Free The Keeper by Elena Long Page A

would train you to become who you were meant to be.  Before we could leave, I was shot.  I told her to take you and run.  The next thing I remember was waking up here.  Elpis saved you that night, taking you to Silas.  She said that my love for you was her reason for saving me.  I have been here ever since.  I am able to see you from time to time when the Veil is thin.  You have grown into a wonderful, beautiful woman.” 
    Lex, crying, pulled her mother to her.  She did not remember much more than the woman’s face and voice, but her father had always told her how brave her mother was.  How much her mother loved her.
    When both women seemed to be dry of tears, Elpis returned. “It is time for your last test.  Please, follow me.”
    Lex and Sylvia both followed Elpis down a long corridor, their footsteps echoing against the cool, white marble.  There was also the sound of water running.  The further they walked the louder the sound became until it was a deafening roar.  They arrived in a beautiful room of the bluest marble Lex had ever seen.  One wall was missing and in its place was a curtain of water, like the back side of a waterfall.  Elpis walked over and leaned close to Lex’s ear and whispered.  “Your last test is that of love.  Do your Protectors love you enough to jump realms and survive?  If the love in their hearts is not pure and true, they shall die and you shall remain here for your own safety for all eternity.”
    Lex thought back to the shower.  She had heard them thinking that they loved her, but when she said it neither of them responded.  She cried out and turned to Elpis.  “I will stay here.  Please find a way to stop them.”  Lex’s tears were flowing unchecked down her face.  Her cries lost in the sound of the waterfall. 
    Elpis’ eyes were bright and there was a smile on her lips when she leaned to Lex’s ear again.  “You love them very much, do you not?”  
    “I love them more than anything.  Please!”  Lex was crying harder.  She would rather live a lifetime without them than to know they perished.  “Please stop them.”
                  “Now why in the hell would you want her to do that?”  Jed’s voice echoed loudly off the walls.  She heard it above the roar of the waterfall-above the sound of her own sobs.
                  Lex spun around and saw two men standing, dripping wet, before the wall of water.  Donovan was smiling at her as Jed and he advanced on her.  Jed stopped just inches from her face and Donovan circled around behind her.  Donovan leaned in and whispered, “Baby, she could send an army to stop us and they wouldn’t win.  We should have said it out loud.  Lex, I love you.”  Donovan kissed her as Jed wiped the tears from her cheek.
                  Jed growled.  Donovan broke the kiss smiling at Lex.  Jed gently cupped her cheek and brought her lips to his.  He kissed her thoroughly.  When she thought her knees were going to give out he broke the kiss.  “Sweetheart, I love you, too.” 
                  At the faint sound of sniffling, Lex, Donovan and Jed all turned. 
                  “Mom, this is Donovan and Jed.  They are the Protectors.”  Her mom nodded, tears running down her cheeks.  Lex went to her mother, not really sure what to say.  “Mom, I…”
                  Sylvia shushed her daughter.  She had secretly hoped her daughter would be able to stay with her, but Lex had been willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the lives of her Protectors.  “Honey, I love you very much and I will always watch over you.  This is not your world.  You belong with them.”  Sylvia hugged her daughter tight and nodded to Elpis.

Chapter Eight
                  Lex awoke between two warm bodies-a smile on her lips.  When she opened her eyes, she saw a pair of familiar shoes propped on the bed.  She followed them to the