Connected (Twists of Fate #1) (3 page)

Wouldn’t that be a handy little skill to have?

She pulled up the first link and scanned the news article that came up. It was more than a little disconcerting to read about the death of someone she knew (well, sort of)…and was
talking
to? Scratch that—it was totally bizarre.

Chop, chop, Addi. Either tell me what it says, or let me see it for myself.

“It says your Cessna went down over New Guinea, but the wreck hasn’t been recovered yet.

The pilot was having equipment failure and reported his last known coordinates before losing contact.”

Yup. That’s what happened. I actually made it through the crash. But we landed in a jungle
or some shit. I didn’t get very far before I died.
He paused and then mumbled,
Just had to go to
the Solomon Islands.

She felt his irritation. “What?”

I was supposed to head back to the states to hit the studio with the rest of the guys, but I just
had
to swing by the Solomon Islands before I left. I was stupid. The pilot said bad weather was
coming in, but I insisted. Even paid the man a couple extra grand to make sure he’d take me.

She tried to quash her thoughts of ‘if only’, and if some had made it through, he didn’t comment. But she was sure he was already thinking the same thing. Who wouldn’t be? “I take it the rest of the band wasn’t with you? Or your brother?”
Naw. I had a habit of taking a trip before being stuck in a studio for however long. They
usually stayed behind. Got stuff ready.
He sighed.
Fuck, I was selfish. I always left that shit for
them to deal with.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she mused, trying to distract him from beating himself up. “If they’re anything like you, they’d have let you know if they minded.”
You’re absolutely right. They would’ve. And they did, when needed.
He chuckled as the image of a tall, dark-haired man popped into Addison’s head. He was punching Rhys in the shoulder, calling him a ‘lazy-ass motherfucker’.

Even though the memory looked physically painful, she felt the fondness in his reminiscing.

“Was that Xavier?”

Yeah. Best fucking man I know. All right. What else did you find?

She closed the article and clicked on the next link. “What exactly are we hoping to find?”
I want to find out what’s all happened. I’m thinking that if I can see everyone’s cool, I can
move on, or whatever it is I’m supposed to be doing. Other than possessing you, that is.

“So…closure.”

Yeah. Closure.

Addison tapped her fingers impatiently on her desk as she perused the screen. “Black Codex is your band.” It was more of a confirmation than anything else.

One in the same.
Again, with an obvious swell of pride.

“I hate to tell you this, Rhys. But it looks someone named Zander might break the band up.”
What the fuck?! No way. No way I’m letting him do that shit!

She briefly wondered who Zander was and what gave him that power. “How are you going to stop him?”

I’m not.
You
are.

“What could
I
possibly do?” Fury rolled off him in waves, his anger bleeding into her soul, carrying her into the emotion with him. “Hold on. Calm down. You don’t even know if he’s going to or not. They just found out you died. Give it time to sink in. Maybe they’ll all pull through.”

His emotions shifted and started to abate.
Yeah. That’s right. We’ll just keep an eye on it.

Make sure they stick together. Shit. It would fucking kill my brother to lose me
and
Black Codex.

He’s not thinking clearly right now. He’ll change his mind.

“Who is this Zander person, anyway?” She was surprised to want to kick his ass, even though she had no idea who he was.

That’s my brother. Zander is his stage name. I’m the only one who calls him Xavier.

So, she supposed she wouldn’t be kicking his ass after all.

No, you might still get your chance.
His laugh wasn’t as forced as she thought it would be, and was glad to feel the overall tone of his emotions lighten.

She smiled at his comment, clicking on a picture on the band. Another click blew it up to twice its original size, and she leaned forward studying the faces and reading the captions below.

“Is this you?”

Don't know what you're looking at. Concentrate.

He almost sounded bored, or was it exasperated?

Neither. I'm just trying to work with you here. Now, focus on the picture so I can see it too.

