"

"Sideboard behind you. Second drawer at the back under the tablecloths." He watched her pull open the correct drawer then he turned to Thall. "I thought about throwing it into the lake. Damn thing."

Thall swallowed a mouthful of French toast. "I'd have paid you to do it. It goes off at the most annoying moments. And she just has to answer it."

Capri
groaned and stumbled forward against her chair. Her hand covered her mouth and her pulse pounded in her ears as she plopped onto her seat. Fighting to control the nausea, she reached with a trembling hand, for her coffee cup. It tipped and coffee sloshed over the side. She grabbed it with both hands.

Confusion etched her mother's face.
"Honey, what’s the matter?"

Capri
stared at the puddle of java.

Thall tapped her arm. "What's wrong?"

She snapped her face toward him. "We have to go back. Now."

"Okay." He stood and pushed back his chair.

"Why?" Her father placed his mug on the table.

Capri
blinked. "Terrence, my assistant called. I'm…I'm suspected of corporate espionage. Men went into my office yesterday and took my computer."

Tears filled her eyes. "I never…" She placed her arms on the table, dropped her forehead onto them and sobbed.

Thall turned to Tiffany. "Stay with her. I'll pack her stuff. Be back in a moment." He walked to the doorway.

Capri
popped her head up. Her eyes darkened with anger. "Did you do this? Is this your fault?"

Thall blinked and held up his hands. "I haven't done anything."

"What about your cousins? Your mother? You all powerful Fates go around meddling in normal people's lives."

"Did you invoke us?"

"No." She resisted the urge to throw her coffee mug at him.

"Then we did nothing." He scooted out of the room.

Within minutes, he returned with the luggage, raced to the car and deposited the bags into the trunk. With a brief hug to both her parents, Capri stomped down the stairs and walked to the car.

Thall returned to the cabin, but her father waved him off. "No time to say good bye. Get in the car or she'll leave without you. Nice meeting you."

"See you next time." Capri's mother waved.

Thall waved, turned and jumped into the car. He shut the door as
Capri pressed her foot on the gas petal. Fumbling with the seat belt he managed to click it shut before she turned onto the main road.

"Swear to me you had nothing to do with this. That this isn't some sick game."

Thall closed his eyes, but spoke aloud. "Lachesis. Did you have anything to do with this fucking mess?"

"Temper my son. I have done nothing. I believe this is human folly."

Capri focused on the road. When she rounded the corner to connect to the main highway, the glare of the sun momentarily blinded them. She dug her sunglasses out of the console and slammed them onto her face. Angry tension filled the air.

Gripping the steering wheel, she drove in silence. Thall watched the blur of trees and signs whip past. He had no words of comfort to offer her.

A large sign near the intersection advertised, Visit Michigan's newest covered bridge.

Thall rubbed his nose. "Why would you cover a bridge?"

"What?" Capri turned her face toward him. Instead of her beautiful brown eyes, the large black plastic lens stared unblinkingly at him, blinding him to the mood of the woman he loved.

He pointed to the fast approaching billboard. "Where's that? The covered bridge."

She released her hand from the death grip she had on the steering wheel and waved her finger to the left. "Over there?"

Thall leaned forward. "I don't see it."

Capri sighed. "There. Look to the left. Just past the—"

The squeal of brakes reverberated, followed by the crunch of metal on metal.
Capri screamed and fought the wheel, trying to keep the car on the road. She glanced into her rear view mirror. Her stomach tightened in a hundred knots.

The transport behind bore down on them. The hiss of air brakes filled the air. Flung forward, the car spun.

One revolution. Two revolutions. Capri moaned in pain as her body jerked right to left. The edge of the bridge stopped the third spin. Glass cracked. Metal crunched. Yelps of pain engulfed them.

The car's motion stopped, but the world still spun like a roller coaster ride gone wrong.
Capri's heart pounded and her chest heaved with small pants. She looked around her then turned to Thall.

His side of the car was crumpled inward, and his body pressed against the center console. "Thall?"

He opened his eyes.

"You okay?" She tried to unlock her seatbelt, but couldn't
steady her fingers enough to press the button.

Thall wiped at his face then stared at his blood-covered hand. He glanced at
Capri and looked down to see what she was staring at. A red spot spread down his white t-shirt.