True Connection (The Soul Mate Series)

by Walter, Rachel

  With a mask of uncertainty on his face, he continues. “But all of those things need to happen to you, too. She said that since you’re human, it could take a while for some of those things to happen.”

  I feel the tingling when he touches me, but I stay silent, because I don’t understand what this means.

  He clears his throat. “I heard a thought of yours that first day, too. When I came in late to math, your voice was like an angel’s song in my head. I’ll never forget it,” he shakes his head. “You thought about how you were wearing your sister’s favorite band tee, and how you dressed for comfort. I could feel your attraction and depression.”

  Okay, I did not tell anyone that was my sister’s shirt.

  Maybe this isn’t as much insane, mumbo-jumbo as I thought.

  His voice breaks my train of thought. “I know we’re attracted to each other, I feel what you feel, and if you haven’t figured it out yet, you will. You’ll be able to feel my emotions. Maybe when or if our relationship gets stronger.”

  I’m startled as realization dawns on me.

  I would very much like to kick myself for not realizing what he’s been saying.

  Panic has completely taken over as I process the information he’s given so far. “Back up. Are you trying to say that, that you, you’re, um…that I don’t have a choice anymore? You’re it for me? We’re soul mates? The man I am supposed to marry one day, way down the freaking road, is you?” I shriek. How is he not freaking out? He looks amazingly calm given what we’re talking about.

  He reaches out like he’s going to touch me but falls short, like he thought better of it. “If you accept us, then one day down the road, we can take our relationship to that level. For now, I just want to get to know you.”

  “So, we’re it for each other? Look no further, the ride stops here. No college parties gone crazy?” I muse to myself more than to him. “Well, that could be a good thing. But it’s like you’re saying my options are being taken away from me, and I’m forced to be with you.” I cringe. “That came out wrong! Don’t get me wrong, you’re great and all, well other than this crap, but… Okay, I’m just going to shut up now.” I mash my lips shut before I choke on my toes.

  What the hell is wrong with me?!

  “I’m sorry you feel I took away your options, or your possibilities,” he says quietly. He looks into my eyes. “I know you still think I’m the town lunatic, but I am telling you the truth.”

  I stay silent. No point in beating a dead horse, I need answers.

  He shrugs. “Anyway. I told you I had to travel to get permission to tell you any of this. I left on Friday with my parents to speak to the Elders about you. See, this is rather uncommon. Usually, our soul mates are of our own,” he shakes his head. “It’s not totally uncommon, look at my parents. It just doesn’t happen as often.” He shrugs.

  I look away from him again, trying to make sense of what he’s telling me. But he doesn’t give me a minute to process any of it, he just continues on.

  “After talking to my parents and the local Elder in our area, I had to travel to an island near Greece to get permission from the Ancients. They said I couldn’t tell you any of this, without meeting all of the ‘Soul Signs’ full term. It was determined that we met them, when you trusted me enough to let me in your world.” He pauses. “That’s why I was in such a bad mood on Tuesday. I thought I’d never get you to trust me with your brother and his friends hating me the way they do. When you came to me yesterday, I laughed because I finally knew I had a chance.” He looks back to my eyes. “I don’t want you to have another breakdown. I wasn’t even near you and I felt your utter devastation. It was awful just feeling that, and even worse, knowing I couldn’t do a thing about it, or even offer you comfort. The Elder in our area told me that you had some tragedies in your family and are very choosy with who you trust and for good reason.”

  He’s sort of rambling now, and I wonder if it’s because he’s anxious. Whatever the reason, it’s kind of cute.

  I need to make sense of this information swirling in my head. “What’s the difference between an Elder and an Ancient?”

  He clears his throat. “An Elder is the oldest Amaranthine in a specific location. They’re like a counselor for a group, so to speak. The Ancients are a group of nine Amaranthines, the absolute oldest of our race.”

  I nod. Then remember he said an Elder told him stuff about me. I frown. “How did your Elder know that stuff about me?” I think I should just make a mental list of questions to ask him when he’s done talking, might save time.

