Bitter Thorns (The Entwined Book 1)

by Chrissy Jaye

  “Is it always like this?” I asked. I wanted to understand what this was, to see how this worked in their family.

  “You mean, does trust come easy or this between you and me?”

  I paused to think about what he was saying. Was there something between he and I? I didn’t think so. Then again, I was plastered to his side, and despite my aversion to romance or relationships. I knew it sent the wrong kind of message to not push him away. My gaze drifted toward the door to the sauna. Brooke and Vian were still inside.

  “I feel out of place here but not at the same time,” I finally admitted quietly. He shifted beside me. Liam and Ben were still rough housing in the pool, and I returned to watching them absently, waiting for his response.

  “We fight,” he said. “Of course, we do, but we love each other.” Kieran nodded to the sauna. “Vian had some trouble at first too when we found him. I know you’re probably still mad at him for hiding it. How could you not be? But he adjusted eventually. So will you. Knowing about all of this wouldn’t have helped you. I can see it in your eyes sometimes, how you watch us, waiting for someone to light a match and burn it all down. That won’t happen. Not with us.” The breeze from earlier picked back up causing me to tremble as I leaned into Kieran more. I heard his words but couldn’t imagine what it would be like to trust that things weren’t constantly on the edge of falling apart. He sighed. “Some things have to be learned over time, despite what Flynn thinks. Realistically, we all expect a much longer adjustment period for you.”

  “And this whole touching and affection thing you guys do, I should just let that happen?” I don’t know how our conversation turned to this. I’d barely spoken ten words to the guy directly, but it felt like gliding through water. There was some resistance, but I wasn’t afraid of him.

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” he said, laughing softly. “Anything you aren’t comfortable with, you should just tell us. Like the other day when I tried to heal you. If we get hurt by it, that’s on us. Not you.”

  “Supper’s ready. Should I leave the lovebirds to it?” Lucien called out from the back door, breaking the moment Kieran and I had been in before we could say anymore.

  “There’s the confirmation I needed,” I said, swinging my legs off the chair and crossing the patio. “Great way to out him before he told me.” I threw Lucien a wink and sauntered over to the sauna door. I banged my fist against the frosted glass door. “Dinner!” I shouted and chuckled when I heard startled movement inside.

  I walked back, between Kieran and Lucien and headed towards the stairs to go get changed for dinner. Brooke met me a few minutes later, her skin flushed, but there was a sparkle in her eyes that made me laugh as she smoothed her hair.

  “Just so we’re clear. You are never allowed to talk to me about your sex life with my brother,” I stated firmly.

  “Noted,” she said with a laugh. “As long as I get to dress you, we’re good.” I snorted in response. If that’s what she needed to believe, I wasn’t going to burst her bubble just yet.

  Dinner was much of the same from the night before, except with less yelling. Everyone ate, including me this time. No one glared at me or made snide comments. When everyone was finished eating, I decided to turn in while they went to watch a movie.

  “I’m gonna crash,” I told my brother. “Can I sleep in your room?”

  “Sure, Olive,” he said. “You okay? It’s fine if you aren’t. I’ll come hang out with you instead.”

  “I’m good,” I said, and I meant it. “Just a long day, plus Liam said I start training tomorrow so probably best to get some sleep.”

  I turned toward the stairs, but he stopped me before I could leave. “Luc said you spoke to Evan.” I nodded, glancing away from his face.

  “I did,” I answered honestly. “He said he’s going to find me.”

  “I’ll kill him before he gets the chance to put his hands on you,” he promised. He grabbed my face between his hands and forced me to look at him. “I will. I’m so sorry, Olive.”

  My chest tightened at the look in his eye. I didn’t want to see so much anger on his face. “Not before I do. And no, don’t be sorry. This wasn’t your fault.” When he still didn’t let go, I grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands away. “I want to sleep. I’ll see you later, okay?”

