“She’s twenty-one years, Adam. It’s not my fault she still hasn’t learned to control her gifts.”
He sensed the bitter jealousy hidden behind Cain’s indifference. “Her gifts aside, you mock our faith. It’s the only comfort she has in times like this. One seed of doubt can easily overtake an entire green.”
“What is a flock without one wolf? Someone has to keep things interesting around here.”
Adam’s stare narrowed. “And yet you stay on the farm, living a simple life like the rest of us sheep. I think if you truly were the heathen you claim to be, you’d have left by now to live among the English. But you wait like the rest of us, believing there will come a moment of truth.”
Cain rolled his eyes again and leaned his elbow into the doorjamb. “That’s not why I stay. Look at our Elders, the ones still waiting for God’s call. Father was wise to marry Mother. He took his destiny into his own hands. We should all be so judicious.”
Their mother and father were not the first of their kind to marry for convenience, but their union had not been a simple means to an end. Their parents loved each other deeply. Their grandfather often said their father had been lost in a fever of passion when he married their mother, too lost to fathom the consequences that may still come should either of them be called to their true mate.
Adam was far from convinced his brother’s words were a true representation of his feelings, especially when Adam could so clearly sense his doubt.
Cain might claim their father was wise to marry for love, but a part of him still believed in the power of divine intervention. Grace had once whispered to Adam that she’d overheard Cain’s fears that their mother’s miscarriages were perhaps a punishment for marrying a male who was not her called mate. Adam suspected these lingering beliefs were also responsible for keeping Cain on the farm living amongst a culture he disdained.
Adam decided to let the debate go for now, knowing his brother’s boldness hid more uncertainty than arrogance. They were not the only immortals on earth. However, they were by far the safest.
Living under the guise of an Amish sect allowed them a certain level of privacy not found elsewhere. It also had a way of slowing trends, which meant something to a species that barely aged and could live a thousand lifetimes. The Elders of their order scorned technology, finding its ever-evolving improvements more tedious than beneficial. As Amish, such advancements rarely affected them. And as immortals, hiding in plain sight seemed the safest way to ensure the survival of their kind.
“If Grace had any brains she’d leave,” Cain said. “Either that, or follow in Larissa’s footsteps.”
“Grace will not be like Larissa. She plans to wait. Larissa wanted a family.”
Their eldest sister had recently been assigned as the wife to Silus Hostetler. It was not a love match or calling, merely a marriage of convenience. Silus wanted children and Larissa was obedient enough not to object when the Elders made the recommendation. Yet, no one in their family was naïve enough to believe it was a happy union.
A sharp cry pierced the silence, and both he and Cain looked to the ceiling. Adam sensed Grace’s calming presence in an ocean of unrest.
“I’m going back to sleep,” Cain announced. “I know too well how long these nights last.”
Adam supposed he should check on their father, but as he took a step, his feet rooted to the ground and he stumbled, catching his weight on the bedpost.
Cain pivoted at the sound of his tumble and scowled. “What was that?”
Adam shook off the sense of vertigo and frowned. “I lost my balance.” Agility was an innate quality of their kind. Heat scorched up his neck as embarrassment bloomed in his chest. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Adam straightened his posture and walked with stiff legs out the door. Cain’s stare followed his brother’s strides. When he reached the staircase he paused, needing a moment to catch his breath.
“Adam?” His brother’s voice sounded miles away.
White bursts of light flickered behind his vision. The staircase wavered and gravity took hold. Cain hauled him back from the stairs, a split second before Adam lost control and toppled forward.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?”
The world tipped off its axis as his brother dragged him back to his room. As his back hit the firm, straw mattress, he blinked at Cain, seeing his mouth move and his face contort with concern, but the sharp ringing in Adam’s ears made it impossible to hear anything beyond the blaring moan exploding in his head. The edge of his vision wavered, his view shrinking to a pinhole, and then all went black.
A sweet breeze tickled his nose, lighter than a whisper. He was no longer in his bedroom, but resting in a field. A melodic laugh teased through the air, the dulcet sound as soft as chimes playing in the wind. His senses fanned out, chasing the sound and seeking its source.