Jorja nodded, glancing back at her family. “I’ll meet you guys outside in a minute.” She turned, hurrying after Micah.
“What do you think he wants with Jorja?” Josslyn asked, glancing over at Jade.
Jade shrugged. “Beats me, but I have a feeling it’s important. Come on. I need to use the ladies' room, then we can continue on this journey of ours.”
“So, why all the secrecy, Micah?” Jorja asked as she followed Micah out the door. “What do you need from me?”
“Your help.”
“But why me?”
“Because I trust you,” Micah said, staring out into the distance. He sighed, rubbing a hand across his jaw, then turning to look at her. “Do you remember what I said about my sister, and about what happened to her?”
Jorja nodded. “Yes. She was killed by someone in your family, for falling in love with someone your family didn’t approve of.”
“Exactly, and I think I know who,” Micah said. He swallowed, his jaw tightening. “But I need to tell you something, Jorja. My sister. She’s alive.”
“What?” Jorja’s eyes widened. “Micah, that’s huge!”
“Let me finish.” Micah held up a hand. “She’s alive, but she’s not doing well. The Rogues…”
“Wait. The Rogues? What do they have to do with…” she trailed off, her breath catching. “Wait. The man she fell in love with. Was he a Rogue?”
“Yes, and while I’ve been able to keep her hidden away, to keep her stable, the venom the Rogues injected her with is contaminating her blood.” He withdrew a piece of paper from his pocket, placing it in the palm of her hand. “Jorja, I need you to get this to Samuel. He’s the only one who I trust to help save her. I think he really does love her. Which is why I need him to know that she’s alive.”
“You trust him?”
“I have to,” Micah said, turning away.
“Wait. Micah.” Jorja grabbed him by the arm, pulling him to a stop. “You think you know who tried to kill your sister? Who?”
“My father,” Micah told her, his face grim. “And now I have to find a way to stop him and take his damned company down with him. I’ll see you soon, Jorja.” He paused, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “And thank you.”
“Of course,” Jorja whispered, staring at the note in her hand. “But how will I be able to find this Samuel?”
“Trust your gut,” Micah told her. “And look for the wolf with the green eyes. I promise you. They are hard to miss. I gotta go.”
“Micah, please be careful. If your father made a deal with the Rogues…”
“Don’t worry, Jorja. I’ll be fine,” Micah said, flashing her a grin. “Although, I might be calling for your help very shortly.”
“Whatever you need. I’ll do my best to help.”
“I know you will,” Micah said, softly. “I’ll be seeing you, Jorja.” He turned and walked down the sidewalk, disappearing around the corner and Jorja sighed, pressing a hand to her cheek. Now, what was all that about?
Chapter 23
“Jasmine. Can you hear me?”
The deep, masculine voice sounded nearby and Jasmine groaned. Is that Sky? she wondered, struggling to open her eyes. She let out a groan, lifting her hand and covering her eyes with her arm. “Oh! The lights!”
“Will someone shut off those damned lights!”
Darkness filled the room, and Jasmine opened her eyes, blinking, as she stared up into familiar, bright, blue eyes. “Sky”
“Oh my God! Jasmine!” Sky leaned forward in the chair he was sitting in next to the bed, grasping her hand in his and pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. “Goodness. I was so scared I had lost you!”
“I told you I wouldn’t leave you,” Jasmine said, her voice coming out raspy. She coughed. “Can I get some water?”
He nodded, reaching for the cup laying next to the bed, and pressing the straw to her lips.
Jasmine nodded a thank you, and took a sip, the cool liquid washing down her throat. “Thank you,” she whispered a moment later. “Now, can someone tell me what happened?”
“You don’t remember?”
“Well, I remember being at the house, and the girls throwing a party.” She frowned, trying to think through the cobweb of thoughts jumbled in her brain. “And I remember… Lexi! Oh my God. She almost shot Julie. I…”
“You saved me,” Julie whispered, from where she was sitting across the room. “You took a bullet, that was meant for me.”
