True Connection (The Soul Mate Series) (8 page)

I gasp and sit up straighter on the bench. I open my mouth, to tell him where he can shove that thought, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

“But if I shake hands with your brother or anyone else, they won’t receive any Ichor. But touching you, my soul mate, skin-to-skin, your body will absorb it. And no, I guess it doesn’t really mean being immortal. We can be killed.”

He keeps saying that I’m his soul mate. I can’t wrap my head around that completely.

I ignore my reaction to a lot of things and focus on getting answers. “Can I feel or see Ichor?”

             
He shakes his head slightly. “You can’t see it. My dad described it as static electricity almost, on top of the tingling.”

             
“Oh…” That’s what I felt before we went out on the lake. I almost feel sick to my stomach now. This is too much. “How will my body react to that stuff? I mean, am I going to look like this,” I wave my hand in front of my face, “For the next ten years or something?”

             
“It’ll slow your aging process, heal some things, and strengthen your body. You won’t be as fast or as strong as a true Immortal, but faster and stronger than a human, like the Amaranthine.”

             
Why is it that every time he answers one question, I think of twenty more questions to ask him?

“Will I age faster than you?” I ask shyly. I don’t really want him to know that I’ve even thought about that. I don’t want to give him false hope that I’ve accepted this fate he seems to think is mine.

              “Not really. My parents look about the same age and she’s thirty years older than him,” he says.

             
Bits of information float in my head, spelling out something terrible. “You aren’t expecting me to leave my family, are you?!” My voice rises. I know I should be quieter, but I don’t care at this point. “No! I’m sorry. I can’t be your anything, Seth. I will
not
give up my family.” I stand and start to back away.

             
Seth jumps up and pulls me back to the table. I try to shake his grip, but it’s a useless attempt. “Jaz, please listen,” he sits next to me on the bench. “I’ve
already thought about that, and Jaynie suggests we tell them when it’s noticeable that you’re not aging very much. They’ll be held to our rules of secrecy, and no one else will know they know. You won’t have to leave
them
, but we do move every couple years. So you’ll have to move away from them, eventually. They can come with us if they want to, or we can always come back and visit as often as you’d like.”

             
I throw my arms around his neck and hug him tight. He chuckles into my hair then he slides one hand to the back of my head and moves the other to my waist. He leans into me and presses his tingling lips to mine.

It dawns on me that we haven’t kissed since this morning.

What a waste.

His tongue lightly touches my bottom lip causing me to gasp from the sensation. While the kiss deepens, I feel his emotions swirling around me, and I can easily pick them out, joy, attraction and worry.

I may not agree with the title of soul mate, but I have to admit that we are something. I’ve never been able to
feel
someone like this, or hear their thoughts.

             
“Seth?” I end the kiss all too soon.

             
“Yeah, Jaz?” he sounds as breathless as I do.

             
“I absolutely hate to say this, but you should probably take me home. Before the bears come after me, and before they call the giants for help.”

He laughs until he realizes I’m serious. Yes, Leland and Henry would ask Barry, Flynn and Tony for help, and maybe even some of the guys on Leland’s team if I don’t get home soon.

              “All right, Goldilocks, let’s get you home,” he stands slowly, and we gather up our trash then head to the car.

As I’m getting in, I remember a comment that Skeeter made about always being able to find Seth, and what Seth was saying about not needing my number. It has to have something to do with our weird mental connection.

              I ask, and he confirms my suspicions. “We’re connected. That’s how I found your uncle’s house without asking for directions. I can follow your emotions or thoughts. I do want to trade numbers because we can’t control what we share with the other just yet. It gets easier with time.” he looks over to me and smiles sweetly as we get closer to my uncle’s.

             
“Wait, are you trying to say that my emotions are like a friggin’ GPS?”

             
“Not exactly,” he says with a laugh. “It’s more like playing a game of ‘hot and cold,’” he smiles.

I nod, distractedly. At least, it’s not like if I get pissed off at something, a blinking red dot will sit over my location just for him.

I don’t really know what it is that connects us. Maybe it’s a tether, or a chain. I snort to myself as the ‘ol’ ball and chain’ saying pops in my mind. I shake off my mental dialog and move onto my next question.

“Is distance a problem? Like, if I go on vacation with my family somewhere, maybe out of state, would we still be able to feel and hear each other?”

