My Soul Laid Bare: Book 4 (The Soul Keeper Series) (9 page)

Mia and Maci spot us as they get off the ride. Their hair is windblown and wild. It makes me and Cat laugh as they walk over to us.

“What are you wearing? Oh my gosh! Let's get out of here before someone sees me with you dressed like that!” Mia's words bursts out sounding genuinely concerned that the fashion police exist and are on their way.

“
So did you kiss her yet?” Maci chimes as she approaches. I cringe not knowing where this girl gets her manners from.

“
If I did, do you think it would be very gentlemanly of me to tell you?”

“
Geesh! You sound like Dad.”

I take Cat's hand and that buzz surges between us like the low hum of a bug zapper waiting for any form of life to pass through the barrier. The charge is building, and it feels like my blood is set to effervescent. I rub small circles over her shoulder as we drive just to have an excuse to touch her.

The girls fall asleep on the way home, and I stop by the house to drop them off before I take Cat home. Mia secretly likes to be carried inside and acts like she's dead to the world when the truck reaches the house. Maci groggily treads up the stairs and to her room. I hike the ninety pound girl over my shoulders as if she were a bale of hay and carry her up to her room and ease her onto the bed. “Night sis.” She kicks off her flip flops, and I cover her with the blanket. She used to always try and sneak in my bed when she was three and four. I always wondered why it was me and not Maci. I miss these shared moments of little joys we had together.

I pop in my room for a moment and grab a few foil packages just in case. Not that I expect anything will happen tonight, but I'd rather be prepared if it does begin to sway that way.

Cat's jamming out to classic rock in the truck, and I laugh when I open the door getting blown away at the noise level.

“
This song is one of my all-time favorites. My dad used to play the CD over and over in car,” she admits. I get a kick over the way she says car. She has a passionate soul about life, horses, and I'm dying to know everything else she's fired up over.

I take the long way around to her house trying like hell to prolong our date, but is seems like we still arrive at her home too soon. I help her out of my raised truck and hold her hand all the way to the door.
“I had a really good time with you tonight,” I say pulling her in by the belt loops so that her waist is just inches from mine.   I catch a sigh leaving her lips, and I don't think she wants tonight to end either.

“
Me too. I hope we can go out again soon.” Her hands slip inside my shirt telling me she's definitely not ready for me to leave yet. She runs her nails up my back, and I melt into her. I kiss her neck and hover over her ear. She lets out a soft sound that sends waves of sensation to my lower extremities. “It's so hot out here. I think it’s time for a swim,” she says sounding breathless. She pours a kiss over me that starts off slow and then deepens into something involving hands exploring like they were lost bloodhounds trying to sniff their way home. She feels the square packages in my thin shorts, and I cringe hoping she doesn't get the wrong idea. She fishes them out and displays them like a deck of cards in her hand.

“
Sorry, I ...”

“
Don't apologize Sam. I'm just glad you finally know what you want.”

“
I want you Cat.” My admission comes out sounding as sincere as I meant it to. Slowly I see it hit home in her eyes.

I hear kick off her shoes and unzip her dress. She tugs my lower lip with her teeth teasing me to join her in stripping down out here right under the unnatural glow of the yellow porch light.  The lake is right behind her house. As soon as she's naked, she runs to the small dock, and I hurry to catch up. Just as I round the corner I catch a glimpse of her beautiful bare flesh being swallowed by the navy lake.  She emerges from the water with her hair slicked backed, and water dripping from her nose. I run down the small hill in my shorts kicking them off just before I jump in after her just as naked as she is. It feels wrong, yet it feels so right. She moves over to me, and we collide in a wave of heated kisses. Her small hands move over my bare buttocks and shock
s me. It's strange being so intimate with someone who isn't Brennen.

The summer night is clear, and out here in the middle of sixty acres, every star is visible. I glide through the water on my back as she uses me as a floatation device. It's so quiet
it out here. The only sound is the gentle lap of the water moving through my hands and the cicada humming in the trees. A falling star shoots across the sky, and Cat points at it in awe.

