“You kicked ass!” I hear Tony laugh from somewhere in the trees.
“Shut up, I was sloppy and that slippery demon got away,” Henry growls back to him.
“You did great for havin’ no training,” Flynn yells.
“Shut up!” Barry screams. The crunching of leaves and twigs fills the silence. “Caine!” Barry hollers. “What the hell?”
Caine stands and crosses his arms. “What’s your problem?”
“Do you realize how stupid you are for taking Jazzy with you?” Barry screams as he walks right up to tower over him. “That was…”
“Sit down and wait for your father,” Caine growls, not giving Barry a chance to finish his sentence.
“No! You’ve got some explaining to do!”
Caine sighs, but before he can respond Barry is raising his fist.
“Barry!” Flynn and Tony both yell and rush to catch his arms.
“Stop!” Flynn yells in his ear.
“He could’ve caused Jazzy to be killed!” Barry freaks and spittle sprays over Caine.
“Why are you freaking out? You’re not her mate!” Caine yells.
Barry freezes and closes his eyes, chest heaving. “You think I don’t know that?” he says in an icy calm. “This isn’t about being her mate, or having a bond. This is about you doing stupid shit, not thinking, and almost causing harm to someone I care about.”
‘Don’t,’ Seth says in my mind. I look at him, confused. ‘You want to say something, don’t. Let them work it out.’
‘But it’s not Caine’s fault,’ I defend.
‘Barry has replaced the emptiness he feels from loss of his sister with you.’
I smile sadly and watch Barry. He’s a great person, and I don’t like seeing him this way.
“Just because she’s not blood doesn’t mean he’s got feelings for her if he cares about her,” Tony defends.
“Her brother isn’t flipping out, and her mate was there. I’m trying to figure out what his problem is,” Caine explains.
“You trained her with a charmed knife, that she killed two demons with, and then took her to watch Rhenata get beheaded,” Barry says flatly.
“Look, I’m not happy about a single thing that’s been happening. I’m concerned with getting Jazzy home, now,” Henry growls at all of them and walks over to me.
“She’s going to be screwed up in the head. She’s got too much on her plate. Forgive me for worrying,” Barry shouts sarcastically.
“Barry, calm down. You and I will be there for her, just like Seth will. We don’t need to fight amongst allies.” Henry, the odd-ball voice of reason.
Barry takes a deep breath. “Sorry. Today just…”
“I know,” Caine cuts him off. “Me too.” He nods. “Listen, she wanted to come.” He shakes his head. “I failed in that I should not have allowed her to come, but there was no way to leave her behind with no protection.”
Barry blows out a breath. “I understand. But dammit, next time tell Chase to explain his shit before he blurts things out. Jackass,” he mutters.
Caine laughs. “That’s Chase for ya. He’s young.”
Henry pulls me away from Seth and hugs me tightly. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I squeeze him back and ignore the pain swallowing my body. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
He sniffs. “Me, too.”
Right there, in the midst of a stupid argument, I let loose the tears that I’ve been fighting off all day.
“Come on, let’s go home,” Henry says and helps me to his car.
Chapter 25
New Normal
‘I’ll see you in thirty minutes,’ Seth says telepathically as I walk to the park.
He knows I want to write for a little bit, and then he’ll come hang out with me.
It’s been four weeks since the fight with the devuxen. Four weeks since I murdered a classmate and one of his buddies. Four weeks since I killed demons, who snacked on humans like they were Pringles.
A whole month.
I went from victim to murderer.
I try not to focus on that so much, with Avan helping me, and so has Seth. I guess everyone helps me cope in their own ways. Henry’s there all the time, checking on me, being the annoying big brother and best friend he is, and making sure I don’t shut everyone out, again. Barry and the guys are there to always make me smile. Miss Jaynie was right. Your friends and family only know when to hold you up if they know they should. Lately, I haven’t had to say anything, because they’re just there.