She stared hard at the image of what she thought was him, hoping what she saw was funneling to him through her consciousness.

Yup, that's me. Handsome sonofabitch, aren't I?

At first glance all she saw was a menacing male, dressed in full makeup for the stage. And then she really took a long look at him, trying to keep her thoughts under the radar.

She could tell right away he was tall, and that alone was irresistible. But he also had these amazing blue eyes that drilled right into her with their intensity. Forcing her gaze to drift, she took in his strong jaw, prominent cheekbones, and perfectly straight nose. His hair was a spiky halo of black, and she wondered how it would feel if she ran her fingers through it without all the goop making stand on end.

She barely managed to contain the shiver threatening to roll through her.

Well?

She shrugged, knowing he couldn’t see it, but hoping it added to the forced casualness of her response. “Who can tell with all that eyeliner?”

Yeah, right. Did you forget I can
feel
you?
His laugh was cocky, per the usual.
You want me.

Admit it.

She scowled, per
her
usual. “Get. Out. Of. My. Head.”
Trying to, sweetheart. Trying to.

She closed the picture, and then the browser. “Are we done?”
Hold up. I wanna know what you look like too.

Why would he care?

Because I can feel everything you do. That’s weird enough without having a damned clue
about your appearance. Maybe then I won’t feel like I’m stuck in limbo.

She felt a measure of compassion towards him, until she caught the snide undertone. He just wanted to check her out.

Caught that, did you?
The amusement was clear.
But in my defense, you should be able to
feel my curiosity too. And at least a little bit of sincerity.
He paused, presumably considering his own words for the truth.
Shouldn’t you?

Addison didn’t know how to untangle the jumble of emotions she felt from him and just took his word for it as she scrolled through her online pictures. She was careful not to concentrate until she found the one she was looking for; it was taken for a promotional ad about her photography studio. She was wearing a simple white blouse with black slacks and her black-framed glasses. Her hair pulled back into a sleek twist. She looked every bit the photographer she was, and that’s all she wanted him to know about her.

“Here I am.” She concentrated on the image, and found it was starting to come easier to her.

She could feel what information was breaking through to him. “I own a photography studio,” she explained further, as if it would matter to him.

It was quiet for a moment before he responded.
Nice eyes.

Addison rolled her eyes, fully taking in his disappointment. “Gee, thanks.”
Hey. That was a compliment.

“Barely. Your mental cringe at the picture didn’t help much either.” She didn’t really care what he thought, but she still thought he was being rude.

Hell, it’s not like I can lie to you. What can I say? I like my chicks smokin’.

She caught a glimpse of a scantily-clad redhead in her mind’s eye. Ew, what a skank! “You mean sleazy.”

Whatever works.

She made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat. “You’re such a man-slut.” He laughed and then was quiet for a minute while she closed out her picture files. Again, she was careful not to transmit the images, confident she had a handle on how to do it now. She just had to figure out how to do the same with her thoughts.

You know, you’re right.

“I usually am,”—she smiled to herself—“but about what in this case.”
It
is
annoying to have someone know what you’re thinking.

“Like you care what I think anyhow.” But a tendril of his emotions broke through the thin barrier between them. For some reason, he
did
care.

Yeah. Maybe a little bit.

“Interesting,” she murmured with a smirk.

It was weird. Once Addison believed Rhys was an actual person who had died, and not some figment of her imagination, their bond strengthened. She could feel the elasticity of it; the give and take.

What are you doing?

“Just checking things out. Why? What do you feel when I do this?” Lounging on her bed, she mentally pushed towards her impression of him.

Back off, woman.

“Would you just tell me what it feels like?”

It feels like I’m being violated, that’s what. Damn she-devil.

Addison giggled, pushing out again.

Mmm. Just a little to the left. Yeah, right there baby.

She actually warmed at the murmur of his deep, sultry voice, but tried to conceal it under a peel of laughter. “You are too much, Rhys.”

