I was at the front door in two steps. Kerry was beside me in three.
‘What are you doing? Stay here!’ I forced myself not to punch the door as she looked up at me.
‘I can’t stay here. I’m going to help!’
Her eyes were wide. Her whole body was tight and ready for action. I wasn’t going to put her in danger, too.
‘Please, Kerry. I need you to stay here.’ I cupped the back of her upturned head and squeezed gently.
Her breath grew faster and she went to pull away. I put my other hand on her shoulder to stop her from moving.
‘I know you don’t know me well but please trust me. I need you to stay here and watch from the window. Ring Cancer and tell her what’s happening. Get her to send Aries down here to rescue you and Sophie. Okay?’
Her throat moved as she swallowed. My eyes traced the movement. She was a good friend now. Being trapped with her for twenty four hours had made us form a bond unlike any I had experienced before.
‘Okay. Please be careful.’
Nodding once, I took my hands away from her warm skin and opened the door. I heard the click of the lock behind me and felt my muscles relax. At least I would only have to rescue one woman.
‘Taurus?’
The shout came from the other side of the door.
‘What?’
I leant my head against it to listen to her answer. I could tell she did the same when her muffled voice came through it. ‘I’ll tell you my dark secret, when you tell me yours.’
The sentimental words made my skin heat up and my heart beat faster. What made her want to share her secret with me? I was a waste of space.
‘Deal!’ I shouted back, pushing away from the door.
My phone was still in my hand. I dialled Gemini as I skipped down the stairs, two at a time.
‘What do you want?’
‘That’s a nice way to greet your brother,’ I replied.
His chuckle was seductive, which meant he was with a woman. His showmanship was excellent whenever he was with a fine lady.
‘I’m in trouble. Nick’s men have Sophie, so I’m going in. I just need you to do me a favour. Aries will know soon and come storming down here. You need to be the cool one. I’m going to Nick. I want to speak to him—’
‘Taurus, don’t be a fool!’ Gemini had woken up. His tone changed. I was about to hang up the phone when he said something that I never thought I would hear. ‘We need you.’
The step slipped out from under me as I faltered on the concrete stairs. I stayed upright, but my head started to spin.
‘No you don’t. I’ll be perfectly fine. I want to talk to him, that’s all. Aries said we couldn’t kill each other, so there’s no need to worry. I need you to get Sophie and take her to a safe place. They obviously think she’s my…’
I couldn’t voice it. How could I say the words out loud when I didn’t even believe in it?
‘Twin Flame?’ He sounded calm, but I heard the shake of his voice. ‘Who would’ve thought that the mighty, meaty Taurus would find a woman that—’
‘Shut up! She’s just a woman. A fine one at that. I don’t want her in any danger. When Aries brings her back to the house, will you take her somewhere safe?’
The truth was, I had made my decision. Seeing Sophie cringing away from Nick’s man was enough to make me want to break his neck. It was also enough to put me off women for life. I would never again let a woman be in that position because of me.
‘Yes, I’ll do that.’
The bottom step loomed. I paused to catch my breath.
‘Thank you.’
‘Taurus?’ His voice was breathy. He was acting already. ‘Don’t do anything stupid.’
‘Me? How could you even think that?’ I laughed. ‘Stupid is far too intelligent to come near me.’
My footsteps echoed as I went to the communal door and pushed it open. The blast of noise from the street made me smile. My nerves made my whole body shake. The adrenaline was a welcome boost. The drugs never made me feel this good. I was ready for a fight.
‘Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to Victoria?’ someone asked as I paused on the pavement.
The men were directly opposite where I stood. They caught sight of me as I came into view. Their backs straightened as they stepped forward. Sophie hadn’t noticed me. She tried to rip her arm away from the man that gripped it.
‘Yes, there’s a map just inside the tube station over there. Come, I’ll show you,’ I replied, taking the woman’s arm and crossing the road. Nick’s men stepped back when I approached. I hated using the innocent as a shield, but it worked.
