Incarnations Read Free Page A

for all the reasons that made good sense. She
hesitated though.
    Caislyn had no time to wallow in her own misery, and
pitiful choices. She didn’t even get the words she wanted to say
out. Gregore had gained a second wind and he was now sitting in
front of her, pulling her close. His emotions were raw and plainly
evident on his face, reddened eyes not withstanding. He pulled her
to him, hugging around her waist, his head turned to the side,
rested on her still firm belly. His shoulders shook as he kept
saying her name, over and over. Tears were streaming down her face
now, as she ran her hands through the hair on his head. Gregore was
that boy she stood up for in grade school, the one she used to
laugh and party with. She hurt when he stopped coming around after
her parents disappearance. She hurt, but she'd been the one to push
him away then too. "Just tell me what you want, I swear, I will
listen."
    He had all but whispered the words and she couldn't
stop her heart from breaking a little more. The problem was she
didn't know what she wanted. She couldn't let go of him, but at the
same time, she needed Ash. She needed them both right now, and it
wasn't fair to anyone. Not at all. "Gregore, I..." The tears fell
harder as he slowly released her and got up. He walked over to the
door in silence, and looked back at her one last time. Gregore made
an attempt at a smile before he turned and left. Caislyn was numb.
She sunk down onto the edge of the bed, and hurt as the sobs
wracked through her whole body. Before long she was curled up on
the bed, crying into the pillow Gregore had been abusing only
moments ago. It smelled of him, but it smelled of Ash too. He had
been laying there before Gregore had come in. Closing her eyes only
allowed her to remember clearly that Ash had just been wrapped
around her, teaching her how to manifest things in their shared
dream world. The wild absondon of the Fey was a heady cologne, and
it drifted through her senses as she lay there hugging that pillow.
Their conflicting scents just made it all worse somehow, but she
pulled that pillow close to her for comfort anyway, not quite sure
who's comfort she was seeking anymore.
    ~*~
    "Caislyn," Vesta called lightly as she entered the
bedroom area of the RV. She stopped by the bed and set the cup of
tea down on the counter as she sat beside her daughter. "Caislyn,
we need to talk."
    "Momma, I just don't want to. I'm so tired. All this
running, and chasing down lead after lead to get to you, losing
dad, and now, this... this mess. And Jaxon. I just can't do this
anymore. It's too much." Her face was still hidden by the pillow,
voice muffled, so the tears weren't evident. She couldn't hide the
tremors that racked her body though. Vesta just leaned over and
hugged her, holding her tightly.
    "I know you gave up so much to make sure you found
your father and I. It was more than I could have asked for, and
beyond what was expected. Gregore told me about how you
disappeared, threw yourself into the store and the search, even
when everyone else had given up. I know what you've lost, the time,
the freedom to be young. And then the prophecy." Vesta sighed
again, "I can't help thinking it's all my fault."
    "How is getting kidnapped possibly your fault?"
    "Oh, well, not the kidnapping part, dear." Vesta
almost chuckled at that. "No, I mean the prophecy, and you being so
unprepared for what was to come. Your father and I were foolish to
think we could keep you hidden forever. It was already foretold,
after all." Vesta rubbed Caislyn's back as her daughter lay there
looking up at her. "I keep thinking if you had known, if we'd told
you from the beginning, maybe none of this would have
happened."
    "Mom, it wasn't your fault. I understand what you
did, and even why you did it. I mean, I remember being a kid and
playing with the butterflies, and other things that I just thought
I conjured out of the air. If you hadn't bound my powers, things
could have gone a lot