Which it wasn’t.
She’d barely risen from the couch when Tristan spoke.
“Scarlet, wait.” His words drifted across her skin and floated into her pores, making her insides hum in pleasure, and hammer even louder.
His voice was powerful, familiar, and connected to her in a supernatural way.
She could almost…feel it.
And she wanted to feel it.
But, then again, she wanted to feel a lot of things.
Like Tristan’s biceps.
“Please, Scarlet,” Tristan continued, beseeching her with his emerald eyes. “Please sit down. Hear Gabriel out and let your gut decide. If you think we’re crazy or dangerous or lying, then you can leave. And Gabriel,” Tristan shot Gabriel a dirty look, “will never bother you again. I promise.”
Scarlet eyed the twins for a moment.
Trust her gut?
Her gut was currently telling her to run her hands through Tristan’s dark hair.
She wasn’t so sure her gut was reliable.
Scarlet looked at Tristan carefully. He had no reason, as far as she knew, to lie to her. He had no reason to string her along.
So, why did he care if she stayed?
Tick…tick…tick….
Scarlet slowly sat back down. “Okay, I’ll listen to you.” She eyed Gabriel. “But no lying.”
Gabriel nodded. “No lying.”
Scarlet folded her hands again and eyed her boyfriend. He looked desperate, hopeful and afraid, all at once.
She sorta felt bad for him.
She knew he cared about her and wanted her to believe him.
But could she do that? Could she trust him?
Should she trust him?
“Let me start over.” Gabriel cleared his throat. “In the 1500s, the three of us,” he twirled his finger around, pointing to Tristan, Scarlet and himself, “lived in England. And you and I,” he nodded at Scarlet, “were engaged to be married.”
“What?”
Gabriel’s immortal? Sure, no problem.
She and Gabriel had been engaged?
Back. Up.
Gabriel nodded. “But in 1538 you…died.” He swallowed. “Then you came back to life—”
“I’m sorry,” Scarlet held up a hand and shook her head emphatically. “I feel like you glossed over a few details. Like the whole you-and-I-were-engaged thing.” She shrugged. “And how did I die? And how in the world did I come back to life? If you want me to believe this ridiculous story, then you at least have to give me more information.”
She’d been engaged to Gabriel…five hundred years ago…before she’d “died”…and come back to life?
Agh.
Her alleged life sounded so stupid.
It’s true…her instincts said.
Shut up, instincts. You sound ludicrous.
Gabriel nodded. “Right. Let’s try this again.”
Tristan sighed and uncrossed his arms.
Looking over his shoulder at Tristan, Gabriel said, “Do you want to try and explain this to her?”
Tristan slanted his eyes at Gabriel. “Now, why would I want to do that when you’re doing such a fantastic job all on your own?”
“Shut up.” Gabriel turned back to Scarlet. “Anyway…we were engaged—”
“And then you died,” Tristan interjected, in a matter-of-fact way.
Scarlet’s eyes shot to Tristan.
Gabriel looked at his twin. “I thought you didn’t want to tell her.”
“I changed my mind.” Tristan shrugged, then looked at Scarlet. “You and Gabriel were on your way to happily-ever-after and then his crazy ex-girlfriend shot you with an arrow—”
“Your ex-girlfriend killed me?” Scarlet looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel turned back around. “It’s a long story—“
“No, it isn’t. I’ll sum up.” Tristan took a step forward and crossed his arms in front of his chest again. “Gabriel was courting a girl from a nearby village named Raven—”
“I was not courting her,” Gabriel snapped.
“Whatever.” Tristan rolled his eyes. “So, Raven assumed Gabriel would marry her. But then he met you.” He shrugged again. “Suddenly, Gabriel no longer cared about Raven. So, what did Raven do?”
Scarlet’s mouth parted. “She…killed me?”
Tristan nodded. “And she also cursed the arrow that killed you.”
Scarlet whipped her attention back to Gabriel. “What?”
There were curses involved now?
Immortality…the fountain of youth…curses….
What next, dragons?
“I’m cursed?” Scarlet looked at Gabriel.
“Not exactly.” Gabriel made a face. The curse wasn’t directed at you, but you still suffer a ... side effect of the curse. Because of the arrow.”
“You see,” Tristan took a step forward, “Raven, being the little witch she was—“
“She wasn’t a witch.” Gabriel sighed.
Tristan raised his eyebrows. “She cast a curse, Gabe. That’s something witches do. They ride on brooms, play with cats, and curse people.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Why do you always do that? Why do you have to argue with me about every single thing? It’s like every time we….”
The brothers began bickering and, suddenly, Scarlet’s head started spinning with color and sound.
Click.
A memory burst inside her mind.
She was a teenager, and wore a long dress. She wasn’t in Georgia, she was somewhere far away. Somewhere colder…and dense with trees. Her hair was longer, and she was holding hands with someone….
So as not to disturb the unfolding memory, she whispered, “I remember something….”
The boys immediately went silent and turned their full attention on her as she tried to soak up more of the vision. She was holding hands with…. Her eyes traced up the hand and arm next to her and met a pair of familiar brown eyes.
Gabriel.
She was holding hands with Gabriel. He was smiling and she was laughing at something he’d just said.
They were comfortable.
They were…real.
Scarlet blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend what her flashback meant. She looked at Gabriel and sharply inhaled. “I remember you. We were walking through the forest. My hair was longer…and you were dressed weird.”
Gabriel leaned in, a slow smile spreading across his face. “You remember?”
Tristan cocked his head to the side.
“Yes.” Scarlet continued, “It was cold and the sun was about to set and I….” She wound herself around the memory again, gathering as much information as possible. “I had on a long dress…and an engagement ring….”
Was I really engaged to Gabriel in some past life?
So weird.
“Yes.” Gabriel nodded in excitement. “Do you remember anything else?”
Scarlet tried to think harder; tried to get her brain to cooperate with her will to remember, but the memory began to fade—the sound and color coming to a close. Slowly, it receded to the back of her mind, where it silently laid down among the few other precious memories she possessed.
“No,” she admitted with defeat. “That’s all.”