The Lost Garden (The Lost Garden Trilogy Book 1) by K.T. Tomb Page A

will be spending a lot of time together, so I will tell you all that you need to know. I have some answers, but I do not have them all. Guardians were not given answers. We were given a job. Understood?”
    “Understood.”
    “First, let me ask you a question,” she paused, thinking back to the portrait of herself in the painting. “How is it that you seem to know me? Why do you state that you’ve been waiting your entire life for me?”
    He sat back on the coffee table. His was a face that pleased her to gaze upon. His hair was light brown and wavy to the point of being almost curly. He had a thin nose and mischievous eyes, as if he were perpetually hiding a secret from the world. Maybe he was. Jess lived a solitary life, one that allowed for no romance. She had often wondered what it would be like to take on a partner, but never would she allow herself to dwell on the impossible. Guardians did not have mates. They mated, true, but out of necessity when their numbers got low. They did not take on life partners, or partners for any length of time. Because of their longevity, the term “life partner” really took on a whole new meaning for them.
    “A fair question,” he said, eyes glinting. “I’ve been dreaming about you, off and on, for my entire life, ever since I could remember. As a child, I dreamed of a beautiful guardian angel who watched over me in my sleep. When people said they had a guardian, I knew in my heart that I had a guardian angel. She was in my dreams, all the time, clear as a bell.” He paused and looked away. “She was beautiful and it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with her, or at least her image. Tall and powerful, armed to the teeth with a broadsword and bow, wearing leather armor about her mid-section and oh, those long legs. You were the ultimate fantasy for a kid growing up and certainly a reason to look forward to sleep.”
    Jessima IL Eve, for perhaps the first time in centuries, felt herself blushing.
    He continued, “And you never left me. You were the one constant in my life. I could always count on you being there. You really made me question my own sanity, faith, you name it. I read scores of books on dreams, but there was no mention of one person showing up in dream after dream. You were an anomaly, but you were my anomaly.”
    She absorbed his words and paused before thinking. Although quick and heedless in battle, she often absorbed new information with careful attention. “How is it that you have exact replicas of the Garden of Eden in your paintings?”
    He smiled and leaned forward on his elbows. His eyes, those beautiful aquamarine eyes, fastened onto her own. She did not feel uncomfortable in the penetrating gaze or feel the need to look away. Instead, she could feel his intensity through his eyes and his need to understand.
    “You were always standing in the Garden of Eden, although I never knew for sure, until now. Of course, I always suspected that it was an earthly paradise and I soon devoted my entire life to finding this paradise.” He paused, his eyes shining. “By the way, I haven’t found it yet.”
    “What do I do in your dreams?” she asked. She was almost afraid to hear the answer.
    He continued to stare into her eyes and she let him. Through his eyes, she could almost see him reliving each dream. “You always come to me with open arms, dressed for battle, although the weapons are archaic. I never see myself, just the image of you. We are standing on a rock shelf overlooking this utterly amazing land, full of the most vibrant plants on Earth. Everything is larger than it should be and so green it hurts your eyes. High above is a sun, but not the real sun. It’s somehow smaller and its light is not so overwhelming, but it is a perfect amount of light for the scene. I always had a sense that the whole scene was hidden, but I never knew for sure. In my dreams, I rarely explored. I was simply given snapshots.”
    He stopped talking and she