His what? "No," he said aloud. "It's not like that. We're not together. We're sharing space."
Zane thought it pivotal she understand he was not romantically involved with Gia. They were both Outsiders. They lived together as more of a support network. And, hell, if she could speak in his mind, the unnamed female he desperately craved to know was probably one, too.
She was gone. He could feel the absence of her like a mist floating away from his head. How had she gotten in there in the first place? He usually had to stare at Gia for a good ten minutes before he could pass her a thought.
Why had the woman run from their communication? Was she in some kind of trouble? Burned what she touched?
He roared his frustration to the street not caring who heard. Why give him a taste and then take it away?
"You okay, buddy?"
Zane whirled around. Two men who he hadn't sensed near him stood a foot away. Given his history of trouble, he immediately sized them up. They were just as tall as he was, the one on the left standing an inch above the other. Broad shouldered and built to fight, he didn't love his chances of taking them in a brawl, which would mean he would have to pull out some of his special talents if it came to violence.
Hell, maybe he should go all Outsider on them for the fun of it. His night couldn't get much worse.
"What is it you two want?" Zane took a deep breath. "Because last time I checked, I was minding my own business on the street and not bothering you. I've got no money on me and I wouldn't suggest you decide to question my truthfulness because you won't like the outcome."
The man on the right stepped forward. "It's all right, Zane."
"What the fuck?" He'd had enough. Were these fuckers stalking him? He stepped forward, his fists clenched as he waited for the fight that had to be coming. "How do you know me?"
"I'm Gabe." The guy on the right nodded to the one on the left. "This is Colin. We've come looking for you and we're not here to fight. Although we are more than capable of a good throw down if that's what you need."
Zane adjusted his stance. Nothing the person calling himself Gabe said made him feel any less threatened. "Why are you looking for me and how did you know where to find me?"
The two exchanged a glance he couldn't decipher.
"Because we think you can hear this."
Gabe's voice resonated in his head and Zane backed up three steps. As the unknown woman had done, and Gia on a few occasions, the fucker in front of him could speak telepathically. Was this becoming a thing?
"You're Outsiders." Other than Gia, he had never met another person like him. The world seemed to shift on its axis like the wind moved differently around him and the air tasted new on his tongue. Odd thought but true.
Colin finally spoke. "Very helpful you already know the word. Saves us having to do a lot of explaining on that level." He held up his hands. "We found you because we have a seer who can touch the future with her mind sometimes. An incident occurred which made her aware of your existence. So we came looking."
The announcement of a seer might have freaked him out more if he hadn't seen Gia paint pictures of Outsider scenes without having ever been to the places she saw. He could make objects do what he wanted. Things were weird, he'd gotten used to the strangeness.
Rain pelted down on his head. "Clearly, we need to talk. Maybe inside is better."
Gabriel extended his hand. "You can come with us. Where we all are. Meet everyone. Any questions you have would be better answered there."
Zane shook his head. "Not so simple. I live with a woman. She's…like us. I can't go vanishing on Gia."
He didn't want Gia as anything more than a friend or a sister. Yet, he felt responsible for her on a very basic level.
Colin crossed his arms over his chest. "What did you call her?"
"Gia."
Another look shared between the two guys. Zane was getting a little tired of the things not being said.
"You're living with her." Colin rocked back on his feet. "What's that about?"
"She's my roommate. We share a living space. I'm not fucking her." What was with these two? If this was the best the Outsiders had to offer, he didn't want any part of it.
Gabriel cleared his throat right when whatever Colin would have said happened. Zane never heard the response, which must have been the point of the noise in the first place. "Where's the apartment?"
"You want the address?"
"If you give it to me, we'll all get out of this rain immediately."
"Do you have a car or something?"
Gabriel laughed, throwing back his head. "Oh, you have so much to learn. We don't need simple things like cars anymore."
Zane had to admit Gabriel's words intrigued him. "Yeah?"
He spit out the address before he could talk himself out of it. The spirt, angel, whatever who had sent him to Maine put him on this path. He was always supposed to join up with the group. Looked like time had finally caught up with him.
One second he stood on the street, the next he melted into nothingness only to be reformed standing in his living room. He staggered backwards, losing his footing and falling on his ass. His heart beat too fast and he tried to calm it down, which proved really difficult considering he'd teleported through the air for the very first time in his life.
"A little warning."
Gabriel extended his hand. "Sorry."
Ignoring the offering, Zane pulled himself to his feet. "You get off on that man? Scaring the uninformed with however you did what you did?"
"Little bit."
Zane shook his head. "You know you guys might want to reconsider sending the two of you out as the welcoming committee. You're not exactly filling me with the strongest need to go help you win a war."
"I can teleport so I'm a must. Colin here is looking for someone. So you got stuck with us."
With absolutely nothing to say in response, Zane ignored him and headed to the back of the apartment. He'd give Gia a minute to get herself together before she had to take on the two Outsiders in her living room.
He knocked on her door and when she didn't answer, he banged again. Colin appeared behind him. He was going to get the man a bell. How was it that Zane who missed nothing kept getting surprised by the Outsiders?
"She in there?
"This time of night she should be but she's not answering." And Zane didn't like the pinpricks of anxiety popping up all over his skin.
Colin opened the door and strolled in like he had the right to do so.
"Hey." Zane grabbed his arm and Colin shrugged him off. "The lady might prefer not to have strangers tearing into her room unannounced."
"There's no one here. Looks like there hasn't been anyone here for a very long time."
"What?" Zane pushed around him and stopped short.
Colin didn't lie. The room was empty, there wasn't even a bed in it. Gia's over the top decoration where most everything in the room was pink except for her black lingerie, which she slung all over as if she didn't care who saw what she wore was all gone. Dust coated the walls and the floor, showing no sign there was ever anything to block it.
