46.

“Excuse us gentlemen,” Kiran addressed the room politely; his crisp, English accent perfectly annunciating every consonant.

Kiran walked backwards into one of the bedrooms of the massive suite, pulling me with him. If I thought I felt humiliation before, that was nothing compared to the sweeping embarrassment of being taken into Kiran’s bedroom with three sets of suspicious eyes following my every step. Luckily, Kiran closed the door quickly behind us.

The bedroom looked like some place a prince would stay. A huge four poster bed with royal blue and gold striped silk comforter sat in the middle of the room facing an enormous flat screened TV. Kiran’s suitcase and clothes were laid haphazardly on a royal blue divan. I noticed a golden crown half buried underneath a pair of designer jeans.

Kiran walked across the room, pulling me behind him, and out onto a balcony overlooking Lake Geneva. The moonlight glistened off of the black water and I saw the outline of the Swiss Alps in the distance; their tall peaks turning white at the top, billowy clouds resting on them, melting into mere extensions of a vast midnight sky.

The mid-autumn night air was frigid and I sent a burst of magic through my blood to warm up.

“Did you know, that you can use your magic for more than an occasional space heater?” Kiran asked softly but sarcastically, while leaning back against the outer wall of the hotel.

“I’m cold,” I responded, a little defensively.

“Here….” he replied, pulling me against his body. I laid my head against his chest and listened to the soft beating of this heart.

“Thank you for saving Lilly,” I mumbled into his warm embrace.

“My pleasure,” he replied, amused. “And thank you for nearly getting yourself killed. Thank goodness your grandfather was there to help you escape. I don’t know how I would have survived losing you,” he held me tighter, kissing the top of my head.

“I’m sorry, did you say grandfather?” I asked, wishing I could just dwell on Kiran's sweet sentiments, but instead I found myself unable to move past the next big mystery of my life revealed. Would it never end?

“Yes, you’re grandfather…. Amory.” Kiran paused to look me in the eyes. “Are you telling me you didn’t know that he is your grandfather?” he asked incredulously.

“I had no idea….” I laughed out loud a little. “But I guess it makes sense,” I could now explain away all of the times Amory seemed so paternal, apparently he was just being grandfatherly.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to spoil anything,” Kiran gave me his signature smirk and I swore I fell even more in love with him.

“It’s alright; something tells me he was waiting for me to figure it out on my own.,” I returned my head to Kiran’s chest, butterflies flooding my stomach.

“He should know better than to wait for that,” Kiran joked lightly.

I couldn’t help but agree with him. I hadn’t figured anything out on my own yet, what made Amory think I would start with that?

“God only knows what I have left to figure out,” I mumbled.

“Yes He does, but He’s gotten you this far….” Kiran surprised me with his answer.

“Do you believe in God?” I asked, confused.

“Of course. Don’t you?” I pulled my head away from his chest to look him in the eye; for some reason I found it hard to believe he was serious.

“I mean I guess I did when I was human, but now I don’t know what to believe,” I left the closeness of his embrace, feeling slightly embarrassed and walked over to the balcony’s edge.

“That seems backwards to me,” Kiran responded and joined me. We stood silently for a moment enjoying the beauty of Lake Geneva before he continued, “You believed in God when you thought you were human; when you suffered pain and hunger, tyranny and war. But now that you live above that, with unlimited power and unlimited life you doubt that there is an entity greater than you? Someone created all of this, all of the beauty of the earth, all of the fragility of human life and all of the extraordinary existence of us. Choosing to believe in a god only when you are surrounded by death and destruction is to truly not know God at all.”

Kiran put an arm around me and kissed the top of my head again. Despite his point, I knew his feelings for me were as strong as ever.

“Am I not still surrounded by death and destruction?” I asked, feeling characteristically defensive.

“No, you’re not. Believe me. I’ve done my homework; you could not have a stronger genealogy. But the rest of us, yeah…. maybe…. But isn’t that where we find our substance? I think there is a certain beauty to death; a macabre exquisiteness that brings meaning to life.”

I stood there gazing at Kiran with so much emotion I felt like I would explode. Avalon was right, I had no idea who Kiran was, but the more I learned, the more I fell madly in love with him.

I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him into another passionate kiss. He gladly reciprocated.

“Excuse me, sir,” Talbott interrupted, like usual. “It’s time for Eden to go.”

Kiran paused for only a second to wave Talbott away before returning to me. He pressed his lips against mine fervently; lifting me off of the ground and making me forget the world around me. Our magic became an intense force; rising around us with an almost visible presence.

Eventually he returned my feet to the ground and my mind slowly returned to reality. He smirked at me as if holding onto a secret and my heart fluttered with the sweet memories of his mouth against mine.

“You just got here and now you have to go," Kiran gazed at me with all of the intensity of a boy madly in love. "I just had to know that you were all right. I had to see you," he kissed the top of my head sweetly and continued, "Before we join the others, I have something for you,” Kiran led me back into his bedroom and pulled out a black, square, velvet box from his suitcase.

He opened the box to reveal a necklace and pulled out the long silver chain to expose a pendant intricately woven with several black stones placed throughout. He clasped the beautiful, complex accessory around my neck and the stones turned from black to a brilliant shade of blue. I fingered the pendant in my hands, amazed by the color and loveliness of the stones.

