True Connection (The Soul Mate Series) (26 page)

Elementary Style

              I begin to doze off, listening to the beat of Seth’s heart, and his breathing. He sighs heavily, pulling me from almost sleep. I raise my head to see his face, and raise my brow when he glances my way.

             
“What were you thinking before the reverie?” He finally asks me.

             
I grimace. “Did you see Henry watching Skeeter all night?” I ask, changing the subject.

             
He smirks. “I did notice. No, I don’t think anything will happen between them. You’re not getting out of this by switching topics.”

             
“Fine,” I glare at him. “I thought about you, my dad, what happened in the bathroom, and tried to figure out a way to end this, without anyone getting hurt.” He nods and looks away, lost in thought I assume. I don’t want him to be so inside his head. “When you think about the future, what do you see?”

His eyes find mine and he smiles. “You,” he says and kisses my nose. “I see us, getting through college, and finding careers…” he drifts off. “What do
you
see when you think about the future?”

             
“Oh, well, I see going to college, and joining a sorority, finding frat brothers to have a little fun with at some wild parties,” he starts to tickle me, and I laugh through the pain. “Ow! I give! Uncle! Uncle!”

             
He glares. “I know it’s cheating since you’re handicapped,” he says, amusement dancing in his eyes. “I won’t tickle anymore if you tell me,” he says with twitchy fingers that make me squirm. “Tell me,” he whispers.

             
I gaze into his eyes, fighting the giggle from his light tickling, and unsure if I should tell him all my hopes for our future. I settle on telling him part of it. “Okay, I see us staying in a crappy apartment because we can’t find our perfect house.” I close my eyes. “We love that little apartment though. It has everything we need, and it’s decorated just how we like it. I can see moving to a new area, a new state, and having our variety of companions follow. I can see going to our niece and nephew’s Christenings. I can see disagreements and bickering, romantic evenings, and lazy days.” I keep my eyes closed and rest my head on his chest, with a small smile.

             
“Look at me please,” he whispers. Slowly, I tilt my head and open my eyes to his smiling face. “A crappy apartment?” He laughs and kisses my lips. Just as I’m relaxing into him, he pulls back suddenly.

             
“So, is it Sam or Henry that make us Aunt and Uncle first?” He laughs, and I try desperately not to.

***

In the morning, Seth sneaks out the window, again, so Skeeter and I can get our girl time in.

Skeeter and I sit at the table and look at the mini-mountain of gifts. I have no energy to open them, let alone write “thank you” more than a dozen times.

“Hey! Starbucks gift card!” Skeeter shouts as she opens an envelope.

“Score!” I snatch it from her and slip it in my pocket. “How was Grave Stalkers last night with the guys?”

She groans. “Don’t ask.”

“You know I’m going to, just tell me,” I say, as I write thank you inside the card with a short message.

“Things were fine, at first. I sat between Henry and Barry, and I was surrounded with warmth and junk food and pop,” she spits like that’s the worst fate anyone could have. I chew on my cheek to keep from smiling or laughing, as she dumps the contents of a gift bag on the table. “I was overstuffed and totally warm and comfy, I passed out on Henry’s shoulder.”

“That part I know. What’s so bad about falling asleep with the guys?” I shrug. It’s nothing really. I mean yea, Henry’s my brother and Barry is Barry, but they’re nice sometimes so it’s not like they’re write on her face or anything.

She shakes her head and tosses the tissue paper in a growing trash pile on the floor. “It’s Henry,” she whispers. “He was so sweet.”

I smile. “I’m not sure I understand the problem here.”

Her electric blue eyes fly to mine. “I’m Amaranthine, I have a soul mate, just like Seth has you,” she points at me. “This is a problem because not only do I have a soul mate, but Henry has a mate. He might be Halfling, but he’s still got a mate somewhere out there.”

I frown. “So, you can’t have a crush on someone because you have a mate that might take a hundred years to find?”

