by Allie Burke
“Liam. It’s a rule. All gay men have to be good cooks.”
Jane giggled. “Thank you for dinner.”
“You’re welcome, beautiful.”
“You can stop calling me that, now that I’m gonna get fat.”
He laughed. “Never.”
Jane blinked at him. “Should we talk about this?”
“What?”
“The, er, baby.”
“What is there to talk about? I love you. You’re having my baby. I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
Jane got up and kissed him.
“Are you ready to visit Jasmyn?” he asked.
Jane breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes.”
“You need to take your vitamin before you go.”
Jane felt a stink eye developing, scrunching wrinkles into the tip of her nose.
“What is that for?” he asked, stifling a laugh.
“I don’t do medicine.”
“Too bad.”
Jane crossed her arms and stared at him, and he stared right back at her. Minutes passed.
Oh, no. Her eye itched. How could she have an itchy eye? Elias was silent, still staring. Ugh. She blinked.
Elias smiled, so she kicked him in the knee.
“Twin brother. Did you really think you could beat me?”
He was laughing at her. Maybe she should kick him again. Harder.
“Get me the stupid vitamins.”
Elias laughed, and he handed her an orange chewable tablet. He had it in his hand the whole time. She chewed it, a burst of orange flavor exploding onto her taste buds. It tasted satisfying, as if she had been craving it. Of course she would never tell Elias that.
He handed her a bottle of water and said, “Down it. Three of these a day.”
“You’re not going to give up, are you?”
“No,” he said, still smirking a patronizing grin.
“You know, one flick of my pinky and I could drown you.”
He leaned down and kissed her neck, using his tongue to warm the crease of her skin where her neck and shoulder met. He stood up and met her swimming eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t hear you. What was that?”
Jane’s eyes flickered, and she mumbled something incomprehensible.
He chuckled, and told her to go change. She came out in a green sundress, her wild hair tied back in a ponytail. He reached behind her, pulled out the hair tie, and ruffled her hair into a wild fro.
“Mmmm,” he said. “That’s better.”
There was a quiet knock on Kate’s open office door, and she looked up. Grant was standing in her doorway, looking sexy in his suit, as always. There was something else. His blue eyes weren’t as crisp as they always were. They were soft, cloudy. He was nervous. She had never seen Grant look nervous in her life.
“Hey,” he said.
She tugged on her short brown hair, more nervous than he was. “Hi.”
He stepped inside. He was holding a black box wrapped beautifully in a thick, silver ribbon, a shiny blue bow at the top. He set the box down and sat at a chair in front of her desk.
“Open it.”
She opened it slowly, taking care not to ruin the pretty ribbon. She opened the folded tissue paper inside, revealing a silky, black dress. It was the dress. The dress that she passed in the store window every single day on her way to work, the dress that was so ridiculously expensive that Grant would murder her if she bought it. The ring she had given Elias cost less.
“Can you take off early?”
Kate looked up at Grant. He was smiling. She held onto her desk, resisting the urge to close her office door and let him take her right here.
“I’m a judge,” she said. “I can do whatever the hell I want.”
Grant took Kate to her favorite restaurant, some overpriced place that had tiny portions of food. He didn’t care, he wasn’t thinking about dinner. He couldn’t stop looking at her. She was wearing the dress he bought her, looking amazingly beautiful.
They sat down, and Grant took her hands in his. “I’m sorry,” he began, breathing deep, doing his best not to choke himself up. “You raised my kids without me, you have stuck by my side for so many years—” He took a deep breath. “I fucked up, Kate. I’m so sorry.”
Tears ran down her face, cringing every vein in his body. “Elias needs a father, Grant.”
He tightened his grip on her hands. Her tears drove him crazy, anytime he saw them. “I was just so afraid of being a bad father, I lost—”
“You have been a bad father,” she said.
He didn’t get angry. She was right. “I know.”
