"Come in," I said, not wanting to move from the balcony.
"Good morning, or should I say good afternoon," a familiar voice said, the figure instantly behind me. I quickly turned to see Cillian standing at the French doors with a charming, self-assured smile.
"How did you get here so quickly?" I asked, staring at him in amazement.
"What's life without a little magic?" he said with an endearing grin. His warm green eyes softened as he admired me. "You look so beautiful, Tilly, like a dew-kissed rose from the garden."
Even though I was worried about my fate, I couldn't help but blush at his compliment. Stepping beside me, he looked more than handsome.
"Is that a smile I see trying to escape from those lovely lips?"
His proximity sent a shiver through my body, and I could no longer contain my smile. Cillian's face lit up. The sunlight kissed his face and burnished his hair with mahogany highlights making him look almost angelic.
"Now that's more like it. You look even more beautiful when you smile. I was thinking it was time you and I talked," he said, taking in the view. "After what happened yesterday, I understand that you're confused, frightened, and more than a little angry."
"What do you expect? Of course, I'm confused and you're damned right I'm angry." I left out the part about being afraid. I didn't want him to think I was some weak damsel in distress that needed to be coddled. "You have no idea what it's like to be torn away from your home and everyone you love."
He looked at me. I averted my face, afraid of what he might find in my eyes. I had to learn to keep my face stony if I was going to be seen as anything but a frightened little girl.
"I'd like to apologise for our behaviour yesterday. Seraphina was right to chastise us. We're not from your world and, sometimes, our conduct reflects that difference."
"Sometimes?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Cillian merely smiled.
"I'm more worried about my Mum. She must be frantic by now, and no doubt the police have gotten involved."
It was meant to sound like I was in control, that I was stating a fact about what would be happening back home, but just thinking about my mom brought tears to my eyes.
"There are ways we can let your family know you're safe," he said. "And I'd very much like the opportunity to demonstrate how much of a gentleman I can be."
Anger flared up inside of me. A gentleman? What would he now about being a gentleman? I regarded him with scepticism. Seeing this side to Cillian, I began to suspect his similarity to his brothers. From my experience, any man who refers to himself as a gentleman is rarely a gentleman. Donte never claimed to be a gentleman. He just was, and I loved that about him.
"A gentleman doesn't force himself on a woman," I said. "Nor would he frighten her or threaten to harm her."
"And I'll see to it that it never happens," he said with a sincere expression. "I intend to prove to you that I'm more than a gentleman."
"It's already happened. It happened the moment you and your brothers saw fit to snatch me from my life and take me, prisoner," I retorted.
"Tilly it's..." he started.
"Just don't ok," I snapped, masking my surprise when he stopped and just looked at me with a certain sadness in his eyes.
I so badly wanted to believe that he was sincere, but how could I after everything that had happened? Just because Cillian was nicer to me than his brothers were didn't make him any sort of a hero.
In the light of the morning, Cillian was different. No, it wasn't him who was different. It was me. I could see what he really was now. He was playing this game to force me to choose one of them, just like his brothers. Maybe he thought I was gullible. Maybe I was. I always wanted to believe that there was good in everyone, even when it was hard to spot. I had hoped that would also apply to Cillian, but right now I wasn't so sure it could.
He regarded me as though he was reading my thoughts. Maybe he was. Well if he was, now he knew I was onto him and he might just drop the act.
"I know you must have countless questions. I'll answer anything you ask," he said gently.
I had so many questions that I hardly knew where to begin. How would I even know he was telling the truth? Was this all an attempt to fool me into playing along with whatever Cillian and his brothers had planned for me?
I looked into his eyes, dreading the answers I might find. My stomach knotted, and for a moment, I struggled to articulate my words.
"Is my life in danger?"
Cillian stepped forward and looked at me with an emotion that coloured his eyes. Though I barely knew him, I felt a connection that somehow assured me he would be honest. I had no way of knowing if that was real or just me allowing my own naïve hopes to cloud my judgement. I had to believe in something though or I would go mad. I decided to take his answers as the truth until something happened to prove otherwise.
"Not from me or my brothers, Tilly," he said softly. "I promise your life isn't in danger. I'd guarantee that even at the cost of my own."
I nodded curtly to cover the relief I felt.
"Seraphina told me what happened to her is happening to me," I said. "How many others have there been? What happened to them?"
His gaze briefly wavered.
"There have been... others."
