Sitting around Xtina and Mike’s living room and listening to everyone fill each other in on what they had experienced during their… moment was one of the strangest things Tara had ever done.
She and Colt had been the last to wake from the trance. Seeing everyone stand over them when she woke, she hadn’t known everyone else had experienced anything until they had all started talking.
It appeared that most of them had witnessed a coming event in the silo. Once again, they were all gathered around in a circle. Only this time, they weren’t fighting Thanatos. This time they were all pitted against one another.
“I don’t know what caused the fight,” Jess said, “but I was kicking some serious butt.” She turned to her husband. “Your butt,” she added with a smirk.
“Right.” Jacob laughed. “The way I saw things, I had you right where I wanted you.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“But you were fighting, right?” Mike asked.
“Sure, but…” Jess started.
“There is no way that would ever happen,” they both said together.
“Okay, so what? What we just saw was a lie?” Xtina asked. “Because there are times Mike may piss me off, but I can’t ever imagine bashing him over the head like…” She visibly shivered.
“Yeah, I was hoping that wasn’t going to really happen,” Mike added, rubbing his head. “I guess I need to hit the flower shop when I’m in town next.”
“Let’s assume that what we all just witnessed was a lie,” Jess said. “Did anyone see anything different than all of us in the silo fighting one another?”
“Yes,” Colt said, taking her hand.
She sat there while he explained what he’d seen and remained silent. She had witnessed everything he had, but there were some differences.
While he’d said that he was in the scenes, she’d watched from far away, almost as if she had been watching the scenes unfold on a television.
When Colt was done telling his tale, everyone watched them.
“So, what, reincarnation?” Xtina asked.
“No,” she said softly, getting everyone’s attention.
“How do you know?” Colt asked her.
“Because, in each life, we were tied to one another,” she said simply.
“Fated,” Jess said softly. Then she visibly shivered and stood up quickly. “I’m done for the night,” she said with a yawn. “You have the day off tomorrow.” She turned to Tara. “I still have to be in to work early, so I’m calling it a night.” She bent down and picked up her son, who had been playing with a toy truck.
Colt held her hand as they left with everyone else. They walked back out to his truck.
When they got to the hotel, he helped her out of the truck and pulled her into his arms. “You’re quiet,” he said, running his eyes over her face.
“I…” She shook her head. “How about a walk?” she asked, motioning towards the small park near the hotel.
“Sure.” Colt took her hand and headed off across the parking lot. “At least the rain has stopped.”
“It’s still cold, but living in the Northwest, I suppose you are used to it,” she said, pulling her jacket closer around her.
“Somehow it’s colder here.” He shook his head. “I suppose because there’s more moisture in the air.” He sighed and stopped by the swing set. “Want to tell me what is on your mind?” he said, motioning for her to sit down.
When she did, he started pushing the swing lightly, sending her back and forth.
She took a deep breath, enjoying the swaying.
“I saw my death,” she blurted out.
Colt grabbed the chain and stopped the swing, then stepped in front of her. The light from the parking lot washed over them, and she could see he had a serious look his face.
“You did?” he asked.
“Not… I mean, all of my deaths. In…” She waved her hand. “In our past lives or whatever it was we saw.”
“Oh,” he said softly. “That must have been hard.” He frowned. “All of them?” She nodded. He pulled her up and into his arms. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t see yours?” she asked, somehow already knowing the answer.
“No, just… flashes of moments.”
She nodded her head. “Good.” She sighed.
“Why?” He pulled back and looked down at her.
She took a deep breath, took a step back, and looked him in the eyes. “Because each one of my deaths, in one way or another, was because of you.”
He was silent for a moment. “What the hell?” He turned away from her and ran his hands through his hair. “What am I supposed to do with that knowledge?” he asked. She understood he wasn’t asking her, not really. He paced for a moment, then he turned back to her, and she could see his worry.
Walking back over to him, she wrapped her arms around him. “You never hurt me yourself. I know you’d never do that.” She pulled him down to place her lips over his. “Each time, it broke your heart that I was gone.”
He rested his forehead on hers. “No, I’d never hurt you,” he agreed. “Now we know, at least, why it feels like we’ve known each other forever.” He looked into her eyes. “It’s been several lifetimes.”
She smiled. “That doesn’t diminish how much I want you,” she said, taking his hand. “For now, let’s enjoy one another.”
He nodded and started walking her back to their hotel room. The moment the door shut behind them, his mouth covered hers. The kiss was familiar yet felt new with the added passion. Each time they’d been together before now, he’d been gentle, passionate, and had taken it slow. Now, however, there was a renewed urgency. As if they both knew they had less than a week left together.
There was something building in both of them, and she was desperate to get her hands on him. All of him.
She pushed his jacket off his shoulders and then yanked his T-shirt over his head. Then she leaned down to run her teeth over his shoulder.
“Tara,” Colt growled out, but she reached for the buckle on his jeans.
“You feel it too,” she said, trailing her mouth down his chest until she took his flat nipple into her mouth and sucked until he groaned.
Then he switched their positions, pushing her jacket and shirt off her until she was bare for him. He backed her up against the door as his mouth trailed the same pathway on her as she had on him.
She arched and moaned his name as he nudged her bra aside to uncover one of her erect nipples, taking it into his mouth and sucking. Her fingernails dug into his hair as he trailed his mouth over her skin, causing goose bumps to rise everywhere.
