Exposed (The Broken Soul Series Book 3)

by Jenny Phillips

  And just as suddenly as it started it was gone.

  “Hello?” I called out in the silence. Nothing. I stood intently listening, waiting to decipher what the whisper wanted but only the quiet darkness.

  Taking one more step forward, I was jarred back to reality when my name made me jump practically out of my skin. Chase was calling for me back at Spencer’s room. I gave one last long look into the darkness and made my way back to meet up with him.

  Chapter Three

  “What were you doing?” Chase asked.

  “I thought I heard something back there.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s nothing down there but old documents. It’s all storage now.”

  I pulled my hair into a ponytail with the hair tie on my wrist. “I know. It just sounded like someone was back there, and when I didn’t see Spencer … I went to check it out.”

  “Maggie called. She said she could meet us at the park around the corner. She’s been trying to text you.”

  “Yeah, I left my phone at your parents’ house.”

  “Who leaves their phone?”

  I realized how strange that sounded as soon as it left my mouth.

  “I don’t know. I just figured I wouldn’t need it.”

  His forehead scrunched up but he shook it off and grabbed my hand.

  “Spencer’s upstairs with all the other leaders. Same meeting my dad’s in.”

  “Oh.”

  “Did you want to go meet up with Maggie then?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m sure I’ll have time to catch up with him tomorrow.”

  I took one more peek toward the darkness I’d just come from and followed Chase back to the elevator.

  Maggie was already waiting for us in the park. A few leaves rustled in the warm breeze.

  “Hey, guys!” she called in her usual cheery drawl.

  “Sorry,” Chase said. “Have you been waiting long?”

  “Not too long. I stopped to grab a soda on my way.”

  “What is there to do around here?” I asked.

  Maggie sipped her drink. “I was thinking … I know how much fun this will be for Chase, but I really need to find a dress for the Ball.”

  “Yay,” Chase said dryly.

  Maggie laughed. “I knew you’d be excited.”

  “It’s not a bad idea though. Morgan, you’ll need a dress, too, right?”

  “I guess. Are you just going to tag along?” I asked.

  “Nah. I’ll give you girls some time. I was actually thinking about seeing Jackson.”

  “Oh.” Now I knew why he didn’t seem too upset about us ditching him.

  “Are you upset?” he asked.

  I shook my head. Even though I had mixed feelings about Jackson, I understood Chase wanted to see his brother. “No, I’m not.” I gave him a quick kiss before Maggie and I took off toward the shops downtown. It was still unseasonably warm and I was happy I’d packed shorts and a flowy top.

  “How’s it going so far?” she asked.

  Chewing on my lip for a second, I spit out what I’d been holding in for too long. “Rylan is alive.”

  Her jaw dropped dramatically. “What?” She completely stopped walking and stood in the middle of the sidewalk. We were standing in front of a candy store and our reflections mimicked us in the big shop window.

  “I’ve been having dreams about him for a while now.” I started walking again, forcing her to keep up. “So I kind of suspected there might be something going on.” I nervously glanced at her to gauge her reaction. Her mouth still hung open like there was a question stuck there so I went on. “Chase had seen him working with my grandfather and told me a while back.”

  “And you said nothing until now?”

  I went on with my story, “Well, this morning, I had this text message asking how I’d been sleeping.”

  Silence. We walked a few more steps and I snuck in another curious look. Maggie was staring back at me.

  “And?” she said.

  “What do you mean and?”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Morgan. How do you know it was from him?”

  “It was an unknown number.”

  She popped her knuckles. Something I’d learned she did when she was thinking. “I don’t think that’s enough evidence to think it’s Rylan, hun.”

  “I— What? Of course it’s him.”

  “Morgan, it could’ve been a wrong number.”

  “I know that. It’s just that these dreams … they mean something!”

  Maggie clenched her teeth. “How is that even possible if he ripped his connection to you?”

  “I don’t know.” Tossing my hands up, I walked away.

  “Okay then.”

  “What?”

  Maggie threw her own hands up. “If you say so then I believe you.”

  I folded my arms across my chest and turned back toward her popping my hip out. “That easy?”

  “That easy.” She continued to walk toward me. “I’m your friend and if you say that it’s a dead guy texting you I believe you.”

  I couldn’t help but let out a snort at how silly it sounded. Maggie looped her arm in mine and we walked toward the nearest dress shop.

  “Morgan, it’s a pleasure to have you here again!” Charles clapped his hands together.

  “Hello.” I gave the Council elder a hug as I entered his house.

  Chase shook his hand afterward. “Thanks for having us, sir.”

  “Laura, Jim, thanks for coming.”

  Spencer and Grace were already waiting in the kitchen with Eva Dawson. She was still putting finishing touches on dinner.

  “Come on in, we’re just waiting on Ben and Emma.”

  The Dawson’s modest kitchen was starting to feel a little full so Eva ushered us to the dining room.

  “How are classes going?” Eva asked me. She had her gray hair piled up into a bun as usual.

  “Good.” I sat at the placing next to her. “I mean, it’s still my first semester so I hope they’re going good.”

