My Soul Laid Bare: Book 4 (The Soul Keeper Series)

by Solis, Melissa

  Jesson slides between me and Sam on the sofa. “I can't believe how long it’s been. I guess you've been busy,” I say mock slapping him on the leg. I see Sam wander off, perhaps giving me a moment to catch up with Jesson.

  “Yes, well after my wife put me through the wringer with her training exercises, they finally made me an Elite.” He looks past me as he talks, and the only thing behind me is a blank wall. Elijah must be talking to him. Envy sears through my chest leaving a burning ice trail all the way down to my toes.

  Jesson snaps out of his daze and gives an apologetic look. “Don't, it’s okay,” I say holding up a hand. “I'm sure he's missed you all too.”

  Jesson's brow dips low, and he shakes his head like he's disagreeing with something said. The waitress returns promptly with our drinks, and I gulp mine down ordering another before she's done passing them out. It's not like we can drunk drive a horse home. Maybe I can drown the memory of him out for the rest of the night with vodka.

  The crowd in the room has grown considerably in the last few minutes. Elena slides in next to me, forcing Jesson to move over. “So, I hear you passed the bar and are at the DA's now. You know once you get in there, you have to start using your gifts,” she uses the tone that I loathe on me. My gifts seem to have been honed into a fine tuned instrument of brain washing power over the years, and I avoid using them unless absolutely required. I’ve learned how to stay out of people’s heads when I don’t want to intrude, and that makes life a hell of a lot easier.

  “I remember the plan. You drilled it into my skull night and day. How could I forget?” I'm not ready to read the filth in people’s minds, much less manipulate them into carrying out the Keeper's plot. These last few years flew by in a blur. It seems like just yesterday that Lexi and I were sharing a bathroom as freshmen. Now I'm an attorney. How the heck did that happen?

  Speaking of the ponytailed she-devil, Lexi and Asher come bouncing through the doors. She’s in a lustrous ivory sleeveless dress that hugs every curve on her body like it were vacuum sealed around her. I leap up to hug her. I haven’t seen her since her wedding three years ago. Her family flew everyone out to Malibu for the lavish soiree. No expense was spared on Daddy’s little angel.

  “Okay, it’s been way too long. You guys need to discover the miracle of the bargain priced Texas real estate market,” I tease.

  “Can’t get much cheaper than free. Daddy bought us a condo in San Fran overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge when Asher got a position with the firm.” The waitress spots the wealth dripping off of them and circles back around.

  “What can I get you two?”

  “I’ll have a bottle of water, and he’ll have your finest glass of bourbon, neat. Oh, and he only gets two tonight. I don’t care how much he tips you.”

  “Got it,” the waitress says with a new spring in her step.

  “Water Lexi?” She’s always been a health nut like me, but perhaps living in California has doubled the effect.

  She rubs her flat stomach, and her eyes dance with a luminosity that makes the stars look like dull flashlights. “You’re going to be an Aunt come February fourteenth.”

  That date nails me in the gut, and I fall back on the sofa behind me. Congratulations fall out of my mouth I think. I’m still too stunned to know.

  The crowd erupts into applause as a singer takes the stage. My head whips around as Sam's voice comes out of the speakers.

  “Jesson, Will, Asher, get up here. I need your help with something.”

  “Oh, my word, Sam is going to sing in front of a crowd. He's not even drunk,” I say stunned yet again. Inara scoots in next to us on the sofa to watch the train wreck unfold. A familiar bass pumps through the speakers. I know this song. It was a huge hit years ago, Blurred Lines. That's it.

  Sam, Jesson, Will and Asher all pick a part to sing to the once top forty hit. We all stare with open jaws at the craziness of our men getting funky on stage. They look like they are having so much fun. Sam is moving his hips around like my own personal male stripper. Good God in heaven! He is hot as hell. Club girls line up by the stage looking as if they're ready to pull out their dollar bills. These men are all cut like Adonis blowing up the entertainment value off the charts. They get more and more into the song, and by the end, we are all dying of laughter.