  “She knows you. Jaynie Gill, Alex’s nanny.”

  My eyes might fall out of my head with as wide as they keep getting. How many non-human humans are hiding out in my life?

  He ignores my shock. “After you finally trusted me enough to let me in, I started picking up more of your thoughts.” He smiles. “One day we will be able to have an entire conversation in our minds. For now, it’s only a thought with a lot of emotion, not volume. It’s like thinking of someone important to you.”

  Suddenly, it feels like someone is caressing my mind. The sensation makes my eyelids flutter and close, and I see a picture of a beautiful woman. She has long straight red hair, brilliant green eyes, and a familiar smile.

  Shock takes place and my eyelids pop open. “Oh!”

  I close my eyes again but the picture of the woman is no longer there.

  “That’s my mom. Thinking about something that you love can do it, too.”

  The same sensation overcomes me and this time, when my eyelids close I see the inside of a library.

  I struggle to find my voice. “You love to read?”

  “Yes, I do.” He smiles. “Your turn.”

  I have no idea how this works, or if it’s even real, but I guess I might as well attempt. “Okay, someone important to me.” I think about Henry, and peek at Seth, he nods. I guess it worked. I shrug. “Something I love.” I think about the lake scene I turned in yesterday. It’s a combination of two things I really love: drawing/painting and water.

  He nods again. “Henry is important to you, but I already knew that.” He winks. “Did you paint that?”

  I feel a real smile form. “Yeah, it’s the lake behind Leland’s house. I’ve always loved to draw and paint. And I love water, too.”

  I feel strange. There’s so much information and what we were just able to show each other, by thinking of it, it’s bizarre.

  I begin to feel something else. The more I focus on it, the stronger it gets. Its happiness, but it’s not mine.

  I look to Seth, and he has a gorgeous smile on his face.

  “You’re happy?” I ask.

  “Yeah, I am. We just did all of that in our minds, and you didn’t think either one of us were crazy. Thank you.”

  I think about that and figure I should be honest with him. “Well, this is starting to become more believable, because I feel your emotions and hear and see some of your thoughts. By the way, your mom is beautiful. You have her eyes and smile.” I look away from him and look out over the water.

  He laughs. “I get that a lot. I’m thankful for my dad’s dark hair. I could’ve done without the curls, though.”

  “I like the curls,” I whisper. After a few minutes of silence, a thought hits me. “How does Skeeter fit into all of this?”

  “She’s Jaynie’s granddaughter,” he says carefully.

  I ignore my first reaction, and move onto sorting out my next thought. “Jaynie told me her parents died when she was in her twenties. If she’s Amaranthine, wouldn’t they have been Amaranthine and lived longer than that?”

  “It’s not impossible to die from natural causes. Her father was military and her mother went where he was stationed, that’s how it is for soul mates, they need each other. A bomb was dropped on their camp, they were killed in their sleep.”

  I nod slowly, and understand Miss Jaynie more.

  Another thought crosses my mind. “So, Skeeter will be
changing soon? Is it going to be a dramatic difference?”

  He shakes his head. “No one knows how dramatic the change will be until it happens. Her parents are thinking of home-schooling her until senior year, depending on how much she changes.”

  I think I’ve been overloaded with information. My train of thought keeps crossing wires with stray questions.

  It makes me want to cross my eyes.

  “This is what the giant triplets were referring to when they told Henry about your first year at Lupiterra. They said how scrawny you were, and when you came back to school the next year, you were practically a man.”

  “The giant triplets, that’s a good name for them,” he snorts. “But yes, I didn’t exactly practice secrecy at first. After my body changed, I did all the things I’ve wanted to do, because I could finally do it. It was fun, but my mom was furious with me,” he snorts again.

  “Do you have more to tell me? Or can I ask some more questions?”

  “Actually, I was thinking we could go somewhere and get lunch if that’s okay. We’ve been out here for a while,” he suggests.

