Leo: Book 6 (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series)

by Rachel Medhurst

  “Why me?”

  The question burst from me before I had time to process it. I always helped my family, it was why I was on earth. However, what was it about me that made her reach out? Nick was playing a game. A very cruel one.

  Her sigh covered the wobble of her chin. As tears glazed over her eyes, I resisted the urge to reach out and comfort her in some way. Things were getting way too serious around here.

  “Come on, let’s get to Freddie.” I wanted her sadness to stop.

  Amelia took a deep breath, nodded and started to walk again. Her little legs took two steps in the time I took one. Who was she…really?

  We walked in silence until we came to a huge building. Instead of going in the front door, Amelia ducked into an alley and opened a side door. Steps lead down into a dark corridor.

  “Where are we going?” I hissed when the lights flickered.

  Amelia didn’t reply. Taking my arm, she dragged me to a door before she knocked twice and opened it.

  “Freddie?” she whispered, going inside.

  Standing on the threshold, I examined the small room. It wasn’t what I expected at all. Although it was in the lowest, dankest part of a building, someone had tried their best to make it habitable. Orange lights gave a warm glow to the place. Taking a step inside, I closed the door behind me.

  “Amelia?” Freddie’s weak voice filtered across the room from a small bed that was pushed into the corner.

  An old sofa was pushed against another wall, a tiny coffee table in front of it. There was no television or wardrobe. A mini-fridge sat on a cabinet beside a kettle. It was obviously the extent of the kitchen. There wasn’t even any running water.

  “Are you okay?” Amelia sat on the edge of the bed, leaning over.

  Going to them, I looked down at Freddie. His face was black and blue, his eyes swollen shut. Nick had released his temper on the poor man.

  “I’m okay,” Freddie wheezed, coughing and crying out as he grabbed his ribs.

  I couldn’t really see what he looked like. His hair was shaved, leaving only a thin layer of dark against his skull. Amelia had said that he was one of Nick’s men…that meant he was a Dysfunctional. If he had run away from Nick because he was in love with Amelia, he probably still had a huge dislike…no, hatred…for me.

  “Amelia, what do you want me to do?”

  Looking down at the injured man, I had no wish to help him. Maybe he had got the beating he deserved. Being a traitor wasn’t justified, no matter how much you fell in love with someone. Women were a man’s weakness. The thought popped into my head unbidden. I had never believed that before, so why did it suddenly crop up?

  The girl took my hand, squeezing it tight. “I need you to help us sneak out of London. Nick’s men are everywhere. I don’t have the ability to try and get him out on my own.”

  The man looked in my direction, probably not really able to see me. “Leo?” he croaked.

  Amelia got off the bed, patting the thin mattress to get me to sit. She wanted me to get up close and personal with one of my enemies.

  “I’m alright standing, thanks.”

  Her small face screwed up as she put her hands on my bicep and pushed, trying to get me to sit. I didn’t budge.

  “Easy, love.” I laughed. “Don’t go getting too excited. I’m not game for a threesome.”

  My wisecrack stopped her in her tracks. She frowned, gritted her teeth and spun away from me. I couldn’t help it, I didn’t want the pressure of her love affair on my shoulders.

  “Why are you always like this?”

  Her frustration made me smile. She was a feisty little thing, but rather annoying at the same time. Far too serious to spend much time around.

  “What do you mean? You’ve known me for two minutes.” I glanced down at the man on the bed as what sounded like a laugh escaped him before he cringed.

  What was he amused about? The little weasel was lucky I hadn’t put him out of his misery already. If Aries had been standing in my place, he wouldn’t have hesitated to put the enemy down. I, however, couldn’t stomach kicking the man when he was down. Helping him, on the other hand, that was out of the question.

  “I remember all of it…” Amelia refused to look at me, instead staring down at Freddie. “Why do you think we were in Henry’s VIII’s time together? Why do you think I have this stupid bracelet?”