  “Oh I’m sure you’re doing just fine. You’re a smart girl.” When she smiled her eyes crinkled and it reminded me of my Gran.

  “Oh, Ben! Emma! Come on in,” Eva gushed. “I believe there’s room over there next to Spencer’s Grace.”

  Grace’s smile could really light up a room, and I felt that match couldn’t be any more perfect. Spencer was every bit as good looking as she was, and the two together were almost too beautiful. Grace motioned to the chair next to her and Ben pulled the chair out for his wife.

  “Well, now that everyone is here.” Charles was lost in a moment of concentration, and the contents of the kitchen counters appeared in front of us. The table was suddenly full of food dishes.

  The room was full of light banter and cheery laughter as everyone caught up with each other. The tinkling sound of silverware hitting china became a background noise. I tugged with my own emotions during most of dinner, wavering between irritation at the complete obliviousness of it all and affection for the people who took me in and made me their family. I answered questions and listened while taking it all in.

  Laura looked up from her dinner. “I hear you girls went dress shopping today. How did that go?”

  “Good,” was all I offered.

  “Did you find your ball gown?” she questioned.

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you not excited about the Ball?” Eva asked.

  “Um …” I looked to Chase for help, but he scratched his head and went back to his conversation with Spencer. Well that was helpful, I thought. “I am just nervous is all.” I tried to answer indirectly.

  “Nervous? About what?” Charles jumped in.

  I lost the ability to bite my tongue. “Oh, I don’t know … the fact that literally everything could go wrong,” I offered.

  Pretending she didn’t hear me, Laura said, “Did Chase tell you it’s a masquerade?”

  “What, no
?”

  “Yes, it’s a masquerade Ball, dear, so be sure to get a mask,” Eva said.

  Charles watched me from his chair. Things had been beyond tense since I had asked him for help with Nolan and he so adamantly refused me.

  I ate in silence for the rest of the dinner. Chase and Laura both tried to include me several times but I only answered with one word or nods. When it was time to say good-byes, I directed my thank yous to Eva and genuinely gave a heart felt good-bye to Spencer and Grace.

  “Well that was interesting,” Jim said as we stepped into the cool night air and climbed into their SUV.

  Laura sighed. “I hope it’s not a preview of the Ball.”

  I knew most of it was directed at me and the family wasn’t happy with my constant jabs at the Council. Chase squeezed my hand in the dark, but I just stared ahead, ready for bed and to get the remainder of this weekend over with.

  Once we were back at the Thomas’ and climbing the stairs, Chase said, “You don’t have to go tomorrow. You know that, right?”

  “What?”

  “The Council meeting tomorrow. You can stay here if you’d like.”

  I nodded slowly in understanding. “Your parents would rather me stay here than say anything else.”

  “No! They didn’t say anything actually. I just thought with your clear contempt right now it would be okay if you just took tomorrow to cool off and save any of your tolerance for the Ball.”

  I opened my mouth, ready with a retort that I probably would’ve regretted. Instead, I surprised myself by snapping my mouth shut, taking a deep breath, and saying, “I want to go tomorrow.”

  “Okkaayyyyy,” he said slowly and obviously unsure he’d heard me right. “I will see you in the morning.”

  “You don’t want to watch a movie or something?” I asked.

  “Nah, I think I’ve had a long enough night. It’s time to get some sleep.” He smiled at me awkwardly and headed for the bathroom.

  I stood on the stairs for a good sixty seconds before climbing the remainder of the steps and going straight to bed. Great, I thought. Now Chase and his parents were mad at me.

  It wasn’t like I was trying to piss people off. They just didn’t see where I was coming from and I obviously didn’t see where they were coming from. Picking my still turned off phone up out of my suitcase, I debated charging it up. I let it fall back into the case before flopping on the bed and wiping tears out of the corners of my eyes.

  How had everything gone so wrong? I contemplated calling Iris but convinced myself to be patient. I’d see her tomorrow and tell her everything. She wouldn’t humor me like Maggie and she wouldn’t force me to behave like the Thomas’. Iris accepted me the way I am.

  “You’re hell-bent on not letting me sleep, aren’t you?”

  Rylan looked genuinely hurt for a moment.

  “Something’s got you all bent out of shape …” he mumbled, walking away from me to sit on a tree root.

  “You could say that.” I watched him pretend to dust his jeans off. “Sorry,” I said. “I had kind of a bad day and I’m really not sleeping well.”

  “I just thought you could use your dreams as an escape.”

  “I do need to get away.”

  Rylan lifted his head and I could feel him studying me. “I’m not trying to push or anything … but if you’re surrounding yourself with the right kind of people, should you really need to get away from reality?”

  Chewing on my lip, I thought about that for a second. “I … don’t … really know how to answer that.”

  Rylan laughed and I let a breath out. The amber of his eyes matched the turning leaves, and I don’t know how to explain it but he fit into this landscape perfectly. Perched on the tree root he seemed more relaxed than I had seen him in any of my previous dreams.

  “So—” I started to ask a question that had been bothering me but Rylan interrupted.

  “No,” he held his hand out as he hopped up, “we’re not doing that.”

