Scarlet’s hands started shaking.
Because deep within her being—in the hollowness of her soul where memories floated in blackness—Scarlet knew Gabriel was telling the truth.
Which meant she was almost five hundred years old.
W…T…H…?
21
I was born in 1523.
It couldn’t be.
But it was.
Scarlet could feel the truth sinking into her and she was terrified. Letting out a shallow and shaky breath, she felt lightheaded.
Scarlet said nothing as she stared at a small tear in the couch Gabriel sat on, unable to breathe.
“Scarlet?” Gabriel voice was far away. “Scarlet, can you hear me? I want to explain everything.”
She concentrated on the tear and started shaking her head, her lungs burning from lack of oxygen.
She didn’t want him to pull her back to reality.
She didn’t want him to explain everything.
She wanted to go home.
Back to Laura and her high heels.
Back to Heather and her incessant fashion tips.
She didn’t want to be born in 1523.
She didn’t want to be—
“Scarlet.” Tristan’s voice brought her back to the cabin’s living room and she looked up to meet Tristan’s gaze.
“Everything is going to be okay.” His green eyes sank into her, warming her core and bringing breath back to her lungs.
She nodded, bobbing her head up and down as she inhaled, and felt a peace come over her.
She kept looking at Tristan until her hands stopped shaking.
Something about him…his presence…his motionless form standing guarded and dark in the corner…something about him made her feel settled—and brave enough to look back at Gabriel and push words from her mouth. “I…don’t understand….”
“Did you just have a flashback?” Gabriel leaned toward her.
“I think so.”
“And…did you remember everything?” Gabriel eyed her carefully.
Scarlet scrunched her face. “Everything? I remembered being a little girl and walking with a woman in a village. By a castle.”
Wow. I sound stupid.
Gabriel and Tristan exchanged a look before Gabriel turned back to her. “Is that all you remember?”
Scarlet blinked as she thought. “Yes. That…that’s all.”
Gabriel let out a long exhale. “Okay. Um….well, hopefully, you’ll have more flashbacks soon. In the meantime…uh, everything is going to be okay.”
Scarlet stared at him.
I’m having memories from five hundred years ago?
Everything is not going to be okay!
Scarlet tucked her lips in. “I’m confused.”
A concerned look crossed Gabriel face. “Me too. I thought you would remember everything once I told you what year you were born. That’s how this usually works.”
Scarlet raised her eyebrows. “This? What are you talking about?”
Gabriel looked back at Tristan again, but his twin just shrugged.
Gabriel rubbed the side of his face. “Okay. Scarlet, I’m going to tell you some stuff that will sound insane, but it’s true. I need you to just…listen. Okay?”
Scarlet nodded, because anything else—like running from the cabin screaming with her hands in the air—required her to stand up.
Which she couldn’t do because her legs felt like Jell-O.
Gabriel took a deep breath. “Scarlet, you were born in 1523, and we,” he gestured between himself and Tristan, “were born in 1521.” He rubbed his palms on his jeans. “Tristan and I are…immortal.”
Scarlet blinked. “You’re what?”
“Immortal,” Gabriel said seriously, pursing his lips.
Clearly, Gabriel was insane.
Scarlet foldedng her hands together and shrugged. “You’re immortal. Sure.”
Gabriel leaned toward her. “Have you ever heard of the fountain of youth?”
Scarlet rolled her eyes. “Gabriel, please—”
He held up his hand again. “No, I’m serious. Just…just listen to me.” He took a breath. “The fountain of youth supposedly gives people eternal life if they drink from it, right?”
From the corner, Tristan scoffed.
Scarlet looked at Gabriel with impatience. “That’s a legend.”
He nodded. “You’re right. It is legend. And the legend is wrong. It doesn’t give you eternal life if you drink it. But…if you drink it while you’re pregnant—like our mother did,” Gabriel gestured between himself and Tristan again, “it gives the baby—or babies—immortal life.”
The clock on the wall sounded into the silent room again.
Tick…tick…tick….
Scarlet raised her eyebrows and shook her head. “Well, that’s just not possible.”
Tristan muttered, “I wish.”
Gabriel turned to look at his brother. “You’re not helping, Tristan.”
Scarlet dropped her face into her hands with a frustrated groan. “What’s going on?” She looked back up at Gabriel. “Are you just making up some stupid story so I won’t be mad at you for lying to me? The fountain of youth, Gabriel? Really? Worst lie ever.”
“No.” Gabriel’s eyes looked sincere. “I promise I’m not lying to you. I’m just…I’m just trying to help you remember…that’s all.”
Scarlet turned her palms up. “So…what, then? Am I supposed to believe I’m immortal too?”
“Not exactly.” Gabriel hesitated. “You’re…semi-immortal.”
“I’m…semi-immortal?”
All aboard the crazy train!
Gabriel’s expression was serious. “Yes, you’re semi-immortal.” He swallowed. “You keep…dying…and then coming back to life.”
…And the crazy train has officially left the station.
“Sure.” She nodded. “That makes total sense. I die and come back to life. Perfectly normal.”
She was about to crack a joke about zombies when….
Click.
Something in Gabriel’s words struck a chord in her.
It felt right. It felt…true.
Nope. No way.
Gabriel was a lunatic.
But still, something within her…almost…believed him.
She inhaled through her nose, confusion, hopefulness, and anger warring inside her.
No.
It was too crazy.
She couldn’t accept something so preposterous simply because Gabriel’s pretty mouth had said it. His pretty mouth had said a lot of things lately.
Scarlet leaned forward, narrowing her eyes. “Tell me something. Do I keep coming back to life in the same way…your house is being fumigated?”
Gabriel dropped his head into his hands. “Okay, that was a lie. You caught me off guard today.” He looked up. “But I’m not lying about this.”
“Right.”
She didn’t believe him.
Yes, she did.
No, she didn’t.
Yes, she did.
No, she didn’t.
It sounded insane, but her instincts told her it was true.
Agh!
She didn’t know what to believe and her head was starting to hurt.
Not to mention her heart was hammering away like a toddler with a mallet.
Scarlet shook her head and stood up. “I can’t do this right now. I think, um…I think I’m just gonna go.”
She was so confused by Gabriel’s secrets and lies, she couldn’t listen to some silly story about being immortal, or semi-immortal, or whatever—even if it was true.