Aries: Book 2 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series)

by Rachel Medhurst

  Father called me the child of the group. He said that I would never grow up, and I knew deep down, it was true. I was a hulking Peter Pan. Well, I had been before I got my legs blown off, anyway.

  ‘To answer your question, Leo, yes. It does sometimes feel like my legs are there.’

  He averted his gaze when I tried to pull my shorts down over the bandages.

  ‘Where are the others?’ I asked.

  ‘They’re at work,’ Pisces replied, bending to get a cake tin from one of the cupboards. Her long hair almost touched the floor. Her leg stuck out as she grabbed what I hoped was her homemade cake.

  ‘Even Taurus?’

  They laughed as they helped Natalie finish making the tea. They took everything to the kitchen table. The end chair had been taken away. I wheeled myself over to the head of the table. Exactly where I used to always sit.

  ‘It worked out quite well.’ Pisces laid her hand over mine.

  I pulled away, picking up my mug to distract myself. The tightness in my throat made it hard to swallow. Sipping my drink made the threatening tears retreat.

  ‘Are you excited about your operation? It sounds like you’ll be one of the first people to have it.’ Antony took a bite of the slice of chocolate cake that Pisces handed him. I picked up my own and did the same so I didn’t have to answer. I nodded instead, chewing the moist cake. I couldn’t taste it but ate anyway.

  ‘What do I do?’ I said, gulping the rest of my tea.

  My mind went blank. The future was completely fuzzy.

  ‘You get fit again.’ Natalie grabbed my hand.

  I blinked as I looked down at the wooden table. I was useless. I had no legs. What was the point? What was there left for me to do?

  ‘How…? There’s only so much I can do.’

  I almost choked and didn’t dare look up. Both women in the room would be crying. I couldn’t handle that.

  ‘You need to keep your upper body as fit as possible. Try to keep your thighs fit, too. You will have gruelling exercises to do every day. I promise you won’t have time to get bored.’

  Natalie’s voice was full of emotion but still harsh. I looked into her eyes and saw no pity there. No tears or any sign of crying showed on her face. She was an angel in that moment.

  ‘You’re a fighter, Aries, you will not let this beat you.’ It was a different story when I looked at Pisces. She had tears running down her cheeks but the determination in her words contradicted her emotion. She wasn’t crying because she felt sorry for me. She was crying because of the situation. She had to process how she felt. I was grateful to have someone that cared that much for me.

  ‘You were there for me.’

  Chair legs squeaked as the others left the table and went to the kitchen area. I was pleased they were letting us have some privacy. Pisces put her elbows on the table and leant towards me. I grabbed her head on either side and looked into her eyes.

  ‘Thank you so much,’ I whispered as the tears that had threatened to come since leaving hospital, forced their way out. Pisces’ eyes glistened. We laughed quietly as tears fell onto our cheeks at exactly the same time. I put my forehead to hers and closed my eyes.

  ‘I always felt you there, even when I was under sedation.’

  She nodded. The gesture moved my head. She couldn’t speak. Too much emotion was taking over so I pulled away. She got up and threw her arms around me. We held onto each other as I allowed myself to cry with her.

  ‘You can do this. I know you can. You’re the fighter. You’re the one that can take on any battle and win. There is one thing you need to fight for…more than anything,’ Pisces whispered to me.

  ‘What…?’ I replied, not letting her pull away.

  ‘Your twin flame.’

  The words filtered through me. A spark ignited where my fire had gone out. She had just challenged me.

  ‘You know that’s what you’re here for so keep fighting to unite with her.’

  I nodded as she pulled away. She was right. I did have purpose. I had a reason to be here. If I didn’t, I would have died in the explosion.

  ‘If anyone can unite with their soulmate after what you’ve been through, it’s you,’ she said, sitting back in her chair and wiping her face on her sleeve. I pulled the bottom of my shirt up and got rid of the tears that rested on my face. The others came back over with more tea. Natalie took my hand when she sat down but didn’t say anything.