Barry moved back home but he’s with us every day, so there’s really no difference there.
Henry joined Fane’s pack officially. Until he graduates he will live at home, but he must be available if and when the Alpha needs him. He also has duties defending the territory, plus, football and school. He seemed overwhelmed at first, but he said, “Hey, if Barry, Tony, and Flynn can do it, why can’t I?” I had to agree with him on that one.
Caine and Sam decided I need to train more, so that’s usually what Caine and I do two times a week, plus Sundays.
I finally took my driver’s license exam. I passed, but was docked points for a “stale green light.” Whatever, I can drive legally. My mom and Leland got me a car, not as fancy as Henry’s but I love my Focus. I would’ve already had my license by now, but I wasn’t in any hurry, and then the accident, move, and just everything else seemed to get in the way.
Since I’m no longer being hunted, I finally took a look at the SD card Seth gave me for my birthday. The sneak got a few good pictures of me and I found out something else about him. He’s very talented with words. He wrote four poems for me. He claims they’re not very lyrical or good, but I don’t care. I love them.
I sit down under my favorite tree in the park and watch the kids playing on the playground for a while. My mom gave me a thick blue journal for my birthday. I remember tossing the journal aside. Mom had walked in just then and saw my actions.
“You don’t like it?”
“Mom, I’m not the kind of girl who keeps a diary. I don’t know what I’ll do with it. Maybe I’ll just use it for school, take notes and what not,” I shrug.
“That’s fine. I didn’t give it to you to have it be used as a diary. I have one of these. In group, at the hospital, they gave us these little notebooks.” She picks up the journal and holds it delicately in her soft hands. “The counselor told us that those booklets were whatever we wanted them to be. It could be a diary, a dream journal, the start of a bucket list, or something more personal. It’s the place where you can write out what you can’t say. You can write to someone, and you don’t ever have to show it to them. You only show it to who you want, when you want. I write to your dad. That’s what helped me. I thought, maybe if you had something like that, then you would be ok. I know you don’t like admitting when you need help. So much like your father...” She looks away and hugs the journal to her. “I’ll tell you, the journal they gave us, I filled it pretty quickly. I was angry, but I had to get it out. I couldn’t take it out on anyone else. So I wrote it all down. I will go to their graves when I’m ready, and when I do, I’ll talk to them. For now, I have my journal.”
I understand what she means now. I don’t know how to express certain things or who to tell them to. I guess I’ll start with what happened with the crash. I will forever miss Dad and Sophie. I know that nothing will bring them back, but I can’t dwell on what has been lost any longer, or I’ll miss what’s here and now.
I’ll move forward and keep them in my heart always.
***
“We have a whole eight hours all to ourselves. What should we do with them?” Seth asks me on Saturday as we pull away from my house. Mom allows Saturdays for Seth and I to do as we wish, without leaving the county, state, or country.
“How about we start with food?”
I smile, “I think that’s doable.”
He smiles back, heading in the direction of my favorite little di
ner, Grandma Benny’s. They have the most amazing French toast I’ve ever had in my life.
“So, has your mom mentioned the vacation you guys are taking this summer yet?” He asks casually.
I peer at him. “Yes, she brought it up last night. Why?”
He smiles. “It just so happens that my mom brought up our vacation as well.”
My stomach flips. “When is yours?”
“The end of July, for two weeks.” I can see the amusement in his eyes at the same time I’m assaulted with his thoughts, too. It only takes me a minute to catch up.
“Oh, I see. Our moms talked and thought it would be best to vacation together.” Then I remember the dates. “Oh! We’ll miss Skeeter’s transformation!”
He glides a finger over my knuckles before returning to the gear shift. “Not completely. Remember it doesn’t happen overnight. You’ll get to see it start and finish. You won’t miss much.”
I pout. “But I want to see it all. When will I have this opportunity again?”
I feel warmth and love through our bond, desire following closely.
“When we have a child, you’ll see everything and more,” he says sweetly, and I suck in a breath.
