by A. P. Jensen
Chapter Seven
Kelly gave Jordan two hours before she entered the pool room. When Kelly saw Jordan lying on the tiles, she flew to Jordan’s side, startling her awake.
“I shouldn’t have given you so much time! Are you hurt?” Kelly demanded, turning Jordan on her back.
Jordan blinked up at her. “I’m fine.”
Kelly’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t lie to me, Jordan. Donovan broke your soul tie with William. I know only one other person that’s survived that horror.”
Kelly muttered to herself as she propped Jordan up against the bench. Kelly’s eyes touched on the sweat pants stained with blood on the knee and the puncture would on her arm. She raised the pants leg and clucked her tongue. Kelly took a deep breath and placed her hands on the seeping wound. Jordan tried to jerk away, but Kelly held her firmly. Between one breath and the next, the wound was gone. The pain in her knee vanished and Jordan blinked in surprise. Kelly crouched in front of Jordan and put her hands on the wound in her forearm. Like spreading aloe over sunburn, Kelly’s power healed what she could of wounds Jordan carried like a soldier returning home from war.
Jordan sat motionless as Kelly took away aches she hadn’t even known she had. The tiniest cut, the smallest bruise, Kelly didn’t stop until there wasn’t one blemish left on Jordan’s body.
“You didn’t have to do that. I hardly noticed,” Jordan said quietly.
“You’re welcome. How do you feel now?”
Jordan took inventory of her battered body. “Better. Still tired, though.”
“That’s to be expected. Your body’s still in shock. Creating a soul tie can put a Grounder in the hospital for months. For Donovan to sever the soul tie within days of it being made…” Kelly ran a shaky hand over her face and gave Jordan a weak smile. “Let’s just say either Donovan is good or you’re just as powerful.”
“Is that what I am, a Grounder?” Jordan said tonelessly.
Kelly reached out to stroke Jordan’s hair from her forehead and chose not to comment when Jordan jerked away. “It’s too soon to tell.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
“You’re here because this is where you belong.”
“Everywhere I go, death follows me.”
“William killed those people, not you,” Kelly said firmly.
“I don’t know how to deal with my, uh, the-”
“Power?”
“Yeah.”
“We’ll deal with it when your power returns. Your power won’t show up until you’ve recovered. I’ll teach you when the time comes.”
“What can you do?”
A small smile played around Kelly’s mouth. “A couple things. Are you hungry?”
Jordan nodded and tried to stand, but her legs were shaking so badly, she would have toppled over if Kelly hadn’t been there to help. Kelly wrapped an arm around Jordan’s waist to steady her as they made their way slowly around the pool and pushed through the glass doors. Sunlight spotlighted the women as they made their way slowly through the glass tunnel. Jordan was too weary to ask why there was a glass tunnel that connected the pool room to the house. When they walked into the foyer, Jordan was breathing hard and her body began to quake. When they walked beneath the stairs to the dining room, Jordan came to an abrupt stop. The back doors were thrown on the wraparound porch, splintered beyond repair. Beside the injured doors was the grand chandelier melted into a misshapen ball. Jordan retained a dim memory that had her stomach pitching.
“Sorry,” Jordan wheezed.
Kelly shrugged as if the expensive doors and chandelier weren’t a problem. “You just got a little carried away. No harm done.”
When Jordan didn’t move, Kelly pulled her to the kitchen where Heath sat at the island on a bar stool. He didn’t comment on Jordan’s nearly handicapped state. He was dressed much as he’d been the day before in work boots, flannel shirt and sunglasses propped on his head.
“You look like crap,” Heath observed.
Jordan scowled.
“Hungry?” Heath asked.
“Don’t eat anything he gives you,” Kelly warned in a loud whisper.
Heath shrugged. “I try.”
Kelly maneuvered Jordan into one of the comfortable high backed chairs surrounding the massive island. Kelly reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a huge steaming plate piled high with waffles, sausages and eggs. She set the plate in front of Jordan who rested her finger against the plate and yanked it back quickly with a surprised hiss.
“Careful now, it’s hot,” Kelly said and turned back to the fridge.
Kelly and Heath talked easily, as if Jordan’s presence wasn’t out of the ordinary. Jordan couldn’t believe her eyes when Kelly pulled out two steaming cups of coffee, an orange juice and a bowl of hot oatmeal from the fridge. Comfortable chatter filled the kitchen. Jordan hadn’t been served breakfast before in her life and couldn’t recall a time when she sat at a table with others to eat and talk. She didn’t quite know what to make of her position in this household or the people in it.
Heath and Kelly didn’t try to include her in their conversation, they seemed to understand she didn’t feel like making small talk. From the corner of her eye, she glanced at them. They didn’t look like magical people. Since she’d been in their presence, except for Kelly healing her and pulling hot meals out of a refrigerator, no one had done anything out of the ordinary.
