“All too quickly it became time for her to make her own promise. As the boy, now an old man, lay dying he made her swear to tell the story of her mother and father to her own children—should she have any. And to any of her people that she should encounter. He made her promise not to let their story, their love be forgotten.
“The girl kept her word to the man who had always loved and protected her. She knew he wasn’t her father, but she’d loved him as such for her entire life. She knew in her heart that her true father would not mind. Eventually she met another of her kind and fell in love with him. She passed the story on to her love, then her own children, always careful to include the love she felt from the boy. She explained how he’d cared for her, how much she loved him and how he was the only father she had ever known. Through the generations, the sacred story has been passed down from mother to child, reminding us that love is a precious gift from the Moon Goddess. And that though we may feel anger, though we may be tempted to lose all control and give our rage freedom, we must be careful to never hurt an innocent. Because they do not deserve our punishments.”
Seth sat on his motorcycle in tears. The story he had loved so much as a child had new meaning now. The part of him that had always scoffed at such a love, such a perfect mate being out there was silent. His heart broke for the nameless maiden and her wizard—and their fate. He knew exactly how the wizard felt when he thought he was losing his one true love. How the maiden must have felt, when he was taken from her.
Wiping away his tears, he wondered if he would ever be as brave as she was.
“Why did you want to hear that story?” his mother asked, her voice once again normal. “I thought you had grown too old for such a fairy tale centuries ago.”
“I was wrong,” he said, choking back the emotion in his voice.
“Seth, baby, what’s wrong?” He could hear the worry in her voice.
“Nothing, Mom.” He tried to keep his voice emotionless. There was nothing his mother could do to help, now that he knew he was “Blood Mated” just like the maiden and the wizard. He didn’t want her to worry needlessly.
“You never were a good liar, at least not to me. You’re a grown man. I understand if you don’t want to tell your old mother. But promise me you’ll call me again soon. After whatever’s bothering you has been taken care of.”
“Yes, ma’am. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, baby. Come home for a visit soon. You can tell me all about what’s going on then.”
His mother hung up without waiting for a response. He was thankful he wouldn’t have to lie to her again. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to keep the promise to visit her, and thankful he’d at least had one final chance to tell her he loved her.
No sooner had he hung up the phone than it rang again.
Looking at the caller ID in confusion, he saw his own phone number.
“Hello?” Could Willow be up and trying to call him? Dare he hope that she wanted to stick around to talk to him?
“Hey man, how are you doing?”
“What do you need, Jason?” Seth still felt too raw to hold a casual conversation.
“You need to make a stop. This lady of yours is feeling a rather large craving for some chocolate.”
Seth promised he would stop and hung up the phone.
A couple hours later Seth walked into his apartment, arms loaded with chocolate and movies. When Jason mentioned that his Willow had a severe craving for chocolate, he had stopped by the next store and practically bought out the entire stock in the candy aisle. He wasn’t sure what she liked and hadn’t wanted to buy the wrong thing by mistake. On impulse he also stopped by an all-night video store and rented Nightmare on Elm Street, parts one and two. He was surprised to see just how many sequels the movie had, and hoped that those two would help him to understand the reference Willow made earlier.
As he walked by, he noticed her curled up on the couch, the credits to some movie rolling across the screen.
Quietly, he took the chocolate and movies into the kitchen.
“Oh great, you remembered to pick up some chocolate. Do you think you bought enough?” Jason teased. “Wow, you got the good stuff.” Jason reached for a dark chocolate and raspberry candy bar. He shot Seth a dirty look when his hand was smacked away.
“You don’t get any.”
“Wow, you have it bad. Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on? Why were you…whatever you were, earlier? And why did you just leave as though someone were trying to kill you?”
“It’s a long story.” Seth sighed.
“You’re in luck, I have all night.” Jason leaned on the counter and eyed the heap of chocolate, but didn’t reach for any.
“Well I don’t. I need you to take Willow back home.”
“Why?”
“Just do it, Jason,” he said irritably.
“Nope, not until you tell me why. She deserves to know too. She took a big chance with you. She risked her life for you. She was really worried, Seth, and you just left without saying a word.”
“She shouldn’t worry about me. And you shouldn’t come by for a while. It’s going to be rough around here.”
“Well aren’t you Mr. Cryptic,” Jason huffed.
“You have been hanging around Willow entirely too much.” Seth had to fight the surge of jealousy he felt at the thought of his Willow being with some other man.
“Wow, you rented movies, too. What did you get?” Before Seth could stop him, Jason grabbed the DVDs and frowned. “You got Nightmare on Elm Street? Only you could go into a video store and get a movie that has been around forever. Why didn’t you get something newer?”
“I want to see this one,” Seth told him simply, taking the movie from his hand.
“And just what made you have this sudden burning desire to watch this movie? You always refused to let me watch it when it was on cable. You said something about television and movies being nothing but a waste of time and told me to go read a book.” Jason sulked. “Do you know how many times I’ve had to listen to you talk about the days when there was no television? How people were excited if they learned how to read, or could find a book—any book—to read? More times than any man should have to, I’ll tell you that. Damn. Did my history teachers love it when I had to spend time with you.”
“That was different. You were a child and your parents trusted me to keep you safe. And I wish to watch it now.”
“Why?” Jason wouldn’t seem to let the subject drop, he seemed determined to get an answer.
“I want to hear a rhyme. Does it matter?”
“Wow, you woke up on the wrong side of the bed. You’d think after waking up with a beautiful woman naked and lying across you, your temper would improve,” Jason grumbled. “But no, you have to go and act worse than you did when she avoided you.”
“That was different.” Just how many times would he be allowed to get away with using that phrase in this conversation? “And how did you know she was lying across me?”
“I looked in on you two—just to make sure you were both in one piece. How is it different now?” Jason returned to the previous subject.
“It just is. Look, just take her home. I’ll call you when it’s safe to come around me again.” His heart broke as he lied to his friend, knowing it was perhaps the last time he would ever see him.
“Fine. I’ll go. But there are two things I won’t be doing.” He grabbed the jacket he’d kept in Seth’s closet for emergencies and began to put it on. “First, I won’t be waiting by the phone for your call.” Jason walked over to the elevator. “And second, I won’t be taking her anywhere. You want her gone, you tell her. She damn well deserves to hear this from you after what happened last night. To quote what you always tell me, ‘It’s your mess. You clean it up’.”