Touched (Sense Thieves)

by Corrine Jackson

  Ben and Laura pushed the nurse ahead of them out of the room. Ben called over his shoulder that they’d be back as soon as they found a decent cup of coffee. He winked at me, and I knew he intended to sneak one back to me. I smiled and the door closed behind them. Lucy lay next to me in silence, and I could almost feel her thinking.

  “When are you coming home, Remy? I hate the house without you there.”

  The nightmares that had plagued me for years had found her. I heard them in her tense, tired voice. She’d been protected her entire life, and in one night, Dean had changed everything, leaving scars that would never go away completely.

  “Couple of days, I think. Longer, if Dad has anything to say about it. How’re you doing, Luce?”

  She rubbed her eyes. “I should be asking you that. You sound like crap, by the way.”

  My voice did sound awful, husky and thick from crying. “Thanks for that. I can always count on you for honesty.”

  “You can always count on me, period, stupid.” With solemn eyes, she glanced up at me. “You could’ve told me the truth. It wouldn’t have changed anything. It doesn’t change anything.”

  I stared back with disbelief. “You say that now, but you don’t know everything.”

  A frown twisted her lips. “You mean about the Protectors? Actually, I do. The Blackwells told me whatever I hadn’t figured out when Lottie dropped me at their house. I know about you and Asher bonding and how you’ve been training with his family. I almost beat the crap out of Lottie when she confessed how she betrayed you. Nobody messes with my family.”

  Shocked by her calm acceptance, I asked, “How are you handling this so well? I’ve lived with my ability for years, and I still handled these past weeks poorly.”

  Lucy’s smile bore a hint of smugness, and I glimpsed a small resemblance to me for the first time. “Oh, like it was hard. Sis, you had bruises appearing and disappearing like magic. Our parents may be oblivious, but I figured something was up with you. And any fool can tell the Blackwells are different. Why do you think I warned you away?”

  Touching a button on the bed remote, I lowered the mattress so we could both rest more comfortably. “You objected to motorcycles?”

  “I’d smack you in the head if you didn’t have a concussion. Speaking of which, why haven’t you healed yourself? Are your powers not working?”

  “Too many questions. It’s the first thing I learned when my powers developed. Imagine what would happen if word got out.”

  She pondered that for a moment. “Right, the Protectors. Not to mention the scientists who’d want to experiment on your skinny carcass.”

  If it wouldn’t have hurt so much, I would have hit her in the face with my pillow.

  “What about Mom and Dad? Will you tell them the truth?”

  I sighed with regret. Ben would need to know the truth since I was staying. He deserved to know, considering the secrets Anna had kept from us both. “Not now. Maybe someday. Knowing the truth might put them in more danger. This has to be our secret for now—ours and the Blackwells’. Can you live with that?”

  Making herself more comfortable, Lucy kicked her ballet flats off, and they dropped to the tiled floor with an uneven thud. “Are you kidding? I feel like Willow in season one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, except Buffy is my sister.”

  My brows rose. “I’m nothing like Buffy.”

  Lucy’s drowsy voice rang with unconcern. “You have an alter ego, and you have superpowers you use to save people, including me. Hence, Buffy. Don’t argue with me. How many times do I have to tell you that I know everything?”

  Of course, she had it all wrong.

  Lucy sighed and her hand grew heavy on my arm. “You mind if I fall asleep? I haven’t been able to close my eyes the last few nights with you gone and the house . . .”

  Imagining what the house looked like, I grimaced. In a forced light tone, I said, “No. But if you try to steal my pillow, I’ll knock you out of the bed.”

  She grumbled, “You’re such a grouch.”

  “Lucy? Do me a favor?”

  “Hmm?” She sounded half-asleep already.

  My energy hummed, healing all but the telltale bruise on her face. She gasped when blue sparks lit the room.

  “Wear something with a high collar for a couple of days so no one notices your bruises are gone.”

  “That is so cool.” Her soft voice vibrated with awe.

  Teetering on the edge of sleep myself, I heard her add with pride, “My sister, the Healer.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  I felt Asher’s presence before I saw him.

