I know that many of the times I had called Brennen late at night, she sounded like she had had a few glasses of wine. I glare at Cat, and she beams with her plausible scenario.
“You said she was upset when you left for Haiti because she couldn’t get pregnant. I bet she refrained from alcohol the entire time you were trying to conceive. Am I right?”
“Yes, Miss Know-It-All. You’re right.”
“See. So I bet she had a night where she felt very sad and alone and drank away her pain. Elijah just happens to ring the doorbell and the rest is a plus sign on a pee stick.”
“Whatever, she should have slammed the door in his face.”
Cat finally resigns her reasons and nods her head to one side in agreement. I think she picks up on my anger toward the situation.
“On another note, I heard you discovered the cure for cancer. That’s really something to be proud of.”
I nod barely able to manage a smile. My mood is probably not going anywhere for the night, or for the next year for that matter. Little does she know, Brennen’s blood was the key to the cure. I’ve tried to replicate the vaccine using people with similar high functioning immune systems, and I’ve never been able to duplicate it. Only the original formula works. Luckily, I can synthesize the exact components needed.
She reaches across the table and takes my hand. The familiar magnetic pull washes over me, and I crave to be closer to her. Heat fills my face, and I pull back my hand.
“I’m sorry, Cat. I appreciate your help, but I’d better get you back now. I can’t drag you into this mess.”
“I know Sam. There is only one thing I want you to know before we say good bye.”
She rises to her feet and walks over to the railing overlooking the ocean. I see her eyes glisten with tears yet to be spilled. I follow her, and my hand rubs her back as she gazes out over the ocean. The moon dances on the water like a silver coin, and the band begins to play something slow and sweet. The breeze blows her scent over to me, and I find my nose is suddenly inches from her hair. I take in her warm scent. My hand wraps around her waist and pulls her in close to my chest. She’s still facing away, and I feel a tear drop wet my hand.
“Don’t cry my Catarina.”
I nuzzle her hair with my cheek and hold her tighter. She turns around still in my arms and looks up at me. Her face even wet with tears, is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
“I want you to know that no matter what happens. I will always love you. I’ve never stopped loving you. I stayed away because I know you love her. Even now, you love her. One day the truth will find you… It always does. Maybe you’ll take her back. Maybe you’ll never forgive her. I just think that destiny will work itself out in the end, my love. You will get your happy ending.”
She never stopped loving me? Her words fill my very essence with comfort but more than that, she has made me feel cherished. Her eyes haven’t left mine. An intense desire shows through her bold stare. She needs me just as much as I need her. The tightness in my chest feels like a knot growing larger by the second. If I don’t kiss her right here and now, it may be my undoing.
“Cat.” Her name comes from my lips as a deep groan and her lids lower as her breathing accelerates. I lean down caressing her cheek with mine. Her soft breaths in my ear– my neck, unravel me. My arms close her in tighter and my lips find hers. I can taste her tears. I swipe them off her lips with my tongue; she should never know what tears taste like. Her hands tug on my hair as she gives into me. I deepen the kiss and a soft moan escapes her. I pull back to see the passion in her eyes – the love she holds for me and only me. In her eyes I can see it as plain as day. Her words were one hundred percent the truth Cat will only ever love me. I softly press my lips to her soft mouth once again and revel in that certainty.
I hold Cat in my arms and hug her tight to thank her for sharing her true feelings with me. At least now I know that what I had felt all those years ago can no longer be dismissed as a summer fling or a rebound. What we had was real, and it is still very much alive and well now.
I won’t be able to give Cat up so easily this time. I finally know what it’s like to be someone’s beloved everything. I am her world and she is mine.
Chapter 15 ~ Danger Waits ~
I just made it to my third trimester. They say I can relax now. The babies have made it past the danger zone. Little do the doctors know that everyday their lives will reside on the pulse of discord. The Fallen will never stop trying to end our plan. Look at that... I've adopted the idea like I had a choice in the matter. Left baby stirs under my skin propping a foot into my rib cage like he’s aiming to stay there a while. The one on the right is always so still. It makes me worry when I don't feel her move all day.
