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The Keeper looked up through the water at the child on the rocks above him. He saw her gaze sweep the surface, searching the water. Perhaps the light glancing off the waves obscured him from the child’s vision. Or perhaps she no longer saw them? Saw him?
Just a few months had passed since last their paths crossed. So, she would be seven, or eight, perhaps. He didn’t blame her for staying away since that dark day. He came here often, and hadn’t seen her here since then. Now, at last, she had returned to the Cove.
And now that he had seen her, he wouldn’t stay. He shouldn’t even have come. But that last day, the pain of it, was seared into his heart. He hadn’t been able to stop worrying that the child might be suffering.
He always left the others behind, moving swiftly, careful not to go beyond the limits of their connection and thus draw them after him too soon. It was better they never returned. Better that the others, especially Jarrod, forgot this child existed. He wished he could forget; wished he could forget that day.
He sank deeper and pressed his back to the sharp rock, allowing the long seaweed fronds to enfold and hide him in their tickling embrace. He remained there, motionless, until he could master himself. His pain was nothing new. He was here to learn of hers. And he had.
She was bereft. But stronger than she knew. The warmth in her heart wouldn’t let bitterness take root. He had listened to her as she spoke to the waves. Had heard her sorrow. He struggled to swallow back the emotion that choked him.
Finally, moving out from beneath the shadow of seaweed and rock, he rose closer to the surface than before. At that moment, she looked down. Their eyes met. Hers widened, and her face lit up. It was like being punched through his chest. Being seen. Remembered. He’d missed it more than he had realised.
The joy on her face made his heart hurt. He couldn’t just leave, rejecting and dimming that light in her eyes. Perhaps just a word of comfort and kindness. For the years they had been friends; Elise, Skye, himself, others of his clan. Tobias. He rose until his head and shoulders broke the surface.
“Hello, Skye,” he said, his voice hoarse with lack of use.
“I knew I didn’t imagine you,” she breathed. “Have you seen my mum? Wait until I tell my dad you’re real!”
He froze, staring at her. His heart plummeted. He hadn’t thought of this. The danger. His people were Hidden from all but this one. If she should reveal their existence... And the danger to her: in her youth and loneliness, knowing of them, searching for her mother, she might follow him. She would be lost. It was unthinkable.
“I don’t want to swim...” she looked past him to the water, and the fear in her gaze filled him with sadness. Her love of the sea, gone? “But could you talk here?”
Her sad face and wistful tone undid him. The sea surrounded the rocky outcrop on either side. He could safely join her. Hunter pulled himself easily from the water and sat beside her on the warm rock, feeling that his coldness warmed just a little in the light of her happiness. He wouldn’t abandon her now. But to keep all of them safe - her and his clan - when he left he’d leave no memory of himself behind.
*
HUNTER’S VISITS TO Ciarlan Cove had become the single point of happiness in his empty life. Mostly, she wasn’t there. Sometimes she was. And when they talked, every time he left, he made sure it was as if it never happened. As if he didn’t exist. It felt like cutting out his own heart.
He told himself that it was just to comfort a grieving child. She was given a brief connection to a time when everything was fine. But he knew he wasn’t being completely truthful. He was as selfish as any of his clan by putting her at risk. His people had brought nothing but misery to her small family. He hid his visits here well, to ensure he did not remind his clan of this place, of this child. But if he lingered, eventually they would follow.
Jarrod returned to his thoughts. Jarrod had given too much thought all those years ago to this child’s future, to the threat of her, and the promise. He was dangerous, because she was. She could see them. She had made them visible to Elise without Mesmer.
And now, leaving childhood behind her, she was lovelier with each passing year. Hunter’s heart burned. He must keep her safe from his clan. And that included him.
He left the Bay slowly. His determination to protect her by leaving forever wasn’t weakening: there was simply no reason for speed. The bleakness of his existence stretched out before him. All he had was time.
