Aries: Book 2 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series) (10 page)

Chapter Thirteen

‘The boy is back in town!’ Leo sang when I came into the house.

My whole family were there, which surprised me. A banner hung over the door and decorations were pinned to the walls. Food littered the kitchen surfaces and a ton of booze sat on the table. Natalie pushed my chair into the middle of the crowd. They all took turns to hug me.

‘What’s all this for?’ I asked, laughing when Pisces pulled a popper over me and the streams of paper landed on my head.

‘Well, last time we knew that you didn’t want to celebrate, but this time we’re celebrating two things,’ Pisces said.

I shrugged. ‘And what are they?’

‘The fact that you’re alive, and the fact that the operation went well!’

She threw her arms around me. I squeezed her back.

‘Get me a beer then!’ I shouted as someone put the music on.

A can appeared in my hand. I looked up to see Natalie smiling down at me. I didn’t know her that well. Something connected us, but before now, I had classed her as just another hot girl. Her smile faded the longer I looked at her.

‘What’s the matter with you?’ she asked.

A scream sounded from the hallway. We rushed towards the door to see what was happening. Natalie grabbed the handles of my chair to stop me.

‘It’s okay, let me go,’ I said.

She shook her head, but my scowl made her remove her hands. The others blocked the way, talking amongst themselves.

‘Move!’ I shouted.

They parted to let me through. I wheeled myself into the hall to see that Leo had wrestled a man to the ground. Cancer stood to the side with her hands on her chest. Her short blonde hair was starting to grow out and looked ruffled from the usually sleek style.

‘What happened?’ I asked her.

The steps to the attic were down.

‘I was giving him a drink when he took hold of my hair and made me bring him down. He covered my mouth. We fell from the last step and that’s when I screamed.’

I looked down at the man under Leo. He wore the standard black uniform that Nick’s men wore. He had short hair and looked quite ordinary.

‘Why was he not tied up?’

Leo grunted as the man tried to throw him off. ‘He was!’

‘Did you untie him?’ I asked Cancer.

She shook her head quickly. The blush on her cheeks told me that she lied. She had a way with men, and if he was clever, he would have realised and taken advantage.

‘Take him into my room,’ I ordered Leo.

It was good being back at home. The others cleared the way as Leo dragged the man to his feet and did as I had asked.

‘Aries, what are you going to do? Who is that man?’ Natalie asked.

She was the only outsider in the house. She would have to be told everything if we wanted her to stay quiet.

‘Stay with the girls. I’m going to sort this.’

‘No, I’m coming with you,’ she said, walking beside me as I wheeled back out to the kitchen. The chattering amongst my siblings covered the sound of my sigh.

‘I don’t need you to be with me all the time,’ I replied, taking her hand and giving it a quick squeeze. ‘Please trust me. I promise to tell you everything when I’m done.’

She blinked before nodding and letting me go. I didn’t look back as I went across the kitchen, into the other hallway, and into my bedroom.

‘You’re the famous Aries, then? Not such a hard man anymore, are you?’

The prisoner was in one of the armchairs. Leo stood beside him. Scorpio positioned himself by the door as it shut behind me. I wheeled over to Nick’s man. I was tempted to get close and punch him straight in the face but I didn’t want my new implants to be anywhere near him.

‘I’m famous, am I? What for…?’

The man sucked his teeth before he spoke. ‘For being an aggressive arsehole that kicks the crap out of everyone. It don’t look like you can do that anymore.’

The smile on his face made my skin boil. I pulled my fire into my palm and held the flame in front of his face. As his eyes widened, I had to stop myself from blinding him. Just one little thrust would send the ball straight into his blue orbs. My arm shook from the effort of stopping myself. I pulled away when he swallowed.

‘I wouldn’t be so sure.’ I was surprised at my steady voice, considering my whole body was tensed and ready to launch at him.

‘Impressive,’ he said, licking his lips as he kept his gaze on mine.

I absorbed the fire back into me and rested my palms on the arms of my chair. The plastic heated instantly so I folded my hands in my lap.

‘You work for Nick?’

He nodded but kept his mouth shut.

‘Is he a good boss?’ I glanced over at Leo when he snorted.

A rush of power came through me when I looked back at the other man and he winced. I didn’t like to scare people but I had to make things right. There were too many wrongs in the world.

‘He’s fair,’ the man said, sniffing.

I laughed and waited for the boys to join in. They didn’t. I looked up to see that the door had opened and Natalie stood there.

‘What is it?’ I hissed. I had told her to stay away, why was she there?

‘I want to know what’s going on.’

I thumped the arm of the chair and turned my gaze on our prisoner when he coughed back a laugh.

‘She’s got you under the thumb, hasn’t she?’

‘By the balls more like,’ I mumbled. We shared a smile, man to man.

Natalie huffed and went to sit on my bed. I clenched my hands into fists. If I upset her, she might tell someone about our guest. I couldn’t risk it. I bit my tongue and focused my attention on the man again.

