Drew smiled in turn, noting the movement of the shade that had been cast by the cloud over their surroundings. As the sun’s rays came in full force once again and washed over her skin, it lit up with tiny beads of light.
“You’re glowing again,” she said.
“So are you.” The back of his hand caressed her cheek in a manner that was more than just a friendly gesture. When she turned her head to look at it, he gave her an apologetic smile. Clearly he had overstepped his boundary. To keep himself from being tempted again, he stuck his hand in his pocket.
“Tell me what it is that you hope to gain out of your training,” he said, getting back down to business.
Just like that, the cloud cover was back again.
Drew looked up and then back down at Kerrigan, whose smile had disappeared. “Wow, that bad? Perhaps we should sit and get a little more comfortable so that you can tell me all about the problem. I’ve been told I’m an excellent listener.” He nodded toward a patch of grass nearby.
She followed him over to the old magnolia tree, sitting with him on the ground. “I need to be stronger.”
He held up his hands. “First things first, we need to get you out of that foul mood. I can’t help you unless you learn to control your emotions.” He turned to face her with his legs crossed and folded. “Sit like this, so that you’re facing me.” She sighed, but did as he said. “Right, now tell me. Why do you feel this urgent need to be stronger? Strength in your inner Light comes with time and experience as a Guardian.”
“Well, time is not a luxury I have right now.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tucked her chin in. Her eyes still had that desperate pleading look to them. “I can’t tell you the reason I need to be stronger, Drew. I just do. All I can say is that it’s a matter of life and death. Let’s just leave it at that. Please?”
He definitely had his work cut out for him. He took her arms, uncrossing them. She showed hesitance and resisted before finally giving in and letting him take control. “You have to trust me, Kerrigan, or this partnership is never going to work. I’m here to help you, but you have to let me.” He shook her arms out, trying to get her to loosen up. “I won’t pressure you to divulge information you’re not comfortable with sharing, but believe me when I say it would be a whole lot easier to help if I knew what the big secret is all about.”
“It’s not my secret to tell.”
He gave her a tight smile and nodded. “All right then. Fair enough. We’ll just focus on some general strength building and hope it’s enough for now. In time, perhaps you’ll feel you can trust me more, and we can tailor the training to a more specific purpose. Until then, I’m happy to help in any way I can.”
“Thank you for understanding, Drew.”
“Not at all. It’s what we Guardians do.” He gave her that dazzling smile that warmed her from the inside out. “Let’s get started. I want you to close your eyes and go to your sanctuary. You already know that you can draw strength from any form of natural light, but what you may not be aware of is that you can also draw it from other Guardians. The best place to be when trying to do that is in your sanctuary. I assume you’ve been there before, yes?”
She nodded.
“Good. Let’s go there now, shall we?”
Kerrigan inhaled deeply and closed her eyes before letting her breath out slowly. She knew what she needed. She needed to think about Dominic. Thoughts of him were what always helped her in the past. His deep, calming voice, the feel of his icy breath against her skin, the way he looked at her like she was the only person in the world.
But he wasn’t there, and all she could see behind her closed lids was the look of desperation on his face when he had woken to find himself in his ghostly form. As if channeling his fear, invisible walls shot up between her mind’s eye and her inner sanctuary. She pushed and shoved and tried to force her way through but to no avail.
Her shoulders slumped, and she shook her head. “I can’t do it.”
“Yes, you can.” Drew’s voice was quiet, reassuring, but it still wasn’t Dominic’s.
“Maybe this will help.” He inched forward until his bare knees touched hers, and then he placed her hands on his thighs, covering them with his own. “I want you to use my energy. It will solidify the connection.”
That feeling that passed between them when they touched became stronger, the vibration numbing her skin.
“There. Can you feel it?” His voice was closer than she expected, mere inches from her ear. “Feel me, Kerrigan. Draw your strength from me, from our connection.”
Strength. It was what she needed more than anything. For him. For Dominic. For their unborn child. She had to become stronger for their family, and if she had to draw that strength from Drew, she would.
She felt a breeze brush her cheek, stirring the thick tendrils of her ponytail down her back. She inhaled deeply, the scent of honeysuckle and orange blossoms filling her olfactory senses. And then suddenly, the walls in her mind fell, steel curtains dissipating into nothingness. She was in her sanctuary, surrounded by a garden in full bloom. The birds in the trees sang her a song of welcome, and she swayed along to their melody. The rays of the sun kissed her skin with their warmth. A light breeze stirred up a cornucopia of scents that swirled around her—fresh air, damp earth, and fragrant flowers.
But where was Dominic?
She furrowed her brows and tensed, an action Drew didn’t miss. She was having difficulty focusing. He lifted her hands until their palms were touching and laced his fingers through hers.
“Calm yourself. You’re there, aren’t you?”
Kerrigan nodded.
“Good. Now I want you to concentrate on the place where our hands are joined. Pull my energy into you.”
In her mind’s eye, she looked around her garden sanctuary, desperately seeking Dominic. He was nowhere to be found. “I can’t do it. He’s not here, and I can’t do it without him.”
