Page 65 of Into The Light

The helicopter settled into the grass, and Emilia looked at me with a frown. “I’m not ready for it to end.”

“Neither am I.”

We had no time to continue the discussion because Mark pulled open the door. He yelled his greeting over the whirring of the blades thumping above us.

“I am dying to hear all about your trip, Birthday Girl!” he said, pulling her out of her seat then wrapping his arms around her. I climbed out of the helicopter and stepped toward her unsure of how to end the evening. I wanted to kiss her, to scoop her up into my arms and bring her back to my room, but I didn’t know what to say.

Mark jutted an accusatory finger at me. “Aiden! It’s almost light! And your shirt! What happened to your shirt? That is an Armani! You destroyed it!” He placed his hand on his chest and gaped in horror at the ruined shirt.

Emilia shot me a look while I tried to suppress my laughter. She knew Mark very well.

Tossing up his hands, he grumbled. “Ugh! We’ll talk about your treatment of exquisite clothing later. You need to get inside. Now.”

He sounded like my mother but the glint on the horizon told me I needed to move.

“Aiden! Now!” Mark pointed at the yellow light fighting its way against the darkness. I had pushed it too close today. Emilia gave me a worried nod, and I groaned when I realized they were right.

“Goodnight, Emilia,” I said. With the pilots still there I couldn’t use my speed to get inside, so I took off at a human paced run to get into the safety of my room. I heard the helicopter lifting off just when I got behind my bedroom doors. If they hadn’t been here, I would have grabbed Emilia and whisked her away with me before she could argue. Now the light would be up, and I was trapped inside this room, and her on the other side of the door. I growled my displeasure at the situation and tossed my clothing into a heap on the floor, climbing into bed. When I woke up, we would talk about our situation and I would figure out a way to spend more time with her, because even this one minute without her seemed too many.

***

My eyes snapped open the moment the sun disappeared. I couldn’t see it, of course, but I could feel its absence. My heart pounded at the thought of seeing Emilia again and I shot out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a loose shirt. Racing to my door I pulled it open to see Mark standing in his usual spot holding my newspaper.

“Good evening, Aiden. I take it you slept well?” He waggled his brows at me. His glimmering eyes told me Emilia had filled him in on the details. Suddenly, I felt nervous wondering what she had said. Mark pushed me back inside my room and closed the door. I furrowed my brow at his emboldened behavior.

“Tell me you really like her,” Mark said, flopping down in the chair in the corner.

“I really like her.”

“Thank God.” He breathed. “If you just fucked her for the sake of fucking her, I would have to kill you myself. She’s too good to be treated like a blowup doll. She’s special, Aiden.”

His concern for her touched me. She had grown on him in a different way, but he felt protective of her as well. I sat down on the edge of my bed and looked him square in the eye. “I’m crazy about her, Mark. No... it’s more than that. I... I can’t even put it into words.”

A little smile pulled up on his lips. “Good. It seems like the feeling is mutual.”

My eyes lit up. “What did she say?” I realized I sounded like a teenager, but I didn’t care. If he knew something I needed to know. I would compel him to tell me if I needed to.

“Look at you, lover boy!” Mark laughed and slapped his thigh. “I never thought I’d see the day!”

“Mark,” I warned. “What did she say?”

“Well, I won’t break the bonds of girl talk, but I will tell you that she’s into this. A lot. And I’m warning you to be careful with her, Aiden. She’s been through a lot and if you’re not sure about this, then you need to back off before she gets really hurt.”

“I’m sure, Mark.” The words fell out of my mouth without thought. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. She’s the one.”

His hand flew to his heart, and he clutched his chest, big puppy dog eyes welling up with tears. “This is just so incredible. You love her.”

I didn’t argue, but I couldn’t say it out loud, even though I felt it in every inch of my body. It still felt like a betrayal to Isobel to fall in love with another, but there was no denying that my heart had finally healed and opened up to Emilia in a way I never imagined was possible again. I wanted to spend every minute with her for all of eternity. Then, it hit me.

“I’m going to ask her to turn,” I said, matter-of-factly.

“What?” Mark shot forward in his chair. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Yes,” I said, standing up and letting the decision resonate. “I’m not losing her the way I lost Isobel. I can’t go through that again. I’m not spending an eternity alone mourning her after she dies. I won’t. I’m going to ask her if she’ll turn.”

“Whoa, let’s talk this over. First, it’s a little soon to be proposing eternity. It’s more serious than marriage and you guys have had like, one fucking date. Two, there is no way you are turning her before me! I’ve been waiting years! It’s not fair!”

“I’m not waiting, Mark. What if she gets hit by a bus tomorrow? Or gets sick? Or gets drunk with you and drowns in the pool?”