Chapter 25

Chapter

Twenty-Five

Ana

B efore I even get off the plane, I know it's not Phil on the dock to greet me.

"Where's Phil?" I ask Ember as she embraces me.

"Nice to see you too?" Grinning, she leans back from me, mischief in her expression. The dock shifts as the men get off the plane, and then the pilot taxis toward a massive boat house. A plane house too, I suppose.

"Sorry." I shake my head as I take a step back on the floating dock, and the thick wooden planks rock gently beneath us. "I'm so grateful to you for having us here. You, Zuben, Axe and Ryker." Looking around, I draw in a long breath of fresh air, hoping to find evidence of Phil.

"Your big man ran off into the forest." Axe steps up and puts his arm around Ember. "Nice night. Can't say I blame him."

"Hi, Axel." I look up into the shaggy man's gold-specked eyes. "Thank you so much for having us here."

I make introductions, and Ember's three mates and the brothers shake hands.

"I don't think this dock was built for eight vampires," Ryker says jovially. "So, unless we want to end up in the drink, I say we head up to the cabin."

"A swim doesn't sound so bad." Blade's hand slides around me, and I lean back against him, memories of our very first swim stirring desire inside me. So much has happened, since that day when he unexpectedly cut a lock of my hair.

"Do I smell a fire?" Flame looks up a long flight of wooden stairs that disappear into the forest.

Axe nods. "We've got a fire going in the main room, plus in the bedrooms. It gets chilly at night." He heads up the stairs, and Flame and Ryker follow.

"Very good to see you again." Zuben says to Blade. "I am eager to hear more details of your studies at the palace archives."

Blade's hand presses into my belly, waking every nerve, and then he kisses the top of my head, and moves toward Zuben. "You coming, my love?"

I turn back to look over the sparkling water. Crusher's standing at the end of the dock, legs spread wider than necessary to keep his balance on the still rocking dock.

"I'm going to check on Crusher." I rise onto my toes as Blade bends to kiss me, and I brush my hand down his chest. "I'll join you in a few minutes."

"Don't be long," Ember calls back, as she heads up the stairs, and I shoot her a reassuring smile as Blade's fingers trail along my palm. When we lose contact, he follows behind the others.

I walk slowly along the huge dock. Next to the boathouse, I spotted a rack holding several canoes. Perhaps once all this is over, we can visit here for leisure. I would quite like to try canoeing.

A bird calls out, filling the night sky with its haunting tone. It's a sound I haven't heard since I was a child in Russia. "A loon!" I'm filled with nostalgia, and happiness overtakes my disappointment that I haven't yet seen Phil.

Crusher turns toward me. "Is that what that was? I haven't spent a ton of time in the wilderness."

Nodding, I step up beside him. "Are you coming up to the cabin?"

"So, you're talking to me now?" He keeps his eyes focussed out on the water.

"Crusher—"

"I'm sorry." He turns toward me, shaking his head. "That was cruel."

"No apology necessary." I'm not sure what else to say. It's awkward between us right now and might always be. We were developing feelings for each other. Feelings he expressed. But things have changed. Probably for us both. I doubt Crusher loves me anymore, if he ever did.

He looks away from me, clearly focussed on something in the middle of the lake.

"What are you looking at?" Shading my eyes from the bright moonlight, I gasp. "Phil!" I lean forward, ready to leap into the water, but Crusher catches me around the waist, stopping me.

Phil is about two hundred yards away, treading water.

"Come here!" I call toward him. "I need to give you a hug." My heart is beating so loudly I can barely hear myself think.

Joy rises inside me as Phil strokes forward, doing the breaststroke and keeping his eyes on me as he glides along the lake's surface.

"How's the water?" I call out, needing a connection, any connection between us.

"Cold." He takes a few overhead strokes that propel him quickly forward, until he's about twenty-five feet from the end of the dock.

Stopping there, he treads water, looking into my eyes.

"Shall I come to you?" I ask. "Or are you getting out."

"I should leave." Crusher's hold loosens.

"No!" Phil shouts. "Keep her on the dock. Stay with her. Please."

"Phil…"

"My love," Phil says, his voice drenched in pain. "I can't be alone with you. Not right now. Not until I get this fucking thing out of my head." Wincing as if he's in pain, he punches his temple, and then glides back, his strong legs moving him farther and farther away from me. He stops again. As far away as when he started.

"You'd never hurt me," I call out.

"That's why I can't be near you," he says. "I would never hurt you, but this thing in my head wants to, so we can't…" He shakes his head. "Crusher, buddy. Promise me that you'll keep me away from her. Never let me touch her. Not ever. Never let us be alone." His tone is desperate, serious, heartbreaking.

My heart stops beating, and I sink into a crouch hugging my knees with my arms. The emotional rollercoaster I've been riding has dropped me again, and I feel like I'm dying. To be this close to Phil and not touch him, to not feel his body against mine. To instead have all this distance and water between us. I could dive in and swim quickly toward him, but it would be futile. He'd just swim away and the lake is large, likely deep.

Phil's not playing games with me. This isn't him playing hard to get. Staying away from me hurts him as much as it does me.

Reality sinks in. I've known about the demon possession for nearly two days now, and even though Phil already told me that we needed to stay apart, deep down I thought that everything would be different once we saw each other. That his love for me would spontaneously expel the demon or strengthen his ability to fight it.

But I heard the pain in his voice, saw the terror in his eyes. I see it now as he treads water, two football fields away from me. Phil is terrified to get any closer.

Rising from my crouch, I stand next to Crusher, who's glancing between me and Phil like he's prepared to do anything to keep us separate. But instead of feeling resentment, I'm grateful. Grateful to Crusher for helping Phil feel safe. And if keeping us apart, protecting me, gives Crusher a purpose, that's a good thing too.

"Can we at least talk?" I call out to Phil. "Will you meet me inside? With all the others?"

He shakes his head. "It's not safe. You need to trust me." He grimaces in pain. "I'm gonna swim laps around this island until dawn. Then I'll sleep out the daylight in a cave that Axe guy showed me."

My heart pinches. "When will I see you?"

"Can't make promises. But soon, I hope."