  Jesson and Will make their way off stage. I try to spot where Sam went, but the crowd is thick with people.

  “Hey everyone, can you do me a huge favor?” I hear Sam's voice over the speakers again. His voice drips with that sexy velvet tone I love. The crowd gets a little quieter. “Can I get your help? You see tonight I want to sing a song to my girlfriend, and I'm kind of nervous.” The lights go all out, and a spotlight hits me square from above. Another one bounces off of him as if we're the only two people in the room now. The crowd has gone dead silent.

  “Thank you.”

  Sam starts in on a song I've never heard before, All of Me. His smooth voice carries perfectly in the small room. The song itself is perfect for us. When the chorus begins, I grip the stem of my martini glass for dear life as a tear escapes down my cheek. He sings, “All of me loves all of you.” Elena and Inara both sigh in unison, as well as the audience. Sam comes off the stage half way through the song and kneels down in front of me. Seeing him humbled kneeling before me, I can’t hold back the tears any longer. He finishes the song, and both spotlights are still on us.

  “Brennen Elizabeth Hale, I've waited my whole life to ask you this question. I've known you were the one since the first day I saw you breeze through the doorway in class. And later I fell in love with your generosity and pure spirit. I love everything about you, and I love that I discover something new to love about you just about every day. I want to spend the rest of my life learning every last one of those things, Brennen. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  He pulls a small velvet box out from behind his back and opens it to reveal a dazzling diamond ring. The hope reflecting in his eyes says more than any words he's ever spoken before. My heart’s unsteady rhythm pounds out in earnest. This is it, the moment of no return. How can I say yes to him? How can I not? I love him. “You're someone else’s wife,” my subconscious reminds me as if I haven't relived every minute of those short months over and over again. Five months and eight days of wedded bliss, that's all Elijah and I had. That's all we'll ever have. Malphas murdered Emily and effectively slaughtered my marriage. His master plan was to drive me so far away from Elijah there'd be no hope of redemption. Judging from the crushing weight pressing down on my heart right now, Malphas has succeeded.

  “Yes, I’ll be your wife Sam,” I say barely able to choke the words out. Tears blur my eyes yet again as he slides the cool gold band over my finger. A large diamond sparkles in its vintage setting like my own personal supernova. I muster every scrap of strength I have inside to pull a smile from the pain tearing through me right now. The room fills with cheers in one loud uproar. Our friends give us hugs and congratulate us. As the excitement finally begins to wear down, Elijah takes up full residence in my mind. I can feel his cool navy eyes boring into me, willing me to see him, see how hurt he is.

  Even after all these years, I can still feel when his emotions are strong. I can feel him now tugging on my heart. His grief is all consuming. My soul feeds off of his. There is nothing I can ever do to stop the chain reaction. The smile drops from my face as I sink down to the sofa feeling hopeless and utterly lonely. My gaze filters out over the mass of people, and I let Elijah take my memories on a journey.

  My thoughts drift back to the day Sam and I ended things for good, Valentine's Day eight years ago. I can remember the moment Elijah and I touched down on the glowing transport stage as the butterfly frenzy in my stomach turned into a hoard of rabid wolves. I was so nervous, and yet so excited, all at the same time. I had planned that surprise for weeks without him knowing, and that in itself was a challenge.

  Will had parted the sea of Keepers with his massive
size and pulled Elijah in with an elbow around his neck.

  “Son, have I got the surprise of a lifetime in store for you.”

  “What are you two up to?” he asked with a raised brow.

  “You let me worry about that. You just do whatever Will says and don't ask any questions. Do you think you can do that for me?”

  His face had softened and he resigned himself to being Will’s abductee.

  “But where...”

  “Ah, no questions,” I repeated.

  I headed down the hall alone and found my mother in her office. It was early in the afternoon and we only had a few hours to get ready. She pulled me in for a long hug and my nerves began to ease every moment she held me. “I can't believe my baby is getting married today.”

  “Am I crazy for doing this? He never even asked me to marry him?”

  “Love makes us do crazy things. If we can’t be irrationally passionate with our loved ones, who then is to receive the brunt of our madness? You will make Elijah the happiest man in the universe today.”