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat. No one threatens my family,” Jasmine muttered. “And you!” She jerked her head back toward Sky. “You remembered who I was!”
“Of course I remembered who you are,” Sky whispered, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist. “You’re the love of my life, Jasmine. The woman I kept seeing in my dreams, and I am so sorry for everything I put you through. All the pain. All the heartache. I never meant to hurt you, I just…”
“Couldn’t remember who you were.”
“Yes,” Sky whispered. “But that still doesn’t excuse how I treated you. I was so rude to you! And because of me… you got shot!”
“Speaking of that psychotic girlfriend of yours…” Jasmine eyed him. “Where the hell did you meet her, Sky?”
Sky smiled sheepishly. “Through my sister, who did try to warn me about her by the way.”
“Hmph. Maybe you should have listened to her.”
Sky laughed. “I deserve that.” He reached forward, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “But you don’t have to worry about her. She’s at the psychiatric hospital. I guess she has some sort of mental illness and hasn’t been taking her medication. She’ll be in that hospital for a while.”
“Well, now that we don’t have to worry about ex-girlfriends coming back to kill us, what I do want to talk about, are your powers,” Julie said, rising to her feet and crossing to the bed. “Jasmine, what the hell happened to your powers?”
“I told you, the alcohol….”
“But alcohol shouldn’t mess with your powers!”
“Actually, it can,” Sky said. “Alcohol taints the blood, and when that blood is tainted, it can cause your powers to go out of whack. Like you.” He nodded at Julie. “You’re pregnant, which means, your powers have probably been affected by the change in your body. Try making a fireball.”
“What? Sky…”
“Will, you just do it?”
Julie sighed, closing her eyes. A moment later, she opened them, her eyes widening when she saw the flower lying in her hand. “What the…”
“Like I said. Any changes to your blood, or to your body can affect your powers. It’s one of the side effects of being a witch.”
“So I can’t throw fire?”
“That’s up to your body, but one thing you can expect is a lot of inconsistencies with your powers until you give birth.”
Julie scowled. “Thank God I only have three more months to go.”
“Which is why I have a question for you,” Sky said, staring at her, his gaze trailing to her womb. “How the hell are you six months pregnant? The last time I saw you, you were barely showing, and that was a month ago!”
“A lot has happened since the last time you saw us, Sky,” Jasmine whispered, squeezing his arm. “Like how Liam kidnapped Julie and fast-tracked her pregnancy.”
“What? When?”
“When he took us, hostage, down in the wasteland for his experiment.”
“He needed the blood from my baby to finish his experiment,” Julie whispered, holding a hand to her womb. “The procedure would have killed it!”
“Oh yes. The experiment to get rid of the hybrids. I remember,” Sky said, nodding. “Where is Liam now?”
“Licking his wounds. We hurt him pretty good in the wasteland,” Julie told him. “And Elijah destroyed his potion.”
“Elijah’s… good now?”
“Yup. He’s turned over a new leaf,” Julie told him.
“Hmm. I’ll believe it when I see it.
” He glanced back at Jasmine. “So where are the others? I haven’t seen them all day.”
“They went to find the circle,” Julie told him. “Talia, the vampire queen, has resurfaced in the underworld, and she’s looking at breaking the curse to bind the vampires and werewolves together. If she succeeds, a new breed of evil will tear the world apart, and we’ll never be able to save our sister.”
“Which one?”
“Jax.”
“Jax?” Sky furrowed his brow in confusion. “Who is Jax?”
“Josslyn’s twin, the one who died during birth. The Gods rejected her when she was sent to heaven, and Talia intercepted her, raising her as her own.”
“My goodness.” Sky rubbed his temples. “That is insane!”
“Have you met us? Our whole lives are insane!” Jasmine cried. “Oh, and something you also missed. Jade and Ashwin are together now. We were able to get the triplets back from Liam, oh, and we found Jordyn!”
“Yes, I met her. She seems relatively mild compared to the other three.”
“Hey! We heard that!”
