Just Breathe Part 44

Home. Los Angeles wasn't home. Gavin was. Tears sprung and trickled down her cheeks. A pair of beautifully painted arms hugged her.

"I'll see you when I see you." She ended the call and leaned into Gavin. Her rock. Her love. Her home.

"When do you leave?" His voice wasn't angry or even sad. It was strong and supportive.

"Tonight."

He sighed, his soft breath sweeping over her hair. "I'll take you to the airport."

She couldn't read his expression, but the protective way he held her said everything his face didn't. He didn't want her to go. He understood why she had to. He wanted her to be happy.

Her mind dashed back and forth, unable to settle. Could she give up everything she'd ever wanted to be with the man she loved but couldn't sleep beside? She'd only known him a couple of months, and a big chunk of that time had been spent in her dreams. The whales had been with her since childhood. She'd be just as miserable without them as she'd be without him.

G.o.d. She didn't know what to do.

"I need some time to think."

He nodded slowly. "I understand."

Their eyes locked, and through the deep blue connection they shared, she received a simple but very clear message: he loved her, but he'd be lost without her.

Ditto.

Chapter Forty-seven.

Mind reeling from the bomb Zoe had dropped, Gavin drove up and down the streets of Hervey Bay, no destination in mind. Just when everything had fallen into place, the bottom fell out and splattered at his feet. He'd counted on having at least another month to convince her to stay. Had been certain he could. Now? Not so much.

Guilting Zoe into staying would only bring resentment. It had to be her decision with no interference from him. And if she chose to leave, he'd respect her wishes, regardless of the fact that it would kill him.

His phone rang.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"G'day, mate. It's Kaden. I'm at the hospital. Thought you'd like to know Trevor's come 'round. He's woken from the coma and is talking."

"That's b.l.o.o.d.y good news. I'll head over now." He switched lanes and turned in the direction of the hospital. "Did he say anything about what happened?"

"No, claims he doesn't remember a thing."

Thank the G.o.ds. The less Trevor recalled, the better. "Well, that's what happens when you drink yourself into the ground."

"Yeah, man. See you shortly."

The conversation ended, and Gavin's thoughts diverted to Camira's son. The kid was most likely at the same hospital as Trevor. A visit with Camira might be a good distraction. She could probably use a little empathy right now.

Ten minutes later, he stood beside Trevor's bed. Well, at least one good thing came out of this s.h.i.+t day. Trevor was alive and would recuperate. The doctors said it would take some time, but he should be back to full steam in a month or two. Gavin and Trevor had never gotten on, but after the drummer's close call with death-thanks to Gavin's a.s.sociation with Scarlet-that would change. No more putting his mates in danger. No more taking people for granted. The record company would have to deal with delaying the release of the band's new alb.u.m.

After paying his respects, Gavin wound down the corridor to Camira's son's room. He rapped three times.

"Come in." Camira's voice was a vast, empty echo.

Gavin opened the door and stepped in. Camira sat beside the bed, holding her boy's still hand. Tubes wove in and out of his body. A pump forced oxygen into his lungs in a steady, mechanical rhythm.

A fleeting glimmer of surprise flashed in Camira's eyes. He was probably the last person she expected to see here.

"What did the doctors say about Killara's condition?" he asked.

She screwed up her mouth and shook her head. "Machines only things keeping him alive. His body live, but his spirit..." She wiped away a tear and faced the window.

Gavin squatted beside her oversized hospital chair. "I'm so sorry, Camira."

She choked in a lungful of air. "His name, it mean 'always here.' We give him that name because he strong. He fight to live when inside my womb." She glanced at her stomach. "He almost die then, but his determination overcome it. Always strong. Until now."

He took her hand. "This wasn't his fault. What happened doesn't make him any less strong. He's still here."

"No. He gone. You see it in his aura. The breath of life...gone."