I tried to suppress a shudder and turned away. Whatever reassurance I was starting to feel had evaporated. I felt his scrutiny, and he didn't need to see my face to read my emotions.
"It's not what you think, Tilly."
Now anger surged through me.
"Of course it's what I think," I replied, turning sharply back toward him. "What else should I be thinking about? Taking a walk in the garden and admiring the view? How many other lives have your actions disrupted?"
"I know how wrong this sounds," he said entreatingly, "but this has been our way since our immortal lives began."
I felt the colour drain from my face. Immortal. That wasn't possible, he had to be playing a game.
"So that makes it ok then? You're immortal so you can use humans in any way you see fit? Is that it?" I demanded.
"That's not what I said. What I meant is that no system is perfect. Tilly, look to your own world. Just as different nations on Earth have their customs and traditions, so do we. Look at the wars and strife in your world before judging us so harshly. Wasn't this why your parents wanted to raise you in a quiet village rather than London, which is your birthplace?"
How would he know where I was born? Not important. I wasn't about to let him throw me off this path of questioning.
"That's true, humans are their own worst enemy, don't think I don't understand that. But if you're immortal you must have benefited from your longer lives and experiences, which I thought made you superior to humanity as Torin says. If that's the case, how can you possibly justify your actions?"
"Don't expect perfection. Even in ten-thousand years, humanity will never achieve it. It's not possible for any of us."
It was obvious to me that he was going to keep going around in circles, trying to justify his actions but never really answering my questions. He should have been a politician I thought bitterly to myself. I decided to go back to the basic thing that no one could explain. Why it seemed to be ok for me to be here in everyone's eyes but my own.
"You abducted me, and now you're keeping me here against my will. I didn't ask for this, and I don't want to be here. Wouldn't you feel the same in my position?"
"I understand, truly I do. But this isn't my choice. If I could change this situation, believe me, I would, but it's not in my power to do so."
I glanced at him with a look that showed I was unconvinced by his self-righteous answer. It was another question he wasn't answering. I was beginning to see that his earlier statement hadn't been entirely true. He wasn't going to answer any questions he didn't want to answer. I changed tacks, hoping to catch him off guard.
"How do you know I was born in London? That my parents moved to a quieter village to raise me? That Dad was afraid of the wars and conflicts breaking out?"
"Tilly, we know all about you. We certainly didn't decide to take you on a whim. Why else do you think we came to your world?"
His answer had the opposite effect. Now it was me that had been thrown off guard by the complete surety in his tone.
"That's what I don't understand. What do you want with me?"
"I know you have many questions, and I assure you they will be answered."
"You keep saying that, but you're not answering anything I ask you. You say you're immortal, but what does that really mean? How old are you?"
Cillian smiled.
"Let's just say we've lived a long time, Tilly."
"There you go again. That's not an answer. How long?"
"Centuries. As you can see we don't age. Our energies preserve our youth."
"Let's just cut to the chase here. I'm not going to keep asking questions for you to avoid. Is there anything you can tell me? Seraphina says you are from another world. If I at least know more about your world, perhaps I can better understand what you want with me."
He stared off into the distance as though glimpsing a place only he could see. His eyes filled with a sadness that touched me.
"You saw the tapestries?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yes, your world looks beautiful."
"It's not so different to yours, but different enough. My people communed with nature and the arts. We looked at the universe differently than how people of your world look at Earth. Here, your people are controlled by their beliefs and the contradictory mandates of religions that war with each other and have manipulated your race for a long time. In our world, we don't abide by such mandates. We're taught to worship the beauty, energies, and powers that surround us."
I felt the stirring of a connection. The philosophy was beautiful, but their means of taking me from my home didn't fit with it.
"From birth," he continued, "we're taught the importance of the energy around us. The mind, the body, the soul, and the universe are all connected, and we're all part of it. Once we learned to connect with the universal spirit, we learned to respect it. Only then did we experience the magic around us. Your people simply don't have that connection as your minds have been cleverly pushed along the wrong path."
I glanced at the lovely view beyond the windows. Perhaps others on Earth had felt no such connection, but I certainly had.
"I have felt connected to nature and art my whole life."
Cillian closely regarded me.
"Then you should be able to understand. Once our people became connected to the universe, they worked together to build a world that was both powerful and peaceful. We helped each other and became stronger until we finally reached for the stars." His expression darkened. "But then the curse shuttered the light from our world and forever changed our destinies."
