Page 141 of Commanding Flame and Shield
The coffee was, as usual, nearly scalding, and bitter in the best of ways. I sighed and accepted a hand pie from her tray of goodies.
“You seem…chipper? Any progress on Adrastos?”
She sighed and bit into her pastry. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “Screw Adrastos.” She flashed me a cheeky crooked grin as I snorted a laugh. “Today, is my first Christmas with my soul mate. I’ll solve the world’s problems later.” She licked the sugar off her fingers one at a time, and I groaned as heat flooded my body. Alvara flashed me a coy smile.
You’re a brat, you know that?
Maybe a bit. You like it.She raised a solitary brow.
Maybe a bit.
She perused the plate of pastries and plucked up a Danish. Cherry, by the smell of it. I sipped another scalding mouthful of coffee. When I was fully alert, I surveyed the room, and widened my eyes when I took in the pile of gifts in front of the mantle. Alvara was already striding for them.
“You all still exchange presents?”
“Why wouldn’t we? Immortality is boring if you don’t at least enjoy the little things.” She picked up a box and rattled it as relief washed over me. Would have been awkward if I was the only enthusiast.
“But…you already know what they are, don’t you?”
She tried hard to look insulted as she set her hand over her heart. “August Porter, are you suggesting I would do such a thing?”
I arched my brows and stated flatly, “You know what each and every one of those boxes are.”
She grinned. “Down to the price tag.”
“Well, that takes the fun out of it.”
“It really does. But it’s thethoughtthat counts, right?” She smiled sweetly as she flourished her hand to emphasize her words.
I sighed and rolled over for the bedside table to fetch my gift for her out of the drawer. It wasn’t there, just her usual collection of pens, papers and books. I turned back and scowled at her. There, in her slender ivory fingers, was the long skinny box I had tucked into the drawer only the night before.
“I love it, August, really! I’ll never take it off.” She tore into the silver paper I'd so meticulously folded and had the box open and necklace free in a heartbeat. I laughed as she clipped it around her neck, the small pink ward stone settling between her breasts. “It’s almost as effective as you are. Almost.” She threw me a wink, tapping her new amulet. “Thank you, August.”
“But I suppose you still get to surprise all of us?”
“Surprising anyone is a bit of a challenge with the mental connection, but I do my best.” She tossed me a small box wrapped in green, nearly the same color as her eyes. And then thought very, very hard about a giant pink elephant. I shook my head, cheeks aching with the smile on my face. Still sore from all our laughter on the mountain. I made to tear off the paper, but my heart was heavy despite her merriment. Heavy with the lack of answers, with the lack of a plan.
Alvara gave me a knowing smile. “We’re just in a stalemate, love. I intend to keep it that way for the time being. It will break. Just…for today…we’ll let it be Christmas?”
I pursed my lips and forced a smile. She sat beside me as I stripped the paper and folded it into a pile between us. The rattle of metal on cardboard shifted and slid, and I narrowed my eyes at her.
“A necklace for me too, Coach?” She kept her face schooled into indifference, but her lips tugged at the corners. Her mind stayed firmly fixed on that pink elephant. I picked at a piece of shipping tape she had used to seal the box and sighed when I peeled my eyes from her face and realized she had taped most of the box up. “Cruel woman,” I chuckled, and she grinned mischievously.
“That’s half the fun though.”
“Torturing the recipient?”
“Gotta make it worth it.” I chuckled as she sprawled out on the bed in front of me, inclining her head with that effortless grace of hers. She summoned one of her Scottish dirks off her desk, and it floated directly to me. I snatched it out of the air and sliced along the seams, trying not to allow her radiant amusement to distract me. Her heart picked up pace as I peeled the box open and pulled the flimsy white tissue out.
Sitting in the bottom of that cardboard box, metal glinted. A sheathed silver blade, and a once-gold, antique pocket watch. I lifted the watch from the cardboard, and something heavy settled into my chest. A story, I realized, as I weighed the small circle in my hands, running my thumb along the ancient chain.
Open it.
My gaze flicked up to her nervous eyes and blushing cheeks before looking at the delicate pattern on the face. I turned it in my hands again. Once, twice. Finally, I clicked the top button. Surprise settled over me as the spring still easily clicked the face forward. The old paper was aged with air and light, the numerals still visible in faded grey. On the opposite side, sealed against the face of it, was a shadow of a black and white portrait. A portrait of a girl, perhaps…just past her childhood.
I lifted the watch, eyes straining, heart heavy with the familiar energetic pull of the object between my fingers. The faded outline of full lips, a defined jaw, high cheekbones and animatedly large, dark eyes. Hair, midnight dark in the old ink, tucked up into curls, and a black dress nearly concealed her entire neckline. A bewildered grin pulled at my mouth, and I looked up to Alvara, who smiled sweetly as she stared at me. I narrowed my eyes. Her face was so familiar that my heart became a weight in my chest. It sunk lower, deeper, to my core. It pulled and tugged at my mind. A memory, I realized, buried deep. A glinting gem at the bottom of a frozen lake. Tucked between shadows.
The strain was enough to make my breath come heavier.
