Read Gemini: Book 4 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series) Online
Authors: Rachel Medhurst
Gemini: Book 4 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series)
Gemini
A Zodiac Twin Flame Novel
By Rachel Medhurst
Copyright © 2015 by Rachel Medhurst
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About Gemini
When the cards were turned, they changed my life. The flick of a wrist as I revealed my hand changed destiny. My destiny.
The loss at the poker table was the first step onto my ultimate path. True, my siblings warned me about gambling. Our mission must never be jeopardised, they preached.
When you lose, you gain. The spiral of fate took hold when Athena held a gun to my head. A trapped woman desperately fighting for her freedom. Was she a goddess of war? Or a thorn in my side? Rescuing her could mean the end of me.
This book is dedicated to Emma
‘Yes, I’ve got the money. Count me in.’
The dealer raised his eyebrows. His sharp jaw clenched as his gaze swept over the other players. The dingy room was silent as they stared.
‘You doubt me?’ My youth was held against me. It always had been.
‘I doubt that you’ve got two balls, son, let alone ten grand.’
The player that addressed me was well known. His blue eyes pierced through me, searching for the truth…or bluff. His blond hair was slicked back from his forehead. He was only ten years older than me but he had been gambling for much longer. He was a pro.
‘Trust me, I’ve got two balls. I’ll show you later if you’re lucky.’ I smirked at the laughter of the other players. Confidence was a must in the life of a professional gambler. There was a reason the name ‘poker face’ had come about.
‘Okay, he can play.’ Liam, the one with all the power, snapped his fingers.
The dealer shuffled the cards and dealt them onto the plain wooden table. The set up was simple. The people were hard. Their jaws set. Their lips pulled into a straight line.
‘This isn’t some friendly game, Gemini, you better not be lying about having the money.’
I sniffed as I scooped up the cards and glanced at my hand. The corner of my lip threatened to lift when I studied the numbers and suits. I stilled the motion, instead flicking the bit of fluff that landed on the table next to my tumbler of whiskey.
The final play started. The palms of my hands dampened. Ten thousand pounds was a lot of money to lose. London was a harsh city. A cold place at night when there wasn’t a roof over your head.
‘Fold.’ The last of the other players bowed out of the game.
I looked up. My gaze clashed with my new archenemy. He raised one eyebrow and flicked his hand at the dealer. He nodded after swapping in two cards. He didn’t need to say anything. The dealer knew him well.
The other four people in the room watched as I swapped out three cards. It was a risky call. A call that I hoped would pay off. I flipped the cards into my hand and scanned them. My heart thundered in my chest as I kept my reaction concealed inside of me.
Nodding, I let them know that I was ready to play. Blondie’s eyes squinted before he laid his hand down first. I bit my lip as I let my cards fall to the table. The gasp in the room filtered to me before the blood rushed to my ears. He had won.
‘Thank you, boys,’ he declared.
His seat scraped against the floor as he pushed back and reached for the cash in the middle of the table.
‘I’ll expect payment from you soon,’ he said to me.
His suit was pristine. The navy jacket hung on his broad shoulders as he did up the button. He moved a hand over his slick mousey hair as he bid farewell to the penniless people now slumped in their seats around the table.
When he reached the door, he turned back. ‘I know where you live, Gemini.’
I stood too. I would not let him intimidate me. He was just another gambler, like me. There was nothing special about him.
‘You’ll have your money.’
He stepped out, letting the door shut behind him.
‘I’m buggered,’ one of the other players stated.
I shared his sentiment. I had no idea why I had agreed to play high stakes. My low stake games had been going well. I was developing my skill and winning out every time. Now, I was also buggered.
‘It’s been good playing with you, boys,’ I said, leaving the smell of despair behind as I left the private room and headed home.
What had I been thinking? I knew I could win. But I didn’t. How had I not won? My hand was excellent. But his hand was better. He swiped my life from under me. Where would I get ten thousand pound from?
A taxi pulled up next to me as I started to walk.
‘You need a ride, Gemini?’
The driver was my regular man. He drove me around London. Usually to wherever the new woman that hung off my arm lived. His brow was furrowed as he watched, his car crawling along beside me.
‘Not today. I’m going to walk home. Thank you.’
It was unusual to have a taxi driver know your every move. The man had probably waited outside the private rooms just for me.
‘Here, take this.’ I dug a tenner out of my pocket and shoved it through the open window.
