Jar of Souls (26 page)

She looked slightly confused. “Why?”

“Well, when I went back to the healer today, my chest had healed itself, unless someone healed me.”

“You know me, Jackson. I only know enough about healing to do the bare minimum to myself. I try not to use that kind of magic on anyone else.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I moved away from the edge of the ring, getting ready for another round of sparring, or what I liked to refer to as
Jackson getting his ass kicked by a girl
time.

“Let me take a look at it.”

“What, my chest?”

“Yeah.”

She stepped forward, and before I could say anything, she had run her hands under my shirt. I lifted it up and looked down; there wasn’t even a mark there. The pink scar tissue that was there this morning was completely gone. I stumbled back a bit, dropping my shirt into place.

April looked at me with a little twinkle in her eye. “Are you sure you were even hurt? Maybe you were just trying to get a look at me in the shower.”

My mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish out of water. I didn’t know what to say to that. I didn’t, I mean, I didn’t even know about the coed showers. How could she think that I would? Then I watched as a slow smile spread on her face. She had just been joking with me; man, wasn’t it enough to beat me up physically? Now she was putting me through the mental ringer as well?

“Take it easy, champ. I was just kidding. I saw the blood on your bandages and on your chest before the healer saw to you.” She leveled a soft punch at my chest. “Did that hurt?”

“Nope.”

“Well, let’s get back to work, then.”

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when she finished pounding me into the ground for the eighth time. To be fair, I had won a round, so I gave myself a mental pat on the back. One out of eight was better than one out of ten, right? The sweat poured off of me, and my body felt good, really good. The exertion of the workout had finally done its job. Britta had fallen to the back of my mind, and I was looking forward to a nap before my mom showed up.

“So what time is dinner tonight?”

“Marcus said he would be there at six, so maybe six thirty.”

“Cool, I can’t wait to meet your mom. I’m so happy that she is alive, Jackson. It’s good that you have some family left.”

“Yeah,” I said lamely. It was really good to have some family left. I slipped out of the ring, holding open the ropes so April could follow me.

“Care to join me for a shower?” she said with a flirtatious wink.

“I think I’m just going to head back to my room.” I could already feel the blush move up my cheeks.

“One of these days someone is going to have to drag you in there with the rest of us.”

“It’s still just really weird for me. I mean, outside gym, I’ve never showered with anyone else, and that was all guys.”

“It’s not so bad. I mean, look at what we all wear to work out. It pretty much leaves nothing to the imagination anyway.”

“That’s true. See you at six, ok?”

A small look of sadness creased her features, but only for a second. “See you then,” she said, turning and heading for the showers.

I tried to stop myself, but I just couldn’t. I watched her walk away. Just what in the hell was I doing torturing myself? I was with Britta, and she was great. Why would I even look at another girl, let alone my best friend? A cold shower might do the trick, really cold, like glacier cold. Something would snap me out of this soon. I already had the girl. I was good to go, wasn’t I?

* * *

M
arcus’s knock
at the door signaled the start to the evening. I still hadn’t heard from Britta, but my bro Marcus was right on time. When he came in, I had to move out of the way. He was pushing a dolly loaded with food. It looked as if he had pulled out all of the stops; I was impressed to say the least.

“What are you doing, trying to feed a small army?”

“Well, I heard Lycans like to eat. I mean, they really like to chow down. So I brought extra, and just in case your mom prefers meat, I secured a couple of super juicy steaks.”

“Awesome, man. What else do you have under there?”

“One of the ladies in the kitchen made us a cake for the occasion, and you won’t believe it but Randall made us a container of his famous sweet tea.”

“No way! Randall never makes that for anyone.”

“He thought the occasion was special enough.”

“Ok, now I know you’re lying. That man doesn’t have a sentimental bone in his body.”

“So he may have been moved by the hundred bucks I slipped him instead.”

“Bro, you’re crazy. You paid a hundred bucks for sweet tea?”

“It’s worth it, man. Tonight is special.”

“Tell me what I can do to help.”

“Just set the table and get out of the kitchen.” He shoved me away from the cart. “We all know you can’t cook to save your life. All you will do is get in the way.”

“At least let me take a glass of that tea with me.”

“Now that is something I can let you do.” He poured me a cup from the huge dispenser and handed it to me. “Now get working on that table before you get hurt.”

The table was set in a matter of minutes, leaving me alone on the couch to drink in the comforting sweat tea. I had only had a glass of it before when we first arrived here. It was the stuff of legends around this place. People raved about it, and with good reason. It was the best tea I had ever had. He only made three or four batches a year, and they were always gone within hours. The rumor was he had a distant cousin who was one of the fey, and they sent him some kind of special fairy honey a couple times a year. Thinking about it now, Marcus had probably slipped him more than a hundred bucks, but sipping the tea made me forget all about what it cost.

April let herself in, and I jumped to my feet. Marcus gave her a wave from the kitchen, and she gave me a huge hug. “Thanks for coming.”

“I wouldn’t miss the chance to meet your mom. Not for the world.”

Smiling I motioned toward the kitchen. “Guess what Marcus got?”

