True Connection (The Soul Mate Series) (20 page)

              I ignore my brain screaming at me to bust a move out the door, and slowly reach my hand out to him. “Barry, it’s okay,” I pet his face and sigh. “He just had a nightmare,” I say, voice laced in anger. That
has
to be true. I scratch his ear a little, like you would with a dog. He makes a strange grumbling noise. “I know your job is to protect us all, but you need to be level headed and well rested to manage that.” The wolf shakes his head and snorts. He’s probably thinking that he needs more help just to deal with me. I roll my eyes at the thought.

             
When did I get to know Barry so well I can carry on a conversation with him, without the need for his voice?

             
“You shouldn’t worry so much, Barry. Soon enough you’ll be off “Princess Watch” and you can go back to your carefree, perverted life.” He pins me with a glare. “Don’t give me any shit, Barry. You know as well as I, that your time here puts a damper on the “strange” you crave,” I snap, and he rams his wet nose into my forehead with a grunt.

I grab the edge of his pillowcase and wipe my forehead. “What? I’m tired Barry. I’m not really thrilled about having a one-sided conversation,” I shrug, and he pads to his closet.

I get up and shut it behind him. After a minute, he comes out wearing basketball shorts and a beater.

             
He glares at me and folds his arms over his chest. “You’re one brave little girl, Princess.” My mouth opens, and he shuts me down by continuing. “You just placed yourself in a very dangerous situation!” he shouts, pinches the bridge of his nose, and closes his eyes. “How am I supposed to protect you if you don’t think?” he asks, tiredly.

             
I huff. “I was trying to make sure you were okay!” He snaps his eyes back to mine. “If you weren’t calm enough to sleep, you’d have stewed all night and you’d be a miserable ass tomorrow,” I glare.

             
His jaw ticks. “I could’ve attacked you,” he says through clenched teeth.

             
“You won’t hurt me, and neither will your wolf,” I fire back before sighing. “No matter how angry you are, you and your wolf love me. So shut your pie hole.”

             
He stares at me for a full minute. You can literally see the wheels turning behind his eyes, weighing his options for a comeback. “You’re right,” he sighs. “If it would’ve been almost anyone else to walk through that door, there may have been some bloodshed.” I grimace at the thought. He sits next to me on the couch, putting his arm around me. “You make it easy to care,” he grins. “You’re like the sister I don’t have, but always wanted.” Pain flashes through his expression before returning to his usual grin. “I’m seriously jealous of Henry.” I raise a brow, and his face flushes slightly. “He’s the only one who can actually claim the brother title,” he says carefully.

I set aside my shock of seeing Barry even slightly vulnerable and instead smile. “You big lug,” I lightly elbow his side. “You aren’t so bad, and my heart has lots of love to give. I hereby claim you as my second big brother.” This might be a mistake, I think belatedly. “You already kind of act like one anyway,” I shrug.

              A slow smile creeps on his face, and he squeezes me in a sideways hug. “Thank you, for, you know… calming me down and giving me permission to harass you like I have been. You know it’s just gonna get better from here,” he gives me a devilish smile.

             
“I think your definition to that word is slightly different than mine,” I laugh lightly. “By the way, when this crap with Derik is over, we will have to revisit the ‘territorial-protective-b.s.’ conversation again, you know that right?” I shoot him a pointed look.

             
“I hate to break it to ya, but I’m fairly certain nothin’ will change, Princess.”

             
“Don’t be so sure, buddy-man,” I say, and bump his side.

             
“As a brother, I approve of Pretty Boy…”

I interrupt him. “And as a sister, it wouldn’t matter if you approve or not, just ask Henry,” I snort. “By the way, if you really do approve, you might try his name,” I raise an eyebrow in challenge.

              He rolls his eyes. “Just as Henry will never stop trying to protect you, I won’t either. That’s a fact,” he says with a challenge of his own.

             
I purse my lips. “I have a feeling I’ll be able to stay mad at you, a
lot
longer than Henry.”

             
“Duh,” he chuckles, and I yawn. “Go to bed, Princess,” he stands and pulls me up. “Thank Seth for me, for letting you come to me. He knew it was dangerous,” he says.

             
“You’ve already helped me so much. It was the least I could do. I mean, you did save my life, after all.”

             
He swallows audibly and nods. “Just get some sleep, Princess.” He lightly pushes me towards the door.

             
Maybe I shouldn’t have brought that up. I mentally kick myself. “Will the Princess thing ever end?”

             
“You could live to be ten thousand years old, and if I was still around, I’d call you Princess,” he shrugs.

