Lightning Kissed (19 page)

THE FORMER
PROPHETS ARE NOT TO BE COUNSELED FOR ADVICE ON ANY MATTER.

I was gonna kill the shaven-headed wench. I
would threaten to scalp her, but apparently, someone had beaten me
to that punch—several times over.

Other than being mostly inappropriate, there
was one more thing I was very skilled at—insincerity.

I straightened my dress and conjured the
fakest smile I could imagine. “Oh Pema, that would be lovely. How
honored we would be to have you here with us.”

How’s that for your precious manners?

She squinted at me, and for a second, I
thought for sure I’d have to grapple with her.

“Finally, you’ve come to your senses.”

Didn’t she learn to be silent in Tibet?
Let’s see some more of that talent.

I chanced a glance at Theo. He was barely
holding in a smile. The impact of what I’d almost done slammed into
me. These were the things Pema had talked about. For some reason,
regardless of her attitude, I trusted her. This was not about a
smart-mouthed relative of the Eidolon—and it certainly wasn’t about
me winning. I needed to reel myself in for him.

In my self-absorption, I’d forgotten to
first be his mate.

“Pema, Collin, if you wouldn’t mind, could I
have a few minutes with Colby? Then we will use our last day with
the texts and move on.”

I should’ve told him what happened at the
Synod. Now we had to spend a day rustling through useless texts.
But then again, there was still so much information missing. If
Theo was supposed to help those caught in the fray—the logistics of
that notion were lost on me. If those souls were lost, how was he
supposed to find them?

The thought of asking Pema felt like shoving
a splinter up my own nail bed.

Pema turned on him like he’d stuck her with
a hot poker. “Where will you move to?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

She pressed further. “Any ideas? Where is
the information leading you?”

He cleared his throat, a time-buying tactic.
“As I said, we don’t know, Pema. We will return the books to you.
After that, we are not sure. Why do you want to know?”

She stiffened under the weight of his
question and ticked her eyes to Collin’s place in the corner more
than what would be deemed normal. It was as if she were looking for
him to save her from something.

“I was just wondering. The family is eager
to see how all this turns out for you. They wish the new Eidolon
all the very best.”

She shifted to move around Theo, but
clearly, he wasn’t done with her.

“I’ve wondered why the rest of the family
doesn’t come and see me like you have.” He left the insinuation
open-ended, hoping she’d take the bait.

“As you can well imagine, they are still
frightened of the Synod. They can’t risk being caught.”

“But you can?”

“I am braver than most.”

Theo took more than ample time to answer,
“Clearly. How lucky we are to be amidst such bravery. Please, go
check on your invaluable books.” He swept his hand toward the
adjoining door, dismissing her and her false bravado.

He waited until she and Collin exited before
addressing me. I expected Collin to be friendly with Pema like he
was before, but his attitude toward her was ambiguous—he didn’t
seem to care if she was here or not.

“How do they know where we are all the
time?” he asked me.

“I didn’t tell Sway or Ari we were here. In
fact, I didn’t even tell my own mother. She was upset with me about
it. That leaves you and Collin. And I know it’s not you.”

He shook the idea from his head. “I don’t
think it’s Collin. But, I did tell my parents.”

Theo was crawling into himself. He was
growing more and more serious by the day. I had to do what I could
to draw him out of it.

I sauntered over to him and touched the bag
still clasped in his hand. “You brought me breakfast?”

That snapped him out of it. He dropped the
bag and grabbed my face with a fury. Breakfast was long forgotten
as his lips crashed against mine. As soon as I got over the
unexpectedness of the kiss, I matched his passion with my own. We
slowly backed up until my head hit the wall with a thump. His lips
were rough and needy and carried warmth I craved like air. With an
animalistic aggression, he pulled my waist toward his until there
was no space between us. He consumed me. No coherent thoughts could
be conjured in that moment. This was no ordinary kiss—this was Theo
coming back down from the heavens. This was what Pema had spoken
of, and if this was the way to bring him back down from the clouds,
then I was happy to oblige.

