Multiple fists bang on the door, startling me from my search and a short squeal escapes me. Derik’s horrible laugh thunders through the door, washing me in the creepy crawlies.
I rub my arms as I put some more distance between me and the door.
“Open the door gorgeous, come out and play,” Derik says. “I want to get you out of that dress!” He starts to laugh again. “It’ll be so much nicer if you just open the door.”
His voice and threats sink in, and make me want to lose my dinner.
I focus on Seth, and picture Derik and the bathroom. I can only hope he receives both images and doesn’t come alone.
“I promise not to bite,” someone threatens, and I stagger back to the far wall.
“Seth is on his way!” I shout. “Leave!” My voice trembles slightly, giving away that I am scared. His screeching laughter breaks through the door, and smacks into me like a weapon.
“You stupid, little bitch!” He seethes, and I flinch. “Lover Boy is out on the dance floor. By the time he notices you’re gone, there won’t be anything left but an empty shell!” He screams through the door and jiggles the knob.
I shiver and bite my knuckles to keep from screaming out.
“You have five seconds to unlock the door or I’ll break it open. I’m done messin’ around.” He pauses. “Fine, have it your way, the boys and I will enjoy this.”
I curl into myself on the floor, squeeze my eyes shut, and wait.
I can’t fight back. He’s supernatural, and I’m human.
I’m going to die on my birthday.
What happens to the dead when your soul is eaten by a demon? Can I be reunited with my family?
“Dude!” The pounding and screeching stops. “Ten of them are coming this way. Move now! Just leave her!” someone else shouts.
“You won’t be with him for much longer. I wouldn’t get comfortable if I were you. You can’t always be near them, and neither can your precious family,” Derik threatens. “Things would be so much better if you’d finally cooperate. You’d be my queen, gorgeous.”
Silence.
I can’t breathe. My heart clenches painfully. This needs to stop. He can’t hurt my family. I won’t allow it!
How does he always find me when I’m alone? Will this ever stop? Will I be forever stalked?
There’s a knock on the door, and this time my scream escapes my throat.
“It’s me,” Seth shouts over my scream. “Please open the door,” he pleads.
But I can’t move, I can hardly breathe.
There’s a thump, then a crack, and a grunt.
I scream again, and a second later someone’s arms go around me. I flinch away, and then I feel the tell-tale tingles, and sink into Seth.
Beyond Seth’s soothing murmurs, the faucet is turned on and someone dabs my face with a cool damp paper towel.
I open my eyes and see Henry, paper towel in hand and the broken door just behind him.
I wipe the tears from my face angrily, and try taking a calming breath.
Barry walks over when my eyes open again. “They’re gone. You’re safe,” Barry says. But I can feel the words he doesn’t say, for now. I nod, it’s the only thing I can do.
“Did he say what he wanted? A message?” Luke asks.
There won’t be anything left but an empty shell! You can’t always be near them, and neither can your precious family! Derik’s voice echoes in my head, and I scrub my face with the paper towel, trying to remove the voice, the threat, the panic. “Argh…” I growl.
“Hey,” Seth whispers. “Just think about everything that happened since I left you with Susie.”
I look into his eyes, searching for anything to give me a reason not to share this telepathically. I don’t want to relive this moment. I just want it to end.
His vibrant green eyes pierce into me, and I know. I know I have to show him. I can’t sit on the threats alone. But it’s not going to make him feel happy, that’s for sure.
I close my eyes and think back to my satisfaction over the fact that Seth was uncomfortable with Susie, and just let every moment play out, until I ended up back in Seth’s arms just minutes ago.
Seth swears.
Luke tells him to mind his tongue, and Seth grinds his teeth in response.
“Fane, you still got Athan on the phone?” Seth asks through his teeth.
Fane pokes his head in beside the broken door. “He’s now on speaker, go ahead.”