Though he wanted to be positive for her, Gavin couldn't deny Killara's aura. Most of the color had leached out. It wouldn't be long. A deep well of sadness bore into his soul. So many lives ended. So many sacrifices made. So much pain.

The Fyres left an entire country in ruins. Families had been shattered. Love had been lost.

Eager to comfort her but unsure how else to do it, he unclasped Yileen's necklace with its silent footprint and wrapped the leather around Camira's trembling fingers. "I want you to have this. It was your great-uncle's. Doesn't feel right for me to keep it any longer."

She lifted her gaze to his, a question shrouding her eyes. He nodded.

A light twinkled from within the ancient moonstone. He and Camira both stiffened. What the- The glow brightened, illuminating the room. Camira stood and held the necklace over the bed. "Uncle?"

Though the s.h.i.+ne was nondescript white light, the impression Gavin got from the stone was one hundred percent Yileen. Memories of the day his mentor said his final goodbye clutched Gavin's mind, refusing to let go. He felt the same warmth now that had ghosted between them then.

Camira was right. Yileen was here.

"He must've put himself inside the charm." Gavin rubbed his forehead. Of course. He'd somehow stuffed four ancient Elementals into the other gems on the necklace. It would require the strength of a seasoned Sentinel to keep them in check every time one broke free. And Yileen had been one of the most powerful Sentinels in the history of man.

Gavin grinned. Well played, old man. Well played.

The disembodied voice of his mentor said, Killara leaving for the Dreaming, but part of him still live. You must choose, Camira. Let him go or keep what left?

She sniffled. "If I keep what left, he never be whole again."

No. Not without help.

She paused for a long moment, then raised her chin. "Then, I ask you to join with him, Uncle. If you wish to be his help."

Something akin to a smile infiltrated the glow. You very generous, Camira. A good, wise heart beat inside you. I accept with grat.i.tude, Niece.

The light thinned into a straight, laser-like line and beamed from the stone into Killara's chest. The boy's body jerked and arched off the bed. Muscles tensed, his lids fluttered rapidly, and his teeth clamped together. Machines beeped loud alarms. Gavin's world tilted. As the door flung open with an army of nurses behind it, the light snuffed out, Killara relaxed into the bed, and the footprint moonstone crumbled to dust in Camira's palm.

Holy f.u.c.king h.e.l.l.

"Move aside," one of the nurses said, wedging her way between Gavin and the bed.

Killara's eyes opened, but Yileen stared back. Not his physical features, but his soul shone through those warm brown windows. No doubt about it.

His spirit lifted, Gavin turned to Camira as she threw her arms around him. The shock nearly knocked him over. He returned her hug with a laugh.

Chatter warbled around them. "This is impossible."

"I can't believe it."

"Let me see that chart again."

"...persistent vegetative state..."

"No, you don't," a nurse warned Killara, who tried to remove the breathing tube from his mouth. "Not until we get a doctor in here."

"Please, he want to talk," Camira said.

It would be a while before the medical staff deemed him well enough to remove all the apparatus, but Gavin didn't need to hear Yileen's voice to know he was there and whole again, blended with Killara's life force. Yileen's bright, lively, perfectly balanced aura proved it.

Gavin laid a hand on Killara's arm. "I'll catch up with you soon, my friend." In the Dreaming.

The boy-and Yileen-nodded.

"Thank you, Gavin." Camira's voice stopped him as he reached the door. "For everything."

He smiled and strode out of the room, down the hallway.

One unexpected light in a sea of sadness. He didn't dare hope for more. But he was heading for the Dreaming anyway.

Chapter Forty-eight.

Adriene would be royally p.i.s.sed when Zoe got home. It wasn't safe to take a boat out on the ocean alone, especially since the seas were very unpredictable after the s.h.i.+fts in Balance last night. But she couldn't take another moment in that house with so many memories of the past and fears of the future.

And she owed someone else a goodbye.

Lily, can you hear me? she called out with her mind.

I'm here. The voice came from a little south of her.

