“I thought you were gone,” I say, taking a step back from him. Even though I know I can’t avoid him forever, I didn’t think I’d be face-to-face with him so soon. My hand goes automatically to the ankh around my neck, and Drew’s eyes follow. He reaches out to touch its silver curves, but I shrink back from his hand, which seems to snap him back to reality—the reality where we barely know each other.
“You didn’t call,” he says. He takes a step toward me, and I can feel the faint but insistent vibrations between us. “I was hoping you would.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, staring at the hardwood floors to avoid the intensity of his blue eyes as he looks at me. With his short blond hair, he’s not my type at all, but I can’t deny that he’s very good-looking, and it’s a little intimidating. As far as I’m concerned, Drew’s just a jewelry designer who is practically engaged to Kat’s boss. And also happens to be Akhet.
Drew takes a step back, and I can feel the intensity of his energy ease, as if he’s consciously forcing himself to slow down. “Is that how we’re going to play this?” He nods slowly, but I know it’s not with approval. “I thought you’d be glad to see me after so long. All things considered.”
I glance behind him, half expecting Francesca to step into the hallway any minute, but only one fairly drunk guy weaves past us, not paying any attention. I look Drew straight in the eyes, hoping that I can stop this conversation before it goes too far. If we don’t acknowledge it, then I can keep it from being true. “I barely know you. I met you twice in the shop, and you like my necklace. I don’t know what else you think is going on here, but that’s all we are to each other.” I hear the words and close my eyes, willing myself to believe them. That’s all we are to each other. I can’t let myself think about any other possibility.
Drew stands so close I can feel the warmth of his breath on my skin. “You and I both know that isn’t true. You know exactly who I am to you. Who I’ve been to you. I can tell that you remember.”
“You’re wrong,” I say, looking past him. Not daring to look right at him for fear of what I might see there. “I don’t remember.” I inhale, trying to make myself believe those words. “I don’t remember anything.”
“Why would you say that?” Drew asks, and something in his voice makes me meet his eyes. I’m surprised to find a glimmer of hurt behind them. His voice trembles as he continues. “It’s taken centuries to find you again, and I thought you’d be as thrilled as I am to finally be together in the same place, in the same lifetime.”
I think of Griffon upstairs on the roof and want nothing more than to be back there. No answer I can give will satisfy Drew, so I turn to run back to the stairs, back to Griffon so that I can make this all disappear.
But Drew’s reflexes are quicker than mine. He reaches out and grabs my arm as I turn, and it feels as if a strong current of electricity is connecting the two of us. Drew is a more powerful Akhet than I’d imagined. I can feel his hands catching me as my knees buckle from the impact of the jolt and the memory that starts crashing all around me.
The ground beneath us trembles from the pounding of the horses’ hooves. I look up at Connor, fear crawling over my skin even as I try to deny what is coming.
“We must run,” I say, throwing myself into his arms. Panic rises through my body. “We have to go.” I turn to pull him down the long stone hallway, but he stands fast. “They’ll find us here!”
“My dear Allison, there is nowhere left to hide,” he says quietly, with more comportment than I thought possible at such a moment. His calm control of any situation is one of the things that drew me to him, but right now I want to beat on his chest and spur him into action. What little time we have left is fleeting, certainly he must see that? “They have the grounds surrounded, I’m sure of it,” he continues, lifting my face with his strong hand. “We have no options left. To fight them now will only put us both in danger. I will not risk your life as well.”
There is a distant pounding at the main door, although I know the servants have long since gone to the country. “We can’t just surrender into their hands!” I cry, frustration at the situation spilling over until I can no longer stop the hot tears from flowing.
Connor reaches around and frees the pendant from my neck, then slips the ruby earrings from my ears. Folding them into my palm, he whispers, “With these jewels and the others in your chambers you shall have means to get away. Keep them hidden, whatever you do.”
He bends to kiss me, and for one brief moment it is as if we are the only two people left on Earth. I cling to him desperately, wanting to remember what may well be our last moments together. His lips press against mine, the intensity of his emotions matching the beat of my heart and the heat from our bodies causing the silver in my hand to warm. I feel our connection growing stronger even as our time together grows shorter.
I barely register the noise in the hallway as the soldiers gain entry. It is only when Connor is ripped from my arms that the reality of the moment catches hold and I start to scream. “Connor! No! Make them stop! You can’t leave me!” I fall to my knees before the tallest soldier as his compatriots hold my husband roughly by the arms. “I beg of you, sir. You are making a grave mistake!”
I smell the leather of his spotless black boots as the man towers above me, a thick piece of parchment in his hands. “Connor Wyatt,” he proclaims. “You are to be remanded to the custody of His Majesty’s representatives to be tried for treason against the crown.”
The soldiers shout as they wrestle Connor down the hallway, although he is putting up very little protest. The tall one brushes me aside as if I am nothing but a speck of manure on his boot as he turns to follow the others toward the door.
“Connor!” I scream, disbelief rising at the scene that is unfolding before my eyes. “Don’t leave me! Connor!”
With one last burst of energy, he manages to turn back so that I can meet his eyes. “I will always love you, Allison. Never forget. No matter what happens, I will love you. Ad vitam aeternam.”
For eternity. At those last words, the soldiers reach the door and wrestle him out to the waiting horses, which snort and paw at the ground. The dust has barely settled on the drive when I collapse on the cold stones of the doorway, fully and completely alone as silence descends upon the house.
I feel a solid wall at my back as I shake off the memory from so many centuries ago. Drew is holding me up by both arms, watching my face intently. He knows what’s just happened. He may not know the details, but he knows I remember something. His blue eyes search mine as I feel a pounding of denial in my ears. Drew can’t be right. He can’t be Connor.
“Are you still going to deny it?” he whispers.
My hands are shaking and the feelings of abandonment and loss have settled into my chest as if that all just happened seconds ago. Tears jump into my eyes as I picture Connor’s face again as he’s led through our door for what I know is the last time. I look around, taking in the murmur of conversation from the other rooms, the faint smell of candle wax, the clinking of glasses from the bar. I’m here in San Francisco at a party with my boyfriend, not in England in the sixteenth century. “I can’t deny what happened then,” I say in a whisper. I force my eyes to meet his, the essence of Connor still lingering in my memory. I have to stay strong, keep my emotions in this lifetime. “But that has nothing to do with now.”