“I thought so,” Kiran said cryptically and kissed me on the cheek. “Eden, when we return to Kingsley things are going to be difficult. We won’t be able to see each other or be together. At least not easily. I am going to continue my engagement with Seraphina and go on like nothing has changed. You will have to stay far away from me,” he cupped my face in his hands and I saw the pain in his eyes.

“But why?” I asked, scared and upset.

“I’m so sorry, love. But you have to go on playing the part Amory created for you. As of now, my father is convinced that you are not your mother. After several interrogations, the most convincing of which was Seraphina’s, he agreed to let it go. She was pretty adamant that you are no one special, especially not Delia Saint. But that doesn't mean he will stay pacified. We cannot draw any unnecessary attention to you. I am determined to keep you to myself. His suspicions are small, but you’ve raised his curiosity and so we have to keep you as far under the radar as possible without making you disappear completely,” he held me closer to him as if to prove his point.

“So I can’t see you at all?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

“No, I will find a way for us to be together, I will. But we will have to be extremely careful. You can’t show that necklace to anyone; but I wanted you to have it as a token of my love.”

“Your love?” I said the words religiously.

“Yes, my love. Because Eden, I have loved you avidly from the first moment I saw you and I will love you completely with all that I am until the day I die,” his eyes had hypnotized mine and I was transfixed by their passion. He smirked sheepishly at me and I realized he didn’t grasp the seriousness of my feelings for him.

“Kiran Kendrick, I love you too,” I whispered, my throat closed and my eyes full of emotion.

He swept me into another passionate kiss and I melted into his embrace. When he finally released me I felt weak from my expended magic. Kiran led me back into the living room, but not before I tucked his gift beneath my plaid work shirt.

Avalon and Amory stood near the door waiting anxiously. Kiran kissed my hand sweetly and mouthed “I love you,” I blushed and joined my grandfather and twin brother at the door.

“Thank you again, Kiran…. for everything,” Amory said humbly before we made our exit.

----

“Scoot over!” I demanded irritably while shoving my elbow into Avalon’s ribs. Sitting between Avalon and Titus on the eight hour flight home was not ideal for anyone. But it was Amory’s great idea of added protection; although in my personal opinion totally unnecessary.

“That’s it!” I declared loudly, and stood up as dramatically as the small coach cabin would allow. “Move!”

Avalon obeyed and slid his knees into the aisle so that I could pass. I walked unsteadily between the rows of seats and past several members of the rescued Resistance team, until I found Amory staring out of the window pensively.

I fell heavily into the seat next to him, not really caring if I bothered him or not. He looked up at me and smiled. I grinned back, pleased that I had the upper hand, if only for a moment.

“What happens now, grandpa?” I asked, barely able to contain my laughter.

His expression turned anxious and then relaxed when he saw my smile. He laughed a little himself and I was glad that at least it didn’t seem he wanted that information to remain a secret.

“When did you figure it out?” he asked, still smiling, but not quite able to look me in the eyes.

“Kiran told me, kind of on accident. He assumed I already knew…. silly him,” I said sarcastically. Amory’s face flushed with embarrassment. “So you’re the last remaining oracle. You seem pretty alive to me,” I joked.

“For now,” Amory flushed deeper with embarrassment. “That’s a much longer conversation, for a more private setting,” he cut me off when my I opened my mouth to ask a million questions.

“Ok, but I’m going to hold you to that,” I paused for a moment before continuing, “So really what happens when we get home?” I decided on a different topic that I had just as many questions for.

“Well first we explain everything to Sylvia. That will be our first battle. She has been worried sick. You’re lucky I was able to talk to her yesterday, I hopefully softened the blow,” he gave me a stern, parental glare and it was my turn to blush from discomfort.

“Then what?” I asked timidly.

“I’m not sure; I’m afraid most of this is now out of our hands. For the first time, in a long time, our futures lay in the hands of someone I don’t know what to expect from,” he turned his head to return his thoughtful gazing out the window and I realized he was referring to Kiran.

“But we’re not going to try to kill him anymore, right?” I sounded more casual than I felt. My throat closed with emotion and my hands trembled a little at the thought. Even though I was on the side of the Resistance, I had no idea if it was a place I could stay, especially if they tried to continue with their original plans.

“No, my dear. I could never hurt someone you cared about so deeply. You don’t need to be worried anymore,” he put an arm around me, and continued to look quietly out of the small window.

I sunk into my own personal pensiveness, wondering if Lucan would really leave me alone or if he would hurt me in pursuit of my parents. If they were still out there, where were they? I doubted I could help Lucan find them anyways; I certainly had no way to look for them.

A hundred questions swirled through my mind, but the questions that kept demanding to be answered first were when would I get to see Kiran again? When would we get to be alone again and when would I feel safe once more in his arms?

As unlikely as our love affair might have been, loving Kiran was the only concrete path I could imagine. I was wholly consumed with a love that would probably get me killed, but I would never have chosen any other way. I could not have chosen any other way. We were truly destined for each other, fated to be together…. we were star-crossed.