True Connection (The Soul Mate Series) (13 page)

My eyelids flutter shut as tingles caress my mind again. Seth and I are tangled together, his hand on my jaw, the other on the small of my back, pulling me flush with his body.

In response, I imagine running my hands through his hair, tugging lightly on the ends, and nibbling his bottom lip.

His emotions spike again, but before I can pay attention to anything, my phone rings. The name flashing on the screen makes me think I’m in trouble.

             
“I just thought we could do some practicing,” I rush to explain.

             
“Uh, Sweetheart, just what kind of practicing did you have in mind exactly?” His voice is breathy, and deeper.

             
“I didn’t really think about that part, it was a little on the steamy side, wasn’t it? I’m sorry. I only wanted to get the hang of this mind thing.”

             
“Don’t apologize. You’re fine, and I have to agree with you, we
should
practice,” he says.

             
“Okay,” I smile. “I suppose we should stick to safe topics then, huh?”

             
“That would be a good idea,” he laughs.

             
“Can I at least send you a goodnight kiss?”

             
“Mhmmm…always,” he whispers.

             
“I’m sorry I got you worked up.”

             
“No worries,” he assures. “More practice?”

             
We resume our sharing, and I picture the soldier I’m drawing and the image I want it to look like when it’s complete. I know he got it, his emotions read pride.

We go back and forth for about half an hour when my phone buzzes beside me. It’s a text from Seth, telling me he has to pause the practicing for now, but he’ll let me know when he’s ready again.

              I glance at the time and see it’s near dinner time, might as well go down and see if Leland needs any help. When I arrive in the kitchen, Henry is there, already starting to set the table, so I join him. We’re having fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and some kind of corn casserole. It smells so good, that I can’t wait to dig in.

We’re about halfway done with dinner, I take a bite of my chicken and an image suddenly appears in my head that makes me gasp, causing me to choke. Seth sent me a picture of him pinching my butt, a “goose.” My face goes flame-red for two reasons, first being that I swallowed the chicken wrong, and second, that image.

He goosed me - in my mind - and I choked on my chicken!

Of course, my brother and uncle panic a bit. Henry taps my back, and Leland goes to get me a glass of water. When I can get words out, I explain that it went down the wrong hole, but my face is still redder than it should be, and I’m positive Henry can see through my lie. They keep giving me strange looks through the rest of dinner, and I do my best to avoid eye contact.

I am getting a hold of Skeeter to help me out with revenge for that one!

Crap
! I hope Seth didn’t get that thought!

Barry shows up just after we were done eating. I ignore him and put the leftovers in the fridge. Henry takes Barry upstairs, while I put the dishes in the dishwasher. As soon as I’m done, I text Skeeter, explaining what happened, and that I’d like her help coming up with a way to get him back.

              While I wait for her response, I wipe down the stove and counter. When she texts back, it’s easy to tell that she had been laughing and is still laughing. But she agrees to help, so her laughter is forgiven at the moment.

             
Hanging the rag over the faucet in the sink, I start up the steps. I’m about halfway when I hear a rustling noise, and freeze.

What the heck is that?

Now it sounds like grunting, and it’s coming from the top of the steps.

The first room is Barry’s, what the hell is he doing?

I sneak up two more steps and hit the squeaky one I always forget about.

             
“Henry? Jaz?” Barry yells.

I don’t want to answer. But I guess it’s the nice thing to do.

              “It’s me,” I say as I’m standing in front of his door.

I hear more rustling and grunting from Barry.

              “Um, Jazzy, can you come in here and help me out please?” He sounds out of breath, and I’m not really sure if I want to open this door. “Come on Jaz, I need some help.” He sounds a little desperate.

Fine, this’ll be my good deed for the day.

I push open the door and what I see shocks the hell out of me. The cushions are in a stack on the floor, and then there’s Barry, wedged in the couch bed.

It seems he didn’t lock it into position before climbing in. Now all that’s visible of him is a foot and his head down to the tops of his shoulders.

He obviously does need help, but he certainly isn’t getting it from me anytime soon. Tears stream down my face as I hold my side. My laughter roars louder than Barry’s helpless complaints. Just because it’s Barry, I pull my phone out, turn on the camera, and snap a few pictures of him.

He starts wiggling. “What the hell, Jaz! Put that thing down and help me out.”

My laughter gets louder, I can barely breathe, and I snort like pig, making me laugh even more.