Sky laughed, glancing over his shoulder as the four girls walked into the room, their arms full of snacks. “Don’t worry. I still love you all the same.”
“You’d better!”
Jasmine laughed, wincing, as she pressed a hand to the bandage wrapped around her abdomen. “So, what’s the verdict on me? Am I all healed?”
Sky nodded. “Yes. The doctor was able to remove the bullet, but there is some scar and tissue damage. You’ll have to take it easy for a few days.”
“And that is non-negotiable,” a dark-haired woman said, as she walked into the room. She stopped next to the bed, extending a hand. “Hi, I’m Stella. Sky’s sister.”
“You’re… Sky’s sister?” Jasmine’s mouth dropped open. “You’re a doctor?”
“No. I’m a nurse, but I was there the whole time with you.”
Jasmine nodded, taking the woman’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“And you as well,” Stella said. “It’s finally nice to meet the woman who stole my brother’s heart.”
“Stole his heart, huh?” Jasmine asked, grinning wickedly as she looked at Sky. “Is that why you were with that crazy woman?”
“That was my bad,” Stella said, grimacing. “I just wanted him to get out of the house. To have some fun. I didn’t know this was going to happen.” She gestured at Jasmine’s wound, then over at Sky. “Although, I do like this one much better,” she whispered. “She seems to actually have a decent head on her shoulders.” She frowned, cocking her head to the side. “So, does this mean you have your memories back?”
“Yup. Every single last one,” Sky informed her, winking at her. “But don’t worry. I’ll still be by for Sunday fun days.”
“Sunday fun day?” Jasmine frowned, glancing from Stella to Sky. “What is that?”
“Something you will have to experience when you’re all healed,” Sky said, brushing a kiss over her lips.
Jasmine sighed, wrapping her hands around his shoulders, returning the kiss. “Man. I’ve missed that,” she whispered, as he pulled away.
“Not as much as I have,” Sky said, winking at her. He glanced over at Stella. “So, any idea when we can take her home. She kind of has this thing about hospitals…”
“I hate them!” Jasmine cried. She swallowed, wincing. “Sorry. No offense, but I really, don’t like them.”
Stella laughed. “No offense taken, Jasmine. I don’t like them too much either, and normally I wouldn’t even consider letting someone out this soon after surgery, but with all the support around you, I don’t see why you can’t go home as long as you promise to rest.”
Jasmine nodded. “Absolutely.”
“And I’ll come by to check on your wound later in the week. That sound okay?”
Jasmine nodded. “It sounds great.”
“And you.” Stella turned, her eyes narrowing on Julie. “Didn’t I tell you to rest?”
“I…”
“When you came here, your blood pressure was super high, Julie, and you were agitated. Not that I can blame you. You went through a lot today, which is why I had an ultrasound done on you to make sure everything is okay. Do you remember any of that?”
Julie shook her head. “No. I think I was in shock when I got here.”
“Which is why, this is going to come as a surprise to you,” Stella said, smiling. “Julie, you’re not just having one baby, you’re having two. Do you want to know the gender?”
“I assume it’s going to be girls. I mean, girls do tend to run in the family.”
Stella laughed, shaking her head. “No, Julie. You’re having boys. Twin boys.”
“What?” Julie’s eyes widened. She quickly lowered herself into the chair, staring at Stella. “But we have never had a boy born into this family!”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Stella said, squeezing her shoulder.
“Damn. Multiple pregnancies do run in the family, don’t they?” Julie asked, glancing over at Jasmine.
“Damn right they do.”
“I’m going to have two kids,” Julie shook her head, feeling completely turned around after learning the information. “You know, I was ready for one, but two… I don’t know if I can do this. Am I really ready to have two kids running around here soon?”
“Julie, you’re going to be a great Mom,” Jami told her, walking over and wrapping her arms around her aunt. “In fact, you’ll be the best mom ever!” She frowned. “Just don’t tell Mom I said that. I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”
Julie laughed, patting her hand. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”
“So, can we get out of here?” Josi asked, around a mouthful of chips. “All this junk food is going to make me fat!”
