Devotion

what's causing it.'

I sat up again and pulled my knees under my chin. 'We have to figure it out, Tristan. I just got you back. I can't lose him.'

'We will, my love. But you really do need to relax.' His hand slid up my spine and massaged my neck. 'You're so tense. We can't solve this tonight, and as I've said before, we have time. You can't be like this for the next several years.'

'You still think we have that long? Even after today?'

'It's hard to say. I guess we have to have faith, don't we? We have to trust, Lex.'

I snorted. 'Trust is not exactly my strong suit.'

'I'm not asking you to trust a stranger. You know who you need to trust for this. Let it go. You need to if you're going to do any of us any good.' He pulled me down into his arms and nibbled my ear lobe. 'I'll take your mind off of it.'

I cringed from the tickle–and the total turn-on. 'I can't, Tristan. I just … can't.'

'Again, you're worrying too much.' His lips traveled along my jaw. His hand slid along my side, under and up my new pajama top that had magically appeared along with a pile of other clothes in our suite this afternoon.

'Please?' I nearly begged.

'I thought so,' he murmured against my chin.

'No … I mean …' I could barely talk, my heart rate and breath already speeding. I tightened my hand over his arm and pulled it away. 'Please. Don't.'

'Are you sure?' His lips lightly pressed against each corner of my mouth, then dead center. My resolve melted into the kiss. And he was right–this would take our minds off all our worries. Except one. One that was screaming louder and louder. The horror of the other night.

I placed my hands between us, against his chest. 'Yes, I'm sure. I don't want to be. But I am.'

He lay down and intertwined our fingers, then pressed the back of my hand against his lips.

'Okay. I can be patient,' he said.

'Let's make a deal. If you don't pressure me on this, I'll try to relax about the other things.'

'I wouldn't pressure you anyway, my love. I want to relieve you of worry, not add to it.' He wrapped his arm around my waist and turned me so my back pressed against his chest–and my butt against his still-hard groin. I sighed. 'We'll figure out something. For all of it. Relax, Lex. Get some rest.'

I tried to relax under his normally calming touch, tried to melt into his embrace, but what he didn't say, what he knew would only make me feel worse, lurked with everything else in the corners of my mind: no sex meant no baby girl. And we had to try, in case I had completely misunderstood the thoughts about the mysterious girl. How could I ever humiliate myself like that again, though?

* * *

Life on the island fell into a routine. While Mom and Rina taught Dorian history and languages in the morning, Tristan and Char taught me how to fight. At least, that was the goal, they said, but, so far, everything was about training my muscles until things became automatic–things such as punches, chops, kicks, handsprings and flips. I'd yet to learn any real fighting or anything about weapons, and I wondered if Tristan purposely prolonged the training process, not wanting me to learn them. He'd said he wanted to prepare me for anything, but he could have fooled me. In the afternoons, Tristan taught Dorian math and science while I practiced my telepathy on anyone who was nearby, then I took over with Dorian, working on his English, reading and grammar. Not exactly a Norman's routine, but regardless of how different the actual tasks were from real life, routine still became mundane.

Dorian's birthday broke up the monotony. Mom and Char threw him a big party–big for him, anyway. With Tristan and me, Mom, Owen, Rina, Solomon, Char, Martin and Ophelia, it was the biggest birthday party Dorian ever had. He didn't care no other children attended. He'd never been one to hang out with kids his own age anyway. In fact, he could barely get along with them.

'Dad said I can get a puppy!' Dorian exclaimed as he ran circles around my chair on the lawn.

I turned toward Tristan to throw him a look of annoyance, but had to fight a smile instead. Wearing jeans, a t-shirt, an apron and a chef's hat and flipping burgers and steaks on the grill, he could have been any Norman dad on a Spring Sunday afternoon. Though, unlike most dads, he looked more delicious than any food and sizzled hotter than any steak. I almost giggled at the thought, giddy with how perfect today felt. Life had been nearly normal like this once not too long ago, before the Ang'dora. Yet, without Tristan, it had been incomplete. Now I felt emotionally whole … almost. A daughter was the final missing piece.

'Oh, really?' I said.

Tristan grinned and shrugged. 'Sure. Why not?'

'I've been good,' Dorian said, making a figure eight around Mom and me. 'You and Mimi said I could have a dog if I didn't get in another fight before my birthday. Now it's my birthday and I didn't fight.'

I laughed.

'You haven't been around any kids to get in a fight with,' Mom pointed out.

That didn't matter to Dorian. He practically sang, 'I'm getting a dog! I'm getting a dog!'

'We said we'd talk about it,' I reminded him. He stopped dead in his tracks, and the big grin turned into the saddest frown I'd ever seen. His bottom lip started to tremble.

'That's what you say when you mean no,' he said, his voice quavering.

My heart broke. I didn't want to tell him no. In fact, I wanted to give him anything in the world I could, even the moon, if it meant he'd stay with us and never leave. I wasn't beyond bribing him. But a dog was too impractical for our crazy lives. How could we make such a promise? What was Tristan thinking?

'No, it means we have to wait until we have our own house,' I said, taking his hands and pulling him into a hug. 'We can't have a dog at Rina's and we don't know when we'll be moving to our own house. But, when we do, if our house is good for a dog, well …'

'We'll get you a dog, little man,' Tristan said. 'We just don't know when. Okay?'

Dorian looked at me and behind me at Tristan, then nodded. Then he was bouncing out of my arms toward Owen, who held the football he'd given Dorian for his birthday. Ophelia took over the grill so Tristan could play with them. Char, Martin, Solomon and Mom joined in the game, and I stood up, too.

'Alexis.' Rina's voice rang loudly in my head. I peered over at where she stood, off to the side of the party. Even at a child's birthday party on the lawn, she wore a long, sequined ball gown that sparkled like champagne in the sun. 'I would like you to practice with me.'

The group had already divvied into teams and started their game. As I headed toward Rina, I hoped Dorian wouldn't get an urge to do something … unusal.

Okay. What do you want me to do?

'Let down your wall. Hear their thoughts. They should be harmless enough while they are playing. How many can you hear at once?'

I dissolved my wall into a screen and let everyone's mind signatures float in and around me. I latched onto Dorian's thoughts, which were single-minded and simple at the moment. Understanding what Rina meant, that they would be focused on the game and their thoughts wouldn't be threatening or overwhelming, I felt enough courage to try another. Keeping Dorian's thoughts running in one part of my mind, I grabbed onto Tristan's and then Owen's, but I couldn't focus on any of them. Tristan had many thoughts running through his mind at once, and all of them jumbled together with Dorian's and Owen's into a mind-piercing cacophony. I instantly pushed them all away at once without realizing I did so until a deafening silence filled my head. Then came Rina's voice.

'Take a walk with me,' she said.

I strode off after her into the woods, toward the beach where Tristan and I had first arrived on the island. We walked several minutes in silence until we hit sand, when Rina stopped and gazed out at the sea. Waves came and went, spraying foam as they crashed their way onto the beach then swirled in their retreat, building up for the next attack.

'You have been practicing and have become stronger,' Rina finally said. 'Do you feel it?'

'I think so. I mean, I can identify every mind signature of everyone at the mansion–all of us, the staff … I can tell when Charlotte comes on the grounds for training.'

'How far out can you go?'