A group of men pushes us aside to get to the door and the spell is broken as Finn steps in front of me again and leads me with a hand behind his back. When he comes to an abrupt halt I bump into his back.
“Finally, are you both quite done chasing fairy tales?” I hear Luca say in a mocking tone.
Finn laughs. “Aye, we dinnae need to be chasing our happy ending anymore, Luca. We found it.” And then he steps aside so they both can see me.
Bas chokes out a strangled sound but my eyes are on Luca. I see the blood drain from his face and a haunted look comes into his eyes as the wooden cup in his hand is reduced to splinters and then falls to the table with the sharp smell of spilled whiskey. After a shocked pause, they both rock to their feet and Sebastian is reaching a trembling hand my way. My hand finds his and I feel a spark and shudder go through both of us at the contact.
“H-how? How can you be here? My God, you really are a witch.” Bas chokes out and my smile comes back as the tears well up.
“I told you not to call me that, Your Grace.” I tease softly and then he’s crushing me against his chest and pulling me down into his lap as he drops back into his chair. His face is buried in my hair and I can feel each tremor rock through him as he breathes my scent in deeply. I pull back enough to get my hands on his face so I can look into his cinnamon-colored eyes.
“Hi, Bas.” I breathe out as my lips slide over his. His eyes squeeze tightly closed as if my kiss is painful but his lips return my kiss softly before pulling away again. As one we turn our heads to Luca who is still on his feet even as the wolves take their seats. I reach for him but he flinches back from me causing me to gasp.
“Oh, Luca. Luca…please?” His head shakes and he takes a step further back.
“I…I’m…glad you’re not…dead.” He manages to get out and then I see a veil of blankness drop over his eyes and expression and he drops back into his seat and reaches for the bottle of whiskey turning his eyes away from me. My heart aches to touch him, to say all the words that might fix this but Cade grabs my hand to claim my attention.
“Lass, I’m beggin’ you. Please tell me you brought your wee music maker. I’ve had that Pharrell lad’s song, Happy, stuck in my ear for near on twenty years. I’ve felt a lot of things in the last hundred and eight years since you…left but happy wasn’t one of them!”
He says it as a joke, causing me to choke out a laugh but it quickly turns into a sob.
“Oh God! I-I’m s-sorry! I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I, I don’t know how or why it brought me back so many years after I left! I can’t imagine how you all must feel. I’m s-so sorry!” I cry out.
Bas’s arms tighten around me and Finn adds his hand to Cade’s and mine but the flash of anger I see in Luca’s eyes has me crying even harder.
“Aw, lass, Eden, don’t cry, mo chridhe. We…”
Before he can finish, the door slams open and a man bellows, “Lobster backs heading this way!”
The four of them push to their feet with Bas bringing me to mine.
“Right, there will be time for answers later. We need to leave.”
I don’t have time to ask what’s happening as they drop coins on the table and usher me quickly deeper into the tavern and then out what I’m assuming is the back door. There’s a line of horses tethered to a rail and they move to the last four in the line and mount up with Cade lifting me to sit in front of Sebastian. He hands my bag off to Finn who secures it to his saddle and then we’re in motion riding through the town and into the countryside. I lean back against Sebastian and just luxuriate in the feel of his strong arms around me holding me safe against him even as my eyes stay locked onto Luca as he rides ahead of us.
The sadness, sorrow, and pain that filled Luca when we first met was so tragic. The love we found together helped ease those feelings and the man he used to be had started to re-emerge. The man from before he was tortured and turned into a vampire with the first few years full of bloodlust that destroyed his soul.
This is different. In the few moments we’ve been reunited, I’ve seen such anger and hints of cruelty that don’t fit the man I knew. I frown sadly. For me, it was only a month-long separation but for all of them it was over a hundred years and they thought I died. He’s changed and I’m so scared that it’s all my fault and that I won’t ever be able to fix it.
“He will need some time, Eden. Your death…he’ll just need some time.” Bas tells me as his arm tightens around me.
I know if I try and speak right now I’ll end up crying again so I just nod even as Luca glances back with a frown, meets my gaze, and quickly turns forward again. Please, Lord, don’t let me lose him when I’ve just found him again.
I have hundreds of questions to ask them all on how they came to be here instead of France and what happened with that bitch, Keket, after I left, er, died. I keep them locked down for now as I’m sure it would be better for us all to have that and other conversations once we can all participate. Instead, I relax back against Bas and smile softly as his arm tightens around my waist.
“Where are we going?”
His head dips down to breathe in against my hair and it reminds me of the young British soldier doing the same a few hours ago.
“Home. It’s another hour or so ride until we get there.” He tells me.
“We left the tavern pretty quickly. Are you fighting the British?”
He hums a non-answer in his throat so I tip my head back to the side to catch his eyes and raise an eyebrow in question. He takes advantage of the angle to reach my lips with his in a fast kiss that sends a spark through me but I still want to know.
“Are you?”
He looks ahead breaking our gaze. “Not fighting so much as undermining them. We were meant to meet a contact about moving guns and powder to the militia.”
