Cataclysm (25 page)

“You know that doesn’t actually do anything, right?” Athen asked, completely amused.

“Nope! Never heard that,” I said, grinning. “Look at that! The door closed.”

I began chuckling, and before I knew it, Athen slid next to me, clasping his hands around my face, bringing my lips close to his. The elevator arrived on our floor all too quickly, and we followed Matilda out into the hallway.

Athen unlocked the door and pushed it open. Matilda took off from behind us and ran to the chaise and jumped up on it like she never left. I was amazed. Everything looked just like we left it. Even with the amount of renters we had in and out of the place, nothing was out of its spot.

They would be bringing up our luggage shortly, so it gave me time to look over everything. The red overstuffed velour pillows were all on the couch, and the guest book I laid out on the coffee table was still there. I was excited to go check out who had stayed here over the last year and any fun memories they might’ve left for us.

The kitchen was pretty bare since we cleaned out most of my personal items, but if we needed anything, we could go grab it from our other place. Athen came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I couldn’t wait to revisit all of our old stomping grounds with him.

“This is exactly what we needed,” he whispered ever so lightly for me to hear.

Spinning around, I let my lips fall onto his, taking in the softness of his mouth. My hands began running up his back, and I thanked the heavens that I had blurted out for us to stay here by ourselves. As Athen began sliding his hands around my waist, the knock on the door echoed through the hall.

“Oh my God! It is going to be like old-times! Interruptions included around every corner!” I said laughing, swatting at Athen. “Go get the door.”

The bellboy came in, and Athen had him drop everything off in the entry. We would take care of it on our own time. Tipping him generously, Athen closed the door quickly.

“So, where were we?” he asked, coming over and picking me up.

“I think this is about the place we left off,” I whispered, as he carried me towards the quietness of our bedroom.

Gently placing me on the goose down comforter, I looked at him with more love than I thought possible. In the beginning of my Awakening, I thought there was no way I could love him any more than I already had, yet our love had only grown with all the hardships that came at us.

He bent over me, gliding his lips down my neck towards my collarbone. Stopping, he stood back up and winked at me.

“Probably don’t need to give the neighbors a show,” he laughed, sliding the red velvet curtains closed with one swipe. He turned off the only light in our room and came over to where I was laying.

“I want you to take control. I need that. I need you. All of this fighting – these battles – I need to be reminded of what it is to have some sort of normalcy,” I said.

Athen was absolutely mesmerizing standing over me. I wanted him so badly. His grey flannel shirt wasn’t buttoned all the way, which only worsened the effect his body had over me. I had to get that off of him.

“You do, huh,” he whispered, bending down over me. He gently traced his finger along my chest leading to my stomach. I was thankful I was only wearing a camisole. His smile returning, he lowered his lips down to my neck. The electricity shot through my body, as his lips softly skimmed over my collarbone. It was just like the first night on the beach in Kingston, only more powerful. Our connection was growing by the minute, and I needed everything he had to give.

“Watching you fight the way you do...” he whispered, standing back up, “is pretty incredible. To see you like that,” his voice trailed off, as he traced his finger along my arm.

Smiling, I let the words embrace me with the power they held.

“It’s hard to believe that you’ve come so far. Sometimes I forget that you’d been out of my life for fifty years. It’s like you never missed a beat. You absolutely amaze me, Ana. You light up everyone you touch, including me. You’ve allowed me to see the possibility of another world, a better world,” his voice carried the strength that I needed.

***

The morning light trickled in through the curtains. I had no idea what time it was and could care less. Rolling over to see Athen next to me, gave me everything I could possibly want. I didn’t need anyone or anything else besides him. His hair was completely disheveled, and he had on his outfit from letting Matilda out earlier. My heart melted as I thought about him quietly sneaking out, making sure not to disturb me. His thoughtfulness never escaped me.

My head was buried deep into my pillow, but I was still able to make out all of his beautiful features. This is where I wanted to be, in his arms. Sadness began drifting over me as I thought about what was looming ahead for us all. Sensing my thoughts, Athen’s eyes opened, and he brought me closer to him, hugging me as we both sunk back into much needed sleep.

Athen’s smile immediately warmed me, as he handed me a mug of coffee, with nonfat milk.

“Where’d this come from?” I asked.

“Had to order room service for it. We need to go get some beans and things for our stay,” he said. Noticing that his hair was still messed up, from our time the night before, made me smile. Even though it was mid-afternoon, we were only beginning our day.

“What’s got you grinning?” His eyes shining with happiness.

“Your hair,” I teased. “You’re just always so cute.”

Taking his hands to his hair, he attempted to smooth down all the stray pieces, but as soon as he removed his hands, they popped right back up.

“I liked it that way better anyway.” I smiled.

It pained me to know we were trying to make this as normal as possible. But deep inside, I knew we would only be acting out this fantasy while we were up here. I did my best to follow our rules and push it out of my head. But it was hard.

