Part 17 (1/2)
Gavin stared out at the frothing water. I know exactly how you feel, he thought as he watched the liquid swirl round and round, slamming into the rocks, before carrying on down the stream. So angry and no way out.
”Tell me what to do, William.”
William blinked at him. ”I'm not your Fate.”
”No,” Gavin said deliberately. ”But you are hers. Her protector, and mentor, and best friend. How do I fix this? For her.”
William shook his head, looking even sadder than before. He wore a curly blond wig today, and the wind twisted the curls into knots. He looked like an overlarge doll, with his tangled curls and hot pink lipstick.
”I am not those things. Well, okay, I am her Fate. And I suppose, her protector . . . And maybe her mentor. But her best friend? That's you, dark one.”
Gavin snorted. ”A Chala's best friend is a Rakshasa. That's an oxymoron if I ever heard one.”
”And her mate. An even greater oxymoron, I'm afraid.”
”I'm pretty sure I no longer qualify for those t.i.tles.”
”Love does not go away with one broken heart.”
Gavin groaned. ”Don't tell me you're going to get all poetic on me here.”
William pursed his lips. A fat raindrop splattered onto his nose. ”Think about it, Gavin. Her entire world has just been turned upside down. Twice. Two months ago, she didn't even know any of this existed. And just when she decides she's ready to accept it, to embrace it, this happens.” He waved his hand at Gavin.
”You force yourself into her life, you don't even give her a choice. You”-he held up his hand to stave off whatever argument Gavin was about to make-”you fell in love with her. And she fell in love with you. And in her mind, that was okay, because she'd finally accepted her role in life, and the responsibility she was born with. So long as she had you by her side, she could handle being a baby-making factory, as she not quite delicately puts it. But now . . . Now she doesn't even have you by her side. And that's what hurts most of all.”
”I am by her side,” Gavin insisted.
”Not if she's to fulfill her destiny,” William said, infinitely sad again. ”If she makes the ultimate sacrifice-her heart-then she loses you. She's lost everyone she's ever loved in her life, did you know that?”
”She didn't lose you.”
”She will. If you let her go and she chooses a Light One to take to mate, she'll lose me, too.”
Gavin felt his own heart shatter into a million pieces. For Sydney. It wasn't fair. She deserved eternally happiness, not never-ending misery.
”What happened to her mother?” He knew her father and a woman she believed was her stepmother died in a home invasion that Gavin suspected was really Rakshasa looking for Sydney, but he had no idea what happened to her mother.
William turned back to the stream and took a moment to gather his thoughts. Gavin watched the rain clouds pour over the mountaintops, heading their way.
”They were living in South Carolina at the time. We are usually made aware of our charges upon their birth, although we do not have to report to active duty until they come of age.”
”Have their first period.”
”Yes. Still, I liked to keep an eye out for my charges, right from the beginning. Learn their personalities, I suppose.” William shrugged, as if it was of little consequence, but Gavin saw the pain in his eyes. William had undoubtedly loved each and every one of his charges, and his heart had been broken each and every time he lost one, whether it was to their mate, or to death, thanks to Gavin and the other Rakshasa. Guilt sliced through him again, fresh and raw.
”Her mother was human, completely so, as far as I could tell. Her father was the one who carried the recessive gene that made her a Chala. It's strange, really. I've never heard of that happening before. You can imagine my excitement over having such a special charge.”
He paused, and Gavin nodded, encouraging him to hurry along his story. The storm was coming, and he wanted to get back to Sydney. She still wasn't speaking to him, but to be under the same roof would be enough. For now.
”Some Rakshasa stumbled upon them one day, when Sydney was only six. Her father had chosen to live in the human world, shunning his s.h.i.+fter family, in hopes of protecting his daughter. He truly believed she could grow up and have a normal, human life.”
”Isn't she immortal?”
”Yes. Her father would have been, too, had he not died. But he knew only the barest essentials about that aspect of his life. I guess his parents had the same mindset, and told him only what they felt he needed to know. Anyway, I noticed the Rakshasa lurking about their neighborhood. Technically, I wasn't supposed to get involved yet, but I couldn't help it. This was my charge, and her life was in danger.”
”They went after Sydney and her mother died protecting her?”
”No, Harry Potter, not quite. They went after her father. Apparently, they figured out he carried this recessive gene, and they decided to destroy him, so he wouldn't create any more Chala. I guess they figured killing a kid would be easy, so they focused on the parents first. I slipped in and snuck Sydney out, and her father managed to escape on his own, but her mother wasn't so lucky.”
”How did her father explain it to her?”
William shrugged. ”She was only six, so he didn't have to do much explaining. She died. End of story. They picked up and moved to Michigan at my suggestion. Several Fates have settled there over the years, so there would be plenty of eyes on them, and plenty of people to play off as 'extended family.'”
”Where's the stepmother/stepbrother bit come into play?”
William pursed his lips again, looking irritated. ”Her name was Veronica. Is. Of course, Fates can't die, can we?”
He paused, as if he expected an answer, even though they both already knew. ”Right.”
”Veronica and Sydney's father, George, met by chance, actually. Shortly before Sydney's thirteenth Birthday. I already had several ideas in my head to explain my presence in her life, but Veronica fell in love with her father, and made it easy.”
”The Fate fell in love with a human?”
”It happens,” William said crossly. ”It's no fun when it does, considering the whole mortal-immortal aspect, but it still happens. Love doesn't exactly ask if it's convenient, now does it?”
”No,” Gavin said quietly. ”It doesn't.”
”Anyway, I came up with the idea of Veronica marrying Sydney's father and introducing me as her son. Hence the reason Sydney believed me to be her stepbrother.”
”So where's Veronica now?”
William heaved a sigh. ”When Sydney's father was killed, she was devastated. Her body was destroyed in the attack, so she disappeared, returning to the First Fate's home to regenerate, which is where we all go when our bodies are destroyed. And she was then deemed unfit to return to active Fate duty. An easy choice, I'm sure, considering there were no new Chala to protect. Still, it's really quite sad. I saw her a few years ago. She still suffers.”
Gavin could believe it. He suspected he would be the same way, if Sydney was killed. He s.h.i.+fted from foot to foot, impatient. More raindrops splattered onto the ground, onto Gavin's head, onto William's wig.
”Sydney came to love Veronica. She was at an age where she was ripe for a mother's love, and Veronica had always wanted to be a mother, but died before she had children. They became inseparable. Veronica blurred the line between Fate and friends.h.i.+p.”
”Don't you all?”
William's gaze flickered to Gavin, and then s.h.i.+fted back to the churning water. ”I suppose we do. But Veronica was foolish, as well. She was still young, for a Fate, and threw herself into the role of playing house. I believe, toward the end, she truly thought that's what she was: a wife and mother. She forgot she was also supposed to be protecting Sydney and her father.”
”She said you took her to spend time with extended family, and her father and stepmother died in a home invasion while you were gone.”
”Yes, that's the line we gave her. In truth, I figured out, once again, that the Rakshasa were coming after us. Even though Sydney hadn't been around any other s.h.i.+fters and her blood hadn't mingled with any s.h.i.+fter blood, which is what causes the scent that brought them all here”-he waved at the worn path leading to the house-”I thought they'd figured out what she was. Your kind are very cunning.”
”They learned from the best.”