Her fingers tingled and she stared down at her hands. Something was about to happen and she didn't want it to take place in front of Alexa.
"Really?" The other woman practically squealed. "We really are the same."
"Yes." She nodded. "I think we are. We'll talk more about it in a minute."
Trying not to run she made it to the bathroom and shoved on the water in the tub before her legs buckled. Marina grabbed a towel and stuffed it in her mouth. Pain lanced through her body, setting every nerve ending on fire. The getting her powers back thing really fucking sucked. She closed her eyes and bit down on the towel.
Blood poured out of her nose. If this shit killed her she'd be so pissed off.
And…Drew would set the earth on fire.
She knew it.
* * * *
Drew stood in the center of the room, the other male Outsiders surrounding him as though they could be some kind of wall of protection over the truly stupid thing he was about to do. He eyed Leonardo. The other man had an agenda. Drew didn't know what it was but Leonardo's duplicity didn't change the fact Leonardo happened to be right.
They needed Drew to do bring in the demon and so he would, but only because doing so would get him Marina back. "Listen." The room fell quiet, all eyes on him. He needed them to understand something pivotal. "I don't know what's exactly going to happen when I let the demon loose inside of me. If it all goes to hell, truly, I am going to do my best to get Marina's location locked down before I lose it. The most important thing here is for you all to get her. Whatever happens."
Charma sighed loudly. "We are going to save both of you."
"If it's a choice…"
Jason patted him on the back. "Won't come to that."
Why were they all so clueless? There was a very large chance here everything was about to blow up in their faces and…
The sensation hit him like a building falling on his head, the weight of the universe hit his shoulders, and then as hard as the pain smacked him, the awfulness lifted. Instead he was…lighter. Marina. He could feel her soul again. She was back. As she had always been his entire adult life, until six months earlier.
"Marina." He spoke the name aloud. "I can feel her." And if he could sense her then she had her Outsider powers back, which meant he could get to her.
Drew took a deep breath before he said, "Never mind. The demon stays where he is."
He called the image of the woman he loved, but could never have, to his mind. She stared back at him, her smart eyes calling him on his bullshit. He no sooner pictured her than the universe opened up and sucked him into it. Drew had a hard time describing the sensation, except when he travelled, his body seemed to lose form and then reform when he landed at his destination. Seconds later, he popped into existence in front of Marina.
In a bathroom.
"I…"
"Ssshh." She placed her hand over his mouth. "This is terrible timing, Drew. Absolutely the worst." She dropped her hand.
Seeing her looking so whole, the light back in her eyes meant he could breathe. He could drink her in forever. And…why the fuck was she telling him to be quiet?
"Out in that hall is a person I have to save. You don't like her. You never do. But then again you never like anyone other than me. And maybe Jason. You always seem to want to hang out with him."
What was she talking about? She didn't particularly seem to be making any sense. What did she mean by always?
"In the other room is Alexa. She needs to be with us. Do you understand? She's not bad-bad. Not like Leonardo thinks. But then he saw her doing awful things. They're so beautiful together. It never should have been like this."
"Marina…"
A knock on the door caught his attention. "Marina, I'm having the strangest feeling, as if someone else is here. Are you okay?"
"Yes, Alexa. Fine." She pointed at the tub, her eyes huge.
"No." Alexa jiggled the door handle. "I'm coming in. Try to keep me out."
"Drew"—Marina rounded on him—"keep in mind she's sick. S-I-C-K. Sick."
He raised his hands in the air. "Okay."
The door banged open. Alexa, who he had never met before but heard a lot about from Gabe, kicked it down. Drew raised his eyebrows. For such a tiny person, she packed quite a lot of strength. She was small, roughly the same size as Marina, dark-haired, and had wild, crazy eyes.
They stared at one another. "Who is this and what is he doing here?"
Marina looked between them. "He's my soul mate but he doesn't want me in this lifetime."
He hated when she said things like that. "I don't think you're exactly in a position to know how I feel."
Alexa's wild gaze looked even more deranged when she pointed at him. "What is he doing here?"
"Out." Marina waved them both toward the door. "We can't have this talk in the bathroom."
She stormed into the living room and seeing as he had no other choice and still really didn't know what was going on, he followed. Alexa chased after her as well.
Alexa's eyes were wild. The girl needed to relax. A big dose of Charma's calming energy would go a long way. A huge dose. "You seem different, like everything about your energy altered in the bathroom."