Now…wasn’t that interesting.

She knew he was referring to the tingle—okay, it was more than a tingle—his voice had caused, but she soooo wasn’t getting into that discussion. To hell with that. “Um, Rhys? I have a question for you.”

Nice subject change. Not too smooth, are you?

But she
still
needed to figure out how to block all her thoughts. “How are you so accepting of all this?”

He didn’t respond.

“Rhys?”

I’m not sure how to answer that. Shit, I wouldn’t even say I’m okay with it, but what the hell
else am I gonna do other than roll with the punches.

She nodded absently, rolled to her back. “You just seemed so comfortable straight off in the hospital.”

I wasn’t at first. I was spazzing like a little bitch when I realized I was in your head.

Addison thought about when she first heard his voice, confusion tainting the memory. She didn’t remember it that way at all.

You were still unconscious, so yeah…you wouldn’t remember it. But, the thing is, I knew I
died. I
remember
dying. You didn’t. And…I know it makes me a pansy-ass motherfucker…but I
just couldn’t stay there by myself anymore. Just the thought of it…

She felt his mental shudder throughout her body, and then an irresistible urge to reassure him. Thinking about the online articles she had read, she tried a different tack. “I think you died around the same time I did, so you couldn’t have been there long.” She hoped the perspective helped, but honestly didn’t believe anything would.

Really? Jesus, it felt like eternity before you showed.

Chewing on her lip, she stared at the ceiling. “I remember the afterlife. Or at least a sense of it. I remember feeling…excited. A little afraid, but not alone.” She was suddenly grateful he had been there, as selfish as that sounded. “It’s like I knew you were there…I could feel you before I saw you.” She rubbed at her eyes, grinding the heels of her hands into them as she thought back.

“But I still had no idea what was going on when I first heard you.”
I don’t think you really remembered until after you heard my voice. If you had remembered
beforehand—more than just vague images—you probably would’ve handled it better. You know,
instead of thinking you were psycho.
He chuckled, and she felt his mirth at the memory.

She smiled—now that she
could
smile about it. But still…it was all so surreal.

Okay, woman. You gonna go check on that computer of yours, or what? Come on. Chop,
chop.

Groaning, she rolled off the bed to her feet. “I don’t think much is going to change from this morning, Rhys.”

Just check it
, he groaned, apparently sick of nagging her.

Over the last few days, he’d had her obsessively checking for any news about Black Codex.

Well, it was more like
speculation
about Black Codex. No one knew what was going on since the band wasn’t talking.

Rhys actually had the nerve to ask her to email his brother, but there was no way she was going there. She convinced him to see things her way when she told him to put himself in his brother’s shoes, and how he would feel getting an email like that. To quote Rhys, ‘Yeah. He’d freak the fuck out.’

She fully agreed.

Addison rubbed at her belly as her computer booted up.

Is that normal?

“Is what normal?” She typed in ‘Black Codex’ and punched the enter key.

You’re still having pain from your surgery.

She waved a hand. “Oh, yeah. I’m actually lucky. There was a chance they’d have to slice me all the way open. I shut down my studio for six weeks, just in case.”
The tumor wasn’t as big as they thought then, huh?

Scrolling down the list of links on her screen, she explained, “No, the size didn’t matter. It all hinged on if it was attached to my ovary.”

Your…
He made a funny little mewing sound, and then continued, his voice tighter and higher than its normal pitch.
I see.

She felt her face flood with heat, but it was more like she was remembering what it felt like to be embarrassed. Then it clicked.

“Rhys! Are you actually
blushing
at the mention of an ovary?” Holding her stomach tight, she busted out laughing. The sensation of flushing immediately ceased, and her giggling trailed off. “Rhys?”

Yeah.

Her breath caught. “Tell me how you did that.”

Did what?

“Cut your emotions off from me.”

I just didn’t want you to feel it.
He paused.
You mean it actually worked?