“Let’s go check out our guestbook!” I exclaimed, almost completely forgetting the dark thoughts that had nearly won out on my thinking.

Athen called Arie to find out when they’d be over and joined me in the living room, where I was thumbing through the pages of the guest book. Starting with the very first day, it was so fun to see who had stayed here and what they did.

The first couple who’d stayed at our condo, described just about every detail regarding what they fit in. They even wrote where they liked to eat and get coffee, but the event that topped it off was that they became engaged at the Summit.

“Oh, my gosh! How cute!! Look, she even left a website where we could see her engagement pics!” I excitedly turned the page to see the next group’s adventures.

This group had two couples and reminded me a little of Cyril, Arie, and us. They enjoyed the same activities as we did. I greedily ate up all the details that filled up their vacation, and I let myself realize how truly lucky we were to be able to call Whistler home.

This book also did a surprising job of reminding how the majority of the mortal world was worth saving, regardless of what I kept experiencing. I didn’t realize how hard it had been seeing so many mortals, day after day, willing to go to the dark side. I was being blasted with a part of society I didn’t ever want to believe existed.

Arie bounded into the living room, bringing in her added element of perkiness, which was certainly nice to have at the moment. Sure enough, she had some sort of shopping bag next to her.

“What did you decide you couldn’t live without this time?” I teased.

“Actually, I found a little something for that little girl you guys helped,” her gaze falling to the floor.

“Oh, wow. That was kind of you. I hope we do get to see her again,” I said, realizing a lump was beginning to form in my throat. Unsure of the reaction I was having, I held the bag open so Arie could grab her gift out easier. She pulled out an overstuffed teddy bear.

“I thought the one she had really needed a facelift, especially with everything,” Arie said.

“I think she’ll really like this,” I said, nodding my head. Athen’s glance caught my eye, and a smile spread across his lips. He was leaning against the wall, chatting with Cyril, but he didn’t seem to be paying attention to what Cyril was talking about. His gaze was locked with mine. I knew what he was thinking, and it was the same as I, but those kinds of thoughts would have to wait until after the battle. The pull to him was almost unbearable.

“I decided to go through the guest book we left for all the visitors to sign if they wanted too. It’s pretty cool. It seems like about everyone who stayed here filled it out,” I said, switching gears.

“Sweet, let me see.” Arie opened it up to where I left off, while the guys made their way to the kitchen, which is still probably one of their top two favorite places to be.

As Arie and I flipped from page to page, we laughed at some of the tidbits of information people left for us or even a dried flower now and then. It was all very cute.

“I had no idea so many people would’ve have participated in this,” I said.

“Yah, no kidding. We’re up to what, twenty seven?” Arie asked, flipping through the last pages.

Athen brought Arie and I an iced tea to get us through the last couple pages while he went back into the kitchen to snack on what sounded like a chip bag being opened. Obviously, Cyril had already managed a stop at the market on the way over.

“Guys, huh?” Arie asked, catching my amusement.

“No kidding!” I placed my iced tea on the coffee table, and saw Matilda getting restless by the door. “I better go let our girl out.”

I grabbed my gloves and off we went into the elevator. Thankfully, at the moment, we were the only ones riding down. Sometimes being social to complete strangers was tiring.

“So how’s everything going with Cyril?” I asked, knowing the answer already, judging by what good spirits they were both in.

“Wonderfully. I think he has fully forgiven me over the whole disappearing act,” she said, with her usual glow.

“That’s good news. I didn’t think I was going to be able to handle it, but once I told Athen, I felt immediately better. At least, I didn’t have to carry the burden alone. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it was seeing Cy like that. His demeanor was completely different - his eyes were sunken, shoulders slouched. It was heartbreaking. Occasionally, his sense of humor would prevail, but I am so thankful we were able to reunite as quickly as we did. I think him seeing and hearing from those other families really did the trick. Just like you thought.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine. I felt so guilty for putting you through that, but I thought it was the only way to keep him safe and buy us more time.”

“No, I get it. When Athen agreed with your decision as quickly as he did, I knew we were on the right track.”

The elevator dinged, and we stepped out into the lobby. The ice-cold air from the doors constantly opening and closing to greet new visitors, reminded me that I was back in Whistler. My wool coat was not enough.

Following Matilda to her favorite place, we both walked in silence until Matilda started circling.

“She cracks me up,” Arie giggled. “She takes these things so seriously.”

Looking down, I saw exactly what Arie was referring to. Matilda seemed one click away from being human, and her facial expression said everything it needed to about humiliation and the things we make her go through.

I let the smile spread across my face like there wasn’t a care in the world. I only hoped we would be able to look back and see this was all just a horrible blip in our history, the world’s history.

She hugged me tightly, and I knew, in that moment, the battle we were facing was far too difficult to remove from any of our minds.