by Shaila Patel
I pounded the steering wheel with my hand until my palm was burning in pain. With a last look at Lucky’s house, I made a U-turn to leave.
Pulling up to the stone, metal, and glass portico of The Umstead Hotel, I waited for the valet. This would be home for a bit, even though my heart was with Lucky. The ache in my chest had worsened since I’d left, and I hoped she wasn’t feeling it too. Was this some sign our souls were merging? That we were joining?
My mobile rang. I thought about ignoring the call, but the ID showed it was Elder Brennan.
Could my night be any more rotten?
“Elder Brennan, late for you to be calling. Isn’t it the middle of the night in Ireland?”
“I must say, I’m disappointed you’d be leaving her alone.” Even through the mobile, her tone held power. “Do you not realize how vulnerable she is right now?”
Holding back a string of curses, I looked out the windows of my Range Rover. Is that bleedin’ spy back? I pulled out of the valet line to park with a view of the hotel entrance. “I’m not leaving her, and how is it she’s vulnerable?”
“My contacts have informed me il signor Gagliardi has been in touch with people in your area, but they’re not sure why he might be taking such actions.”
“What’s Gagliardi’s bloody game?” I managed, clenching my jaw.
“What matters more is if she’s had her breakthrough. Has she?”
I wasn’t sure if I could trust Brennan, but I’d take the chance if it meant protecting Lucky. “She’s been sensing things, but she’s not responding to my blocks.”
“You need to be with her, Prince Liam. When she breaks through, she’ll be in more danger of her energy being spotted, if it hasn’t been already. She’ll be a beacon in the dark. Once you’ve joined, she’ll have better protections.”
“Protection against the Soul Seekers? Then why not be telling me what needs to happen to make this joining come about? It’s answers I’m needing.”
“It’s patience you’re needing, young man. The answers will be in front of you soon enough.”
More questions raced through my mind, but only one was critical. “Is there a good reason for me to be trusting you to mean well by us?”
Her pause felt like an eternity—an eternity where I hoped letting her find out about Lucky wasn’t the biggest mistake of my life. If Brennan does something to hurt Lucky … I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.
She sighed. “Go home, Liam.”
“Elder Brenn—”
“Ring me back after you’ve joined.” Her voice had taken on a commanding tone that most would dare not ignore. Before I could say anything more, she rang off.
I threw my mobile against the passenger seat and watched it bounce onto the floor. She could very well be a Soul Seeker, but her reason for contacting me seemed to be centered on protecting Lucky. I couldn’t deny that. Or was this a trap?
If she wasn’t to be trusted, I’d deal with her later. And if Lucky was important enough to be leaving home for, she was important enough to be returning for as well.
I took a deep breath, rolled my shoulders, and pulled out, heading for home. Halfway there, a question burned through my mind and couldn’t be doused.
How did Brennan know Lucky was a non-empath?
CHAPTER 26
Lucky
Would Liam really stay in the States until I graduated? Who does that for a girl he hardly knows? It had been such an overwhelming declaration, I hadn’t even thought to tell him how I was on track to graduate with him this June.
I pushed my fingers against my aching sternum. It had started hurting about an hour ago.
For the last half-hour, I’d sat at the kitchen table and reread the same paragraph from the short story called “Eveline” by James Joyce. It was in one of the books Liam lent me for my Irish monologue. I’d photocopied the story, along with other passages and poems, so I could return the books to him tomorrow.
I groaned and sat back in the chair, clunking against the loose backing. I pulled out Liam’s watch from my pocket and held it in my hands. The inscription on the back read, Liam, In due time, Da. The watch was a Breitling. From what I’d read online, they could be over twenty thousand dollars. With all the money they seemed to have, why were they living in this neighborhood?
I pressed Liam’s watch to my cheek and sighed.
God, I’m such a sap.
A twinge of disappointment flared in my chest, knowing I should return it. It wasn’t like I could replace it if I lost it. I tucked the watch back into my pocket, closed Liam’s books, and organized the photocopies. I stopped when I reached his volume of poetry. His dad’s dedication begged to be finished, so I grabbed my poetry journal from my bag and came up with a few possibilities. I settled on two more lines to complete it and then penciled them into the book.
Find comfort in these pages
For winter ends in stages,
And wings that leave their cages,
Find a love to span the ages.
Have faith.
You will find The One.
It was corny, but it’d do.
The One. What type of secret would explain what that meant?
While I’d been waiting for Liam on the lounge chair, Ciarán had texted his brother. I hadn’t meant to read it, but his phone had been in my hands when the text had popped up on the screen.
Ciarán: So is your soul mate an empath yet?
Could being The One mean being his soul mate? But what guy goes around searching for his soul mate like she was some missing person? And what was an empath? I figured I’d Google it later.
I tapped my pencil against my chin. If Liam had started dating each of the girls because he thought one of them could’ve been The One, then by his own admission, he’d been wrong six times before me. How would Liam know for sure? And when? Was gambling my heart with those odds even wise? Why couldn’t falling in love be easier? I fumbled my pencil, and it dropped to the table.
Falling in love? I pushed the thought away.
