“We don’t have to leave for another couple of hours,” I said.
“I know.” He was dressed as comfortable as I was in a shirt that had the arms cut off and basketball shorts.
I looked at Iris pointedly and she took my hint right away. “I’m actually heading into work a little early,” she said. “We have to get some inventory taken care of, so …” She walked over to me and gave me another hug. “Be safe, okay?”
“I will,” I reassured her.
“Bye, Chase. You be careful, too.”
“Thanks, Iris, I will.”
She gave us both a quick wave and left us staring at each other awkwardly. I crossed over to the couch and sat next to him. We both stayed silent for a moment, so I bit the bullet and started first.
“I’m sorry. I understand how much all of this must hurt you. I didn’t ask for any of it, Chase. My life has been such a roller coaster. I meet you, I lose my soul-mate, I fall in love with you, and then I get my soul-mate back. It’s so confusing and overwhelming for me. I know it’s not any better for you. I honestly can’t explain to you exactly what my feelings for Rylan are.”
Chase sat back in the couch looking deflated.
“It’s like I’ve known him forever. Like I have a piece of myself back after having it ripped out of me.”
He interrupted, “I don’t know what to say, Morgan. I can’t compete with that. He has something I’ll never have.”
“Let me finish. He has a different part of me. I love you. I may have feelings for him, but they’re not even close to the same feelings I have for you. Finding out Rylan was alive was nothing like seeing you after I thought I’d lost you. So when I said I needed to figure out what my feelings for him were it didn’t necessarily mean compared to you!” I saw his face start to light up and it made everything inside of me swell. “There’s something you won’t want to hear …” Here was the part I was dreading. “He kissed me.”
He clenched his fists and looked away.
“I’m glad he did though.” Oh if I could accurately describe the look I got when his head jerked my way again. “It gave me something I needed. See, when he kissed me I felt something in me that tried reattaching to him. I don’t know if it was my soul or something in my blood. I really have no words for what I felt, but I know with all my heart that’s what it was.”
He looked down, but I cradled his face and forced him to look at me. “In that moment it gave me the choice. I choose you, Chase, I always will.” I reached for his hand. “If I had the chance to heal my soul, I’d want it to be with you.” A tear slipped down my cheek, and it felt good to get all of the words I needed to say out. “You never have to compete with anyone.”
His aqua eyes burned so intensely I fought the urge to jump into his lap right then and there.
He ran his hands through his hair absently. “You’re all I want. Forever. I’ve hated the thought of you spending time with him, I hate myself for sending you back to him. I think that’s why I’ve been the most upset. I know I have to send you right back into his arms and it’s killing me.”
I opened my mouth to dispute but Chase only put his finger over my lips.
“I understand what you’re saying. It’s still not going to be easy for me, but I do trust you. It’s been hard, though, knowing that he’s had a part of you I never will—”
I put my hands on his face. “Oh, Chase, you’re the only man that’s ever going to have any part of me.”
I kissed him. It started sweet and soft with a lot of nuzzles and whispered ‘I love you’s’ but they quickly escalated into something far more fiery and passionate.
“You never have anything to worry about,” I said between kisses. I didn’t feel the burn of my soul trying to reconnect with Chase. With him it felt more like my heart trying to jump out of my chest. It was real love, no predestined obligation, just old fashioned falling more in love with him every day.
A moan escaped my lips and that was all Chase needed to hear before he swept me into his arms and carried me into my bedroom. His foot caught the door and kicked it closed on his way in. I never stopped kissing him. I left little trails along his jaw before I caught his earlobe with my teeth and it was his turn to make a noise.
“Morgan Nicole Cauldwell,” he whispered in the dark as he laid me on the bed, “I will love you forever.”
“Forever,” I agreed.
