I glared at him. “Are you siding with them?”
“No, Cora-mia. I’m on your side. They were wrong to hide the truth from you.”
“Damn right. They’ve lost every right to call me their daughter or be my parents.”
“You may think so now—”
I scooted to the edge of the bed and glared at him. “I don’t think. I know so.”
He sighed. “Would you like to talk to the other orphans? I know one in New Orleans.”
“No.”
“Eirik?”
“Why would I want to talk to Eirik?”
“You were both raised here, and he went through what you are going through right now.”
“The. Sevilles. Did. Not. Lie. To. Him.” I got up and paced. “He always knew he was adopted. And when he found out, I wasn’t even there to see how he dealt with it because the Jemisons had taken me to a damn psych ward. A fake psych ward where they tried to fix my ability to see souls. The Jemisons. It felt weird calling them that, yet I couldn’t bring myself to say my parents. Not anymore. At least not right now. “Do you know I used to see souls when I was little? I guess Maliina’s runes didn’t give me the ability to see souls. They did. My birth father and mother. Maliina just gave me medium runes so she could use me as a suit.” I sat down, and Echo shifted closer and pulled me against him.
He pressed a kiss on my shoulder and then nuzzled my neck. “What do you want to do?” he asked.
“Crawl into bed and never leave.” I did exactly that and pulled the covers over my head. I wanted to lock out the world and wallow in self-pity. I couldn’t believe what the Jemison’s had done.
Echo lifted the covers. “Cora-mia…”
“Please, go away.” The last word came out in a wail. I wanted him gone so I could cry. Instead of leaving, he stroked my hair.
“Don’t cry, Cora-mia. It breaks my heart to see you like this.”
“I’m not crying,” I shot back even as my eyes brimmed. I pulled the blanket over my head again. “Just go.”
“I’ll be back.”
I heard his voice in the other room. I wasn’t sure whether he was talking to Dev or my parents. No, the Jemisons. My parents were the faceless couple that had given me the ability to see souls. My entire life was falling apart right before my eyes, and I was helpless to do anything about it. This was worse than when I’d found out I could see the dead. Then I had my family to fall back on. Now, I had nothing.
I relived everything my parents had ever told me, getting more and more angry. How could they lie to me like that? They taught me values, and at the top of that list was staying true to myself. Mom taught me how a woman carried herself, and Dad taught me how a man should love. He was the standard I used to measure every man that ever waltzed through my life, and most had failed, until Echo. How could all of that be based on a lie?
The bedside radio alarm turned on, and an old tune started to play. I winced. Dev could not hold a tune.
I lowered the covers. “Not now, Dev.”
“I was just trying to cheer you up.”
“You can’t. This is one of those things I have to deal with on my own. Could you just go to the hospital without me and see how Mr. Reeds is doing? If his family is there…”
“I’ll anchor his soul and make him talk to them. I promise not to push him out and replace his soul.”
Why was I concerning myself with others? I needed to focus on me for a change. Then Dev’s words registered.
“Can you really do that? Replace his soul?”
“More like dominate his, but without a life force, I can’t stay anchored to his body for long. When a soul leaves a body, it does because the person’s life force is too low to tether it. When I was possessing living things, I’d share their life force, which quickened their death if they were sick. The longer I stayed, the faster they died after I left. If they were not sick, they’d act crazy.”
“Are you still sharing their life force?”
“No. Now I give them some of my energy, such as it is.”
“No wonder you are always weak and sleepy afterward.”
“Exactly. If I stay too long, I might be tempted to take theirs, and that’s why I like having you there. You yell at me to get out.”
“I can’t deal with anyone tonight, Dev. I’m sorry.”
“But Mr. Reeds could die tonight.”
“I know. Well, you win some…” I pulled the covers over my head and focused on my pain.
“That doesn’t sound like you, doll-face,” Dev reprimanded.
I didn’t care what he thought. I was done giving and being Ms. Nice. Then Mr. Reeds’s face flashed through my head, and I sighed. I’d liked talking to him and Captain G at the nursing home. I pulled down the covers.
“Help him, please.”
“Without you?” Dev asked. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I trust you and know you will not fail me because I can’t deal with any more bad news, Dev. Go and make me proud.”
There was silence, then, “Thank you, doll-face.”
I frowned. “For what?”
“Trusting me.”
“I don’t see it as lack of trust, Dev. I see it as working together as a team. You do it before they die, and I do it afterward. If I’m not there, you work without me. If you’re not there, I do my part. We are a team.”
“So you don’t mind if I help others? The cancer ward at Kayville Memorial has a few coma patients that could use my help.”
“Then do it. Help as many as you can. Just be careful and report to me when you’re done.”
Once he left, I continued to wallow in misery until Echo returned with food from his favorite restaurant in Miami. He tried to entertain me with stories about the newbie reapers he was training. I only half listened. When he got up and disappeared inside the bathroom, I didn’t ask him what he was doing. The sound of running water followed. When I could have crawled back under the covers and continued wallowing, he scooped me up and carried me to the bathroom. The scene brought a rush of tears.