“First, there’s more than just Derik,” Seth growls. As he gives them the rundown on what happened, I watch Henry and Barry. Henry’s body language is easy for me to read. His jaw is clenched and his hands are fisted. He’s clearly angry and knowing him, he’s probably thinking of all the ways he wants to end Derik or coming up with some plan to remove me from the situation. Barry, on the other hand, keeps his face a clean canvas. The only indication that it’s affecting him at all is the series of tremors visibly running through his skin. He’s going to shift and by the looks of it, it’ll be soon.
I pat his arm, and he turns to me. I try smiling, but he frowns, squeezes my arm lightly, and walks out of the crowded bathroom.
Slowly, everyone else files out of the bathroom, discussing the issues with protection, someone paying for the door so my uncle gets his deposit back, and how close they are to locating where the coven is hiding.
I shove off the far wall and fix my face and hair in the mirror. “Come,” I turn to Seth when I’m satisfied. “Let’s go party,” I say flatly.
He laughs at my lack of enthusiasm and follows me out into the hallway. Fane’s second, Silas - I overheard his name - squeezes by us with yellow tape in his hand. I guess he’s going to block the door off for now.
***
“I can’t believe Jabin and his friends showed up tonight!” Skeeter laughs as we remove our make-up in the bathroom.
“I wonder if he’ll want the metal cooler back…” I trail off thinking of the metal bin they turned into a cooler for cola bottles.
Skeeter snorts. “I don’t know. But I’d gladly fill it up just to watch Jabin and Mike carrying it, without sloshing the pop.” She giggles. “No Jabin! Not like that! You’re sloshing my pop, ya jagoff!” She imitates Mike.
“I was surprised about something though,” I say getting serious.
She swipes the cotton ball over her lips. “What’s that?”
“They noticed Leland, and didn’t fuss.” I feel my face screw up.
She tosses a fluff of cotton at me. “On what planet would Jabin know who Leland is? Not like Leland played Spock or somethin’.” She shrugs. “Some of them put the pieces together, but I’m guessing they didn’t want to stomp on your day.”
“I guess we’ll see on Monday.” I sigh.
“Mmmm…” she mumbles as she brushes her teeth. “What time is Seth coming tonight?” Her topic change doesn’t go unnoticed, but I let her have it.
I tap the home button on my phone to light it up. “Nine minutes.”
“He’s not staying right?” She glares at me. “It’s just you and me tonight.”
“Of course, as long as you don’t fall asleep watching that dumb show with the guys,” I say and return the glare.
“Hey! Grave Stalkers is amazing Jaz, don’t let the brains freak you out,” she giggles.
“Right, let me jump on that band wagon,” I snort. “I’m going down to wait,” I say with an excited smile.
“Tell Barry and Henry not to start without me!” She hollers to me as I skip down the stairs.
I poke my head into the living room to see Henry and Barry tossing popcorn and gummy bears at each other.
“You know, if you lick it before you flick it, it sticks,” I say.
They both face me and burst out laughing.
Then my words replay in my mind, and my face fills with heat. “I, um. I did not mean it that way!” I shout over their laughter. “Gah! See if I ever share secrets with you!” Their laughter roars.
; “You just…” Henry’s laughter swallows his words.
I purse my lips. “Shut up,” then I giggle, too. “Skeeter will be down soon, so uh, this never happened,” I wink, and Barry blows a raspberry.
I walk into the kitchen and wait by the sink for Seth, while trying to calm the rolling giggle fit.
***
I stare out the window at the darkened backyard lit by the moonlight that shines off the lake. Just looking out at it seems to release the tension and soothe my worry.
A dark figure moves towards the house, and my heart skips a beat.
I dart out the door, run down the deck stairs, and launch myself into his arms, causing him to stumble back a step.
He chuckles in my ear. “Miss me?” He asks.
I kiss his cheek and wrap my legs around his waist. “Just trying to make the most of the time we have. If you’d like, I can walk by myself.”
He chuckles again as he walks us in the direction he came from. “It’s your birthday for another hour and twenty minutes, I think I can handle walking for you until then.” He winks, and I giggle. “You didn’t embarrass yourself tonight like you thought you would. Is this a new record?”
