The Symbolon Read Online Free PDF Page A

she was fortunate to live that long this time around? He didn’t seem to care about her aging. But her ego did!
    Her other concern was that even if she was immortal, what if her “clock” had been reset and she continued to age until her “new” Prima Mortis? She didn’t want to be like Jeremiah, who was 147 and still ticking. Still , there could be worse things than to spend her life with the most beautiful man in the world who would never age and loved her unconditionally.
    “Darn!” she said, standing in the closet. Alex looked up from placing his toiletries in the suitcase to see her walk out with a handful of crumbled burgundy knit, another one of the many Christmas gifts from Alex.
    “Oh, well!” He cocked his head to the side. “Your favorite sweater will be here when we return! You won’t have much need for it for,” his eyes sparked, “at least for a while!”
    She smiled, placing the sweater back in the basket in the closet. She wondered, did he mean that they would be someplace where it would be too warm for sweaters? Or better yet, that they would have little need for clothes? She loved that thought, and felt her face flush in response. Their housekeeper, Ingrid, had been instructed never to wash Valeria’s clothes because it made Valeria feel ridiculously pampered; besides, Ingrid did enough without having to worry about the clothes that Valeria could easily care for herself.
    As she closed the suitcase, she watched as he zipped the garment bag that carried several tuxedos and a few suits. She bit her lip imagining him in a tux…and had to sit down when she thought of him out of the tux! Then a sudden feeling of dread overtook her.
    “Alex? What happens if the council denies your request?” She could have sworn she saw his pupils flash.
    “Not a problem.” His smile broadened, but she was certain it was for her benefit. “The first step is for the council to declare you an immortal. With the documentation we have from Mani, that shouldn’t be an issue. But really, beautiful, I don’t want you to concern yourself with this! There is no reason for them to deny it!”
    “Still, what if they do?” She persisted, as she wrapped herself into his arms in an attempt to halt her increasing vulnerability.
    “If they decide —for some insane reason—to deny our union, then we’ll be married by a Justice of the Peace!”
    “Promise?” She narrowed her eyes at him.
    Giving her a confident nod, he leaned down and kissed her. He knew she had a tremendous amount of insecurity regarding this council who held their future in their grips.
    From where she stood, she could see the family portrait over the fireplace. Knowing that she had spent most of her existence truly isolated from the rest of the world, with no pictures even desired to mark time or relationships, the family had surprised her at Christmas with framed pictures of her with the family and then a photographer had arrived and they posed for professional portraits. It was the one thing that she would never have thought of, and the thing that she cherished the most!
    Now, there were pictures of her and the family throughout their cottage. Over the mantel was the largest of the portraits. It was a picture of her with the family surrounding her. As much as the official family portrait meant to her, the candid shots meant even more. They seemed to capture the spirit of her family.
    The picture of her and Alex laughing together the night before her birthday was her favorite . Then there was the sweet picture of her arm around Caleb’s neck, while her other hand messed up his hair—the boy who had never before experienced human touch. The look on his face was priceless!
    Valeria loved the pictures of her, Ava , and Camille—the Three Musketeers! She glanced to Alex’s side of the bed and saw another one of her personal favorites; it was a picture of her sleeping in his arms. It had been taken the day that she had returned from the hospital.