Taurus: Book 3 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series) (15 page)

‘It’s good to see you,’ I said, wiping my eyes and sitting up.

My head thumped. The weird sensation had gone. My skin itched. I scratched at it as I watched her. She put her head to the side and smiled at me.

‘I hope you don’t go back on your promise,’ she said.

My eyebrows lowered as she ran a hand through her hair. How did she know about my promise? She was dead. I was dreaming about her.

‘Are you my soulmate?’ I hadn’t even thought of the question before it came out of my mouth.

She sighed as she climbed off the bed. Her body was whole, with no blood on her top. Her eyes were alive, not vacant. It was good to see her looking well. Even if it was only in my dream.

‘One of them, but not your twin flame.’

‘Don’t start all that. Hang on, how do you know about that?’ I shuffled off the bed and stood.

Sophie held out her hand. The skin on her arm was riddled with bruises and pin marks.

‘If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll end up like this.’

I shuddered as she ran a hand down her arm and the bruises disappeared.

‘I know everything, Taurus. Don’t let life ruin you. You’re the only one that can change it.’

She stood and put a hand on my chest. I looked down into her eyes. They were so alive, I had to swallow. I covered her hand with mine, squeezing gently.

‘Are you going to stop doubting?’

Her image started to fade. I held onto her, not wanting her to go.

‘I doubt it…’

She giggled, which made me smile. The sound was carefree and not serious. Unlike the atmosphere.

‘Just live, Taurus. Stop being so afraid of living.’

She vanished. My hand connected with my chest. I gasped in a breath.

An arm tightened around me as I opened my eyes. Kerry looked concerned. Her forehead was creased as she searched my eyes.

‘Are you okay yet?’

I was back. Properly back. My stomach wanted to empty again, but I couldn’t move. I smiled slightly and her forehead smoothed out. I wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her to me, burying her head under my chin.

‘Thank you,’ I whispered before finally falling into a normal sleep.

Chapter Eighteen

‘You can go now.’ My teeth chattered, but not from being cold.

She chuckled as she tucked my cover around me. I bit the sides of my cheek to stop from snapping at her.

‘I don’t want to go. Besides, if I go, who will keep you sane?’

I groaned as the shuddering took over my body. Kerry was not keeping me sane, she was driving me insane. Just one small drink of vodka would help, but I didn’t say it. I wouldn’t show her that I was itching to drink a whole bottle of vodka and roll ten joints.

It had been three days since my last vision. I finally admitted to myself that what my parents had told me was true. I didn’t think too much on the how or why of it all. I just accepted that I was there for a reason.

I turned onto my side as Kerry climbed onto Gemini’s bed. He’d slept at a new woman’s house every day. Especially since I’d been in recovery.

‘Tell me about your childhood,’ I said.

Her gaze darted away from mine. Her throat moved as she swallowed. She fiddled with the mug of tea in her hand.

‘My stepfather was in the army when he was young. He saw some terrible things. He did some awful things, too.’

I nodded for her to go on when she glanced at me.

‘He suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I loved him dearly. He took me in when I was young and adored my mum. After a few years, he started to lose it. He would lash out with his fists when he had one of his episodes.’ Her breath caught as she paused. ‘One night, he got up when everyone was sleeping. He started screaming for us to get out as there was a raid. We jumped up, not knowing what was going on.’

Kerry squeezed the cover in one hand as she stared at the mug.

‘He got out his gun and started to shoot. He was in the hallway of our house. My mum tried to get past him to get to us, but he thought she was a solider. He shot her dead just as I came out of my room.’

Tears hovered on the edge of her eyelids. She shook so badly, she had to put the mug down.

‘Come here,’ I said, reaching a hand out of my cover.

She tried to shake her head as the tears escaped down her cheeks.

‘Come here!’

She moved off the bed and came to me. I scooted back and held up my cover. She hiccupped as she hesitated, so I took hold of her arm and pulled her to the bed. Crawling in, she let me cradle her against me.

‘He carried on shooting, even when I ran towards my mum. He hit me in the shoulder,’ she cried.

Her face pressed into my chest as I wrapped both arms around her. My T-shirt was soaked with her tears as she let her grief flow out of her. I had never experienced anything so heart breaking. How could I feel so bad about my life when people out there had been through the sort of thing that Kerry had? She was strong. I admired her.

‘Do you have a scar?’