  The memory fades away, and I’m quickly cloaked under the neon glow of a beer sign.

  Now, I've just committed to marrying Sam. He never knew Elijah and I were married. My mother called it a spiritual union of souls. Even though Sam and I have been back together for eight years, we have yet to take that plunge in the bedroom. Whenever things get heated, I am always the first one to back off. Knowing Elijah is there, watching, is too much to bear.

  Once we are married though, there will be no backing down. The thought of Elijah's heart breaking slips me further into the hollow.

  “May I have this dance?” Sam reaches for my hand, and I take his. He leads me out to the main dance arena, and we twirl around the sawdust littered floor.

  “You're quiet tonight. Everything alright?”

  I nod into his neck, and he holds me just a little tighter.

  “I can't believe you sang in front of a crowd tonight.”

  “Shoot, you're telling me. I was so nervous, but knowing it might get you to be my wife made it all worth it.”

  “I would have said yes, if you'd asked me over a box of pizza in your kitchen.” I rise up on my toes and kiss his cheek. “But your way was much more romantic.”

  “I'm glad you thought so. I can't wait to marry you.” As the song ends, he presses his soft lips over mine and moves me the way only Sam can.

  “Can I have the next dance?” Jesson asks as we exit the dance floor.

  “Of course,” I respond taking Jesson's hand. A slow waltz begins which has us an arm’s length away. Jesson has to raise his voice a bit more than he's comfortable doing.

  “I have a message from Elijah.”

  My heart drops to my feet, and I shake my head. “I can't Jesson. It's been too hard already.”

  “I know, but you need to know this,” He says as he spins me around on the upbeat. Dipping me down low, he whispers, “Malphas has been captured.”

  What? My boots slip out from under me, and he scoops me up before I have a chance to fall. He sets me upright and continues the dance. “When did that happen?”

  “About an hour ago.”

  “That's why we're all here. We finally snagged him. Knowing what Sam was planning to do tonight, we knew he'd be here watching you.”

  “What does this mean?”

  “It means you don't have to marry Sam.” The weight of his words doesn't fully hit me until I'm standing next to Sam a few minutes later. I glance down at the sparkle coming from my diamond, and I know it's too late.

  The reel plays in my mind of my wedding day as if it were on a loop. I can see Elijah waiting for me, sitting on a bench in the middle of the floral garden, Will touched his arm and he turned in my direction. He saw me in the wedding dress, and he finally understood my plan. It hit him like a piano dropped from a ledge. He lifted himself off the seat and waited for me at the end of the path. His eyes sparkled with a tear under the setting sun.

  My mother chose a snug fitting lace gown with a dangerously low cut back. The dress pooled behind me elegantly, and Elijah’s parted lips told me he more than approved of my bridal look. My dad came up beside me and placed a bouquet of peonies in my hand. The fragrance drifted up ensconcing me with their sweet scent. He looped his arm in mine, and I finally released the breath I’d been holding.

  “You ready for this?”

  “Daddy, I can’t wait.”

  He chuckled softly and led me down the path. With every step I took, my excitement grew. Finally, Elijah slid his hands in mine, and he dropped down to his knees taking me by surprise. His head hung low, and suddenly I started to feel panicked. What’s wrong with him? Did they change their minds and forbid our marriage? I felt like an anvil was pressed against my chest with the weight of ten men.

  Finally, after a long torturous moment, he looked up at me. His eyes were blurred with tears as he smiled with those gleaming perfect teeth. “I’ve dreamt about this moment every waking hour for the last couple of years. You’ve stolen every word from my mouth with your beauty.” He gazed into my eyes and took me all in from his broken posture. He slowly shook his head as if he couldn’t believe where we were and how we got here.

