Leo

by Rachel Medhurst

  Taurus followed behind them, biting the skin around his nails as he plonked himself down in a chair.

  “I think he’s about to pass out, but otherwise, he’s okay.”

  Amelia knelt next to Freddie, speaking to him in hushed words. I nodded my head towards the door, gesturing for the others to follow me. We all went out the room, not saying a word as we left.

  “What’s going on?” Cancer asked as soon as we were shut in the kitchen.

  Derek switched the kettle on as Taurus leant against the side. Cancer put her hands on her hips, her face full of intrigue. The door started to open, but I was the only one who noticed.

  Cancer kept talking. “When Derek said you were bringing someone here, I thought it was the girl you got pregnant.”

  My mouth dropped open. A sharp inhale sounded from the doorway. Amelia stood there, her cheeks blushing bright pink. She held up her hands and started to retreat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.”

  She was gone before I could call her back. My hands clenched into fists. Taurus stared at me, his eyes wider than I had probably ever seen them. Especially since he had been off drugs.

  “Cancer, what are you talking about?” I tried to unclench my fists, but I couldn’t.

  My throat burned as I suppressed the fire that wanted to come up. How dare she put her nose in my business?

  “I...” She cleared her throat, her hands releasing her hips to hang at her sides. “I saw you with a pregnant girl in our house.”

  “I did, too,” Derek interjected, his arm going around Cancer.

  It was good to see the pair sticking together, but her meddling was not welcomed in my life. The way she had just blurted it made me want to scream.

  “What…” as I spoke a small shot of fire came out of my mouth. It didn’t get close to anyone, but I stepped as far back into the corner as I could.

  The others moved towards the door, their hands held up. Facing away from them, I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I rarely lost my cool like that. I had never burnt my siblings with my fire.

  “It’s okay, Leo, we’ll leave you alone for a moment.” Cancer’s voice was quiet, low, trying not to provoke me.

  The door closed behind them. I clamped my mouth shut, afraid that I would set fire to the kitchen if I let my frustration out. The door clicked open again. I glared at Amelia as she came in, willing her with my eyes to leave.

  “Leo, I can help,” she said, moving towards me.

  Shaking my head roughly, I breathed through my nose quickly. Before I could stop her, she shot across the room and placed her hand on my chest. The fire immediately sucked back down my throat and fizzled out.

  Letting out a breath as my mouth opened, I almost fell forward in relief as a tiny spiral of smoke came out of my mouth. “How…?”

  I was speechless. No one had ever been able to stem my fire once it started. It had to be released out of my mouth in order for it to die down. Amelia’s touch had instantly quashed the rise of flames. My eyes closed as our gaze met, I couldn’t look at her. That look. She gazed at me the way she had Freddie. I couldn’t handle it. I didn’t deserve it.

  “Thank you for helping us, I really appreciate it.”

  Shaking my head, I removed her hand from my chest. “You shouldn’t have done that. I could’ve killed you.”

  Her laugh made me frown. It was a serious matter, why did she think it was funny? I might muck around a fair bit, but I knew when someone’s life was in danger.

  “You’ll get it in time, Leo. For now, let’s get on with the task at hand.” Spinning, she went out of the room, leaving me alone.

  So much had happened in the last forty-eight hours, I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. Megan, Amelia, Nick and Michael Keen had all demanded time and emotions from me. Once Amelia and Freddie were safe somewhere else, I would do what I do best. Immerse myself in music.

  The door opened yet again and Cancer came in, her head ducked. She came up to me without saying a word and wrapped her arms around my waist. Putting her head on my chest, she squeezed me tight.

  “I’m sorry I blurted earlier. I…I’m just so excited to be an aunt and-”

  “Cancer?”

  “I’ve been holding it in for weeks. And-”

  “Cancer, stop!” I pulled her away from me, putting my hands on her small shoulders. “I’m not the father of Megan’s baby.”

  Her mouth dropped open and closed as she watched me. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. Did she seriously think I wouldn’t tell them all if I had got someone pregnant?