“Your son died not knowing that you love him, Grant.” She was really crying now. “Elias needs you to be his father. What kind of father will he be, if he has no example?”
Grant sucked in a breath. “What?”
“His fiancée is pregnant, Grant. Our son is having a baby.”
Grant’s eyes closed. He never thought of Elias as a father. He hadn’t realized, until this moment, the impact that he had on his family, on his world. Uncourageously, his eyes barely opened.
“Can you forgive me?” he asked her.
“I will always forgive you,” she said. “I’m your wife.”
Grant let out a breath, so deep it was like he was holding it in for thirty-five years. She was too good. He didn’t deserve her. He leaned forward, kissed the top of her hand.
“I love you,” he said.
“I know,” she said simply.
Grant looked up as the waiter arrived with the food.
They ate, made fun of criminals, even laughed a little. Grant ordered Kate some chocolate cake, her favorite, and he took her home. They walked up to the house, still joking, but when they reached the door, Kate suddenly stopped. She brought her hand to her neck, twiddled her necklace—another gift from Grant—and her lips moved.
He didn’t get to hear what she said, his movement was so abrupt. He slammed her against the door and he kissed her, oh he kissed her like he never had before. Her skin was so hot against him, her heart pulsing in his ears. Her fingers were undoing his belt, and oh, god, he had to find his keys before one of their neighbors called the police.
He finally opened the door, and they knocked down lamps and picture frames as they stumbled through the house, a hazy path to the bedroom. They somehow ended up in the kitchen, and he picked her up, carrying her to their table.
“That is a ten-thousand dollar table,” she said.
“I don’t care,” he growled, and set her down on it.
He kissed her again, and she unbuttoned his shirt. She kissed his chest, sucking on his skin, and he let out a shuddering breath. “Jesus, Kate,” he said, and let his pants fall. He couldn’t take it anymore. He lifted her dress, pushed her underwear aside, and then he was fucking his wife of thirty-seven years on their custom made, ten-thousand dollar kitchen table.
“Oh, Grant,” she called his name. She always called his name. He felt like he was twenty years old, in his dorm room and stealing Kate’s virginity all over again. “Oh, yes,” she moaned, “oh, Grant—Grant!” Kate screamed, and her body trembled. He held her as his body did the same.
He lied on top of the table next to his wife.
“Do not ever make me wait that long again,” she said.
“I promise,” he said, and he took her again, on some other expensive piece of furniture in the house. They never did make it to their bedroom.
Chapter 20
Elias and Jane walked to Jasmyn. Elias stopped, released Jane’s hand as they reached the opening.
She stopped with him. “You’re not coming?”
Elias forced his expression solid, the abandoned manner in Jane’s eyes making it very difficult for him.
“No,” he said. He walked away, sitting himself on a rock by the cliff.
She stared at him. “You don’t have to do this. I’m fine.”
“Don’t lie to me,” he said. He cou
ldn’t force away the image of her debilitating in his arms.
The saddened expression spread from her eyes to her entire face.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.
Jane stole one last look at his eyes, and removed her shoes. She walked around to the side of the lake to the shore, stepping into the water rather than diving in. She was being more careful.
Elias’s tough expression sunk as her head disappeared under the water. She was heartbroken at his restraint towards her. He could barely stand to sit here.
His eyes twinkled as something flashed under the surface. He squinted. A familiar purple sparkle excited his vision. There was a tiny tangle of purple glitter in the shape of a butterfly. The form raised upwards, shifty like a baby bird learning to fly. It ceased to ascend, and flew in a straight line. When it reached him, it floated around to the side of his face. It came in contact with Elias’s cheek, tickling him, like a sweet kiss. Then it was gone, breaking up into microscopic pieces and falling down into the water. Elias intuitively lifted his hand to his cheek, longing to feel the love that had just grazed it. There was a splashing noise, and Elias looked down. Jane’s arms and feet slightly disrupted the calm water as she swam towards the shore.
