My Soul Laid Bare: Book 4 (The Soul Keeper Series) (20 page)

"
He's
not a cruel God. Malphas was cruel, Brennen." She looks past my shoulders, to Elijah perhaps. "I think it's time we tell her the truth."

"What, Elena?"

Elena sighs a deep breath. She looks out into the dark lawn lit only by strategically placed up-lights which wash the hillside in a romantic softness. A rare cool breeze wafts across the porch setting the wind chimes off like small symphony. They've hidden something from me.

"Maybe you should have some more wine."

I bolt up from the chair and move in front of her as quick as I can. "I don't need to be plied with booze to hear the truth. Just say it."

"At least sit down."

"Elena, get on with it."

"The night you were attacked by Sam, with Malphas possessing him, he did something. He hurt your chances of ever carrying a baby, Brennen. We tried to heal you completely, but we couldn't. I'm so sorry."

I take off the back porch and start to run, tears blowing off my cheeks as I accelerate down the field. The agents charge after me in fast pursuit. Elena is the only one who can keep up with me. She runs by my side and orders the agents to stand down. She's got everything under control.

"Why would you let me go five years trying to get pregnant and not ever tell me that I couldn't? Why?"

"We wanted you to have a normal life Brennen, not have your attack looming over your marriage like a dagger waiting to drop."

"That evil son of a bitch took everything from me. He took a perfect love and destroyed it until it's unrecognizable. He took my father, Grandma, Emily, and now I learn that he took the one
thing away from me that would erase every pain I have ever suffered. I will never know the love of my own children and be able to love them in return." I break into uncontrollable sobs and fall to my knees. I cry out, "Why?"

A clap of thunder shudders my ribs with its roar. The sky lights up with dozens of lightning strikes all around us. Whoa, that one was really close.

"We have to go, now!" Elena pulls me to my feet and transports us near the back porch.

"What? Did I anger
Him
? Well, I'm angry too! I've done everything you people have asked me to do without a fight, and this is how I'm rewarded? I gave you my life. I had faith. I believed."

"That wasn't
Him
."

"No, just a random coincidence then, that twelve bolts of lightning just decided to aim their death rays at me. I can't believe I'm not a briquette of charcoal right now."

"Yeah, there were thirteen strikes, and Elijah covered your body and took the hit. I've got to go check on him. Stay with Ian." The thumping of my erratically beating heart floods my ears as I realize Elijah is hurt.

"No, I'm coming with you." I start running back out the door.

Elena flashes in front of me, blocking the door. "Brennen, no. It's too dangerous. I'll be back with him in just a second."

I clench my jaw but let her go without me. I pace the floor of the kitchen for what seems like hours. The clock over the buffet table ticks the seconds away like a gong reverberating in my ear.

"Brennen, I'm in here," Elena calls from the parlor. I fly out of the kitchen's swinging door and nail the chef right in the nose.

"Shoot, I am so sorry Chef. Are you alright?" Blood gushes out of his nose like a faucet, and he looks a little disoriented.

"Hang on." I help get him into a kitchen chair and quickly shove some ice into a towel and place it on the bridge of his nose. "Keep that there for a minute. I have to go."

I find Elena in the parlor and see Elijah's unconscious body lying on the floor. His wings splayed out over the rug, nearly fill the room. Many of feathers are black, singed from the heat. His perfect face hasn't aged a day in ten years. I fall in a heap over him and pull him too me. The familiar weight of his arm nestles over me. I search for other injuries. The way his skin feels under my touch elicits memories that I’ve kept hidden for far too long.  I note his thick lashes dusting his cheeks and how his full lips lay closed softly making him pout. I've missed all of him for so many years. The last time I saw him was before my wedding five years ago, and that was only briefly.

"Come on. He needs to go to Amorous and be healed." She lifts his body from the floor as if he weighs as much as a child. I grab her arm, and she transports us to the faraway place. We arrive on the familiar lit up platform, and the crowd parts immediately when they see who Elena is carrying in her arms.

The bright light accosts my eyes as soon as we exit. I throw my arm up over my face and grab Elena's shirt just in time. An unknown hand places a pair of sunglasses in my hand, and I stop for a second to put them on. My eyes are still seeing white for a moment, but as soon as we get into the darkened infirmary, I spot Inara right away.  Elena lays Elijah down on a bed, and the team goes to work on him. They let me hold his hand as they work around me.

"Elena, who did this?"

"There is only one other who can control the weather."

"Lucifer," Elijah croaks out, his voice sounding like he swallowed a bag of razor blades for breakfast.

"You’re back. Thank God, you're okay." He pulls my body up on to the bed and presses my head into his chest, hugging me for a long while. He plants a kiss on the top of my head and sniffs like
he's been crying. I turn my head up so I can see his face. His eyes are glassy, and the tip of his nose is red.

"I would have danced in every thunderstorm for the last thirteen years, if I'd known this was all it took to get you back in my arms." We all chuckle a little at his sense of humor at a time like this.

"Ha ha funny man, Satan is after your wife. Now's not the time for jokes," Elena chastises.

"Sam's gone. She can spend her nights here in Amorous where it's safe."

"Only if that's okay with her. Up until five minutes ago, she couldn't bear to look at you."

"Would ya'll quit talking about me as if I wasn't here?"

"See she reverts to speaking in hick when she's stressed. She clearly needs more work."

"Elena!" both Elijah and I shout out at her.

The thought of spending five minutes alone with Elijah has me ready to take up his hand and haul him out of here already, so the mention of entire nights, for months on end, makes me need him out of here right now. God, how did I make it all these years without seeing him?  Elijah's right. I probably would have danced the polka in a hurricane just to see him once again. The only difference is that I could have reversed the order at any time.

