My Soul to Keep (The Soul Keeper Series - Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (29 page)

“So is there any way I can see my mother?”

“Not unless she gets an assignment here on Earth
again.” In the red world the demons numbers are dwindling by the minute. We
step aside as a carcass slowly fades into a shadow and I turn back and watch it
completely disappear. We reach my steps. “We will continue our talk another
time Brennen, and Happy Birthday. He smiles a soft kind smile, and takes off,
blowing my hair up in his wake. I reach the top step and Will is there again. I
inhale a quick breath, startled.

“Almost forgot, your gift.”

“You didn't have to get me anything.” I shake my
head. He laughs hard and loud, his booming voice causes me to take a step back.

“No, your gift of influence,” He fights off another
chuckle. I look at him with my head turned. “You now have a very powerful
ability to influence others by your words. We will go into the details of it
with Elena when we start your training. But for now, don't tell anyone to go
jump off a bridge or take a hike. Because they just might do exactly what you
say.”

“What, like mind control?” I balk. He smirks and
folds his arms in front of his broad chest.

“More like if someone were thinking about suicide
and you told them to go jump off bridge they would choose to agree with you.
When you speak now, people will naturally want to agree with you. So be
careful, try and watch what you have to say. The good news is, now you can tell
Mr. Hot-lips in there to slow down and he will actually listen.”

I sit down on the patio to absorb everything. I
don't know how long I sat there but I startle when Sam grabs my shoulder.

“Bren, you okay?” I blink and try to focus on
staying in my world. It looks like the evening is near.

“Yes, I was just thinking, that's all.” I will have
to carefully consider every word I say from now on.

“I hear I'm a really good listener.” I smile at Sam.
He is a good friend; we have gotten much closer this week. But nothing that is
going through my mind can be shared with him.

“I just miss my dad.”

“Yep, why is it that the happiest occasions are
often the saddest when you have lost a parent or a loved one? I guess it's
because we wish they were here with us, sharing in the memories. But if your
dad were here right now, what would he say?” Sam pulls me into his lap and
holds me.

“He would say, “Hey kid you are and always will be
my baby,” Followed by his very bad impersonation of Marilyn Monroe, singing
Happy Birthday Mr. President.”
 
Just
thinking of his voice makes me giggle.

“He sounds like a pretty cool dad.”

“He was.” Sam holds me for a while and the doorbell
rings. I kiss his lips and hop up to go inside. I find Emily at the door. She
looks amazing in slim red dress and matching heels.

 
“Emily wow,
you look so gorgeous.” I take her hand and spin her around. “Just, wow.” She
giggles and hugs me.

“Thanks, I have lost nineteen pounds so far. My mom
and I have been taking a Zumba class and eating like a rabbit, a starving
rabbit.” She gives a lighthearted laugh before bounding us up the stairs.

“Em's,” I chastise her.

“Relax, I am going to treat myself tonight!” She
drags me to my room and starts digging through my closet. I plop on my bed. I
wonder if I told her to eat sensible and healthy food if she would ‘obey’ me.
She pulls out a slinky emerald dress and examines it.

“This dress is perfect for tonight.” She pulls out a
pair of black stilettos. I am so not in the mood for this party. I want to just
go crawl under a rock somewhere and absorb all of my new found knowledge. I
can't even begin to process everything.
 
Emily tosses a strapless bra at me and some barely there panties. I pull
off my clothes and slide the silky fabric over my body. The dress has thin
delicate straps and a low hung cowl neckline and an even lower plunged back. I
examine the look in the mirror. My eyes stand out like new leaves in spring.

“Brennen, you’re gorgeous. Of course, you would be
gorgeous in a potato sack.”

     
The
silver charm around my neck shimmers in the light. I slide it side to side on its
chain and wonder what my mother’s face looked like. The letter said her eyes
matched mine. I blink back at my reflection noticing how the flecks of blue and
amber deepen the hue of jade to achieve my unique iris coloring. This is the
only feature I can be sure of when I picture her in my head, the rest keeps
changing and shifting.

     
“Bren,
are you okay?” Emily touches my arm. I give her a soft smile in the mirror and
nod. I turn away as I catch a tear about to run over.

     
“I just
need a minute, would you mind checking on Sam?” She examines me with reserve
and finally turns and closes the door behind her. I sit on my bed and pull my
pillow into my lap. I pull open the drawer to my side table and fish out the
letter from my dad. I never got to finish reading it.

     
So now you know what I know Bren and I hope
you are handling it better than I did at first. I met your mother while on
mission in Bahrain. She was tending to an orphanage and our team had found a
child that needed the help of the shelter. I brought the little boy in and she
caught me in her spell the moment I laid eyes on her.

     
She was so graceful, and beautiful, I was
tongue-tied and practically tripping on my own feet when I walked over to her.
She wore her golden hair up in a clip. She smelled like a rare exotic flower
and like home all at the same time. She spoke with a British accent and her
voice chimed like a silver bell. I learned her name was Emmagen. I asked her
out for a drink after she was done for the day and she accepted. She was so
easy to be with, our conversation came freely, and after that night we were
inseparable. Then two weeks later, I had to go home. I almost went AWOL just to
stay with her but she wouldn't have it. She said I needed to keep protecting
lives, and it would break her heart if she stopped me from doing that. I tried
to write her but I never heard from her again, until that morning.

     
 
After I found you, I tried everything to find
her again, so we could be a family, but of course, she was just gone. I wish
you could have known her Brennen. In the short time I knew her, she changed me.
Those two weeks taught me what love is.
 
She made the world a better place, she truly
was an Angel. Then again so are you.

