Gemini: Book 4 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series) (6 page)

‘I’ll go to Mother’s flat on the way to the hotel. If Taurus can get there first, he can keep watch. I’ll check on Mother,’ I said.

Aries agreed as he lowered himself into the chair at the head of the table. ‘That’s good. I need to talk to Matt. It’s best that we get to know Nick as much as possible.’

‘It’s good that we get to know Matt, too,’ Scorpio said, cracking his knuckles and smiling slowly.

I laughed as I backed out of the kitchen and went to my bedroom. I still had hardly any clothes on. It was time to get dressed.

‘You’ll have to tell me what that was about.’ Scorpio stood in the open doorway of my bedroom. Pulling on a crisp white shirt, I did up the buttons. Looking in the mirror, I ignored him as I touched my sleep ruffled hair. The gel was still pretty thick. I managed to shape it into a half decent style.

‘I mean it, Gemini. I’ve never seen you in that position.’

Picking up my glass of water, I went to take a sip. Scorpio flicked his hand. The water splashed up and over my face. I coughed as the liquid surged into my mouth.

‘What the hell?!’

He crossed his arms and leant against the doorframe as I coughed. ‘Don’t ignore me.’

Why did my brother have to be so intuitive? He liked his space and kept himself to himself. But the first day I ever have anyone in the house, even if it wasn’t someone I invited, he happened to turn up.

‘I’ll explain later. I’ve got to go and check on our mother.’

I went to push past him but he didn’t move. ‘Mother will be fine. I don’t understand why everyone has forgotten what she did. If she went to see Nick tonight, it proves that we can’t trust her. I say we test her. See what she does.’

I had never heard Scorpio say a bad word about our parents. But then, I had never spoken to him about them either. Maybe he resented them. I couldn’t really blame him. He was right in one sense. However, he hadn’t seen the way mother had been when Aries and I had met her at the shopping centre. She was haunted. Something wasn’t right with her. A part of me wanted to try and help but I was too busy getting beaten up for something I didn’t do.

‘Maybe you’re right but Aries asked me to check on her.’

‘No, you offered. Why don’t you see if she’s at home? If she isn’t, I bet she’s on her way to Nick…if she’s not already there. Then you can let them get on with it. No more need to spend money in keeping her safe.’ Scorpio uncrossed his arms and stepped back to let me pass. He was a few inches taller and broader than I was but he didn’t intimidate me.

‘We’re not spending money on her. Father is the one that pays for her flat.’ I understood where he was coming from. Our mother had betrayed us. So had our father. Why were we so bothered about making sure they were both okay?

‘Why are we wasting time worrying about her?’

As the words I had been thinking came out of his mouth, I realised that we were fighting a war with frenemies. We had no idea whose side Father and Mother was on.

‘Gemini, get a move on!’ Aries called from the kitchen.

I pulled my jacket to straighten it before leaving Scorpio behind.

‘I won’t forget,’ Scorpio shouted as I went into the kitchen.

Ignoring him, I headed for the front door.

‘Ring Aquarius for an update on the way there.’ Aries tugged his chair closer to the table.

A part of me was sorry to miss the lesson on Nick but another part was glad to be out of the house. I needed time to think. A plan of action. Money was my main priority. If I couldn’t come up with the cash, I would be a dead man, anyway.

Chapter Eight

The taxi stopped outside Mother’s flat. There was a light on in the living room. I had only ever been inside once. It was a small, unattractive place but necessary. Mother had lived a good lifestyle for a long time. First Father had provided for her, then Nick. She was in hiding now so a luxury home wasn’t called for.

Looking down at my phone, I pressed Aquarius’ number. ‘Where’s Nick?’ I asked when he answered.

He cleared his throat before he spoke. ‘He’s about five minutes away from the hotel. I’ve just spoken to Taurus, he’s already there. There’s a coffee shop directly opposite the entrance. Be careful not to be seen when you go in.’

‘I’m at Mother’s flat now. I’m going to go and check on her, then I’ll head over.’

Aquarius grunted and hung up the phone. He was in work mode. His business brain had taken over. He was clever. I was glad he was the one in charge of keeping tabs on Nick.

Taking the steps two at a time, I made my way to Mother’s front door. When I got there, it was already open. I stepped in cautiously, taking care not to make a sound. If there was someone with her, I didn’t want them to know I was there.

I could see directly into the front room from my vantage point. There was no one there. Checking the bathroom and bedroom, I kept my breathing even as I confirmed that they were empty. My gut started to quiver. Mother wasn’t at home. I glanced into the small kitchen. No one was there. Had our mother really gone to meet our archenemy? After everything that had happened?

‘Aries, it’s me. She’s not here. I’m heading over to the hotel now. Hopefully I’ll catch her before she gets there.’ I left the message on his phone. For some reason he hadn’t picked up, which was unlike him.

