Locked Out of Love

by Mary K. Norris

  Think Jedi, think Jedi, think Jedi.

  “Yes, Melanie, soul mates,” he said as calmly as possible. “Out there somewhere is a person’s other half, and when people like us find it, we experience this instant connection, this yearning inside that draws us together. And once those two people bond, each person’s powers are amplified—they become stronger and more controllable. Felix knew a Dreamer who could control what he saw and when. If the Dreamer can just withstand their journey leading up to that point, then they’re free.”

  She’d scooted a few inches away from him on the lifeguard tower. Her hair flew around her head as she stared unseeing at the sand, eyes darting from side to side.

  Shit. Had he overloaded her with too much information?

  “Melanie?” he asked hesitantly. Should he reach out and touch her, or would that spook her?

  “That’s impossible,” she said finally. “Soul mates don’t exist. How do you know you’re not being lied to?”

  “Because there are four members in my guild, two couples, who are bonded with their Mirror Mates.”

  “Mirror Mate?” she asked incredulously.

  “Another term I came up with.”

  “Why Mirrors?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. Have you ever been outside and the sun reflects off of a window or a mirror in a car and seems like it’s so much more potent?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, when a person bonds with their Mirror Mate, their power is reflected back at them—stronger. Some of my guild members like to say that souls who truly reflect one another are destined to find one another.” He waited for her recoil at the mention of destiny, but Melanie remained seated, digesting all he had to say.

  “And you said there are people in your guild who are full-forced?”

  He nodded. “My best friend, Felix, and his fiancé, Cali, as well as my friends Sydney and Merrick.”

  “But they still have their powers. If my brother became full-forced, he’d still have his powers?”

  Joel nodded. “There’s no way to get rid of someone’s powers. They’re a part of us.”

  “So you don’t know of any other way someone could be cured?”

  He frowned. “Not that I know of, but it’s not like powers are a sickness, if that’s what you’re implying.”

  She grew silent, lost in thought as she stared at the white caps out in the distance. Joel had a strange lump in his gut and he couldn’t place his finger on what it was. He only knew that Melanie’s odd behavior worried him.

  Full darkness fell and with it came a colder wind that went right through Joel’s clothes. Melanie had to be freezing. “Let’s get out of here.”

  She shook from the cold but managed a quick bob of her head in agreement.

  They made their way back to his vehicle, but he held an arm out in front of Melanie to keep her from getting any closer.

  A shadow moved in the dark, suspiciously close to his truck. “Hey!” he yelled.

  The stranger froze and then made a run for it down a side alley.

  “Son of a bitch.” Joel sprinted over to his truck, Melanie right behind him.

  “Did he take anything?”

  The outside of the vehicle didn’t look like anything had been taken. He pushed his face into the driver’s side window to check that the radio was still there. It was.

  “Huh,” he said, a chill running down his spine.

  “Maybe it was just someone looking for any visible cash in the car,” Melanie said.

  Joel turned in the direction the person had taken off, debating whether he should pursue them in his truck and figure out what the hell they’d been doing so close to his property. Ever since Vander came into their guild’s lives he’d adopted a healthy dose of paranoia. And the idea of someone messing around with his truck didn’t sit well with him.

  He crouched down and checked the underside, looking for anything suspicious.

  Melanie’s face came into view on the other side. “What are we looking for down here?”

  He wanted to tell her that he’d take care of it, that she could wait in the truck with the heater on so she wouldn’t freeze her cute little ass off. But what if whoever that was had planted a bomb?

  Okay, the idea was ridiculous, but he also knew Vander has made his dislike for the Guild of Truth very obvious. They’d been there every step of the way to keep Vander from the one thing he wanted: his Mirror Mate. For all Joel knew, Vander was keeping a low profile so he could pick off each member of the guild with a bomb, one by one. He was just the right amount of crazy super villain to do it, too.

  “Look for anything that doesn’t seem like it belongs,” he told Melanie. “If you see anything blinking … ”

  “Run?”

  “Yeah, but don’t forget to tell me first so I don’t get blown to smithereens.”

  She shook her head at him, but she dutifully started to check the undercarriage of his truck. “I’m curious—who do you think would want to blow you up?”

  “Wackos?” He didn’t dare tell her about Vander, not right now, not when he’d already told her enough to saturate her brain. The last thing he wanted her to know was how potentially dangerous it was to hang out with him. It might scare her off, and at this point he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her.

  She seemed content with his answer and didn’t ask further questions as she continued to search for any suspicious objects.

  “Clear on this side,” she said after a few moments.

  Joel finished his fourth check, debating a fifth check when he gave up. “Same here.” He hung his arms over the bed of his truck.

  Melanie mimicked his moves on the opposite side, watching him. “You okay? You look confused that you didn’t find anything. The guy was probably homeless, looking for something in the bed of your truck to pawn.”

  Joel couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t some bum off the street who’d been near his vehicle. “Yeah, maybe.”

  He unlocked the doors and gave the interior of his truck a quick once over. Nothing looked touched. He sniffed the air, but there was no trace of gas or any other chemical he could detect.