  His back straightened as he shifted to one knee. “Brennen Elizabeth Hale, it has been an honor to watch you grow and become such an exceptional woman. I know the world is depending on you, they need you. I have watched how you’ve put aside your feelings for the sake of helping others. I’ve watched how you have overcome every single obstacle ever placed in your path. You are so strong. You amaze me each and every day. You may not know how desperately I need you, how I depend on you, because I’ve always seemed to appear strong in front of you. But look at me, I’m on my knees for you, love. You are my only weakness. You contain the other half of my soul. My heart cries out for you. Will you honor our love and fill the emptiness only your soul can, with the spiritual union of our souls today?”

  His eyes had never looked so blue, an entire ocean of love pulled me into the tidal pool. A life with him would be a dream come true for me. I imagined spending days wrapped in his arms, years of getting to know him in every way imaginable, and an eternity of being his soul mate.

  “Elijah, you’re all I’ve ever wanted.” A smile that was my undoing graced his beautiful lips. He stood on his feet and wrapped me tightly in his arms a second later. He softly kissed my lips and breathed a sigh of relief.

  My mother performed the ceremony, and by the time I emerged from the dream like trance he’d put me in, I heard the words, “spiritual husband and wife.” I glanced around and saw the entire courtyard was filled with Keepers. Then Elijah pressed a needy kiss into my lips. The crowd erupted into cheers, but their voices died out as I melted into my new husband.

  Need and want consumed us, and I couldn’t wait to share everything with this man. It occurred to me that the feelings I had inside were magnified unlike anything I’d ever felt before. We both broke away from the kiss and stared into one another’s eyes in shock. My mother laughed softly behind us. We turned to her as if she held the key to heaven in her pocket.

  “And two shall become one.”

  The inscription on the watch, I recalled. “Now your souls are bonded. What was once separated by heaven and earth, time and space, are now joined as a whole. You will feel each other’s emotions as if they are your own. Because you are true soul mates, you will share a connection, a lifeline, for all of eternity.”

  Elijah’s lips crashed down over mine hungrily once again. My mother sighed out a breath, disappointed in our lack of restraint. She must have transported us to Elijah’s home with the flick of her finger because a second later, we’re on the beach behind his oversized abode. His beautiful laugh scattered a flock of gulls as he realized where we were. ~

  Sam raises my hand to his lips and presses a kiss to my knuckles snapping me out of the all too vivid memory. I lean my head against his chest and welcome the security of his arms wrapping around me. F
or once in my life I chose someone else’s needs above my own and it feels good. I love Sam. These past eight years he’s been my rock.

  We helped each other through school. With him by my side, I didn’t even need to take weekend trips to Amorous. Sam and I created our own study hall which regularly consisted of a case of Dr. Pepper, two bags of Doritos, and his guitar. He would make up these hilarious song parodies to help him remember medical terms. Kind of like Mr. Ray in finding Nemo. “Come on, sing with me! There's porifera, coelentera, hydrozoa, scyphozoa, anthozoa, ctenophora, bryozoas, three!” Sam has always been my best friend, loving him is as easy as breathing.

  I made it through Harvard Law with his constant encouragement, that, and my obscenely thick flash card book, bound by a three inch ring. It was color coded, alphabetized, laminated and everyone wanted to steal it. It even earned the name “The Ring.” I called it “My Precious,” every midterm and final. After graduation, I gifted it to a promising young freshman who lived in Lexi and I’s old dorm room to continue the legacy. I think I heard he got stabbed for it.

  Elena comes up and stands beside us sipping on a glass of red wine. “So, just curious. Are you planning on wearing white?” she asks wearing a smirk on her pretty pink lips.

  I glare over at her and jab her in the ribs with my elbow. She doesn’t flinch, but giggles and smiles like a cat with a canary caught in her mouth.

  “So Elena… what happens to Jesson when one of you actually meets your true soul mate?” Below the belt I know, but with Elena, sometimes you have to fight a little dirty. She clenches her jaw as her lips form a thin line. Elena and Jesson married in Amorous the year I turned nineteen. They aren’t soul mates but they did it anyway, knowing they love each other enough to form that bond. Elena says that finding your soul mate is extremely rare and it can take centuries sometimes more, even in the realm of heaven and the In-Between. Her soul mate may not be born for a thousand years. And here I am, like she said, tossing mine aside to marry Sam.