              He shakes his head. “I’m not sure if that theory has ever been truly tested. Mated pairs need the physical contact to keep the Ichor flowing. The longer one is apart from the other, the less potency of Ichor they receive. With the lessening of Ichor, the mates suffer from illness and mental problems as their minds and bodies start aging to their true age. Take Jaynie and her husband, for example. Jaynie is in her hundreds, and so is her husband. If one of them died, the other’s body and mind would revert to its true age. Most couples if they separate, it’s only for a handful of days. That’s what they’re willing to risk by being apart.”

             
“Theoretically, would two weeks apart hurt us this summer?” I ask quietly.

When he pulls into the driveway, he uses his finger to tilt my head in his direction.

              “We’ll make it work, I promise.” He gives me a quick peck, and I can’t take it. I want more. I wrap my arm around his neck and pull him closer as my lips assault his mouth.

We both freeze and begin laughing a second later.

I’m not sure which of us is more shocked. I just know that I had no intention of attacking his mouth.

We exchange numbers, and he walks me to the door.

              “Do you want to hang out tomorrow? We can get Skeeter, she’ll love it,” he says.

             
“She’s already coming over tomorrow,” I inform him. “And you can come, too.”

             
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” He winks and leans down to kiss me. Just as he’s a whisper away, the door flings open. From the corner of my eye, I see Barry.

             
“Would ya look at that,” Barry says. “Seems I messed up Pretty Boy’s moves.” He chuckles.

             
I glare at him. If Seth doesn’t smack him, I will. Who does he think he is?

“What are you doing here, Barry?” I demand.

              “Well, I wanted to go hunt you down at the lake, but Leland said to give you guys some time,” he glares at Seth, then refocuses his gaze on me. “Jaz, I cannot believe you were gonna let him kiss you, that’s just gross.”

With that comment, Henry, Tony, and Flynn, are behind him in a flash.

              “Oh, do not start this again!” I roll my eyes. “Just go away!” Thankfully, Leland pulls the guys away from the door.

             
“You have two minutes,” he warns before shutting the door.

             
I groan, and Seth chuckles lightly.

             
“So um, what do I call you?” I ask him quietly. I hope it’s something less dramatic than
soul mate
.

He looks skyward with a smirk and rubs his chin.

              “You
could
call me your boyfriend,” he suggests with a smile.

             
“Of course, why didn’t I think of that?” I laugh and lean up to give him a kiss. “See you tomorrow.”

             
“Good luck with the bears and giants,” he chuckles as he walks towards his car.

             
“Thanks,” I take a deep breath and open the door.

There might be a blood bath this fine evening.

More Questions

             
As I twist the doorknob, I remember the promise I made to Henry. I never thought I’d
actually
date Seth, but I still promised I’d talk to him before it got this far.
Shit!
He’s so going to hate me for this. I groan as I open the door and step in.

             
I’m in the house long enough to take off my shoes, before getting bombarded with questions from the annoying brutes standing in my living room. I do manage to hear a few of the questions, although I can’t tell who’s asking them.

“Did he come onto you?”

“Did you have a good time?”

“Why did he take you to
that
lake?”

I fold my arms over my chest, tap my foot, and check out the polish on my nails. No sense in trying to get them to shut up, they don’t listen to me anyway. Leland finally manages to quiet the guys.

              “Thank you all so much for the very lovely welcome home,” I say sarcastically. “It would be nice to use the restroom, maybe even sit down for a minute.”

I take three steps towards the bathroom when Tony blocks my path. “We have questions for you.”

Oh, you have got to be kidding me! I never would’ve guessed that, without him pointing it out. I roll my eyes. “I’ll answer your questions, just as soon as I use the bathroom,” I snap. “Or would you rather I pretend to be a dog, like you, and pee on your foot?”

With a second of hesitation, he moves, and I pass.

I have a boyfriend, and I think I’m happy about that development, despite the strangeness. I’d at least like a few hours to enjoy reliving my first kiss.

I take a deep breath, and enter the room again.

              “I’ll answer your questions, at least the ones I want to answer. I know two of you are only looking out for me and the other three, well, you need to back off.”

I look to Leland, who’s playing with Alex on the floor. “What are your questions, Leland?” Tony rolls his eyes and forces a breath out his nose.

              “Did you have fun today? That’s my first question.”

             
“There was some fun moments, yes, but mostly we talked, and some of that wasn’t really fun,” I answer honestly.

             
“Barry said he interrupted Seth putting a move on you. Was it against your will, and has he tried it before?” As he says the words, the tension in the room increases to something tangible.

