Grasping at Eternity (The Kindrily) (35 page)

“How have you been? How’s,” Maryah hesitated, “your mom?”

 
“She’s hanging in there.” April’s voice quivered. “I’m so sorry, Maryah. I’ve been such a horrible friend. River called me from jail, so I went to see him and he wouldn’t tell me much, but he told me you wouldn’t date him, how you said you’d never do that to me. And then I found out he tried to…I can’t even say it. Forget about me, are
you
okay?”

Faith, Krista, and I glanced at each other, silently debating whether or not we should leave the girls alone to talk.

“I’m fine,” Maryah said, but I heard the fear in her voice. “It’s good to see you. This is Nathan and my cousin, Krista.”

“Yeah, I know Nathan. Nice to meet you, Krista.” April’s eyes were glassy. She fanned herself with her hand like she was trying not to cry. “I’m sorry I never returned your calls or emails. I’m sorry for so many things.”

“It’s fine.” Maryah hugged her, causing Faith and Krista to smile. All the estrogen in the room was a bit overwhelming. I wanted to traverse to somewhere with fresh air and open space, but Maryah shot me a loving glance and suddenly there was no place else I wanted to be.

 
“I’m so glad he didn’t…you know.” April wiped away her tears. “Gosh, you think you know someone.”

The bulldog pawed Maryah’s feet.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” April let go of Maryah and looked down at him. “River asked me to take care of Eightball, but I’m hardly ever home and I can’t take him to the hospital with me, so I know it’s a lot to ask, but you’ve always been so good with him. I was hoping maybe you’d take him?”

Maryah’s face lit up, blossoming into an uncontrollable smile. Faith clapped with approval and dropped to the floor to pet him.

“Um.” Maryah looked at me. “I’d have to make sure Louise doesn’t mind.”

I laughed and leaned on the counter. “This is your home. If you love him, he’s welcome here.”

“Thank goodness,” April said. “I didn’t know what I’d do if you said no.”

We all stood there in awkward silence watching Faith scratch Eightball’s head and back. Memories flashed through my mind of other pets we had adopted in the past. I smirked at how perfect the name Eightball was as a pet for our eighth member who used to have premonitions about the future.

“Well,” April wrapped her arms around herself again. “I’ve got to get back to my mom, but I’d love to get together soon. That is, if you forgive me.”

“Yes,” Maryah said. “I’d like that. A fresh start.”

“Great.” April's spirits seemed to lift. “I’ll text you.”

Maryah and I walked April to her car, but I lingered in the garden so they could say goodbye without an audience. I was happy to see Maryah make amends with her friend. Having someone to talk to outside of our kindrily would be good for her—
if
she had learned her lesson about keeping our way of life a secret.

Maryah was glowing as she came toward me. The flowers lining the path she walked along were put to shame by her beauty. “That was unexpected.”

“I suspect it’s one of many happy surprises you’ll encounter.”

“What do you mean? Do you know something I don’t?”

I held her hand and tried not to let my smile be too smug. “I know a lot of things that you don’t.”

We went back inside and Amber was standing in the kitchen pulling chicken off a bone. Eightball grunted at her feet. “Faith told me you adopted this dog.”

“His name’s Eightball,” Maryah said. “Cute, isn’t he?”

Amber looked annoyed. “The poor guy is starving. Here,” she handed Maryah a bowl filled with chicken. “Give him this.”

Maryah set the chicken on the floor and he gulped it down, snorting with every bite. “I almost forgot you can communicate with animals. Did he tell you he was hungry?”

“Tell me? He was sending up smoke flares.”

 
“So,” I sensed the need to lighten the mood. “We have a new four-legged son. He takes after me in the face a little, don’t you think?”

Maryah and Krista giggled, but Amber didn’t crack a smile.

“Where is everyone else?” Amber asked. “I’ve got interesting news.”

“Louise went to Helen’s,” I said.

Krista and Faith barely glanced up from watching Eightball devour his food, but Faith explained that the guys were working in the garage, and Harmony was busy at home.

Amber rested her hands on her big belly. “This can’t wait. We’ll update them later. Maryah, you should sit down.”

Faith and Krista’s heads both snapped to attention.