Chapter Fifteen
Thankfully, Nolan arrived even a few minutes later than we planned. I didn’t mind getting the extra time with Chase. Traveling back to Providence felt like we were heading into battle, and even though it wouldn’t be right away that’s essentially what we were doing. There was a heaviness hanging over us as we loaded up the car and began the drive. I didn’t want to think about it, but there were so many things that could go wrong … what if not all of us came back to Manchester?
I suddenly wished I could give Iris one more hug, and that I’d taken just a couple of extra minutes strolling around MAC.
No regrets, Morgan. Buck up and get it done. I had to keep myself pushing forward. A lot of people depended on me. I had to make things right. Even though none of it was my fault, I felt obligated to fix it.
The hour drive felt unusually slow and no one seemed to be in much of a chatty mood. We were all weighted and the gloom hung over us tangibly. Nolan texted Maggie to let her know when we were a half hour out. She told him we were to head straight to the Thomas’ as most of the meetings had ended for the night and they’d encouraged everyone to get as much rest as possible because we were all in for a long week.
Once we arrived at the Thomas’ house, Laura greeted us warmly with an over-the-top dinner. She’d had some extra time to put on an amazing turkey dinner that rivaled any Thanksgiving feast I’d ever seen. For one whole evening no one talked of Stephen or any of the plans we’d been making. Spencer, Grace, Jackson, Kali, Jim, Laura, Nolan, Chase, and I all sat around the formal dining table. Maggie was going to join us after she had her own meal with her parents. Kali’s parents had been at the Thomas’ for most of the day and just recently went back to their hotel to get rest before they joined in with helping at the Council.
“Oh, Morgan, honey,” Laura began, “have you sent your Aunt Carolyn your new number?”
“No. I completely forgot.” With everything going on I had dropped the ball on a lot of things.
“Well she wanted me to tell you she’ll be here on Tuesday.”
I clapped my hands together. “She will?”
“Yes. I can’t remember what hotel she told me now, but I have her number on the bulletin board in the kitchen if you want to give her a call before she gets here.”
“Okay. Thank you!”
Chase leaned in bumping my shoulder. “That’s exciting.”
“Definitely,” I agreed.
My Aunt Carolyn was the only blood family I had left … aside from Stephen, of course. She was his sister which actually made her my great-aunt.
It was nice to see Spencer and Grace taking the time to get to know Nolan. They asked him questions about school and his family. I blushed when they asked him how he’d met me.
Nolan never missed a beat, and simply said, “School.” I caught Jackson smirking at Chase though, which only caused me to glare at him. I saw Kali kick him under the table.
After we’d all eaten until we felt miserable, Grace and Spencer were the first to excuse themselves so they could go home for some rest. Jackson and Kali were going out. I supposed they had a lot of dates to make up for. Maggie showed up just as they were leaving and I helped Laura in the kitchen while Nolan and Chase hooked up an Xbox in the living room.
“Kali’s pretty great, isn’t she?” I said, trying to make conversation.
“Oh she sure is! Such a great balance to our wild Jackson.” She wrapped the last of the leftovers and added, “Both of our boys have been very blessed.”
“Aw, thank you. I love you all, I really do. Thank you for being a family to
me.”
She wrapped me in a big hug. “I hope you’re not saying good-byes! We won’t let anything happen to you. But if you’re not comfortable, you don’t have to do this. They can find another way.”
“It’s not that. I mean, I guess it is a little. I just want you to know how much I appreciate you in case something does happens. I’m ready to do this though. My life will never be mine as long as Stephen is out there.”
“I just hate that for you but I know you’re right.” I loaded the last few dishes while she went on, “When this is all over you’ll finally be able to breathe. To focus on you and your life.”
“Exactly.”
“When Carolyn gets here make sure you get some girl time in with her. I know she’d really enjoy that.”
“Well I know she can’t resist shopping, so I’ll be sure to take her to some of the downtown shops.”
“How are my favorite women?” Chase was leaning in the doorway watching us.
“Finally finished,” she said.
“Thank you, Mom, for a wonderful meal. I’m still going to be full tomorrow.”