  “You’re not?”

  The liquid dropped over her eyelids and onto her cheeks. Why was she so sad? Surely it would go against my mission if I got a random woman pregnant.

  “No, I’m not. Megan is my friend and she’s in a tight spot at the moment. I was helping her, that’s all.” Patting her shoulder, I went to move past Cancer.

  “Wait,” she said, taking hold of my hand. “You do know that whatever is happening, we’ll support you, don’t you? There’s no need to keep secrets.”

  I ducked my head, unable to look her in the eye. Telling them about Megan had seemed pointless. She was a friend, nothing more. We had never been involved in that way. I didn’t know everything about their lives. We at least tried to live a normal one.

  “What’s going on?” Virgo’s voice came from the hallway.

  The kitchen door stood ajar. Moving past Cancer, I looked around the doorway. Virgo stood with Derek, her small frame only coming up to his chest. And, Derek wasn’t as tall as me.

  “Why is Virgo here?” I asked Cancer.

  “I’m here because Cancer text me to come. Apparently, someone’s injured?” Virgo glared at me as I came out of the kitchen and joined them in the hall, Cancer on my tail.

  “That’s true.” I looked at Derek, my eyebrows raised.

  The bodyguard glanced at Cancer with a small smile on his face. He wouldn’t take my side. Which was a good thing, really. If he had, I might have a word to say to him. But, at the same time, it meant more people knew about my business. And, that was something I wasn’t too pleased about when it came to Amelia and Freddie. The sooner I got them out of my life, the better.

  “He’s through here,” I said, sighing to myself when Virgo looked over at Cancer and shrugged.

  They followed me, muttering between themselves. No doubt filling Virgo in on the mystery. They had no idea what was going on with the people I had brought into our world. I could never tell them, either. Not if my plan was going to work.

  “Virgo, this is Amelia,” I introduced as I came into the room.

  Amelia sat beside Freddie, staring at the picture on the wall. I looked, freezing when I saw it depicted a castle. Although it wasn’t Hever, it looked very similar. Amelia flicked her long mousey hair over her shoulder as she glanced at my sister.

  Virgo gasped, her hand going to her chest. I frowned, bringing her forward to inspect the injured man. “And, this is Freddie.”

  She didn’t need to pay any attention to Amelia, so why was she staring at her? Her lips tightened as she looked between us. She knew something. But, what? And, how?

  “Freddie was beaten badly. Don’t worry, Amelia,” I said, when she looked at me. “Virgo is a healer.”

  “A nurse,” Virgo corrected me, finally taking her gaze away and examining Freddie’s face.

  I stepped back to let her get on with it. She opened her bag, taking out supplies. Amelia got to her feet and gestured with her head towards the door. Cancer and Derek hovered nearby. Taurus wasn’t around. I hoped he hadn’t gone too far.

  “Derek, I’m sorry about…”

  He waved my apology away as he put his arm around Cancer. “No harm done.”

  I followed Amelia out of the room and back into the kitchen. The bathroom door opened as I was about to close the kitchen door. Taurus came out, quickly approaching me before I could shut him out.

  “Are you okay? What do you n
eed?” Blunt and to the point, Taurus never failed to find out the truth. Although he hadn’t asked, he picked up on something. He had his own personal experience with Nick.

  “He’s one of Nick’s…” I pointed towards the living room.

  “I guessed. And, her?”

  His strong jaw tightened. It was unusual to see him without his cap, but he looked older, more mature without it. Which made me feel better under the circumstances. I needed my siblings to keep their cool and Amelia to trust me. If she didn’t, she might try to escape. Which would give Nick the chance to grab her again.

  I couldn’t have that. She needed to stay alive for my plan to work. And, I needed her to help me to learn how to control my time travel. The only way that could happen was if she was safe from our enemy.

  “A friend.” I swallowed, catching Taurus’ gaze before looking away.

  Cracking his knuckles, Taurus lowered his voice. “You’re going to be a father?”

