Page 6 of Wind and Water
This entire thing is too much. I storm forward. “Momma, we’re leaving.”
“I’ve invited Liam to join us for the tour of Westminster Abbey.” She says it as if we met him at a party.
As soon as we’re on the street, I face her. “You invited the man who tried to abduct me to go on a tour with us?”
“Don’t put it that way. His people are in real trouble. He was following orders, and you’re still here. No real harm was done.” She grins at me.
I’d like to say this lack of worry over the state of the world around us was unusual, but the truth is, my mother never worried a day in her life about the dangers around her. She has faith that she’ll always be safe.
I grew up in a different time, without her sense of peace and harmony. Still, I can see how the gruff soldier is charming in his way. If he’s lying about the plight of his world, he’s the best I’ve ever seen. No. I think he’s telling the truth, but that doesn’t mean I’m getting involved with whatever insanity happened in the dental office. I’m going to see London and Scotland as planned. “Y’all do what you like.” I walk past them and head to the corner where I’ll cross to the park. There’s plenty of time to get to the Abbey.
There’s no doubt in my mind that when the light turns, the two of them are striding behind me. I keep going past the wrought iron gate and into the lush green park with its meandering paths. I breathe in the bit of nature in the middle of the city and know I’ll remember the soft scent of roses and sweet magnolias with a hint of a mustier floral I don’t know, yet it’s familiar. It might be zinnias or marigolds. The presence of city odors only makes the country air more remarkable.
Momma says, “We should find the statue of Peter Pan.”
Too annoyed to agree with her, I stride forward.
“Who is Peter Pan?” Liam’s voice is deep, and every word he says seems to vibrate along my skin.
I rub my arm, trying to banish the sensation. “He’s a character in a book. It’s fiction about a place where unwanted boys never grow up.”
“Unwanted?” He sounds incredulous.
Momma sighs. “Yes. Unfortunately, that part is not always fiction, Liam. However, in the book, the head boy, Peter, makes his way to London where he convinces three children to go on an adventure with him. It’s a darling story.”
“My people cherish their children,” he says flatly.
I round on him. “You have no orphans? This world you want me to save is perfect, other than it’s dying because of a witch?” I want to not care, but I was made very empathetic, and I can’thelp feeling everyone’s concerns deeply. Sometimes, so much so that I ignore my own.
The only sign that he’s the least bit moved by my words is a slight tick in his jaw. He blinks several times and pulls his shoulders back. His voice is soft but full of gravity. “When an elven child is orphaned, another family usually raises them. Sometimes it’s family and sometimes friends. In some cases, the royal family will adopt the child. My parents did so when I was a baby, though Nainsi was nearly grown at the time. She lives in your world now. To your other point, I’d be glad to tell you all about Domhan’s troubles if you would stop running away from me for five minutes together.” There was more bite in that last part.
I can’t help the shimmer of satisfaction over making him angry. His cool exterior irritates the crap out of me. Staring back, I have a dozen questions about his world and his family, but in the end, one thing trumps them all. “Why is your adopted sister in my world?”
With a slight shake of his head, he bites his top lip.
It’s impossible not to watch his mouth. I force my gaze back to his eyes, which are just as pretty as those lips.
The sound of water fills the silence as we stare at each other.
There’s a subtle shift in his attitude, but I see the moment when he pushes aside his frustration and regains his soldierly composure. “My parents brought a party to this world ten of your years ago. Nainsi was with them. She met a man and fell in love. They live in someplace called Newfoundland.”
Before I can ask more questions, Momma grabs my hand and pulls me around the fountain. She whips her London tour guidebook out of her purse and flips to one of the page tabs. “This is the Italian Gardens. If we go this way, we should see the Peter Pan statue and eventually Diana’s memorial fountain.”
I should stay silent and mind my own business. Liam is nothing to me. “If I had a sister I hadn’t seen in ten years, I wouldn’t be trying to abduct unsuspecting women in London. I’d be in Canada catching up with Nainsi.”
He’s a step or two behind me. “I was very young when she went to live with an aunt and uncle, though I would like to see her. However, my duty is to find one of the three human women from the prophecy and bring her to the Watcher’s Gate. My brothers have been sent on the same task. Each of us was sent to find one of you and ask you to help us.”
Acting as if I ignored the part about taking me away, I ask, “How much older is your sister?”
“At least twelve suns.” He steps beside me and keeps pace with me while Momma rushes ahead of us.
When I stop, he faces me. “Your parents must have been very young when they took her in. Wait. How old are you?” I’m trying to be nonchalant, but my voice is incredulous as I attempt the math in my head.
A few strands of his dark-gold hair fall from the ribbon holding them back. My hand itches to push them back. Liam tucks them behind his ear. “I have lived only thirty-four suns. Elves live a great deal longer than humans. My parents were already married, and my mother was ruler of our people in all of Domhan when the witch queen started the war that left Nainsi orphaned at fifteen.” He cocks his head. “I was little when she lived with us and remember her as a soldier and dear friend to my mother. She never came back to my world after falling in love here.”
Besides trying to kidnap me, it’s hard to find anything wrong with him, which is annoying. “How long will you live?”
He shrugs and turns to catch up with my mother.