“Yes,” I agreed.
“Oh, you’re both welcome.” She waved it off like it was no big deal. “It’s been nice having everyone here. For a while it’s just been your Dad and I.”
“I know I’ve appreciated your hospitality.” I stood next to Chase and he wrapped his arm around me.
“You are always welcome, Morgan.” She started the dishwasher and shooed us out of the kitchen. “Now go have some fun. If you want any leftovers help yourselves.”
Nolan and Maggie were shooting it out with controllers in hand. Maggie was giggling and Nolan was pretending to let her get the best of him.
Chase leaned in. “Would these two just date already?”
“Right?” I laughed.
“All right, it’s my turn to whoop on Nolan,” Chase spoke up.
“And it’s my turn to steal Maggie away.”
Chase shot me a look. “Where are you going?”
“Nowhere. I just thought I could paint my overdue-for-a-pedicure toes while you two shoot each other. I wanted some girly company while I do it.”
“Oooh yes.” Maggie jumped up. “Mine are overdue, too.”
“Yours look just fine,” Nolan gushed.
“Dude,” Chase shook his head, “be more obvious.”
Nolan pursed his lips and turned back to the TV. Maggie tried to hide her giggle. We went to work on our toes while the boys argued about who shot who. The night was pretty relaxing and it helped to keep my mind off of things. At least my nails would be cute before I took on pure evil.
We all said our good-byes to Maggie and went to bed at a decent hour. I hoped Rylan gave me one more night before entering my dream like I asked. I wasn’t ready to begin this lie with him and I already hated myself for it.
Luckily, he kept his word and I slept soundly. The next morning everyone was to be to the Council bright and early to start another round of work. Since a lot of my plan had already been worked out we were finished pretty early. I tried explaining to Nolan about my theories on the basement but he didn’t have much to offer. I knew I’d need to look for a key yet I had no clue where to start.
“What about Charles’ office? He’s kind of the boss around here, right?”
“Right.” Who else would have the key but Charles? “I just don’t know if he’d be naïve enough to leave it in an obvious place like his desk drawer. If I break into his office I’m not going to have much time to look around.”
“I can be the look out,” he offered.
I contemplated this for a minute. Spencer had left for his other meeting and we were still sitting in the room across from Charles’ office. If I could find the key to the door in the basement, I somehow knew it would help.
“Okay, he should probably be in the same meeting as Spencer and he went downstairs. I’m going to run in there. If anyone starts walking in our direction bang on the doorframe.”
“Got it.”
I bolted across the hall and was so relieved to find the door unlocked. I rummaged through desk drawers and found newer looking keys but I knew there was no way they would unlock the door in the basement. I had to be searching for more of an antique looking key. Where would he hide something like that? Maybe I was completely on the wrong track and he kept the important things at home.
A photo of Eva and their son as a young child sat framed on a shelf. On a whim I grabbed the frame and flipped it around. At first nothing looked out of the ordinary. Except that a corner of the backing didn’t lay flat. I felt around and noticed a lump. Carefully sliding the back off, I bit back my excitement at an old, rusted key with an intricate pattern. It had old teeth like a skeleton key. I slid the key into my pocket and replaced the back, setting the frame where I’d found it—careful to line it up with the dust mark it left under it.
After shutting the door as quietly as I could, I grabbed Nolan’s arm and pulled him down the hallway.
“Did you find it?”
I nodded without even looking at him.
“You’re not going to get back there right now. You know that, right? They’re probably in Spencer’s room.”
Ugh. He was right. “I have to at least try. Maybe they’ll have the door closed.”
He only shrugged and kept following me to the basement. The hallway in the basement was dark and I was half right. The door was cracked open. I left Nolan standing by the elevator.
“You don’t need to come with me.”
“I don’t mind,” he said.
“No. I don’t know why but something tells me this is something I have to do by myself.”
“Okay.”