  Scratching my chin, I grunted when my nails raked over the stubble there. I didn’t usually let it grow quite so long. “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t want to admit it and that’s fine. I’m not exactly your type in this lifetime.” Amelia took Freddie’s hand when he tried to sit up. “It’s okay, I have to tell him the truth. Otherwise, he might not help us.”

  It wasn’t the first time one of Nick’s men had deserted. Matt had fallen in love with Cancer. For a long while, they believed he was her twin flame soulmate. Turned out that he was a fake twin. Someone to trigger Cancer with the wounds she needed to heal to find her true soulmate. Unfortunately, he had lost his life. Did Cancer blame herself for that?

  “I wish someone would explain everything to me. I have places to be, people to do, songs to write.”

  Amelia rolled her eyes as she looked at Freddie. “Still the same, isn’t he?”

  Freddie managed to nod his head in agreement, almost smiling through the pain. What did she mean? How would Freddie know?

  “Leo, I’ve adored you for many lifetimes. And, for some reason, this lifetime, I’ve had to remember them all. I’ve travelled back with you, over and over. You lived in ignorance, not knowing who I was now, when I’ve known who you are all along.” She cleared her throat, glaring at me as if I had done something wrong to her. Which I hadn’t.

  “Go on.”

  “Nick’s right. I am your twin flame soulmate. Or, I was…until now. When he captured me, he tricked me into telling him about our past lives. I didn’t realise who he was. I’m sorry.”

  Rubbing a hand over my face, I moved over to the sofa and lowered myself onto it, sitting forward with my arms resting on my thighs.

  “We have this curse of going back to past lifetimes to try and fix what went wrong. I’ve come to believe that it’s because we’re not going to succeed this time. Well, actually, I know we’re not going to succeed this lifetime. Because, I no longer want to be your soulmate, Leo.”

  Her words should have cut deeper. If my siblings heard what she said, they would panic and try to convince her otherwise. Yet, I was fine with it. Sometimes, things didn’t work out how you expected them. And, this was one of those occasions. If Amelia didn’t want me this time round, that was fine by me. Because, if I was honest, I didn’t exactly want her, either.

  “Okay.”

  “I can’t continue to adore you. In the other lifetimes, you love me, sure, but…you need everyone’s love. Mine alone is never enough. Nick said it’s your Leo nature. You were so loyal to me in all ways, I’m not disputing that,” she said when I frowned. “…It’s just, you’re not the type to live a simple lifestyle.”

  “I was a farmer,” I argued, snapping my mouth shut when Amelia burst into laughter. “What?”

  Shaking her head quickly, she closed her eyes and muttered something inaudible to herself. “Please no,” she repeated louder.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked, getting to my feet when she slumped to the bed.

  Wind rushed around me. I knew exactly why she had said those words. I repeated them as I slumped back on the sofa and time changed around me.

  Opening my eyes when the wind had calmed, I blinked several times. The sunlight hit my eyes, causing me to squint. Looking around, I slowly sat up from where I was lying, still blinking in confusion. Where was Moron? Why had I not stepped through the glass to get back to a different lifetime?

  “Get up,” a frustrated female voice said from not too far away. “We might as well get this lifetime over and done with.”

  Standing, I rubbed my eyes to look at Amelia. S
he had her hands on her hips, her day gown muddy around the bottom of the green material. When she turned to walk away, I scoffed, holding back a laugh.

  She swung around, scowling at me. “What’s so funny?”

  Coughing, I scrubbed my face to try and clear it of my expression. “Erm…”

  “Spit it out!” Amelia was a little touchy.

  I wasn’t surprised considering that she had just told me that she didn’t want anything to do with me anymore, then two seconds later, we were in a past life together.

  “You may want to cover your arse, it looks like we’ve just had a good time.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her, not holding back the laughter when she looked over her shoulder to see the mud on the back of her dress.

  We had obviously got carried away in the field around us. My own trousers were mucky, but not as bad as hers. In fact, a satisfied pulsation was pumping throughout my body. Had I really missed the act of what created this pleasurable feeling?