  Chapter 16

  After a long shower to wash away the sweat, I found the clothes Brooke had gotten me. I barely got them on before my head hit the pillow and I was out. My eyes didn’t open again until someone wafted a cup of coffee under my nose. My eyes opened instantly and chased after it. I wasn’t a coffee person, but it smelled good. I pushed up on whoever’s chest I had been laying on only to come face to face with Liam, who was sipping from a mug.

  “That’s unfair,” I growled, narrowing my eyes on his lips. They split into a grin behind the mug.

  “You’re crushing me, woman,” Flynn muttered from under me. “How can someone so small make me feel like I’m suffocating.”

  I laughed as I moved over him, making sure to press my full weight into his chest as I climbed off the bed.

  “Fucking evil too,” he grunted. He rolled over and snuggled into Ben who’d been on my other side. I looked back at them for a moment, confused. I wasn’t really sure when they’d climbed into bed with me, but I wasn’t going to complain about the company, I had one of the best nights of sleep ever.

  Once I had two feet on the floor, I grabbed at the mug in Liam’s hands, but before I could reach it he moved it out of my grasp and backed up toward the door. “Here, sleepy kitty. Come get it!” he taunted.

  I huffed and followed after him, but he kept backing up. “Stop that,” I grumbled. He stopped immediately but I bypassed him, not in the mood to be teased so early in the day. “Worst wake up ever. You’re down five points.”

  “When did we start a point system?” Flynn called from the bed.

  “I just started it,” I called over my shoulder and headed down the hallway. Then for good measure, I stuck my tongue out at Liam who just laughed. “Blame Liam,” I shouted. My remark was met with several groans from Vian’s open doorway.

  Downstairs, I found Vian and Lucien. The latter was at the stove, cooking something or other while my brother looked ready to fall into his own mug of coffee.

  “You’re a traitor,” I said without preamble, climbing up onto the stool next to him. “I demand coffee.”

  “Why am I a traitor?” Vian asked.

  “What did I do?” Lucien said at the same time, spinning to face me.

  “Guilty much?” I deadpanned to Lucien before turning to Vian. “And you,” I said pointing a finger at my brother. “I woke up sandwiched between two dudes.”

  He made a derisive sound into his cup and peeked at me from the corner of his eye. “Oh no, I’m not taking the blame for that one. They were already there by the time I went to bed.”

  Lucien set a fresh cup of coffee in front of me with plenty of cream so it wouldn’t taste gross. “You get five points.” I beamed at him over the counter, earning me a toothy grin in return.

  “Points?” he asked.

  “Oh yeah, she’s started a point system,” Liam answered. He’d claimed the stool beside mine, but I was ignoring him. “Apparently, that’s my fault. But if you get five points, and I lost five, that makes us even out.”

  “That’s not how points work,” I said with indignation. “Your twin can’t earn you points. Everyone has their own points. Why do I keep saying points? Seriously, someone shut me up.” I slapped a hand over my mouth so I couldn’t ramble anymore. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so playful; it was a bit weird for me. Maybe it was the talk I had with Kieran. Or the detox they put me through last night. I was lighter, freer than I had in a long time. Sitting back in my chair, I pondered what had changed so quickly.

  “Since when do you demand coffee,” Vian asked, changing the subject.

  “Dunno,” I said, taking a sip. “That’s how Liam woke
me up. It smelled good. I wanted it. It’s that simple.”

  “It did get her out of bed,” Liam offered, ruffling his hair. “Sort of regretting it now,” he added, bumping my shoulder with his arm.

  “So, what’s the plan for today?” I asked, giving him the evil eye because he almost made me spill coffee all over myself.

  “Is she still drugged?” Vian asked over me. “She’s far too happy. Maybe it’s body snatchers.”

  I smacked at his arm. “Shut up, grump.” The real reason I woke up in such a great mood was that I was finally going to learn something. This was my life now and I was ready to start taking control of it.

  “You and I will be out back,” Liam answered after chuckling at our exchange. “Everyone else is working on a surprise. I’m sure the others will join us later. For now, we’ll talk about theory and experiment with some cards.”

  I nodded, acting like I understood what he meant. “Okay, someone feed me so I can learn magic.”