Henry needs to see this. I run out of the room and stuff my phone in my pocket.

Barry starts yelling even louder. “
Jazzy! Get back here!
”

I’m hysterically laughing as I pound on Henry’s door.

              “What’s so funny?” Henry asks, with a raised brow.

             
“Bar…he….” I can’t get any words out so I just grab his arm and start pulling Henry back to a yelling Barry.

Big, bad, macho Barry lost a battle with a pullout couch!

I stop with Henry in Barry’s doorway, Henry sees what I couldn’t say, and he loses it, too.

             
“That’s right, get it all out now!” he shouts at us. “As soon as I get unstuck, you both are going down! And Jaz? Your phone is gonna land in the shitter!”

This causes me to laugh even harder.

There is no way he will get his hands on my phone. At least, not until I send a picture or two.

             
We finally calm down enough to get him out. It wasn’t hard to free him, but it took a lot to keep myself from laughing out loud.

             
When he’s free, he stands and glares at the couch bed. “I think I’ll just sleep on the couch part.”

I lose the thin grasp on my control and start giggling. Luckily, I see the look on Barry’s face change, and I know what’s coming.

He’s coming for my phone. I dart out into the hall, slip into my room and lock the door.

             
“You’re lucky,
Princess
! I’ll get you back. Tomorrow, you won’t be laughing quite so hard.” I’m still laughing too hard to respond.

He kind of reminded me of a turtle stuck on his back, but this turtle is a wolf, and was stuck in a fold-out bed. I still don’t see how that worked, but I am
so
glad it happened.

             
Focusing on Seth, I check his emotions. He’s bored. I grin evilly. He’s about to be highly entertained. I think about Barry stuck in the couch bed while focusing on Seth and hope he sees the image. Then send one of the pictures to Leland.

I could send it to Flynn and Tony, but I think I will wait to see how Barry exacts his revenge. When he does, I’ll send it then.

The Alpha’s son stuck in a couch!

             
Seth calls me. When I answer, his laughter flows through the speaker on my phone, and that starts my next giggle fit.

             
When we catch our breath, we joke about Barry a little before I notice the time. We say our goodnights, and I successfully sneak out to get a shower, without interruption. I guess he’s already passed out.

Once I’m back in my room, I do a quick check for any sign that Barry might have snuck in. All clear, so I shut and lock my door, again.

              I send Seth a mental kiss, and he sends one back, along with another of us snuggling. I smile and get comfy under the covers with thoughts of Seth’s arms lingering around my waist.

Sleeping Arrangements

              My ears are ringing and everything is blurry. I blink a few times and rub at my face. Looking around, I recognize I’m in downtown Lupiterra. But it’s off. This street is abandoned, not full of shoppers and commuters. I also notice belatedly that I’m holding Seth’s hand, but there are no tingles.

Someone pokes my arm, and I spin around to see Skeeter. Her mouth is moving but there’s no sound.

Hmm…

I shake my head and stick my finger in my ear. If I can force it to pop, maybe I’ll be able to hear her.

I look between the two of them, their mouths are moving but it’s like someone hit the mute button. I try speaking but I can’t hear my own voice either. I don’t understand what is going on.

             
I shrug, and try to motion to them that I can’t hear anything, when I spy a huge shadow heading our way from the opposite side of the street. I grab Skeeter’s hand and try to pull them into a faster speed, but they dawdle. It’s like they can’t see that huge shadowed blob that’s getting closer by the second.

Everything goes dark, like the clouds blocking the sun on a bright summer day. But the sun doesn’t return with the wind. The wind blows, and kicks up road dust, creating tiny swirls in the street as pieces of trash dance along the sidewalk like they’re living and breathing. The wind picks up more speed with enough force to sway the three of us off balance, and suddenly I can hear.

“That wind came out of nowhere,” Seth mumbles. His voice sounds off. It’s usually a smooth baritone, but now it’s scratchy. Before I can ask what’s wrong with his voice, a gargled scream and thump echoes off the empty buildings. I spin in the direction the scream came from to see Skeeter lying face down on the sidewalk.

I scream and fall to my knees beside her. I yell at Seth to help her, and he starts to move towards us as I check her pulse.

Nothing.

I start to roll her over, but hear a tearing sound. It sounds off, not like the tearing of clothes or paper, it’s something wet.

“Seth? What was that?” I ask, and look up just in time to see Seth’s head fall off his shoulders to the sidewalk right in front of me.