I need to come up with names for them, or they'll soon be known as Left and Right Montgomery.
Sam hasn’t so much as called since I told him the news over the phone. The public has no idea that we’ve separated. I take full responsibility in ruining our marriage. Even though I thought my lust filled dreams were just that, the fact is once I arrived in Amorous, I threw my marriage out the window. I gave into Elijah while I was one hundred percent conscious and consenting. I feel like such a failure and much worse for doing that to Sam. I wasn’t strong enough to resist him… I never have been. He is my addiction, a craving that I can never get my fill of.
Part of me wonders if Cat has surfaced in Sam’s time of need and consoled him as only a soul mate can. It’s not like him not to call, I know he’s busy. But he’s ignored every message, letter and voicemail I’ve left, but if he does call, I don’t know what I would say. I have no excuse to give him. He built me up as if I could somehow live up to the perfection he had created in his mind, and I fell a long, long way down, taking us both out in the plummet. "How could you do this to us?” Those were the last words I heard from him. I know he went on to say more, but I heard nothing after that heart wrenching question. Like a well sharpened knife, he tore a gash in my soul that’s been slow to heal, and as if on replay, it echoes around in my mind day and night… He’s right though. How could I?
Elijah appears by my side and runs his hand over my ever expanding mid-section bringing away from my tormenting thoughts. He sighs in satisfaction, and a light in his eyes sparkles as if he's the happiest man on Earth. I wish I could give his children his last name, Morgan, but the Keepers say the public would lose their trust in me if it came out that I was involved in a scandalous affair that led to me getting pregnant. The world holds my dear Sam on a pedestal five miles high. He's the man who cured the incurable. He kept the secret of his success under wraps and destroyed any evidence that the cure came from my blood.
“Does it make you sad that the babies won't know you're their dad? It makes me sad.”
“Love, nothing could bring me down from this euphoria. I'll still get to see them every day, and you for that matter. What more could I ask for?”
“Don't you want a hand in raising them though?”
He takes my hand and cups it in his own. He softly traces the lines of my palm with his finger sending a heat through my body.
“This hand is also mine. It became so when you proclaimed our vows before God. So I will raise our children through you.” He caresses my arm and kisses my hand.“These hands, these loving eyes, your soft spoken words, they will all come from me as well because we are one, love. Can you not feel my soul warming your blood?”
He brings tears to my eyes with his confession and partly because everything makes me cry these days. My veins do run hotter whenever he crosses my mind, and right now I'm set to simmer. I nod into his chest and wish I could stay in this place, this moment forever.
Journal of E.M
Brennen and our babies mean everything to me. Of course I wish I could be the one raising them, but the sacrifice I have to make, will mean life for millions. Our children have the greater destiny in the grand scheme of things. I wish I could wipe away the worry from her mind. She
sinks into me as we watch the sun go down from the privacy of her bedroom. That's when I hear them. A hundred heartbeats descend around the house in an instant. I send a call out to the In-between for help.
“Brennen, get yourself to Amorous quickly. We’re under attack.” She nods, and I make it outside just in time to see the yard covered in the black bird like beasts. They come for me in droves, back up has already started to arrive. I spot Elena and Jesson a hundred yards away. I draw my sword and let the onslaught commence. I feel a slice though my arm and feel the heated blood drip down my arm just before healing itself over. I severe the culprit's head with an easy swing of my blade.
It's a strange feeling to be holding the love of my life and thinking of our burgeoning family one minute and then to be slaughtering demons by the dozen the next. At least with her new gift, she's safe and sound and probably gabbing it up with her mother right now. She needs a little down time anyway. She's been working so hard since taking office. I know the emotional strain she's been under with Sam rebuking her has taken its toll. I hope she has a good time with her mother. She needs a day at the spa.
