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Part
12 Non-adult version
Joe plied them with questions;
Amanda did the same; and the other mortals put in some of their
own as well so the evening flew by. They talked until they couldn't
think of anything else to say and several very personal details
came out in the course of the evening which just went to underline
that everyone here trusted all the others. Eventually, however,
both conversation and time ran together and everyone took their
leave: Beren went home with Richie; others headed to their own
hotel, and residences, and that just left Amanda and Duncan. The
Highlander had managed to send his other guests home, but his
older companion had no where to stay, and he wasn't about to throw
her out.
"What if I wanted to join
your collective?" the female Immortal asked eventually once
everyone had gone.
No-one had suggested it during
the evening: they all had too many uncertainties of their own
to drag another in, but Amanda had been considering it very hard.
"I'd ask you if you'd really
thought about it," Mac returned over a glass of whiskey,
"actually mused on the target you'd be making of yourself,
or what it's like to know there are Immortals you can't kill no
matter what happens later on."
"I've been thinking about
nothing else," she replied, her eyes alight with nervous
energy, "but it keeps coming back to the same thing. I'm
alone: you could kill me any time you liked, or I could kill you,
and I've lived with that long enough. I want to be part of something
again, part of a group that aren't going to die or suddenly decide
they want my head, I want to be part of the new destiny."
It hadn't been a quick decision:
Amanda had been weighing up her options for hours, and she had
chosen her road. Richie had been right: at that moment, Duncan
knew exactly how to bring her into their circle, and he smiled
at her happily. All it would take was a touch and the need to
give her what she wanted, and he held out his arms gratefully.
This was one of his oldest friends and that she wanted to belong
to the same path as him, made him contented. The female Immortal
moved into his embrace with a quick step, and he enveloped her
in a kiss she would never forget. They clung to each other as
lightening jumped between them and power met power until they
were flung apart, and landed in untidy piles on the floor. Residue
sparks ran across each Immortal, but they looked at each other
across the room and smiled.
=====================================================================
Richie was just putting his keys
in the door when he felt the distant rush of a Quickening and
the reflection of what had occurred. Muscles spasmed momentarily
as the joining gained an extra member and he dropped his key-ring,
but it was for only a second.
"Amanda," the young
man said as Beren moved up to his elbow looking worried, "Duncan
brought her in."
He looked surprised and happy:
life seemed to be full of new experiences these days, not all
of them bad.
The other three had similar experiences
and all knew instantly the event which had transpired.
=====================================================================
There was no doubting what was
on Beren and Richie's minds as the door to his apartment closed,
and they grinned at each other mischievously and wrapped each
other in an embrace.
"Why do I get the feeling
I'm not going to get any sleep tonight?" the Immortal said
buoyantly, and threw his keys on the sideboard.
"Well if you're going to
be like that," she responded quickly and disentangled herself
from his arms, "you can have the sofa, I'll take the bed."
"Did I say I minded,"
was the jovial reply and he caught her hand, pulling her back
to him rapidly.
The
End
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