  My stomach answers for me, and we both laugh. He starts to row the boat back to shore.

  I take the time to get my thoughts straight.

  He’s Amaranthine, not human. Well, not really. He ages slower than humans, but how much slower? How big of a difference will it be? When we get older, will we look like a twenty-something with a sixty-something? Ew. Why am I even thinking about this?

  Duh, because you want him!

  Proof that I have in fact gone crazy, I’m having a conversation with myself!

  I just need to think of something else before I have a panic attack!

  There’s a clan of Ancient Amaranthine, or whatever, somewhere in Greece, who know all about me. That’s fabulous, I snort at myself. At least, they demand secrecy.

  Do the Amaranthine have special powers? Probably not, but what the hell, maybe one of them can fly. That would be kind of cool.

  How are Amaranthine not demi gods, and how are they related to the Greek gods?

  Do the Amaranthine have enemies?

  I wonder if there are such things as wizards, zombies, giants, or vampires. Are there any conventions for such creatures? Like, a magical retreat, support groups for ogres, a blood convention, or maybe a ‘Brains ‘R’ Us’.

  My thoughts are becoming a tad condescending. Maybe I shouldn’t ask some of these.

  “Where to?” Seth interrupts my thoughts.

  “Say what now?” I look up to him, and then glance around.

  How did I get to the car already?

  “Where should we go to eat?” he asks slowly.

  “Oh, right. I’m game for almost anything, you pick.”

  This may be the most torturous car ride, ever. Not only are my thoughts a mess from this weirdness, but now I’m trapped in the car with him and he smells so good, and my thoughts are going to go in the wrong direction, again.

  I crack the window.

  “How about we get something closer to town,” he suggests. “On the drive, you can ask me any of those questions you’re thinking so hard about, and I’ll answer to the best of my ability.” He smiles.

  Uh oh. I wonder how much of my thoughts he’s gotten so far today.

  “I’ll start with what I consider the easiest. Just promise not to laugh at me, please.”

  “I’ll try not to laugh, but you are a funny girl, even when you’re not trying to be. Ask away.” He flashes me a knee-knocking smile before looking back to the road, and I thank my lucky stars I’m sitting.

  “Do the Amaranthine have any special powers or abilities?” I manage to ask, but it sounds so ridiculous that I laugh. Thankfully, he does too.

  “While it’s true we are faster and stronger, no, we have no powers or abilities. If we want fire, we light a match, and if we want to fly, we buy a plane ticket.”

  I nod in response and decide on my next question. “Are there other creatures? Like fairies, werewolves, zombies, or vampires?” I never thought I would be asking these questions, and actually expect a serious answer in return.

  He doesn’t laugh like I almost expected, he just smiles. “I’ll start with the easiest, too. Zombies. Made up by someone in Hollywood, probably just to give kids nightmares. I’ve met a sorcerer before. He’s slightly weird, but you wouldn’t ever want to piss him off,” he grimaces. “There are witches everywhere, but they’re not how Hollywood portrays them. They don’t do actual magic. It’s more like herbs and spices and nature,” he taps his fingers on the steering wheel. “Trolls exist. They dislike everyone equally, and try to keep to themselves. Fairies and nymphs like Ireland and Scotland best. As far as I know, vampires are extinct,” he blows out a breath. “There are devuxen. They hate everyone and think they’re royalty. There are elves, but not like Santa’s helpers or anything. They’re much smaller. Pixies and merpeople are Hollywood creations. Shape-shifters are everywhere. Most common is wolves and cats. Cats like heat, so you’d find them the further south you go. And wolves love the colder climates of the mountains. Werewolves linked to the moon were created from someone’s imagination. If you’re really interested in this, you should talk to my father,” he shrugs.

  I’m pretty sure my face is a white as a ghost right now. I’m really trying not to freak out.

  “So, do the Amaranthine have enemies?” My voice comes out as a whisper.