‘Taurus!’ Sophie’s squeak was silenced as Nick’s man put his arm around her neck and pulled her to him. His lips crushed hers and she went still.
‘You’re such a nice young man,’ the woman said.
I smiled and nodded, keeping one eye on the steps to the tube and the other on Nick’s men. They stood back, watching my every move. They each had one hand in a pocket, probably holding weapons, ready to respond if I attacked.
‘Thank you!’ the woman said as I pointed out the tube station.
She went on her way and I stayed where I was.
‘Take me to Nick,’ I called.
People rushed between us into the tube station. My words hit the crowd, but one of the men raised his eyebrows. Sophie was still locked in a fake kiss with the other one. The man that had heard me smacked his arm, so he released her. She spluttered as she glanced at me.
‘Come here, then,’ the man without Sophie called.
The knife was heavy in my pocket. I didn’t want to use it in the street. I didn’t want to use it at all. But I would if I had to.
‘Let her go first,’ I shouted.
One passing man glanced at me. He quickly shuffled on when I snarled at him.
‘This isn’t the best place to talk,’ the other man shouted.
I shrugged, uninterested in our surroundings. The more open we were, the less likely they would be to hurt Sophie.
‘You have my word that as soon as you let her go, I will come with you.’
The man holding Sophie stepped back as curious glances looked our way. Most of them shuffled past, keeping their heads down. People were such sheep. And my siblings wondered why I thought robots would be better than humans? They were too scared to even question what might be happening.
‘Well, we were given orders to take you to Nick, so I guess if you’re willing to come, we can let her go.’ The other man gestured to the one holding Sophie.
Sophie shook her head. She was trying to get me to look at her. I avoided eye contact. I didn’t want to cause her anymore stress.
‘Go on, then,’ I called when he paused.
He nodded once and let go of her. She stood motionless for a moment before she stepped past him and went to move away. The other man closed the distance between us and took hold of my arm. I let him.
‘Sophie!’ I shouted when the other man lunged after her.
I ripped away from my captor, but he stayed with me, dragging me to the ground. The people around us scattered away from the scuffle.
‘Sophie, run!’
I couldn’t get free from the man that was determined to take me to Nick. He had his arms locked around my waist. We wrestled on the concrete. The surface made it hard for me to get any grip. There was no earth around for me to try and manipulate.
The scream was hers. It vibrated around me and filtered into my ears. I gave up the struggle to look over to where she was. The man had one arm around her neck. He lifted the other. The glint of the silver blade made my eyes widen as his hand plunged down. I opened my mouth and screamed when the knife entered her chest.
Sophie mouthed my name as the man released her. Blood seeped through her cream jumper. She crumpled to the ground, her gaze not leaving mine as she fell.
My vision blurred as I focused on the red of her blood. I pushed myself up from the ground, dragging Nick’s man
with me. I got to her as a siren sounded in the distance. My captor had his arms wrapped around me, trying to pull me away, but I wouldn’t go with him.
‘Taurus,’ Sophie whispered.
It was too late. The light faded from her eyes as my shaking arms cradled her against me. My heart exploded as I was lifted from the ground. All I could see was her open eyes as they stared up at me.
‘Sorry,’ Nick’s man whispered as he wrenched my arms away from Sophie.
I let her fall to the ground. I let him drag me away from the scene. A car screeched up. I let him push me inside. Nick would pay. Everyone would pay.
Chapter Twelve
‘Put this blindfold on,’ the man spat.
The piece of material hit me on the head.
The muscles in my hands wouldn’t stay still. It wasn’t caused by the lack of drugs anymore. The car sped through London as quickly as it could, squeezing through the traffic. The beeping horns went ignored.
‘Why did he kill her?’ The words were pushed through my teeth. I was barely holding onto my temper.
