Aries: Book 2 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series) (5 page)

Chapter Seven

The front door loomed at the top of the steps. The ramp leading up to it was a reminder of my missing limbs. Every part of me wanted to stay at the bottom. I didn’t have a choice, though, I had to face them sometime.

The front door opened and Leo wheeled me inside.

‘Welcome home,’ Pisces said, bending down to kiss my cheek.

Her calm energy enveloped me. I wanted to keep her close, just to calm my raging fire. Antony stood behind her but otherwise the kitchen was empty. I pushed my breath out of my lungs. Thank bloody goodness there wasn’t a huge welcoming committee. I would have thrown a fireball if they had all been there.

‘I’ve given up my room for you.’

Pisces walked in front of me as I wheeled myself to the centre of the kitchen. There was a hallway to the left that led to my old bedroom. There was another one on the right that led to Pisces’ room. Which was apparently now my room.

‘But I got that room especially for you,’ I said, grabbing her hand.

‘It’s okay. Cancer has moved in with the other girls and given us her room.’ Antony smiled down at me.

He was as kind as his soulmate. I was grateful for the lack of judgement in them both. I wasn’t going to get the same from my other siblings. Each one of them would handle me differently. My fingers clenched the arms of the chair. Why had they put themselves out for me?

‘Would you like to go to your room to rest?’ Natalie asked.

Her voice reminded me that she was still there. My heart beat a little faster when she took my hand. When she bent down to my height, I scowled.

‘Don’t do that!’

She got up instantly and muttered an apology before going over to the kettle and turning it on.

‘Don’t talk to her like that,’ Pisces chastised.

Pisces may be the emotional one. She could also be the most cutting. The earth signs were blunt too but there wasn’t any emotion behind it. When Pisces chastised, she said it with feeling, so it went deep.

‘I’m sorry, Natalie,’ I mumbled, feeling like a told off child.

‘It’s okay,’ she replied, not looking round as she fiddled with cups. ‘Do you want a cup of tea?’

I nodded.

‘We’d all love one,’ Pisces intercepted.

I glanced up. Leo stared at my stumps over my shoulder. His cheeks flamed red when he caught me looking.

‘It’s okay, mate. I know it’s creepy.’ I tried to laugh. The sound got lodged in my throat.

Leo stood back and sat on a stall. ‘Is it true what they say about phantom limbs? Can you feel them as if they’re still there?’

I sighed in relief.

‘You can’t ask that, Leo!’ Natalie spun round.

I waved, dismissing her. ‘Yes, he can. In fact, I would prefer it if people say what they’re thinking. I don’t like bull crap. I can smell it from a mile away.’

The others pretended to chuckle. Natalie ignored me and went back to making the hot drinks. My siblings were used to me but she wasn’t. Not in the same way. We might have dated when we were teenagers but we hadn’t spent that much time together in the last few years. I had done a bit of growing up since then, although not a lot.

Father called me the child of the group. He said that I would never grow up, and I knew deep down, it was true. I was a hulking Peter Pan. Well, I had been before I got my legs blown off, anyway.

‘To answer your question, Leo, yes. It does sometimes feel like my legs are there.’

He averted his gaze when I tried to pull my shorts down over the bandages.

‘Where are the others?’ I asked.

‘They’re at work,’ Pisces replied, bending to get a cake tin from one of the cupboards. Her long hair almost touched the floor. Her leg stuck out as she grabbed what I hoped was her homemade cake.

‘Even Taurus?’

They laughed as they helped Natalie finish making the tea. They took everything to the kitchen table. The end chair had been taken away. I wheeled myself over to the head of the table. Exactly where I used to always sit.

‘It worked out quite well.’ Pisces laid her hand over mine.

I pulled away, picking up my mug to distract myself. The tightness in my throat made it hard to swallow. Sipping my drink made the threatening tears retreat.

‘Are you excited about your operation? It sounds like you’ll be one of the first people to have it.’ Antony took a bite of the slice of chocolate cake that Pisces handed him. I picked up my own and did the same so I didn’t have to answer. I nodded instead, chewing the moist cake. I couldn’t taste it but ate anyway.

‘What do I do?’ I said, gulping the rest of my tea.

My mind went blank. The future was completely fuzzy.

‘You get fit again.’ Natalie grabbed my hand.

I blinked as I looked down at the wooden table. I was useless. I had no legs. What was the point? What was there left for me to do?

‘How…? There’s only so much I can do.’

I almost choked and didn’t dare look up. Both women in the room would be crying. I couldn’t handle that.

‘You need to keep your upper body as fit as possible. Try to keep your thighs fit, too. You will have gruelling exercises to do every day. I promise you won’t have time to get bored.’

Natalie’s voice was full of emotion but still harsh. I looked into her eyes and saw no pity there. No tears or any sign of crying showed on her face. She was an angel in that moment.

‘You’re a fighter, Aries, you will not let this beat you.’ It was a different story when I looked at Pisces. She had tears running down her cheeks but the determination in her words contradicted her emotion. She wasn’t crying because she felt sorry for me. She was crying because of the situation. She had to process how she felt. I was grateful to have someone that cared that much for me.

‘You were there for me.’

Chair legs squeaked as the others left the table and went to the kitchen area. I was pleased they were letting us have some privacy. Pisces put her elbows on the table and leant towards me. I grabbed her head on either side and looked into her eyes.

‘Thank you so much,’ I whispered as the tears that had threatened to come since leaving hospital, forced their way out. Pisces’ eyes glistened. We laughed quietly as tears fell onto our cheeks at exactly the same time. I put my forehead to hers and closed my eyes.