  I looked at her nails. They were bitten right down. I followed the line of her smooth arm, noticing that she was slightly darker skinned than Pisces. She had a couple of small freckles just below her elbow. Her shoulder was square and strong. Her neck was long and slender. She had a little mole under her ear. I was about to look at her face when she stroked my wrist.

  I looked at the bracelet that was constantly attached to me. I hardly noticed it anymore, but as she flicked the silver charm, the symbol of Aries blinked up at me. Strong, wilful, powerful…all words to describe someone born under the youngest star sign of the zodiac. It wasn’t the sign that made my heart thump. It was the mission that my bracelet represented.

  The leather had singed edges. It must have burnt in the explosion.

  ‘We will get through this,’ Leo said from the other end of the table.

  I couldn’t look away from the bracelet. Natalie’s finger rested next to it, although she hadn’t been consciously aware that she was touching it.

  I looked up. She glanced at me. Our gaze locked and I saw it. Her eyes. They were the same brown as the woman in my dreams.

  Pisces told me that her dreams had shown her the eyes of her soulmate. My past lives had been in my dreams when I was in hospital. Natalie’s eyes were the same as the woman that had haunted my dreams. She was the one.

  For the last five years we had caused each other pain. We had run away, when we should have been running together.

  ‘Are you okay?’

  I nodded, not able to trust what would come out of my mouth. I had never seen it before. She had made me jealous. Even now, as I remembered the young doctor, my blood started to boil.

  ‘Why are you staring at me?’

  The others chatted so we went ignored.

  ‘I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you,’ I whispered.

  Her throat muscles moved as she looked down at where she touched my wrist. The silver charm reflected the light. There was no doubt in my mind that I had found my twin flame when I was just fifteen years old. We had already dated and slept together but I hadn’t allowed myself to unite with her. I had run away when things got tough. I was still running.

  ‘It’s in the past. It’s time to move forward.’ She smiled and cupped my cheek.

  Did she know? She must have got to know my siblings when I was in hospital. Surely they hadn’t told her anything. I would break someone’s bones if they had.

  I glanced at Pisces and remembered when she was in the runner stage. Had I been in that stage for a quarter of my life?

  ‘Aries, do you want to hear my new song?’ Leo shouted down the table.

  ‘I’d love to hear your new song,’ I shouted back.

  Leo went to get his guitar. The sound of strings being plucked filtered to us from the hallway. He was tuning it so I could hear his new song. I didn’t say anything as I watched the others.

  ‘Aries…!’

  Cancer’s excited screech drilled into my head as she ran into the flat and threw her arms around me from behind. Her bobbed hair tickled my neck and I smiled when she squealed again.

  ‘I couldn’t wait any longer, I’m sorry. I wanted to come home and see you. It’s so good to see you sitting where you belong.’

  Her enthusiasm made my fire stir. I was cared about, even if my siblings had never been any good at showing it.

  ‘It’s good to be home.’

  I wasn’t lying. Right in that moment, it was good. It wouldn’t last when all of them came bearing down on me but I would savour the moment.

  ‘H
ave you been able to catch up on everything yet?’

  ‘I was about to play my new song.’ Leo flicked his gaze to Natalie.

  Cancer nodded and stopped talking. The room fell silent as Leo played the guitar. The music filled the room as Leo’s husky voice joined it. The words were full of hope and despair. It made my skin tingle. I had never heard Leo sing such a powerful song. The simple guitar riff silenced the room. I watched the others as their gaze transfixed on the struggling artist.

  ‘Sorry to break up the reunion but I have some news,’ Gemini announced as soon as the song finished. His tall skinny shadow came out from the hallway. I hadn’t noticed him standing there during the performance.

  ‘What is it?’ I asked.

  He nodded once, looking at Natalie. My arms tingled with heat as I gripped the arms of my wheelchair. I understood that Natalie couldn’t know about our mission but the way the others were pussyfooting around her started to irritate.

  ‘I think we should get you settled in your room,’ Natalie said.

  I watched, unable to say anything as she stood and came round to the back of my chair. I only just stopped myself from getting annoyed.

