He smiled sadly at me.
"I"m so sorry, Maggie. Usually, for us, these first few years after imprinting are very special and joyous times. I"m sorry that it doesn"t seem to be that way for you now but, it"ll get better."
"It"s ok. Thank you."
"Will you stay? For a while? Rachel would love to have you both for dinner, I"m sure."
I looked at Caleb and shrugged.
"Yeah. We"ll stay," he told him.
"Good. I have got to get back to work. See you in a few hours."
We made our way down the hall and into another wing, past a huge white foyer.
"The wing with my dad"s office is for business. This wing is where the bedrooms are," he advised and we turned a corner, then he stopped at a wide door, "My room."
He opened the dark oak door and I was bombarded with his scent. The scent I smell when I inhale the skin at his neck, my favorite smell. I took a deep breath and walked in after him, he closed the door as I looked around.
It was a strange room for a college boy I thought. It was clean and his bed made. He had sheet music and guitars everywhere with a baby piano in the corner and a trumpet on the wall stand. There were no posters above his bed. Just a plain room with lots of shelves, filled with books and cd"s.
"I like your room," I said truthfully.
"Yeah? I like it too. Mom tried to guy it all up when I left for school but..."
"Guy it all up?" I asked c.o.c.king a questioning brow at him.
"Yeah. When I came back my first break from college, she had decorated everything in swimming. Water waves bedspread, Michael Phelps posters, my old trophies and metals on my shelf. She even had a poster over my bed that said "Swimmers Do It Right"." I laughed and then covered it with my hand. "Yeah, so I fixed it. I like things plain, not loud."
"Me too."
He kicked his shoes off and walked to the piano. I took my flops off and sat on his bed while he played something I"d never heard before. It was sweet and slow.
"Did your uncle- the one who can learn and teach anything, whatever he"s called- did he teach you to play all these instruments?"
"Nope. And he"s called a Novice."
"A Novice? But doesn"t that mean beginner?"
"Yes, smarty. Technically, he"s a beginner until he learns it."
He looked back at me and smiled. I smiled back and then laid back on the bed and listened to him while I thought about what to do about my dad and everything that was going on.
I hadn"t gotten very much sleep the night before. Went to bed after midnight and got up before seven. I hadn"t realized how tired I was. I felt so at ease in his room, so comfortable in his bed, peaceful and safe with him there. And I fell right to sleep.
I felt cold. I was shivering and my teeth chattered. I found myself in Caleb"s bed still but Caleb wasn"t here with me. I felt that ping of anxiety rise up at that thought. I heard the door creak behind me. I rolled over slowly to see a silhouette of someone in the doorway. I squinted to see who it was.
"Caleb?"
"You wish," a deep voice answered me and I froze.
"Marcus," I whispered. "How did you-"
"Poor little Maggie. You"re exhausted aren"t you? Caleb keeping you up too late?"
"How?"
"How am I here? Well, you went to sleep. And your knight in shining armor is banging away at his piano, oblivious."
"What do you want?"
"I want you."
"Caleb. Caleb!" I shouted. "Caleb!"
"He can"t hear you," he sang.
"Oh, yes he can."
I concentrated like I did before, so he could read my thoughts. I got it together and pushed it toward Caleb.
Caleb!
Marcus looked instantly peeved.
"I don"t know how you can do that but, fine. He won"t be right next to you all the time, little human."
I felt warm hands on my cheeks and woke with a gasp to see a concerned face over mine. I panted as my heart calmed at his touch.
"Maggie. Are you ok?"
"It was him."
"I know. You sent me your thoughts. I saw him. Are you sure you"re ok?"
"Yeah, I"m sorry I fell asleep. You were playing and I was so tried and..."
"It"s ok. He didn"t hurt you, did he?" he said and caressed his thumbs over my cheekbones.
"No, not yet." I was calm for the most part except Caleb was still over top me. His legs straddled me and he rested on his elbows as his hands warmed my cheeks. Now I was getting breathless for another reason. "I"m fine," I breathed.
He frowned and sighed.
"I can"t protect you, even when I"m in the same room with you," he sighed again harshly and tried to get up but I grabbed his shirt to stop him.
"Don"t. It was my fault. I fell asleep."
"No, it wasn"t." He let him nose touch mine and I breathed deep. "You did nothing wrong. I"m sorry. I"m just not gonna leave you again until we figure this out."
I nodded which made our noses b.u.mp. His eyes closed and I closed mine too. I thought, this is it. He"s finally going to kiss me...but he just stayed close, then his bedroom door opened.
"Caleb, your father said- Ah! Oh!" Rachel said startled and started to shut the door.
