Zoe Thanatos(30)

Zoe looked from Eva to Evan, trying to find an answer in either one of their faces. Brother and sister looked strangely at each other Zoe wondered if they could read each other’s minds.

“Were the effects immediate in each case?” he asked.

Eva nodded. “Yes. That’s why we don’t do it. Are you sure nothing happened to you, Zoe? No strange side effects like rashes or burns? Nothing out of the ordinary?”

Zoe could think of nothing. “No, I’m fine.”

“She did pass out,” Evan remarked to himself. “The first time I thought it was just the circumstances of the situation. The second time was in Greece after we had already transported to a few places. I just thought she was exhausted.” His eyes looked to Zoe contemplatively.

“Hmm,” Eva mumbled. “Strange. I never heard of anyone just passing out. At least not anyone from Earth. I knew a girl from Terra who passed out when she first came here, but that was different.”

Zoe had no difficulty remembering everything she felt as Evan took her around the world, and none of it was bad. She felt better than she had in a long time. Maybe it didn’t affect everyone? Perhaps she was lucky.

The conversation quieted down as each of them finished eating and drinking and soon the sky grew dark. Bright pocks of golden light illuminated the pergola around them creating what Zoe hoped was a romantic setting. She wished it was just her and Evan sitting there; completely at ease and basking in the afterglow of what she devised would have been a kiss to end all kisses.

She felt of the corners of her mouth perking up into a small smile. Her eyes moved from the golden lights of the chandelier to Evan, whose own green eyes were staring heartily back at her. She wondered if he, too, was considering their missed opportunity. There was no mistaking the fact that had Eva not rang the doorbell Zoe would have been locked in his embrace feeling his mouth against hers.

“I really am sorry, you two,” Eva’s voice broke Zoe’s concentration. She looked at her and frowned, seeing what she understood to be an apologetic smile on Eva’s pretty face. “Clearly something has been happening between you and I’m afraid I’m just the bearer of bad news.” Eva looked to Zoe first, and then her brother.

“What are you saying, Evadine?” Evan asked.

Eva sighed, looking as if she would take no pleasure in the words she was about to deliver. “I tried to put this off for as long as possible but I’m afraid there’s no more time. Evan, the Stratons are demanding you come home immediately. I tried to get more time for you but you know how impatient they can be. Something is going on and neither Owyn nor Kyra will tell me what it is.” She looked pleadingly at her brother.

Evan’s eyes looked away, his face setting an unhappy resolution. After a long moment he nodded, looking again to his sister to pass on some silent confirmation. Zoe watched their exchange, anger and disappointment returning to her chest. She decided that she loathed the Queen and King of Terra, hated them for their incessant meddling and for using Eva to bring Evan back home. She knew it was irrational, but she didn’t care.

Eva picked up the napkin that was lying in her lap and put it on her empty plate. She looked to Zoe and attempted a smile. “Thank you for dinner. I enjoyed meeting you and sincerely hope I will see you again soon,” she affirmed. There was something about the way she said it that made Zoe believe she was telling the truth but it did little to subdue her own feelings of resentment.

Eva stood from the table and looked down at her brother. “I’ll be waiting for you at the gate.” She touched her hand affectionately to Zoe’s shoulder as she left the table, showing herself out the front door.

Finally it was just the two of them again, but it was not nearly the way Zoe wanted it to be. The light from the chandelier no longer seemed romantic and the atmosphere between them had declined. She didn’t like it. She wasn’t ready for their time to come to an end and yet there was seemingly nothing she could do about it. How could she have expected any differently?

“Thank you, Evan, for all of your help,” she asserted. She picked up each of their discarded plates and turned for the kitchen, feeling Evan’s eyes on her as she left the table. By the time she placed the dishes in the sink he appeared behind her carrying their glasses and the bottle of wine. He placed each carefully on the granite countertop and stood there in silence. Apparently he had no idea what to say either.

Zoe shrugged at him and gave a smile she knew was insincere, but she could hardly produce a real one. As short as their time together had been they had experienced so much. She’d woken up a different person, an opportunity she would not have had if he hadn’t been on that island to catch her. It was her responsibility to live that day better than the one before, and it would be her responsibility every day hence forth. But she couldn’t deny that he was at least partially responsible for the opportunity for a fresh start by virtue of saving her life.