  ‘Yes, you need a chance to settle in. I’ll come and talk to you later,’ Gemini said.

  The buttons on his white shirt were completely undone. I caught the flash of wiry toned muscles and wished he would cover up around company. His smart trousers were wrinkled where he had been lying down. I had never been told what to do by him before. I struggled to swallow the command.

  ‘I don’t want to go and settle in. I want to hear what’s going on. Natalie, please would you go and unpack for me?’

  Pisces gasped and put her hand over her mouth. ‘You can’t ask her to do that.’

  ‘Technically, he can. I’m being paid to help,’ she said, patting my shoulder and disappearing into the other hallway.

  I cringed as I watched her go. Was that how she saw us now? She was the hired help?

  ‘Okay, fill us in,’ Antony said. He looked like he was part of the family, which made me feel better. Maybe one day…

  ‘Last night we went—’

  ‘Wait! I need to know what’s happened over the last week.’ I interrupted the man I now viewed as my usurper.

  I was being unreasonable. They had looked for Father without me and so they should. There was enough of them to be getting on with it. I felt useless again so I sat back in my chair.

  ‘There’s no time,’ Gemini said.

  My eyebrows rose as I glared. I couldn’t help it. He was arrogant, and annoying.

  ‘Aries needs to know, Gemini,’ Pisces said gently, putting a hand over my clenched one.

  I pulled away as Gemini nodded. He had got used to not having me around but that was going to change. Just because I no longer had any legs, didn’t mean I couldn’t lead them.

  ‘You know we interrogated the couple?’

  I nodded as he sat next to me. His gaze didn’t even touch my wheelchair, which I respected.

  ‘We visited the house they told us about and saw Mother. She came out and went about her normal routine.’

  I swallowed. A picture of the woman that had taken care of us for so many years came into my mind. She wasn’t our real birth mother. We had lost contact with all of our parents when we were born. Heat radiated up my arms as I thought about how we’d been taken away from them. If only I had been left to grow up normally, I might have kept my legs.

  ‘We’ve been following her for the last two days. It seems she likes to spend Nick’s money.’ Gemini rubbed a hand over his face. The bags under his eyes were from actual work. Was he doing a lot of the investigating himself?

  ‘That’s where Taurus is now,’ Leo said.

  I wanted to kill Nick. My hands thumped the arms of my chair. The sound of it echoed around the room. The others stared at me. I shook out my shoulders.

  My dreams had been so vivid. In previous lives, Nick had made sure that my soulmate and I, could never be together. This time, I wouldn’t let it happen. My family was a stronger unit than ever before.

  ‘I can smell burning.’ Antony sniffed.

  The scent of burnt plastic filtered into my nose. I blinked as I released the arms of my chair. My hands left singe marks on the heated plastic. I was lucky that a fireball hadn’t erupted from them. It had been a while. It had happened all the time when I was a teenager.

  ‘Anyway, we’ve not seen Father or Nick. Last night, Taurus followed Mother to another house, outside London. We think they may have met there because she stayed the night.’ Gemini fingered the scorch mark. He pulled back when he realised it was still hot. ‘Make sure you keep an eye on that around Natalie.’ He pointed at my hand.

  I hadn’t created fire since the accident. Not that I had tried very hard. I hadn’t had the opportunity. From the smell in the room, it was obvious that my powers were still with me.

  ‘I’ll be fine.’

  ‘We need to get you out and about to find your soulmate,’ Gemini said, patting my forearm weakly. The sudden change in topic made me glance towards the hallway.

  ‘No need,’ Leo muttered, looking at Pisces. ‘Told you so.’

  She nodded and I frowned, wondering what secret they shared. ‘What did you tell Pisces?’

  ‘Can we just get back to—’ Gemini started.

  ‘Yes.’ I cut him off.

  He looked around at the others and started to squirm. He liked being centre of attention but wasn’t used to it when I was around. I fiddled with the hem of my shorts as they watched him for the next update.