             
“Yeah, let’s hope
I
don’t see what I look like at ten thousand. That’s like, definitely older than dirt.” I mock shiver, and we laugh. “Night Barry, I’m gonna come up with an annoying nickname just for you. I can’t
always
call you Turtle.” He throws his sock at me as I dart out the door with a laugh.

***

              “How’s Barry?” Seth asks from his perch on my bed as I shut the door.

             
I walk over and climb in bed with a nod. “He’s back to Barry form, and heading to bed. He, stupidly, told me to tell you thanks, for allowing me to go to him regardless of the danger.” I snort and roll my eyes as he pulls my back against his chest. I rest my arms on his thighs and intertwine our fingers.

He looks down at me and chuckles. “You were never in any danger, Jaz.” I nod my agreement. “Do you remember when I said I would never hurt you? My body and my mind won’t let anything happen to you.” He pauses and clears his throat. “Barry worries too much about you to let anything happen to you. He wouldn’t hurt you, and neither would his wolf. I know that just from watching him.” He tilts his head slightly, as I narrow my eyes. He
watches
him? “Today I was aware of where you were at all times, and so was he. A couple times an hour, if you weren’t in his sight he would find you.” He smiles slightly. “It’s his nature to protect and you are his charge, so to speak.”

I look away from him to my window. Here we are again, I’m a job, a charge, an object, when am I ever just me?

              His voice nearly startles me as he starts again. “I was worried when he first started coming around. He always protected you, and was more vocal than even Henry at times. I was worried that maybe his wolf thought you were his mate. But it seems that’s not the case.” He stops and tilts my face so I’m looking at him again. “You two share a strong connection.” My mind focuses on his choice of words.
Connection
. “Barry was right when he said that it was a dangerous situation. No one else could have walked in there and did what you did. And no matter how annoying he gets, there’s no getting rid of him,” he laughs.

             
My mind is still focusing on “connection.” It’s odd that he chose the same word he uses for us. “Is this another supernatural bond?” I ask in my confusion.

             
“No.” He shakes his head. “Did you ever get that feeling that you’re exactly where you need to be? Or maybe you meet someone, and feel like it was a meant-to-be situation?”

             
I laugh lightly. “You think I’m destined to be annoyed by Barry for… forever?”

             
He snorts. “No, just that Barry is meant to be a figure in your life. Whether that’s for entertainment or protection remains to be seen.” He smiles. “If you think about it, you know you care for him.”

“So, it’s okay that I love him? Like a brother?”

              He presses his lips to my temple. “I’m okay with whoever you love. Your heart is too big to not care for people.” He grins. “Or creatures.” He kisses my cheek.

             
I extract myself from him and crawl under the covers. Falling asleep in his arms is definitely something I can get used to.

I know these moments will cease as soon as Derik is stopped, but it’s these moments of peace that I will miss the most.

              I telepathically kiss Seth and he returns it as I fall into a soundless sleep.             

Birthday Madness

              Tuesday afternoon, Barry, Henry, and I walk into Mom’s room. She’s sitting in the chair reading a book and humming to herself. She looks like a normal person, again. I smile. Maybe she’s soon ready to come home.

             
Henry’s shoe squeaks as he follows me further inside. Mom looks up. “Hey kids!” She squeals in her usual excitement as she jumps from the chair to hug us.

Her actions pull a memory to the surface. She reacted this way pretty much every day after school. It was always a hug, a kiss on the cheek followed by questionings of our day, our friends, our school work.

She spots Barry behind us and hugs him, too. “Barry, how are you doing?” She smiles.

             
“Just fine, ma’am, you?” He smiles back respectfully.

             
With a small smile, she closes her eyes and breathes deeply. “It’s a good day. It’s nice to smile.” Henry and Barry smile, and I can’t help but think they’ve slipped something new in her apple juice. “Thanks for coming, I miss y’ins so much.” She waltzes to her bed and sits at the foot.

             
Henry follows and sits next to her. “We can’t wait for you to come home, Mom. Do you know when you can?” Henry asks. I smile at them and sit in the chair Mom vacated.

             
“Well, I actually wanted to talk to y’ins about that. I have really good news!” She’s practically bouncing on the bed. “Leland is picking me up and bringing me home tomorrow! I’m ready. I’ve had enough of this place. I’ve learned new coping skills, and I’ll probably be on anti-depressants for, maybe the rest of my life, but at least I know how to be me and grieve at the same time.” She pulls Henry’s hand to hers.

             
“That’s wonderful, Mom!” I say, and the guys say similar things.

