I roll over giving him my back, but that’s so he can pull me against his front. I’ll never get used to the warmth that immediately lulls me to sleep, but I welcome it.
I look around the room and pinch the underside of my thigh--am I dreaming? Is this my life? I’m in a living room with three shifters, a healer, a witch—I had no idea that’s what Amelia was—and one vampire.
My mind is racing, this is surreal.
Merick’s father stands by the fireplace, staring into the flames. As usual, I can’t hear anything he’s thinking. All I can feel is love and pain. Is this what either Merick or I would feel if either of us lost the other? I place my hand on my stomach as a wave of sadness washes over me. I asked Merick to invite them here because I want to learn the history of Stone Ridge. How did all of these special people end up here? Why is my baby the key to everything?
As I look around the room it’s like this is a TV series about supernatural beings. Everyone looks like they could be a movie star. Next to Merick, Ryder is possibly one of the hottest men I’ve ever seen. He looks like a paler younger version of Brad Pitt. Of course, Jonathon’s no slouch with his wavy sable colored hair and chocolate brown eyes.
“I wish you’d forgive me for running away? I still fucking love you.” It takes a minute to figure out that it was Jonathon who thought that. He keeps his eyes locked on Rowan, who is obviously trying to ignore him even though they’re sitting together.
Every time I try to get her to talk about Jonathon, Rowan shuts me down. She’s even managed to block her thoughts from me. How, I don’t know. In the meantime, I’ll be there for her and if she wants to tell me then she will.
I’m perched on the arm of Merick’s chair, but he doesn’t like it and pulls me down to his lap. He kisses me soundly on the mouth, certainly not bothered with showing his affection in public. Me on the other hand, it’s taking some getting used to.
I pull back from him. “Let’s start?”
Merick nods. “We’ve asked you all here because I thought we could share our town’s history with Taryn. I want her to know everything.”
Josef, Merick’s dad, turns toward us. “Stone Ridge was founded two hundred-fifty years ago. My ancestors and yours were some of the first to settle here. They knew about magic and protected this land.” He takes a drink of his water.
“Your great, great, great, great grandmother, Mary was very close to my great, great, great, great uncle, Richard. History says that she became pregnant with his child. Their coupling triggered events that would change our families’ history. That child was going to become the protector of our land. But, a black mist appeared through the trees, attacking Richard and killing him. Mary was distraught afterward, so devastated by his passing, she lost the baby...”
I jump up and run toward the bathroom. As soon as I’m safely inside I throw up into the toilet. Tears stream down my face just thinking about what would happen if I lost Merick and then our baby.
“Taryn, baby? Open the door,” Merick’s deep voice comes from the other side. “Come on baby, we don’t have to talk about it anymore tonight.”
I rinse my mouth out and look at myself in the mirror. I turn to the side and rub a hand over my growing belly. My baby moves against my palm providing me exactly what I need. “I’ll protect you until my dying breath.” I say within my mind and another kick tells me that he or she heard my thoughts. Of course that’s impossible, but it’s nice to think our baby can hear me.
I take a deep breath and then pull open the door. Merick crowds me until I back up into the bathroom.
He cups my face in his large hands. “Are you okay?”
I nod. “Yes, sorry.”
Merick shakes his head. “Don’t be sorry. There’s a lot of history to go over and it can be a little shocking. We’re done for tonight. I sent everyone home. Well, everyone except for Dad. He wanted to see for himself that you were okay.”
His dad is definitely starting to grow on me. Will we be best friends? I highly doubt it, but I’m feeling less and less uncomfortable around him.
What hits me in the gut is that there has been a lot of loss in our ancestors' lives. Is that what’s destined for me or for Merick? What if something happened to us, who would protect our child?
Maybe I don’t want to know the rest of our history.
Merick
I’m unsure of the hour, only that it is early. The sun has not risen yet, the darkness looms outside the large picture window that overlooks the tall trees. I slip from bed, reluctantly leaving behind my gorgeous beauty. My mind races, and has been since the very second she ran off during our recap of history. I worry that this all may be too much for her. I fear that our life, and what's to come, may be overwhelming and eventually I could lose the one thing I live for.
They are coming, all of them. They chose to leave when we lost so many before. Being here, it has been a constant reminder of our failure. It was also hard to be in a place where they know those that had fallen would never walk again. Slowly, the cabins that were deserted are being filled. The businesses that to someone without gifts may presume to be nothing more than a regular everyday jewelry store but to us it’s so much more. It’s the place that holds another key to our rebirth, a connection that brings us all together as one.
