Eternal: Chapter Seven, Part 5

Drei wouldn’t tell me where we were going, just that I would know soon enough. Until then, we were on a train traveling west, and he was keeping a tight hold on our tickets.

“Are you sure I’m going to like this?” I asked for perhaps the tenth time since we had left the apartment that morning. Part of me hoped if I was annoying enough, he’d slip and tell me.

“I cannot guarantee you will,” he said, as he had all day, “but I know it is something you have been considering doing.”

That told me a lot…not really. There were a lot of things I had considered doing over the years and most of them I hadn’t thought much about lately. I was preoccupied with other, more pressing matters. However, it was rather nice to be alone with Drei again and not having to worry about anyone else. Resting my head on his shoulder, I said, “Should I thank you now or later?”

“Neither,” he whispered, taking my hand in his. “Later, you will make a decision. Now you should sleep.”

“I’m not tired,” I insisted, holding back a yawn. I didn’t want to waste our time together sleeping. Especially since this was only my second day with him in weeks.

“You are.”

“You can’t know that.” I hoped I could convince him.

“It is raining outside;” he smiled kindly down at me, knowing he had won. I didn’t hate him for it; I honestly should have remembered it was raining. Rain made the air heavier; I’m no scientist, so I don’t know how to explain how exactly it does, but I can feel it. When it’s raining, I usually feel somewhat depressed if I don’t have someone near me to change that. Lately, that hadn’t been as true; instead I found I felt tired, though I could push past that if needed. Drei insisting I give in to it wasn’t helping anything.

“When you wake, we will have reached our destination.”

His arm wound around me, pulling me close. The next thing I knew, he was gently shaking me awake, saying something about arriving.

“Five more minutes,” I bargained groggily, curling closer to him.

“You may sleep when we are returning home, and I promise not to wake you then,” he said, combing the hair out of my face with his fingers. “But for now you have to wake. And look, the rain has stopped.”

Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes to clear the sleep from them. “Where are we?”

“It stops being a surprise when I tell you,” he teased kindly, grabbing our overnight bag and taking my hand.

It seemed since the Council knew, he didn’t care how we were seen in public. Before, everything had to be done with the utmost caution; no one could know—though this attitude had relaxed slightly with my turning. Now it didn’t matter, because the only people we had to be afraid of already knew and weren’t going to do anything about it for a while. Personally, I preferred it that way; it was less complicated.

I followed him along the aisle and down the stairs where we joined a few other travelers waiting to depart. Drei steadied me as the train came to a stop at the station.

“Do you mind walking?” he asked, glancing at me as we headed down the street from the station.

“Not at all,” I said distractedly. There was something familiar about this place. I’d been here before, I knew that, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was driving me crazy not knowing, especially since my mind seemed to be putting a block on whatever importance this place held for me.

“Do you remember?”

We passed the Café Cherie, and I knew where we were. I stopped to stare at it, unsure why he would bring me back here now. Drei turned to watch me, a certain glint in his eye at my revelation. His lips were pressed together, though, as if unsure he was doing the right thing.

“This is where you told me about—”

“And you left me there feeling guiltier than ever I had felt before,” he interrupted. My shock at being home—well, in my hometown—was clouding my judgment. Until my movement was fully in motion, it was dangerous to admit being an elemental.

“You said I’d have to make a decision,” I said slowly, staring through the large glass windows. This was the beginning, and some part of me was convinced it might also be the end. “Does that have to do with us?”