Page 58 of City of Love

Oddly, it sounded as though she was arguing with someone. She couldn’t possibly be mad at Matthew, so who then?

As the volume and ire of Margot’s voice increased, Lexi tried to focus on her words, but the blissful edge of unconsciousness crept closer and closer, until nothing was left but her dreams.

CHAPTER 25

The next morning, as promised, Gideon made his way across worlds, and with Matthew’s directions, continued on foot to Lexi’s apartment a few blocks away. Though Council meetings and an entire town of panicked people awaited his afternoon agenda, his top priority the moment he’d opened his eyes had been to return to her. To make sure she was okay and to lay out all the information regarding the transition process she’d have to go through if their relationship continued on its current path.

After the craziest twenty-four hours he’d ever experienced, with monumental highs and lows, he existed now in a state of exhaustion, fear, and outright jubilation. Like a mountain climber who’d reached the summit of Everest after a treacherous climb, danced with joy at the peak, but now had to climb back down as a bank of storm clouds loomed overhead.

This morning as he walked the streets of World Two, moving ever closer to Lexi and their possible future, Roberto accompanied him. Gideon cast a side glance at his friend in an effort to determine Roberto’s motive and mood, but his expression was stoic and unreadable as ever.

Earlier that morning he’d gone to Roberto’s home, bringing breakfast in hand and hoping to get some questions answered before facing Lexi and their conversation. Though hesitant to broach the subject after Roberto’s painfully recent loss, there’d been no one else to ask who was as informed on the topic. True to form, his friend had greeted him with a warm hug and welcomed his questions.

But when Gideon stood go, Roberto grabbed his hat and made to head out with him, and though Gideon had done his best to persuade him that his company on this trip was hardly necessary, especially given his very fresh emotional wounds, he’d insisted that his presence was needed, and stepped out toward the portal with Gideon in tow, refusing further argument.

Now as they moved side by side down the streets of the other Philadelphia, Gideon shoved his restless hands into his pockets and continued his attempts to puzzle out Roberto’s expression. It was completely unclear to him whether his friend meant to persuade or dissuade the potential transition. He prayed it was the former, but after what his friend had just been through, it was hard to imagine him believing this a good idea.

When they arrived at her home, though relieved to find her alive and well and indeed sipping a mug of coffee, trepidation set in. Seeing her in her own world, her private space, surrounded by the things that were important to her, she suddenly seemed fragile in a way he’d never envisioned when she was visiting him on his turf—the only way he’d ever seen her before other than when she was tied up in a storage unit, of course.

Here, he saw her as she was in everyday life. A pile of books with her reading glasses balanced on top, her vitamins, keys, and mail sitting on the kitchen counter, the magnet on her refrigerator with her veterinarian’s phone number. He examined the photos of her parents and friends that were placed everywhere, including a spectacular image of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence.

“Did you make this lovely photograph?” he asked. “When did you last travel to Italy?”

She laughed at his question. “Last travel there? I’ve actually never been. That’s a postcard. My parents purchased it on one of their trips for me. I’ve always dreamed of exploring Tuscany. It’s number one on my travel bucket list.”

While he wasn’t sure what she meant by ‘bucket list,’ he got the gist. Lexi was real here, not just a fantasy. A woman with a family, a history, dreams and plans of her own. All of which he was hoping she might be willing to give up one day. For him.

He introduced her to Roberto, and she brought drinks and snacks into the small living room before settling in next to him on the sofa. Roberto sat across from them on a chair. Gideon longed for a moment of privacy to wrap her back in his arms and check her thoroughly for any remaining bruises, preferably with his lips. But that would have to wait.

He clasped her hand on his thigh. “You were okay last night, I take it? Did you sleep well?”

She squeezed his hand in response. “I was out cold with the help of a nice little pill. Margot stayed and left as soon as I woke this morning.” She picked up her coffee, eyes going from Roberto back to Gideon as she sipped. “I guess you brought in reinforcements to lay the next round of scary stuff on me?”

He winced at her words. “Roberto is a physician, and quite knowledgeable on the subject of transitioning to our world.”

“Then just tell me.” She reached to touch his cheek. “It’s clear you and I’ve got something here, right?” He nodded, taking her hand in his own. “Then you’re going to have to tell me sometime. Let’s just assume for now that at some point we might want to be together. I know you can’t live here in my universe; it’s too painful for you. Besides, we’d both fit better in yours. Tell me now. How does it work?”

He took a deep breath, beating back the asshole on his shoulder still yelling at him for even starting this relationship with her. “There is a process that will force your vibrational frequency to permanently shift to ours. Once that happens, you can live in my world and even return to your universe for a few hours like we occasionally do when we visit Taco Shots. As a bonus, once you’re a permanent resident of our universe, you’ll start to age more slowly as we do.” He attempted a half-hearted smile. “You won’t have to worry about being old and gray while I’m still young.”

“That all sounds great to me so far,” she said. “I know there’s a big ‘but’ coming though, yes?”

He nodded. “The process is incredibly painful. There’ll be a lot of other people there with us during the transition if you decide to do it. Many hands will be required to assist in various capacities, and some will be able to help ease the pain. But we’ll be forcing your body to stay in our dimension while it fights to return to yours.” He took both of her hands and held them tight, looking hard into her eyes. “It will go on for a quite a while, five or six hours or more, and it will hurt. Greatly. There is also significant risk.”

Her gaze moved toward a corner of the room as she thought, her face pinched. “I see.” She turned back to him, her chin lifting. “Okay. A day of pain. Bad pain.” She swallowed. “It’s worth it, right? Five hours of torture for a couple of hundred years together? Seems like a pretty great bargain to me.”

His mouth had gone dry, and he took a moment to sip some water, casting a glance at Roberto as he did so. His friend simply nodded for him to continue.

Lexi shifted in her seat, growing restless. “The risk part, though. Let’s get to that.”

He set his glass down. “The problem is, it doesn’t always work. And by that I mean it can be fatal. There might not be enough time to abort the process if it starts to go wrong.”

She pulled away, dropping her hands from him and sitting back against the sofa, staring off into the distance. He felt that familiar fist to his gut.

“I saw it happen once.” He chose not to mention just how recently he’d seen it happen, making an effort to wall off that scene in his mind. She didn’t need to witness the details. “It was Roberto’s own love, Cassandra.”

“Oh!” Lexi spun to her guest. “I’m so sorry. I—”

Roberto put his palms forward in a calming gesture. “Please don’t be uncomfortable, Lexi. I don’t mind talking about Cassandra. If any knowledge about the path she and I were fated to walk can help you to negotiate yours, then it would be my honor to assist you.” He looked back toward Gideon. “Please, continue.”

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