Elemental Rain Part Three

She screamed and clutched him, and in that instant, she felt right again, solid. He could write the scream off to possibly breaking whatever psychic link there was left, but the way her body tightened against him, there was only one reason for that.

Bloody hell! “Forgive me. Forgive me, Lily,” he pleaded as he withdrew himself and began to draw away from her.

Before he could get to far, she caught his face in her hands, searched for an answer but not finding any she prodded, “What’s wrong, Jake?”

“I’m sorry, darlin’, I didn’t realize…I should have taken more care—,” she cut him off.

“Don’t Jake. You didn’t do anything that I didn’t want. Don’t run from me. Not now. Stay and finish what you started.”

“Lily. I’m still not sure if I believe all of this, but if people really are lookin’ for you, we don’t have much time. We need to get movin’.”

“Jake,” she said as she trailed her hands down to his trench coat lapels and gripped them, “I’ve waited ten years to be with you. No one else ever caught my attention the way you did. I need you to realize that I am in a battle for my life. I don’t want to die without—,” this time he cut her off with a strong, hungry kiss that shook her core, leaving her breathless.

He shrugged out of his coat and draped it on the chair next to the bed, covering his discarded boots. She got to him. If some mystical battle did happen, he didn’t want there to be regrets, for either of them. He strode over to the door and locked it. Now would be about Lily, and the many fantasies he’s had over the last ten years.

********

Long after they were both sated and Lily was sound asleep, Jake got up. As much as he wanted to stay, the twin bed made it impossible. Plus, he couldn’t just take off without letting Mick know. Mick was capable of running things for a few days and Dottie was pretty good with the books. Something was up and he wasn’t going to leave Lily alone to deal with this, whatever it was. And, he really needed a shower.

Before he could leave, Lily woke up.

“Jake?”

So much for leaving before she woke up, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you darlin’.”

“You didn’t wake me. I know, you have things to do, but before you go, there are some things you really need to know.”

He closed, the door and leaned against it, crossing his muscled arms over his broad chest.

“You might want to sit down for this.”

Eyebrows raised, he walked over to the bed, sat in the chair and waited for her to begin.

“The most important thing you need to know is that you never killed Blake West. You were set up. He’s still alive.”

Now that got his attention, “How do you know for sure?”

A bit more distant, “I saw him. He was at my house, talking with my parents. They didn’t know I was in the house. They were yelling at him to make sure he got it right this time….” she trailed off.

“Lily? Got what right?”

Still distant, “Do you remember that night, Jake?”

“How could I forget?”

“You weren’t supposed to be there. In fact, I didn’t even know you were in the house. Why did you stay home that night?”

“Hmm. You know, I’ve never been able to figure out what made me stay home that night. It’s weird. All I remember is at the last minute havin’ an overwhelmin’ urge to stay put. It was almost sickenin’ now that I think back on it.”

“Do you believe in fate or destiny?”

“Lily, darlin’, where are you goin’ with all this?”

“It was fate, Jake. Fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it, made you stay home that night. As far as my parents knew, you would be at that movie and I would be alone. That’s why they sent him that night. They knew I would be vulnerable, without my Protector. That’s what they refer to you as, my Protector.”

“Who’s ‘they,’ Lily?”

Tears streaming down her face now, “My pseudo parents. Yeah, that’s something else I found out. They aren’t my real parents. They stole me. I’m not really clear on why, but that’s what I know.”

“How do you know this?”

“It started Monday. I figured it was time for that backpacking trip across Europe. My parents were furious, and I couldn’t understand why. I finished college, I was an adult and I worked really hard to save up all the money I would need and then some. There was no reason for them to argue. We fought. I left. I returned later to walk in on their conversation with West. I didn’t just hear the words they spoke, I heard their thoughts too, which was how I learned some of what I’m going to tell you. The most important being that the extradition was arranged with someone from here.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know,” Lily exclaimed, sobbing. “I wish I knew.”

Jake reached over, pulled her onto his lap, wrapped his arms around her, kissed her and whispered, “It’s okay. You’ve given me more than I ever expected to find. Certain things are beginnin’ to make more sense now than they ever did before, but I’m still havin’ trouble wrappin’ my mind around what you can do. Readin’ minds, huh? I guess that could be a good thing, in the right hands.”

Wiping her eyes with her knuckles, Lily confessed, “I can do more than just read minds, Jake. I can communicate telepathically with people. I’m not very good at it yet and it only happens when I’m really scared or really angry, and apparently I can conjure things with my mind. That’s how I got from home to here.”

Stunned silence.

“Hello? Earth to Jake!”

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he responded, “Sorry. This information changes everything.” He looked her in the eye as he spoke his next words, “It’s extremely important that you stay down here while I’m gone. No goin’ outside. They’ll find you if you do. Give me your cell phone. They might use it to track you here.”

“I don’t have it with me.”

“Good, at least we have that in our favor. I’ll be gone a couple of hours. Promise me that you’ll stay here. If for some reason, they manage to come here searching for you, go hide in that closet. It’s protected. I’ve used it often enough to avoid the police in the early days.”

“I promise.”

“Good,” he replied as he got up, kissed her one last time and set her on the bed. As an afterthought, he took the pendant she wore at her neck, held it until the metal felt hot in his hands and then kissed it, whispering, “Be safe my love,” as he released it. Then kissed the top of her head.

As he made his way upstairs, Millie handed him a paper. Bloody Hell! If her information was right, he now needed to raise a small army! Using his Sat phone, he pressed a button and when someone answered he said, “All for one!” and waited for a response before hanging up.

“And one for all!”

Read the Competition: Charged