             
Her face changes from excited to serious in two seconds flat. “Now, we can get down to business.” She clears her throat and gives each one of us a slow, challenging look.

In an effort to not infuriate mama bear, I sit up straight in my seat. Henry sits tall and puts his hands in his lap, even Barry noticed the change and is staring wide eyed at her.

              Mom stands and walks towards Barry. “I understand you are staying with us at Leland’s until graduation?”

             
“Yes, ma’am,” he nods.

             
She tilts her head to the side, and Barry gulps. “You do know that the room is welcome to you, should you need it longer.”

             
He nods again. “Yes, ma’am. Leland told me that.”

             
She turns away from him, and Barry relaxes, until she starts pacing between the three of us. “Which one of you would care to tell me about what Leland is keeping from me?” She stops, and stares at me.

             
I gulp. “I can’t, Mom,” I say, and force my eyes to my lap like a coward.

She huffs and her feet shuffle away from me, presumably, heading towards Henry.

After she realizes that she isn’t going to get the answer she wants, she stops pacing. “You three know what’s going on, and you’re not going to tell me?” Mama bear asks in an icy tone.

             
Barry clears his throat. “Mrs. Williams, ma’am, I promise if I could tell you I would, but at the moment I can’t, and neither can your children.” He swallows audibly, and I raise my eyes from my lap to peek at their exchange. “You’ll probably find out once you get home,” Barry offers with a small smile.

             
“I suppose I can wait until tomorrow,” she blows out a breath and her shoulders sag slightly.

I make a mental note to do something with Skeeter tomorrow afternoon.

              “I wouldn’t try to find out all of it right away, Mom,” Henry says with concern. “I’m not even ready for it and I know it all.”

             
“I’ll be the judge of that,” she snaps, then takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. “Anyway,” she opens her eyes. “Let’s talk about something else. Like, Jazzy’s birthday?” She focuses her attention on me.

             
I groan and drop my posture to a slouch. “Do we have to?”

             
Barry looks between Mom and me. “When’s her birthday?”

             
“This Saturday,” Henry says with a wide smile.

             
“We should have a party!” Barry suggests.

             
“No,” I shout and nearly fly out of the seat. “No party!”

Mom looks at me and pouts. “Come on, Honey. What better way for your dear Mama to meet all of your friends, than to have a party at the house?”

              “Mom, you’ve met my friends,” I point out.

             
“Surely you, my little social butterfly, have everyone jumping to be your friend.”

             
I let out a tired sigh. “I’m not the same person,” I shrug. “I’m not really looking to add any more people to my list of friends. I have good friends, and I love and enjoy them and their company.” I glance to Barry, who smiles and winks in return.

             
“Fine,” she mumbles. “What about a small party then? We can invite y’ins’ friends and some of your friends from your old school? I’m sure Susie, Jess, and Beck would come in a heartbeat.” She starts searching for something. “Have you talked to them since we moved?” she asks distractedly, so she doesn’t see me roll my eyes.

I haven’t, but with good reason. “I don’t know, Mom. It’s only a few days away. It’s almost last minute.” I shrug off her idea.

              “Come on Jazzy, it could be fun,” Henry says.

I stare at him with wide eyes. He just made it to my “shit-list.”

              “I think it would be fun,” Barry interjects, and stops me from blasting my attitude towards Henry. “Maybe rent some place down town, get a DJ or at least play some music. We could dress up all fancy or something, and just dance the night away,” he suggests.

I glare at him and mentally place him above Henry, and below Logan from Gilmore Girls re-runs.

              Mom claps. “That’s perfect Barry! I’ll call Leland when y’ins leave, and we’ll figure it out.”

I could understand if she wanted to start planning this last month, or even last week. “You do realize that it’s only four days away, right?” I remind them.

              “Don’t underestimate me,” Mom deadpans. “I can do much more in a shorter amount of time.”

The remainder of our visit was spent with me reading Mom’s book that she abandoned, and the guys helping her come up with ideas for location, food, drinks, and decorations. If I didn’t know any better, you’d think those two were the teenage girls, not me.

***

             
The rest of the school week is pretty boring. Derik hasn’t been in at all, thankfully.

Skeeter’s all kinds of excited about my party tomorrow night, at Kingston Hall. Mom informed us that a friend of hers has a son in a band, and they will be performing at my party. I’m starting to get a little excited myself. If anything, at least I get to see a mini concert on my birthday. Seth’s voice punches through my thoughts. “Hey, you ready for tomorrow?”

              I shrug. “I guess. Skeeter is coming over in the morning so we can get ready.” A slow smile creeps across my face. “I think you’re going to like my dress,” I say saucily.

