Robert looked at the palms of his hands as a shaky breath escaped his lungs.
“You said Magical world?” I asked, frowning in confusion.
“You’re jumping the gun a little,” he noted, looking back up at me. Not a trace of the sorrow gripping him a moment ago remained.
“I’m in charge of what I think I can handle. I want to know,” I said as calmly as possible, but frustration laced my voice. I was really getting sick of only being told bits and pieces.
“I know you are, but like I told you this afternoon, I want to gain your trust first so you’ll believe me when I tell you everything.” He stared into my eyes, making that primal instinct hum deep in my core.
“Fine, but if I’m so important, how come I’ve never heard of any of this before?” I did my best to stay focused on the topic at hand, but the nervous energy inside me made it feel like I was standing on the edge of a cliff, ready to take some terrible leap.
“That troubled me too at first. I would’ve thought your family would have told you about who you are,” he reasoned, not looking at me.
“My parents died when I was young.”
“I know that now. That’s part of what I found out while I was in England.” He paused and finally looked me in the eye.
“Oh, well what else did you find out while you were there?” I asked, not wanting to talk about my parent’s death.
He accepted my avoidance of the topic and continued, “My family needed me to make sure you were The Waker before we did anything else.”
“And how did you find that out?”
“I spoke with a few people from the other families to make sure they didn’t have any other prospects, and then I spoke to a Soothsayer who happened to be in town and she confirmed what I already knew.” He chuckled.
“What?”
“It’s not a coincidence she was there. Soothsayers can see the future, remember. So it was just further proof you were The Waker.”
“But how can you be sure you have the right Violet. There has to be a million people with the same name as me.” I fiddled with the necklace around my neck.
He moved his head to the side and studied me a moment then said, "Nice necklace." He nodded to the small pendant in my fingers and his eyes crinkled at the corners in satisfaction.
"Thanks, it's a family heirloom," I dropped my hand and looked away from him, "Stop trying to change the subject."
“Sorry, you asked how I could be so sure?" He paused and I nodded my head. "When I healed you I felt the essence of who you are. I knew without a doubt you were who we’d been waiting for.” He smiled and placed his hand on mine.
His hand felt warm and comforting against my skin.
Suddenly I was standing on my front porch with the sun overhead, watching myself and Robert. “It’ll be okay,” he said, pulling me against his chest and wrapping his arms around me. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “It’ll be okay,” I repeated his words under my breath.
As I watched myself in his arms, he slowly leaned toward me. Closing the distance between us, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He held me tight against his chest, his hand in my hair and slowly bent to kiss me.
Just like that it was over. I was back in my living room with Robert sitting beside me.
I pulled my hand from his and leaned away. My heart pounded in my chest. I could still smell the crisp wetness of the rain. Man, my daydreams were starting to get really intense.
“You okay?” Robert asked. His eyes roamed over me, puzzled.
What was going on with me? It made me shiver, thinking how real everything had felt. It was the same as this afternoon. When he touched me, I could clearly see and feel everything that happened the night he saved me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just, this is all a lot to take in,” I lied. Something weird was definitely happening to me.
“If you want, we can talk more tomorrow,” he said, smiling reassuringly.
“I’m too keyed up to do anything else. Besides, we still haven’t resolved why you think you have to stay here.” I cocked my head to the side, waiting for an explanation.
“You really are difficult aren’t you,” he chuckled. “Look, I’m not leaving you unprotected so you’re just going to have to get used to it. You almost died once under my watch. I won’t let anything like that happen again.”
“And what, I have no say in any of this?” I retorted.
He sighed then looked up at me. “Violet, if you’re really uncomfortable with me being here then I can send over Brett or Annabel but someone has to stay with you now that we know for sure. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is.” His eyes burned into mine, melting me from the inside out. My daydream had left me distracted and wanting to close the distance between us.
“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable with you being here,” I admitted as I finally exhaled.
“Then what?” he asked.
“I just don’t like…” I paused. “I don’t like feeling so helpless.” I looked down, ashamed as my fingers fiddled with the tie on my shorts.
“You’re not helpless, quite the opposite.” He smiled and his russet eyes burned with a quiet reverence that made my heart skip a beat. The way he looked at me proved how much he believed I was something special, that I was The Waker.
“So tell me more about this Belinda person,” I asked, trying to refocus the conversation. “Why does everyone take everything she says at face value?” I still didn’t buy the whole psychic thing.
“To start, she hasn’t been the only one to name you as The Waker.”
“Do you really have to keep calling me that?”
“What would you like me to call you?” An innocent looking smile spread across his face and I faltered at how gorgeous he looked.
“I don’t know, I just don’t like being referred to as The Waker. It’s too weird for me.” I shrugged, trying not to come off too harsh.
“Alright then. Belinda hasn’t been the only one to see…” Robert paused. “How important you are.” His voice sounded strained as he spoke the last few words. He was trying to keep things light for my sake but I could tell by the tension in his shoulders how much it frustrated him that I wasn’t taking him seriously.
“There have been others,” I said and swallowed. “Like Belinda?”
“Of course. A few are born every generation and they’ve all seen you.”
“But how do you know they just haven’t heard it from someone else and then repeated it?” I frowned, starting to get a little uneasy. What if this was all true? What if I was… The Waker. I forced myself to think the words. Then what would I do?
“The vision is passed down from Soothsayer to Soothsayer, but each time the next generation discovers more information that wasn’t known before,” Robert explained.
“More information?” I asked.
“Yes. For instance, the very first vision contained your name and that you would carry the mark of your bloodline." He pointed to my necklace.
My fingers went to the pendant I always kept around my neck. As I looked at the three crescent moons placed back to back and held together by Celtic swirls, the metal felt heavier with the weight of his words.
"The next generation’s vision showed that you would be born in America, and so on and so forth until the most recent vision told us exactly where to look for you.”
“You knew where to find me?”