“
Come on inside and we can rinse this lake water off ourselves.” she suggests. I’ve never showered with a woman before, and after this, I may not ever want to shower alone again. Cat scrubs my chest with her body wash and fingernails. She makes sure every inch of me is as clean as a whistle. I get the idea and repeat the process on her. The whole while all of this touching has made the sensation between us enter a new high. I know she feels it too. She towels off my body as I wrap another towel around her back pulling her in with it. We move to her bed. I grab the packages along the way.

Cat is so beautiful lying under me. Her eyes tell me she wants this, she wants me in every way I’ll give her. I run my hands over her body letting my fingers gently bite at her flesh. I ease over her lips basking in their softness. It’s as though they were made for me.
We drown in each other, and I never want to come up for air. All I want is this girl… this moment… to last forever

Later that night, she lies over me and traces my collarbone with her tongue. I let out a low groan. Making love to Cat was perfect. It was magical, like nothing I ever expected. I’m falling for this girl - hard. We’re plummeting through the clouds like a speeding train dropped from the heavens. I kiss her tenderly as I run my hands along her back. She’s still astride me, and it’s a memory I want to burn into my brain so I can relive the beauty that she emanates every waking moment even when we’re apart.

“Are you sure that was your first time?”

“
Yeah. Why?” I half laugh out.

“
Because that was amazing.” She smiles that dazzling sleepy eyed smile and melts my heart while boosting my ego simultaneously. Yes Cat Emerson is just the girl I need at just the right time in my life.

“
You are amazing. You make me feel things I never knew existed,” I cringe at how amateurish my words just sounded. 

She laughs and gyrates her hips over my most intimate parts.
“News flash, this has existed for a very long time.”

A smile blooms on my face that is not going to leave for a very long time.
“Not just that, I mean when I touch you, it’s like were magnetized. Do you feel that too?” Maybe it’s just a one-way street. Maybe Cat just goes around from ranch to ranch stealing all the young men’s hearts, and I was just another stop along the way.

“
Are you kidding me? I thought it was just me. When I touch you, my body craves you inside of me like I just want to meld us into one body forever and ever.” We both laugh while Cat lies over me heating me even further with her body.  This is going to be the start of a beautiful summer, and I can’t wait to meld with Cat in every way imaginable. Baylor is sounding more and more like the perfect idea in my book. I can’t fathom ever ending this journey without her.

“So are you having that craving right now, because I know I am?” I say washing my gaze over her features trying to hard wire my brain to never forget the way she looks the first time we made love.

“
Sam, it's like it never ends.”

“
I know I feel it too.” I reach over to her bedside table and rip open another package. She takes it from me and glides it on.  I gently ease on top of her and try my best to give Cat just what she's craving.

We don't fall asleep until the sun is almost up. I know I need to get home before the girls find out exactly where I spent the night. Cat stretches out, still naked in my arms. I kiss her cheek softly as not to wake her. She mumbles,
“I love you Sam,” and I wonder if she means it because I damn sure think I may be falling in love with her too.

I ease in through the back door like a cat on the prowl. I'm careful not to let the screen door slam behind me. The girls are not likely to be up yet anyway. It's Saturday. My dad enters the kitchen just as I reach the table and pours himself a cup of coffee. I feel like I've been caught scaling the prison walls. My face flushes with heat, so I lean over the sink like I'm suddenly interested in the stable.

“You have a good birthday son?”

Relief creeps in as I think maybe he has no idea I got home seconds ago. I'm even more relieved that he doesn't know what monumental event took place in my life last night. Last night… was like a dream. It still is. I'm reveling in the after effects, and I never want this feeling to end.

“Yeah Dad, I had a great time.”

I pour myself a cup of coffee knowing I'm going to need it today. Cat Emerson may just need a wakeup call in couple of hours, and I'll gladly be of service.