She looks at me sadly. “He’s too hot, dammit,” she mutters, ignoring my question.

I burst out laughing, then stop when pain radiates from my side. “I’ll just go tell him to be less hot.”

She flips a gift card at me. “Shut up.”

“I’m sorry,” I offer.

“It’s not your fault.” She waves me off. “He can shift. Did you see his wolf?”

“Not yet, I was sort of…” I trail off, and she nods.

“His wolf is even hot,” she mutters and addresses the finished thank you card.

I drop my pen. “Explain that one.” She looks up to me shocked. “No really, how the hell is an animal hot?”

“Jesus, Jaz, it’s a figure of speech.” She rolls her eyes. “Shut up and get back to work before I leave you and make you do all this by yourself,” she threatens.

I glare at her. “You wouldn’t dare. You’d have to pass the guys to get to my room.”

She sniffs. “Can I throw shit at them?”

I wrinkle my nose. “Ew.”

She sighs. “Trash?” she holds up a balled up piece of tissue paper.

I laugh and gently palm my aching side. “I’d go for something harder.” We laugh and fill out a few more cards. The guys move from video games upstairs to the kitchen with us.

“Mornin’,” Henry says, as he grabs an apple from the basket on the counter. “How’s it goin’?” He asks, coming over and looking over my shoulder.

“Oh, just dandy, wanna help?” I ask hopefully.

“Er, um, I’ve got someplace to be,” he mumbles and pushes Barry towards the stairway to the weight room. “See ya!”

“Figures,” I mutter and sign my name for the tenth time.

Skeeter presses her palms into her eyes and growls. “That image of him will forever be branded in my head.”

I pause, mid-word. “What image?”

“Of course you hadn’t noticed.” She shakes her head. “Your brother just waltzed in here,
shirtless
!”

“Fuel for your dreams,” I tease and finish filling out the card. “It could’ve been worse,” I say.

“How?” She shouts with rounded eyes.

“It could’ve been Barry shirtless.” I wrinkle my nose and slide the card in the envelope.

“He’s got rock hard abs,” she says like it’s nothing.

“Who?” I ask.

“Well, both of them, but I was talking about Barry. He’s a football player and after practice he’s notorious for walking around shirtless,” she explains. When she looks up at my blank face, she smiles. “You hadn’t noticed?”

I shake my head. “I don’t see him like that.” I frown. “To be honest, I don’t think I’ve really noticed much of anyone since I started here,” I mutter and glare at the mountain of gifts.

“Wait for it, I’m going to text bomb you with hundreds of hot-ass half-naked pictures of guys.” She laughs.

My eyes widen. “I do not want half-naked pictures of my brother!”

She snorts. “Not him, just, you know, some fitness models or something.”

I shrug.

She describes a few of her favorite fitness models she’s found on Pinterest as we finish up the thank you cards. When we’re done, Skeeter and I retreat to the backyard to enjoy some sun and we talk more about last night. She was scared for me, then angry and worried. That’s why she didn’t really talk much.

“Henry says you talk in your sleep,” I say raising my head from the blanket to look at her.

She snorts. “There’s nothing new there. I wonder what I said this time.”

“I’m not sure. He wouldn’t say, but he smiled,” I shrug a shoulder.

“Aw, man,” she groans and drops her head to blanket. “That can’t be good,” I laugh. “What do you think Charlotte wants to talk to you about?”

“I have no idea,” I admit. “Think this bracelet means more than just protection?”

“Sure, you’re now his slave,” she deadpans. “Avan isn’t like that. At least, not when it comes to protection from devuxen,” she says.

I nod and look at the silver on my wrist. “How do we know it’s actually working?”