‘Put the blindfold on.’ The man wasn’t going to talk to me. The driver of the vehicle had been one of the men on guard the day before. The man who had murdered Sophie had disappeared. It was a good job, too.
The blindfold blocked out the light as I tied it around my head. My compliance surprised me. I would play along if it meant I would see Nick.
‘I’m going to kill you all,’ I muttered.
The men laughed. It didn’t affect me. I had gone cold. My slow deep breathing kept me calm. The need for drugs was making my stomach churn, but the desire to kill the person responsible for Sophie’s…
I couldn’t think of the word. Sophie had been killed because of me. Her blank blue eyes flashed into my mind behind the darkness of the material over my eyes.
‘You can laugh now. However, I will make you pay.’
They went quiet. They must have heard the truth in my statement. I had never felt the need to protect my family. My siblings were strong and independent. I was the weak link. However, Sophie had been mine. If she hadn’t got involved with me, she would still be alive. Probably driving another man insane. But now, her body lay on the ground in a street in London.
‘We’re here,’ the driver announced as the car came to a stop.
We hadn’t driven far since I had put the blindfold on. We were still in London. The street was quiet. Did Nick have houses everywhere? What type of operation were the Dysfunctionals running?
‘Move!’
Someone grabbed my arm and hauled me out of the vehicle. The air was warm as a slight breeze brushed against my bare skin. My sleeveless shirt was twisted. I tried to move my body to straighten it, but I was pushed from behind.
‘Just walk.’
I tripped when my foot connected with a step going down. I only stayed on my feet because one of the men held my arm. The air changed when I was thrust through a door and into a dank smelling house.
‘Taurus! It’s good to see you again.’
Nick’s voice wound its way into my ear and punched my brain. I ripped away from my captor and off took my blindfold.
We were in a hallway.
‘Welcome. Follow me.’ Nick walked through a door, leaving me with one of his men.
Glancing down, I noticed that the cream carpet was pristine. The house had obviously been shut up for a long time. Cracking my knuckles with my fingers, I followed him through the wooden door and into the kitchen area.
‘I would offer you a cup of tea, but it looks like you could use something stronger,’ he said, pouring a full glass of vodka.
My hands itched to reach out and gulp the liquid down. I paused when he offered it to me. The brown skin on his hands was wrinkled. The short strands of hair on his head started to match the grey of his eyes.
‘I’ve seen you before,’ I said, grabbing the glass when he went to pull it away.
The need to down my drink went ignored as Nick pushed up the sleeves of his jumper and sat at the small plastic table.
‘Only briefly. You spied on your mother when she was with me, but you’ve only seen me once. In our past lifetimes, however, you’ve seen me a lot.’
I sat opposite him and took a gulp of vodka. It warmed my throat as it travelled down.
‘Lifetime? Not you as well.’
The corner of his lip lifted into his cheek. The glint of his grey eyes reflected in the light from the dim bulb overhead. The windows were below ground level, so it was a dingy atmosphere.
‘Taurus. You’re the seeker of truth. The one that questions everything but lives in the past.’
His words struck a chord. I clenched the glass in my hand, drinking back the whole lot when he tried to look into my eyes.
‘What do you want from me?’
‘I believe it’s you that wants something from me. I’ve been informed that my own issue with you has been resolved. Sophie—’
My fist connected with his jaw before I was even aware that it had moved. I flew over the table. My body slammed into him, rocking him back off his chair. The image of Sophie bleeding in my arms drove me to punch him over and over.
Arms restrained me. They wrapped around me from behind and trapped my arms against my sides.
Nick’s laughter echoed around the room as I fought against the person holding me.
The click of metal made me freeze. The barrel of a gun pressed into the side of my head. My breath hissed out as I thrust against my captors one last time.
‘Okay, let me go.’ I grunted.
Nick clicked his fingers. I was released.
‘I’m sorry about that. This is the game we play.’ Nick spat blood as he climbed to his feet.