Scented candles covered most surfaces. Lavender, rose geranium, and jasmine. He knew exactly what I needed to relax. He’d also added jasmine bath salt to the water.
“Forget about everything except us and the fact that I love you.” He lowered me to the floor and peered at me, his eyes troubled.
“I’ll be fine,” I mumbled.
“I know, but I got your back. Every step of the way.” He started unbuttoning my top and pushed it off my shoulders. Then he gripped the waistband of my skirt and pulled it down. There was nothing sexual about the way he undressed me. His touch was gentle, his focus on what I needed. Even when his eyes heated as he removed my bra, he didn’t reach for me or try to kiss me.
“I’m going to put your hair up so we can wash it later.”
More tears fell. He knew me so well. I had specific shampoo and conditioner for my hair and never just dunked it in my bath water.
Completely naked, I stepped into the churning water and slid in. The warmth surrounded me, the water massaging my skin. Echo sat on the floor and rested his arm along the ridge of the tub. He scooped water with his hand and poured it on my shoulder.
“Do you want your lingerie or just shorts and a tank top?”
My lingerie was lacy, silky, and sexy. Looking sexy was the last thing on my mind. “Shorts and a tank top.”
He pressed a kiss on my forehead and left the room. I leaned back against the bath pillow, closed my eyes, and tried to let the aromatic scents soothe my senses, but I couldn’t relax. The scents weren’t enough.
Echo returned and checked on me. “How are you feeling?”
“Like crap.”
He frowned. “I bought a new massage oil—”
“Join me.” I extended my hand to him. “I need you, not a massage. Help me drown out their voices from my head. I keep hearing them.”
You were adopted. Your birth parents want to meet you. You were…
He’
d never undressed so fast. Echo was such a beautiful man, body and soul, and he was mine. I scooted forward and created space behind me, but the second he sat down, I turned and faced him, wedging my knees between his and the tub so I straddled his thighs.
“Cora-mia,” he whispered.
“I need you now.” I stared into his eyes and scooted closer. “I need to forget.”
“I’m yours, always,” he whispered, voice husky. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want to get lost in you.” I scooted closer and reached up to cup his face.
The kiss I gave him wasn’t tentative. I wasn’t the innocent girl he’d met a year ago. I was a woman now, his woman, and I knew how to love him just as he knew what I loved.
I nipped on his lower lip, and a groan rumbled through his chest. Pushing my tongue between the seam of his lips, I swept it across his, inviting him to play. He did, but he didn’t take over. This was what I needed now. To be in control of something. Everything else was falling apart.
I savored the taste and texture of him as I moved along his jawline to his neck. His muscles leaped as my nails dug into his chest, and another groan escaped him. It wasn’t enough. I wanted him to beg me to stop torturing him.
I pushed him back, so he was partially reclined on the tub, his head resting on the bath pillow. I kissed down his chest, nipping him here and there and feeling him tremble. He completely submitted to my exploration. A few times, he smothered a curse, but he didn’t stop me. He often turned the tables on me when I pushed him too far. Not this time.
His hands caressed my back, one moving up to sink into my hair to grip the strands. He was close to losing it, his body taut with tension. I moved up and shuffled closer. He stared at me with half-closed eyelids, the amber in his eyes burning with love and need.
I reached down, and without breaking eye contact, I guided him, and a sigh of bliss escaped me when we were one. He gripped the edges of the tub, his jaw taught with tension. I wasn’t being fair, but I needed this. When I lowered my head and kissed him, his hips rose.
“Don’t move, please,” I begged him. I wrapped my arms around him and went back to kissing him, pouring all my love into it. His hands left the edges to stroke my back, my side, and my face.
Then slowly, I loved him at my own pace until we reached that point where the sensations became magnified, a sum of his and mine. When the crest swept us, he was there with me, shouting my name and his love.
I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. The rest of the world could crumble into pieces, but my Echo would always stay the same. He was my anchor. He steadied me when I could have fallen. I didn’t want reality to intrude, but the thoughts wouldn’t let me go.
“Did you go to the farm?” I asked, speaking against his neck.
“Yes. I knew they’d be worried about you.”
I rolled my eyes.
“They love you, and no matter what you decide to do, they’ll support you. You can stay here for as long as you want.”
“They have no say in what I do with my life anymore. I’m eighteen.”
He didn’t argue. “Do you want to watch something after this? Go to the hospital with Dev? Swing by Raine’s?”
“Dev already left, and Raine is on her honeymoon. Besides, what does she know about this?” If Raine knew… I leaned back and studied Echo’s face. “Does she know?”
“I don’t think Eirik talked to anyone about the orphans, except to the people in Helheim. Those kids had a shitty life, running and hiding, always looking over their shoulders. It’s not a life I would have wanted for you.”
“You are forgetting one thing. They all knew they were adopted. I didn’t. They probably knew about their parents being Immortal. I didn’t. My parents knew I could see souls when I was young, and they blocked it. So drop it.” When he sighed, my frustration shot up. “Are you reaping tonight?”
“Syn is covering for me.”
“Maybe you should join him.”
He chuckled. “Am I annoying you?”
“Yes. For someone who hates being betrayed, you are excusing my parents’ betrayal so quickly. Why?”