Locking the door, I went back to the street. It wasn’t the busiest part of London. I had to walk a while before I found a taxi.

My phone burst into music so I answered it quickly.

‘Shall I come down?’ Aries barked.

Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes. ‘No, I’ve got it sorted. Taurus is already at the coffee shop opposite the hotel. I’ll be there in five minutes. I can’t see…’

My sentence trailed off as I spotted our mother on the pavement. ‘Stop the car!’ I yelled at the cabbie.

The taxi abruptly stopped. Aries was shouting down the phone. I threw a tenner at the driver and jumped out the car. Mother had her head low as she marched. Her coat was pulled right up to her chin.

‘Aries, I’ve found her. She’s heading towards the hotel.’

I switched off the phone and tucked it away. I went to run after Mother. A group of men in black outfits approached her. Holding back, I debated whether to face them.

‘Go away!’ Mother shouted.

People around her started to slow their walking. I picked up pace and pushed my way through the lurkers.

‘Mother!’ I shouted when I was close enough.

The men turned and watched me approach. They stepped back but didn’t leave. Mother moved towards me, grabbing my suit sleeve when I joined her.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked.

‘Saving your arse,’ I replied, snarling when one of the men stepped forward. ‘You need to leave.’

There were six of them in total. Why so many? Was Nick expecting a fight? Did he know that we would be there?

The surrounding people started to cross the road to get away from the group. They could smell trouble in the air and they weren’t about to get involved. They were British. They kept out of other people’s business.

‘What do you want?’ I called when none of them spoke.

One of the men stepped forward. He refused to make eye contact with me. In fact, when I studied them, they were all staring at Mother. I glanced at her. Her gaze was focused on the ground. Her eyes wide. Her shoulders were tight. She was afraid.

‘Stop psyching her out. What do you want?’ I moved forward and came face to face with the ringleader.

He blinked when his stare was broken. Mother clung to the back of my jacket. What was going on? She had obviously kept something from us since being away from Nick. Or, had we simply not paid her enough attention? The more I thought about it, the more I realised that we had been so engrossed in our own lives, we hadn’t really sat down and found out what had happened to each of our parents when they were locked up with Nick.

‘He wants to see her.’

The monotone of his voice made Mother pinch the skin on my back. Her fear transferred through her hands and onto me.

‘No chance,’ I replied, squaring my shoulders when he moved from one foot to the other.

A siren sounded in the distance. Someone had probably called the police. That was not a good thing. The last thing we needed was police attention on our weird little family.

‘You need to leave before the police get here.’

My phone burst into music. I ignored it as I had a staring competition with our foe.

‘Nick will not be happy,’ one of the others said.

His words weren’t aimed at me. He looked past me to my mother. The ring leader clicked his fingers and the others retreated.

‘You’re lucky today. Nick doesn’t want any bloodshed. Which is a shame, because I’ve been wanting to get revenge ever since your brother scarred our leader.’

The man was in his late twenties. His eyes were vacant. His skin was pale. He was almost robotic as he took calculated steps backwards without turning around. He didn’t trust me not to attack when he wasn’t looking.

‘I will kill Taurus. Tell him that his friend from the bus is not happy. He’ll understand what I mean.’

When he was far enough away, he spun and disappeared across the road and down an alley.

‘That was dodgy,’ I said, turning.

I had been so wrapped up in my conversation with the leader, I hadn’t noticed that the pressure of Mother’s grip had lessened. She was no longer behind me. My gaze searched the street. All was quiet. Only a few stragglers remained. The siren sounded nearby so I sprinted back towards Mother’s flat. Where had she gone? Did they take her or had she escaped as soon as they had left us?

‘Mother?’ I shouted on the off chance she was hiding nearby.

My phone rang again. I answered it, swearing when Aries cursed at me down the phone.

‘Where the hell are you? What’s happening?’

Swallowing, I paused when I came to the end of the road. People no longer stared at me as I left the spectators behind. My eyes searched everywhere but I couldn’t see her.

‘I’ve lost her. She just bloody…’

Aries swore again. I had to bite my tongue. If he carried on, I would lose it with him and it wasn’t his fault. How hadn’t I known that she had let go? She would be safe. She would go back to the flat.

‘Aries, she’s not right. Something is seriously wrong with her.’

I spotted a long coat retreating down a side street. It looked familiar so I gave chase.

‘I know, I noticed.’ Aries sighed.

‘Why are we bothering? If she wants to go to him, we should let her.’ I struggled to pull air into my lungs as I spoke and ran at the same time.

‘She’s our mother. Find her!’

I clicked the phone off and sped up. He was right. We had to take care of our parents. Shouldn’t it be the other way round? Shouldn’t they be keeping us safe?

‘Mother!’

My shout made her glance over her shoulder. It was her. I only just recognised her with her dyed blonde hair.