He righted his chair and sat back down. His man handed him a tissue to mop his split lip. My whole body shook. I needed to release the thunderous rage that threatened to crawl all over me. I was going to explode.
‘You…son…of…a—’
‘Sit down,’ he ordered, pointing at the chair that lay on the floor where I had knocked it.
Rolling my shoulders, I did as I was told. I wanted answers. I wanted a solution. There was a solution to everything.
‘Why do you hunt us down?’ The scrape of the chair on the lino made his eyes squeeze shut.
‘You’ve never been in love, have you?’
A flashback of Sophie dancing around my room came to me. No. I wasn’t in love with her. We didn’t have long enough to fall in love. I was sure that I would have fallen for her eventually, though.
‘You know us so well, you tell me,’ I replied, accepting another glass of vodka when Nick’s man handed us one.
‘Your guardians have struggled with you this time round. They’ve only told you a bit about why you’re here. It doesn’t seem that they elaborated on much else. I bet you’re dying to know what it’s all about.’ He sipped his drink, cringing when the glass knocked the wound on his lip.
He was right. I had searched the Internet looking for answers. Science captured my interest, but it didn’t explain twin flames or reincarnation.
My parents had told me that I needed to be more open-minded. They said that one day I would know what they had taught me was real. When they explained I was going to meet a woman who would become my girlfriend, wife and soulmate, I raised my eyebrows and nodded at them. What was so special about that? Everyone had relationships.
‘You’re not an easy person to persuade.’ Nick interrupted my memories.
‘That’s because I know when I’m right,’ I replied, rubbing the sore spot on my knuckles.
His eyes traced the movement, but he didn’t smile. He was thinking as he watched me.
‘Did your parents ever tell you what the Dysfunctionals were all about?’
I shook my head. Even if they had, I probably didn’t listen or believe them.
‘When your siblings found their soulmates, did they seem happy to you?’
He was talking in riddles. Asking qu
estions, instead of giving answers. He leant back in his seat, leaving the blood spotted tissue on the table between us. The swelling of his lip satisfied me before the reason why I had done it hit home.
‘I’m not into playing games. Just tell me why you killed Sophie.’ My throat threatened to close for the first time since I had left her.
‘If you want the quick answer, it’s because I believe she was your twin flame. My man took it upon himself to eradicate the threat.’
Nick wasn’t that old. The lines around his eyes told me that he was about forty odd. The leathery look of his skin said that he spent a lot of time outdoors. What drove him to do what he did? We were all product of our parent’s creation. Did Nick have parents? Of course he would have parents. He would have grown up as we had. A sort of normal life.
Who was I kidding? Our parents had told us that we were special when we were young. They had said that we were going to change the world. So why had I almost done something that went against all their teaching when I had turned into a man?
‘I want the long answer. The real answer. The truth.’
My emotions were locked away. Everyone else ceased to exist in that moment. I needed to know the answers that I had been searching for.
‘I can show you,’ Nick said, glancing behind me.
I heard the movement of feet. A small bag appeared on the table. Nick’s man nodded once before leaving the room.
‘You like substance, Taurus. You take it to hide who you are. The dark part of you that begs to be heard.’
The sound of the zip filled the room when he pulled the bag open. Packets fell onto the table. White powder baggies littered the surface, begging for me to reach out and slide one away from its friends. Nick wanted to give me drugs?
‘Life is an illusion. We see what we want to see, not the truth. We think that what’s in front of us, is the whole of it. The truth of everything. It’s not the case. I know you don’t believe that, Taurus.’
I chuckled as I wrapped my fingers around the edge of the table. ‘There is nothing to prove what my parents say is right. A twin flame is a soul that splits into two and comes to earth in different bodies? Sometimes it’s destiny to meet your twin flame so that you can heal the human condition and fall madly in love. Nah, I don’t think so.’
Taurus: Book 3 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series) Page 8