I rubbed my eyes and stood to take everything upstairs. A strange sensation tickled my mind, like at the Akropolis Kafe, and I spun around, half expecting Liam to be standing behind me. The gnawing at my sternum stopped, and an imaginary breeze relaxed me with its warmth.
Liam.
I shook my head. I had to be hallucinating again.
A soft knocking at the back door stopped me from leaving the kitchen. I had no idea how I knew, but somehow I did. It was Liam. My heart began to race. I checked the stairs to make sure Mom wasn’t coming down, then rushed to open the back door.
I launched myself into his arms. He squeezed me tight and hummed his appreciation. An intense tingling surged through every cell in my body, and then calmed. It felt like everything was vibrating on some Liam-frequency, and my body would never know peace unless he was near. God, was I a mess.
I pulled back. “What are you doing here?”
“I’d not been able to stay away.” What he said didn’t feel exactly right. I stared at him, and he smiled. “You’ve become a pretty decent lie detector yourself.” He nuzzled my neck, murmuring against my skin. “I needed to be touching you, feeling you safe in my arms.” He was holding something back. It bothered me, but unfortunately, I was also getting used to it. He rested his forehead against my shoulder and sighed, as if he knew what I was thinking. “Da and I had a bit of a row, that’s all.”
“A fight about us?” I gently scratched my fingernails against the back of his head. His hair was thick and soft, and his scent calmed me. He nodded against my shoulder. I leaned my head against his. “He doesn’t think I’m The One?”
He jerked up, his eyes scanning mine. “He can have his doubts, but I don’t. I’d told him as much. I’ve chosen you, yeah?” His words thrilled me and scared me at the same time. He kissed me and then groaned. “I should be heading back.”
“So can we work on my monologue
tomorrow morning?”
He nodded, his face still tense. “We can go to the benches by the car park.”
I wanted to lighten his mood, so I broke into the best Irish brogue I could manage. “We don’t call it a car park here, love. It’s searching you’ve been for the past six years, so you ought to be knowing that by now, yeah?”
He held his fist over his mouth and shook with laughter. It was contagious. “Jaysus, the family will fall in love with you.” We kissed some more before he ripped himself away to leave.
“Oh, wait, before you go. Your books.” I darted inside and brought them out.
Liam was leaning against the wooden railing, looking up into the night sky. I remembered the first day of school, seeing his strong jaw, comfortable swagger, and pale-green eyes. That same guy was standing here now against a canvas of soft black, looking even more amazing with features I’d had time to explore.
He was also the same guy who stood up to his dad for me.
Would I ever have the courage to do the same with Mom? He was ready to commit to something long-term … on faith. Faith in me.
Faith I wasn’t showing in him.
He pointed to the books. “So you’ve got everything you need then?”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah.” I cleared out my thoughts and put the books on the top step. Opening the poetry volume to the inside front cover, I handed it to him with a shrug. “I, uh … finished it.”
He angled it toward the porch light and read. A smile crept along his face. “I love it. Jaysus, Lucky, it couldn’t be more perfect.” He stacked the book on top of the others, and I saw my ponytail holder around his wrist.
When he pulled me back into his arms, I snapped it, giggling. “Not very masculine, but I like it.” I took his watch out of my pocket. “I, uh … I can’t keep this, Liam. It’s so expens—”
He cut off my words with his hand. “Yes, you can. It’s a gift. No arguments.”
“This isn’t a gift!” I looked over my shoulder and lowered my voice. Thankfully, Mom’s room was on the other side of the house. “It’s a–a car, or college tuition. I can’t—”
“Didn’t I just say no arguments?” He smiled, his eyes playful.
“Ugh.” I spun around, giving him my back, but he just held me closer, chuckling in my ear. I bit back a smile.
“Please keep it, Lucks. I’ll punch some extra holes in the band tomorrow so it’ll be fitting better, yeah? How else should I be warning the insect world you’re mine?”
“Wow.” I snorted. “You’re declaring an all-out war, aren’t you?”
“I’d only rip off ladybug wings for you, mo mhuirnín.”
I turned, play-punched him in the arm and tucked myself against him on a yawn. I hoped I wouldn’t have as much trouble sleeping now that I had something of his with me.
Falling for him was becoming too easy, but how did I know it wasn’t an infatuation? Sure, he was hot, and his smile would pretty much make me do anything he asked. But he was more than that. He looked after me as if I were the most important thing in the world to him. While we were weeding, hadn’t he told me he’d bring me lunch during the drill team practices on Tuesday and Thursday? I would’ve just skipped eating. He was generous, loving, and attentive. On top of that, he was respectful, chivalrous, and intelligent. He made me laugh, and he made me see a future with him, despite Mom.
Yup. I was falling in love, with a possible one week expiration date. If he didn’t tell me his secret by then, I had to break it off. The stronger my attachment got, the more it felt like standing in front of a badly constructed dam. The longer I waited, the more water would collect behind it. And when that dam broke—if it broke—I’d either be seriously soaked or I would drown.
One week. Any longer and I’d never survive.
