From the second-floor window of the Guest House, Marcus Thorne watched the couple on the bench.
He saw the way Victoria leaned toward William, not away. He saw the way the wind blew her hair, and how William reached out to tuck a strand behind her ear–a gesture so intimate and practiced it made Marcus’s chest ache.
Marcus turned away from the window. He looked at the piano where Victoria had hummed the lullaby. He looked at the violin case she had carried from Brooklyn.
He realized he had lost. He was the “Protector”, but he was protecting her from her own soulmate. The invisible history between William and Victoria was a gravity well he couldn’t escape.
Marcus pulled his suitcase from under the bed. He began to pack, folding his shirts with sharp, angry movements. He knew his role in the story was ending. The “Guardian” was preparing to leave the post, leaving the door wide open for the past to rush in.