The Tethering: The Complete Collection

27. Forever

27

Forever

The street was narrow and winding, leading between long rows of colorful tents. Gradually, the tents became grey, and then the grey became stone. They walked between houses where the windows were grated with iron. Every few houses, the street turned, and they would be on a new path of stone. The sun sank behind the buildings, and before they passed the next row of houses, twilight surrounded them.

Jacob could hear the water lapping against stone before he could see it. A wide canal took the place of the street, running between the houses with barely enough room to walk on either side. Lights glistened out of nearby windows, reflecting their strange pattern on the water.

In front of them, drifting gently with the lapping tide, was a boat tied to a set of golden stairs.

“What do we do?” Jacob asked.

“Hello?” Emilia called into the night.

Jacob searched up and down the street. No one appeared or called out. The only response was a violin that began playing in the distance.

“I don’t think we should get in there,” Jacob said.

“You won’t make it past the boat,” Rosalie murmured.

Jacob hadn’t even noticed she was awake.

“What do you mean?” Emilia asked. “Rosalie, why won’t we make it past the boat? Rosalie.”

But Rosalie said nothing. Jacob couldn’t tell if she was asleep or only feigning so she wouldn’t have to answer.

Emilia cursed. “I don’t think we have a choice.” She studied the boat.

Jacob followed her gaze. The boat didn’t look dangerous. It was long and sleek. The outside was a shiny lacquered black, but the inside was red and plush. The floor was covered in thick, soft carpet, and in the back was a red velvet couch. On the stern of the boat was a shining statue of the same woman who graced the fountain. The more Jacob looked at the boat, the more inviting it became. And the more it scared him.

“I’ll go first,” Jacob said. Rosalie only gave the slightest sigh as he laid her down by the edge of the water. Jacob stepped carefully into the boat. It swayed gently under his feet, but nothing happened.

Emilia helped him lift Rosalie into the boat. Jacob laid her on the floor before taking Emilia’s hand as she climbed down. As soon as Emilia’s feet touched the red carpet, the golden rope uncoiled itself from the ladder, and the boat began to drift down the canal.

Emilia stumbled from the sudden movement and fell into Jacob’s arms.

“Sorry,” she said, quickly standing up but swaying again as the boat rocked.

“Maybe we should sit,” Jacob said, taking Emilia’s hand and leading her to the red couch.

He sat next to her. The seat, which had seemed large enough for three people when they were standing, suddenly seemed hardly big enough to fit two. Emilia’s thigh was pressed to his, and there was no space for his broad shoulders. Jacob placed his arm on the back of the seat to make room. A ledge behind the couch curved his arm, making it drape perfectly over Emilia’s shoulder.

Jacob held his breath, waiting for Emilia to shrug his arm away, but instead, she sank deeper into his side, settling her head in the crook of his neck.

The boat floated them gently out of one canal and into another. There was no paddle or oar to steer, and Jacob didn’t know which way might lead out of the Siren’s Realm.

“Do you think this is taking us the right way?” Jacob asked.

“I think we’ll have to wait and see. Shhh, listen.” As Emilia spoke the violin music they had heard before floated back to them as though carried by the water itself. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

With a tiny sigh, she melted into Jacob’s side.

He rested his cheek on her head, looking up at the stars visible between the buildings. He didn’t recognize any of the constellations. Maybe the stars were different here. Maybe the stars here were hiding, too.

A cool breeze whispered around them, blowing the scent of Emilia’s hair into his lungs. Lilac and sunshine. Emilia shivered, and he wrapped his arm around her even tighter.

“This is perfect,” Emilia murmured. “So peaceful.”

Jacob couldn’t speak. She was right. This was everything he had ever wanted. Emilia in his arms, just the two of them.

The boat continued to drift from canal to canal. The boat seemed to know where it was going. It never wavered on its path, always cutting through the water with complete calm. And wherever they floated, the music followed, the violin seeming to play of love, and rest, and eternal tranquility.

“We could stay here,” Emilia said, tilting her face up to look into Jacob’s eyes.

“Emilia, we have to go home.”

“Why?” Emilia asked. “Why should we go back there? To fight in a war that we didn’t start? To die? Jacob, we could stay here forever. Just you and me. No LeFay, no Dragons, just us.”

“Emilia―”

“What else do we need, Jacob?” Emilia’s face was close to his. “If we have each other, we could be happy here. Just you and me, Jacob, forever.”

Jacob searched Emilia’s eyes, and he knew she meant it. Here on this boat, she was his. And he could stay like this, holding her, forever.

Emilia reached up and laced her fingers through Jacob’s hair, and she kissed him, slowly and deeply.

He felt a light burning in his soul that flowed out of him and into her and back again. He put his hand on the small of her back and pulled Emilia closer, pressing her to him. His body began to hum, and for the first time in his life, Jacob felt truly complete.

His breath came more quickly as she kissed him more urgently, pulling herself onto his lap.

“Jacob,” Emilia murmured.

“No,” Jacob whispered. “No!” he screamed, standing up and knocking Emilia into the bottom of the boat.

The warmth in his stomach was replaced by a cold stone as he looked at Emilia lying on the red carpet with tears in her eyes.

“Emilia,” Jacob said, not reaching to help her up.

“It’s fine,” she said, sitting up on the floor and tipping her head away from him, hiding her face behind a sheet of black hair.

“We have to find a way to leave this place. We can’t stay on this boat forever. Emi, we have to go home.”

“I understand,” Emilia said. “There are places you want to go―”

“Emilia,” Jacob whispered. “I love you.” He watched Emilia freeze as he said the words. “I love you. I want to stay here with you, more than anything. But Emi, we have to go home. Claire and Connor. They’re waiting for us. What will Iz think if she never hears from us again? I want to stay here, but we have to go back. For them.”

Emilia stayed silent for a moment, but Jacob heard her breath shudder with tears.

“Do you mean it?” Emilia asked, turning her tear stained face to Jacob. “Do you really love me?”

“More than anything, Emilia Gray, I love you. I have always loved you.” Jacob wanted to reach for her. To hold her in his arms, but he knew he wouldn’t have the strength to let go. Not again.

“Without a spell?” Emilia held out her gold streaked palm. “Without a boat?”

“Without any magic.”

Emilia sat for a moment, gazing out over the water. The music from the violin faded away. Jacob looked down as Rosalie began to stir on the floor. He had forgotten she was there.

“We have to get home.” Emilia brushed the tears from her face. “We want to go home now!” she called into the night.

The waves lapping against the boat changed their rhythm as they emerged from the dark canal and onto the sea.