“That's good son. Did you use protection,” my dad asks with no more concern in his voice than if he'd asked if I'd gotten the mail today. What the hell? Hot coffee exits my nose and mouth as I get hit with the full brunt of his sixth sense.  He's always known exactly what his children are up to at any given time, day or night.  I'd been mortified if he'd just hinted at it, but now, I just want to shrink into a hole and die with the knowledge that he knows it was with Cat.

I come up sputtering as he whacks me on the back, and I'm not sure if it's a congratulatory slap, or a don't choke to death beating. However, I can't even get a word out for a good two minutes.

Brennen

I lie across Elijah's lap pretending to watch the movie blaring on the television, but my mind is elsewhere. I'd like to have him alone for a change. Lexi and Asher are nestled on the rug in front of us. They seem to be content sharing a date night with us. Maybe I'm the only one greedy for his love.

I made it through freshman year of college with ease. Lexi is staying the summer with me here in Virginia, so she and I can enjoy some much needed beach time. Asher is paying her a visit on his way home. He's from D.C. We plan on all getting an apartment in Cambridge when sophomore year starts up. I'm not holding my breath though because when it comes down to plans, my life is more like the Anti-Plan which sounds like a bad name for a villain in a Pixar movie. Want to have a luxury apartment in Cambridge? Too bad! Look out.  It's Anti-Plan!  Here to foil the day once again.

My phone vibrates on the coffee table, and I notice that it's Emily.

I whisper to Elijah that I'll take it in my room. I haven't heard from her since last month. She had accepted a job at the American consulate in Edinburgh, Scotland as a file clerk. A foot in the door, she called it. 

“
Hello?” I pull one leg up onto my bed and get comfortable for a long conversation.

“
Hello, Brennen.” A man's voice takes me by surprise.

“
Who is this?”

“
Don't gather any more alarm in your voice.  Speak to me calmly, so as not to alert Elijah.   Move away from him to another room... Are you alone yet?”

“
Yes! Now who is this, and where is Emily?”

“
I'll answer all of your questions in due time.”

Malphas, I mouth, not wanting to say his name out loud. I recognize the slow cadence of his voice and how it always drips with maleficence.

“What do you want?”

“
Ah, now that’s the right question.” He pauses before continuing, just enough to make me see red. “I want you to break up with Elijah. No, let me re-phrase that. I want you to crush Elijah's heart to dust. Tell him it's over. Do not under any circumstance tell him why. I want him to suffer. Tell Emmagen to make you blind to him in the spirit world, and then marry Sam. If you don't obey my instructions implicitly, everyone you ever care about will die, much like poor Emily here. Lexi will be next.”

Panic floods my heart.  Elijah will be here in seconds once he hears its accelerated rhythm. What if he's already hurt her or worse? We're so far away.

“What did you do to Emily?”

My phone buzzes against my cheek. I glance down and see a picture of Emily. My
horrified scream comes out like the shriek of a siren, like I am the one lying bloody and lifeless in the picture. Elijah is by my side in the next instant. I toss the phone like it’s a snake onto the other end of the bed. My entire body is trembling.

“
What happened?”

I raise a quivering arm and point to the phone.
“He killed Emily,” I barely choke out.

Elijah grabs the phone and sees the gruesome image.
“Malphas! You will pay for this!” But the line is already dead.

He wraps his arms around me. Lexi and Asher stand in the doorway wondering what happened. The image of Emily's face dripping with blood plays on a reel in my mind. Her car had hit a telephone pole head on. Her body was lying half inside and half outside the windshield. She always wore her seatbelt and made sure everyone else in the car did too. This has Malphas written all over it.

I recall my own accident months ago when a demon landed in the road, and I had to swerve onto the median to avoid plowing into it. Elena saved me. Then she had to fight off an entire flock of them. Now Emily is dead, and I am the only reason her beautiful soul will never take another breath. They keep taking the people I care about away from me - first my father, then my grandmother, and now my best friend. He said Lexi is next.

I gasp a shuddering breath when I stare into Lexi's baby blue eyes. Elijah whispers into my ear that everything is going to be okay, but his words do little to console me. Nothing will ever be okay in my life. Nothing will ever be my choice.