‘I don’t like working for him but I don’t have a choice,’ the man said suddenly.

I sat up straighter and looked him in the eye.

‘Why do you do it?’

He looked behind me. I hoped Natalie was sensible enough to have a straight face.

‘He pays well. He would kill me if I tried to leave.’ The man shrugged.

I tilted my head to the side. ‘What if we offered you protection?’

Natalie gasped. Leo clicked his tongue.

‘Is that wise, Aries?’ Scorpio asked.

I didn’t break eye contact with the man.

‘I won’t take no bullshit,’ I said.

He snorted. ‘I guessed that. I may be young but I’m not stupid.’

He was roughly the same age as us. Why did Nick use such young men? If I was an evil person, trying to keep people apart, I would hire much older men.

‘I trust that he’s telling the truth,’ I said, glancing at Leo and Scorpio, but not taking any notice of Natalie. She had gone against me. I wasn’t going to include her in our business.

‘Has Pisces met him?’ I asked.

Scorpio shook his head and went out of the room.

‘You’re telling me that he’s been in the house for a week, and the one person that’s been around Nick’s men, hasn’t met him, yet?’ My veins heated as I threw the fire that sprung to my hand. It exploded against the windowpane.

‘Calm down, I can hear you from the kitchen!’ Pisces exclaimed as she rushed in.

Leo had managed to duck when I threw my fire. He snarled at me. I had to stop myself from smiling. Pisces put her hand on my shoulder and her calming emotion brought my fire down.

‘Do you know this man?’ I asked.

She looked at him and nodded. ‘Yes, he helped Nick kidnap me at the station.’

Leo growled and went to step forward. I held up my hand and he stopped.

‘Do you know where Nick is now?’ I asked the man.

He glanced at everyone but didn’t say anything. There was a knock on the door. Scorpio opened it and let Cancer in. I had to clench my teeth to stop another fireball erupting.

‘Will you go away?’ I asked.

‘No, I don’t want you to intimidate him,’ she said, staying near the door.

‘Why the hell do you care?’ I asked.

She shrugged and I shook my head.

‘Everyone out!’ I snapped. The girls filtered out. I breathed a sigh of relief. ‘You kidnapped my sister?’

‘It was my job. Are they really your sisters?’

Leo stepped forward and sat on the arm of the chair. His thick thigh knocked the man’s arm but he didn’t flinch. ‘You leave them out of this.’

‘Where’s Nick?’ I was done with being nice.

Our father had been missing for weeks and incompetence was the only reason we hadn’t found him.

‘I’m not going to hand over information.’

The muscles in my body clenched tight. I wanted to stand up and punch the man in the face. I started to shake. I couldn’t stand up to hit the man that had taken Pisces, and now he refused to co-operate. The music in the other room grew louder. The others were having fun at my homecoming party while I missed it.

Taking deep breaths, I allowed the tension to leave me. ‘Okay. Take him back to the attic. We have a party to go to.’ I turned my chair.

‘Wait…’ he called.

I glanced over my shoulder. His own shoulders were broad. They lowered when he sighed.

‘What’s it going to be?’

‘I can’t—’

Leo grabbed his arm. The man tried to fight him. Scorpio tied his hands and legs as Leo held him still. There was a twinge of something in my stomach but it could have been hunger.

‘Leave him in here until the party’s done. Then move him back to the attic. I don’t want him paraded in front of everyone again.’

The others agreed as we left to have some fun.

Chapter Fourteen

‘I can do it!’ I snapped as Natalie went to grab the weight out of my hand.

She had driven me to hospital for my first session in rehabilitation.

‘No need to be arsy,’ she said, taking a step back.

I reached down and got hold of the metal cylinder. It was light. It wouldn’t feel it when attached to my implant, though. I ignored her and hung it over the end of the attachment. An instant sensation pulsed up the metal and into my bone. I liked the foreign pull. It was uncomfortable, and sore, but it made my heart beat.

‘I’m not being arsy, stop mothering me.’

She shook her head. Her ponytail caught my eye as it flicked. There were a couple of other people in the room. It was kitted out with apparatus that helped amputees to strengthen their limbs.

‘How does it feel?’

She had switched into professional mode, which meant I couldn’t ignore her. I unclipped the weight and put it on the other thigh.

‘Strange,’ I replied.

She bent down in front of me and looked at the protruding metal bolt.

‘It looks healthy. You’ve been taking care of it,’ she said.

I nodded. ‘Of course I have. I want to walk again.’

She clenched her fists as she bit her lip. The small gesture made me tense up. Most of the time, it felt like she was my carer. However, every now and then, she did something small that made me want to throw her on a bed. Just like biting her lip.

I couldn’t do anything to her in my current state but when I had my legs, I would—

‘How’s your prisoner?’ she asked, breaking my train of thought.

I took the weight off and switched it back to the other bolt. It was uncomfortable but I didn’t care. I would do anything to get my legs strong again.