I tiptoed to Spencer’s room and the voices coming from the ajar door were all recognizable. However, I focused more on creeping past without being detected. If I wasn’t careful Chase may feel my closer presence and come to investigate. I’d have to hope he’d be too distracted to notice in addition to his desensitized sense of having me so close.
Confident that I’d gotten past successfully, I turned all of my attention on the key in my pocket. Chase’s voice, however, stopped me in my tracks. I was sure I’d been caught when I heard my name, but he was only addressing the others in his meeting. Curious, I took a couple of steps closer to the door to listen.
“Her judgment is clouded,” Charles said. “She misplaces her trust in that boy.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Chase sounded flustered.
“No.” I heard Jim’s voice next. “I’m more concerned at what Mind abilities he has now.”
“Morgan says he can enter her dreams,” Charles answered.
“She did?” Chase sounded hurt now. “She never—”
Charles cut back in, “If he can enter her mind enough to insert himself in her dreams, do you not think he has the ability to see what’s in there? What she could possibly be hiding? What she thinks she’s keeping from him?”
So they were keeping things from me. I wanted to stay and listen to more but I had to go now if I was ever going to get a shot at this door. Pulling the key from my pocket and squeezing it tight, I forced myself forward.
The air in the hall was thick as ever and with the key in my hand this time it was like I could hear the whispers again calling me forward; taunting me to come closer.
The twists and turns in the dark seemed shorter this time. It wasn’t long before I was feeling for the keyhole in the dark. A surge of butterflies in my stomach fluttered as I slipped the key into place and felt the lock give way.
The door only grunted at the disturbance and surprisingly didn’t creak or give any other clues to my whereabouts. I was thankful Spencer’s room wouldn’t hear.
Musty air blew out through the opening door. A blue glow emitted and allowed me just enough light to see my way around. Mysteriously, the blue glow was coming from the stone floor. No pattern or idea where exactly it came from. It was like a fog just hovering above the floor. O
n the wall hung the amulet Spencer had shown me. Not the one that hung upstairs with only five stones but the same as the amulet with nine stones embedded in the gold circle and the tenth, a ruby, suspended in the center. I felt myself start to get swept away by the seizure but gulped as much air as possible and averted my eyes. If I could just stay focused …
Why would something evil be permitted to hang in the Council? Even if they no longer used this room how was it ever allowed in here to begin with? They had to be aware of it at some point, right? Someone did.
My impending seizure seemed to hang over me, so I continued to preoccupy myself with my surroundings. Carved into the rock floor were Latin words, each spaced in what looked to also be a circle. The blue hung just above them and I realized it also highlighted the circle. Candelabras were pushed against the wall with dust covered candles still waiting to be lit. Rolled scrolls were scattered about the room. I reached for the nearest one.
Handling the crumbling parchment delicately, I read aloud the words I could make out, “Infusco valeo, praevaleo, dimidium valeo, lux valeo.”
The blue light glowed a little brighter … or was that my imagination? I waited a moment to see if it happened again and went back to trying to decipher the scroll. It was all in Latin and I understood none of it. Pulling my phone out, I took pictures of what I could. I rolled the parchment back up carefully and decided to sneak back out before I was caught. I passed my hand through the dull blue light to be sure it was safe, and then stepped through it to cut across the room quickly. Once I was inside the circle, though, the blue glow surged brighter and I’d realized my mistake. A buzz grew in my ears so loud I couldn’t think straight. My heart began to race and I dropped to my knees before the dizziness could completely take hold of me. I was frozen in that position, fighting the darkness that was creeping into my vision. I could not let myself pass out. Not down here.
I forced one heavy knee forward at a time. On all fours, I slowly made my way closer to the edge of the circle. Fighting nausea and now the pounding in my temples, I took it slow and steady. Collapsing occasionally, I finally pitched myself forward and out of the visible circle. I lay half in the room and half in the doorway. The blue light dimmed again as I gasped air and tried to gain my composure.
Exposed (The Broken Soul Series Book 3) Page 14