He broke free once to tell me he loved me,
but I had no chance to respond before he attacked me again. This
time was slower, like he’d gotten the rage out of his system and
could take the time now to savor us. Needing to be even closer, I
locked my left leg around his hips. I thought it would fuel him on,
but instead, it seemed to cool him down. He left my lips, opting
instead to place pecks on my face and temple.

“We aren’t even bonded,” he huffed out,
breathless.

I giggled and attempted to pull him back to
me. “That never stopped you before.”

Theo phantomed more nibbles down my neck.
“We aren’t teenagers fooling around in the back of my car anymore,
Colby.”

“Mmmm, that was fun.”

“Marry me.” He breathed against my
mouth.

He always picked the most inopportune times
to talk about such things. Now was one of those times.

“Let’s make a deal. Let’s get through all of
this and then talk about the future.”

“But there is no future without you.”

“Theo, I love you, but let’s focus.”

“You love me? Just like that?”

He was goading me. “Yes, just like that, now
let’s go.”

Relief flooded my system as I realized that
all this Pema business had stammered our conversation about the
happenings at the Synod. In all honestly, I didn’t want to tell
him. I didn’t want to relive it all.

Mostly, if Regina was correct, then Theo
would have to leave me to fulfill his purpose.

And I couldn’t take that.

He picked up the bag from the bakery and
dragged me with him to the other room. Pema stood facing the window
while Collin was sitting on the edge of the bed, face buried in his
hands. We hadn’t been gone more than ten minutes, so I couldn’t
fathom what had happened to make Collin look so devastated.

“What’s going on?” Theo asked.

“They’re gone,” Pema whispered. Her
shoulders slumped.

Looking around the room, I realized they
were right. All the books were gone. The possibilities of who and
when filtered through my thoughts. I was with the Synod the day
before and Theo needed the texts. Pema certainly wouldn’t lead
someone to steal them after coming down on me so hard about taking
them in the first place.

The only possibility left was one I didn’t
want to face. From the first moment I’d met him, Collin had seemed
like the one person we could trust.

***

“I don’t know. I was only out of the room
this morning. It would have to be someone who was monitoring every
single thing we did. They would have to know when I left… Wait, you
don’t think…”

This time Theo responded, “We are just
thinking out loud here, Collin. No one is being accused.”

Pema swiftly turned around and countered
Theo, “Who else could it be?”

“Collin?” I inquired again. It was like I
continued to call his name, hoping he would jump at the chance to
defend himself. He lifted his head slowly, taking the chance to
deliberate a decision. A lone tear came down my face and I swiped
it away in an instant, not wanting to show any sign of weakness,
especially in front of Pema.

“Do you want me to leave, Eidolon?” His
inquiry sounded more like asking to be granted permission to stay.
I knew that unless all the evidence left nothing to chance, that
Theo wouldn’t make him go.

“No, Collin. I don’t believe you had
anything to do with this.” His words said one thing, but his voice
told me he wasn’t quite sure.

“You have spies in your ranks,
Eidolon
,” she sneered the word. Pema was awfully pushy.

Odd didn’t even begin to describe how obtuse
it was to hear Theo referred to with a title. She might as well
have called him Your Highness. I hated to admit it, but it put me
in my place. Regina had been right—as much as I hated it. All the
time the Synod had called me in, I really had built myself up,
thinking that I was something special. In my own words, I’d thought
I was the shit. But it was him. And not only was that okay with me,
it was a relief not to be held up to any standard.

Suddenly, I felt two inches tall next to
him.

“I am aware,” he quipped back. He didn’t
even flinch at being called Eidolon anymore. Somehow, in three
days’ time, he’d absorbed the title and let it mesh with who he
already was.

Theodore Ramsey was amazing.

It hit me, shot down through my body like
electricity shoots from the sky and splits open a tree. I loved
him. I’d known that for years and maybe I had always been meant to
love him, even before I was born. I’d taken it all for
granted—taken him for granted.