I hack my way through the thick of them to get back to the house. A small army of Keepers has dwindled down the herd so that only a few stragglers remain. There are a few broken windows from some of the black twits that are searching for Brennen. I see a couple of guards down by the rear entrance. My gift hones in on their lifeless bodies lacking of even a faint heartbeat. Brennen will be upset at this news. I quickly clear the house out, only finding two had made it inside.
Elena finds me as I step outside. It's over. They're all gone. Luckily the rest of the staff was out when the attack started.
“Wonder what brought that on? They haven't attacked like that since she turned eighteen,” she mentions as she stares out over the now pristine lawn.
“Well, the only monumental thing at this point is the babies are now viable outside the womb. We need extra Keepers around when she returns.”
“Agreed, why don't you go on ahead, and I'll wait for the clean-up crew.” She nods her head toward the two victims. Their blood is spilled over the white washed porch indelibly painting a horrific tragedy in my mind.
“Right, I'll be the one to clue Brennen in on the fact that two more innocents have lost their lives for our cause.” She lowers her lids knowing I'm in for a long conversation. I disappear to Amorous to find Brennen.
I step off the platform and head straight to Emmagen's office with a heavy heart. I hope she takes the news gently. She doesn't need any more stress brought on her being eight months pregnant. A few of my comrades slap me on the shoulder for the tiny battle that we just won. I smile but stay my course knowing if I stop to chat, I could be a while.
I enter without knocking and don’t see Brennen.“Did Brennen go to the cabin to rest?”
Emmagen is seated behind her desk. A look of unease writes itself across her face like a poem, as a small crease forms between her brows, and she takes one look at my confused expression and alarm floods her body. She bolts from her chair and frantically searches the oracle as if her hands were conducting a high speed sign language discussion.“Emmagen, where's Brennen?”
“She never came through Elijah. How long has she been out of your sight?”
“Long enough for her to get very hurt. Oh dear God, please protect her and the babies.”
“I can't find her anywhere. They must have her,” her voice comes out cracked and broken as she frantically searches for her only daughter.
“Call everyone. I want every Keeper on Amorous looking for her now!”
Emmagen and I both close our eyes and send an emergency signal out to every Keeper here and on Earth to find Brennen. They must search every demon hide out and holding bin they can remember hearing about.
If anything happens to her or the babies, I'll die. I'm such an idiot. I should have waited until she was gone and safe. They must have used the attack as a distraction, hoping for me to slip up, and I played right into the devil's hands. She's so fragile right now. She couldn't fight back even if she wanted to. The twins have taken a tremendous toll on her body leaving her weaker than ever.
Chapter 16 ~ Saved ~
Brennen
I recognize the dim glow of the lanterns on the wall, the musty smell, the damp air. I'm in one of hell's holding bins. It may be the same one I was nearly starved and beaten to death in fifteen years ago. They weren't gentle about getting me here this time either. Two men came into my bedroom, appearing only a second after Elijah left. One held a chloroform soaked rag over my mouth while the other man held me down. I fought like a raving lunatic even if only for a second before the drug overtook me, and I passed out.
I examine the steel shackle cuffed around my ankle. It's old, rusted over, and cutting into my skin. Why do I always end up in these types of situations? My hands glide over my round belly like a habit, like I'm trying to calm their beating hearts, to end their worries with just a stroke of my hand. Only they have no idea of the danger we're facing right now. They could have killed me, but they didn't. The old deal on the table used to be my soul. Only now, there's three for the price of one. My heart pounds out in fear. Left baby squirms as he hears the fear buzzing through my veins like the drone of current through a power line. Little girl is still, calm, and cool even under pressure.
The lock on the door slides roughly on its bolt sending my heart into my chest like a hammer. I almost expect to see Malphas and his expensive shoes come strolling through the door, but it's someone else. You cut the head off of one snake, and another rises in its place. Of course he would be replaced. There's a need to be filled. I wonder what the job interview was like for the president of hell position.“So tell me how can you bring more pain and destruction to our company?”