“Oh yeah, it’s one for the books,” I deadpan.
He chuckles and sits down behind the huge oak tree next to the lake. I slide off his lap and scan the area.
He’s laid out a soft quilt, which we’re currently sitting on, and next to him is a small box with a silver bow, a small blue gift bag, a cupcake, and two cans of my favorite pop.
I smile at his thoughtfulness. “This is a cozy little spot you found for us. Was that cupcake there long? Did you check for ants?” I tease.
He smirks. “Ha, ha, Jazzy. Happy birthday,” he smiles. “Do you want to open gifts? Or would you rather have the cupcake?” His hand floats between the bag and the cupcake. “It’s your favorite,” he taunts with a wolfish grin.
My breath halts. “No way,” I say. “You got me a Chocolate Beer cupcake from Bombtastic Cupcakery in New Haven?” He nods and hands it to me.
I split it in half, my half might be larger, but he has to try it.
“So good,” I say around my last bite. He smiles and nods. I smile when I see icing at the corner of his mouth and kiss the spot. Cupcake kisses, yum. “This is perfect, Seth.”
“I’m not done yet,” he says with a grin, as he hands me the small gift bag.
I sigh and take it from him. “You could’ve stopped with the pop and cupcake.”
He grins as he leans on his side in front of me. “Shut up and open it.”
I roll my eyes and do as he says. Beneath the tissue paper is a small box. It rattles slightly as I lift it from the bag. I raise a brow at him and he motions for me to open it. So I lift the corner of the box and out slides an SD card. “Wha…”
He interrupts me. “That, you’ll look at on your computer. You’ll find…” he pauses and looks to the sky for a second. “Stuff on there, just for you.” He smiles crookedly.
I nod, placing the SD card back in the box, and drop it in the bag. What in the world could be on that thing? There’s no way he could’ve gotten a camera from Mom yet. I watch him as he spins the small box in his hands. Could he have been sneaky with a camera before tonight?
He interrupts my musings. “Here,” he says as he hands me the box.
I pop the lid off, and inside is a black velvet jewelry box.
Jewelry?
My shocked eyes find his. The love shining in his eyes back at me almost overwhelms me. I swallow and go back to the jewelry box. As I lift the lid, a small gasp escapes my lips and I stare at him, again, with wide eyes.
I shake my head. “Wha…But?”
“Pull it out,” he says with a grin.
I pull my eyes away from his, down to the necklace. It’s a thin silver box chain with a circle pendant. On the pendant is the outline of a heart in crushed diamonds and emeralds. Carefully, I lift the necklace out and hold it in my hands. A strange urge fills me and I turn the pendant over. Symbols are engraved on the back, I have no idea what they mean or stand for, but as I run the pad of my pointer finger over them, I feel their importance. I find Seth’s eyes again and get lost in a sea of emerald and gold.
“It says Soul Mate,” he whispers, breaking my short trance. I turn to let him clasp the necklace around my neck. When he’s finished, I launch myself into his arms and just breathe him in. I smile when I feel him smile against my hair.
I lean back a little to talk to him. “Seth, this necklace, it’s beautiful. The cupcake and pop were perfect. I just…” I smile. “Thank you.”
He pecks my lips lightly and smiles back. “I’m glad you like it. I chose white gold for the chain and pendant because Skeeter mentioned your sensitivity to jewelry.” He looks away sheepishly before clearing his throat and starting again. “I chose the circle pendant, because you are my other half, together we are whole. You are my heart and my soul mate.” His eyes pin to mine, and my lungs fail me again.
I would’ve worn this if it turned my skin green or gave me hives. I lean into him and kiss him. His hands rest on my hips and squeeze lightly.
The sliding glass door opens and shuts. I groan. “Jazzy? Seth?” Barry yells. Seth raises a finger to his lips to indicate we should stay silent. We sit perfectly still, neither of us breathing, hoping he goes back inside.
With his rotten wolfy senses working, he pokes his head around the tree in a matter of seconds.
“What Barry?” I snap at him.