Jordan cut a piece of waffle and put it in her mouth. How long had it been since she’d had a real meal? In Haven, they gave meals in packets with no flavor. Jordan felt the trembling of her body dwindle down as she put something in her stomach. She found her eyes being continually drawn to the view of the trees and pasture outside. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there staring until Kelly stepped up beside her.
“You’re falling asleep. Let’s get you up to bed.”
“I’m fine,” Jordan slurred and nearly toppled off the stool.
Heath let out a long suffering sigh and scooped her up. Jordan tried to punch him in the face and he juggled her, so her punch flew wide.
“Just hold still,” he said impatiently as he climbed the stairs and walked into her bedroom. “What you went through is equivalent to a heart surgery, so take it easy.”
Jordan was so tired, she couldn’t move. She stared up at the ceiling, splayed on the bed like a lifeless fish. She heard Heath talk to Kelly on his way out and then Kelly leaned over her, clucking her tongue and brushing Jordan’s hair back. She wasn’t sure why the simple gesture made her want to cry, so she jerked away on principle, but Kelly didn’t care.
“While you were in the pool room with Donovan, I got a delivery,” Kelly said brightly.
Lined up in front of the open closet doors was a mountain of boxes and packages. Kelly began to pull clothes out of bags, exclaiming and showing them to Jordan before rushing into the closet to hang them up.
“I don’t get it,” Jordan murmured, watching her through heavy eyes.
“What?” Kelly asked distractedly as she held up a sweater.
“What are you doing?”
“You need clothes. They’re all in your size. I sent word to a friend last night that I needed a whole new wardrobe, all in the latest fashion, of course. Here, put this on.” Kelly held out a soft shirt and pair of robin blue sweat pants. “The clothes you have on are bloody.”
Jordan didn’t reach out to take it. “I can’t-”
A spark of anger lit Kelly’s eyes. “I told you, whatever you need, consider it done. I may not be your birth mother, but I intend to provide what I can.”
Jordan was confused by the note of hurt in Kelly’s voice. She was used to people turning a blind eye to her needs. Generosity was alien to her. Why did Kelly want to help? Jordan didn’t understand, but she wouldn’t bite the hand outstretched towards her. Jordan forced herself up and took the clothes.
“Thank you,” she said and Kelly smiled.
“You’re welcome. Now, go and
put it on.”
Three hours later, the closet was filled with countless pairs of jeans, shirts, camisoles, sweaters, pajamas, underwear, slippers, boots and athletic shoes. Jordan was speechless as the pile of clothes grew. Jordan never owned more than five changes of clothes and they’d never been new. The clothes Kelly pulled out of the bags were expensive and of good quality. The clothes fit perfectly. Wearing the correct size for the first time in her life felt odd.
“Um, what does Mr. Parker do exactly?” Jordan asked as Kelly cut the tags off of a polka dot nightgown.
“He’s a businessman,” she said breezily.
“Businessman?”
“Mostly, he’s into the family business.”
“Which is?”
“Consulting. Isn’t this adorable? Maybe I should get one myself.” Kelly slid her a sidelong glance and shook out a black parka with a fur lined hood. “Donovan’s a powerful man. I’m sure you can feel it. It’s never wise to get on the bad side of someone with a lot of power.”
Jordan didn’t reply. She knew all too well. “What will people say when they find out I’m staying here?”
“You’re not ’staying’ here, Jordan, you live here. Most people will be shocked, but that’s to be expected.”
“Why?”
Kelly sighed. “Donovan’s lived under a lot of pressure from his family to have a child and he’s fought it. He’s publicly said that he doesn’t want children and now, here you are. It’s a shocker.”
“What does he have against kids?”
“Personally, I think he’s scared you’ll be just like him.”
Kelly chuckled and Jordan attempted to give her a smile in return, but the feeling wasn’t natural and she didn’t believe Kelly for a moment.
“I’m really happy you’re here. I think having a daughter is good for Donovan,” she said and rose with a bunch of nail polish in her hands and headed towards the bathroom.
“I can feel things changing around here and it’s about time. Donovan needs someone to teach him…” Kelly trailed off and there was a long silence.
Jordan remembered the blanket in the bathtub. Kelly exited the bathroom, gaze on Jordan who tensed. Instead of condemnation, Kelly looked at her with genuine concern.
“You didn’t sleep well, did you?”
Jordan shrugged uncomfortably. “I’m not a good sleeper.”
“Is the bed too soft? Too hard? You should have told me. We can get a new one today.”
Horrified, Jordan shook her head. “No, it’s not the bed. I’m just not used to it.”
“Are you sure? I could-”
“It’s not the bed, it’s me.”
Kelly’s face softened. “I don’t know what you’re going through, but if you want to talk, I’m a good listener. All you have to do is ask.” She leaned forward and ignored how Jordan stiffened when she kissed her on the brow.