  In the last two weeks since I’d awakened in the hospital we’d been careful with each other. Asher acted attentive, and we’d seen each other every day. He’d become a steady fixture at my home, with my family accepting his presence. It should have been perfect. And yet . . . There’d been no discussion of what I’d done to him by stealing his mortality or what the days ahead held.

  My friends and family, and even his family, could be blamed for some of that. The door to my room had revolved as guests flowed in and out, bringing their worry and concern and leaving behind the solid belief that I belonged in Blackwell Falls.

  Leaning back on the palm not encased in a cast, I raised my face to the stingy sun with my eyes closed. It cast a golden glow over the clearing at the center of Townsend Park’s labyrinth. Earlier, when I’d stopped by Asher’s house, I’d glanced out on the bay and discovered it transformed. Dozens of sailboats skimmed across the dark blue ocean, taking advantage of the surplus of good weather. My family sailed among them, the first time they’d left me alone for longer than a couple of hours since Dean had taken me.

  Nightmares plagued our house now. An army of maids had shown up on our doorstep shortly after I’d been admitted to the hospital, courtesy of the Blackwells. According to an astonished but grateful Laura, they’d kicked her out of the house, while they scoured every trace of Dean from our home. Carpets, furniture, wood floors. Everything stained by blood had disappeared and new furniture sat in its place. The Blackwells had refused payment from my father, insisting that they wanted to do what they could to ease my homecoming.

  Laura and Ben weren’t without their own nightmares. They worried Dean would return, and I hated the pretense we had to keep up. My parents—a thrill went through me whenever I thought that—watched Lucy and me for signs that we cracked under the pressure of all we’d been through.

  I worried most about Lucy. She hardly slept, and rarely in her own room. Since I’d returned home, I often woke to find her curled beside me on my bed, her hand resting on my arm as if she sought comfort even in sleep. Dean had broken something inside her, too, and I cried for her when she couldn’t see and waited for her to talk to me.

  Of course, I cried at telephone commercials and sappy movies now, too. Once the floodgates opened, they couldn’t be dammed again. After so many years of isolation, a place existed where I fit, the last piece in an ornate, complex, perfect puzzle. In this town on the edge of the world, I felt loved. I am loved.

  “More than you’ll ever know.”

  The rough timbre of Asher’s voice soothed and warmed where the sun couldn’t. He’d arrived on silent feet as usual, and happiness fluttered through me. I love you. Eyes closed, I smiled, and a moment later his lips touched mine in a gentle caress that said hello and good-bye all at once.

  The time had come to clear the air, then.

  Slowly, as if filled with regret, he pulled away, and I straightened, patting the seat next to me. My iPod had been recovered from the car wreck, and I moved it aside to make room for him. “Sit with me.”

  Asher sat as far away as he could while still resting on the stone bench. Not a good sign. His brother had warned me he’d be like this.

  “When did you speak with my brother?”

  “This morning. I went to find you, and we had an interesting conversation.”

  I played the scene through my mind.
/>   Lottie had opened the door at my knock. We’d eyed each other with suspicion. Her hatred had dissipated, but she didn’t like me any better than before. As for me, while I felt grateful she’d helped Lucy escape, I couldn’t forget how she’d betrayed me. We both loved Asher, though, and that became the basis for a momentary truce. She apologized, and I forgave her with a fierce warning that if she ever betrayed anyone I cared about again, I’d ensure the sewer was the only thing she smelled for the rest of her miserable life.

  Gabe had eavesdropped on our conversation from where he leaned against the doorway to the living room. “That was unexpected, Healer,” he said, after Lottie left the room. “Forgiving her. Asher can hardly stand to be in the same room with her, and she knows it.”

  My brows rose in surprise. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Perhaps because I think you can convince my brother to forgive her, too,” he said, in a hard tone. “We would not be in this situation, after all, if not for you, Healer.”

  I could see it pained Gabe to watch his family hurting, and I responded to that instead of the insult. “Are you implying that a Healer can do good while there’s still breath in her body, Protector?” I asked with heavy sarcasm.

