My Soul Laid Bare: Book 4 (The Soul Keeper Series) (23 page)

"You said them fighting words," Elijah teases in a hillbilly accent.

"Shoot paw, I done riled up the cat."

"Yep and she's an ornery one."

As soon as we step outside, a cold wet ball of mush slams into my cheek. I squeal with shock. I didn't think she'd actually do it. I run off the porch only to discover i
t’
s covered in ice as I go flying. A scream fires from my throat only to be cut short when Elijah cradles me in his arms, saving me from bodily damage once again.

"Careful love, you never learned to ice skate."

"Right." Elijah helps me to my feet and disappears just seconds before Ian and Brody round the corner.

"Guys, it is target practice time," I call out to them. Elena stares into me and then aims her threatening glare at them, daring the guys to make a move. I take her momentary distraction to send a tightly packed snowball whizzing just past her ear. She jumps back, and a second later, I see a powdery white explosion ricochet off the back of her head. It's followed by a direct hit to the back. I watch her face contort into pure vengeance.

"Ooh, perfect shot guys. I think they deserve a raise, Elena. They obviously have mad skills."

She returns fire nearly incapacitating Ian and beheading Brody. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. It feels good to let loose. I stand up after making a few more round slushes of ammo for the fight, and my world spins around in a blur. I feel my body weaken, and I land softly in the snow before I drift into unconsciousness.

"Brennen, open your eyes," I hear Elena command. I obey and stare up into her dark brown eyes. She looks relieved to see I'm okay.

"What happened?"

"You passed out. You looked dizzy when you stood up," Ian replies standing near me with Brody by his side. They have already moved me to the cushioned wicker sofa on the back porch. "The ambulance will be here soon."

"No, I'm fine. I don't need an ambulance."

"Sorry Mrs. Montgomery, we can't take that chance. We could lose our jobs."

"Elena."

"They're right. You need to get checked out."

What I really need is Elijah, and with all of these people around, he can't be here with me physically. I also can't go all catatonic at the moment either. I hear the shrill sound of sirens in the distance, and I dread what will come next. I hope they don't take me to the hospital.

"I'm fine, really." I go to stand up, and Elena pulls me back down.

"Stay put, Mrs. Montgomery."

The EMTs arrive and insist on taking me to the hospital, the standard protocol for elected officials. They don't want to lose their jobs either. The battery of tests they run could probably pay for a new wing of this hospital or at least a luxury Hawaiian getaway for the good doctor they've assigned to me.

They've stuck me in one of those weird hospital gowns with snaps and ties in strange places, and I'm still barely concealed. Elena sits in a mauve vinyl chair beside my bed looking honestly worried. I blink into the red sky world and find Elijah pacing by the window. You would think I was dying the way these two are fretting.

"Good news Mrs. Montgomery," the doctor says as he enters the room.
Well, that's a relief.
"I only have one more test to run."

A nurse wheels another machine in behind him, and he asks me to lie back. I do and roll my eyes up to the ceiling in frustration. I jump as I feel something cold and wet on my stomach. The sound of a microphone being disturbed blares through the small room.

He has an ultrasound wand gliding over my abdomen. He pauses, and a steady woosh, woosh, sound floods the room. It sounds like someone waving a piece of sheet metal back and forth. He smiles out and continues moving the wand around. The sound changes as he does, and now a different rhythm pulsates out.

"Just what I suspected in the first place. You dear, Governor Montgomery, are pregnant."

"What? That's impossible."

"Not only is it possible, but lightning struck twice. You're having twins. You look to be about six weeks along."

He keeps talking, but I can't hear a word he's saying. Six weeks along? Sam's been gone for ten weeks.

Twins! My heart thuds in my chest drowning out the amped up baby heartbeats all together. Elena hurries the doctor and nurse from the room. As soon as the door is shut, Elijah appears.

He leans over the bed and kisses me. His dimples are firing off like the samba next to his elated smile. The vision with the two children, twins, plays on a reel in my head, one blond, one dark haired climbing onto my lap eager to tell me some sort of highlight from their day.

"You are going to be the best mother to our babies."

"I think she's still in shock."

Shock? Yes, I was told after years of trying to get pregnant with Sam that I was infertile, at his hand no less, and now, Elijah manages to get me pregnant on the first try. Years ago, Malphas wanted him to do just that so that I'd bear an evil offspring. My mind keys in on the sight of Elijah taking a private walk with Michael, heaven's equivalent to Malphas. This was their plan. These babies will probably bear their own gifts. I'm nothing more than a host for the next generation of half breeds. These children will probably be more powerful than me and wholly capable of saving the world.

"Please tell me the truth... What am I saying? You can't lie." I rub my temples as I gather the courage to ask him.  "Did you get me pregnant as part of their plan?" Elijah cocks his head back. Elena looks as confused as I am, so she must not be in on it, if it's true. The smile slides off his face and is replaced with fear. He goes to grab my hand, and I pull it away.

"Please just let me explain."

"Elijah, I can't believe you would do this without asking her first," Elena scolds him backing him into a corner.

"Now hold on you two. First of all, when I came to you that first night, you were so upset. I made it feel like a dream so that you wouldn't feel guilty for being unfaithful to Sam. I knew that he had left you unable to have children. Your own mother knew this fact. It wasn't until Michael told me to try to get you pregnant the night we left Amorous that I realized their plan. He had mentioned it many years ago, but I thought it was laid to rest when Malphas hurt you." He turns to Elena.

"I didn't ask her Elena because I didn't want to get her hopes up. I know she wants to be a mother more than anything in the world. I'm the one that watched her break down in tears every month when she would find out she wasn't pregnant, not you."