A child?
What?!
I haven’t even officially said the “L” word yet!
My hands tighten on my seat. He strokes my knuckles again. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. We can talk about that another time,” he says.
I assess him through our bond. I’m worried I’ve offended him with my overreaction, again. He isn’t offended or upset at my reaction. My heart silently sings his name.
I take a deep breath and decide the conversation needs a topic change. So I blurt out the first question I can think of. “Do you like video games?”
He laughs. “Yes, actually I do, mostly war games.” He glances my way. “Before you say it, no, I am not obsessed with Call of Duty.”
“Good,” I nod. “I think I’d have to call all this,” I say, wagging my finger between us, “off, if that were the case.”
He shrugs. “At least I know how to get rid of you when I get bored.”
I widen my eyes and school my features. “When you get bored? Gee, thanks!” I feign insult, put my hand on my chest, and stick out my lower lip like a child. The look on his face at seeing me in such a state makes me burst out with laughter.
We play our question game while we eat. Mostly random things but at the same time we also learn other things. Like, the fact that every time someone would scrape their fork or knife against their plate, he would cringe. He learned that I hated sitting within spitting distance of the bathroom, so he asked for us to be seated by the windows on the far side.
After we eat, we walk around downtown for a couple hours. Wandering through the streets, looking in shop windows, and going into a few stores, then we play mini golf. When I beat him, Seth chooses what we do next, meeting up with our shifter friends for lunch.
It was a really good day. I’m not ready for it to be over yet, so I just stay still in his arms and try to shut everything out except the sound of his heart and breath.
“I don’t want you to leave,” I mumble.
“I know,” he says.
I groan. “Can’t you sneak in later?”
I feel his chest rumble with laughter. “No, Goldilocks. That would get us both in trouble.”
I grumble silently about him following rules. I pout. “But I miss your heartbeat putting me to sleep.”
He sighs and cups my face with his hands and kisses me sweetly on the lips. “I miss holding you,” he whispers and places his lips on my forehead. “I miss hearing your sigh when you fall asleep,” he murmurs against my forehead. “But we’ll have plenty of time for that,” he says pulling away slightly. “Remember,” he grins and waggles his brows, “We are teenagers.”
I laugh. “Why can’t you just be sneaky?”
He makes a noncommittal noise and shrugs. “I’ll see you early tomorrow for training,” he says and moves his left hand to the back of my neck to pull me in for a kiss. I sigh, and he chuckles.
“Tomorrow,” he whispers against my lips.
“Can I react like the rebellious teen that I am?” I mope a little.
“Would you throw a temper tantrum like Alex?” He grins.
I giggle. “Maybe.”
“Tell Henry to record it for me. It sounds rather amusing.”
I snort.
“I love when you do that,” he says and wiggles his fingers against my side, effectively turning me into a laugh-snorting puddle of goo.
When he stops, I lean against him and sigh. “I love you.” His arms tense around me. I become as stiff as a board. Why did I just say that? What the hell is wrong with me?
My breathing comes faster and my palms moisten. Why isn’t he saying anything? I’m too much of a sissy-la-la to look at him or check our bond.
Ever so slowly, his fingers travel up my arm, lightly touching my shoulder, neck and cheek, before resting on my chin and forcing me to look up.
“Jasmine?” He whispers. A full blast of love washes over me just as his breath fans across my face. “I love you, too.”
Tears fill my eyes, so I close them and press my lips to his.
Flashing lights strobe behind my closed eyes, popping them open quickly I see the porch light flickering.
Seth chuckles. “Your mom?”
I smile. “Probably.”
“See you tomorrow?” He questions. I nod before squeezing him once more and walking to the door.
Shutting the door, I giggle and jog up the steps. I just told my soul mate I love him. And he loves me! I mean I already knew it, but it’s been said.
My phone rings, pulling me out of my head.
“Hello?” I answer without looking, still giggling.