She nodded. Her hair tickled my chin. My body no longer shook as my attention was distracted. She pulled back from me and reached up to push her top off her shoulder. A scar from the bullet wound sat on the crease of her arm. She had been lucky it missed her vital organs.

‘It wasn’t the pain I felt from the wound. It was seeing my mum die right in front of me.’

I stroked the top of her head as her face crumpled. An image of Sophie’s vacant eyes came into my mind. I had to blink rapidly to stop tears entering my own eyes. The vision I’d had of Sophie had been so real. I knew she was okay now.

‘I know how that feels,’ I whispered, putting my forehead against hers.

Her eyes opened. Her gaze locked onto mine. The sobbing came from her throat, but she stared at me. I closed my eyes. It was too intense for me. My hand travelled up her arm. I caressed her bullet wound before moving my hand to her neck. My fingers buried into her hair as my thumb stroked her wet cheek.

‘Taurus?’ She whispered my name. A finger wiped away the only tear that left my eye and landed on my cheek.

Hearing her say my name made me move. I leant forward and pressed my lips against hers.

She gasped, but her hand came to the back of my head. A moment of hesitancy followed as Sophie popped into my mind, but her smiling face was pushed away by the face of another woman. Many women with the same eyes rushed through my mind.

When Kerry’s lips parted, I opened my eyes at the same time as sliding my tongue into her mouth. She was watching me with those eyes. A pulse of heat thundered through me. I pulled her flush against me and moaned as the kiss deepened. Her own groan matched mine and a feeling I had never felt before shot through my body.

‘Wait!’ She gasped, pulling her mouth from mine.

My breath was heavy. My chest rose and fell as I tried to even it out. She shook her head as she searched my gaze.

‘What was that?’

‘I’m sorry,’ I muttered, not letting her go.

She smiled gently. ‘No, I mean—’

‘Taurus!’

Someone banged on the door. We sprung apart. Kerry jumped out of the bed and clambered to her feet. She flung the door open as I tucked the cover back over myself.

Aries stood in the doorway. His face was red and his hands were clenched at his side. ‘I think you’ve failed to tell us something.’

My head was spinning from the use of drugs, lust and now Aries’ forceful power.

‘He will tell you when he feels better,’ Kerry said, going to close the door.

Aries slapped his hand on the wood, preventing her from shutting him out. He looked at me. His eyes zoned in on my gaze and held it. He shook his head once and turned away. The door closed behind him. He was disappointed. I could see it in his face. I had gone behind their backs, but how much did he know?

‘Everything’s messed up,’ I said as Kerry wiped her face and sat on the bed opposite me.

Her cheeks glowed when I smiled at her. The kiss had blown me away. It had never been like that with Sophie.

‘I feel like I’ve taken advantage,’ Kerry whispered.

She flicked her hair over her shoulder as it fell forward. Her eyes were lowered, avoiding contact with mine. I didn’t blame her.

‘No. It was me that took advantage.’

My head started to pound. It was a common symptom I had been having for the last three days. Detoxing was not fun. I closed my eyes briefly. When I opened them again, Kerry had moved to crouch beside the bed.

‘You did not take advantage of me. You’re the one that only lost his girlfriend a couple of weeks ago.’

I laughed. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I held my stomach as she knelt there, watching me.

‘I’m sorry.’ I reached out and took her hand in mine.

Her frowned lifted when I kissed the crease on her palm. ‘Sophie is…would have been…fine with this.’

I let her go. She shook her head as she absently rubbed the spot my lips had just touched.

‘You should go now. I promise I’m not going anywhere. Send Cancer if you’re that worried.’

I needed to be alone. My dreams had been hectic. Even more so since coming off drugs and alcohol. I had to get my head clear and process all that I had learnt about Nick.

‘Okay. I’ll go,’ Kerry said.

She ran a hand over the bristles of hair on my head. My eyes closed at the blissful feeling. Her touch soothed my pounding headache.

‘Thank you. For everything,’ I whispered, capturing her hand as she went to pull away.

When I opened my eyes she was smiling down at me with a dreamy look in her eyes. Her blonde hair was hanging forward, brushing against her shoulders. The image of her was a confirmation of my vision.

‘I like your bracelet,’ she said, glancing at my wrist.

If I needed any more proof, her timing couldn’t have been better.

‘This old thing? I’d rip it off if I could,’ I stated.

She laughed as she squeezed my hand and left me to my shivers.