I knew this would come up.

              “Yes, Barry did interrupt our goodbye kiss,” I swallow and find Henry’s eyes, trying to convey my apologies first. “It’s appropriate for a boyfriend to kiss his girlfriend goodbye.”

The room explodes.

Leland’s having a rough reaction. Henry looks like he’s about to punch something, and the other three… I’d like to know why it’s a big deal them. Technically, to them I’m nobody.

             
After a few minutes of shouting, and some light shoving between Tony and Henry, Leland whistles and gets them to settle.

             
Henry’s eyes fly back to mine. “When were you gonna tell me, Jaz,” he says, looking awfully pissed off, like I betrayed him. It hurts, but I expected this.

             
“When did I have the chance to?” I counter. “I
just
got home, Henry. I’m not even sure what the big damn deal is anyway!” I growl and turn to leave. “Henry, I
need
my brother back,” I call over my shoulder.

             
“Sorry,” he says flatly, as I climb the stairs.

I wonder what exactly he’s apologizing for, but I’m not curious enough to turn around and ask.

***

             
On Sunday, Skeeter and Seth come over as planned, and Henry decides to chill with us. He surprises me even more, by not acting like a jacknut.

             
When Leland gets back from his teammate’s house, he asks them to stay for burgers on the grill. Leland does question Seth a little bit, just like I knew he would. You know, “what are your intentions,” and all that. I think Seth passed the test, because Leland tells him he’s welcome back anytime.

             
After Seth and Skeeter leave, I put away the leftovers and begin loading the dishwasher. Leland comes in and watches me from his stool by the bar.

             
“Are you going to stare, or help?” I ask with a wink.

             
“I think I’ll just supervise. You look in control of the situation,” he laughs at himself, which makes me laugh.

When I finish, I take the seat across from him. “How’s it goin’?” I ask.

              “I could always be better,” he tells me. “I’m not ready for this.” He shakes his head and looks me in the eye. “You’re growing up, and all I keep thinking is, “What happened to the girl who thought boys had cooties and I was her favorite person, other than her dad,” he smiles sadly. “Jazzy, I knew this would happen one day. You’re a beautiful girl, kind, caring, funny. I thought I’d be ready when it happened. But I’m really not, and this feels almost permanent. This doesn’t feel like it’s just some boy that caught your eye.”

“Leland,” I sigh. “You’re still my favorite uncle.”

“I’m your only uncle,” he deadpans, and I laugh.

“I’m not goin’ anywhere, Leland. I just have a boyfriend now.”

He smirks, “Call me a tyrant or overprotective brute, but he’s not good enough for you. No boy will ever be good enough for you.” He gives me a look that says his word is final, I can’t change his mind.

“In your eyes, no one will ever be good enough,” he smiles at me. “Can you accept him though?” I ask shyly, secretly wanting and needing his approval. I don’t have anyone else’s approval and it kind of hurts.

“I won’t tell you that you can’t see him,” he shakes his head. “The heart wants what the heart wants. I can’t stop you from growing up and falling in love. And believe me, I’ll take care of him if he hurts you.” I laugh. “I will never be ready for you to grow up, but I can’t stop it. So my compromise is to tell you that I’ll never truly like whoever you end up with, but I won’t purposefully chase them away. Any boy has his hands full with just your brother,” he laughs, and I join him. “I promised your parents that I’d always have your back and take care of you. I’m trying. This isn’t something I expected to have to handle so soon.”

I get up and hug him. “I love you Unky, you’re doin’ great.” Tears come to my eyes as I squeeze him, and he squeezes back just as hard. “I’m goin’ to bed, this day has been exhausting.”

We say goodnights, and I head up to my room. I’m so done with emotional conversations. I just want to sleep. When I open my door, Henry is sitting on my bed.

             
“What’s up?” I ask cautiously.

             
His eyes plead with me before he even opens his mouth. “I know you’re upset with me, and I can’t stand it. Anyway that you can forgive me?”

             
“You’re forgiven,” I say immediately. “Can you forgive me for breaking my promise?”

He nods and laughs. “Yea.”

“Can you also try to give Seth a real chance? He’s pretty cool, once you look past the weirdness.” The weirdness I’m referring to, he won’t know about for a long, long time.

             
He smirks. “Hey, I didn’t hit him today, did I? I
am
trying.”

