Promise

more like you than you realize.'

'You keep saying that and I believe it…although I still really don't know who I am.'

'I'm sorry I can't tell you, but it's not my place.' He kissed the back of my head. 'If you pay attention to your mom and to me—and really believe we're very much alike—you'll get an idea of who you'll become.'

'Hmm…good idea. So, we missed your birthday. I'll have to make that up to you.'

'No need. I prefer not to acknowledge it,' he said sadly. I realized the real meaning of his dislike for Halloween.

'So are you twenty-one now?'

'My age is irrelevant. I can be whatever you'd like me to be.'

'Well, I'm eighteen, almost nineteen…' I sucked in my breath as a thought occurred to me and I giggled. 'You know, you are quite the dirty old man!'

He chuckled quietly in my ear. 'I guess you could look at it that way. But I'd rather not. Let's say I'm twenty, okay?'

'Okay. That works for me. So, how'd you meet Mom? During the war, I mean.'

'She was a nurse, I was a soldier.'

'You were a soldier? You fought in the war? Wait…which side were you on?'

He sighed. 'I've fought in many wars and most of the time not on the side you would prefer. But, in that one, I was on the Allied side. The Daemoni had an ulterior motive for me with some American soldiers.'

'Oh.' I didn't know how to respond.

'I never completed it, though.'

'Why not?'

'One of my…targets…was severely wounded. Sophia took care of him. I knew who she was, but I couldn't bring myself to do what I'd been created for. She was so tender and caring. She didn't know this guy at all, but she showed so much… love for this complete stranger.' He paused. 'That's when I first started to comprehend the action of love—not the emotion, but at least what it looks like in action. I'd always hated the way I was, but I didn't know any other way. Not until then. So I left her alone, left him alone. He became an influential reverend and then U.S. senator—that's why I was supposed to take him out. So, I considered leaving the Daemoni then. I started thinking about whether I could be any different. It took nearly forty years, though, before I knew for sure I could change—the next time I met Sophia, when she took me to the Amadis.'

Wow . Tears filled my eyes. 'She saved you,' I whispered.

'Yes, she did,' he whispered, too. 'That's how I knew I was okay with her—I could be around her without any of those…urges—and I just had to worry about you. I knew she wanted me to stay away from you, but I couldn't, and it was difficult to defy her like I did. I owe everything to Sophia—more than just my life. So much more.'

We lay there silently for a minute or so. I thought he was done, but then he continued. 'When I joined the Amadis, I shed that old life permanently, Alexis. It was like a rebirth. I took the name Tristan Knight and started a whole new life, never looking back. I need you to understand that.'

'I know already,' I said quietly, squeezing his hand. 'And, in that way, you are only around twenty.'

'Yes, that's how I like to look at it.' I could hear the smile in his voice. 'Now, can we change the subject? Or go to sleep?'

Sleep? Yeah, right.

'If you wanted to sleep, you should've gone home.'

He chuckled. 'Then ask a different question. Preferably, something about the present. The past is gone and I'd rather you not think of me the way I was.'

'To me, you'll always be my sweet Tristan. I love the person you are now. We can leave the past where it belongs.'

He hugged me tighter in appreciation. I kissed his hand while I thought about an easier topic.

'Do you really do all that stock market and consulting stuff? Or was that just a cover?' I finally asked.

'No, I do that. I tried to be as honest as I could with you. The consulting I do is for the Amadis. And one of my abilities is I can open my mind to see all the possibilities in a situation and identify the best solution or path to take, as long as I have the facts. So that stuff is easy to me.'

'Wow. That must make school easy. But why do you even bother with school anyway?'

'Right now, as I said, to meet and get to know you. And it's an appropriate thing to do at my age.'

'Isn't it boring? I mean, surely you've learned all this before, especially these lower level classes.'

'If I'm actually going for a degree, yes, some things can be repetitive. But many things have changed so much over the years that much of it is new to me, too.'

'How many degrees do you have ?'

He chuckled lightly in my ear. 'Three bachelor's—finance, engineering and architecture—and an MBA. I've done the medical thing a couple of times, because medicine really has changed over my time.'

'Wow,' I breathed. 'That's… incredible . You don't act or talk like you're so educated. I mean, not that you act stupid or anything, you just don't…talk down to me or the others, I guess.'

'I adapt, remember? I become the person I need to be for the situation.'

'Hmm…' This bothered me. I couldn't help but wonder how much he'd adapted himself to be the person he needed to be for me.

He seemed to read my mind. 'Don't worry…I'm still me. Well, the me I want to be,' he said. 'I just meant the way I talk, the words I use…. The reason I believe we are meant to be together, why I said soul mates earlier, is because, first of all, you are the only one who has made me capable of loving, and secondly, because I can be the me I want to be and it works with you.'

'It works very well,' I agreed, comforted. 'Tell me about this healing stuff. I mean, how you can heal other people. Mom and I can't do that. Well, I don't think Mom can.'

'You won't know what you can do until after the Ang'dora . But, for me, every ability I have is more powerful than anyone else's. The healing ability is strong in my DNA, so, in my saliva, in my blood….'

'Oh. So what are your other abilities? What does it mean to be the ultimate warrior?'

He sighed. 'It means they designed me to be nearly perfect in mind and body to win any type of battle… mental or physical. They gave me the best offenses and the best defenses. But, I'm not completely infallible. I have my weakness….' His voice trailed off.

'My kind?'

'You specifically…in so many ways.'

'What do you mean?' I wanted to turn over, to see his face, but he held me tightly.

'You not only tempt my innate inhuman urges, but also my very basic, human desires. We are hazardous to each other. And I am weak to your happiness, so anything you ask of me, I will probably give. But the worst of it is if others—the Daemoni—see my love for you, they will know they can use it against me…which means hurting you.'

'That's why they can't see us together. Why we had to stay away from the media tonight.'

'Exactly. This is a dangerous love we share.'

'So they'll come after us?' I inhaled sharply as a sudden realization hit me. 'Oh, holy crap! They've already come after me! They attacked me in Virginia, before we moved here. That had to be them.'

I started shaking uncontrollably. Tristan tightened his hold.

'It's okay, ma lykita . You're protected. They don't even know where you are.'

I gulped. 'Are you sure?'

'I'm positive. I keep my feelers out and they have no idea. You're safe.'

I didn't even realize how heavy that stress pressed on me until that moment. Those words released the pressure tightening my chest and for the first time in months, I could breathe fully and freely without that fear weighing me down.

'Besides, you have me now. Your ultimate warrior. I'm kind of created to kick some serious ass.' Although he lay behind me, in the dark, I knew he was grinning. I relaxed in his arms.

We lay in silence for a while. The green numbers on my clock glowed 3:14. I started to feel tired and my mind finally wound down. The electric currents had settled down, too.

'Tristan?' I asked, wondering if he was still awake.