“You okay?” he asked her.
She nodded.
He pulled her to him and kissed her. They walked back together, holding each other as they crossed the clearing in front of Jane’s house.
Halfway up the stairs, Jane tightened her grip on him, as if she was falling. Her eyes closed, her legs shook, her throat rumbled. She couldn’t get air into her lungs. Elias enclosed her into his warmth. She wasn’t cold—she looked like she was having a seizure—but he hoped it would at least calm her down.
“Talk to me, beautiful, talk to me.”
“I—I don’t—”
“What is it?”
Elias didn’t ask the question. It was a calm voice a little farther away. Elias looked behind him. At the bottom of the steps stood that same man, the one that hated him. Elias opened his mouth to answer, but he felt Jane’s back straighten in his arms. She opened her eyes. She looked over at the man, but didn’t remove herself from Elias’s embrace. Her closeness eased his jealously a little. If this man could have crossed into her front yard, it meant Jane wanted him to.
“I don’t know,” Jane said.
The man’s eyes turned to Elias. “Stay close. If you can’t protect her like I can, at least—” he looked down at Elias’s body, his frame, “at least you can keep her safe.”
Elias didn’t have time to muster a comeback. The man was already in the trees.
Jane exhaled a long breath. “Can I use your phone?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Let’s get you inside.”
Jane changed into some cotton pajamas, towel dried her hair. She sat cross legged on the bed next to Elias. He handed her his highly technological cell phone. She looked at it for a while, and handed it back to him.
“Dial, please,” and she gave him the number.
He smiled lightly, and gave her back the phone.
“Yell-o?”
“Hey, Cam,” Jane said into the phone.
“Janie! How the hell are ya, darlin’?” His southern accented tone blasted loudly through the speaker.
Cameron Myers was older, late sixties. He was from Louisiana originally, trying out a change of scenery after divorcing his wife. He was a good friend. Caring, polite, and very, very powerful.
“I’m good, Cam. How is life over there all alone?”
“Great. Thanks to you.”
Jane laughed, remembering back to a month before when she had purposely flooded Cameron’s neighbor’s house to oblivion, forcing the annoying old lady to move.
Cameron interjected quickly. “So. Are you gonna tell me what the hell that was?”
“I don’t know.”
“Nearly knocked me on my ass.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
They were both quiet for a while. Jane spoke first. “Can you do some rain?”
“Think it’ll help?”
“Probably not. But it will make me feel better.”
“Sure, Janie.”
“Thanks.”
“Did you meet him yet?” Cameron asked bluntly.
Jane smiled, looked over at Elias. “Yeah. We’re having a baby.”
“Congratulations.”
They both were silent, but then Cameron said, “Annabelle would have been so happy.”
Jane’s only response was a single tear that ran silently down her face. Elias squeezed her hand.
“I’m sorry, Jane,” Cameron said. “I should really learn to keep my mouth shut once in a while.”
“Its okay, Cam. Listen, I’m gonna go. I’ll call you if I need you.”
“No need. I’ll be there anyway. Asta,” he said his goodbye, and hung up.
“Friend of yours?” Elias asked.
“Yeah. Anna and him, they had a thing.” A breath whooshed from her lips, and she fell back, onto Elias.
He held her. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” she grunted. “I’m really getting tired of saying that.”
Elias smiled at her. She owed him an explanation.
“The energy was too strong. I couldn’t control it.” It wasn’t much, but it was just so hard to explain to someone who wasn’t capable of understanding. He had to feel it to know it.
Elias’s hand went to her stomach. As the sweet sound of raindrops fell down to the earth, Elias’s shoulders shook.
“Why don’t you like the rain?” she asked.
“I never said I didn’t like it.”
She blinked at him.
He let out a breath. “Every memory I have of him is associated with rain. I don’t feel happiness when I remember him, like everyone said I would. It’s just emptiness.”