"I don't understand." He whirled around, his heart pounding in his ears. She was his responsibility. He'd been taking care of her. "
As was the role of all Outsider men who were warriors
." He blinked. So weird when thoughts like that hit his head. But whatever, there were more pressing matters like where Gia was and what had happened to her.
"Gia." He shouted around the apartment while Gabe and Colin spoke to each other across the room. He didn't care. Zane flung open the bathroom door. No sign of her there either. His room, by contrast, remained the same, untouched, exactly as he'd left it the day before.
"I don't understand."
Gabe slapped him on the shoulder. "We'll start the supposition you're not insane and there really was a Gia here with you the last time you came home. We know Gia exists. Our seer has seen her, too."
"I might prefer to be nuts."
Colin snorted. "We've all been there, buddy."
His head pounded. "I'm not though."
"We know," Gabriel said. "Very screwed up things happen around us. The good news is we think the demon is pretty busy. I don't think he played a role in her…disappearance."
"Then what happened? Could your seer find out?"
Colin shrugged. "We never do know what Eden will and won't envision. But she can try. And I never really thought it would be this easy. Gia is apparently mine. I've never been lucky. Walking into an apartment and meeting my soul mate would never be how it went for me."
"She's not tough. She pretends to be but she could be harmed." Zane grabbed Colin's arm. "If she's yours you have to find her."
"I will." Colin nodded. "Don't mistake my staying calm for my not giving a shit. I do. In a big way. But we've all had to spend most of the last year coming to the conclusion that we're not as much in control of our lives as we'd all like to be."
Gabe snorted and for the first time since Zane had entered the empty apartment expecting to rob a safe, which turned out to be empty, he took a deep breath. The words that Colin spoke, they resonated with him. Maybe there was a point to being around these people.
"I thought I had things down. And then this old woman spoke to me. She'd been told by an angel to reach out."
Gabe's eyebrows rose. "Hold on there, Zane. We all have the 'we discovered we were Outsider' moments. Wait and share yours with the group."
The group. He'd never had one in his life. A loner by nature he hadn't really wanted to hang out with anyone until Gia.
"Everyone kind of okay to be with?"
Any assholes in the group…?
Colin shook his head. "No. But you'll get used to their crap."
* * * *
Gia pulled her jacket around her. She never felt the cold, couldn't care less about the rain. But running away in the middle of the night in her nightgown made her more exposed than she cared to be. She'd had no time to get away from her home.
Tears sprung to her eyes. Zane would be so hurt. She'd not even been able to leave him a note. Only, she had no choice. Whenever Padrik caught up with her, she had no choice but to run for her life. Hide her existence—
thank you powers
—and take off like a bat out of hell.
If she'd stayed and tried to face Padrik, Zane would have been killed. She knew it like she somehow was able to paint the past—she just did. Like breathing or her heart beating, there were things in her life Gia had long since stopped questioning.
Zane didn't belong to her. He wasn't her soul mate. Somewhere out there in the world was the woman he would give everything for and he shouldn't waste his energy on saving her from her own mistakes.
Fortunately, she had the ability to shield herself until she could figure out a better option.
If their destinies were really as entwined as they both believed, someday she'd explain to her dearest friend why she left and couldn't look back. Maybe he would forgive her.
A shudder ran through her body. Padrik was close. If she wasn't careful it would be he and not any demon to end her life.
An early mistake she'd never be able to undo, when she hadn't realized the sexual power she held over men could be turned around on her. Gia didn't have it in her to kill anyone. She wished she did.
Padrik would never let her go, he would never forget her, and his vow to chase her through eternity meant she'd never be free of him.
The best thing to ever happen to her soul mate was he hadn't met her. She'd be nothing but trouble.
Chapter Seven
Marina watched Drew sleep. He didn't rest easily, not even in the unconscious state Jason had left him in. He twitched, flung around, turned over, and muttered. For hours she watched. Finally, when she couldn't stand it anymore, she took his hand in hers. Squeezing his fingers, she knew they'd come to a crossroads.
There could be no staying still anymore, they had to move forward or everyone's futures would fall apart. Drew didn't want to deal with their past lives? Fine, he didn't have to. She'd always be available with the information if and when he wanted it. Only, she couldn't pretend she didn't know things about their relationship when she did.
With her head clearer, she could see things. Time wasn't, at least for them, linear. Some lives seemed to have been hundreds of years apart while others seemed to be almost happening at the same time.
There were some facts that remained the same time and again. He was never born with a small personality. He always wanted to do the right thing, at least as far as he saw the world. He loved her fiercely. And he was stubborn as a mule.
Whatever personal details shifted in lifetimes, and sometimes those changes were huge, certain things remained the same. And enough was enough.
His eyes opened slightly. "Marina. The demon. Get away."
"Jason cooled him. He's not here to hurt you at present." She let go of his hand and moved until she could scoot next to him on the bed.
Drew shook his head. "I'm never safe for you."
"Just sleep, darling."
The problem was he never rested and she didn't either. Not really. They both went from states of exhaustion to demon encounters, which knocked them out for days. She'd lost track of how many times she'd been hit on the head with a magical burst.
Noise in the hall caught her attention and seconds later the door cracked open. Charma poked her head in. "Gabe and Colin are back. They've brought Zane. This is all thanks to you."
"I'd say Eden's gifts played a large role. I'll meet him later." She wasn't leaving Drew, not for all the new Outsiders in the world. Charma nodded and closed the door gently
"Drew. I have an idea." She whispered in his ear before she ran her hand softly down the side of her face. "Years ago, before we met, when we were oceans apart—the farthest distance I've ever been from you—we somehow were more connected than we are together. Enough is enough."