  Lucien winked at me, but Liam sputtered. “It’s not magic, Kitten! It’s technically called Mystic Arts.”

  I snorted and drank more coffee. “Yeah because calling it mystical is any different than magic.”

  “Eat your breakfast and meet me in the backyard,” he snapped before leaving the kitchen muttering under his breath.

  My breakfast consisted of fried eggs and some toast. I wasn’t a big eater and almost complained. The only reason I didn’t was because Lucien probably knew something I didn’t. By the time I took the last bite of my toast, I was bouncing in my seat with excitement. I pushed my plate away and ran up to Brooke’s room to get dressed.

  I threw my messy hair into a loose braid and dressed in a pair of leggings and a long-sleeved boyfriend shirt before bounding back downstairs and outside.

  At the backdoor, I paused, sucking in a breath when I caught sight of Liam. He was further away from the house in a section where the patio gave way to grass. I watched as he went through several movements with his body. It was almost like martial arts, except there didn’t seem to be any part of it where you made bodily contact. Instead, it was more like ballet. Every line of his body flowed like a piece of art as he brought his arms up in sweeping arcs, only to spin in place and have one leg sweep out. Something about it nagged at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t pull it forward. I was too focused on how beautiful he looked in that moment.

  “What’cha staring at?” Lucien asked behind me, making me jump.

  My hand flew up to my chest as I spun to face him. “Nothing, I just…”

  He smirked. “Go. Have fun. Learn some stuff. That way the rest of us can relax a bit.”

  My eyebrows drew together, trying to figure out whether he meant because I made them all tense or something else? I put my hands behind me, slid the door open, and backed out. Only when the glass was between us did I turn and walk toward Liam.

  “Bout time, Kitten,” he called when he saw me approaching.

  “Why do you call me that?” I asked. “So far, I’ve been called Kitten, Doll, and Princess. What’s next? Baby? ‘Cause I’m certain to get violent about that.”

  “You let Vian call you Olive,” he pointed out.

  “Yeah, but we shared a womb. He’s allowed. I just don’t see what’s wrong with Liv or Livvy. Perfectly good nicknames.” We were only a few feet away from each other now so I could see the twinkle in his eye clearly.

  “Is it that important? Or did you want to learn?”

  I huffed. “Fine. Teach me, Yoda.”

  He snorted and sat cross-legged, patting the grass in front of him. From a pocket, he pulled out a deck of cards. He waited until I sat down before speaking. “So, these are Tarot cards. A popular belief is that witches and psychics use these. They don’t. We do. Each deck is charged, and we can use them to answer questions.”

  “And that’s not magic, how?”

  He rolled his eyes at me hard. “You’ve got to stop thinking about it as that. Magic is where you pay a price in exchange for something. What we do has no price. We evolved to use the fabric of reality. Everything is made up of energy, and we can use it.”

  “Why is that?”

  He groaned and ducked his head. “Okay, I’ll concede that we don’t really know why we can do what we do, but that doesn’t make it magic. And before you argue, can I just explain things and then you can ask Ben all sorts of questions that will drive him nuts.”

  I nodded, that was fair. Not the driving Ben nuts part, but he’d probably be better for discussing magic versus science.

  He set the deck in front of me and motioned toward them. “Pick one up.”

  I eyed the cards in front of me while he waited. Gingerly, I stretched a hand out and picked up the first card, turning it over. A sense of complete wrongness coiled inside me as I stared down at it. On the front was a fairy, her wings splayed out behind her, with a crown of white flowers. Her breasts were bare, and her exposed nipples were erect. The urge to drop it rippled through me and I shuddered.

  “Sorry, I…” I felt like I’d invaded his privacy. When I looked up at him, he was studying my face, his mouth set into a grim line. He leaned forward after a moment, catching my wrist in his hand and tilted the card so he could see.

  “No, you’re supposed to feel that way. The deck is tuned to me. Can you tell what it means?” he asked. I shook my head and released the card. Whatever it meant I didn’t want to know. He watched it flutter to the grass before speaking again. “It’s the Lady of Song.” His thumb stroked the inside of my wrist. “She wants me to listen.”