“Maybe we should take the day to rest.” I
suggested. This was me saving Theo from himself and everyone else
who wanted a piece of him. “Let’s go visit your parents and
reconvene tomorrow. I’m sure they’re worried. They are on vacation
in France now. It’s close.”

At first he shot me a quizzical look, but
soon got my drift. His parents hated France. His dad said it was
too frou-frou. They would never vacation in France in a million
years. This was me testing the proverbial spy-filled waters. He
took my hand, squeezing it in reassurance. “I think that’s the best
idea I’ve heard in days.”

Pema flashed out of the room before we could
discuss it further.

“Collin, you are welcome to come with
us.”

He looked at Theo with such reverence and
awe. “I would actually love to see the country, but I think your
mate-to-be would like to have you to herself. Why don’t you just
let me know where you are tomorrow—if you still want me to join you
on this journey?”

“Of course we do, Collin. Let’s go,
Colby.”

As soon as we got into the room, we packed
up our things wordlessly. Theo grabbed my hands. “Wanna flash
together?”

I giggled uncontrollably at that. Theo could
make something so simple sound so intimate.

“Yes.” A tear came to fruition in the corner
of my eye at the thought. If we’d only had the information we did
now, my father would still be alive. How many had been lost in the
fray because those who had the facts hid them from the rest of
us?

He raised one of his large hands, cupped the
side of my face, and used the pad of his thumb to wipe away the
tear that had broken free. “What is it? Is this too much?”

“No, I just wish we’d known about traveling
together when my dad was around.”

“Ah, Colby, your dad would’ve loved to
travel with your mom. I wish we’d known. Hell, I wish we’d known
when we were kids. There was nothing I wished for more than to
travel with you. We could’ve pretended to be Vikings together
instead of me waiting to hear the stories from you. Let’s go. I
know Mom wants to sniff me and make sure I’m not getting too
skinny.”

“Ready?” I took his hold again.

“I’ve been ready all my life.”

***

“No, Mrs. Ramsey, please. I will burst if I
eat ice cream.”

Theo chimed in. “I thought it was all mind
over matter.”

“Not wanting ice cream has nothing to do
with traveling; it has to do with my stomach being on the verge of
bursting.”

Everyone around the table laughed at my
expense. The only ammunition I had were the cookies on the plate in
front of me. I reached out to get one and Theo grinned, thinking
he’d won the game.

Until I chucked the cookie at his smug
ass.

“Hey!” He tossed it back, hitting me
directly in the mouth.

“Ouch, damn it, Theo!”

He was up and hovering over me before I
could blink. “
Querida
, I’m sorry.” He was examining me left
and right, placing first aid, in the form of kisses, all over my
mouth. I laughed at his attentions to a cookie-chucking accident.
His eyes were so trusting, so concerned over the littlest things.
He’d always been that attentive. But I loved how it continued to
shock me over and over again how deeply in love I was with him.

“You two finally gave in?” His father’s
voice broke us out of our world and back into reality.

Theo blinked and recoiled from our coupling,
grinning like a stockbroker who’d just swindled a poor man out of
his life savings. “Not you two, just her. She’s had my heart all
along.”

I rolled my eyes. He was back. The guy who
so gallantly vowed his devotion to me for all to know.

“Our family is back whole again. We weren’t
quite complete without you, Colby.” I blushed under Theo’s father’s
acceptance. But his mother didn’t seem to feel the same. She met my
eyes. “I’m sorry, Colby, it’s not you. I just wish Torrent was
here. He would’ve been so happy to see you two back together
again.”

Theo’s father comforted his wife across the
table with his hand on hers, “I’m sorry dear, I shouldn’t have said
such a thing.”

“No, it’s fine. I just wish we could talk
about him more. When we don’t, I feel like I’m the only one who
remembers him.”

A text came through on my phone, and I
excused myself from the table. Theo and his father both were now
comforting Hazel and it felt wrong for me to just sit there and be
their audience. It felt like an intrusion.

The text was from the Synod—again. What
could they possibly have to tell me that they didn’t already tell
me before?