“Who? Who are you looking for?”
“Dominic. He’s always there.”
“Use me, Kerrigan. You don’t have to have Dominic to pull my energy. Just concentrate on the hum of the energy. You feel it, don’t you? That pull?”
She did. It was like the sun was centered in her palm, and the moon in Drew’s. The push and pull of their combined energy was like two magnets rotating end to end. The moon was sacrificing itself and all of its mystical power to the sun.
Drew leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers. “Take it.”
A bolt of lightning shot through the point where their foreheads touched and raged through her as if it were using her veins to carry its energy. She tightened her fingers around his and held steadfast, letting the energy run its course. White, hot warmth enveloped her, a power so fierce it nearly took her breath away. It was exactly the same way she had felt that night at the graveyard, the night she thwarted Sinclair’s attempt to steal Dominic’s soul.
Meanwhile, back in the house, that old familiar tingling had encroached upon Dominic in the middle of his guitar solo. He dropped the instrument abruptly and excused himself to grab a beer. Leaving Gabe and Colton to fend for themselves for the duration of the song, he hid around the corner and waited for his curse to overtake him, rendering him invisible to the naked eye.
“Goddammit,” he cursed as the change took place.
Not knowing what else to do, he sought out the only person who could offer him even a fraction of comfort. Kerrigan.
Ghosting out onto the back porch, he stopped short. She and Drew were under the magnolia tree, the same tree she had mended with him there to coach her. It sure didn’t take long for her to find a replacement. They were so close to one another—knee to knee, hand to hand. It wasn’t exactly something he was comfortable seeing, but what really sent a spike through his heart was the intimacy he witnessed in their foreheads touching. It was something he and Kerrigan had done on multiple occasions, and always when they were particularly close.
White light i
lluminated the minuscule space between their foreheads and palms, and their fingers were interlaced. Kerrigan’s whole body strained, but the look on her face was of perfect contentment. Whatever they were doing, it was some heavy-duty shit, but he couldn’t stick around to watch it play out. It was just too much for him to bear witness to the special connection she shared with Drew—one that he could never give her. Closing his eyes to the scene, he willed himself to the solace of his room. Alone. He would always be alone.
Oblivious to Dominic’s presence, Kerrigan absorbed all that she could take of Drew’s energy. A grunt of effort pushed its way out of her chest with her determination to save the man she loved. Her existence depended on his.
“That’s enough, Kerrigan,” Drew whispered to her. “Too much at one time could be detrimental to your well-being.”
She ignored his warning and kept pulling the energy, determined to withstand the abundance of his offering.
“Stop...”
Her body was alive with the energy that zinged through her body, each pull boosting her reserves and making her feel high on life. She tightened her grip on Drew’s hand even as she felt him pulling away.
“Enough!”
Her eyes shot open. Drew yanked his head away and pulled his fingers from her grasp, breaking the connection. His breaths were labored, his once golden skin pale, but he finally met her stunned gaze.
“What happened?” she asked in a faint voice.
He forced a smile that looked to take too much effort, given his current condition. “I’ll be fine. Just feeling a little less like running a marathon at the moment.”
Realization dawned on her. He had agreed to share his energy with her to make her stronger, but by doing so, it weakened him.
“Oh, God. I did that to you, didn’t I?” She gently caressed his cheek, stroking the dark ring under his eye. The usual energy that passed between them was markedly fainter than it had been before.
He managed another weak smile. “Par for the course, I’m afraid.” He attempted to hold himself up to stand, but his arm folded, forcing him back into a sitting position.
“Drew! Oh, God... let me help you.” She leaned over to help him to his feet. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t. Don’t be silly. A couple of hours in the sun, and I’ll be good as gold again. It really isn’t a very big deal. I’m a seasoned Guardian, which means that my Light source can also regenerate itself. Just give me a day or so to replenish, and we’ll be ready for another session.” He was on his feet again, but unsteady. He towered over Kerrigan in height, but she still managed to serve as sufficient support.
“I must warn you to be careful about how much of my energy you take into yourself, Miss Cruz. Not for my sake, but for your own. I’m sure you’ve seen the power the Light has when you’ve used it in the past. Power of that magnitude can be too much for a beginning Guardian such as yourself to handle.”
“I’ll handle it just fine. I have to.”
“Yes, well, whatever it is that’s so secretive you can’t tell me, I hope it’s worth it.”
That was the messed-up thing about their situation, wasn’t it? Drew trusted her enough to give her what was essentially a part of him, and she couldn’t tell him why either of them was taking the risk.
She would be careful where he was concerned, but she still had to do it.
She nodded once, resolved in her position. “It’s worth it,” she said, because Dominic was.
Evening came and as the sun set Drew already felt more like himself. Kerrigan kept him company in the garden while he let the sun and his inner Light do what they did best: re-energize him. They passed the time by getting to know each other a little better, which seemed a little backward from what they had just done. After all, a part of him was now of inside her. Not the part a man usually shared with a woman, but something vastly intricate—something deeply-seated in a world hidden to the mortal eye.