He tutted and stopped the car, jumping out when I didn’t wait. Falling into step beside me, he started to whistle.
‘What are you doing?’ I asked him, coming to a standstill.
‘Something is bothering you. I consider myself to be your friend now.’
His eyes narrowed on me as I rubbed a hand over my clean jaw. ‘And…?’
Smiling kindly, he grabbed my hand and shoved the note into my palm. ‘And, I have a feeling you are going to be needing this.’
He jogged back to the car as I stared after him. Speeding away, he left me standing on the pavement in central London. He was right. I was going to need the tenner. I was going to need quite a few more tenners if I didn’t want to end up dead.
My phone started to ring. Swiping the screen, I held it to my ear.
‘Why are you calling me so late?’ I answered.
My sister, Cancer, huffed down the phone. ‘I need your help. I’ve just had a phone call. Where are you?’
Her hurried words made the hair on my arm rise. Surely my opponent didn’t know anything about my siblings?
‘I’m on my way home, why?’
If only the taxi driver still bugged me. I could get home a lot quicker if I’d asked him to drop me off.
‘I’m sorry for putting you in this position but it’s Matt. He’s in danger.’
My hand formed a fist as a gust of wind swept around me. I swallowed as I pushed down the anger and the wind died away. It was no good losing it in the middle of the street. I didn’t want to set off a tornado.
‘Where is he?’
Her sigh vibrated into my ear. ‘He’s…here…’
‘In our home?’ I spat.
Matt had been in allegiance with our real enemy. Twelve of us lived together in one big apartment in London. My siblings, who weren’t actually related by blood, had powers. And so did I. We were called The Zodiacs. We lived with the secret of a mission that we had to complete before we died. The mission was important to us all. We didn’t really understand why we had to unite with our twin flame soulmates but we had accepted the fact long ago. We had to find the person that we should be with for the rest of our lives.
After many discussions with my siblings about our mission, I had decided that we had to do what we had to do.
‘Gemini, are you there?’
Cancer had been talking. My brain churned as I walked. I wasn’t ready to take on her crap as well as my own. I had just lost ten thousand bloody pounds. There was a chance that we would lose the house because of my carelessness.
I swallowed as my breathing increased. ‘Yes, I’m here,’ I replied when her whinging got louder. ‘Is Aries there? Why are you ringing me?’
I had five brothers and six sisters. We were each named after one of the Zodiac signs. Aries was the one that took charge. The natural leader.
‘Everyone’s asleep. I can’t drag them into this.’
I shook my head, taking the phone away from my ear to whistle a taxi as it came past.
‘But you can drag me into it? What about Taurus? He’s become your best buddy recently.’
I climbed into the car and shouted my address to the cabbie.
‘He has Kerry in his room. They’re…’
‘I don’t need to know. I’m in a cab. I’ll be back soon.’
I switched off the phone and let my head drop back onto the headrest. The taxi driver was quiet as we made our way across London.
Nick was the name of our enemy. He was determined to stop all twelve of us from getting with our soulmates. It was his mission in life, apparently. Matt had worked for Nick until we had kidnapped him. He had formed some sort of attachment to Cancer while in our care. Even though he was married.
‘Thank you,’ I said to the driver as I handed him the tenner I still clutched in my hand and made my way inside. One thing was for certain. I needed a stiff drink before I was roped into whatever Cancer had planned.
‘Where is he?’
I gulped the whiskey down and refilled the glass. Cancer grabbed the bottle out of my hand and put it back in the cupboard.
‘I need your full attention. Nick has threatened to kill Matt. He wants his men to find him and-’
‘So what?’
I didn’t care what happened to the man that worked for our enemy. He was a weak man that had no interest in anything other than himself.
‘I can’t let him die-’
‘Where is he?’ Why was he not talking to me himself? Surely he should take control, not Cancer. She was just a woman. One that seemed to be way too caught up in him.
‘In the front room,’ Cancer said, gesturing behind us.
The kitchen area was dark. Cancer was quiet as she spoke but I wasn’t too worried about being heard. In fact, I was tempted to wake up Aries. He would have a field day.
‘Let’s go and have a chat, shall we?’ I said, opening the cupboard and getting the whisky back out. I needed to be drunk to even think about helping him.
‘Please don’t be harsh on him.’
I ignored her plea as I opened the door and spied Matt sitting on the sofa. Cancer followed me in, closing the door behind her.
‘I’ve not had a very good evening so you better make this quick. I’m pretty tired.’ I lowered myself into one of the armchairs.