I do the crab walk and scramble away from the carnage. I scream, cry, and beg for help. Someone has to hear me. There has to be one other person in these damn buildings that can help us.

              I feel pressure on my face. I can’t breathe.

I fight back, trying to get this crap off my face, but it’s hard to fight something you can’t see. I touch my face and that’s it. All that’s there is my face.

One lone wolf howls and charges down the middle of the road.

I can breathe again.

While gasping for air, I crawl over to Seth’s broken body. Touching his cheek with my finger, the texture of his skin is the same, without the tell-tale tingles. I look into his lifeless dull-green eyes, and feel my heart rip out of my chest.

With tears flowing, I kiss his cold lips for the last time and swear to myself I will end whoever did this. Even with his death, I still feel him in my mind. I guess that’s what it’s like to have a soul mate. The bond doesn’t die when one passes.

A gut-wrenching sob rips out of my chest.

Skeeter. I should’ve let her in sooner. I should have gone to that stupid party with her, just to hear her laugh or make fun of the fan club again.

I feel hands on my shoulders, like someone is shaking me, but all I see around me is the lifeless bodies.

“
Jazzy
!” Someone yells for me, but I can’t find them. I stand up and look down the street. I hear my name being called again and again.

             
Something snaps in my head and my eyes pop open. It was a dream?

I look into Henry’s eyes and know it was just a dream. But I can’t shake the effects. I gasp for air through my sobs.

These dreams feel so real, I don’t know how I’ll prevent any of it, but I will find a way.

I latch onto Henry like he’s my life preserver.

“I, I’m sor…ry,” I stutter. Henry is rocking with me, and Leland tries to calm me down with kind words.

Finally, my breathing gets close to normal and Leland goes back to bed, a very pale Barry sits on the foot of my bed.

              “This one was worse than last night, was it the same one or different?” Henry asks me.

             
“Both. I couldn’t save Skeeter or Seth, then the suffocating feeling again. Everywhere I looked, it was like they multiplied, I saw Skeeter’s body, and Seth had been decapitated. The shadow thing was coming back,” I start sobbing again.

             
“Shhh. Jazzy, calm down. No one is broken or dead. It was just a dream. Do you want me to stay again?” he rubs my back in a comforting way.

             
“No, I think I’ll be okay this time,” I tell him, and lay back down.

Barry clears his throat. “I’m just, uh… Gonna leave your door open. I’ll buy you a new door and lock this weekend. I kinda had to kick it in so we could get to you.”

I look over to my door and sure enough, it is definitely broken. At least it can still mostly close if I need it to.

             
“Are you sure you don’t need me to stay?” Henry asks again.

             
“I’ll yell if I need you,” I try to smile.

             
“Not funny,” he glares at me. “You scared the shit out of us.” He shakes his head slowly and squeezes me. “I love you, sweet dreams this time, okay.”

             
“Love you too, I’ll try to tell the sandman that when he stops for his next visit,” I mumble.

When he leaves, I grab my phone from the stand and tap out a quick message.

             
I know it’s late but I need to know that you’re okay
- I send to Seth and Skeeter.

I fall asleep with my phone in my hand.

***

             
After having a second nightmare in one night, and waking everyone up again, I have banned sleep from my life. Completely.

             
That’s the reason I’m standing in my kitchen, after midnight, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. I’m so freaked out and paranoid that these morbid nightmares are a premonition, that I’ve triple checked the locks and have every single light on.

             
I’m so tired I could fall asleep standing. I force my eyelids open and walk over to the sink and splash some cold water on my face.

             
As I’m pat drying my face, I hear footsteps behind me. I grab the first thing my hand touches and spin around to face whoever is intruding.

             
“A spoon?” Barry chuckles. “Sorry for sneaking up on you, please don’t spoon me!” he teases.

             
I roll my eyes. “Shut up and go back to bed.” I turn back to the pot.

             
“We need to talk,” he takes a deep breath. I glance over my shoulder at him, and he motions me to the bar. As I climb onto a barstool, he continues. “I just got off the phone with my father. I’m disturbed by the nature of the dreams you’re having.”

             
I interrupt him. “And you think a shifter alpha can help me with dreams. How?”

             
“He’s been around a lot longer than either of us, and he’s dealt with devuxen more than once.”

             
“What the hell does a demon have to do with my dreams? Obviously the explanation is that since I’ve dealt with death and loss, I’m now afraid to lose anyone else,” I glare at him and jump off the barstool. “They’re just dreams. They aren’t coming true,” I say the last part mostly for myself.