  ‘We’ve decided to break into Mother’s house next time she’s out. We may find something if we do a search. We know her routine enough to determine how long we have until she returns. Once we’ve done that, we were thinking of—’

  ‘Storming the other house?’ I butt in again.

  He growled at me so I scowled in return. It seemed like the best and quickest option. They had done well in a week but Father had been missing for almost a month. He must be wondering what was going on. If I had been there, he would have been rescued by now.

  ‘How is Bev doing?’

  Bev was Father’s new wife. They had only been married for two years. I had been shocked to learn that he had moved on from our mother, his twin flame.

  ‘She’s moved to a safe house. Derek is taking care of her,’ Antony said. Derek was Antony’s brother and a trained bodyguard.

  The update was energising. It made me feel like my old self. A buzz went through my body but washed away as the energy drained out of me. I slumped forward as the world tilted and my head started to spin.

  ‘You need to get some rest, Aries.’ Pisces got up and pulled me away from the table.

  ‘Wait, I need to know—’

  ‘We’ll keep you informed,’ Gemini said as Pisces wheeled me away.

  I wanted her to stop looking after me but if I said anything, she would ignore me anyway. I didn’t say goodbye to the others as we left the kitchen and approached the bedroom. The door had been widened. Pisces pushed me straight into the room. There was a hospital bed in the corner and a commode beside it. My hands clenched into fists to prevent myself from picking something up and throwing it.

  ‘I got your favourite bed cover.’ Pisces pointed at my fiery red duvet.

  I uttered my thanks but didn’t look at her. The room looked like a sick room. It was like I was still in hospital. There was an en-suite bathroom. I could see straight into it. They had fitted a wet room with a pull down chair. Just like an old person’s shower.

  ‘You’re all unpacked. I’ve got to get going. You don’t need to do any exercises today,’ Natalie said, going to leave.

  ‘Where are you going?’ I snapped.

  She ran a hand over my hair and looked down at me. The curls bounced on her palm. The first thing I needed, was a haircut. It had grown out, which made me look like a girl.

  ‘I’ve got a few things to do. I’ll be back tomorrow. T
he boys are going to help you get into bed.’

  She turned and left without another word or backward glance. She probably had a date with an able bodied man.

  ‘It looks so clinical in here,’ I said, looking at Pisces.

  Her face flushed. She must have sorted the adjustments. I didn’t care. I wasn’t in the mood to be nice. She went to fuss with something. When I frowned, she stepped towards the door.

  ‘I want to be left alone now.’

  She nodded as tears sprung to her eyes. I was glad when she left without trying to convince me that everything was going to be all right. It wouldn’t. I picked up the nearest thing to me, which was a dirty magazine, and threw it towards the bathroom. The paper smoked as it flew. I needed to calm with my temper. If I wasn’t careful, I would start a fire. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

  Chapter Eight

  The ground smacked my cheek. I grunted as my breath left me. The carpet was rough against my skin. I came to and looked around me. It was dark, which told me that it was still the middle of the night. Was I in hospital?

  ‘Bloody hell,’ I moaned.

  I had fallen out of my bed at home.

  A part of me wanted to find the humour in the situation. I hadn’t fallen out of bed since I was a child. Another part wanted to throw a fireball at the stupid railings that I had forgotten to put up last night. The last part wanted to bury my face into the rough material that rubbed my cheek and sob like a baby.

  ‘Aries, are you okay?’

  It was Scorpio. I hadn’t seen him since I had returned. Why was he outside my door? I didn’t know whether to tell him to go away, or get him to help me.

  ‘Yes, I’m fine,’ I shouted back.

  I couldn’t let him see me sprawled on the floor. We had been warriors. We had fought side by side. I was no longer a warrior. No matter how much I hoped I could go back to how I once was, I had to accept that it wasn’t going to happen.

  ‘I’ve missed you, mate,’ Scorpio called out.

  He wanted to talk but I couldn’t face him. There would be no more clubbing with him and Leo. There would be no pulling girls and bringing them back to our room to share. I was alone now. Stuck in a room that smelled of cleaning products.