Malphas wants me to crush Elijah. He's been after us for months, and now he's concluded that this is the only true way he can hurt us both. Pain slices through me, sharp as razor blades, and I heave sobbing breaths into Elijah's shoulders. I have to do what he says. I have to do it now. Now while I'm not in my right state of mind! Otherwise, I won't be able to. Lexi's next breath hinges on my decision, and I won't lose one more person.

“
Take me to Amorous now. Please, I need to get away,” I whisper into Elijah. I don't even know if he understands me through my blubbering words, but he finally nods.

“
She's upset. She just found out her best friend was in a terrible accident and is now with the Lord,” Elijah directs to Lexi and Asher. Lexi pulls me in for a long hug and strokes my hair.

“
I'm so sorry Brennen. I know how much she meant to you. I'll be here to help you get through this. I promise.”

“
Thanks Lexi.” My voice sounds far off as I think about how I am going to carry out Malphas' plan. Over Lexi's shoulder, I glance up at Elijah's worried face. I turn away quickly.  I can't even look at him. Asher offers me a hug too, and then takes Lexi downstairs to leave us alone. Elijah begins packing me a small bag while I sit on the edge of the bed, numb from the shock, and horror of it all.

“
I'm just going to let them know you're going to try and get some rest. We'll leave after that.” Elijah's heart is broken right along with mine, and I am so afraid of what comes next.  I'm trembling all over. I don't want to do this to him. I run to the bathroom to be sick. My body suddenly feels like it's on fire, and I'm as weak as a kitten. Elijah finds me resting my head on the cool edge of the bathtub and takes me in his arms. He carries me back to the bed. As he kisses my forehead softly, I feel the warm light of his healing powers easing the spasms going on inside my stomach. I revel in the feel of his kiss. It may very well be our last one.

“
You ready?”

I nod, and he holds me tight as he closes his eyes thinking of where he wants to go.

“We need to talk,” I say as we touch down on the platform in the transfer room. He nods once as we quickly exit the building paying no attention to everyone there who is trying to say a friendly hello to us.

Inside his cottage, my knees grow weak. I'm losing the nerve. I ease onto the sofa, and he follows, and holds my hands in my lap.

“Tell me everything,” he says.

“
He can't hear us here.” I blink back a tear as I gaze into his soft expression. Malphas warned me not to tell him why I was ending things with him.

“
I know he's done this to get to you. So please love, tell me what he said. Whatever it is, we'll get through it.”

I shake my head. We can never get through this. This is permanent. This is life altering. Emily is gone, murdered because of me, no other reason. I have to go through with the plan that devil has set in motion. Since I've grown to love Lexi like a sister, I won't risk her life for anything.

“I can't keep losing the people I love, Elijah.” I rub my head wondering how on earth I can ever bear to lose Elijah all over again. We've grown so close over the last five months. Life with him has become the dream I knew it would be. We complement each other in a way that’s indescribable.

He pulls me to his chest and holds me in his solid arms. Elijah emanates the scents of home and tries to relax me. Nothing can truly relieve this pain. It's like I've been cut in two and hollowed out inside, then taped back together in pieces. This will be it for me. After this, I'll be a shattered ruin of my once former self. Malphas will get just what he wants, I think as I stare off at the ceiling.

“I can't bear for you to lose anyone either. They can put a guard on your closest friends, Brennen. We won't stop until he's captured.”

“
They've been searching for him for five months, Elijah. He's as elusive as a comet on New Year's Eve. I have to do what he wants, or he'll never stop. “

“
What does he want you to do?”

“
I can't tell you. He can read your mind. He will know and will kill people.  He'll find a way to get to Lexi or Asher or whoever I become close to over the years. You are the best there is, Elijah, and even you can't protect everyone all the time.”

“
I have to let the dream of us being together die, along with it, my heart.”

“
What are you saying, love?”

“
You know the only way he can destroy us. You know what the only mortal-dagger to your heart is.” My voice is deadpan.