The events of my dreams were a jumble in my mind. If I had deduced the information correctly, Nick had been an ordinary human until he had been fooled by a man and heartbroken by the woman. He decided that love was awful and he was the avenger for everyone. He had killed people to prevent them being in relationships with the people they loved. He met a crazy old man that helped him confirm that what he did was okay. He was told about evil. His psychotic brain picked up on the excuse and when he met us, he had declared war.

My siblings and I were warriors of love. We constantly came back to earth to fall in love. By doing that, we showed others that true love existed. It seemed like a very basic plan to me. Most humans came to earth, fell in love and then died. What made us any different?

‘Taurus?’

Cancer knocked on the door. When I didn’t reply, she came in and sat on the end of my bed. My head was still hurting, but I wasn’t going to moan.

‘Kerry looked rather flushed when she left.’ Cancer winked at me.

I rolled my eyes as I pushed myself up into a sit. I cradled my head and leant against the wall.

‘Still suffering?’

She had popped in over the last few days to check on my progress. It seemed like the worst was over. I was still shaking and struggling to sleep. The headaches lingered, but I could now talk to other people, which was positive.

‘What does Aries know?’ I asked.

My old bong sat on the shelf above my head. I stuck out my bottom lip when I realised that I would never use it again. The feeling of nostalgia didn’t last long. In fact, it made me lighter, even as I mourned. It wasn’t worth it. I couldn’t see past the next few days yet, but my life would be better for not being an addict.

‘He knows that Matt spoke to you. Someone saw you both outside before everything happened. I don’t know who grassed you up.’

Cancer picked at the blue varnish on her nails. The flecks bounced off her and onto my cover.

‘I’m going to tell him everything.’

Her gaze shot to me. Her eyes widened when she saw I was serious.

‘I’m done with lying. There’s more that even you don’t know. I know how to defeat Nick to end this war once and for all.’

She swallowed but nodded. If Nick no longer existed, we could be free to love whoever we wanted. Nick’s men had believed that Sophie was my twin flame. I wasn’t so sure. Not that I liked the label or the importance placed on such a relationship. Shouldn’t all relationships be as important? Why did humans insist on making everything so complicated?

‘I think Matt is my twin flame. I don’t know what to do. Do I wait to see if he’s definitely left his wife for me?’

Cancer shrunk when our gaze met. She seriously believed the man who had put her in danger was her twin flame?

‘I think sometimes the term Twin Flame can be an excuse to hang on to someone that you can’t have.’

Her chin started to wobble, which made me regret my words. She was a sensitive soul. There was obviously something about Matt that made her think she was in love with him.

‘I’ve noticed that a lot. Married people believe the other person is their twin flame. The person outside the marriage is just as…’

Her words trailed off. She was that person.

‘Deluded?’

‘Taurus!’ She threw a pillow at my head.

I caught it and hit her with it. She giggled as she shook her head. ‘You’ll never change.’

‘You know I’m right.’ I reached over to my bedside cabinet and gulped down two painkillers. My headache was getting worse with the sentimental heart to heart.

‘What do you mean?’

She wrung her hands together. She was obviously trying to understand what was going on with her own journey. I didn’t know how to answer.

‘I think sometimes…we are so damaged, we settle for what sounds okay. We make an excuse to allow whatever happens to be acceptable for a reason.’

She let her breath rush out as she pushed herself off the bed.

‘Yeah. I’ll admit to you, for a while, I thought that it didn’t matter that he was married. That his wife had something to teach him before he came to me. When their relationship had run its course, he would leave her for me. The problem with that…’ her sentence trailed off.

‘Go on.’ I was genuinely interested in the way her mission – I hated that word – was playing out.

She tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘I didn’t want to stop seeing him, even when he was with her.’

I didn’t know what to say. To me it just sounded like an excuse to have an affair. For both Matt and Cancer. She made it okay by believing he was her twin flame. In my book, it wasn’t okay.

‘I didn’t see him, though, as you know. It was only ever in thought because I couldn’t contact him. But since he gave me his number, I’ve been so tempted to—’

‘Stop!’

She snapped her mouth shut and nodded. Her eyes teared up again.

‘You know the answer in your heart. Why are you analysing it?’

She stood with her hands in her pockets, tears dropping from her eyes. Her skin was pale as she looked down at her painted toenails.

‘I think he’s my catalyst.’ She sucked in a breath as she pulled out a hand to swipe at her cheeks.