  “Devuxen are the worst.” He sighs and shakes his head slightly. “They don’t like anyone at all and think the world should be rid of every other species. But they won’t go and kill everyone, they need souls to survive. Other than that, everyone sort of stays out of each other’s way. There really isn’t much to worry about.”

  I begin to stammer at his words. “What is a Devux, er, Devuxen?” I’ve heard of everything else, but not that. Not that I knew any of this shit existed.

  He glances at me from the corner of his eye. “They look like you and me,” he lifts a shoulder in a slight shrug. “The only time they show their true form is when they feed. I’ve never seen it personally, but I’ve heard that their skin turns leathery and looks like charcoal, their eyes glow red and their teeth elongate.” He shutters slightly, and I can tell this topic isn’t something he’s comfortable with.

  My breath becomes shallow and I can feel myself losing control of everything. If these creatures scare him, they must be terrible. My panic rises sky high. He reaches over and squeezes my hand. His touch is comforting, and my skin is tingling again. I feel complete with his touch, but as usual, the feeling leaves when he removes his hand.

  It feels like a calm breeze has washed over me, like a soothing warm bath that leaves me feeling relaxed and at peace.

  Weird.

  “Those Ancients in Greece, are they like Amaranthine police, or something?” I ask when I find my voice again.

  “Sort of, they do enforce our rules. We really don’t have many,” he taps his finger on the steering wheel again. “The Ancients are like a group of advisors. They help us relocate every few years and help us secure jobs. As I said earlier, they’re the oldest of our kind, and the oldest one I know, is Andrew. He’s a direct descendant of Apollo,” he looks at me with excitement in his eyes. “He’s pretty ancient, more Immortal, than Amaranthine, but he’s really cool. He told me once that he lost count of his age, somewhere around four thousand.”

  I choke again, but instead of having him pull over, I put the window down the whole way and try to take a deep breath. “Four freakin’ thousand?” Now I need more answers, and we’re coming into town. “Can we grab something from a drive-thru and just park somewhere?”

  “Sure. How about the park around the corner?” Seth asks, pointing to Casa-Taco Drive-In.

  What if Seth lives to be four thousand, like that Andrew guy? If he’s right, and I am truly his soul mate, he won’t have me for long. Grandma passed away eight months after Grandpa died. Dad said she died of a broken heart. Is that what it’
ll be like for him when I go? He’ll just whittle to nothing after a few thousand years? Would he be able to find someone else to be happy with?

  The next thing I know, the car is off, and he’s grabbing our food and drinks from the back.

  When did we get the food?

  I’m in my head too much today, all thanks to Seth and his mind-blowing bomb he dropped today.

  “There’s a table over by the trees that’s empty. As long as you’re not going to yell at me, we should have privacy.” He offers a small smile.

  I guess it’s the look on my face that has him worried about my reaction, but I won’t yell. Hell, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to get my voice over a whisper.

  We head over to the table and start eating. I’m just picking at my taco. I can’t even taste the cheese I just put in my mouth. It would seem that my appetite is still sitting at the lake.

  This is so not how I imagined today going, at all.

  I mean, I had no idea what he wanted to talk about, but this was definitely not it.

  How am I supposed to word any of these other questions?

  “You could just ask me, like you ask yourself,” Seth says.

  I raise my eyes to his. “Will I ever get used to you answering my head?” I sigh, and he laughs.

  “Probably, but what do you really want to ask? You’re so anxious that it’s making me anxious, too.”

  Just then my phone beeps, and I jump and pull it out of my pocket.

  I ignore the messages glaring at me and turn my phone off.

  No more distractions.

  I take a deep breath and let it out before starting. “I’m worried about a few things. You said the oldest guy is over four thousand years old. Do all of the Amaranthine live that long?”

  “Andrew is over four thousand, but he’s lucky, and he really doesn’t do much of anything. On average, Amaranthine can live to be around four to six hundred years old. Mostly because of the things that do kill us, like beheading and some diseases,” he pauses to crumple a wrapper before continuing. “When an Amaranthine passes, if he or she is mated, the survivor soon passes, too.”