Page 14 of Ruled By Fate

“Where were you going?” Cameron asked, interrupting her train of thought. She lifted her head abruptly, realizing she’d been sitting there a long time.

“I’m supposed to be moving to Virginia. Yorktown.”

“What’s in Yorktown?” he asked, head tilted in curiosity.

“My new life.” She looked hopelessly around the tiny hotel room. “I got this great job in the same hospital my best friend started working at last year. I’m supposed to be moving into my new place right now. I start in two days, and now I have no clothes, no car, no things of any kind, not even my plant — which, let’s face it, has definitely died — and no way to get there. I don’t even have a phone. Sherry will be worried sick about me, and I can’t tell her I’m alright.”

A lump rose in her throat, and she snapped a gummy worm in frustration.

He paused for a moment, then his face set into an expression of resolve. “Then, we’ll just have to get you there.”

“What?” she asked, sure she’d misheard him.

“This isn’t supposed to be your life, Brianna. You’re not supposed to be attacked by demons in the woods. You’re not even supposed to be able to see me unless I want you to. The only reason you can is likely because of that pendant around your neck. If your life is taking you to Virginia, then that’s where we’re going to go.”

She stared at him, both touched and disbelieving. “We?”

He stared a moment longer, like he’d been asking the same question himself. Then his lips lifted in a gentle curve. “Obviously. I can’t very well leave you to fend for yourself until we know what’s going on. Not if today was any indication.”

She processed this, staring at him, before lifting a hand to touch her pendant. “And this necklace… Are you going to tell me more about that?”

A strange look clouded his eyes. “That isn’t my story to tell.”

For whatever reason, she believed him. At any rate, she’d had enough to take in for one night. A sudden hush swept over the little room, and she stifled a yawn, realizing she was exhausted.

Cameron noticed immediately. She had a feeling not much escaped his notice.

“You need to rest,” he said gently.

She nodded, suddenly too tired even to talk.

Together, they moved the strange smorgasbord to a table on the other side of the room. She turned down the covers and climbed into bed, freezing in surprise when he climbed in beside her.

Uh, okay?

Neither was undressed. Neither was touching. And only one of them seemed to think it was remotely strange. He merely flashed a polite smile and settled beside her on the pillows.

Maybe everyone sleeps together where he comes from? Maybe it’s like that scene in Willy Wonka, except everyone is beautiful and eternally young.

“Well, goodnight, Cameron.”

He rolled on his side to face her, still touched by that lovely expression. “Goodnight, Brianna.”

When it became clear he had no plans to sleep, she turned over in the bed and let the exhaustion of the day wash her consciousness away like the waves on a shore, drifting off to sleep under the watchful eyes of the impossible man who somehow lay beside her.

She had almost managed it — she had nearly floated completely away when another question rose suddenly to the surface. Her eyes opened slowly, wide and fixed. “Cameron?”

His soft voice drifted over her shoulder. “Yes?”

There was a pause.

“Is my mother okay?”

A much longer pause. “Your mother…” He trailed off into silence, his gaze drifting out the window to rest upon the distant trees. “All I can say about your mother is that things happened just as they were meant to.”

Chapter Four: The Angel and the Officer

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