Grasping at Eternity (The Kindrily) Read Online Free Page B

the attack. Sedona seemed like the perfect place to hide from my memories.

FANNING AN OLD FLAME
     
    Nathaniel
     
    Before my motorcycle fully skidded to a stop in the garage, I ripped off my helmet. I put the kickstand down and paced the driveway. None of my daredevil distractions kept Maryah out of my mind.
    I’d been so insistent about moving away. Dylan and Amber refused to let me go alone, so they packed up their life and also moved to Colorado. I’d never live it down if they knew how badly I wanted to go back.
    Both of their cars were gone. They’d never know if I made one quick trip to Sedona.
    Over the last several lifetimes, I’d mastered my ability to traverse, so the process took merely the length of one breath. I opened every cell in my body so the ions could flow through me. Borrowing a surge of energy from the ionosphere, I prepared to let the flux of a stellar flare form a bridge to my destination.
    I resurfaced atop Cathedral Rock, staring across the desert at the house—our house.
    She chose to return to our home.
    Maryah and her choices: they’d be the death of me.
    Waves of adrenaline shot across my chest. I pictured her walking down our hallways, standing in our kitchen, entering our bedroom, gazing out the windows at a land she used to be so in love with.
    Could she be looking out a window right now? Looking in my direction? From the far distance, I’d only be a silhouette of a hiker—a stranger—standing on the cliffs. God, how I ached to see her again. I squinted, trying to detect any movement in the house, but the sun hung too low in the sky, creating a blinding glare against the windows.
    Throughout this lifetime I had occasionally checked in on her, but only from afar. Once, I sat behind her on the bleachers at a football game. My knees rested inches from her back. Even then, she felt miles away. Now, she and Krista were in our home, surrounded by people Maryah assumed were strangers. Almost a mile of desert separated us, but this was the closest I’d felt to her in nearly two decades.
    The strong urge to traverse inside the house made my skin prickle. I wanted to see her, talk to her, and make sure she was okay. But seeing her would only reopen my wounds. She had demoted me to a stranger, and I couldn’t bear seeing that truth every time she looked at me. Not after hundreds of years together.
    I’d follow my original plan and stay away from her. I had to for my own sanity.
    My cell phone rang and Dylan’s name appeared on the screen. I sent it to voicemail. He and Amber placed bets on how long it would take me to visit Maryah. Technically, the bet was still on, but I didn’t want to admit I had come to Sedona.
    My phone rang again. Louise. Perhaps she had an update on Maryah.
    “Hello, Louise.”
    “Plan on stopping by to say hello to your mother?”
    “Come again?”
    “Nathan, don’t play dumb. I see you over at Cathedral Rock.”
    I glanced at the house then turned my back. It’s not like Louise had preternatural sight. “It must be someone who looks like me. I’m in Colorado.”
    “Have you forgotten who you’re talking to? I’d know your aura anywhere.”
    Bollocks. She did have super-powered vision when it came to seeing a soul’s energy. My unique color pattern of light would be like a blinking beacon on top of the cliffs. That should have occurred to me before coming here. Acting like a stalker, ignoring Dylan, and caught lying to Louise: not the most righteous day of my existence.
    “Forgive me, Louise. This situation has me acting crazy. I’m not myself lately.”
    She sighed. “Lately? You haven’t been yourself this whole cycle of life. But no one can fault you for that.”
    Silence ensued. We’d had this conversation so many times that I stopped responding long ago. Numerous times I wished I could trade this life for the one I lived two lifetimes ago. Granted, I had been deaf, but in hindsight it had been one of my best go-rounds. I had lived a long,