"Mom, wait," Caleb said scrambling off the bed to help me sit up. "It"s not that. She had an echo attack."
"An echoling?" She pushed the door open all the way and it banged against the wall. "Oh, no," she breathed and covered her mouth with her hands.
"Dad"s working on it."
"Well, he said you were here and you"d be here for dinner but you didn"t say anything about an echoling." She shook her head and grimaced. "Are you alright, Maggie?"
"Yeah. I"m fine," I insisted but was no longer sure.
"Ok. I"m gonna go start some supper."
"I can help-"
"No, honey. Thank you, I appreciate it, but you need to just stay with Caleb, ok. Just stay together as long as you can."
She went out and shut the door behind her again. I flopped back on the bed again and closed my eyes at the throbbing behind them. It was exhausting to worry so much. Caleb lay down beside me and I instinctively moved to my side to lay against him. At first I was a little shocked at myself but his arm came around to hold me to him just as instinctively.
It felt perfect, like it was right where I was meant to be.
"You"re always so warm," I muttered sleepily and put one of my legs under his.
I heard him chuckle as he pulled a blanket over us from the end of his bed. Then he turned on his side facing me and wrapped his other arm around me.
"Just rest for a few, sleepy girl. I"m here this time. Nothing"s gonna happen to you."
"Thanks." I moved my hand to rest on his neck and felt my headache ease away. "Maybe just for a minute."
"Yeah."
He kissed my forehead and I felt his smile against my skin. I smiled too as I drifted off for a completely restful sleep.
I woke later, who knows how much later, to voices in the room. They were hushed but concerned and I peeked to see that Caleb was still asleep against me. Our arms were around each other and his face was right next to mine.
"I know all that, Peter, I"m just worried is all," I heard Rachel say. "She"s so young, but it"s not like we can stop them. They need each other. I just don"t know how to control it."
"You know Caleb has a good head on his shoulders. He"s responsible, he"s reliable, and he"s more careful, considerate and attentive of this girl that I"ve ever seen him with anyone."
"Well, of course he is. But he never cared about that dating rule anyway-"
"He"s a nineteen year old college boy, Rachel. I guarantee you, he cared," he said dryly. "He just understood. He saw the merit in it. If anyone in our clan deserved to be the one to receive this gift, it"s him. And I"m not just being biased because he"s our son."
"I know. I know. I just remember being brand new with you." She laughed softly and it startled me how girly and young she sounded. "You couldn"t keep your hands off me."
"Yes, I remember," Peter said and I could hear the smile in his voice. "But they"re different. They didn"t know each other at all beforehand like we did. I"ve watched them together. Even though they feel the pull, they aren"t giving into it. They both have incredible restraint. Don"t worry about them."
"But when I came in earlier...and now."
"Sweetheart," I heard shuffling. I a.s.sumed he was embracing her. "He needs to comfort her. They have to touch, they have to be together and after this echoling dream situation, he"ll have to sleep with her and be with her even more. I still haven"t figured out a solution without her angering her father, we"ll think of something. But, honey, they are soul mates. They are eventually going to be consumed with each other and there"s nothing we can do."
"I don"t want to stop it, I know how it is and how it needs to be. I just wish I could convince them not to go too far, too soon. They are so young."
"He loves her already," he said and I fought not to gasp. "I can see it. That"s why he uses his restraint, Rachel. If he didn"t, he would give in to his urges because they are uncomfortable for him and it wouldn"t take much persuasion for Maggie to give in, you know that. We didn"t have to use restraint. We were older and ready for it. They are doing remarkably well for being so young and unprepared for the over load of emotions."
"You"re right. You are. He"s a good kid. And so is she. I don"t think I could"ve picked a better person for him. She"s adorable and sweet. She"s gonna be so good for this clan. Just what the clan needs to perk up a bit."
"I can"t wait to see what their abilities will be," Peter mused. "I have a feeling they"ll be spectacular."
I felt the bed depress behind me and a hand on my leg.
"Sweetie." She shook my arm a little. "Maggie, if you don"t get up and eat you"ll be late getting home."
I roused slowly as she shook Caleb"s leg as well. He pulled me closer and nuzzled my head when she tried to wake him. I heard them both chuckle. She shook him harder.
"Caleb. You have to take Maggie home."
His eyes instantly opened and he saw me, our faces almost touching. He smiled.
"Hey. Did you sleep?" he asked.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Come on you two," Rachel beckoned. "Supper"s been ready."
Her and Peter left and I slowly sat up and stretched. I felt so much better it was like night and day. He sat up beside me and ran a hand through his hair so I did the same.
"No dreams?" he asked as he stood.
"Nope. None."