“I’m not, Cora-mia.” He stroked my shoulder. “I see possibilities. If you are from the other realm, you could visit…”
I growled.
“I guess this is not the time to discuss that.”
“No.”
“Okay.” He studied me, his eyes shifting to my lips. “Can I make love to you now?”
“Only if you promise not to discuss my parents or other realms.”
He was more than eager to make up for annoying me, and I forgave him. How could I not? He loved me and knew how to make me happy. Knew how to make me fly and fall apart, because he was also there to catch me.
The water was cold when we moved to the shower. He washed my hair, wrapped a towel around it, and cocooned me in a thick robe. Echo had always taken care of me, and it didn’t cross my mind once to complain that he was babying me. When we left the bathroom, I paid more attention to the décor.
He’d done a good job with the furniture we’d ordered. He’d asked me where I wanted everything and had followed my instructions. The paneled rooms were smaller and cozier than those in his house in La Gorce, Miami. The fireplace dominated the living room, and facing it was a burgundy leather sectional. A giant smart TV was in the family room by the kitchen. There was another sectional there, too.
He fussed with the remote until I took pity on him. He usually showed no interest in watching TV. News bored him, and the inaccuracy of action movies drove him nuts. He solved most detective series way before the TV cops did, and according to him, documentaries were so rife with inaccuracies he refused to watch them.
We curled in front of the TV, and he didn’t complain when I found my favorite demon-hunting brothers. I fell asleep after binge watching for a couple of hours.
When I woke up, it was morning and I was in bed. Echo was tinkering in the kitchen. He didn’t say anything when I told him I was skipping school.
“I won’t be able to focus,” I said.
“I’ll keep you company.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Go reap. I’ll be fine.”
“I need to be here for you, babe.”
“Whether you are here or reaping, I know I can count on you, Echo. Go. I’ll feel guilty if you don’t. I like Syn, and I don’t want him thinking I’m this helpless Immortal you have to baby just because… because…” My parents had lied to me. Just thinking about them hurt too much. I was going to dull my senses with TV. “I plan to binge watch something. I’ve been meaning to watch a new series, and this is the perfect time. Have you seen or heard from Dev since last night? He went to help Mr. Reeds and mentioned swinging by the cancer ward.”
“To do what?”
“Help coma patients find closure.”
Echo frowned. “I hope he didn’t fall off the wagon.” He gave me a long kiss that would have easily translated into something else if I hadn’t pushed him away. “Your father said he’d call the school and excuse your absence.”
“What does it matter? I’m going to Lavania’s school with Raine in the fall. They can’t stop me now.”
Chapter 3. Another Orphan
My parents sent text messages, but I didn’t respond. I was taking a bathroom break when Dev floated in. He crawled into my phone and mumbled, “No school?”
“What do you think?”
“You’re in a nasty mood. I feel your pain, doll-face, so I’m here if you need to vent. And FYI, I helped about twenty people in the last twelve hours, including your friend. I don’t understand Mortals. They are so vicious with each other. You’d think when people are about to die they’d mellow out. Nope. All the nastiness just kept pouring out. There were a few I wish I hadn’t helped.” There was silence before he added, “You’re not responding.”
“That’s because I don’t care.” I went back to watching TV, and he stopped bothering me. I presumed he went to sl
eep.
Echo brought lunch and left after we ate. Dev mumbled something a few hours later and must have left because he wasn’t in my phone when I tried to talk to him.
Days blurred. Pain and anger with a large dose of self-pity ruled my waking hours. Poor Echo did his best to take my mind off things, but for once he wasn’t enough.
On Friday evening, I was trying to decide what to order for dinner when a portal opened and Raine walked in. She was so radiant it hurt to look at her. Her hug was exuberant and long until she realized I wasn’t responding. She leaned back and studied me.
“What’s wrong? You mad at me?”
“I’m attending Mystic Academy next year.”
She frowned. “That’s great, so why the long face? Your parents said no?”
“I haven’t told them.”
“Okay.” She looked even more confused. “I know you were worried about how they’d react to your abilities and to Echo. Did that not go well?”
“I really don’t want to discuss them now. I’m so angry I haven’t seen or spoken to them since Tuesday.”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “Just a sec.” Raine walked to the living room.
“You staying or leaving?” I asked. “Maybe you can help me decide between pasta and pizza.” I didn’t pay her much attention and continued to scrutinize the two menus.
“Mr. and Mrs. Jemison, I hope you don’t mind the intrusion, but we need to talk.”
Crap! I should have known she’d open a portal to confront my parents. I ran to the living room mirror portal, and sure enough, she was in the middle of my parents’ living room.
“Raine!” I walked through the portal and grabbed her arm.
“Do not blame Cora for keeping her abilities a secret or helping souls. She wanted to tell you for a long time. She is truly gifted, and she’s helped so many find closure. Her runes might draw them to her, but her kindness and selflessness is why she does it.”
“You don’t need to explain anything to them. Come on.”
“But I’m not done. They must know how you’re working with Dev to help people before they die, too. And Echo is an amazing guy.”
Goddess: A Runes Book Page 4