“Colt,” she cried out when his hands moved down her back, her sides, and cupped her rear. He hoisted her up until she wrapped her legs around him and carted her towards the bed.
They fell on the mattress in a heap. His mouth covered hers again as they raced to remove the rest of their clothing. They were both a little breathless when the last of the barriers were removed.
“I want to watch you come for me,” he growled next to her inner thigh as his breath washed over her. “I want to taste you,” he said, covering her, using his tongue to bring her to the edge.
“Please.” She closed her eyes, feeling the tears build up, fearing that what they had wouldn’t last. She felt, somehow, that this time would be the last. Keeping her eyes closed tightly, she shook her head and held onto that moment. She needed it. Needed him. As much as he needed her.
“Come for me,” Colt begged. “Let go,” he said against her skin.
When the lights exploded behind her eyes and she felt everything that had built up inside her release, she cried out.
“Shh, I’m here,” Colt said softly next to her ear.
“Please stay,” she said with a sigh.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, slowly slipping into her.
She wrapped herself around him, trying to hold onto him. Willing the moment to last many more lifetimes, even as she knew it wouldn’t.
For the first time in days, she fell asleep easily in his arms afterwards. Thankfully, she had a few hours of peaceful slumber before the dreams took her.
Tonight, thankfully, it was her mother’s turn to appear to her.
“I’m almost there my sweet,” she said in a soothing voice. This time they were in a field. The sky was filled with the bright colors of a sunset. She could just make out the stars in the distant darkening sky. She stood in a white billowing dress, much like her mother wore herself. Her long blonde hair flowed in the warm night air. Her mother appeared no older than herself. If they’d been standing side by side, they could easily be mistaken for sisters. Well, except they didn’t really look anything alike.
Tara’s blonde hair and green eyes were the opposite of her mother’s darker hair and deep brown eyes.
“Mom? Where is Selene?” she asked. Each time her mother had appeared to her, she had asked for more information on her sisters’ whereabouts. Every single time, her mother had skirted her questions.
“She’ll find you soon enough,” her mother responded. “When it’s time.”
“Is Typhon really my father?” she asked. Her mother nodded. “What about my dad? What about Jason Dawson?” she asked as her heart broke a little for the man who had loved and raised her.
“One of the many mortals I’ve loved. I thought it best to leave you with him, knowing you would be safe. I hated deceiving him and letting him believe that you were his, but he served his purpose,” her mother said with a shrug.
“Is that what you did with Selene?” Tara asked. “Is she with another one of your… unsuspecting exploits?”
“She is not the chosen one.” Her mother shrugged.
“Chosen?” Tara shook her head. “What does that mean?”
Instead of answering, her mother smiled. “Selene is somewhere that she was able to grow up safely,” her mother responded.
“On this Earth?” Tara asked. Her mother’s dark eyebrow rose slightly.
Her mother shrugged. “Worlds are no more than a reflection.”
“What does that even mean?” she asked.
Her mother smiled. “Soon enough, daughter, you will have the answers you seek.”
As with each time her mother had visited her, the darkness started to surround them and before she could blink, the vision of her mother was gone. She felt Colt’s warm breath on her neck as the feeling of his arms surrounding her allowed her to relax back into sleep.
As she showered and dressed the following morning, she ran everything over in her mind. It was less than five days before the Harvest Moon, when her mother would be there.
She had assumed that was when her father would be there also. Maybe they had more time? Maybe her mother was coming to help them?
Something deep inside her told her that wasn’t the case. She doubted her mother was evil, like Typhon was, but still, she was having a difficult time trusting the woman who had abandoned her.
Over the last week, she’d slowly let her guard down. Even though she was having nightly nightmares about her parents and the coming darkness overtaking the world, being around Colt and the others had allowed her to feel safe.
At least she wasn’t in this alone.
She’d come a long way from the naive girl in the princess dress living in a castle on the hill. When she’d been growing up, she would have never been caught trucking through the woods or sleeping in a van. She’d had a canopy bed with silk sheets and had strolled through expensive shops, spending her father’s money.
“Getting lost in thought?” Colt asked her as she pulled on her hiking boots.
She smiled up at him. “I was just thinking about how much has changed in my life.”
He sat next to her on the bed. “This life or since all the others?” he said, nudging her shoulder.
She chuckled. “This one.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “You wouldn’t think of it to look at me now, but I was raised with extreme privilege.”
“Oh?” He glanced down at her. “I can still see some princess in there.” He tapped her nose playfully.
She sat up and turned towards him. “My mother left me there. To be raised by…”
“Your father,” he broke in. “From what you’ve told me of the man, he was a loving, caring man who loved you and made sure you had everything you ever wanted growing up.”
She was silent for a moment, thinking. “Do you think he’s still out there? Wondering what happened to me?” she asked.
Over the years she’d pushed that question, those thoughts, to the back of her mind. She would be heartbroken to know that he’d been searching for her. That she’d been the one who had disappeared that day in front of everyone. After all, she’d been the one who had been whisked away to another Earth, not everyone else and not her home.
Was it still sitting on the hill, overlooking a town that was not in this world? Were her dad and stepmother searching everywhere for her, heartbroken about the daughter they had lost?
“Hey.” Colt wrapped his arms around her and held onto her. “When this is all over, maybe we can find a way back to them,” he suggested. “After all, Joleen was able to go between worlds.”
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “You’re right.” She felt a little better. “I’d like that.” She looked into his eyes and touched his cheek. “Exploring different worlds with you.”