  Shaking my head, I laughed. The look of fright on Taurus’ face made me burst out in glee. Patting his back, I checked over my shoulder. Amelia leant against the side, her arms folded across her chest. Patiently waiting for me to finish my conversation.

  “No, I’m not. Taurus, I need you to drive us out of London soon. We’ll take them to a safe house. From there, they can go where they want. Can you arrange somewhere for them to stay? It’s got to be far away from London.”

  My brother nodded without question, again. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he started to type something into the search bar. “Can I leave you there, too, yeah? Can it be anywhere?”

  Looking at Amelia, I decided against asking her where she wanted to go. If there was any chance at all that she was trying to set us up for Nick, I didn’t want her to know where we were taking her.

  “Anywhere. Don’t even tell me. And, no, you cheeky sod, you can’t leave me there. When we go…tonight, just drive. It will be me, you and them.”

  He nodded once before wandering into the bedroom to do as I asked. Closing the door, I sat down at the tiny two seater table and hit the surface to invite Amelia to sit next to me. She hesitated before lowering herself into the metal seat.

  “What’s the plan?”

  She trusted me. That was good. I needed her to trust me if everything was going to be a success. The woman had been in my life for five minutes, but I knew she was speaking the truth. Our experience in our past life had concreted my belief that we were in fact, soulmates. However, it wasn’t that simple. Not like the others when they united.

  “I’ve asked Taurus to arrange a place for you both to stay, way out of London. Tonight, we’ll leave and he’ll drive us there. You and Freddie will give me your phones now.” I held my hand up when she went to protest. “It’s for all our protection.”

  “You don’t trust me?” Her brown eyes darkened, almost turning black. “I don’t blame you for being cautious.”

  Her sigh echoed around the small room. Taking her hand, I jumped when an electric shock jolted through me. She ripped her fingers away, her cheeks burning red.

  “I hate it when that happens.” She scowled.

  It had only ever happened once, hadn’t it? Closing my eyes briefly, I thought back to the times I had been in past lives. I hadn’t had time to connect those times with Amelia. I remembered the woman in those times, helping each other to some outcome or another. Yet, now, I could see her in the different guises of women she took. As she obviously could pick up on who I was in every different man I had been. Our souls had always remained the same.

  It was her. It had always been her. Yet, she didn’t appeal to me like that in this lifetime. It was different somehow.

  “That happens a lot, doesn’t it?”

  A small smile shot to her face before she straightened it. “You remember now?”

  Of course I remembered. It was suddenly clear to me. There was no use in trying to deny any of it. “It’s different this time, isn’t it?”

  Nothing would be the same now that I knew who my twin flame soulmate was. For years I had wondered what she would look like. I had wanted to meet her. Then, I had changed my mind. As I grew older, I got less excited about the whole concept. There was a part of me, deep down, that couldn’t be bothered with it. I wanted an easy life, have fun, fool around. Especially since I had the hassle of going back to other lifetimes to help make sure we managed to stay together then.

  “It is. Leo, I think Nick knows that. I don’t know why he wanted us to meet, but he was adamant. I’m not sure what his plan is. As we know, he always tries to keep us apart. But, this time, he wanted us to be together. Or, at least to see one another. And, it’s baffling me.”

  Taking her hand again, I ignored the jolt. “You want to be free of me. He’s trying to torment you so you grow to hate me, I’m sure of it. I don’t see his reasoning either, but that’s what I think he’s trying to do. He obviously didn’t count on Freddie coming into the picture.”

  Her thumb automatically stroked mine. The touch was familiar, yet, platonic. A strange feeling blossomed in my chest as I stared at our hands. It wasn’t lust. It wasn’t romantic.

  “I could never hate you. Dislike you, yes. Irritated by you, without a doubt. Hate you? No. My soul would never allow it. But, I am tired. This is the first time we’ve ever gone back in time like this. The universe wants us to remember more so we can achieve our mission. Leo?” Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper. “I don’t want to unite this in lifetime. I want to love Freddie. I want to have as normal a life as possible.”

