Immortal Cascade 01 Immortal Companion Page 21

  Blair flushed under her praise, but Jim could tell he was proud of himself. Rising from his seat, Jim approached him, thumping him on the back affectionately. "You did good, Sandburg," he told him.

  "Thanks, Jim," he replied. Much as he valued Diandra's opinion, the one that really mattered was his partner's. "You're not mad or anything, are you?" he asked.

  Jim shook his head. "No, anything that keeps you safe is fine with me." He ruffled the younger man's hair. "Come on, Chief. I'll take you all out to lunch, my treat." At those words, there was a mad dash for the showers.

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  Diandra unlocked the door to apartment 308 and stepped inside. She had had such high hopes after returning from Seacouver two weeks ago. There were no more secrets; everything was out in the open. Ellison knew all there was to know about her. She had hoped that knowing her better would change his feelings for her, but it hadn't. Oh, he was trying, she could tell, but it was a tremendous effort for him, having another Sentinel living across the hall. Maybe there really was something to the neutral ground thing, but short of making the apartment building a colony of Switzerland, it wasn't going to work in Cascade.

  School had started up the week before, and both she and Blair had been incredibly busy, so much so that they hadn't spent much time together outside of an occasional lunch at the university. It was just as well, if he knew what she was doing, he would try and talk her out of it. She glanced around the loft. Almost everything personal was already gone; all that remained was the furniture.

  Her hearing picked up the arrival of the elevator at the end of the hall. Opening the door, she saw Blair getting off. Now was as good a time as any, she guessed, not that there was ever a good time for what she was about to do. "Hi, Lobo," she said, as he reached his door. "We need to talk."

  Blair turned toward her, taking in her tired eyes. "Hey," he said softly, stepping across the hallway and giving her a hug. "I'm sorry I haven't seen much of you lately. I've really missed you."

  Dee hugged him back tightly, blinking away the tears she felt welling up. "I've missed you too, Lobo," she breathed. Goddess, this was so hard. "Come on inside." Taking him by the hand, she led him into her apartment.

  He took one look around, and turned to face her, pain and confusion in his eyes. "Dee," he said, his voice shaking, "what's going on?"

  "I'm sorry, Lobo, but I'm leaving. I'm moving back to Seacouver." There, she'd said it. She braced herself for the storm.

  Blair's expression became even more uncertain. "You're... leaving?" he asked. "Just like that, pack up your things and blow, huh? Must be nice not to have to worry about all the money you spent fixing this place up, or quitting your job... "

  "I'm not quitting my job, and I'm not giving up this apartment. I'm just moving back to Seacouver, that's all." Damn it, this was not going well.

  "So it's me, then. You finally came to your senses and realized a three thousand year old Immortal could never be happy with a thirty year old mortal anthropologist. I mean really, what could I possibly offer you? You've been everywhere, done everything... you needed me to be your surrogate companion, but now that the crisis has passed you don't need me anymore." His voice was bitter.

  "No! Lobo! That's not what I... damn it, Lobo, I love you! I love you more than I've loved anyone, anyone since Lydia. You are everything to me... and that's why I have to leave." There was no holding the tears back now, and they spilled down her cheeks.

  "If you love me, Dee, then you won't leave me," he said, automatically reaching for her, wanting to take away her pain.

  She leaned into his embrace, burying her face in his loose hair, inhaling his scent, feeling his hands stroking her back. "Please, Dee," he whispered, "please, whatever it is we can work it out. I love you so much... "

  Shaking her head, she said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I can't stay. I... " How could she tell him? How could she tell him she was leaving because of Jim, and not have him blame the other man for his heartache? "Blair, when we were in Seacouver, and I took my spirit walk, I didn't tell you everything Lydia said. She told me that sometimes duty has to come before love. I didn't want to believe it at the time, but now I see she was telling me the truth. My champion abilities aren't going away. I made a choice to accept them, and now I have to face the consequences of that decision. Those consequences include finding my own companion, Blair, and my own territory to protect. Cascade already has its own Sentinel and Guide pair. I'm just... redundant."

  "Dee," he said seriously, "you could never be redundant. You are an original."

  "Yeah, well, my presence here is not helping Jim do his job any better. I'm keeping him from his duty, by being an irritant, a distraction. I've heard him walking the floors at night, Lobo, and you have too. Please, Blair, please, understand I'm leaving because I love you, not because I've stopped loving you."

  Blair looked into her eyes, and couldn't deny the truth he saw there. "Dee, I... " He had no words to express his feelings, so he kissed her, pouring all his love, all his heart into the touch of his lips against hers. When they parted, he leaned his forehead against hers. "You'll keep in touch won't you? I mean, we'll still be friends, right?"

  "Always," she breathed, pressing her lips against his brow. Stepping back, she took a deep breath, and collected herself. "I have something I want you to have." Digging through a carton on the dining room table, she produced a small box. "Open it," she said, handing it to him.

  Blair took the box, and lifted the lid. Inside was a braided leather hair tie, the clasp an intricately carved silver wolf's head, two bright blue stones for its eyes. "Dee... " he said softly, incredibly touched. "This is a work of art."

  "I found it at one of those Native American galleries downtown." Taking the tie from him, she said, "Here, let me."

  He turned his back to her, feeling her fingers comb through his hair, gathering it into a ponytail, fastening the tie around it. The movements were so familiar, ones he did every day, but her touch made it overwhelmingly intimate, and the thought that he would never feel her hands in his hair again sent a dagger through his heart. He couldn't do this, it was too hard. When he turned around, he saw the moment had affected her too, and he hugged her again, one last time.

  "Never forget you are loved, Lobo," she whispered.

  "As are you," he replied.

  With nothing more to say, Blair left her, crossing the hall to the loft he shared with Jim. The sentinel looked up from the TV program he was watching as his roommate entered. "You're home early for a change," he said. "I haven't started dinner yet. I was thinking about ordering in. Chinese okay, Chief?"

  "I'm not really hungry," Blair replied, dropping his backpack by the door. He stopped by the kitchen table, leaning on it for support as his body suddenly felt numb.

  "That a new hair tie, Chief?" Jim asked innocently, and Blair felt like his whole world had suddenly crumbled around him. He sank into a chair, silent sobs shaking his body. Jim was at his side in an instant, his arm around the younger man's shoulders. "Blair? What is it, what's wrong?"

  "Dee's leaving... " he finally managed, and he felt the other man pull him into a hug, not saying anything, just being there for him.

  When he had finally pulled himself together, Blair walked out onto the balcony, and watched the sunset. Jim gave him some time alone, then joined him. "You really loved her, didn't you?" he said.

  Blair nodded. "I really do," he replied, "I just don't think it was meant to be."

  Jim gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I'm going to go order that Chinese, okay? You come in when you're ready."

  "Yeah, okay. Jim," he said, as the sentinel turned to go inside, "thanks, for not saying 'I told you so'."

  "Hey, I can be sensitive too, you know," was the detective's reply. He went back into the loft.

  Blair leaned on the balcony railing, knowing that even though they were apart he and Diandra would always be connected. Perhaps it w
as better he had never gotten to tell her his news. His left arm itched, and he scratched it, then pushed up his sleeve and unwound the gauze wrapped around his wrist. In the fading light from the setting sun, he could still make out the bright blue ink of the distinctive "V" surrounded by a circle.

  Finis