             
The coffee pot stops gurgling so I walk to the counter and reach for a cup.

             
Barry sighs. “They’re still impor…”

             
“Go to bed Barry. I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” I cut him off and add cream to my coffee.

Something outside thumps on the deck, right outside the sliding glass door. Faster than I thought possible, Barry’s hand clamps over my mouth before I can let out a scream.

              “It’s just my dad. You’re okay, I promise,” he whispers in my ear as the door slides open.

A large man steps into my kitchen. He’s maybe an inch or two taller than Barry but he’s thicker and wider, that alone is intimidating. He
really
reminds me of one those humungous wrestlers you see on TV, you know, all hopped up on steroids.

Something tells me this is far from steroids.

Looking at the man’s features closer, he and Barry look so similar, it’s almost creepy. Barry’s hair is a bit longer, and his dad’s has a touch of gray to it, but otherwise the same. The biggest difference is the man’s eyes. He has kind eyes.

             
“I’m Fane, Barry’s father,” he says, and motions for us to sit at the table.

             
“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” I whisper and grab my coffee and head over to sit across from Fane.

Fane’s chair protests. It wouldn’t surprise me if the thing collapses, but it doesn’t. Fane looks at Barry for a moment, then turns his gaze to me. He smiles gently and with his smile, I find myself relaxing for the first time in hours.

              “Did Barry tell you he called me?” Fane asks.

             
I nod. “Yes. I still don’t see why,” I say and glare at Barry.

             
“I was trying to tell you, if you’d just listen,” Barry grumbles.

             
“I know this isn’t going to be easy, but I need you tell me a few things,” I look to Fane in confusion. “I need you to tell me every detail of these nightmares you’ve been having and when they started.”

I sit up a little straighter and feel the tension move back into my muscles. I don’t want to. “What’s the point? They’re just dreams,” I whisper.

              “It will determine how to better protect you,” Fane says, without missing a beat.

             
Confusion weighs over me in a heavy blanket. Judging by the look on Fane and Barry’s faces, I’m not going to get out of this.

             
With a heavy sigh, I start at the beginning. “Well, the first one was two nights ago. And…” Fane interrupts me, his features scream surprise.

             
“They only started the other night?” he repeats and looks from me to Barry, like Barry would freaking know. I just nod. “Go on,” he says, and I do. I tell him and Barry every single detail of the dreams.

Fane stills in his seat and the look on his face turns to something resembling fury, when I describe the shadow and the suffocation inflicted.

Barry winces when I describe the wolves in my dreams. They were huge, and frightening. The look of pride on Fane’s face, and the “I told you so,” look Barry gives me when he realizes, they were the only things saving me in each dream, was clear.

They both go pale with my description on how Seth was killed in the dream. I have no clue how to connect their reactions to something tangible.

Once everything is all on the table, so to speak, I’m in tears. Retelling those dreams was almost like reliving them. I felt like I was suffocating, the fear and relief the wolves provided, and saw Henry, Alex, Skeeter, Seth, Mom, and Leland, in the most recent dream, die all over again. Barry moves into the chair next to me and rubs circles on my back.

Fane pulls out his phone and tells someone to come to my deck, before returning the phone to his pocket again. He then refreshes my coffee, and gets some for himself. By the time he comes back, there are thumps and footsteps on my deck. From where I’m sitting, I can see who’s arrived.

              As soon as he’s through the door, I jump up and launch myself into his open arms. I fling my arms and legs around him, and squeeze him, as I continue to feel the effects of his murder in that damn nightmare.

He chuckles as he unwinds my legs from his waist and cradles me like you would a small child. He sits in the seat I vacated next to Barry, as Luke and Athan find seats as well.

              “It’s okay, I’m here with you now,” he says with a kiss to the top of my head.

             
I listen to Seth’s breathing, while I work on calming my tears. Seth breathes in, I hiccup as tears stream down my face. Seth breathes out, and I try timing my breathing with his.

I feel so stupid for crying over a few dreams. I chide myself for showing weakness to my own subconscious. Stupid dreams, stupid tears that show no sign of stopping, stupid nightmares for depriving me of sleep that I clearly need.

              Fane fills them in on every detail of my nightmares. He speaks without leaving anything out and with emotion seeping into his voice. It’s so strong that it causes me to shiver.