*****
The following day, Anita had gone to the Observatory as usual, allowing Marcus to drop her off in his car, but twenty minutes later, having received a message from Cleo that Marcus was safely in the Archives for the day, Anita left the Observatory and headed for the river. Cleo had delivered a message to Alexander to meet her in the trees next to where she’d first learned to suppress her energy. Unusually for Cleo she hadn’t made a suggestive comment or questioned why. Maybe it was something in Anita’s worried face that had put her off, but Anita had been extremely grateful.
She reached the river full of anticipation and could feel Alexander’s powerful energy in the trees waiting for her. Her energy soared when she felt it and his did the same when he sensed her presence. He hung back in the shadows, just in case Marcus had someone following her, or in case somebody happened to be passing by and spotted them. She stepped into the trees, her heart soaring as her eyes took in his beautiful, rugged form. It took all the self-control she possessed to prevent her from running to him and throwing her arms around him; she hadn’t realised until now how much she’d missed him. He was fighting a similar battle, straining against every instinct he had to reach out and pull her to his chest. She stopped a few feet away from him, feeling a nudge at the edge of her energy, and without hesitation sent one back. He closed his eyes until the sensation had passed, a pained look on his face when he reopened them, his electric blue eyes sad as they looked hopefully into hers.
He searched for something to say but didn’t know where to start, instead standing silent, taking in the contours of her face, Anita doing the same to him. She finally broke the spell. ‘I’ve missed you,’ she said hesitantly, his stomach flipping as she said the words. He took a step towards her, reaching out to place his hands either side of her face and pull her to him, the familiar tingles starting to shoot through his body before their skin made contact. When his fingers met her cheeks, the shock was so strong he worried they might be fusing together, his eyes boring deep into hers, confirming she felt the new intensity too. He closed his eyes and placed his forehead against hers, his brow furrowed as he fought desperately to get his boiling energy under control. Anita finally managed to steel herself, using every ounce of control she possessed to pull away from him, the aroma of oranges swirling around her, filling her lungs, screaming at her to kiss him. ‘I need your help Alexander,’ she breathed breathlessly, forcing herself a safe distance away from him to focus on what she had come for. She sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree and waited as he took deep breaths, recovering from the physical effect her touch had had on him.
‘Of course, anything,’ he said, shaking his head to concentrate on her words, moving towards the tree trunk, his body seeming to pull him unconsciously towards her.
Anita put her hand up to stop him. ‘Please don’t come too close,’ she said. ‘This is difficult enough as it is.’
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, his face full of concern.
She looked dejectedly at the floor; meeting his hypnotic eyes wasn’t a great idea right now. ‘Aside from the confusion I feel every time I see you, Marcus wants to meditate with me. I’ve put him off so many times already, it’s only a matter of time before I’m going to have to do it, but I’m worried that he’ll find out about what happened between us, or that we’ll stumble across the cylinder in my head. I don’t know why it’s there or what it contains, but I know I don’t want him to know about it.’
Alexander was relieved; his energy losing its panicked edge. This was nowhere near as bad as the things that had been running through his imagination. ‘It’s always risky to let someone into your head, but there are ways to control it. In the same way that I made sure we only ever meditated to places in your mind until that night in Kingdom, you can keep the meditation in Marcus’ mind, which will protect you.’ He paused for a split second, pushing away the flood of memories of what her lips had felt like on his and the feel of her skin under his fingers. ‘Marcus will probably buy some story about you wanting to explore his head because you’re fascinated by him, or something similar.’ Alexander stopped himself from going any further. Anita was obviously shaken; he didn’t want to add to her troubles by criticising Marcus.
‘All you need to do is think of your energy pushing into Marcus’ head when you start to meditate and that should take you into his mind. You may need to be quite forceful as he might try to do the same thing to you, but you should be stronger than him; you’ve had much more practice recently. The Gods only know when Marcus last meditated; the Mind Descendants don’t think it’s a necessary skill to maintain. Just make sure you keep the pressure up for the whole time so you stay in Marcus’ head and he doesn’t find a way into yours. It’s a lot like when you suppress your energy downwards, but instead of pushing it down, push it into Marcus. If he insists that you should visit somewhere in your head too, go for the boat on the sea. It’s the place you’re least attached to and it has a lot of Mind in it. Marcus will feel comfortable there and you’re likely to quite easily be able to push him back into his head from somewhere like that. Avoid your Centre if you’re worried about divulging information, and it goes without saying that it’d be best to stay away from the cliff in Kingdom. Even though the house isn’t there, Marcus will instantly recognise it, and I wouldn’t want to bet what he’d do then.’ Anita was calmer than when she’d arrived, but was clearly still worried. ‘You’ll be fine,’ he said reassuringly, ‘you’re a natural at this stuff.’
