AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Oh, so we were back to Blake now. Whenever he was teasing and playful, I was Blake and when he was serious, I was Claire. Sticking my tongue at him, I tucked that thought away for future reference.
“So, what do we do now?” I asked.
He told me we would wait until I was ready and then we would start chasing. Once we found Kace, we would isolate him so he couldn’t escape The Realm again.
“When that is completed, we should have an easy time rounding up his followers. Peace will be restored in the physical world. Once again, The Realm can function as it has for centuries assuring that humans fulfill their purpose, successfully, and move onto the next one.” He summed it all up, confidently.
“Just like that, huh?” I said, mocking him with my tone.
“Just like that,” he said, his blues eyes sparkling.
“How will we know when I am ready?” I asked curiously.
“We’ll know,” he assured me.
CHAPTER 8
“When deep down in the core of your being you believe that your soul mate exists, there is no limit to the ways he or she can enter your life.” – Arielle Ford
This was all so much to take in. Suddenly, so many things my parents said to me over the years had meaning. I knew I should be afraid, but I wasn’t. For the first time in my life, I understood. Finally, I had a purpose and a real destination in this life and I was embracing it openly. Well embracing most of it. Reese was a conflict I was not yet prepared to resolve. While I still had so much to think about, and a bazillion questions were swirling in my mind, it wasn’t consuming me. A heavy weight was lifted off of me. My parent’s mercurial behavior was now alleviated because I understood.
It would stand to reason, that on this day, I was not prepared to begin my pre-destined fight. With that, I decided a little fun was in order, and since Brent was back to calling me Blake, I thought he would be up for it.
“Wanna walk?” I asked Brent.
He watched me curiously as I made my way down the stone path to the pebbled beach below. I grabbed a small bucket from a space under the deck that was littered with beach toys.
“Come on, collect rocks with me,” I called up to him.
“Okay,” Brent agreed, smiling. “Let me just grab my sketch book. I can’t resist the scenery.” It was picture perfect. I could see why he would want to draw it.
Brent joined me, and we walked together on the beach, examining rocks as we went. Brent took a seat and began drawing in his book. I continued filtering though the many stones. Some of them were rea
lly amazing, appearing to glow in the sun’s reflection like hot coals. Most of the ones I gathered were brilliant amber in color. After scrutinizing them, I realized they were probably not Jasper at all but some sort of volcanic rock. I couldn’t quite pinpoint the makeup of the mysterious stones. Some might be quartz, and my scientific brain wrestled with what category they belonged in. Brent teased me, telling me my inner nerd was too loud, and I should just relax and enjoy how beautiful and unique each stone was. They were magnificent, especially when they were wet. I felt like spending hours, maybe even days, on this beach, examining each intricate stone.
The sound of the waves as the water cascaded through each of the stones was so different from the sound you would hear on a sand beach. It was louder, more aggressive, like the water was assaulting each stone as it drew back. I decided I could listen to it for hours.
The urge to run into the water surprised me, and without thinking, I went for it. I made it no further than my ankles before I realized it was freezing. The entire lower half of my body went numb as the frigid water cooled my veins in seconds. Turning, I bolted back to shore, tripping on the uneven surface, falling on my derriere, right as a wave reached the shore, drenching the rest of me.
Twisting my head, I saw Brent was laughing at me.
“I’m glad you’re amused, Cassidy,” I teased, mimicking his playful use of last names. But the words were unidentifiable babble as I shouted them through chattering teeth.
Brent came to offer me a hand with a giant grin plastered to his smug face. I gave him a dirty look and attempted to get up on my own, but failed miserably.
“Come on Blake, you have to admit, that was funny,” he teased.
Seriously, I wasn’t laughing.
“It was not,” I protested, stifling a giggle. Failing again to get my legs under me, the waves continued cooling my blood. I was sure if I didn’t accept Brent’s hand for help, I would die right there of hypothermia.
“Come on, Blake. Your lips are turning blue,” he said, rolling his eyes when I refused his hand.
I stuck my tongue out at him, annoyed. Before I even saw his reaction, he lifted me from the beach, swinging me over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
“Put me down,” I insisted. He ignored me, and proceeded to the house up every step as though I weighed nothing, ignoring my fisting into his back.
When we reached the top of the stairs, he finally set me down, grinning with way too much delight.
