Authors: Kelly Said,Jocelyn Adams,Claire Gillian,Julie Reece
Tidal Whispers (13 page)
As the seasons changed from spring to summer and summer to autumn, Wyatt grew paler. He winced once in a while, but when Nixie searched his thoughts, she didn’t understand what she found—a darkness his face didn’t show.
Worry and dread settled around Nixie’s heart. She sensed something terribly wrong, just had no idea what. That afternoon, before he arrived, Nixie asked Meera to wait in the cavern so she could speak to Wyatt alone. Although Meera had begged to come, she seemed to understand Nixie’s worry despite her efforts to keep it hidden.
Nixie and Wyatt swam out far, but he tired sooner than normal. After tugging his frail body back to shore, she laid on the sand next to him. Another search of his thoughts only added more questions to her already large pile. She caught an errant word that caused him pain to think of.
“What is cancer, Wyatt?”
He smiled, but it didn’t light up his tired eyes like normal. “You’ve been searching around in my head again, I see.” His voice had taken on a rasp as if it took effort for him to speak. After exhaling through a deep sigh, he sat up and turned to face her. “It’s a disease some humans get. I have it in my blood.”
“It hurts you.”
She caressed his forehead and found it warmer than normal.
“I can see it when you move. How do I fix it?”
He kissed her temple. “We can’t fix it.” His laughter seemed out of place though genuine. “Fate is a funny thing. I think everything worked out just like it was supposed to despite my bumbling. If I hadn’t been stupid and made you run away, I never would have held on long enough to know Meera, and that gives me peace.” His smile faded again, and a new seriousness tightened his features. “I couldn’t go until I knew you were okay.”
“Go? What does that mean?”
Her thoughts choked under sudden grief.
“Why does it sound like you’re going away again? You promised we’d be together!”
“And we will … eventually.” His rough hand reached out for her, and she grasped it, her chest imploding at the unwavering resolve in his stare. “My doctors gave me only a short time to live, and that was years ago.”
“What are you saying?”
His gaze swept away before returning to her. “I’ll soon be going to the Undergarden.”
Pain welled in her soul, and her eyes stung. “
No, you can’t! I won’t let you go.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her for a while, his warm hand radiating heat through her cool skin. “Don’t be sad, Nixie. You brought meaning into every corner of my life from the moment you scared the wits out of me that first day on the beach.” A bittersweet smile curved his lips. “This is the only way we can be together. It always has been.” He swallowed and sat back, giving her a hard look as if trying to convey something he wouldn’t say. “Will you help me?” Wyatt stood and offered her his hand. “I don’t want to die in a hospital, away from you. I want to be in your arms until my last breath.”
His calm, peaceful state filled Nixie with a sort of serenity. If he wasn’t afraid, she would try to be brave, too. A shred of hope, for a future she’d almost given up on, eased the pain in her heart, even if she had to reach the end of her life to find it.
“It might be many moons before I see you again.”
“I’ll wait for you. I’ll wait for an eternity if I have to.”
“But it’ll hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you ever again.”
Wyatt shook his head, his hair shifting back and forth across his brow. “Not more than I’m hurting now. I want to play again, the way we used to when we were young. I want to be in a place where you and I never have to part.” She hesitated for only a moment before taking his hand, desperate to take the shadow of agony from his eyes. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and their mouths met in a kiss that bonded them even deeper than before.
“I’ll do anything for you.”
“Say goodbye to her for me. Tell her that I love her as much as I do her mother
.”
“She knows.”
Nixie offered him a sad smile and followed him to the water’s edge.
“She not only got her father’s eyes but also his mind.”
He smiled toward the horizon, appearing lighter, like the young boy who stole Nixie heart so many years before.
“I love you, Nixie.”
As the sun disappeared behind the trees in the vast blue sky, they walked hand in hand into the gentle, lapping water.
Epilogue
Meera clung to the sunning rock, only her eyes peeking over the top. Beyond, digging something flat and yellow into the sand, played a young pink one. A mop of brown curls hung over his eyes.
“Can I, Momma? Please?”
Her fingers curled around the golden circlet that dangled from braided sea grass around her neck.
“He looks sad.”
Fear stirred in Nixie’s core. The happiest times of her life were spent with Wyatt. Could she really deny Meera the same joy because of potential heartache? What was the alternative? A solitary life with no one to care for her when Nixie’s time came to join Wyatt in the Undergarden? Wyatt had said most of his kind lived long, healthy lives. Maybe Meera could find someone to love if Nixie could look beyond her own protectiveness. A glance at her daughter’s pleading gaze, thoughts of her loneliness since Wyatt’s passing months before, and Nixie knew she had to let the young sprite choose her own path.
Nixie placed a kiss on Meera’s temple and smiled.
“You have your dad’s tender heart. Remember, the boy might be frightened of you at first, and it will be best if you speak out loud, I think.”
Meera slid to the side of the rock, wiggling with enthusiasm.
Nixie took her hand, stopping Meera’s escape to satisfy the lingering fear weighing on her chest. A deep breath steadied her.
“Just remember—”
With eyes sparkling, Meera said,
“It’s okay, Momma. If he yells ‘monster’, I’ll swim away.”
“You’re not a monster, little one. Never think so.”
“I don’t think so, and he won’t either. You’ll see.”
A nod and Nixie released her daughter, watching as Meera popped out of the water in the shallows. The boy squeaked and fell on his backside almost like Wyatt had.
The little male’s emerging smile and barrage of questions to Meera brought laughter from Nixie, and she whispered to the salted wind, “I love you, too, Wyatt.”
Available Now
July 2012
October 2012
December 2012
Table of Contents