  “Listen to what?” I asked softly, still staring at the card.

  “Just to listen.” He sighed, dropping my wrist and pointed at the cards again. “Okay, pick up the whole deck and shuffle. But while you do, I want you to focus on your desire to read the cards.”

  Warily, I eyed the deck. I didn’t want to feel what I felt before, but after another round of coaxing, I picked the stack up and sighed in relief when nothing happened.

  “How’s the lesson going?”

  I whipped my head around to see Ben loping across the grass toward us.

  “Good. Just started. She’s a natural, actually. I’ve never seen anyone pick up the cards and freak out so quickly,” Liam answered with a smile in my direction.

  I wasn’t so sure being a natural was a good thing. Or did he mean that because they thought I had precognitive abilities?

  Ben settled into the grass beside us and sat back on his hands, regarding me. I scrunched up my nose and looked at the cards in my hands again. “So, I just shuffle these?” I was nervous now that Ben was here. He’d already proved he was pretty smart, and I was worried about looking like a fool in front of him.

  “Yeah. Ignore Ben. He’s just curious,” Liam answered, giving Ben a pointed look that he pretended not to see. “Stalling won’t help, Kitten.”

  I moved my hands absently, shuffling the cards. A daze swept over me and it took effort to remember I needed to focus on… What was it again? Desire? To read the cards. Not desire for the guys in front of me. I blinked and shuffled faster until a feeling told me to stop. I didn’t know how I knew, I just did. I set the deck in the grass again and pulled up the first card.

  The card had a total of three faces on it, two were women and the other a man. My eyes locked onto the face at the top. The woman was gazing off into the distance. Her hair was long, flowing with flowers that ran down the length ‘til they morphed into the eyes of the man. His gaze was unnerving, as if he could actually see into the heart of me. A horn was attached to his head jutting up through the first woman’s throat, as if it held her gaze in place, looking back in time. The third face showed a woman staring off in the distance in the opposite direction of the first. Her hair flowed in the wind as she looked on, her eyes full of wonder and hope. Out of the three of them, I liked her the best.

  As I stared at it, a lump formed in my throat and I placed the card on the grass. Someone touched my knee and I g
lanced up. Ben was leaning forward, questioning me with his eyes.

  “Shadows of the Past,” Liam said softly. “What does it tell you?”

  “That I should let go, move forward. Looking back only brings pain,” I answered immediately. Ben’s hand squeezed down and I took in a shuddering breath.

  “Draw another.”

  My hand shook as I reached out for the next card. Liam’s hand shot out, grasping my wrist before directing me to place the card in the grass next to the first one. On it was an old man with timeless eyes. A single braid of hair hung over one shoulder, drawing my gaze to his collarbone and down his chest. The man was all sharp angles, like a knife, made to cut through a harsh world.

  “What card is it?” Liam asked me.

  It was only a heartbeat later that I answered even though I’d never touched a tarot card before. I just knew the answer, as if I’d always known. “Speaker of Truth. But I don’t know what truth he wants to tell me. It’s a mess,” I mumbled.

  Liam nodded. “That’s okay. Not all the meanings are immediately clear. Sometimes you have to relax more. Especially if one of the other cards upsets you. Close your eyes and try to relax.”

  I did as he said, closing my eyes and breathing evenly. Thoughts swirled around in my head as I kept the image of the man in the forefront of my mind. I sat there for at least five minutes, trying to separate them, but they wouldn’t settle.

  “Relax,” Ben whispered in my ear.

  Chapter 17

  Relax.

  The word rolled around in my mind while the rest of me floated. The grass brushed against my thighs, the sun beamed down on my head and shoulders, but the sensations were muted. Peace coiled inside my chest, filling me with a lightness I’d never felt before. It was freeing, unhurried, and full of endless potential.

  Something coarse brushed my shoulder and I popped my eyes open, coming face to face with a very large cat. It had a wide head with a short snout, ears pointed forward with thick tufts of fur sprouting from the corners. The fur was a silvery brown that matched its eyes.