“Don’t doubt Avan’s mad skills. He might pop in and hear you,” she giggles. “Avan isn’t a deceiver,” she says, getting serious again. “He may be a rat sorcerer, but he’s a damn good one and won’t be swayed like his sister. He’s lost so much, so he tries to save others from that fate,” she pauses and rolls to her stomach. “He can only do so much, and can’t be everywhere at once. He literally dropped what he was doing to be involved,” she shakes her head. “He’s been after Rhenata for nearly a century.” My eyes widen. “Don’t give me your shocked face, shit.” She rolls her eyes at me. “Did Seth explain
nothing
to you?” She groans and hops up to sit on her knees.

“He explained some,” I defend.

“Obviously not enough.” She picks at the thread on her shorts. “Sorcerers are humans, but they’re magic. As long as they keep their magic, they live. When they feel they’ve served their purpose, they stop using their magic, and eventually die. Having that kind of power comes with responsibility, obviously.”

“So, basically they control how long they live?” I clarify.

“Yep.” She nods. “That’s the short version.” She snorts. “I wish my grandma would’ve given me the short version when I asked.”

I laugh and check the time on my phone. “Crap, I’ve gotta get dressed.” I jump up and grab my stuff.

“You hungry?” She asks, and I nod. “I’ll go get the boys, and have them make us some sandwiches.” She winks and gathers her stuff and the blanket.

After lunch, which Henry and Barry did indeed make us sandwiches, Seth shows up, and Henry offers to take Skeeter home, so that Seth and I could go straight to his house.

At his house, we hang out with his parents for a little bit, and Claire gives me some really good medicine for pain. Then, we head up to Seth’s room to get a bit of privacy.

“I have my first question,” I blurt, as I sit on his bed.

“Spit it out.”

“It’ll come out as more than one question,” I warn him. “I’m having a hard time with wording.” I shake my head and smile. “Do you remember the first night you stayed with me?”

He nods. “Yeah, that’s when we found out your nightmares were attacks.”

I nod. “When you woke me up from our little nap, you looked so amazingly awake, and happy. My question is what did you do that morning?”

His cheeks flush adorably as he looks away from me. When he looks back, his face is composed. “I watched you sleep,” he says, a bit uncertain. “You held onto me for those two hours and didn’t have the urge to roll away or anything.” He shrugs, and I feel my face heat slightly.

His eyes darken as he focuses on my pinked cheeks. “My question is…” Sam chooses this moment to yell for us to come down. “Fine, we’ll finish this later,” Seth groans and helps me stand. We walk down the steps, following voices into the living room to see Avan and Charlotte.

              “Hello, Jasmine!” Charlotte practically squeals as she bounces on the balls of her feet. They both bow again. I’m still unsure if I’m supposed to bow back or do a little dance. I don’t know, so I just smile.

             
“Sam, Seth, would you care to join us while the girls talk?” Luke asks, motioning to himself and Avan.

They shrug and find a seat while Charlotte grabs my hand and pulls me out the back door to sit on the patio.

              She looks me over for a moment, and I’m careful not to look into her eyes. “Avan told me that you’re nervous to talk to me,” she blurts.

             
I jolt slightly and fight a wince. “Well, yeah,” I admit.

             
She smiles gently. “I guess no one told you about me.” I shake my head in a silent answer. “Well, I am Avan’s lifemate, a sorceress. Avan’s extra gift is that he can read minds, and mine is I see relationships.”

             
I nod. “So, that was the freaky vortex eye thing?” I question, then wish I could gobble the words back up. That was rude.

             
She blushes. “Yes. Sorry about that. It’s not that I can’t control it, but your pain was fresh and Rhenata’s mark drew my power to its greatest. You and Seth have a beautiful bond.” She smiles, and it’s my turn to blush. It sounds almost dirty the way she says it. Our bond is just that, ours. I’m not sure I like that she sees it, but there’s nothing I can do about that.

             
“Is this why you wanted to talk to me?”

             
“Not exactly, I wanted to talk to you because you and I have a friendship bond. You also have one with Avan. I’m sorry for throwing myself at you. I don’t mean to, we just haven’t been around new people in such a long time…,” she trails off.