‘Will you stop?’ I shouted.

She paused, waiting for me to catch up to her.

Her whole frame was folded in on itself. She shrunk under my gaze when I reached her. She looked like a guilty child about to be told off for running away. I couldn’t understand why she was acting so strange. I had never seen her so vulnerable before. She had always been tough.

‘Take me home,’ she mumbled, tugging on my sleeve.

I glanced around to make sure no one had followed us. Texting Taurus, I let him know that I had Mother and was taking her back to her place.

After I had sorted her out, I would leave her and go to the hotel. I wanted to be in on the action. For a long time, Aries had the main job. When he’d gone into hospital, I relished the opportunity to do more.

‘Let’s go.’ I took her arm and guided her across the street. ‘Why did you go?’

She kept her head low as we passed people on their way home from work.

‘He’s going to kill me,’ she muttered but I heard her perfectly.

Would it be such a bad idea to let her meet Nick? We could bug her and listen to their conversation. If we knew what he wanted, maybe we could bring the whole stalking to an end.

‘Did you go so that he could kill you? Or to try and avoid it?’

Her grip on my arm tightened. She glared at me as we entered her road. No one was following. I had made sure to keep an eye on the people around us.

‘Don’t be silly! I was going to talk to him to stop all this. To try and sort out the mess I made.’

It was good to see a small part of the mother I remembered. Her pupils flared when I looked into them.

‘That’s who we need right now,’ I said, rubbing her back as I led her up the steps to her flat.

‘What do you mean?’ She darted glances behind her the whole way to the front door.

I unlocked it and pushed her inside. She almost tripped but I kept a hold of her. ‘Our real mother. The one that’s not frightened or acting strange.’

‘Strange?’

I forced a chuckle. Maybe if she thought I was making a joke, she wouldn’t take me too seriously.

‘You’re right. I’ve not been myself.’

‘You’re fine…well, you’re not, but you know-’

Her head shake cut me off. She slouched on the sofa and aimed the remote control to switch on the television. She stared at it, obviously waiting for me to leave. What had got into her?

‘Are you okay?’ I stuttered.

She stood quickly, smiling brightly. It was the weirdest change in character I had seen for a long time. I stepped back, holding up my arms as she came to me. Reaching out, she brushed her hands down my sleeves.

‘Gemini. You’re like two people. You fight with yourself all the time, did you know that?’

I smiled gently. ‘No, I don’t. Well, I suppose I do. But then…’ My sentence trailed off when I heard the truth of it.

‘You must go,’ Mother said, gesturing to the door.

I agreed with her and gave her a quick hug goodbye. She resumed her sofa position. Taking the key with me, I locked her in. The guilt that washed over me was shoved down into the pit of my stomach. It was for her own safety.

Taking my phone out, I dialled Taurus.

‘What’s happening?’ he asked.

I skipped down the steps, making sure to check that no one watched me. ‘I’ve taken Mother home. She was on her way to see Nick.’

Taurus’ sigh echoed my own. It was time we did something about our parents. Father had proved that he was trying to help. Especially when it came to Pisces and Antony. He had been captured by Nick. Since his release he had tried to get our attention but we had been too busy with our lives.

‘Nick is still in the hotel. I saw him go in. A couple of his men are outside in the street. They don’t seem that threatening, I could-’

‘Don’t do anything. I’m on my way.’

The phone beeped off as I jogged down the road. I would need a clean shirt soon. Sweat seeped onto the fresh material of the one I wore.

Getting into another taxi, I leant my head against the back of the seat as it took me to a road near the hotel. When I climbed out, I heard a commotion in the next street. Taurus was in trouble. I wasn’t sure how I knew but I did.

‘I wouldn’t go round there if I were you. There’s a fight,’ one woman said as I was about to head towards the hotel.

I nodded, thanking her for her warning. Ignoring her, I let my feet carry me around the corner.

Taurus was in front of the coffee shop. His arm thrashed about in the air. A small tree by the hotel entrance was swinging with his efforts. It wasn’t enough. There were six men ready to attack.

I passed the people trying to get away from the scene. Nick’s men advanced on Taurus. Why had he confronted them?

‘What are you doing?’ I shouted when I got behind him.

He didn’t flinch when he heard me. ‘They spotted me. I couldn’t wait.’

The group of men were the ones that had approached Mother. I looked at my hand before glancing back at them. I couldn’t believe Taurus risked being seen. He was able to connect to trees and plants. He could make them move by connecting to the root energy and controlling them with a movement of his arm.

It wasn’t obvious that he was making the tree move, even if people watched him. It would be really clear that I was doing something if wind all of a sudden picked up.

‘I could use your help.’

The men’s eyes were trained on us. Their hands were in their pockets, probably grasping guns. Why couldn’t my brother run away? He had to start a fight.