  Her shoulders were slumped, her face ducked so her hair hung down to cover it. My chest squeezed at the same time her hand grasped mine tight.

  “Moron.”

  Her head snapped up as the word flew from my lips. I slapped my free hand over my mouth, hiding my grin as her eyes widened in horror.

  “Did you just call me a moron?”

  Shaking my head quickly, I sucked back my bark of laughter before it could escape my chest. It ended up with me coughing as she thrust my hand away. “No, wait. When you travel back, do you ever see the figure in the cloak?”

  She frowned as she thought. “Yes, I do. He was the one who taught me how to control it.”

  Gripping the edge of the table, I almost snapped it. He had refused to help me understand what was happening. Never once did he offer to help me with it. Always told me that I would know everything eventually.

  “Well, I call him Moron. I know, it’s not very nice, I suppose.”

  She laughed then, her shoulders relaxing. “It does sort of suit him. What’s he got to do with anything?”

  Getting to my feet, I paced the small space between the work surfaces. “He might be able to help us. With the whole not uniting thing. I have to admit, and please don’t take this personally, that…although, I feel something…it isn’t the mad love that the others have for each other. It could just be me, but…”

  “It’s not.” Her smile was tinged with sadness. “It’s both of us. We must have signed up to do it differently this time. I think you’re right about Moron helping us.”

  It felt like she knew so much more than me. As if she remembered a time when we were madly in love. I couldn’t remember it. The past trips had never been emotional for me. Was it different for her?

  “Let’s get you out of here. When you’re safe, away from Nick, you can start your life with Freddie. When the time is right…or when Moron decides to pull us back again, I’ll speak to him.”

  Rising from her seat, she put a hand on my arm. “Thank you,” she almost choked. “Just remember, I can control when I go back most of the time. I just know when I have to. Just because I don’t get pulled to the glass room anymore, doesn’t mean I get away with not doing our mission. I get a burning feeling in my chest and relax.”

  “I get that. I always thought it was my fire trying to get out…or heartburn.”

  She burst out laughing. “No, you fool, that’s our calling. When you get tha
t next, try relaxing, closing your eyes and be willing to go to wherever it’s pulling you. Don’t keep putting it off, because that’s when they drag you there unexpectedly. If you get the burning, wait until it’s a convenient time and then do as I explained.”

  Grabbing her in a quick hug, I surprised myself by holding a little too tight. If what she told me worked, I would have a much easier life. She might not want me in the way the others expected it to be for all of us, but she had already changed my life a great deal.

  “Let’s get ready to leave. It’s going to be dark soon so we can escape this city.”

  Her head buried into my chest. Running a hand over her hair, I closed my eyes for a second. Images I didn’t recognise flashed through my mind, enough to make my heart soften and tears burn my eyes.

  “I caused you so much pain.”

  She shook her head quickly, stepping away from me. “It was our lesson. We had to experience everything we went through, Leo. We’ve never been like the others. Nick rarely had to interfere with us, we are…or were…destructive to one another.”

  “Why?” The word left my mouth on a breath.

  “Because we wanted to overcome our own personal challenges. The way society taught us. The lessons for our souls. You love a challenge.”

  Sniffing back a laugh, I had to agree with her. I didn’t decide to become a singer just because I loved to sing. I decided to become famous, because I loved the idea of getting to the top. My siblings often joked that I had a big head, but it wouldn’t be big enough until everyone in the world loved me.

  “You have the ability to do what you want, Leo. And, your dream of being in a famous band…you can do it.” Her hands landed on my chest, pushing me gently. “You’ve never let anyone, including me, stop you from getting what you want.”

  Taking hold of her hands, I stilled her movement. “Okay. Thank you. And, your dream of being in a stable relationship. You can do that too. Without any guilt.”

  Her breath was shaky as tears came to her eyes. Nodding once, she squeezed my hand once more before letting go.

  “Leo?” Taurus called, opening the kitchen door. “All’s set. When do you want to make a move?”