I clench my stomach wondering if I would have said no if he had asked. Truthfully, no, these babies were loved by me the very first time I saw them wrap their tiny arms around my neck in the vision I saw years ago... Sam, where does he fit it with all of this?

"Please talk to me, love."

"I'm feeling every emotion known to man right now. So please, just give me some time to think."

"Let's get you home," he says so softly. I think I've just broken his heart for the first time. The reporters outside have already gathered in mass, and although my press secretary has kept the statement brief and vague, they still bombard me with questions as soon as they wheel me out the rear exit.

"Governor Montgomery, how are you feeling?"

"Do you know why you fell unconscious?"

The only way to keep them quiet is to use my gift. This is probably the one time I'm grateful for it.

"Thank you for your concern. I'm happy to report that I am just fine. A bit of anemia caused me to become lightheaded. The doctor says I just need to eat more steak. I don't think that will be a problem. I am in Texas after all." The reporters chuckle to themselves, and I wave goodbye to them.

The car ride is silent. I keep switching worlds to look at Elijah. I feel like a railroad crossing light blinking red against a black night sky. He looks afraid. I wonder what he's afraid of. Is he afraid that I'll regress back to keeping him from my sight, or that I wouldn't want them? Neither is a possibility. I wouldn't change anything even if I could. Elijah and the babies are not what worries me. It's how to tell Sam that I've cheated on him, and now
I’
m pregnant with Elijah's babies. It's going to break him.

Sam is the only thing keeping me from being totally elated right now. I've never been more afraid in my life than I am in this moment. I need to tell him now before rumors begin to circulate. Rip it off like a Band-Aid --no this will be more like duct tape off of chest hai
r
– slow and excruciating.

That night, the nausea returns, and I decline my dinner. I choose to rest my head against the cool cast iron tub that beautifies this bathroom. Elijah keeps his distance and gives me the alone time that I so desperately need right now. Being stressed is bad for the babies. I need to solve the source of my anxiety soon but not tonight.

The night comes and brings with it new levels of fear. Elijah's just outside my bedroom door. I can feel the closeness of his presence. I wake up from a nightmare. Sam was choking me to death when he found out the truth. Elijah went to intervene, but the devil appeared as a black snake with fire for eyes and coiled around Elijah's body so that he couldn't move. The snake crushed Elijah to death, and I suffocated in Sa
m’
s hands. We died looking helplessly into one another's eyes. I awake gasping for air and clawing at my throat. The cool early morning air comes in and soothes the pain that's long since faded with my rousing.

I see the light shift under the doorway. I know he's listening, judging whether or not to come in. My heart begins to slow, letting him know that I'm alright. I turn on my phone and see I have missed Sam's call this morning. I automatically dial him back. Realizing h
e’
s probably already at work, I go to end the call. What would I even say to him? This is going to shatter him
.“
Hello, Bren
?
” I hear him pick up before my finger had the chance to press end. I stare at his picture on my screen picturing his beautiful face washed in anguish. How could I do this to him?

"Bren, you okay?"

Tears break through the flimsy wall holding them back. His innocence in all of this is my kryptonite. He has never hurt me intentionally, yet I'm like a record stuck on repeat.

"No Sam, I'm not alright. Is there any way you can come home for a short while? There is something I need to tell you, and I don't want to do it over the phone."

"Brennen, you're worrying me. Just tell me over the phone. Whatever it is, we can get through it."

"Just come home, okay. That's all. Good-bye."

I hang up the phone, and he calls me back right away. "Brennen, I can't come home. They need me here desperately. Please, just talk to me."

“
I need you here! Please Sam. Do
n’
t make me say this over the phone
!
”

I'm so tired. I don't have the energy to fight with him. I take the phone and walk out to the balcony. It's quiet still.  The start of the day is holding its breath. A burst of frigid air takes every bit of my heat with it.

“
It will be fine. Just tell me wha
t’
s bothering you. I honestly ca
n’
t just leave here
.
”

I mull over the right thing to do in this impossible situation. I ca
n’
t wait until he comes home. By that time,
I’
ll have two newborns in the house.

"Bren, are you still there?"

"Yes."

I ready myself to drop the piano from the ledge.

"I was admitted to the hospital yesterday."

"Oh my God, are you alright? What happened?"

I clench my jaw as another wave of nausea rises in my throat. I can't stop it. I lean over the banister and disgrace my begonias. "Brennen? Bren?"

"I'm here. Sorr
y
… Sa
m
… I sort of slept with Elijah, and now, I'm pregnant." God, it sounds worse saying it out loud. Screw it. I'd rather vomit out the truth than have it come to a slow festering boil. What's done is done. There's no way to spare him from the ugly truth. He'll leave me, and I'll deserve it, end of our love story. "I'm so sorry Sam. I wish I could explain the circumstances to you, to make you understand, but I can't."              

"How could you do this to us, with him of all people?" he spits the words out like daggers right back at me.

"I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm so sorry for all the times I hurt you. You should have stayed away from me. All I am capable of is breaking hearts."

I can hear his broken breaths struggling to keep it together. I focus on a barn owl sitting on a fence post nearby and try to maintain my strength.

"Well congratulations, I hope you two live happily effing ever after." The line goes dead and for a moment, so does my heart. I sink down to the balcony floor in a heap as my emotional rollercoaster bottoms out from the long steep never ending drop. Before I know it, I'm in Elijah's strong steel cage arms. He carries me inside, and he's consoling me the only way he knows how.