  “You’re disgusting!” Amelia swiped at the mud, failing to dislodge any of it.

  Luckily, it was pretty dry, being the end of summer. Wandering over to her, I held my hands up in question.

  “You really think I’m going to let you touch my…bottom.” Amelia had reverted to Mary, ex Queen of France. Yet, the fire in her eyes matched her soul completely.

  “You just let me do a lot more than touch your…behind,” I said, smirking when she clasped a hand to the hem of the dress where it touched her chest.

  “I…I…will I never be rid of you?” she spat, throwing her hands in the air and presenting me with her back.

  Bending down, I swiped at the dry mud, knocking it off. We should have been more careful about where we had…laid. Passion had obviously taken over. The marks were still apparent, so I brushed harder, trying to get them off.

  “Sister…?” A big booming voice echoed around us. “Pray, tell me why my best friend is hitting your arse?”

  My hand froze in mid-air. Amelia/Mary spun, knocking me back from my crouch. The motion caused me to fall back, landing on my own arse. Mary’s face had drained of all colour.

  “Brother.” Her voice was small.

  Getting to my feet, I turned. There, sitting on the back of his horse, was the king. Next to him, was Mary’s husband, his face red and contorted in anger. It looked like the scaffold or the block was my next destination. King Henry was a fan of beheading traitors. And, I was certainly one of those.

  Chapter Seven

  “If you can travel back when you want, why are you still here?” I spat at Mary.

  The king’s sister glared at me from across the wagon. Henry had been hunting, we should have been with him. Only a night had passed since we were last in the land of the Tudors. Similar to the time back in 2016.

  Henry had ordered us to ride on the wagon, so he could think about what he would do with us as we rode back to Hever Castle. The dead pheasants made Mary shrink back against the side of the wooden cart when they jolted nearer to her. The horses clopped along happily, dragging us with them.

  Her husband, Charles, kept his back straight and faced forward. The poor man was probably feeling awful right about now. Although, it was just him and the king that had seen us. The guards had been standing back, away from where we were caught. That was the only one saving grace.

  “I can’t go back now, can I? The real Mary will take over from me. You won’t have a clue what to do to fix this on your own.”

  “What do you mean, the real Mary?”

  Mary huffed, her small nose tilting up as she looked at me. “Are you stupid? This life played out many years ago. Me and you. If I go back, that doesn’t mean Mary doesn’t exist anymore. It still plays out. Yet, it will be Mary’s brain and memory…mine back then…that comes back when the future me leaves.”

  Throwing a bird off me when it flicked onto my lap, I concentrated on our predicament. “So, we’re meant to do something now to prevent us both from being beheaded?”

  She nodded. It was hard to know whether to call her Mary or Amelia. We were so stuck in our future thinking, it was hard to return to Mary and Leon.

  “Yes. There’s a lesson in every one of our trips back. Something we learn. Don’t worry, it’s not something we need to remember consciously, our subconscious picks it up. We…struggle…to get things right. And, that’s why I’ve had enough.”

  Where we really that bad? I knew I was a free spirit, not pleased with being tied down to anything I didn’t feel passionate about, but I cared. Didn’t I?

  “Let’s run away,” I said, grabbing her ankle in my haste to invoke her into being less sombre.

  Shaking me off, she slapped my arm. “Leon…errr, Leo…”

  We were becoming our past life personas the more we were in that time. It was a good thing. Trying to convince Henry not to cut our heads off would take a lot of focus.

  “We would look guilty if we ran away. That’s always your answer. Let’s go and join the army, let’s go and climb a mountain, let’s laugh and joke all night long until our stomachs hurt, let’s build a new London, let’s visit the north pole, let’s…” Her breath ran out before she could go on.

  “We’ve done all that?”

  “You’ve done all that.” Her breath hitched on a sob as her eyes glassed over. “I tried to follow you sometimes, but I could never keep up. You Leos, you’re so adventurous. So happy go lucky. Even when you’re serious, you’re light hearted.”