Matt glanced between us, his gaze resting on Cancer’s clasped hands.
‘Nick has put a bounty on my head. He wants me caught and taken to him so he can execute me. He thinks I’ve betrayed him.’
He ran a hand over his cropped dark hair. His gaze flicked between the pair of us, unable to stay trained on one thing. He licked his lips and squeezed the material of the sofa between his fingers. He was a man afraid for his life.
‘And what do you want us to do about it?’ I gulped a mouthful of whiskey straight out of the bottle. If I couldn’t find ten grand in a week, I would be in the same position as him. Maybe I should be a little sympathetic.
‘Aries offered me protection before…’ His sentence trailed off as I raised my eyebrows.
Why were they talking to me? Aries was the one that had made the offer. I wasn’t in control of what everyone else did. I was simply a gambler. Just one of the men that lived in Aries’ shadow.
‘So, go and wake him up and take him up on his offer.’
‘It’s not that simple. A lot has happened since he said that. I thought that you could have a word. You seemed to get on a bit better with him…’ Cancer’s sentence also trailed off when I snorted a laugh.
I wasn’t sure what world she believed we were living in. Aries and I were amicable because we had to be. We were brothers. I respected him. He had coped much better than I could have when he’d had his accident. I had stepped in for a while. He was grateful for the work I did, but that didn’t make us best mates.
‘Please, talk to him for us. You can wait until the morning.’
‘If it’s to do with my marriage, I separated from my wife-’
‘I don’t care about that.’ I couldn’t criticise Matt for wanting Cancer when he was married. I had been with my fair share of married women. It wasn’t something I was proud of. It came with the territory.
‘Nothing is happening between us,’ Cancer said, glaring at the dark haired man. ‘But I can’t see him hurt. Will you speak to Aries or not?’
I let my head roll back onto the comfortable cushion of the armchair. I wanted to help. How could I say no? I would do anything for my siblings. They were the world to me. Even if they didn’t know it.
‘Where’s the fun Gemini gone?’ Cancer tried a different tactic.
A small smile lifted my lips as my eyes closed. All that money…gone. In one single hand. I was sure I would win. ‘Okay. I’ll talk to him in the morning.’
Cancer threw her arms around the back of the chair, squeezing me in a half attempted hug. I patted her arm and watched as they left the room. I didn’t know where he would sleep and I didn’t care. As long as they left me alone, I would be happy.
‘What are you doing in here?’ the voice woke me.
I jerked, looking around to try and figure out where I was. Taurus stood in front of me in a pair of boxers. His muscles were bigger than they had ever been. His new job had made him fitter than any of the lads. Aries, Scorpio and Leo would be pissed that he could give them a run for their money now. I glanced down at my crumpled suit.
‘Snoozing.’ The reply was delayed as I brushed my shirt to try and straighten the wrinkles. It didn’t work so I undid the buttons instead.
‘Kerry didn’t stay over so there was no need to avoid the bedroom.’ The grin that split his face made me hunger for what he had recently found. A woman that fitted into his life as if she had always been there.
‘Tell me. Were you always able to pay your drug bills?’
The question popped out of my mouth before my brain engaged. He sipped the water that he held in his hand and lowered himself onto the sofa opposite me.
‘Mostly, yeah. I don’t like owing money. Why?’
He wasn’t stupid. In fact, he was more intelligent than I had ever given him credit for. I wished I could take the question back.
‘No reason.’
I rubbed my eyes, ignoring his snort. It was harder to get on with men. I much preferred talking to women for some reason. They were easily charmed.
‘Well, there is a reason, but don’t worry.’
Taurus was silent. When I opened my eyes, I looked at him. He watched me. His gaze was hard. Realistic. ‘It’s okay, I didn’t want to know anyway.’
He left me sitting in the chair. It had to work out. I would find a way to pay my debt and everything would be fine. I could get the money from our father. He was rich. Maybe not. He’d want to know why I needed it. I couldn’t tell him that I had lost it all. It wasn’t my fault anyway. If that woman hadn’t led me into that room, I wouldn’t have played the higher stakes. She enticed me in there for her husband. I lost everything because of her.
Sleep pulled at me but worry pulled more. Every time I started to drift off another thought would enter my head. No matter how much I fought with myself, there was one dilemma.
I didn’t have ten thousand pounds to pay my debt. And if I didn’t pay, I would probably get killed.