This must be the curse Seraphina had spoken of. I knew instinctively I wouldn't be told more about that yet and I instead circled back to the immortality. An area I felt was safer ground, meaning Cillian was more likely to open up about it. Maybe I would learn something I could use to my advantage this way.
"Will you eventually die? I mean, no one can live forever."
"Why do you want to know that? Are you planning to kill me?"
I found myself unable to turn away from his eyes. I finally shook my head.
"I never considered killing anyone before."
"Is that your way of saying that you wouldn't want any harm to come to me?"
I looked at him with a blank expression.
"It's my way of saying you're avoiding my question," I replied, aware that I was avoiding his too.
"Then let's not talk about killing," he said, moving toward me. "There are so many other things to discuss."
I began to feel at ease, as though he'd somehow embraced me with a veil of warmth. A streak of brilliant red caught my eye. A stunning, ruby-plumed bird angled toward a nearby tree and began singing an enchanting melody.
"How beautiful!" I said, lost in its gently trilled serenade.
"That's the minstrel bird," Cillian said, standing so close that I could feel the warmth of his body. "It's said whoever hears his song will be lucky in love."
I turned to him with an amused expression.
"Is that true or did you just make that up?"
He gazed into my eyes. I felt a moment of disorientation.
"It's true."
Without another word, he wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me above him so quickly I barely felt the motion. He raised me until I gazed down at his face. I felt lightheaded again, as though his touch had drained the strength from my body, and I hung limply like a rag doll.
"What—what are you doing?" I asked, looking at him cautiously.
Cillian gazed at me with a passion I had never before seen in any man. My face was so close to his that I could feel his breath brushing my face. I lost myself in the intensity of his eyes, which captivated me in shifting pools of amber, green, and melted honey. His voice lowered to a sensual whisper.
"I've waited an eternity to hear your voice, to see your face, to know if you really exist. At last you're here, now, in my arms where I've always imagined you."
It was strange how my fear and anxiety dissipated whenever I was in his presence. There was something mesmerising about his voice, which both soothed yet excited me. I felt my body ease into the strength of his grip, and his energy coursed through me like the pleasant warmth of the sun.
I eventually snapped myself out of my trance. I focused my energy on staying calm, something I had done so well in the past when I heard the voices in the company of others. I inhaled sharply.
"I... You have to understand that the thought of being forced to choose one of you terrifies me. I don't know you. I don't know what I'm facing. Can't you understand that I've never been with a man? Do you have any idea what this means to a woman?"
Cillian looked at me reassuringly.
"You don't have to choose immediately. You'll have all the time you need to make your own choice. Don't fight it, Tilly. Everything might seem like a horrible nightmare at the moment, but believe me when I say it's your fate to choose one of us. The sooner you accept this, the easier it will be."
My heart raced at his upfront words. I blushed. Although he was forward, he was quite charming. But how was I to know if that charm was sincere? I didn't hesitate to think that he could change in an instant and be just as ruthless as his brothers. I tried to conceal my thoughts.
"What makes you so sure I'll even choose?" I asked, holding his gaze. "Suppose I decide to never make a decision?"
"Eventually you will," he said with a teasing smile. "You won't be able to resist the fate meant for you."
"You can let me go now," I said, trying to force myself not to fall further under his spell.
"I can't let you go, Tilly."
My eyes widened.
"Why not?"
His smile widened to that of a mischievous little boy.
"Don't you realise I'm not holding you anymore?"
I looked down quickly and gasped as I saw his arms at his sides and my feet elevated several centimetres above the balcony. As soon as he spoke, I gently descended onto the balcony.
"How did you do that?" I asked incredulously, stepping on the balcony to make sure it was solid beneath my feet.
He watched me with an amused smile.
"You wanted to know what other powers I have. I merely provided you with a demonstration. Showing is better than telling, don't you think?"
I regarded him warily.
"So you have the ability to levitate me."
"I also have the power to hypnotise you."
"So that's how you keep me so fascinated."
"Not at all. I haven't used that power on you. Any feelings you're experiencing are entirely your own."
I felt the heat rise to my face before I could contain myself.
"I didn't mean to suggest that I had feelings for you, only that I'm confused."
"Is it me you're trying to convince," he asked with a glint in his eye, "or yourself?"
Annoyed by how my feelings betrayed me, I tried to recover my composure, but the intensity of Cillian's gaze made that difficult. I felt awkward, as though I struggled with a schoolgirl's crush.
"Can you at least answer one question?" I asked, hoping to defuse the situation. "Why are you so sure I'm the one you've been waiting for?"