He frowns slightly. “Sorry, I’m just nervous with you guys out here.” He shakes his head.
“We’re fine Barry. I’ll be coming in shortly. I promise,” I say.
Barry glances at our position and everything on the blanket and winces. “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”
Seth shrugs, “Just making out.” My cheeks heat slightly at his honesty.
Barry gives Seth a hard look. “Don’t let her be alone. Not even for a minute,” Barry says before walking away.
Seth snorts rudely, and I lift a brow at him.
“What?” he says defensively. “He says that like I’d really allow anything to happen to you,” he spits out. I frown, and his features soften some. “It’s an instinct. He understands the bond because they’re taught about it and it’s similar to the claim the shifters have with their mates.” He shakes his head.
“Explain it to me. I still don’t understand entirely.”
He smiles. “The bond that connects us is natural for our kind. It influences and intensifies our own emotions. So, it’s your emotion no matter what you think of the bond.” My brow furrows slightly. “If I was human and we met how we did, we would have formed a relationship. Our relationship would’ve formed and feelings would’ve grown at a pace that humans are comfortable with. The feeling of love would have happened gradually, not at first sight.”
I gasp. Was it really love at first sight? I think back to the moment I saw him walk into math class. “What?” I whisper. The feel of his love washes through me. My eyes close lazily with the caress on my mind. I see myself through his eyes, and feel his love, his joy, and contentment. My eyes widen.
“You’re the only one in color, my love. The only one that holds my heart, touches my soul, and awakens my spirit,” Seth whispers, as my mind screams and turns in circles.
He loves me. Love not like, not lust, but love.
He scoops up the trash and pushes it to the side then hands me my pop and gift bag. “Let’s get you in the house before Barry comes back out.”
I almost have a sissy-la-la moment and want to stomp my feet and cry, so I won’t have to leave his side. But I have a lot to think about now.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” He asks, as he pulls me to stand.
I grin. “How early can you come over?”
“Eager are we?” He laughs, “How about I pick you up around lunch time and we can chill at my house?”
“Sounds perfect,” I say as we walk ha
nd in hand through the yard.
I lightly swing our joined hands back and forth as I look up to the sky. I imagine that the clear night is a gift from my dad, and the waning gibbous moon is a gift from my sister. I smile sadly to the stars before walking with Seth up the steps to the deck.
He stops me just before the door.
When I turn, he kisses me square on the mouth. I pause before relaxing my lips against his and linking my arms around his neck. His hand presses on my lower back, pushing me closer to him. I run my fingers through his hair and tug. He releases a quieted growl and presses me into the wall. Acting of their own accord, my legs hug his waist, and the feelings running between both of us cause my entire body to heat. Hearts racing, hands roaming, and… I don’t ever want this to end.
All too soon, he pulls back, lightly dotting my lips and cheeks with unsatisfying pecks.
“Happy birthday,” he whispers against my cheek.
My cheeks burn hotter. “If I get those kisses every year on my birthday, I might think you’re trying to cook me.”
He grins cockily. “I can do it every day if you’d like.” His eyes sparkle, and there’s a hint of want in his tone.
Just as I’m about to comment, the light flicks on. I drop my legs and hide my face in his chest.
“Shit!” A startled gasp comes from the door. I tilt my head and see Barry. “I wasn’t expecting you to be right there,” Barry says.
It doesn’t take me long to figure out what he’s really saying. “Yes!” I say excitedly and throw a fist in the air. The guys look at me funny. “It’s not every day you can startle a shifter. Give me this and back off.”
Seth laughs, and Barry scowls. “Goodnight,” Seth says, and presses a light peck on my lips. I sigh as he walks away.
I move past Barry and step into the kitchen. “Where are Skeeter and Henry?”
“Asleep.” He responds. I spin on my heel to face him. He holds his hands up, innocently. “Don’t worry, Skeeter is with Henry. I’ll keep you safe.”
“So I can use your wolf as a pillow and crash on the floor in front of Mom’s door? No thanks,” I say.
True Connection (The Soul Mate Series) Page 22