  He understood the reference immediately. I stood in mute fascination when he threw back his head and laughed his way out of the room. Even going, Asher’s brother truly was beautiful.

  “You know, you could edit that part out of your memory.” Asher’s wry tone made me laugh.

  My lips twitched, and I shrugged. “Gabe is beautiful.” At his scowl, I held up a hand. “But he’s not you. Gabe is a pleasure to look at, like a marble sculpture. Cold and untouchable. But you . . . My hands itch to trace the scar on your face, to run through your hair, to feel your skin. And when you touch me, my heart leaps out of my chest. You stun me, Asher. You have since the first day I looked up and saw you standing on a beach.”

  My words silenced him. His jaw slackened, and he stared at me with wide eyes. I’d been fighting him and my instincts every step of the way. I had one thing to thank Dean for—I would not take one minute with Asher for granted.

  “You need to forgive your sister, Asher. Eternity is a long time to hold a grudge, and she’s your family.”

  His mouth snapped closed, and his eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong, Remy?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

  “This,” he said, gesturing between us. “You don’t do grand declarations. It feels like you’re saying good-bye.”

  A smile twisted my mouth. “Funny. I thought the same thing about you when you kissed me a few minutes ago.”

  Color stained his cheeks, and he had the good grace to look away. So I’d been right. He couldn’t forgive me for making him immortal again, and I couldn’t be sorry when he sat in front of me, alive and more handsome than any man had a right to be.

  “There’s nothing to forgive!” Hard hands grasped my shoulders to force me to look at him. He didn’t hurt me, but I couldn’t glance away from the intensity in his expression. “I didn’t want to leave you. I haven’t had nearly long enough with you.”

  “How long will you want me?” I asked in a tremulous voice. “How long when I continue to grow old and you stay the same age? How long when the Protectors come hunting and your family is in danger again?”

  He brushed a strand of hair from my face and stroked a finger down my cheek. “A lifetime should about do it, mo chridhe. You’re so quick to abandon hope. Have you changed your mind about me?”

  “Never!” I stood and his hands fell away from me as I paced a short distance. “But you may change yours. There are things you don’t know, things I figured out when Dean had me.”

  Rising to his feet, Asher put his hands in his jeans pockets. “Does this have anything to do with your conversation with Gabe?”

  I nodded. Closing my eyes, I recalled following Gabe to the living room.

  “I need a favor, Gabe.”

  His brows rose. “You’re more demanding than one of my Sorori-toys, you know.”

  I choked on a laugh, surprised, when he added, “Protector hearing powers, remember?”

  My grin faded as I held up a small vial of red liquid. Gabe had the resources to see this done. “I need you to test this.”

  “Your blood?”

  I nodded. “You said you felt I was different from other Healers. This will prove it.”

  Frustration marred the line of his brow into minute wrinkles. “Not likely. Without a sample from another Healer, I’m not sure what I’d be looking for.”

  I sensed disappointment and wondered if Gabe had wanted me to be the key to a cure. I was. I’d proved that with Asher. Yet, no one knew how or why or if the results could be duplicated without killing me. “There you go asking the wrong questions again, Protector.”

  Hearing something in my tone, he glanced up. “You know something.” It wasn’t a question.

  “I suspect something,” I corrected. I hadn’t listened to the last of my mother’s recordings yet. That was something I wanted to do with Asher since it would affect us both. “I think you should compare my blood to your own, Gabe.”

  “Tell me,” he insisted.

  “I’d rather let you do the tests and come to your own conclusions without my idea tainting the results.”

  Gabe sat back in his oversized chair, his large body making it appear small. “You really do suspect something. It must be one heck of an idea. Mind telling me how you came up with it?”

  “Dean. He said something, and it got me to thinking.”

  Asher’s brother scowled at the mention of Dean, and I was glad that his sudden anger was not directed at me. “What did he say?”

  “Something about my father, actually. He meant to insult me at the time, but it had another effect entirely. Especially after what happened with Asher when Dean shot him.”