“I’m okay,” Maryah assured everyone, but I pulled out a stool for her. If Amber said someone should sit down, she meant it.

Amber set a bowl of water on the floor. “Eightball was abused. He’s happy to be here because he senses he won’t be hurt anymore.”

Eightball lapped up his water while keeping an eye on Maryah. Their connection was already strong. “No one will ever hurt him again,” Maryah said. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“The guy that used to beat him,” Amber continued, “was River’s uncle.”

“No surprise there,” Faith huffed. “I mean, he ordered River to kill Maryah. Evil bastard. Only a heartless soul could ever abuse such a sweet and innocent animal.”

Amber fixed her eyes on me. “Eightball confirmed what Louise expected.”

“Of course.” My fists tightened. “We should have figured that out a long time ago.”

“Huh?” Maryah asked. “Figure what out?”

Amber sat in the stool at the end of the island, took off her glasses, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “River’s uncle. Eric is his alias, his real name is—”

 
“Dedrick.” I snarled.

Maryah swallowed hard. “The head of the Nefariouns?”

Amber nodded somberly. “And one of the men who attacked you and your family.”

Good thing I had the stool positioned behind Maryah, because she collapsed into it. “Does he know who the other guy was?” Maryah asked. “The one who almost killed me.”

“No,” Amber said. “Communication with animals works differently than with humans. It’s not like I can just ask him questions. Most animals think a loop of one-sided thoughts. They think about whatever affects them most on a primal level.”

Amber’s ability had always fascinated me, but given the current situation, and the secret I was hiding that affected me at a primal level, I was thankful that Amber could only read animal minds. Because I knew the answer to Maryah’s question. And I had to keep it a secret.

Maryah

After everyone—mainly me— calmed down, and the rest of the kindrily had been updated, Nathan suggested we take Eightball for a walk. I eagerly agreed. I was in desperate need of fresh air.

The rain had stopped and it felt much warmer than the night before. We strolled along the cliffs talking endlessly until the sun slowly descended from the sky. Guilt had been suffocating me all day. I couldn’t keep it bottled up anymore. Nervously, I apologized about River. I rambled through excuses and details, and when I got to the part about almost puking when River kissed me, a grin spread across Nathan’s face.

“You felt nauseous when he kissed you?”

 
“Yes, I mean, I’d never kissed anyone before so maybe I—”

He put two fingers over my lips. “It’s
who
you kiss that bodes what you feel.”

“I don’t know,” I argued. “What if I’m just bad at it?”

He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him, and tucked my hair behind my ear. My heart soared. I started trembling.

“Breathe,” he ordered gently.

I took a deep breath and shakily let it out.

“Again,” he whispered. His lips were less than an inch from mine.

My next breath was more calm and fluid.

“Keep breathing.”

I closed my eyes. Slowly, his breath synchronized with mine. Every time I inhaled, he exhaled, and every time I breathed out he would silently draw in my air. By the fourth or fifth cycle every cell in my body tingled. We were only breathing each other in, over and over, but I felt euphoric.

“Maryah.” His voice sounded like harp music.

I opened my eyes and met his gaze. His lips cut through the invisible cloud of energy floating between us as he smugly—but sweetly— smiled. Before I could return the smile, his warm lips closed over mine.

It felt like the Earth fell out from under us, like we were floating into the sky. With each caress of his lips I floated higher, a whirlwind of electricity swirling around us. He gently pulled back, and I let out a moan of pleasure. He kissed each of my eyelids so softly it felt like silk brushing against them.

“Are you nauseous?” he asked.

I opened my eyes. “No, but my whole body is weak and tingly.”

“Yes, I know. Your knees gave out sometime ago. I’ve been holding you up.”

I blushed and regained my footing. “That was incredible.”

“
That
is how a kiss is meant to be, and I assure you, you did exceedingly well.”

“Mmm,” I felt drunk. I craved more of his kisses. I glanced around to make sure Eightball hadn’t run off, but he was stalking a lizard nearby.

Nathan looked at the sky. “Bollocks.”

“What?” I asked, confused by his frustration.

“The irrational part of me hoped our first kiss would return your star to the sky.” He laughed. “Brainwashed by fairytales, I suppose.”

