True Connection (The Soul Mate Series)

by Walter, Rachel

  Chapter 19

  Hostage Situation

  Leland’s truck in the drive alerts me that there is definitely something wrong. I run into the house just as a white flash filters through the house, announcing Avan and Charlotte’s arrival. I wonder what’s going on. I reach the living room, hearing glass shatter and a roar from the kitchen.

  That’s my uncle.

  I sprint to the kitchen with Henry hot on my heels.

  Miss Jaynie is sitting at the table, crying, with Charlotte consoling her. Avan has a hand resting on my uncle’s shoulder, and Kiron is cleaning up a mess of shattered glasses and plates.

  “What happened?” I ask shakily. I look back and forth between Miss Jaynie and my uncle. Whatever news this is, Henry will probably shift as soon as we’re told, I can feel the heat rolling off of him. Where’s Mom and Alex?

  “You two should sit,” Charlotte says calmly.

  I slide my feet to an empty chair, and Skeeter flops into the one beside me.

  “Just tell me now,” Henry says through his teeth, as he grips the back of my chair.

  “I’m so sorry,” Miss Jaynie says through her tears.

  My chair trembles. “What. Happened?” Henry seethes.

  He’s about to shift. I can feel his power rolling into my back. It’s weird.

  Miss Jaynie sniffs and wipes her face again. “We were outside playing with Alex when I heard the phone ring. I was only gone two minutes. I don’t know where they are or who has them,” Miss Jaynie says.

  “What do you mean they’re gone?!” I scream as I hop out of my chair. Henry growls, Tony tugs my arm, pulling me back towards the entrance, and Barry shoves Henry towards the sliding glass door. Miss Jaynie apologizes again, and I can’t take it. This has to be some kind of joke. They’re here, just hiding.

  I shove Tony’s hand off my arm and run out of the kitchen. I hear Leland shout again and more glass shatters as growls tear through the house.

  Where am I going? I stop in the living room and fall to my knees.

  Someone touches my back. I feel tingles along my spine, even through my shirt. “Are you okay?” Seth asks as he kneels in front of me and searches my eyes.

  “I…” I whisper and pause, remembering the canvas. “What’s on that canvas?”

  “It’s not good.” He sighs and pulls me up to sit on the couch. When he leaves the room, Sam and Tony sit on either side of me. I purposefully ignore their questioning glances and sighs.

  A minute passes and Seth is back, handing me the canvas facedown. I slowly flip it over.

  The image is just horrible, and the words leave a chill over me that I can’t seem to shake. When my brain processes what I’m seeing, I’m grateful for Tony’s arm being around me, until it starts to shake as bad as Henry was in the kitchen.

  A photo has been taped to the canvas. The photo is of my cousin and mom, sitting in a chair with tape over their mouths. Mom’s hands were taped in front of Alex so he can’t get off her lap. They both have tears streaming down their faces but seem otherwise unharmed.

  What would possess them to take a baby?

  The words painted on the canvas, “Come with me and they will live.”

  “Tony, check on Henry,” Seth says sternly. Tony nods, and jogs out of the room.

  Seth and Sam begin rubbing my shoulders, my arm, telling me that things will work out and we will get them back, don’t worry.

  Don’t. Worry.

  How can I not worry?

  Demons have my mother and baby cousin.

  Not just any demons. The soul sucking demons have my family.

  I push them both off of me and stand. Seth starts to get up, too.

  “No!” I shout, and he falls back to the couch. “Don’t sit there and tell me not to worry and that everything will work out!” I yell.

  The chattering from everyone has stopped. All attention on my outburst, but I don’t care.

  “My mother and my cousin have been kidnapped. Not yours! Do they look fine to you?” I yell and toss the canvas back to the couch. Seth and Sam’s eyes are huge and they both slouch back into the couch at the same time. “That jerk took my family, and wants me in exchange. How is that okay?” My body trembles and quakes, my knees give out before anyone has a chance to move.

  My mom, Alex. They’re just… They’re in danger.

  I can’t deal with this.

  They’re in danger and it’s my fault.