"We both know she's perfect. Now, if you don't mind, I haven't seen my wife in a very long time."

Hearing Elijah call me his wife so possessively cinches my heart shut. Elena goes to open her mouth, but she thinks twice and leaves us alone in the room.

"How are you feeling?" He still looks weak. His muscles look softer, almost vulnerable. I've never seen him look anything but the picture of perfection. I run my fingers over his cool short hair.

"Feeling your touch is the only healing power I need."

I smile as he moves over in the small bed to allow me room to lie next to him. I do, and he lets out a soft sigh as if it's the best thing that's happened to him all year. My leg rides over his thigh as if it has a mind of its own. Our fingers intertwine, and we stay like that for a while. All the while, I keep asking myself if I did the right thing staying with Sam all of these years.

What choice did I have really? Malphas knew just how to hurt us in the worst way possible. And now what? Seeing Elijah again is like an alcoholic walking back into a bar for the first time. I can't resist him anymore than he can resist me. What will happen when Sam returns in a few months? Will I be able to go back on the wagon and give up Elijah once again? I feel like such a failure. I always let down the ones I love. If it were up to me, I'd never go back home. My mother said one day I would get to live here permanently. After my earthly body has perished, I'll get to live here if I choose to.

Elijah must have drifted off. I can feel his soft steady breaths over the top of my head, the relaxed rise and fall of his chest. It feels just the way it used to when we'd fall asleep in each other’s arms. I have missed this so much, and I didn’t realize it, until now. Fear was the only thing that carried
me through those first few months without him.

We're jolted awake when a massive trauma team comes into the triage room. Several Keepers are being worked on all at once causing the room to burst alive with a crowd of healers. Elijah eases out of bed and takes my hand leading me out of the way.

"What happened to them?" Elijah asks Inara when she's finally done giving orders.

"Daniel said the most evil one had a message for you. He said, ‘You can’t keep her.’”

"Wait, what?" I ask. 
This can't be happening again.
"He hurt them because of me?"

Inara and Elijah share a remorseful look confirming my suspicions.

"No, he hurt them because he's made of nothing but hate and malice. It's not your fault." Elijah's words do little to comfort me.

Inara squeezes my shoulder. "Look these guys are almost back to normal. They're immortal. Don't worry about them."

"What about Sam, Lexi, or my staff? He could hurt them."

"It's a war we're willing to fight, Brennen. Your cause is the most important thing right now. We have Keepers on duty protecting every single one of them. We're invested in this cause. I hope you still are," Inara says, pumping some of her calming effects my way. I've never felt it so strong before.

I back away from her, needing a clear head. Elijah shakes his head warning her to keep her distance. "Come love, let's go home and talk about things. I can tell you need more answers."

Outside the night sky takes my breath away. Elijah whistles for his horse. While we wait, he takes me in his arms looking fully recovered and brimming with anticipation. There's a chill in the air, but Elijah's heated body staves off the goose bumps.  I've never been here when it's been anything but pleasant and warm. The air even smells differently this time of the year. I guess Amorous has seasons after all. The sweet fragrance of night jasmine fills the air with almost aphrodisiac qualities. My hand rides along Elijah's beautifully carved back. He's exquisite under the silver light of the moon. It bleeds his tan skin of all color and washes him with hues of lilac.

Elijah's horse trots up next to us like a well versed cab driver in New York City. It's the same one even after all of these years. "Do you want to go to the cottage tonight? Or are you up for the longer ride?"

"It's been a rough night, and the cabin holds some of my very favorite memories."

Elijah smiles, and it rips through my last shred of will power. I reach up towards his lips, and he meets me halfway with a much needed earth shattering kiss. There is no one else. I need his touch like a dying crop needs rain. His love flows between us comforting me so completely. I instantly know that everything will be okay. One way or another, he'll make sure of it.

He finally pulls away to lift me onto the horse. He glides up behind me settling in close and then nudges the horse toward home as he continues bathing me in rich kisses. By the time we reach
the small home, Elijah and I are all hands and lips. Clothes fly off the moment we shut the front door.

We fumble our way to the bed room, stopping periodically along the way to savor the moment we're in. I pull his shirt over his head and delicately trace my fingers over his lava like skin. His scars have faded over the years and are barely visible now, but they are a reminder nonetheless of the pain I caused him to suffer through all because I refused to follow orders. He sucks in a breath as my hands knead over his body.

"I have a confession to make," Elijah says breathlessly as we reach the edge of his bed.

"So make it," I say as I peel off the remainder of his attire.

"Those dreams you've been experiencing lately, weren't dreams." His hands ride along my ribs down to my waist. "I kept you in a dreamlike state so you wouldn't feel guilty."

"You almost had me throwing out my wine collection. I thought I was going crazy!"

"You're not upset?"

I bounce playfully on the bed. "Do I look upset?"

A devilish smile blooms on his face. I sink back into the pillows as Elijah eases over me. Tonight no one will mistake this for a dream. Elijah and I express our love as only a husband and wife can. We have an intimacy that far exceeds anything I've ever known. I couldn't explain it if I tried. Perhaps the soul mate legend is true, and that's why when we're together like this, there is no better feeling in the universe. It's where we're supposed to be, united, one soul, and one body.

****

Three nights in Amorous equals one night back home, so our one night together has only been four hours on Earth. I wake up the next morning under Elijah's silky arm. His eyes open as I
begin to stir. He kisses my forehead and plops his head back down on the pillow. "Getting struck by lighting is by all standards, not cool."

I prop myself upon my elbow. "Are you in pain?"