  Melanie was already buckled in and ready, her eyes taking in his every move, one brow arched as he sampled the air.

  Heat rushed to his face— he probably looked like a freak. He cleared his throat and shoved his key into the ignition.

  He needed to get over his paranoia. Everything was fine. He just needed to get Melanie home safe and sound.

  Chapter 13

  Melanie sat in the passenger seat as Joel took them up Newport Boulevard. Her head whirled with so many thoughts that she didn’t know which ones to focus on.

  Did she dare believe that Juliet could cure Nathan without this so called Mirror Mate? Should Melanie confide in Joel? Was Joel her Mirror Mate? She couldn’t deny the instant attraction she felt the first time she’d laid eyes on him. Or the way her heart always seemed to flip in her chest when she saw him or even thought about meeting him. Then there was the fact that she felt a physical ache when he wasn’t around, like her body craved—no, needed—him around. And it was only in his presence that the ache left her. Was she really buying into the whole soul mate concept? She couldn’t believe she was even entertaining the idea. Alexander was the kind of guy who believed in things like fate. Joel … Joel was normal, the first normal guy she’d met in so long. She wasn’t afraid of him. She enjoyed his company, and she loved the way he made her feel, as if she were a rare treasure and he was the luckiest guy in the world.

  Soul mates.

  Did she dare believe in some all-powerful being that decided who she should love?

  What happened to free will? If she ended up with Joel, she wanted it to be because it was something she wanted, not because it was something destined for her.

  If destiny really existed, that meant there was nothing she could do about anything in her life; she would live through every
event knowing she had no power to change or alter it.

  It’s not true. It can’t be.

  There was that Dream she’d had when she’d taken Nathan’s powers. That woman. Melanie had the power to change those events. Free will was all around her, shaping what the future could and couldn’t be.

  So, maybe she had to accept that certain things were fixed. Like whom she would love. Perhaps it was easier this way, to not have to worry about settling down with the wrong guy. There were worse things in the world than being stuck with someone like Joel. And if she really did believe what Joel was telling her, that would mean she would be guaranteed this one thing in life.

  But did she dare believe it?

  Around and around her thoughts went. She felt overwhelmed and rolled down her window an inch to let in some of the cool air, hoping it’d help clear her thoughts.

  They started up the bridge that led over the bay. She wanted to remove her seat belt. It felt too tight, too constricting. She tugged at it, hoping to give herself more breathing room. It wouldn’t budge. She frowned and tugged harder. When nothing happened she pushed the release so that she could re-buckle.

  It didn’t release.

  Unease trickled down her neck. She turned in her seat and felt where the fabric dispenser connected near the passenger side door. Her fingers brushed over a small, metallic lump.

  Frowning, she pulled at the object until it came loose. In the dim light of Joel’s truck, she brought it up to her face to examine it more closely.

  Her blood turned to ice as she stared at the small tracking chip. Or at least that’s what she thought it was. Maybe it was a listening bug? She hadn’t gotten a good look at the person who’d fled Joel’s truck, and both she and Joel had checked the exterior for anything suspicious, but only Joel checked his side when he’d gotten inside.

  Melanie’s mouth went dry. She’d screwed up. Big time.

  “What’s wrong?” Joel turned to glance at her momentarily. His eyes snagged on the chip in her hand. “What the hell is that?”

  Melanie’s response was cut off as a tremendous force hit them from the left.

  Melanie screamed as Joel’s truck spun into the side of the bridge, hit the concrete wall, and tipped over.

  She heard Joel grunt in pain as his truck hit the water. She could hear tires squealing and people yelling from the bridge, and then she heard something worse.

  Rushing water.

  Her eyes snapped open. They locked on Joel’s and for the first time she realized that they were upside down and water was flooding in through the window she’d opened.

  “It’s okay,” Joel said to her. He reached out and grasped her hand. “I’m going to get us out of this.”

  She wanted to ask how, but her heart was beating too frantically, her breath coming in too short gasps to speak. She nodded.

  His truck groaned. Melanie whimpered.

  Her traitorous mind decided at that moment to flash an image of her drowning. Panic seized her.

  “Breathe, Melanie,” Joel’s soothing voice broke through her panic. She tried to focus on him and not the foot of water that was getting her hair wet or the fact that it was getting darker in the car as they sank further into the bay.

  “Oh god.” She squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Breathe,” Joel repeated. “I’m going to release my seat belt and then I’m going to get you out of yours, okay?”

  She heard a click followed by a curse and a splash as Joel fell into the water and probably banged his head on the way down.

  “Joel?” she squeaked, afraid he might have knocked himself unconscious. “Joel!”

  Her eyes popped open to see Joel surface and shake his head. She was sprinkled with water, but the sight of him made her breathe easier.

  “I’m right here.” He shuffled over to her and pushed the release on her seat belt.

  She braced for the fall that didn’t happen. Her seat belt didn’t open.

  Joel’s brows drew together as he pushed again.

  Melanie shivered in her seat. “It won’t open. I already tried earlier; that’s how I found that bug. I’m trapped.”

  “No you’re not,” Joel said vehemently. He grasped her head in his hands and made her stare him in the eye. “I’m going to get you out of this.”