  “It’s her fault. You know that’s what she’s thinking,” my brother whispers harshly.

  My body is numb, my mind is fuzzy, and my vision is dark. I can’t find my voice, I don’t know what I feel, I just don’t want to sit here and wait.

  “We can’t let her go to them,” Leland whispers. “I can’t trade her life for theirs. I won’t lose them, or her,” he says, painfully. “We need a plan.”

  Tingles run down my side and I know Seth is close.

  A plan would be a very good start. Now, if I can get my limbs and brain to cooperate, we’d be golden.

  “We need Fane,” someone responds.

  “This means we fight. We have to be smart,” Seth says close to me.

  “I’ll call Fane. Come get me when she’s able to talk,” Henry says as and I hear his footsteps fade away.

  Silence fills the living room.

  And not the comfortable silence either.

  It’s the kind of silence that you can peel away, like the cheap polish on my nails.

  The room comes into focus and I find Leland, Seth, and Flynn watching me, waiting to see if I’m going to fall apart again. Or maybe they’re waiting for another outburst.

  I need answers, we need answers. A plan needs formed, and we need it now.

  I need to know exactly what I have to do to get them back, and how I won’t die in the process.

  That’s the only way we can get them. Me.

  I rise from the floor on shaky legs and lock eyes with Seth. “Let’s talk this out,” I say.

  Seth guides me outside to sit on the porch while we wait for everyone to arrive. I sit next to him on the back steps, and hug his arm.

  He rests his cheek on the top of my head. “You okay now?” He asks.

  I sigh. “I’m sorry for freaking out on you and Sam.”

  “Apology accepted,” he whispers. “Let’s talk this through.” He sighs and picks up my hand, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles.

  I glance up. “What exactly would you like to talk about?”

  “The fact that in your head the only option we have is for you to go to Derik,” he says flatly.

  “I don’t intend to sneak off and try to save them myself,” I say pulling away from him. “I know everyone would go insane and try to rescue me. Including you,” I grumble. “We’ll come up with a plan to save my mother and my cousin,” I say, determined. “They will live, and not be demons. I will survive this. We all will.” He sighs, but I don’t let him respond. “I have to do this,” I say quietly. “Skeeter needs a few people with her to protect her, maybe Henry will stay with her.”

  “I don’t think he’ll be very happy with leaving either one of you,” he responds.

  “He doesn’t have a choice.” I shrug and go back to my original thoughts. “I think Derik and ‘friends’ have to think I’m alone. Of course, I won’t be, but they won’t know that until it’s too late. Derik wants me. I was the human who he couldn’t persuade with compulsion, right?” He nods, so I continue. “Obviously that pissed him off more than just me turning him down.”

  “I’m not happy about this.” He looks away from me. “There has to be another way,” he says quietly.

  I don’t have to seek out our bond to know that he’s freaking out inside, near as much as I am. It’s visible. His knee is bouncing, he won’t let go of my hand, his jaw is clenched shut, and the expression on his face and in his eyes is torn.

  “Do you know of a shape shifter that can take the form of my clone?” I nearly wheeze. My ribs still hurt, and the
yelling and panic I just did, hasn’t helped one bit.

  “I wish that was even a possibility,” he murmurs and pulls me to him gently. I feel the emotions running through him. Rage. Concern. Worry. Fear. And acceptance. “Promise me that…” he pauses and lightly traces the freckles on my cheeks with the pad of his finger. “Promise me that you’ll protect yourself,” his breath fans across my cheek. “Promise me that you’ll listen to every option first. Don’t just let this be the only way.”

  My free hand travels up to rest on his shoulder, lightly grazing the bare skin at the collar of his shirt. “I promise,” I whisper. “We don’t have a plan, yet.”

  He gives me a small smile and then kisses my lips.

  ‘I love you,’ he says telepathically. My eyes pop open the same time my lips stop moving.

  He notices the change in me and opens his eyes just as the door slams behind us.

  “Are you freaking kidding me right now? You choose now to play “suck face” with your boyfriend? What is wrong with your head?” Henry yells. My eyes open wider and my mouth falls open in shock. “Whatever,” he spits and turns to go back inside.