‘It’s not exactly the place to talk,’ I murmured, glancing at a patient using the bars to practice walking.

A sharp pinch in my arm made me look down. Natalie squeezed the thick flesh that covered the bone.

‘Get out of that horrible mood, will you?’ she hissed.

I smiled. She could be as fierce as I was. She hadn’t shown it in a while. She played physiotherapist well but I was bored. I had tried not to break down her professional barriers. I wasn’t having much fun. She stuck around but only because it was her duty.

‘Why are you bothered?’

I put my hand over her fingers and squeezed hard enough for her to release me. I looked up. She refused to meet my gaze.

‘I don’t like any of my patients being upset.’

Letting her go, I plastered on a grin. If I wanted to break through the barrier between us, I would have to turn on the charm.

‘I’m sorry, baby, I—’

‘Don’t call me that!’

She spun and marched over to the water cooler. It was a good diversion tactic. I took the weight off and let it fall to the floor. The others looked at me. I scowled in their general direction. Why had Natalie scorned me? What was wrong with calling her baby?

‘You’re lucky,’ a man said to me as he wheeled his chair over.

One of his legs was missing from the knee down. I fought the urge to point out the obvious. He was luckier than I was. At least he had one whole leg.

‘My physio doesn’t look anything like her.’ He motioned with his head to Natalie, who was now talking to a colleague.

I tried to see her through his eyes. I had known her for many lifetimes but it felt like I hardly knew her in the current one. If she was my soulmate, and I was pretty sure she was, I would have to make an effort to get to know her.

‘Yes, she is amazing,’ I said, not knowing what else to say.

‘A man like you must have success with gorgeous women.’

My gaze studied him. He was half my size and had a crooked nose. There was nothing to suggest that he couldn’t get women the way I had. Although, I had to admit that I always had it easy in that department.

‘I’ve had my fair share.’ I nodded, reflecting on some of the memories.

‘Do you think those times are over?’

The look in his eyes mirrored my own thoughts. Could we ever have a normal life? Even if we got fit enough to walk again, would we still be able to do the things we wanted?

‘Yes.’ I sighed. ‘But new times are just beginnings. Don’t give up hope, mate.’

He nodded and moved away as I stared at Natalie. There was a twinkle in her eye as she chatted with her friend. The female was attractive. I would have tried to pull them both in the past.

The other physio glanced over and caught me looking. Her cheeks heated as she flicked her hair. Natalie noticed her looking over and observed that I was staring at them. Her lips pursed. She said something before coming back over to me.

‘You can’t help yourself, can you?’ she snapped as she handed me a plastic cup of water.

I gulped it down and held out the empty cup. She looked at it with raised eyebrows. I scrunched it in the palm of my hand and threw it on the floor. It was a silly act of rebellion. I thought it would make her laugh, but instead, she bent down to my face.

‘You’re such a—’

I put my finger over her mouth and she stopped talking. Her eyes widened as a smile spread over my lips. I intentionally stared into her gaze without moving my finger. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips. It caught my skin. My own eyes widened as she stepped back quickly.

‘I’m such a…?’ I asked.

She glanced to see if anyone had seen our exchange and crouched on the floor to pick up another weight. She attached it to my implant and instructed me on what to do. I didn’t take anything in. My finger was hot where she had licked it. I wanted to grab her but I couldn’t.

‘I could report you, you know that?’ I said.

She looked up at me from where she was swapping the weight over. I was oblivious to the uncomfortable pull as it hung from the metal bolt.

‘What for…?’ she asked with raised eyebrows.

‘For being so attractive.’

She clicked her tongue but didn’t look away from me. ‘You’re so bloody confusing.’

I didn’t need to agree. I was like a woman with PMS. One minute I was happy, the next I was ready to punch someone’s face in.

‘Let me take you to dinner,’ I whispered.

Her raised eyebrows lowered into a quick frown. She enjoyed the roller-coaster, I was sure. Women liked a bit of variety, didn’t they?

‘Are you being serious?’ The snort that followed her sentence wasn’t very feminine but it didn’t put me off.

‘Yes, I am. Tonight…let’s go out for dinner.’

‘I’m your physiotherapist now. I’m not someone who you can just—’

I took her hand as she took the final weight off. I pulled her to kneel before me. I had her wrist. I wasn’t going to let go until she agreed. She knew that. I could see it in her eyes and hear it in the resigned sigh that left her plump lips.

‘I took you to bed the night before the explosion. You’re not just my carer.’

‘Carer…?’ she questioned, scrunching her face.

‘Will you please join me for dinner tonight?’

She nodded and wrenched her arm away, making herself busy by packing away the tools that we had used. My first session was over. I looked around the room. I would see the same four walls a lot over the next five months.

‘Great, I’ll pick you up at eight,’ I said, turning my chair.

‘What are you talking about?’ she called as I made my way towards the exit.

I glanced over my shoulder and winked at her. ‘Wear something amazing,’ I shouted back, leaving her to stare after me.