Highlander Enchanted(86)
“Not wrong. It’s always complicated to move from one place to another.” He shook his head. “Anyway, you have a treasure hunt to complete this weekend. Your tasks are in the bag. You will not wish to wait until morning. I put up several traps and obstacles.”
I muttered curses I’d learned from him under my breath. As long as we had been together, I never really knew what to expect on these adventures. “I’ll see you Sunday night,” I said reluctantly.
“Heed the boundaries and rules.”
“I know.” I pulled on my shoes obediently and a camouflage windbreaker. When I stood, he smiled at me again.
“Good girl. Don’t get lost out there.”
It wasn’t possible and we both knew it. I’d been over every inch of that forest multiple times. “Have fun in town.”
He turned and left.
I grabbed the bag and left my room for the forest once more.
No boys. No future. No town.
There were days when I wanted out of my life so badly I wanted to scream.
Chapter Two
Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.
– Demosthenes
Nothing bad had ever happened in five minutes, right?
Just as the sun sank below the horizon, I reached the red cord marking the boundaries of the priests’ forest refuge. This end of the woods stopped before a natural lake surrounded by hills. I perched on a tree stump inside the boundaries, gazing at the serene lake with a combination of longing and frustration.
A hundred meters. I ran twenty times that distance five times a week. It would take me under five minutes to run to the lake, strip off my shoes and socks to dip my toes in the water and run back.
I chafed sometimes at the restrictions Herakles put me under. I cared for him too much to want to disappoint him. But tonight, knowing he was gone, and I’d be leaving here soon, too, I just wanted to throw everything aside and be in control of my life for five minutes to see what it was like. With Leandra’s laughter still in my thoughts, and my frustration with this place at a pitch, I was tired of being excluded and ridiculed for being different.
No one would see me if I just stepped past the boundaries for a split second. Herakles had left, and the nymphs were in town by now, so they couldn’t report me.
I approached the red rope and nudged my toes up against it then looked around. I half expected there to be a siren or electrical shock or something after the constant reminders from Herakles and the priests never to leave the woods.
Nothing happened.
I stepped on the red cord.
Still nothing.
I stepped over the physical boundary of my world, and a thrill went through me. Not only was there no alarm but I didn’t feel guilty or bad for doing it, emotions that might derail me from continuing. I stayed where I was, my heels butting up against the cord, and lifted my gaze to the lake.
The possibilities were endless. My whole life started right here and now.
I laughed at my overdramatic thoughts, realizing nothing was about to change except I might upset Herakles. That alone made me hesitate. I loved my crazy mountain-man guardian, and it bothered me to think I was going to make him mad by doing this.
Assuming he finds out. The stubbornly independent side of me he spent hours trying to exhaust with physical activity knew there was only one way he could find out, and I wasn’t about to tell him. At least, not for three weeks. Maybe after graduation, when we were on our way to the Burger God I was going to spend my life working at, I’d tell him of the one time in twelve years when I defied him to dip my toes in the lake.
Crouching like it was a race, I breathed in deeply then bolted. I was completely alone, competing only with myself. I laughed as I sprinted, tickled beyond anything to be completely free, if only for mere minutes.
Sprinting to the lake, I vowed to keep to my internal promise of not spending more than a few minutes off the property and threw myself to the ground. Wrenching off my shoes and socks, I scooted to the edge of the lake and dangled my legs over the rock on which I sat.
The moment my feet dipped beneath the cool surface, my world seemed to slow to a stop. I leaned over, marveling at the sensations. It shouldn’t have been, but this was somehow different than a pool. This felt … alive.
“Holy Poseidon,” I murmured.
The sensation of being united with something living moved through my system, a wave that ran from my toes to the tip of my head, in rhythm with the water, then outward, rippling the grass around the lake. I shivered. Fascinated, I peered into the dark depths of the lake. My feet caused small waves that were pushed back by the natural tides of the lake. Deep within the depths, I caught a glimmer of something odd.
I squinted in the fading light. They weren’t fish or rocks or anything. The lake was too deep to see its bottom, but I swore I saw ribbons of soft colors twisting like smoke through the waters. Their movements were too precise to be dictated by the tides. I blinked – and they were gone.
Realizing my five minutes were up, I lifted my feet and dried them on my pants legs then replaced my shoes and socks. I didn’t feel nearly as urgent about returning to the forest where I’d spent most of my life and ambled back. It was strange, but I could almost feel the tide of the lake still moving through me, rocking from toes to head and back again before rustling the grass around me. It was gentle, soothing and peaceful. I was an extension of the water, and it felt natural, nice.