“The stars aren’t even out yet.”

“The stars are always shining. You can’t see them, but I do.”

His take on the world seemed so magical compared to mine. “All Elements have a star that represents them?”

“Yes, the older the soul, the brighter the star. If you could get close enough, you’d see every detail of a soul’s history in the light and energy of their star. It’s similar to how we see history and details in each other’s eyes. A star contains everything: every thought, feeling, action, and desire. It’s intense.”

“Wow.” I craned my neck and scanned the shades of pink and purple weaving between the clouds. “Every soul is a story shelved away in an infinite library in the sky.”

He raised my hand to his lips and kissed it. “You used to say things like that all the time.”

My hand tingled from his kiss. I couldn’t get enough of him, but I also had so many questions. “You said my star fell from the sky before I was born, and I still can’t see yours. Is that because I erased?”

He sighed. “You reset your soul. You’re operating on basic senses, unable to see the energy around you.”

“When we were in the other realm or wherever, before we came back here, wouldn’t I have told you I planned to erase?”

“It’s different there. Talking is a human function. Souls communicate in the Higher Realm, but through energy, not words. Plus, linear time is an Earthly concept. In the Higher Realm, decisions are made in what would feel like the blink of an eye here. You wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone.”

Tears formed as the new me—the ordinary, furthest thing from a superhero, oblivious person I was—despised the old me for what I had done. “How could I have done that to you? It’s so selfish.”

Nathan held my face in his hands. “You must have had a paramount reason. Although we don’t know what that reason is, I’m certain it was
selfless
, not selfish. That’s who you were, and who you still are. We need you to believe in yourself and have faith in the magic of this world.”
 

A rainbow had formed a bridge between Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock. I pointed to it. “Anything magical or mystical I should know about rainbows?”

“Yes.” His grin made me shiver with excitement. “Whomever you kiss beneath a rainbow will be yours, then, now, and eternally.”

Nathaniel, my soul mate, leaned down and kissed me for the second time—well, second kiss of
this
lifetime—and made me believe anything was possible.

Maryah

Louise, Anthony, and Carson celebrated the first day of spring by taking an overseas trip. The house felt odd without the three of them, but Krista staying indefinitely made up for it. With a couple easy phone calls, Dylan persuaded my aunt and uncle to let her stay with us, and he persuaded her school to let her finish the year remotely.

The more time I spent with Nathan, and the more I heard about our past, the deeper my love grew. But no matter how hard I tried and wished for my memories to return, I made no progress.

The night after the Spring Fling festival, I shot up in bed and glanced around the darkness. I could hardly breathe.

 
“Maryah, what is it?” Nathan wrapped his arms around me and instantly my panic dissolved.

“Peacocks,” I mumbled, turning to see his reaction.

He smiled and kissed my shoulder. “So, it was a good dream.”

“I remember a peacock in my dream. A huge, beautiful, iridescent one.” I looked up at my dream catcher, then at the blue and green mirror, and pressed my ring to my chest. “I meant to ask you about your obsession with peacocks.”

He laughed. “My obsession? No.
Your
obsession.”

“Mine?”

“The peacock represents everything you believed in: psychic duality, all-seeing watchfulness, renewal, resurrection, spiritual evolution. The list continues depending on which teachings you research. You used to stare at your ring for hours. You said the feather’s eye showed you stories.”

“Really? What kind of stories.”

“All kinds. Can we please talk about this in the morning?” He laid his head in my lap and rubbed his sleepy eyes. Even in the dark, the jewel-like shade of green glimmered with love when he looked up at me. How did I get so lucky to have someone like him as my soul mate?

I tried to fall sleep, but several minutes later I shot back up. “Something’s wrong!”

“What do you mean?” Concern filled Nathan’s voice. “What’s wrong?” He turned on the light.

“I don’t know. I feel a presence lurking, like something is coming. I’ve never felt like this before. I feel sick to my stomach.”

Nathan stared at me, looking worried, but then turned his focus to our bedroom door. Someone ran down the hallway. Nathan vanished. For a few seconds I was terrified that he left me alone, but he reappeared at the side of the bed with a smile on his face.