He had never shared his Light Source with any other Guardian, but then again, there had never been a need for it before Kerrigan. His father and grandfather had taught him how to do it during one of his many training sessions, just in case. He finally understood the meaning behind the same analogy he had heard from them time and time again over the course of his lifetime—everything happens for a reason. He had been gearing up for this encounter with Kerrigan, and he hadn’t even realized it.
Sitting there with her in her quiet innocence, he doubted she even knew just how epic that was. She had been completely engrossed in the details of his life, and not once did he see her look around for Dominic, even though he knew the man had to have been perfectly aware of his girlfriend’s location. If the roles were reversed, he sure would have been.
He told her the history of his family bloodline, even exposing the truth behind the illegitimate child born to Charles Dickens, and the woman who had only been rumored to have been his mistress. Her name was Ellen Turnan. There was a great deal of speculation that Ellen, a traveling actress, had borne Charles a son, but there was never any proof, no documentation. That was because Charles had burned the records himself in an effort to protect his beloved from ridicule. He had truly loved his legitimate family and hadn’t wanted to cause them any embarrassment because of his obsession with the actress.
Their son, John Dickens, had been hidden away in the English countryside from accusing eyes. While those who suspected his existence believed him dead, he had actually lived a very long and full life, even having children of his own. Drew was a product of that lineage.
Kerrigan was on the edge of her seat, enthralled with the sacred history of his family’s legacy. Although they had been sworn to secrecy, he somehow trusted her with the information.
She opened up to him in kind, but not about her reasons behind needing a surplus of energy so urgently. As promised, he didn’t press her on the matter, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it had everything to do with Dominic Grayson. He just hoped Dominic knew how lucky he was to have a woman who was so willing to take the risks associated with gaining that much power in such a short amount of time.
After hearing the tales of her childhood, as well as the story behind her ex-fiancé, he came to understand her a bit more. It was obvious that she had been lorded over by the men in her life for far longer than she could stand. She was a strong woman and didn’t like to be viewed as someone weak who needed to be taken care of. She was the caregiver, and she preferred it that way. It was a common trait among Guardians.
When she talked about the people she cared about most, he paid close attention to even the smallest changes in her facial expressions. A tiny tug at the corner of her mouth when she mentioned her mother, the subtle furrow of her brow when she spoke of her father, a twitch at the corner of her eye when she brought up Gabe’s many antics, and the way her entire face lit up when he asked about her grandmother—all of them caught his attention and captivated him. She was a very beautiful woman.
And then there was Dominic. Her eyes sparked each and every time she said his name. He found himself wishing he could trade places with the mortal man so that he might sample what it felt like to be adored by such an amazingly stunning woman. It must have been obvious what he was thinking because she suddenly became quiet. Her long lashes brushed her cheeks demurely when she looked up at him and said, “I’m sorry. I’m talking way too much and monopolizing the conversation, aren’t I?”
“Not at all. On the contrary, I love to hear you talk. You’re so animated, like a breath of fresh air. A far cry from the dull and dreary women whose company I usually keep.”
“Oh? Do you have a girlfriend, Drew? I mean, back home in London?”
He chuckled. “I’m afraid not. I haven’t been fortunate enough to find a woman with even a fraction of your ability to hold my attention. You fascinate me, Miss Cruz.”
Kerrigan sat back in her chair and looked away bashfully.
“Have I made you uncomfortable?”
/> She shook her head and redirected the subject back to him. “I just find it hard to believe that a man like you doesn’t have women crawling out of the woodwork. I mean, you’re intelligent, charismatic, and your personality couldn’t be any more perfect.”
“Ah, all the things one says about an unsightly person when trying to set them up on a blind date.” He laughed.
Kerrigan rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I mean. You’ve seen yourself in the mirror, Drew. You know how handsome you are. You don’t need me to point out the obscenely obvious.”
“To answer your question... I do attract my fair share of the opposite sex. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m of the near-extinct breed that believes a man should choose a partner with whom they have something in common, someone he can talk to, someone who understands him. The only woman I’ve ever met who fits that criterion seems to already be taken.” He held her gaze, making certain she knew to whom he was referring.
“Yo, Kerr!” Colton yelled from the back porch, disrupting the moment and causing her to jump. “We want to order pizza! What’ll you have?”
“Just cheese for me, please!” she called back.
“Pfft, cheese. You women kill me.” He hammered on his chest and gave a guttural grunt. “Me man. Me want meat. Am I right, Drew? Tell me to pile on the meat, man. Please! I’m begging you.”
Drew laughed, but kept his eyes on Kerrigan. “None for me, thank you.”
Colton shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He turned and disappeared back into the house.
Drew stood. “I need to get back to the hotel. Akasha gets cranky when she’s kept out late. Isn’t that right, girl?”
The bulldog gave him a snort in answer and slowly rose to her feet, which looked like it took a great deal of effort. Millie jumped up from his spot beside Kerrigan’s chair and stretched his short legs out in front of him, arching his back.
“You’re sure you won’t stay?” she asked, standing as well.