Zoe steered the boat in that direction. You got time to chat?

For you? Always. A smile lightened the whale's words.

Within a few minutes, splashes and blows decorated the horizon with stunning, wavy portraits. Judging by the ma.s.sive churning, there must've been twenty or thirty humpbacks ahead. Zoe smiled despite the heaviness of dread pus.h.i.+ng like Jupiter's gravity on her shoulders.

She slowed her approach and cut the engine. The sea bubbled around her. The Zodiac bobbed in reply. Lily surfaced, Araluen close behind.

Zoe shed her clothes down to the bathing suit underneath and jumped in the water. She swam to Lily and hugged her. "What made you change your mind?"

Lily's happiness shone through the blue beaming off her. The wise little one convinced me. He and Kadee.

A blow misted the air behind them, and the surrogate whale's huge black back parted the aqua surface. She lifted her head and offered a baleen-filled grin. I'm happy to take Araluen as my own calf. Lily and I have agreed to share responsibilities in his rearing.

"I knew you wouldn't let the Wyldlings and Waeters down, Lily. Your heart is too good. And if the two of you are taking care of Araluen together, he'll have the greatest mothers in the world. Thank you. Thank you both so much."

How hard it must've been for Lily to give up the one she loved most. Yet, in the end, she hadn't really lost anything. She'd gained the help she needed, the station the world needed, and by the looks of it, a new friend, too.

Zoe swallowed the rock of worry clogging her throat and inhaled a deep breath. "I've been thinking about your new position. It looks as though I have a new job, too. I'm sorry, but I won't be able to translate for you anymore. I-"

Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. There would be no beating them back, so she let them flow. "All my life, I've struggled to find my place in the world. The first time I saw a whale, I knew studying your kind was what I was meant to do. When I decoded your language and learned about your history, the depth of your intelligence, the immensity of your culture, I realized I could use the knowledge to get ahead in my field. A cetacean biologist who understands whales? It's a golden opportunity for research that would keep my career hopping for decades.

"But my experiences over these last few months have taught me that sometimes having the wisdom to resist the lure of temptation is worth more than the payoff of succ.u.mbing to it. That's why I'm here now." She stroked Lily's rubbery skin. The whale reached out a ma.s.sive pec fin as if to hold her hand. Zoe accepted.

"Much as I would love to keep this beautiful gift of translation, it doesn't belong to me anymore. It belongs to you."

The pod of curious humpbacks closed around them.

You can do this, Zoe, she told herself, even though the thought of giving away her most precious possession ripped her up inside.

It was the right thing to do.

Zoe focused on the Watery music inside her. She visualized the notes rising like a spring from her heart, up the column of her throat, and out her mouth. Silvery human letters, words, and meanings spun around the blue animal sounds, darting in and out, like tiny fish chasing each other. Two different languages from the same fountain. s.h.i.+mmers streaked the air, wove and bound together into a pulsing sphere in her open palms. A sad whale song and murmured farewells emanated from the glittering ball.

Zoe's heart tripped. She took a deep breath. "This is my gift to you and the Waeters." She held out the orb. "With my translating ability, you'll be able to communicate with the human Elementals as well as the whales. It'll make your job a lot easier, and you won't have to go looking for me every time you want to talk to a human Elemental."

Lily tentatively swept her great flipper over the ball. On behalf of the Waeters, I thank you, Zoe. I will use this generous gift wisely.

When Lily touched it, the sphere's glow dimmed. Zoe surveyed the gathered crowd of a hundred or more whales. PITA, Guppy, Reaper, Target, Honeydew-a sea of dear friends she'd had the honor of communicating with and learning from this season. Their words had taught her so much. She'd never forget a single conversation.

The whale voices smoothed from recognizable phrases into familiar but indecipherable squeaks and chirps.

"I love you, my friends," Zoe whispered. Tears rolled as the ripples of comprehension slipped out of her clutching grasp.