The Edge Of A Cliff

"You know Damien will be coming along for you?" asked Jason as he turned the stick over in the fire.

Gretchen let her hair down from the ponytail it had been in and shook out her hair. Eason watched her from across the fire and took in her beauty as the firelight lit up her face. "I don't really care and I don't want to hear his name for the rest of this little trip if you don't mind."

Eason grinned to himself at Gretchen's attitude. There aren't many people who would even try to get close to a member from the Darke family and even less that would dare to defy one. Her flippant approach to them was entertaining to watch.

Jason inspected the hare that he was cooking then took it off the stick and bit into it. "He loves you Gretchen."

Gretchen rolled her eyes and leaned back onto her hands. "It's a dead issue, Jason. Leave it alone."

"So, tell me of the other world Gretchen," said Eason.

"As in what? It's a big world."

"We're you in many battles there?" he asked as he crossed his knees and leaned over while he awaited a story.

Gretchen laughed aloud. "No, not really. My Aunt Tessa and Uncle Logan pretty much wiped out all our enemies a long time ago. Everything was really good until you know...kshhhh!" Gretchen said as she slid the back of her thumb against her neck. Eason chuckled at her morbid humor. "Although, I suppose after, things must've got pretty exciting." Gretchen looked into the fire and shook her head. "My Daddy, for an Earth witch, he's pretty strong and powerful, whatever happened to him, it must've been bad. Jesus, I wonder what's going on in the world now. What happened to the rest of my family?"

Jason swallowed down the rest of his rabbit and looked off into the forest. "Haldir's with them, Gretchen. He'll make sure they're taken care of."

Gretchen nodded. "I know he will. Shit, I really should've sent a message to Tessa."

Jason wiped his hands on his pants and sighed. "We'll send a Raven when we get back."

Gretchen glanced back to Jason. "I'm not going back. When I find my father, I'm taking him to Tessa. If he's anything like I was when I got here, he's going to need her. No one else will be able to help him like she will."

Jason shook his head slowly. "Damien isn't going to allow that."

"He can't keep me a prisoner, Jason. I know we have a history, but I'm not that woman he knew. The one he's been pining over has been gone for a long ass time. You know, sometimes Fate's just a cruel ass bitch like that. Whoever I am now, I don't know, I don't think she and Damien have much in common."

Jason laid down on the ground and clasped his hands under his head. "He's your mate, Gretchen. Fate will always return you to him."

She smiled. "If that's true, then he better start working on his honesty or he's in for a rough couple thousand years. I don't give a damn who he thinks he is to me, I won't put up with that anymore. I'd rather travel this world alone looking for adventure then spend another minute with someone who doesn't respect me."

Eason slapped his hand over his heart. "Oh, dammit Gretchen. Why must you be so perfect? Damien is truly a lucky man to have a woman with such spirit."

Gretchen pulled her knees close to her chest and snuggled against herself for warmth. She thought back to the fire in the shack and having Damien's arms around her. "I'm not perfect. All Damien ever does is try to make me someone else. You know, I get that I can't see the future like he and Daniel do, but it's like we're all just chess pieces that they manipulate so they can win the game. I don't want to be some pawn in their strategy, I want to be the one that moves the pieces. Damien's never going to let me be that. I don't think I can live my life that way, I know I can't." She sighed and shook her head. "Anyhow, I better get a couple hours sleep. You sure you're alright taking first watch Eason?"

He smiled then stood up and stretched out his arms and back. "Not to worry. Pleasant dreams, my lady."


As Damiens stormed though the castle foyer, he passed Thorin who quickly began to follow him to his room. "How long has she been gone?"

"About a day and a half. Jason and Eason left not long after her," said Thorin. His curly chestnut hair bounced as he caught the breeze from Damien's cloak. Thorin wasn’t much of a warlock, but what he lacked in power, he made up for in cleverness and intelligence.

Damien waved his hand and the door to his room swung open in front of them. "How could they let this happen?"

"She has her powers back, Damien. There wasn't much they could do, I'm afraid. She has quite a temper, it seems. She flung them against the wall like a couple of ragdolls and knocked them clean out with a flick of her wrist." Thorin looked around the room then took a seat in the chair next to Damien's bed.

Damien pulled his blood stained shirt off then threw it to the floor, then quickly replaced it and started to put his chainmail back on over it. Thorin smirked and said in his smooth Savannah drawl, "She's mighty cross with this family, Damien. She knows you were trying to keep her from her father."

Damien stopped and sighed before he shook his head and continued dressing. "I wasn't keeping her from him. I was bringing him to her, she needs to learn to trust in me."

Thorin laughed out and sat forward in his chair with his elbows in his knees. "You know, I'm kind of an expert on how keeping secrets can destroy your entire life and the lives of the people you love. You can argue the semantics of what you did or didn't intend with your actions, but the only thing that matters are the results. You kept a rather large piece of her life hidden from her, not just once, but repeatedly. She's never going to trust you Damien. Your words just don't ring true for her. The harder you try to dictate how life will be for her, the more she's going to fight it."

Damien smirked to himself. "I just thought everything would be so much easier. Mara, she was never was so defiant." He rubbed his head and looked down at the floor.

"She's not Mara, Damien. She might have those memories bouncing around inside that pretty little head of hers, but that woman you loved so long ago is just that...she's a memory. If you keep trying to force Gretchen to be someone else, she will leave you, Damien, mate or not. You know, you're not exactly that same scared little boy from her memories either, are you? She's showing you who she is now, Damien, and you can either accept it or not, but you need to understand that it's her. Just her, Gretchen." Thorin sighed then pushed himself back up to stand. "The sweet, innocent Mara you knew would want you to go on and be happy, Damien. You need to let her go and see what kind of life you can build here in the present. But, I implore you, you need to start fessing up to Gretchen. Lay all your cards out on the table. I don't believe she would accept one more secret or half truth from you. You're on the edge of a cliff, one more push and you will fall into an abyss of loneliness because Gretchen will be gone for good." Thorin walked to the door then stopped at the threshold and turned around. "And you know what? I don't think there's a soul who could blame her."

As Thorin left the room, Damien wiped his mouth with his hand. He'd been so focused on acquiring Gretchen and making sure that everything happened on schedule that he used every tactic possible to achieve it. Now, he was backed into a corner by his ambitions. He clasped his hands together and looked up to the ceiling then closed his eyes. " Please open her heart to me. The end is almost here. Please guide me in the direction that is true."

Damien turned on his heel then quickly walked back out the door.

As he reached the stables, Damien took the reins from the groom that was standing by with his horse, then he mounted him and kicked off quickly to catch up with Daniel waiting just ahead. They both rode off onto the path South at full measure. If Gretchen and Jason were traveling in their wolf form, Damien and Daniel would need to ride all night to have any hope of catching up with them. Damien's heart was heavy with fear and regret. He reached out in his mind to Gretchen. "Please wait for me. Don't do anything foolish, please.”