  “What do—”

  “Uh uh,” he shut me down again. “No questions,” I took his hand, the warmth surprising me, “no fights.” He moved in close. “Just be here. Together.” He started pulling me down the path with him.

  We walked in silence for a while. The crunch of the leaves beneath our feet, the smell of decaying leaves, the wind through the branches; I had missed being this close to nature. I hadn’t even been using my Gifts. It was like all of the stress of life had made me lose a piece of myself.

  I flicked my wrist and giggled while the leaves began to swirl around us. Rylan gripped my hand tighter as the leaves encased us in a mini-tornado of browns, reds, and yellows. His smile lit up as he waved his own hand and stopped it all. The leaves completely froze and stayed suspended in the air. Rylan winked at me.

  “So pretty.” I touched the leaves and found, to my own excitement, I could move them around and reposition them. Rylan sat back, watching me while I waved my hand through the leaves like I would water.

  “Yes,” he agreed, “you are.”

  “Morgan.”

  I jolted up in bed. Heart pounding, I wiped the sleep from my eyes while Chase stood in the doorway with his arm resting on the wall.

  “If you still want to go to the meeting it’s time to get up.”

  I nodded and swung my legs over the side of the bed. “I’ll get ready.”

  “Do you feel better?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Rested? You seemed so tired the last couple of days I was worried you were getting sick.”

  “Oh. Yeah.” Strangely, I did feel better.

  “I’m sorry about last night,” Chase said as he came to sit on the bed. “It’s just been so stressful.”

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s for sure.”

  “I don’t mean to take anything away from you and what you’re going through. I’m just saying my parents have quite a bit to deal with since Jackson …” Chase trailed off and I felt bad I hadn’t really been taking him or his parents’ feelings into consideration. I’m sure this was hard for them.

  I covered his hand with mine. “We all have had a lot to deal with.”

  After kissing my cheek, he started to leave. “It will all work out.”

  I smiled back at him but wished I had his confidence.

  The Council trip began like always. A group of us teens started out with Spencer to hone in some of our specific Gifts. Well, in my case Spencer stared in amazement at my abilities. I didn’t mean to sound conceited, it was just that I was the only one of my kind who had mastered all five Gifts. And when I say mastered I mean mastered. I had an exceptional amount of power for someone my age.

  After an hour of our typical workshop we were ushered into the formal meeting with all of the other adults. Most children stayed upstairs during the official Council meeting. They had their own version of a meeting. As usual, we sat in darkness since the room was only lit by candlelight. I pulled Chase toward the back. I wanted to stay in the shadows. I couldn’t pinpoint why but I just felt uneasy about today’s session.

  Charles gave his standard opening. At some point Ben contributed and even Spencer came in to give a quick speech. The points were all the same. The Ball must go on. Everyone is safe and there is no immediate threat.

  I could feel the anger in me bubbling over. My stomach felt sick and my head throbbed. It all became too much. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. On wobbly legs I walked out as calmly as I could manage. I felt eyes on me and walked quicker so that I could escape faster. As soon as I was out in the hallway the air felt cooler, calmer, I could breathe easier.

  Chase was right behind me. “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t.” I breathed in close to tears.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I don’t know if I believe all of this anymore.” I balled up my fists.

  “This? As in the Ball?” He pulled at his hair.

  “No. I mean the Council. The whole meeting and their casual a
ttitude about this entire situation.”

  “You mean your grandfather?”

  “Of course I mean him. And Nolan. This is my life, Chase! And yours. If I’m a part of your life, if you’re friends with Nolan … why don’t you care more?”

  His face paled. “How can you say I don’t care?”

  “I didn’t,” I replied, lowering my voice. “I asked why you don’t care more.”

  “I’m trying, Morgan! You won’t talk to me, so how am I supposed to get in your head? How am I supposed to know what you’re thinking or feeling? You’re so distant lately …”

  Walking away in frustration, I headed for the elevator. “I want to go home.”

  “Fine.” He punched the call button. I stepped into the elevator, waiting for him, but he only stood in the door holding it open. “You know what, why don’t you take the car back to my parents’ house? You know where the key is. You can start packing … I don’t know, maybe you need some alone time to clear your head or whatever.” He looked away.

  “You’re not going?” My voice sounded small.

  “Nah. I’m going to ride home with Mom and Dad.”

  He released the elevator door and walked away.

  Falling back against the wall of the elevator, I let the tears I’d been holding back fall. The doors opened and I cleaned up my face with the back of my hand and took a deep breath. I didn’t like to let people see this side of me. I didn’t like looking weak. I said good-bye to Mrs. W. and drove to the Thomas’ in record time. It felt empty and strange walking into their home alone. I used my Power to run up to the bedroom in the blink of an eye and flopped myself on the bed.

  I finally let myself break down. It felt good to let it all out until I had nothing left. Satisfied that I had sobbed enough to trust myself around Chase again, I began packing up my things through swollen and still blurry eyes. Picking up my suitcase I was surprised when my phone fell out. I had almost forgotten it was in there. Almost.

  I powered it up and dug through my case to find the charger. The phone beeped with the alert that I had a new text.