“Eric! Oh my God, please wake up, please!” I could hardly see through all the tears, but I felt his neck to make sure he had a pulse. He was still breathing, so CPR wouldn’t help, but I needed something to do other than wait for him to wake up.
After what felt like hours, Eric stirred, garnering him all of my attention. I moved the golden curls off his forehead for what must have been the hundredth time in the past few minutes, not sure what else to do.
He opened his eyes and looked around, disoriented and confused, but alive.
“Are you okay?” I asked, keeping my hand on his shoulder so he wouldn’t stand up too quickly.
“I’m fine,” he said, still trying to get his bearings.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to… I would never want to hurt you.”
“I know.”
“This is what I was talking about. I can’t control it and people get hurt and I am so sorry.” The tears were warm as they ran down my cheeks, softening Eric.
“You have nothing to apologize for.” His eyes finally focused on me.
“I thought you were dead.” The sobs shook me as the adrenaline lost its purpose.
“I’m right here. I’m fine. It was my fault,” he took me into his arms.
“I nearly killed you,” I moved back so I could see his face, but stayed close enough that his arms were still around me. “I’m a death magnet. Everyone I care about dies.” My breathing was back to normal, so I wasn’t sobbing anymore, but the tears kept falling.
“I don’t even have a scratch on me,” he lied. There was no way landing on the wall of the well didn’t do any damage, but he looked more worried about me than himself.
“I’ll bring you back to Charlie’s, then I’ll stay away,” I decided.
“You don’t have to leave,” he took my hand in his. I looked to him, so grateful for what he was trying to do, but I couldn’t forgive myself if it happened again.
“Let’s get you home,” I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile, then helped him stand.
We each took our own horse, but it was like they knew something was up. They stayed close together, so I could convince myself that I could catch him if he fell.
Eric stayed quiet until we arrived at the stables. He got off his horse and looked at me with the same concern I was looking at him with, only he didn’t have my guilt.
“Can we talk about this, or were you planning on pretending nothing happened?” his look gave me the impression Option Two wouldn’t be happening.
“You can ask,” I said quietly. “But you’re sure you’re okay? Maybe we should take you to a clinic, just to be safe?”
“I’ve had way worse. I’m tougher than I look,” he gave me a sad smile.
“I slammed you into a stone wall. With supernatural force,” I reminded him.
“I touched you without asking,” He shrugged.
“To stop me from falling flat on my face,” I looked at him like he was insane to compare the two.
“You’re more beat up about it than I am,” he pointed out.
“I never meant to hurt you. To hurt anyone. It scares me,” I explained. Even Annabelle’s enthusiasm for the magic died when she realized it was real.
“Do you want to start at the beginning?” he offered.
“My beginning was normal.” I never thought I would look back fondly on the days when I was just a little girl whose family kept dying around her.
“Until?” he pressed.
“Prom,” I said simply, telling him how I escaped from the window and ran into Gabriel, who whisked me off to the plantation after telling me he promised my ancestor to protect her line until she returned. How he couldn’t die until that happened. I told him how the bad guys found us, so we fled, visiting other Gifteds. But the bad guys kept finding us. I struggled to tell him about the motel, how I have a birthmark the Big Bad is after, so he gave me the choice to go willingly, but I didn’t. I chose to fight instead, so Sam fought with me and he died. They still got me and took me across the country with them until I escaped by killing someone and the guys found me.
“They said it would be over then, at least for a bit, but it wasn’t. This lady found me in the washroom, and she was coming at me, but when I put out my hands, as if they could protect me...she disappeared.”
“Into thin air?” he asked, being amazingly quiet throughout my entire tale.
“She was gone, but there was a pile of ash on the floor. We realized they found us with a tracker they put in Gabriel, so Embry took it out and we came here, where the guys decided I had magical powers and now they’re trying to train me, so the Big Bad won’t get me.” I waited for his reaction, but he was taking his time, considering everything I told him.
“I guess I’m glad you only threw me into a wall and didn’t turn me to dust.” I looked to him, horrified, but he was smiling.
“This isn’t funny,” I warned.
“I know, but I would rather see you laugh about it than cry.”
“What kind of person would that make me?”
“One who made a mistake, because she can’t control a new gift she never asked for, but who would never hurt a soul otherwise.”
“A gift?” I asked.
“What kid doesn’t wish for superpowers?” was his defense.
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
“But it could be,” he shrugged. “You could figure out how to use them and become a superhero. Teleport places. Fly,” he gave me options.
“I don’t think it works like that,” I argued, but he succeeded in making me smile.
It started to rain, so he took my hand as we ran to Charlie’s, not stopping until we had shelter.
“What time do you leave tomorrow?” I asked him.
“Early.” I could tell there was something he wanted to say, but I wasn’t ready for him to make me feel better.
“Take care Eric,” I gave him a goodbye hug, letting it last longer than I had intended, before leaving him standing there.
I walked in the direction of the villa, but I was overwhelmed by everything that happened in the past few months. I wanted to run, I wanted to punch things, I wanted to cry…I settled for a run through the trails in the rain, so I couldn’t even tell if I was crying anymore. My legs burned and my shoes were soaked through, but I kept going until I had nothing left.
I walked back from the stables, taking a detour on the way to the villa so I could check in on Eric, maybe see him through the windows. I was walking around to the back patio when Charlie nearly made me jump out of my skin.
“He went to bed early. He has a lunch thing at school tomorrow.” He was sitting on a patio chair.
“He told you?” I asked, walking over. He looked concerned, but not afraid of me, so Eric mustn’t have told him everything.
“Enough,” he agreed. “How are you sweetie?”
“I just wanted to make sure Eric is okay,” I told him.
“I’m making some tea; would you like some?”
“I’m okay,” I said, looking over to the villa. It was getting dark out, so the guys were either still out and I should be worried, or I was in trouble.
“Eric thought you might need some time,” he caught my look.
“They know too?” I asked.
“They were worried when you didn’t come back, but Eric was home, the horses were in the stables…”
“I should head over.”
“He’ll be fine,” he assured me. I just wasn’t sure I would.