Elijah sinks down, and I see the moment the full realization of my words hit him like a freight train carrying lead downhill. His eyes widen perceptibly, and his lips part. The ache that fills me in the next instant is his heartbreaking right along with mine. It blooms into a blinding pain that rips through me, and I cry out.

“I'm so sorry. I shouldn’t have let you feel that.” He quickly tries to bottle his feelings so that I'm free of the agony. “I need you to tell me exactly what he said, Brennen. I can conceal my thoughts from him if I need to. The best mind readers in Amorous had no idea I was falling in love with you the day I met you in high school. You have to trust me.”

“
Elijah, I trust you with my life.” My voice is rife with desperation mixed with hatred for the evil bastard doing this to us. He better pray I never lay my hands on him. My fist clench into balls as my anger builds inside of me.

“
I know you’re angry at him.  Believe me.  I'm furious, but the only way I can help you is if you tell me what's going on.”

I run my hand along his jaw, praying he will forgive me one day.

“I have to let you go Elijah. That's all I can say.” My chest heaves with a huge sob.

I swallow hard and fight the urge inside that's telling me to spill the entire plan to the man I adore. I shake my head and bolt out the door. I can't risk it. I can't be the reason Lexi gets murdered. Tears fly off of my face in rivers as I run. My heart pumps out in a deafening roar, protesting every inch I put between myself and Elijah.

I start my way back to find my mother at the headquarters. Elijah catches up to me and lands just ahead with his wings still spread open wide.  He creates a wall. “Don't do this to us, Brennen.  Please I beg you,” His words tug at my heart strings, but deep down I know that being with Elijah was always an impossible dream. If it's not Lexi's life, it will be the next person I get to know. If not them, my children one day. Malphas will only stop if he knows we are both suffering.

I shake my head and drop my eyes to the ground. I can't do this to him. His wings disappear when he senses my defeat. He goes to pull me into his arms, the place I always crave to be. I dodge his touch and run past him. He follows behind me on foot pleading with me to stop the entire way.

“Get away from me now Elijah. It's already too hard.” I cry out as I burst through my mother's office.

“
Brennen, what's going on?” She puts a hand up halting Elijah in his tracks. He has to obey her. She is his superior. I plunge into her waiting arms, and she hugs me tightly. Warmth and love instantly fill my soul as only a mother's love can. “Elijah would you give us a moment alone please?”

Elijah's head dips down low, but he honors her request. My gaze follows him out knowing it could be the last time I see him. My body seizes as the door shuts behind him with finality. I sink into my mother's shoulder as silent tears rip through my eyes. She doesn't press me for answers right away. She allows my grief to subside naturally. Finally when I'm all cried out, she hands me a handkerchief.

“Malphas had Emily killed.”

“
No! Oh darling, I am so sorry. That monster is being hunted as we speak. I've made it my top priority since the last incident.”

Maybe that's why he's getting desperate. He knows they're close.

“Can Elijah hear us from out there?”

“
No, there is a barrier. Why?”

I tell my mother everything Malphas told me to do, and as I finish, she eases into her chair just as stunned as I am.

“Do you want my advice?”

“
Desperately,” I say.

She mulls her words around for a moment, choosing just what to say carefully. Deep down I know there is no easy way out of this.

“Do what he says. Appease him for now, and once we capture him, you can go back to Elijah.”

“
Don't you see, I can’t? I've broken Sam's heart too many times. If I do this, it has to be for good. I won't hurt Sam again. If he gives me another chance, I have to be done with Elijah for good. I'll be married to Sam. I have to see it through. That's why I'm so torn. But I know I have to do this. I can't let Malphas hurt anyone else, Mom.”

“
Alright then darling. I'll help you however I can. I'll ease the pain by not allowing Elijah to be visible to you unless the situation warrants it… say in a life or death matter.” I recall Nehemiah, the former Oracle reader, had restricted Elijah appearing to me and didn't allow for this emergency provision, and it almost cost me my life so I nod.