“Why won’t your extremely gorgeous, hunky brother just leave me the hell alone?” Skeeter screeches into the phone.
“What did he do now?”
She growls. “He sent me another text today!”
I sigh. He should still be out with Barry and Tristan. “What did he say?” I’m hoping that he’s actually done something offensive this time. Last time the text that pushed her over the edge was him asking her if she thought bringing ingredients for S’mores would be alright for the cookout her parents were having.
“What he said was that he thought it would be fun if I joined him and the guys at the bowling alley! I hate bowling!” She shrieks.
I snort. “Are you kidding me?”
“Look, I’m not you,” she sighs. “I can’t just join a bunch of guys for a fun outing by myself! If you went, then yeah, of course I’d go! But I can’t be alone with him, Jazzy! Ever!”
“Sweetie, you wouldn’t have been alone with him. Tristan, Barry, Tony, and Flynn would’ve been there, too. I’m sure it would have been highly entertaining.”
She growls again. “Jazzy, you don’t get it!”
We spend the next half hour arguing the fact that just because I’m not in the group at all times, doesn’t mean that she is alone with one person, while four to seven other people could be around.
With Seth chuckling and making jokes telepathically, during this conversation, Skeeter gets mad at me because I’d laugh at the wrong times.
I take a deep breath. “Okay, honestly, I’ll be good now.”
‘I’ll leave you to the lovers quarrel, I’m sorry,’ Seth says, and I have to bite back my giggle again.
She huffs, “Are you seriously done laughing at my expense?”
“I hope so,” I say half seriously.
“I don’t know why I bother talking to you about this. Some best friend you are.”
I roll to my back on my bed. “I really am sorry. It’s just…” How do I put this? “I don’t…”
“Right, you don’t care,” she says interrupting me. “Because you have your soul mate, you don’t have boy troubles anymore!”
“I do care about you and your bo
y troubles. I am sorry.”
She sighs. “I don’t know why I let him bother me so much. I wish he would just chase after his fan club for a while and leave me alone,” she whispers.
“He only wants to be your friend,” I offer.
“I don’t think I can do that, Jaz.”
“You’ll be fine. It’ll all work out in the end. I promise.”
“How can you promise that? What if he finds his mate? I don’t think I can see that happen!” She nearly shrieks her panic.
‘Maybe it’s that time of the month.’ I ignore Seth. Every time a girl gets emotionally out of character, it’s always PMS, according to the male gender.
“Don’t worry about it,” I try to reassure her.
“I’m thinking I should take my parents up on the moving offer. I don’t want to, but it’s better than seeing him find a mate or deal with him.”
I sit straight up. “Just hold on! You can’t do that!” I nearly shout as my lungs shrink. “Don’t think so negatively. Besides, he does have your number, so I’m not so sure that moving will stop him from contacting you.” I smile at my genius moment.
“Ugh! Alright, I’ll take your word on it for now.” She sighs. “I don’t want to move away from you just yet.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“I love you, too, Skeeter,” I laugh.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m the best and we know it,” she laughs, finally.
“As interesting as this has been, I’m going to get off of here and go talk to my mom and Leland. Leland gave me the eye when I walked in,” I lie.
She laughs. “You’re in big trouble, missy!”
After dinner, I start my homework so I won’t have to do it tomorrow after training with floppy arms and Jell-o legs. I’m sitting at my desk preparing my math assignment, when I hear Henry, Leland, and Mom in the hall talking.
“I’m sure she’s just fine,” my uncle says in a hushed tone.
“I just worry about her. She’s so young and has a mate, or whatever, now. She’s seventeen and doesn’t act like it! I don’t want her running off with that boy. She’s gotten letters of recommendations from artists and professors for art school, her dream. I don’t want anything to mess that up,” Mom says. The art show was a success. She’s right about that, and my dream of art school. But, Seth wouldn’t mess any of that up.
True Connection (The Soul Mate Series) Page 32