I laugh at his response. Honestly, there were a few moments today when I thought he was going to do just that.

              “Okay I
need
some sleep. We’ll finish this tomorrow.” I hug him and shoo him out my door.

             
I can already hear my pillow singing me a lullaby as I put my pajamas on.

***

              Colors flash, heat radiates against my face, and giggling crackles in my eardrums. My eyelids flutter and the bright light causes me to squint. I’m in the backyard, Henry is chasing Alex. I smile, and chase after the two of them. Henry stops in front of me, hiding himself from Alex behind a tree. I notice he looks different. I wonder if he finally got a haircut.

Henry darts out from behind the tree and around the swing set. I run to the right to form a trap for Alex, but the backyard abruptly becomes shadowed. A spike of terror runs through me, as sweet little Alex sputters and falls to the ground. I turn to Henry for help, but his face is frozen, and I watch helplessly as the life slowly leaves his eyes.

I scream at the top of my lungs, yelling for Henry to get up, for Leland, Seth, Miss Jaynie, anyone.

Someone has to help me.

Something grabs hold of my face. It feels like someone’s placed a plastic bag over my head. Breathing becomes impossible. I’m being suffocated by an invisible attacker. Panic fills me causing me to gasp for non-existent air.

My eyes lock on the bodies of my baby cousin and my brother. Tears stream down my face and I’m quickly becoming hysterical.

This is how I die.

             
Five huge wolves with enormous teeth and claws come charging from around the house. The sight of them sends another surge of terror through me. But their arrival chases the shadow, and suffocating feeling, away. My fear is quickly replaced with relief as my lungs receive the air it desperately needs.

As I choke and gasp, I crawl over to Henry and Alex, and beg for them to wake up and come back to me, I pray for it. I’m shaking violently. Arms come around me, and someone shouts my name.

I realize that I’m not shaking; someone is shaking me.

             
I open my eyes to see my uncle’s face. Henry is holding my legs, and I’m still choking and crying. I must’ve really been screaming.

When my sobs slow, Leland tells me he loves me and leaves me with Henry.

Henry crawls up next to me on the bed and hugs me to his chest.

             
“It was…horrible, Henry. I couldn’t warn you…or save you or…Alex. You wouldn’t wake back up… They were so huge, but they saved me. It was horrible.”

             
“I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. You can hear my heart beating, can’t you?” I nod against his chest. It sounds heavenly after that nightmare. “Alex is fine, and surprisingly, he slept through the screaming. I love you. Now go to sleep. You won’t be alone.”

             
I fall asleep quickly in Henry’s arms. I must admit, I have the best brother in the world.

***

              In the morning, Seth meets me in the student lot. Because of the dream from last night, I stick close to Henry until he allows himself to be swallowed up by the fan club and the giants. When I finally make it to Seth, he puts his arms around me. I sigh and feel the tension leave me.

He bends down to whisper in my
ear, “Are you okay?” I can hear the concern in his voice.

Tears fill my eyes as I look into his. I bite the inside of my cheek and nod.

Before he can say anything else, Barry comes over and shoves him away, as their posse of catty girls follow him over.

             
“Enough of the PDA,” he sneers. “Some of us would like to keep our breakfast down.” A few girls giggle.

             
“Barry, why don’t you take the “ass” hat off and put on a “nice guy” hat for once?” I shoot back.

             
“It’s too early for nice, too late for sleepy, and I just don’t have the energy for charming at the moment. So unless you find me another monster,” he says, looking pointedly at Seth, “You’re stuck with plain old me. Take it or leave it.”

             
“Leave it.” I grab Seth’s hand and head for the doors.

             
“
Bye, Jazzy!
” Barry, Tony and Flynn yell in girly voices. I’m not sure which I find more annoying, them being confrontational to Seth or them when they thought Seth being near me meant they had to mark their territory.

Seth snorts. I guess he caught my thought. We part ways to head to our classes.

              By the time Acrylics starts, I’m ready for a nap. That nightmare last night really took a toll on me.

“You look like you could use an energy drink.” Skeeter smiles at me as we take the last few steps into the class.

              I nod. “I didn’t sleep very well last night.”

             
“I’m sorry,” she tells me. “Can I ride with you and Henry this afternoon?”

             
“Yea, I don’t see why not.” I nod.

             
“Awesome, thanks. My grandma wants me to meet her at your place,” she groans.

             
It’s so weird hearing her call Miss Jaynie “grandma.”