Jane blinked hard. She could feel his grief in her head, an unbearable blast of pain. She pressed her lips together, suppressing a tear for them. Elias and Liam. Both of them separated from the other, lost forever. There was nothing she could say to illuminate the darkness that Elias felt. She couldn’t even compare her own loss to his. Half his soul had been taken from him, stolen, and then buried in the ground.
She leaned into him, but she stiffened as the overbearing mass of energy took her over again. She clutched Elias’s shirt in her hands. The power pulsed in her chest, each time stronger, deeper, like angry footsteps. Elias held her tight as she screamed. Energy. Not hers. Theirs.
“Christian,” she whispered. “I need you.”
Chapter 21
Angry breaths vibrated Elias’s chest. He needed to relax. He was going to make himself sick, merge into a self inflicted heart attack. Christian. Jane had been wrong. He could surely understand how deep the hate lived. He could feel it rising up, like bile in his throat.
Jane’s shakes stilled, and she got up. He didn’t try to stop her, just watched her walk away from him. He was breaking. He wasn’t good enough for her.
Elias’s heartbeat escalated, and he jumped up from the bed. He couldn’t give up on her. She loved him. He just had to help her understand how much. As much as he loved her, he was sure.
He walked to the front door. He leaned in the doorway, watching her walk the opposite way. The other man stood in the clearing with his eyes closed, the rain soaking his clothes. He didn’t open his eyes until Jane wrapped her arms around him. He held her, sniffed her hair. Elias made a fist, a dark ping of jealously threatening his heartbeat again. The man spoke to her, but the loud pouring drowned his words.
Elias straightened his posture as this man walked towards him.
He held out his hand, and said calmly, “Christian Reed.”
Elias thought about laying him out with one blow, but Jane was watching. She needed him to be her man, not an immature guy.
“Elias Linden,” he said, and firmly shook his hand.
Christian flinched. Elias thought for a second that Christian cow
ered under his grip, but the flinch arose as he came in contact with Elias’s skin.
Christian turned to Jane, still standing in the clearing.
“You leave Earth for Fire,” he yelled over the rain, “is that it?”
Her lips mouthed “what” but her voice was lost.
Christian hopped down to the yard and charged at Jane. He pulled a knife from a sheath attached to his belt. He positioned himself behind her, secured his arm around her stomach, and brought the blade to her neck.
Elias’s hands balled into fists, and he took a step forward, but then he stopped. This man was one slice away from stealing everything Elias had to live for. A sudden move could be the biggest mistake he would ever make.
Elias tried to force air into his lungs as his entire body began to shake. His heart started beating so fast that each beat melted together until his chest hummed. Rage boiled his blood to an excruciating temperature. His throat made a hacking sound, he couldn’t breathe, it was too hot. He focused his wide eyes on a tree right behind Christian—he couldn’t risk a look at Jane. His muscles bulged and his skin tightened, and the tree, it burst into flames. The whole of it, from the trunk attached to the earth to the top branches bursting with leaves, was engulfed in a bright red fire. He saw Christian release Jane, and holster his knife. Jane turned to the tree, and then back to Elias. She stepped back, a deep fear pushing her even farther away from him. Elias looked down. The air around him was deep red, the color of Jane’s hair, the color of the ring on her finger. It surrounded him, the red sparkles joining together in a bloody, protective cloud. His aura.
Jane’s unbelieving squeal tore his every strength in half. “Elias!”
“Jane—”
“Elias, how could you?” She stepped forward, her purple aura forming quickly. “HOW COULD YOU?!”
Christian grabbed her wrist. She leaped forward, her momentum begging to be out of Christian’s grasp. He held on tight.
“Jane, I didn’t know, I promise you,” Elias’s voice was constricted. It was not his own. “Jane, I’m sorry, please—”
Jane tore her arm away from Christian, breaking free. She turned on her heel, and ran into the forest. Elias didn’t follow her, but Christian did.