  I smiled with satisfaction when Gabe’s mouth dropped open as I explained those moments after I’d stolen Asher’s energy. No one, not even Asher, knew the impact that pivotal moment had on me. They knew I’d used his power to strike down Dean and to heal Asher. They knew I’d nearly died when I returned his power to him, making him immortal again. Gabe suspected I’d been “different.” More “like them,” but he didn’t grasp the truth. How could they know I’d become immortal myself for a few brief moments?

  My eyes opened suddenly when Asher’s fingers traced my jaw.

  “Explain, Remy,” he demanded.

  His tone brooked no argument, and I sighed. Time for confessions. I hadn’t meant to keep this from him, but there’d been few moments of privacy these last two weeks. In as few words as possible, I explained the change that had come over my body when his power had overwhelmed my defenseless system.

  I finished, and he turned away with his hands clenched in fists at his side. “This is my fault, Remy. I’m so sorry. When Dean shot me, I felt human, weak, and I knew I couldn’t protect you. I’d failed you. Being with you, I’d become too mortal to heal like I should’ve. That’s why I told you to use my energy. If you could heal yourself, you stood a chance of getting away.”

  My hand trembled when I ran it over the muscles in his shoulder. “You didn’t fail me. You took a bullet for me, Asher. I would be dead now if you hadn’t shown up. I’d given up. On you. On myself.”

  The shame I still felt made tears come to my eyes. Arms wrapped around me tucking my face against a sturdy chest, and I settled against him, willing to be comforted by him for the rest of my life. His voice rumbled against my ear. “You didn’t give up. When I arrived, you were fighting back. You were sure you were going to die, but I heard one thought surface above all the others. Do you remember?”

  I don’t want to die. That had been the only thing in my head when I knew Dean would kill me.

  “You’re braver than anyone I’ve ever met. I don’t know another person who could’ve had the strength to make it through those hours with Dean.”

  I
ducked my head into his shirt, my clunky cast resting at his waist. I hadn’t felt brave or strong. I’d thought only of my family and of him. To distract him, I said, “Don’t you want to know the rest of my conversation with your brother?”

  I felt his nod as he rested his chin on the top of my head, and I fell back into the memory.

  Gabe had put two and two together and made the leap to sixteen. The test I’d asked him to run, the way my power worked, and my ability to become immortal. He sat forward in his seat. “You understand what this means? If it’s true . . .” His words trailed off, and we both considered what it meant for me to be the first and only of my kind, and the unique powers my makeup leant me.

  Gabe’s breath hissed out, and he whispered, “They’ll want to use you, or they’ll want you dead. The Protectors and Healers will both come after you. You don’t stand a chance with ten Ashers at your side.”

  Slowly, I let the memory fade away, allowing Asher time to process the new information. Like a coward, I’d used the memories to make him understand the truth when I couldn’t bear to say the words out loud. Neither Healer nor Protector, I was something else—something never before seen. Asher deserved to know what he faced if he stayed with me. I should leave to protect him, to protect them all, but I wasn’t strong enough. I needed him, but if he chose to walk away, I’d do everything in my power to let him go.

  “Ah, Remy,” he breathed. And he laughed.

  It was the last possible reaction I’d expected. I’d prepared myself for him to be cold or regretful. In my wildest imaginings, he’d been supportive. In none of the thousand conversations I’d had with him in my head did he laugh.

  Asher leaned away and spied my expression. He laughed harder than before, gasping for air. Anger and hurt fought, and anger won out. Glaring at him, I turned and stalked away, picking the nearest path that would take me out of the park. I’d gone two feet when an arm clamped around my waist.

  “You’re beautiful when you’re mad at me,” he said, amusement still in his voice.

  Tears blurred my vision, and I aimed an elbow into his stomach, attempting to get loose. I ended up hurting myself instead when the limb bounced off rock-hard muscles. I cried out, and Asher turned me in his arms with gentle, inescapable force. The laughter faded from his face as he checked my elbow and placed a soft kiss on the red skin.