  The water was touching the top of her head now and she was trying really hard not to panic. Blood was rushing to her head too from being trapped upside down, the seatbelt holding her in place as the water filled the top of the vehicle.

  Joel started looking through the cabin of his truck, talking aloud, no doubt to try and keep her calm. “There were lots of people out, someone had to have seen us. It’s not that late. A rescue team will be on their way. I’m not leaving you, Melanie, even if I have to stay here and breathe for you with a straw until help arrives.” He held an old straw in his hand that had fallen from his middle console when he’d opened it. A whole bunch of little tools had fallen out, too, and he quickly went diving for them.

  He came up with needle-nosed pliers and tried to jimmy the seat belt. “If I can just get the damn thing open, I can take it apart and free you.”

  His hair was slicked back from his face as he worked. His shirt clung to his lean frame like a second skin, and Melanie focused her attention on following all the hard planes and ridges. It was a welcome distraction to the fact that water was now flirting with her eyebrows. Soon she wouldn’t be able to keep her eyes open at all.

  There was another groan from the truck and Joel’s door was wrenched open. “What the—?”

  Water flooded the cabin. Melanie slammed her eyes shut and suddenly she felt Joel’s hands, the ones that had been grasping the belt and touching her hip, being torn away from her.

  “No!” she screamed. Water flooded her mouth and she coughed, choked.

  “Melanie!” She heard Joel’s voice right before water took her hearing.

  She reached out blindly to find him, but all she encountered was cold water. Her heart rate tripled. She was going to die. Joel was being rescued and she was going to be left behind. There was so much she hadn’t said to him. So much she hadn’t done with him. Tears clogged her throat. Her lungs started to burn and she felt herself losing consciousness.

  Her heart cried out for him.

  Joel!

  In her oxygen-deprived mind she could have sworn she heard Joel’s voice.

  Melanie!

  Everything went white.

  Chapter 14

  Melanie floated back to consciousness in intervals. She heard doctors and nurses and nothing. At one point, she woke to her throat and eyes burning … and then nothing. She had been cold and then hot.

  When she woke for what she assumed was the fourth time, she felt like something the tide had dragged in. It was an accurate description, as she could feel her damp hair around her face and she felt raw all over, as if she’d been dragged through the sand a couple times. She surveyed her arms and found no abrasions, so that meant the pain was on the inside.

  “I think she’s coming to.” A voice spoke from the corner.

  Melanie’s gaze darted to the far left side of her room where she was shocked to find her family.

  “Ma, Pa, Aunt Bernie?” Her voice sounded like sandpaper. She winced and grasped the paper cup filled with water next to her bed. She took a hesitant sip.

  “Oh, Melanie!” Her mother rushed to her side and knelt. Her graying hair was thrown haphazardly into a ponytail. Her father’s face was drawn with concern as he stood behind her mother. Aunt Bernie stayed at the foot of her bed, a relieved smile on her face.

  There was no sign of Joel. Yet somehow Melanie could tell that he was near.

  She rested her hand over her heart where a deep, comforting warmth radiated. “Where’s Joel?” she asked.

  “Joel?” her mother echoed.

  Her father placed his hand on her mother’s shoulder. “The man in the accident with her. He was the one driving, I believe.”

  �
��Pa,” Melanie warned. “The accident wasn’t Joel’s fault. Someone hit us.”

  Her father didn’t look convinced. His face hardened into stone where it had been creased with worry only moments ago. “Who is this man? How long have you known him? What were you doing in a car with him? I thought you were taking time off from men after what happened with Alexander. This one clearly isn’t any better; he nearly got you killed.”

  Melanie wanted to throw her hands in the air. Actually, what she really wanted to do was throw these blankets off and go look for Joel. Her father wouldn’t listen to a word she had to say. She could praise Joel till the cows came home and her father would still think he was the scum of the universe.

  “Who’s watching Nathan?” she asked instead, wanting to take some of the attention off her and Joel.

  “Paul is looking after him,” Aunt Bernie answered.

  Paul was Aunt Bernie’s boyfriend, and while Melanie didn’t always see eye to eye with him, she did trust him with Nathan. She breathed a little easier.

  She started to get up, only to have her mother and aunt race to push her shoulders back down.

  “You need your rest, Melanie,” her mother said gently.

  “Ma, I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth. She didn’t like hospitals; she’d spent enough time with Nathan in them and they hadn’t worked out so well for him.

  Another thought hit her and she checked her arms again, this time looking for any puncture marks that would signal a blood draw. What if the hospital took a sample of her blood and it came back different than a normal human being’s? She tried to recall all the times she’d come to the hospital with Nathan after he’d started having his headaches, all the times they’d gone to the ER after he’d had a vision, thinking at the time he’d swallowed some kind of toxin that was acting like a hallucinogenic. They’d drawn his blood then, hadn’t they? And nothing had come up strange.

  “Melanie, are you alright?” Aunt Bernie asked.

  “Did they take any blood from me?”

  Her mother took a step back at her aggressive tone. “Well, I’m not sure, Melanie, but why does it matter? Are you sure you’re okay? Did you hit your head?”