Page 56 of Ruled By Fate

She was quiet for a moment. “Show me.”

“What?”

“Show me. Show me how you transform.”

He hesitated a moment, then looked at her face. Their eyes locked as he took a deep breath and started to glow, just as he had that morning in the motel, the morning she looked for his wings. As though he was lit from within by a miniature sun, he grew brighter and brighter, almost painfully bright, almost burning her eyes. At last, the Cameron she knew disappeared, and a translucent, golden-haloed orb, no bigger than the palm of her hand, floated into the air before her.

The world tilted suddenly, and she realized she’d forgotten to breathe. The orb floated closer, coming to a stop inches from her face. She lifted a hand to touch it — to touch him.

She was afraid he wouldn’t let her. But, of course, he did.

The second the tips of her fingers grazed that light, she was immediately flooded with a sense of relief, well-being, and warmth. She moved to touch him with her other hand, but he floated gently backward, and in a golden flash, Cameron stood before her once again.

They stood in silence for what felt like a very long time.

“Every night?” she finally murmured. “For five years?”

“Yes,” he whispered, like a man awaiting a judge’s sentence.

Her throat was so choked up she could barely speak. Her body was thrumming with such uncontainable emotion it felt as though she might explode. Finally, she lifted her eyes to meet his. “Thank you.”

His lips parted with a silent breath before curving into an expression of radiant relief. “You’re welcome.”

? ? ?

Fifteen minutes later, Brie and Cameron were sitting quietly with their backs against her bookshelves. This time it wasn’t an agonized, frantic silence in which she stood convinced that a dark army was going to hunt her down and annihilate her family and friends. This was a hush of relief, a respite from all the high tension and emotion of the past hour.

They sipped their tea.

When the stillness finally broke, it was with the unlikeliest of questions. “Do you have any idea why I was trapped in my bathtub on my last night in my apartment?”

He shot her a confused look. “You were what?”

“Trapped in my bathtub. I was under the water. I took the pendant off, just for a moment, and I got trapped inside the water until I put it back on.” Cameron stared at her, shocked, as she went on. “Why couldn’t you and… and all of the other creatures see my light when I took it off that time?”

A look of sudden comprehension dawned across his features, followed by a deep blush. “After what happened with your mother, I put certain measures in place to try to protect you, at least when you were at home. When you moved to your apartment, I did the same thing.”

Brie frowned. “What sort of measures?”

Cameron sighed and raked his hand back through his hair. “Anything I could think of, so long as it wouldn’t be noticed. Runes of protection around the perimeter. A blessing over every doorway and window. And… I may have gotten someone to bless all your water pipes.”

“Excuse me?”

“I got someone to bless your water pipes. You’ve been drinking and bathing in holy water for the past five years. Your dad, too. That’s probably what protected you in the bathtub. You were completely submerged in holy water, and it wouldn’t let the darkness see your light.”

She leaned back against the bookshelves, processing. “I suppose that’s why the roses grew so well even though we never took care of them. Who did you get to bless the pipes?”

He sighed and looked at the floor. “Saint Peter.”

“Ah.”

They were quiet a moment longer before Brie decided to change the subject as fast as possible.

“Do you have a man-date to play sports this Sunday?”

He looked at her in surprise. “I do. I wasn’t sure you were coherent enough to register that as we were leaving. You were a little intoxicated.”

She gave a rueful grin. “I was pretty tipsy. But I remember.”

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