  Quickly finding my voice, I become defensive. “I don’t have to justify my actions to you, Henry.” His back stiffens and his eyes pierce me in a way that makes me feel gutted. “I’m sorry,” I say and take a step towards him. He glares at me harsher. “I promised Seth that I’d protect myself as much as possible. Sealed it with a kiss,” I say quietly.

  He glances to Seth and back to me. “And why would you have to promise that?”

  “When I go, I’m not going to be able to take any of you. If I don’t protect myself, can you really trust Derik not to hurt me?”

  Henry starts trembling, not just a little, but earthquake trembles that shake the candle on the banister. He’s going to shift.

  I take a step backwards, closer to Seth.

  Abruptly, everything stops, and Henry starts laughing. “You almost got me, Beautiful.” He blows out a breath and runs his fingers through his hair. “Like Fane would let that fly. Not in a million years,” he laughs. “By the way, everyone’s here in case you want to pitch your plan to them, too,” he snorts and pushes the door open.

  “Hey,” Seth says as he hugs me. “I’ll be right here the whole time.”

  I can tell he believes in me, but wants Fane and Athan to come up with something better. “You know I’ll need your help. Up until the moment we make our move. Don’t leave me, please,” I whisper.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he says into my hair.

  We head into the house and follow the sounds of voices to the living room, again.

  I lean against the wall and just watch and listen for a few minutes. Henry is trying to stay close to Skeeter. Skeeter is trying to put some distance between them. Charlotte catches my attention with a wave, and crosses her eyes and sticks out her tongue while pointing to the back of Avan’s head. I snort and grip my side again.

  I spot Fane, talking to Athan and Leland closer to the front door, so I tug Seth’s arm and we begin weaving through people to get close enough to hear.

  Leland nods to something they said and turns around, glances at me and gives me a torn smile. He looks like a broken man. I have to fix this. My uncle is fun, free spirited, happy, and energetic. This is not him.

  I return with a sad smile of my own, and he hugs me to him, a little too tightly for my ribs but not tight enough for me.

  “Seth, can I see the canvas?” Fane asks.

  Seth nods and twists through some bodies to get to where he set the canvas down earlier.

  I might as well just jump in headfirst and figure out as much as I can. “Do we know where they’re located yet?”

  “No. I will not hear an argument on this. You’re not coming along, so go get comfy on the couch,” Fane says quickly. Leland’s eyes widen, but before he can say anything Seth appears with the canvas.

  “We need better light for this,” Athan mumbles, and I watch as they head to the kitchen. Seth tugs me out of the way as Sam, Luke, Avan, Charlotte, and a few others follow Fane and Athan.

  I check to see if anyone else is coming, and my eyes meet Barry’s. My panic starts to simmer as I think of what Henry could’ve told him, and how he’s going to react. I squeeze Seth’s hand as I suppress the urge to run far away from Barry.

  “You okay?” Barry asks me.

  I swallow my immediate snarky remark, and take as deep a breath as my broken ribs will allow. “I’ll be better when this is over.” I failed at keeping the attitude from lacing my response.

  He nods. “I understand.” Then he looks towards the kitchen. “You wanna go see what they’re coming up with, plan-wise?”

  If he knew that I plan on being involved one hundred percent, and plan on being semi-alone, this would not be how the conversation goes.

  I nod, and we sneak into the kitchen unnoticed.

  “I’m telling you,” a man, with almost orange hair, says gruffly. “We should check these locations first.” He pokes a skinny finger to the map on the table. “They’re more likely to be partially secluded. I think the old warehouse here, or the abandoned buildings here and here would be more likely.” I recognize him, he was there the night we found out that I had a demon problem, and I found out the giants are actually shifters.

  Avan grunts. “I know my sister, she might be a demon, but some things I doubt have changed. She wouldn’t stay in a place where she would get dirty, or mold on her designer shoes, or even break a nail. The place should be in a five mile radius of a high class hotel. We need a location before night fall,” Avan says to Athan, who seems to be taking notes.