“Then don’t eat it,” Jessi said, stealing a chip from the bag she was holding. She plopped it in her mouth. “Hmm. That is pretty good.”
“And here I thought you were the health nut in the family,” Jordyn said, as she also stole a chip. “What is it you said? You don’t do meat?”
“Doesn’t mean I’m not going to splurge every once in a while on a chip or two,” Jessi informed her. “So, are we ready to go home?”
“Sounds good to me,” Sky said, rising to his feet. “Where are those forms, Stella? I’d like to get everyone home, I’ve missed out on a lot of time with all of them.”
“I’ll get them sent over in a few moments,” Stella said, squeezing his arm. She leaned forward. “You have a wonderful family, Sky,” she whispered. “Don’t ever let them go.”
“I don’t plan on it,” Sky whispered, glancing over his shoulder at Jasmine, as she talked to Julie. Then over at the four girls, as they giggled, rambling about something at school. “Ever.”
Chapter 24
“Talia, I just heard from the Rogues,” Alana aid, peering into the bedroom at Talia. “They’ll be here shortly.”
“Fantastic,” Talia said, as she sunk her fangs into the neck of an older man. She sucked on the blood, wincing, turning and tossing the body to the ground. “Yuck! That is disgusting! I told you to bring me something good to eat!” she shouted, narrowing her eyes on the vampire standing next to the bed.
“But you said…”
“Never mind what I said. Just find me something better!” Talia shouted.
The vampire nodded. “As you wish.” He turned, disappearing in a blur from the room.
“If he brings me another stale human, I’ll have his head,” Talia muttered, turning back to Alana. “So, the Rogue’s are in on merging the two species?”
Alana nodded. “Yes.”
“And the others?”
“Are still undecided.”
“Hmm.” Talia tapped a hand against her lips. “Well, it won’t matter what they want, once the curse is lifted because the decision will be made for them. They’ll have no choice but to join us.”
“I’m not so sure about that,
Talia,” Alana said, softly. “I’m hearing rumors, of a wolf down there, who’s trying to foil the Rogue’s plans.”
“Then he will be dealt with accordingly, because nothing is going to stand in my way. I’ve been setting this in motion for years, Talia, and now I’m close. So close to getting everything I’ve ever wanted. The only thing that’s missing…”
“Is your coordination. I’m working on it. I think I’m close to revealing the location of the Grimoire.”
“Fantastic. And Jax? What’s the status on her?”
“She’s stable. The potion I gave her, was able to keep the two types of blood at bay, but it’s only a temporary fix. We need those rings.”
“Yes, I know. The metal from the rings will help balance the blood of her. Thankfully, they should be here soon, along with our last ingredient.”
“Josslyn.”
“Yes. We need her, in order to break the curse.”
“There is one problem though.”
“What’s that?”
“The witches are in London.”
“What? How?” Talia asked, swinging toward Talia. “How did they…” She trailed off. “Micah.”
“It seems they’ve forged a relationship with the shifter, and they’ve also found Matthew.”
“Ah, yes. Matthew. The one who got away.” Talia laughed. “I always knew that bounty hunter would be a problem when Jax met him. He changed her. Reminded her of her human side. He could ruin everything!”
“But we still have his daughter.”
“Right.” Talia grinned, glancing to the cellar, where the twenty-four girls were being kept. “She’ll make a great Vampwolf when the time comes. All of them will.”
Chapter 25
“What did Micah want to talk to you about?” Josslyn asked, a little while later, as they crossed the bridge, glancing over at Jorja.
“It’s not my secret to tell,” Jorja said, softly, her mind still reeling from what Micah had told her. What was he getting himself into? His sister was alive? His father… was responsible for her almost death?
“Now I’m even more curious.”
“Joss, leave her alone,” Jade said, rolling her eyes, as they stepped up off the bridge, and crossed the lawn, walking through the throng of pine trees. “She’s right. Whatever Micah told her in confidentiality, is hers to keep.”
Bitten (The Wiccan Way Book 7) Page 10