‘And he can’t get into my head unless I’m there too when we’re meditating? There’s no way for him to keep me occupied in his head and then sneak off into mine?’
Alexander suppressed a smile at the thought of someone as blundering as Marcus being capable of something as complex as that. ‘It is possible, but I very much doubt someone like Marcus is able to do it. I can do it occasionally and there are a handful of very skilled Spirits who have practiced for years who can too, but you should be safe with Marcus.’ Alexander hesitated before adding, ‘you should be more worried about him getting into your head when you’re asleep though; that anyone can do.’
‘Well that’s less of a problem,’ she said, looking directly into his eyes, her face neutral, ‘as I haven’t recently been asleep in his presence.’ Alexander couldn’t hide the uplift in his energy and Anita smiled inwardly. ‘I really do miss you,’ she whispered again guiltily, averting her gaze.
‘I miss you too,’ he breathed, wanting to rush to her once more, to gather her into his arms, but instead respected the distance she had placed between them. ‘Why don’t we start up lessons again?’ he asked desperately, ‘nothing will happen between us, I promise.’
‘The problem is I don’t promise. We don’t even have to touch any longer to be able to feel tingles between us; can you imagine what it’s going to be like if we meditate together?’
She did have a point. ‘Well what about drinks with Cleo and Bas some time? Drinks in a crowded bar with other people can’t be anything to worry about?’
Anita laughed. ‘There’s no way Marcus would let me have drinks with you without him there and I’m finding it difficult enough to be close to you at the moment, I don’t want to have to deal with Marcus being there too.’
Alexander was frantically searching for ideas. It was so unfair that Marcus, stupid, naïve Marcus, could spend time with her, but that he was being denied that pleasure. ‘Then leave Marcus and be with me,’ he said urgently, catching her off balance as he swiftly closed the gap between them. ‘I’ll look after you,’ he said, grabbing her hands and kneeling down so he could look her directly in the eye, surges of energy shooting through them again, ‘Austin won’t try to hurt you if you’re under my protection.’
Anita looked like she might cry, bowing her head, a knot of desire growing so strong in her stomach that it felt like it might explode. ‘I can’t,’ she choked, ‘at least, not yet anyway.’
&
nbsp; ‘Why?’ he asked, in gentle disbelief, reaching his hand to her face, lifting her chin so her smoky grey eyes met his, urging her with every fibre of his being to change her mind, ‘and what do you mean ‘not yet’?’
‘I can’t go into it now,’ she said, resigned, her eyes begging for forgiveness as she placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed herself to her feet, ripping herself away to put a safe distance between them once more, ‘but I’ll tell you as soon as I can, I promise.’
‘When?’ he asked, standing up but not invading the space she had once again placed between them.
‘I don’t know,’ she said, shaking her head, tears pooling in her eyes. ‘I have to go. It’s too dangerous to stay any longer. I need to get back to the Observatory.’
‘Ok, but if there’s anything I can do, come and find me, or send Cleo, or do something, but I’m here if you need me.’ As Anita turned to leave, a realisation dawned on Alexander; he wouldn’t, he hoped silently to himself, but not too deep down, Alexander knew that Marcus would.
‘What is it?’ asked Anita, noticing the change in Alexander’s energy.
He hesitated for a split second. ‘Nothing. Just let me know if there’s anything you need.’
She smiled a weary, thankful smile at him. ‘Thank you Alexander, and I’m sorry it’s all so secretive. I promise I’ll tell you everything as soon as I can.’ She reached out and touched his arm as she passed him to leave, causing an eruption of tingles so strong they almost stopped her in her tracks. She said nothing and nor did he, both using all their energy to keep away from the other. Anita left, Alexander feeling her energy ebb away. That bastard had better not hurt her, he thought, but it would be better that she didn’t know what was coming her way.