Page 63 of City of Love

As had her comment: If I’m going to leave all this behind.

“Lex, does this mean you’ve had a vision of the transition process?” Maybe he’d misread her babbling after all. Maybe it was pure excitement. He crossed his fingers like a schoolboy.

“Actually…”

Hope bloomed in his chest and he sat up straighter.

“This morning I tried again, and for the first time I did see something, but I don’t think it helps at all.”

“Tell me.”

“First, let me ask… where did you plan on the transition taking place? Where would I be as I went through it?”

“My intention was to talk through the details with Roberto when the time came. But I assume we’d most likely be at my home, probably on the bed where you’d be as comfortable as possible. Why?”

“Hrmm. Yeah, that’s kind of what I thought.”

“Lexi.”

“The only thing my vision showed me was my wrist, without a timer on it. I was lying in your bed, under the sheets. There were beautiful candles everywhere. All I saw was the bed canopy overhead, and both of my wrists were free of the timer. I didn’t see anything else. The problem is, Gideon, that image could be taking place after I’d completed the transition. An image of me living in your world, free of the timer, lounging in your bed.”

He let out a huge breath at the thought. There wasn’t anything he wanted more in the world than that.

“On the other hand,” she continued, “it might simply be an image of moments before the transition, when there’d be no need of the timer, and the painful process had yet to begin. In which case, it tells us nothing of the end result.”

And she was right.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

“Gideon? Don’t worry yet. We have time to wait and see. I’ve been practicing some very deep meditation along with my psychic skills. It might help bring a clearer vision. Or at least help control my fears. In the meantime, we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing, right? I mean, it’s not like you’re getting any older.”

She laughed at her joke, but he couldn’t even pretend to join in, and she wouldn’t be laughing soon. There was no way he could postpone telling her. She was asking him now. And he had an answer now.

He told her. Everything that had transpired in his world. The summit in London. His meeting with the Council. Their personal deadline as laid down by Mayor Moss.

Lexi didn’t respond right away. Her face flushed, and he felt it. Her eyes filled, and he felt it. She choked on a sob and…

“Sweetheart. Talk to me.”

“Oh God. Oh God, oh God. Three weeks?” Even via telepathy he noted the rise in her voice’s pitch. “That’s all? We were supposed to have time. Not just for visions, but I have things to take care of. My apartment. I have to tell my parents! What about Dexter?” Her tears fell as her heart rate rose. “We were supposed to keep seeing each other and make sure we even wanted to… to…”

“Alexa.” As he’d hoped, his use of her formal name pulled her out of her mental frenzy and snapped her attention back to him. “As far as wanting to make sure of our feelings, for my part, in case I’ve not made it crystal clear, let me do so now. I love you, and connected mentally as we are, I know all I need to know of your amazing soul. I’m ready to commit to a life with you.”

Her spirit relaxed, and mentally, they reached out to each other as if in a hug. “I love you too, Gideon. I want to be with you. And in your world.”

He closed his eyes, allowing himself to finally breathe. “That’s music to my ears, sweetheart. We can figure out how to handle your parents and Dexter. We’ll make sure they’re okay. Matthew will help too. I know the timeline has been pushed way up, but if we want to be together, then the rest is just logistics.”

Keeping her in contact with her parents would be tricky given the portal situation, but they’d find a way. And eventually when the panic in his world calmed down, he remained hopeful that use of the portal would become more flexible again. He shared those thoughts with her.

“But none of that changes the other issue,” she said, “which is…”

“The transition.”

“Yeah. I guess at this point it’s coming down to that.”

They were quiet for a long moment. There wasn’t anything he could say to appease her fears in that regard. He shared this particular concern with her, so any words he said to try and ease her worry would be forced and false and she’d know it.

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