“What?”

“He scored us some of Randall’s tea.”

“No way.”

“Way.”

The next thing I saw was red hair bounding away from me in search of that sweat nectar. The next knock brought my mom to the door. She came in controlling the room with her presence. It was like she was in full combat mode all the time. April came out of the kitchen with two glasses. She set them down and wrapped my mom in a big hug. My mom looked at me, probably caught off guard by her casual intimacy. I took it from her look that that wasn’t how the packs did things.

“It’s so good to finally meet you,” April said.

My mom disengaged herself slightly. “And you are?”

“April.” She shot me a look as if I hadn’t done my part by explaining who was going to be there tonight.

“It’s nice to meet you, April.”

“Thank you, Sarah. Would you care for a glass of tea?”

“That would be wonderful, dear.”

April passed off the glass of tea and headed back into the kitchen with Marcus. It gave me the chance to step forward and give Mom a hug. It felt weird saying that even in my head. I had such a different picture in my mind when I said
Mom
. It always made me flash back to my adoptive parents and not to the lady standing in front of me.

“Glad you could make it. Marcus brought enough food to feed an army.”

“Good, because I could eat one.” She gave me a wink.

“Wait, have you ever done that?”

She just laughed and patted me on the back. “It’s a figure of speech.”

“Not where I come from,” I said, laughing too.

There was another small knock on the door, and I went to go and get it. Britta was there waiting for me. She looked fantastic. Her hair was down framing her face, and she had some kind of cute sweater on and some black jeans. In truth, it was a pretty conservative look for her. She smiled at me, and I pulled her into a hug.

“Glad you could make it.” I left out the fact that I wasn’t sure she would be coming.

“I told you I wouldn’t miss it.” She gave me a quick kiss.

“It was just that I couldn’t find you all day and I wasn’t sure.”

She held a finger over my lips. “We can talk about it after dinner.” She kissed me again and then turned to enter the room.

I closed the door and followed her in. She was already giving my mom a hug. This time Mom handled it better, and I set up a reminder in my head to thank April for being so good at breaking the ice. April joined my mom and Britta, and they fell deep into conversation. I was content to just sit back and watch and drink my tea. It felt good to have my family and friends here with me. Watching them talk and get along was the best gift anyone could ask for.

Marcus stepped out of the kitchen with a flourish. “Dinner is served.”

The meal was amazing, the tea was even better, and the conversation flowed easily among friends. Before long, a couple hours had slipped by and it was time to call it a night. Marcus left first, assuring me he would be back in the morning to help clean up. I’d cash that check when it showed up, if ever. April was the next to bow out gracefully. She gave my mom a fierce hug, and I was surprised to see it returned. April had completely won her over. I got the same treatment, and then the streak of bouncing red hair was gone. Mom said her goodbyes and headed out the door. It had been so good to see her. I couldn’t wait to do it again.

Britta stood up and was moving the dishes off the table and into the kitchen. I got up and started to help. We scraped the food off the plates into the trash and stacked the dishes in the sink for later. Finally, when I couldn’t take the silence anymore, I had to ask. “Britta, what’s going on?”

She stopped looking at the counter and turned and rushed into my arms. Tears were already streaking down her face. “Jackson, I thought I was going to die. I’d never been so scared in my life.”

I held her tightly against me and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “I would have never let that happen.”

“I know.” She sobbed. “I could see you fighting to get to me. Still, I thought that was going to be the end, that I was going to die right there. It scared me because I never got to tell you just how much I loved you.” She pressed harder against me and continued to cry.

Finally her sobs subsided and I asked, “Is that why you avoided me all day?” She didn’t say anything, but I could feel her nodding into my shoulder. “Britta, you know that I love you too, right?” But did I? Things got more confusing by the second. If you would have asked me three days ago, I would have told you yes without hesitating. Today I had someone else on my mind even now.

She turned and looked up into my eyes. Tears had streaked her mascara. I wiped them away with my thumb and lowered my mouth to hers. The kiss was soft and delicate at first, and then it grew hungry and filled with passion. It wasn’t long before her hands were under my shirt, lifting it above my head. She moved her hands across my chest and flicked her tongue into my mouth. It felt so good. I moaned as I slid my hands under her shirt. She broke our kiss to finish lifting it over her head. By then my clumsy fingers finally managed to unhook the clasp of her bra. She giggled as it hit the ground.

We moved into my bedroom then, fumbling at each other’s belts. It seemed like a small miracle when hers finally came off. She wriggled out of her tight jeans, and I ran my hands against the soft flesh of her legs. I managed to slide out of my pants as we crawled into bed. I kissed her again, and then I let my instincts take over. The time for thinking was done. This was something more primal, more powerful than words could describe. When it was over, we kissed and held each other. I fell asleep reassured of where things stood between us.

* * *

“
N
o
, I don’t have long to talk.”

“How is our boy doing?”

“He seems to be ok; he is still having the dreams, though.”

“Are you still secure in your role?”

“It was a little iffy there for a bit, but I fixed it.”

“And you are sure this assignment isn’t too much for you? I know what we are asking of you is more than we have any right to.”