  Although her description of me sounded impressive, her tone was bitter. She didn’t like that about me apparently. My wild and free ways. What could I say? That was who I was.

  “When we get back to London, I promise to help you and Freddie get out of the city. You should have a free life.” I still didn’t believe that we were twin flames, anyway.

  My siblings didn’t always know who their soulmate was, but as soon as they realised, they knew. I didn’t feel that with Amelia. She seemed a little familiar when we were in the past life, but in present day, she was just an ordinary girl.

  “Thank you.”

  “What shall we do now?” I asked, watching the back of Henry as he rode through the castle gates.

  He came to a stop just inside the walls, jumping down off his horse and gesturing for Charles to do the same.

  “Let me talk. Don’t say a word.” Mary righted her dress as best she could, considering she was on the back of a cart.

  Henry came to us, ordering one of his men to help us down. “Mary fell and sprained her ankle, didn’t you?” the king said, by way of explanation. “And, Leon stayed on the cart to make sure she didn’t fall off.”

  Charles scoffed, his puffed cheeks bright red. The guards looked between us as we faced each other. Mary put a hand on Henry’s sleeve, pretending to balance on him.

  “Brother, may I have a word alone?”

  The king cleared his throat to stop the staring war between myself and Mary’s husband. I wouldn’t back down, even if I was in the wrong. A man in those days still stood tall, no matter the accusation.

  “Leon, go to the library, I will meet you there in a moment.”

  Clicking his fingers at the guards, she drew Mary and Charles to the side as the guards took away the cart and horses.

  Bowing quickly, I retreated, heading straight down the walkway and into the house. I almost barrelled straight into Anne Boleyn.

  “Begging your pardon, my Lady,” I said, ducking my head.

  “Where are you going?” she ordered as I went to pass her.

  Gritting my teeth, I resisted the urge to call her out. I had to get my head in the game and away from the future. Clearing my thoughts, I immersed myself into Leon.

  “The king has asked me to wait for him in the library.” I went to step away again.

  She nodded once, took her skirts in her hands and marched away…towards the library. Following, I kept my distance, not wanting to be drawn into conversation with the future Queen of England. When we reached the wooden door,
Anne swung it open and went in, not bothering to look behind her. A maid was on her hands and knees, preparing the wood for a fire.

  “Leave,” Anne barked, waving her hand in the air.

  The maid scurried to her feet and rushed out of the room, her head bowed. Anne went to stand in front of the window overlooking the moat and fields. Putting her hands on her hips, she turned to face me.

  “Leon, you know Henry very well. Probably better than anyone. Please, tell me if he…” She swallowed, bringing her thumb up to her mouth to chew on the nail. “…will make me his queen.”

  I had never seen the woman nervous before. Her manipulation was a skill that required every effort. The way she stood before me, almost vulnerable, made me feel sorry for her. For about three seconds.

  “I believe he’s doing everything in his power to make you his queen. But, Anne, this is common knowledge.”

  I hated being nice to her, but I didn’t have a choice. At the same time, I needed to be careful. I could not tell her about my conversations with the king. It would be classed as treason. And, I had already committed that act today.

  “The king will be very angry if he knows that we’re talking. Surely, you can just ask him?”

  The door flung open and Henry strode in. His mouth was slightly screwed up. He was displeased. Bypassing me, he went straight up to Anne.

  “A servant told me you were both in here. I just stood listening at the door. Anne, please would you excuse us? We have some…business…to attend to. I’ll talk to you presently.” The bite in his tone made it quite clear that if she disobeyed him, he would make her pay.

  Curtsying, Anne turned on her most coy smile and moved closer to him, letting the hem of her dress brush against his leg. “Of course, Your Majesty. I’ll be waiting for you.” She breathed the last of her sentence as she put a hand on his forearm and squeezed before leaving the room.

  The king watched after her, his eyes unable to leave her figure. The vixen had him under her spell. If only Henry could stop thinking with his…