  I elbow past Barry. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re checking locations to find your family members. No, you may not come,” Fane says without looking up from whatever he’s looking at. He puffs his cheeks and blows out a quick breath. “There’s lighting here,” he says to Avan, pointing to the photo on the canvas. “A recently abandoned place?” He questions absent mindedly and grabs a folder to his left. “Maybe a generator,” he mutters.

  Why won’t he let me be involved at all? I glare at Fane and huff as I turn away.

  A heavy hand lands on my shoulder, but I don’t startle. “Girseach,” Fionn says. “He’s only lookin’ out for ya, no one wants ya gettin’ hurt more than ya ha’ been.”

  Some of my anger leaves me. “Fionn, this is my fight. It has to be me,” I shrug a shoulder.

  “You won’t go alone.” He raises a brow at me. “I’ll work on’m while we hunt.”

  Barry clears his throat, and my eyes widen with fear. Fionn chuckles huskily and walks away. Seth takes a step towards me.

  “What was that, Jaz?” Barry asks in a way, that I know I’m in trouble whether I answer or not.

  Still, I roll my eyes and pretend I don’t know what he’s talking about. “What, Barry?”

  His movements are rigid as he closes the gap to stand about a foot away. “What you just said to Fionn, that’s what I’m talking about.”

  “We were just discussing something that, realistically, needs to happen,” I say with confidence.

  Poor choice of words.

  Barry snatches up my wrist and pulls me out the glass doors before slamming it shut. He pushes me down to the patio chair and begins to pace as Seth quietly slips out to stand in the corner of the deck.

  Barry fists his hands at his sides and rolls his head on his shoulder. “I don’t know if I should be mad at you now, or later,” he says and begins pacing again. “I don’t know if I should just let you go and know that kind of fear and pain, or if I should chain your ass to the entire weight bench and lock you in!” He nearly shouts.

  I flinch slightly before clearing my throat. “It has to be me. He’ll have them killed if I don’t go,” I say in the strongest voice I can manage.

  “It does not!” He roars, then takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. “We can save them. We can get them before they get hu
rt,” He opens his eyes and pins me to my seat with the weight of his stare. “We can’t have you there trying to be hero! We’d all be too distracted, and someone will get hurt then!”

  Rebellion seeps into my mind. “How do you know that, Barry? How do you know they aren’t torturing them right now?” My imagination produces unwanted images. “Threatening my cousin to get my mom to panic and tell them whatever they want to hear or have her do!” I shake away the images. “How do you know they aren’t telling her what they would like to do with me? How do you know they are safe?” I rise from my chair. “Are you in their heads? Do you know something about a hostage situation with devuxen that no one has told me yet?” I yell, while slowly making my way to stand toe to toe with a still pissed off Barry. “I don’t care if I do go alone. I know Seth has my back and he’ll know the exact moment I need him, and he’ll come.” A wave of calm from Seth washes over me. “If I’m not in on the plan I’ll probably blow it for everyone.” I shrug, and his jaw ticks as his body begins to quake. “As soon as I know where they are, that’s where I will be. I don’t care what you do, Barry.” I toss my hands in the air. “But I will save my family.”

  Barry stands there, glaring at me, and holding his breath. He takes a minute to either process what I’ve said, or get better control of his wolf. Whatever it is, the silence from him is unnerving. “You’re right,” he says numbly, the tone of his voice is off and his eyes, the gleam is dim, he seems broken without tears, and incredibly pissed off. “I don’t know what’s happening to them at the moment. I’ll talk to my dad with Fionn,” he nods to Seth as he heads back inside.

  I stare at the vacant spot on the deck. He just agreed and walked away. But, he seemed defeated and not the Barry I know.

  Seth walks over and pulls me into a strong embrace. My body sags against his. I let him hold me up and hold me together. Tears come to my eyes just as a loud, long howl slices through the warm breeze. It doesn’t sound like a battle cry or a warning, this howl sounds like a heartbroken cry. It nudges me over the precipice and tears fall from my eyes.