Page 55 of Ruled By Fate

“But they are. They’re hunting me, Cameron. They were swarming all over the exact place they had attacked me before. They could be on their way here right now for all we know.” She took a step towards him. “You said you only found me because you were already there.” She stepped closer, her voice dangerously low. “Why were you already there, Cameron?”

He sucked in a breath. “I was just…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “Brianna, there are things I can’t—”

“Answer me,” she shouted. “I’m tired of being kept in the dark!”

He stared in helpless silence.

“Answer me, or I’m taking this off.” She gripped her pendant in her fist, raising it threateningly. “No more games, no more deflections. I’ll throw it right down on the floor.”

“Brianna!”

“Tell me, Cameron.”

“I was already there because I was always there!”

She stopped cold. “What does that mean?”

He sank back to the table in defeat, letting his face drop into his hands. For a few seconds, she didn’t think he would answer. Then, he let out a quiet breath.

“I’ve been checking on you every night since we first met,” he said miserably. “Every single night for the past five years. I’ve been there.”

A ringing silence fell between them, punctuated only by the steady ticking from the clock on the wall.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” he murmured, staring unblinkingly at the floor. “You’d just lost your mother, and you were so alone, and I couldn’t see your life. I couldn’t see your energy, couldn’t find you if I lost you. So, if I ever left, I wouldn’t know if you were okay.”

A minute passed. Then another.

“You were with me?” she repeated, unable to process it.

He nodded, hanging his head like the world was coming to an end.

“It wasn’t allowed, of course,” he continued quietly, “and of course, you weren’t supposed to see me, which you can for reasons I still don’t understand… so, I could only linger at night. But sometimes, I managed to check on you during the day as well.”

A single word stood out above the rest.

“It wasn’t allowed?” she asked.

He shook his head. “We aren’t supposed to interact with humans except to ease their suffering at the end. If my father knew what I’ve been doing…” His face tightened before crumbling in remorse. “Though I suppose he’ll have to find out.”

He pulled in another breath, forcing himself to meet her gaze. “The light you shone has left an imprint on everything around it. An imprint that my kind can see. Any one of my kind, or any darker being for that matter, could have found the place where you took off your necklace. They would simply have to follow the traces to the epicenter — like finding a meteor in the center of its crater. But they can’t see you, Brianna. They can’t track you. I can’t track you. If you were ever lost to me… I’m afraid you would be lost forever.”

He opened his mouth to continue before letting out a tired sigh. “The other night, you weren’t in your apartment, and all your things were gone. I was frantic to find you. Thank goodness you were at your father’s. I heard you talking, heard that you were moving away. I knew I had to come with you, or I might not be able to find you again, and if any harm were to befall you, I might be too late.” He stared at the table. “I took on another form and came with you. I invaded your space. I invaded your privacy. I hid. I skulked in the shadows like a common criminal. And if it is any consolation, I doubt I will ever forgive myself.”

His face twisted in pain as he looked at her once again. “Brianna… I am so very sorry. I can’t even imagine what you must be thinking.”

That’s kind of a mystery to me as well.

She slowly shook her head. “Let me get this straight. While I was coming apart at the seams, while my father abandoned me for the bottle, while I went through hours and days and weeks and years of therapy, while I held myself together with nothing but my own arms…”

He bowed his head in shame. “Brianna, I—”

“You came to check on me every night, in defiance of the laws of your people, to make sure I was alright? Every night? For five years?”

He lifted his eyes uncertainly. “Yes.”

“And you transformed, stowed away in my car just to stay with me? To protect me when I moved away? That’s why you were in the woods? That’s why you were there in time to save me?”

He nodded silently, beyond feelings language could express.

---