The man cuts me a look that says he finds having a very pregnant shackled woman under his thumb is the highlight of his day. My motherly instincts have me ready to fight to the death for my babies.
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance Mrs. Montgomery, or do you prefer Morgan, when you're with the other side?” He's tall, at least six four, dirty blond hair clipped neatly like he paid a lot of money for the cut. He looks a lot like the morning weather person on the national program. Oh my God, it is him. Hank Malloy on The Morning Grind. What the hell?
“What do you want with me?”
He flashes me that brilliant megawatt smile that's made him famous across the county and walks a circle around me.“Oh don't worry. This has nothing to do with you. You'll be walking out of here in about twelve hours.”
He stands over me as he touches my forehead lightly and retracts his hand with a small smile. A searing pain rips through my abdomen, and I scream out in agony.
“Alone I might add.”
My stomach goes ridged as the wave of pain wrenches me in its unyielding grip.“No, no!” I cry out as he leaves me alone and bolts the door back behind him. I'm shackled to the cold stone floor, and he's sent me into labor. He's going to take the babies. Tears stream down my face, and I sob until the next wave even worse than the last rips through me.“No, please stop,” I try and talk to my belly.“You have to stop.” I call out for Elijah over and over again.
There is nothing in this empty room to ease my suffering, not a blanket or pillow. There is no doctor standing by ready to instruct me, or check on the babies. Things go wrong in labor all the time. Babies die. Mothers die. I am so afraid. The dimly lit lanterns on the stone columns flicker out a barely visible light. It’s very dark in the room, and I can’t make out much beyond where I am chained. It smells like death and layers old blood. For all I know, this is hell’s birthing ward.
Suddenly, a gush of water soaks the ground. Oh God, no!I'm so scared, and it hurts so much. I need a doctor. What if something goes wrong? They could die. This can't be happening. There is only a small break between contractions. I had a vision of what my delivery day would be like… of me lying comfortably in a hospital bed with a beau
tiful epidural numbing the pain from the waist down. Elijah would be stroking my hand telling me how well I'm doing and making me laugh in between contractions. Elephants birthing at the zoo get more accommodations than this. Not that I want anything from them. I just want out of this place. I don't want my babies to be born on a dungeon floor.
Another wave of pain feels like I'm being sawed in half from the inside.“Elijah,” I pant out.“Please,” My voice is barely a whimper. It took them weeks to find me before. I don't have weeks. I only have hours, and at the rate the contractions are coming, I'm not even sure I have that.
This is where they could get my soul should they ask for it now. I'd gladly hand it over on a platter if they'd let my children go. Now I understand the depths a parent would go to protect their babies.
Journal of EM
I've searched nearly five hours with no luck, and no one else has come up with anything either. Jesson has been invaluable at finding the hidden hide outs of the demons, and the Keepers have slaughtered thousands in their search. But he says it's been years since he's been one of the fallen, and they are constantly finding new places to lay their heads at night. The last place I looked was abandoned, so I know he's right. Each second that passes has me wrought with fear. I hate to think she's in pain crying out for me right now and finding no savior. I can't stand to even think about what they would do if they got their hands on my babies.
“There's an old abandoned car dealership on Broadway. Rumor has it, there's a door hidden somewhere inside that may lead to one of the holding bins.” Jesson sends me to my next location. I have twenty Keepers meet me there in minutes, and we storm the place. We upturn every chair and desk in the place until I find a small trap door under a large Chevrolet rug. I rip the door off its hinges and sending it flying. There are many fallen ones scattering upon our arrival. My ears listen for closely for the familiar cadence of Brennen's heartbeat. I feel desperate when I can't find it, defeated again. My wings spring from my shoulders, and I take a low flight through the cavernous room and snatch up one of the men. The fallen are strong, just as strong as we are. He puts up a fight, but I have something he doesn't, I'm fighting for the love of my family. I over power him and rest my blade across his neck. With my free hand, I hold out a lead spirit trap.
My Soul Laid Bare: Book 4 (The Soul Keeper Series) Page 19