     
 
I
hope you know how much I love you. I think I only told you forty-two times a
day. But here is one more. I love you. Know that where ever you are right now,
I am thinking of you. Know that whatever your life brings, I will be celebrating
it with you. I will be giving you big crushing bear hugs every time you leave
the house. When the wave splashes your face in the ocean, know that it's me.
When one of my stupid catch phrases rings in your ear know that I whispered it.
I am always with you in your heart baby girl. And you will always live in mine.

Love,

Daddy

     
I crush
the letter to my chest and cry. The door to my room eases open, it’s Sam. He
sees me crying and the smile leaves his face. He wears a pair of black slacks
and a freshly pressed crisp white shirt. He looks like he is ready for a photo
shoot for a men’s cologne ad. He pulls up beside me, taking a strand of hair
from my face and tucking it behind my ear.

     
“You know
it's your party and you can cry if you want to and all, but I think you'd have
more fun if you would come down and join us.” I know he is trying to cheer me
up but he is no Elijah in that department. Elijah could pull me in and whatever
was wrong would disappear. I blink back the tears and in the process I see Will
sitting in the corner. It startles me. I know Sam can't see him. Will holds up
a finger to his lips warning me not to speak.

     
“Brennen,
we need you to dry it up and get down to your party, you have work to do. You
can feel sorry for yourself later.” I scoff at Will’s audacity. In power for
less than an hour and they already have me bidding their dirty work.

     
“I'll
come down, just let me just clean up okay?” Sam leaves me and I fold the letter
and hide it inside a large novel on my bookshelf, safe enough for now. My
mascara is a mess and I could double for Rudolf. I reach for the makeup remover
and reapply my face. Okay so now what? I am not exactly a social butterfly. I
have two friends down there, three if you count Chris. Each step I take brings
me closer to the party and the closer I get, the more my fear washes away. Sam
takes my arm as I reach the bottom step.

     
“You look
beautiful baby.”

     
“Thank
you, so do you. I mean you look very handsome.” I smile and kiss his cheek. We
walk hand in hand to the tent. Outside the night is cool but not cold. I wear a
small black faux mink wrap around my shoulders. The party is in full swing down
below.
           
“Oh, Sam I can't believe you
did all of this for me, thank you.” It is over the top and gorgeous. My eyes
are wet once again at Sam’s generosity. He turns and wipes my eyes before
kissing my lips softly.

     
“You're
welcome and we are going to have so much fun tonight.” He squeezes my hand as
we enter the tent. There are already about one hundred people mingling in the
tent and more scattered on the beach. A band is playing on a stage up front.
The tables are dressed in black linen and small cupcake towers make the
centerpiece for each one. The white frosted cupcakes each hold a sparkler in
the middle. As we pass by people, they each wish me happy birthday. I say thank
you to mostly strangers but a few I recognize from class.

     
“Sam this
is amazing.”

     
“Come on
let's get something to eat.” We walk over to a buffet table and everything
looks so good. I grab a couple of bacon wrapped shrimp, something labeled
Hawaiian meatballs, skewered with fresh pineapple, and a goat cheese stuffed
mushroom. Copper tubs holds bottles of soda. Thank goodness we wouldn't be
serving alcohol to all of these minors. I don't want anyone drinking and
driving. Hmm, maybe that is why I was needed to “work” tonight. I set my plate
down and jump up on the stage and ask the band for the mic. He looks a little
taken aback but hands it to me. Let’s take this little gift for a test drive.

     
“Um, hi
everyone, thank you for coming to my birthday party, it means a lot to me that
you would spend New Year’s with me too. I hope everyone here has a blast
tonight. I only ask that you stay sober tonight, I care about the lives of
everyone out on the road tonight and I hope you will do your part to stay safe.
Thank you.” Everyone had given me their undivided attention it was sort of
creepy and Stepford like. I walked back to my plate and Sam as the band fired
back up.

     
“Well I
hope people take your advice. That was a sweet thing to say.”

     
“Ha well
lucky for us we aren't driving anywhere. I have a bottle of champagne in the
fridge inside,” I say and Sam waggles his brow letting me know he is all for
it. Emily and Chris join us at the table with their plates. “Hi Chris, thank
you for coming.” He smiles back at me his mouth already full. “Hey Em, would
you guys like to spend the night?”

     
“Sure, I
don't want to be driving around out there tonight.” I find her comment to be
very off par from her usual bring-on-the-booze standards. So maybe I do have a
subtle effect. The band is good, they are playing a wide variety of music and
the lead singer is now pulling off Green Day.
  
I notice Emily's plate holds a few cherry tomatoes and some almonds.
This won't do if she is going to join us in a drink or two later.

     
“Emily
you have got to try these kabobs they are delicious.” I give her one off my
plate and she devours it like a starved dog. I count my fingers when I retract
my hand. Guess she was hungry. I glance at Sam and our eyes meet. “God Brennen
looks so hot in that green dress.” And then I get a mental picture of me naked
and I pull my head back. What the hell…? I find his gaze again. “I wonder if
tonight we can do a little more than kiss, she looks like she wants more too.”
Holy shit, did I just read his mind?

     
“Um
excuse me I am going to go freshen up.” I rise from the table and meet Emily's
eyes. “What does she need to freshen up? She already looks perfect.” My eyes
widen at my best friend, seriously? I pass several people on my way up to the
house. Every person I make eye contact with, I can read their thoughts. Ari
Campbell thinks that I am a spoiled little rich bitch who Sam should dump
tonight. Sanchez wonders if Sam has hit that yet. Geeze I quit looking at
people after that. I run upstairs and lock the door to my room. I blink and enter
the other realm. I look around for Will. He enters the room by walking through
the door, without opening it.