I hated to change the mood, but I had to ask. “Liam, how did you find out that none of the other girls were … The One?” The words soul mate wouldn’t leave my lips. It felt too weird to say. I tipped my head back to study his expression.
“I just knew.”
I lowered my eyes. Don’t chicken out. Just ask him. “But if you thought each of them was possibly The One, and you were wrong … ”
I glanced up and caught a look of uncertainty cross his face. As I suspected—no guarantees. I tried to step back, but he wouldn’t let me go.
“No, Lucky. Don’t be thinking that. There’s no comparison between you and any of them.” He kissed my forehead. He may have believed what he was telling himself, but somewhere inside, he knew he could be wrong. His face didn’t lie.
“But—”
“I’m not saying it’s not complicated right now, but I’m with you no matter what.”
“Then you’re saying it’s your choice. I don’t have to worry about this secret?”
He clenched his jaw. “Not exactly.”
A lump threatened to choke me. I couldn’t find the courage to ask which question he was actually answering. God forbid it was both.
I opened a new browser and typed what is an empath in the search bar. For the next hour, I read how New Age types defined characteristics of what I would’ve just called sensitive people, which included me. But then again, it felt like reading Zodiac traits. With a stretch, every birth sign could apply to me.
The deeper my search went, though, the more questionable the information became. Conspiracy sites claimed empaths were aliens from Area 51, and that the government was hiding their existence. One blogger even described how these aliens had mixed with the human population millennia ago, creating sorcerers, shamans, and truth-sayers from different cultures. Apparently, empaths weren’t the only thing these aliens had made.
I was already hallucinating. I couldn’t validate my insanity even more by asking Liam what Ciarán’s text had meant.
I snorted.
Gee, Liam, are you and your family descendants of aliens?
CHAPTER 27
Liam
I bunked off study hall again to be with Lucky in her theater class, but a group assignment kept her from spending any time with me. It didn’t matter. Even while working on calculus problems, I could sense whenever she thought of me. I’d look up, meet her gaze, and project my love to her. Her answering smile was enough. Once my calculus was finished, I glued my attention to her.
For two days now, Lucky had been breaking down the dam holding back the happiness she reserved for me and me alone. The tingling was becoming more intense the heavier things were getting between us, and I suspected it was part of the joining. It had to be, but would it happen in stages or all it once? Could I do something to push it along? And what exactly was meant to happen?
For the hundredth time in the last couple of days, I blocked her from my emotions to see if she’d notice. She didn’t. I’d been projecting strong emotions to her any chance I had, but all I’d succeeded in doing was making her head ache. I felt like a shite for doing it, but if it pushed her into breaking through, it’d be worth it.
The class bell rang. We left the auditorium only to find Chloe in the hallway, watching Lucky and me walking out together. The look on Chloe’s face made me suspicious, so I opened up my mind to her. She was irritated for some reason or another, but I also felt something mean coming from her.
She headed our way with a bounce in her step, crowding Lucky out when she stepped up to me. “Liam, there you are. You skipped study hall again. Who’s going to help me with my math?”
I tried to move next to Lucky, but Chloe shifted and Lucky’s jealousy and lack of confidence got the better of her. With a wave to me, Lucky darted across the hall.
I brushed past Chloe to catch Lucky before she fled into the girls’ locker rooms. “Lucky!”
She turned around and stopped before she could be escaping inside, and I pushed my way through the shower of students to stand inches from her. Damn her no-touching policy. Things may have been going well, but she hadn’t let go of her need to take things slow.
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“You left the bouncing boobs for me? I’m touched,” she said.
“Touched? Interesting choice of words you’ve got there.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Lucky gave me her shy smile, which always made me want to kiss her.
I sensed Chloe’s impatience as she lingered nearby. Why the hell was she waiting for me? “You know, Lucky, it’d be simple enough to leave Chloe gobsmacked by kissing you right here.”
Her eyes darted around us. “And break the rules?”
“Damn, Lucky. Let me at least be telling her we’re seeing each other.”
“Are we?” She broke into a smile. “Go to class already. Don’t worry about her. She’s not important.” Lucky sounded a bit like she was convincing herself. With a turn on her heel, she disappeared into the locker room.
Chloe waited for me at the mouth of the hallway. Grand. I kept quiet while she prattled on about nonsense. Her class was around the next corner, so I’d not have to put up with her for too long.
By the time I got to physics, my stomach was churning. Something didn’t feel right. Was it Lucky? Had that spy come for her? Mum and Da had been patrolling the area around the school when they’d been able. They’d not seen much of anything. Maybe Lucky was feeling sick, and I was mirroring her. We were connected in strange ways, so I’d not be surprised. A sinking feeling overtook me. I’d have to run down after class to catch her as she left the lockers.
Fifteen minutes passed, and my concentration became the devil’s plaything. Even at this distance, our connection was strengthening, and Lucky’s sadness and embarrassment were as clear as if I could see them before my eyes. I kept fidgeting in my seat, and my tablemate’s irritated glance only pissed me off.
What the hell was happening? Bloody hell. I needed to find Lucky. The connection was now fading as if the physical distance between us were growing.