             
“I like the sound of that, but I don’t really care what you wear. You’d be gorgeous in overalls,” he winks.

“Right,” I drawl. “Anywho, I really hope you listened and didn’t get me anything,” I lean up and kiss his cheek.

              He rolls his eyes. “Aren’t you excited?”

             
“Sorta – kinda. My birthday parties and I don’t really agree all the time,” I shudder, and he laughs at me. “They’re embarrassing,” I insist. I won’t tell him about the Strawberry Shortcake undies incident or the puke party at the roller rink.

             
He swallows the rest of his laughter. “You’ll have so much fun at your party this year.”

             
Jabin Daniels, one of our classmates that I never really
tried
to talk to, jumps over the desk beside me and sits on it. “You’re having a party this weekend,” he says.

I take in his strange attire. He’s wearing baggy jeans, and fitted blue tee that shows off his sort-of-there muscles. He wears silver-framed thick glasses and a pin on his chest, every day. It’s silver, and in the shape of a triangle with a ring around it. Someone said it’s from Star Trek, but I still find it weird. I’m not entirely sure how he’s so popular, but he is.

              I roll my eyes, “Yes, Jabin, a
birthday
party.” Of course, he heard “party,” and that’s his favorite thing. He loves having them, going to them, and crashing them.

             
His eyes travel from my face, to Seth’s, and back again. “It’s at Kingston Hall right? That’s all Skeeter’s been talking about. A bunch of us were thinking about crashin’,” he winks.

I bite back my growl. That’s the last thing I need. A bunch of kids I’m not really friends with, showing up at my party and seeing my uncle. Especially kids of the “popular” variety, they all gossip and then I’ll deal with everything I left behind at Penn Wood. The pity, the whispers, some thinking I’m a charity case, and they can all stuff it.

              Seth feels my distaste of the idea and jumps in. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

             
“Sorry man, you might scare some people, but not me. I’ll see y’ins tomorrow,” he says, and walks backwards between the desks while doing some weird thing with his hand, making a V between his ring and middle finger. It’s kind of weird hearing someone my age talking like my mom, but for some it’s just natural.

“We can put Kiron at the door with a guest list and make sure they don’t come in,” Seth offers.

              I blow out a breath. “Don’t worry about it. Just more people to see me do something really stupid.” And see my famous uncle, and probably figure out who I really am, and what I’ve lost. It was bound to happen at some point. I’ll just have to deal with it.

             
Seth nods. “Okay.”

             
When the bell rings, we walk out of the classroom. “I don’t want any devuxen there though,” I say, just loud enough for him to hear me.

Seth grunts his agreement and walks me out to the student lot.

Leland’s been keeping Mom fairly busy, and so far, she hasn’t interrogated us, I can only hope he’s kept her busy enough today, too.

When Henry, Barry, and I get home. we find Mom arguing with Leland.

              “Are you kidding me?” She yells. “You’ve “entertained” me for days! I am their
mother
! I deserve to know what the hell is going on!”

             
“Come on, Lil. Just calm down,” Leland says, sounding annoyed.

             
“I’ll calm down when you tell me what the hell you know!”

             
Henry tugs me closer to the kitchen. “We’re home!” He yells, alerting our arrival. I’d rather just turn around right now. She’s going to go all Mama Bear on me, and I’ll spill
everything
.

             
“There, they’re home. Now you can’t take me shopping for the tenth time in two days!” she huffs at Leland. “Afternoon kids!” she smiles widely as we enter the kitchen.

             
“Does everything always need to happen in the kitchen?” I mutter, thinking of every time we’ve had family talks, get-togethers, my meeting with Fane, and when we told Leland everything.

             
Barry snorts behind me.

             
“How was school?” Mom asks us.

             
“Fine,” I say with a smile as I take a seat, knowing this isn’t going to end anytime soon.

             
“It was great! Thanks for asking, Mrs. Williams,” Barry says and smiles in a way that makes me want to roll my eyes. He’s such a kiss ass.

             
“It was fine, Mom. What about you? How was your day?” Henry asks, and takes a seat next to me.

             
“Oh, it was fabulous. I got a lot of things done for Jazzy’s party. Leland took me to pick up the dresses and suits, and he was lovely enough to take me to see an old friend.” She might be smiling, but that twitch above her left eye and the dimple on the right side of her cheek that’s showing, proves to me exactly how annoyed she is at the moment.

             
“Oh! That’s great, Mom,” Henry says.

             
“Oh, it is,” she says and smiles evilly at Leland, who leans back against the counter.