‘I always felt you there, even when I was under sedation.’

She nodded. The gesture moved my head. She couldn’t speak. Too much emotion was taking over so I pulled away. She got up and threw her arms around me. We held onto each other as I allowed myself to cry with her.

‘You can do this. I know you can. You’re the fighter. You’re the one that can take on any battle and win. There is one thing you need to fight for…more than anything,’ Pisces whispered to me.

‘What…?’ I replied, not letting her pull away.

‘Your twin flame.’

The words filtered through me. A spark ignited where my fire had gone out. She had just challenged me.

‘You know that’s what you’re here for so keep fighting to unite with her.’

I nodded as she pulled away. She was right. I did have purpose. I had a reason to be here. If I didn’t, I would have died in the explosion.

‘If anyone can unite with their soulmate after what you’ve been through, it’s you,’ she said, sitting back in her chair and wiping her face on her sleeve. I pulled the bottom of my shirt up and got rid of the tears that rested on my face. The others came back over with more tea. Natalie took my hand when she sat down but didn’t say anything.

I looked at her nails. They were bitten right down. I followed the line of her smooth arm, noticing that she was slightly darker skinned than Pisces. She had a couple of small freckles just below her elbow. Her shoulder was square and strong. Her neck was long and slender. She had a little mole under her ear. I was about to look at her face when she stroked my wrist.

I looked at the bracelet that was constantly attached to me. I hardly noticed it anymore, but as she flicked the silver charm, the symbol of Aries blinked up at me. Strong, wilful, powerful…all words to describe someone born under the youngest star sign of the zodiac. It wasn’t the sign that made my heart thump. It was the mission that my bracelet represented.

The leather had singed edges. It must have burnt in the explosion.

‘We will get through this,’ Leo said from the other end of the table.

I couldn’t look away from the bracelet. Natalie’s finger rested next to it, although she hadn’t been consciously aware that she was touching it.

I looked up. She glanced at me. Our gaze locked and I saw it. Her eyes. They were the same brown as the woman in my dreams.

Pisces told me that her dreams had shown her the eyes of her soulmate. My past lives had been in my dreams when I was in hospital. Natalie’s eyes were the same as the woman that had haunted my dreams. She was the one.

For the last five years we had caused each other pain. We had run away, when we should have been running together.

‘Are you okay?’

I nodded, not able to trust what would come out of my mouth. I had never seen it before. She had made me jealous. Even now, as I remembered the young doctor, my blood started to boil.

‘Why are you staring at me?’

The others chatted so we went ignored.

‘I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you,’ I whispered.

Her throat muscles moved as she looked down at where she touched my wrist. The silver charm reflected the light. There was no doubt in my mind that I had found my twin flame when I was just fifteen years old. We had already dated and slept together but I hadn’t allowed myself to unite with her. I had run away when things got tough. I was still running.

‘It’s in the past. It’s time to move forward.’ She smiled and cupped my cheek.

Did she know? She must have got to know my siblings when I was in hospital. Surely they hadn’t told her anything. I would break someone’s bones if they had.

I glanced at Pisces and remembered when she was in the runner stage. Had I been in that stage for a quarter of my life?

‘Aries, do you want to hear my new song?’ Leo shouted down the table.

‘I’d love to hear your new song,’ I shouted back.

Leo went to get his guitar. The sound of strings being plucked filtered to us from the hallway. He was tuning it so I could hear his new song. I didn’t say anything as I watched the others.

‘Aries…!’

Cancer’s excited screech drilled into my head as she ran into the flat and threw her arms around me from behind. Her bobbed hair tickled my neck and I smiled when she squealed again.

‘I couldn’t wait any longer, I’m sorry. I wanted to come home and see you. It’s so good to see you sitting where you belong.’

Her enthusiasm made my fire stir. I was cared about, even if my siblings had never been any good at showing it.

‘It’s good to be home.’

I wasn’t lying. Right in that moment, it was good. It wouldn’t last when all of them came bearing down on me but I would savour the moment.

‘Have you been able to catch up on everything yet?’

‘I was about to play my new song.’ Leo flicked his gaze to Natalie.

Cancer nodded and stopped talking. The room fell silent as Leo played the guitar. The music filled the room as Leo’s husky voice joined it. The words were full of hope and despair. It made my skin tingle. I had never heard Leo sing such a powerful song. The simple guitar riff silenced the room. I watched the others as their gaze transfixed on the struggling artist.

‘Sorry to break up the reunion but I have some news,’ Gemini announced as soon as the song finished. His tall skinny shadow came out from the hallway. I hadn’t noticed him standing there during the performance.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

He nodded once, looking at Natalie. My arms tingled with heat as I gripped the arms of my wheelchair. I understood that Natalie couldn’t know about our mission but the way the others were pussyfooting around her started to irritate.

‘I think we should get you settled in your room,’ Natalie said.

I watched, unable to say anything as she stood and came round to the back of my chair. I only just stopped myself from getting annoyed.

‘Yes, you need a chance to settle in. I’ll come and talk to you later,’ Gemini said.

The buttons on his white shirt were completely undone. I caught the flash of wiry toned muscles and wished he would cover up around company. His smart trousers were wrinkled where he had been lying down. I had never been told what to do by him before. I struggled to swallow the command.

‘I don’t want to go and settle in. I want to hear what’s going on. Natalie, please would you go and unpack for me?’

Pisces gasped and put her hand over her mouth. ‘You can’t ask her to do that.’

‘Technically, he can. I’m being paid to help,’ she said, patting my shoulder and disappearing into the other hallway.

I cringed as I watched her go. Was that how she saw us now? She was the hired help?