Marina grabbed the other woman's arm. "You don't know me yet. I know you though. Better than you'll ever know yourself. This isn't you. If you'll let us, we can help you and…"
Drew was content to stay back and let Marina work whatever happened out. She seemed strong and he'd always appreciated getting to look on at her from a distance. Marina had to exist in the world and she had to be well. Otherwise what was the point of anything?
"You're like them. You're an Outsider." Alexa sobbed the last word. He could see why Marina had made such a point of stressing the sick part. Otherwise he might be tempted to want to take her somewhere, lock her up, and never have to see her again. As it was, he hated how close Marina placed herself toward that level of unstable energy.
Marina nodded. "Alexa, you are, too. We are all the same. I've known you so long. You have to trust me. Surely, inside of you somewhere is the feeling you know me, have always known me. We're like sisters. The nine women in our group—we're more than friends, more than family, we're eternal. The female to their male."
"The yin to their yang."
He jumped. Where had the thought come from? Almost like he'd heard her say it before, although he couldn't recall ever having done so.
"How can it be true?" Alexa raised her head.
"Don't listen to them."
Drew whirled around. The last being he wanted to lay eyes on, ever, had appeared in the room. Alexa looked around wildly and it took Drew a moment to realize she couldn't see him. Of course not, Marina and he shared the ability. They saw energies. Sebastian appeared the same to them, as solid as he did when he was incorporeal. They were the only ones who could view him when he didn't want to be seen anymore.
"Sebastian." Alexa pulled herself out of Marina's touch. "You have to help me. You have to tell me what to do."
"No one has ever told you what to do in more lifetimes than I can count." Marina spoke only to Alexa and it finally dawned on Drew what was going on. Marina had gotten her powers back and she'd really possessed them this time. Things she'd always been able to do but hadn't worked out how to tap into yet before she lost her abilities flooded through her. Marina had never once been able to see past lives before. Every other word out of her mouth was about things the rest of them couldn't know.
That couldn't be normal.
"Sebastian." Drew stepped toward the demon and stared right at him so the creature would know Drew did indeed see him. "You have no place here. Be gone with you."
"No." Sebastian hissed. "It's the two of you who have no business being in this world. It belongs to me. Always has, always will. And I've taken steps. You'll never even know it happened. This is my turn. Mine."
"Oh, for the love of…" Marina snarled and waved her hand in the air. The demon's eyes got big before he vanished from the room.
Drew cocked his head to the side. "That's so fucking cool."
"He was boring me."
"You made him go poof."
She grinned, the first real smile she'd bestowed since he arrived. "Yeah, I did."
There she was—his girl. She turned back to Alexa, leaving him in a pit of missing her even though she stood only feet away. What the hell was going on?
"Alexa, you have to believe me. We can help you. We can make all of this better. Things will finally make sense."
"No." Sebastian's voice boomed throughout the small apartment. "She goes where I go."
Alexa vanished. The air didn't even move where she had stood. If Drew hadn't seen her with his own eyes he'd have believed she was never there at all.
Marina's shoulders sagged. "No, she should be with us."
"Like all things, she'll come to us if and when she's ready and the timing is right." Drew didn't hold to the prophecy being the only answer to everything. The others might believe they had some fate to fulfill. He only knew he wanted one woman he couldn't really have and, if nothing else, he'd keep her safe until he couldn't anymore. If he happened to kill a demon while he was at it, then fine.
She held out her hand. "Take me home. I have to explain to the others."
"Explain what exactly."
Tears pooled in her eyes. "You should know. If no one else, you always understand."
He walked toward her. "I'm endlessly disappointing." He wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumb. "I know it. I can't stand to see you cry. Tears seem so foreign on you. I'll take you home. But we have to talk about what's happened to you and some revelations I made when you were away."
She nodded. "You used to love me."
"I still do."
"Come on." He pulled her with him when he pictured the caves and arrived back in the living room, with Marina in tow, where he'd popped out of minutes earlier. The other Outsiders swarmed her, except for Leonardo who, as usual, kept himself back from the fray. Drew let the others talk to her; they'd see soon enough what he discovered.
Leonardo walked to his side. "Good job."
"We have a problem."
"You mean besides your having the demon inside of you?"
He nodded. Leonardo could be such a jackass. Lately, more often than not it seemed. If Alexa was his soul mate they might be perfect for one another. They could drive each other crazy and leave the rest of them alone.
"When she got her powers back, they made her…different."
Leonardo pointed his chin toward Marina. "How do you mean?"
"I think you're about to see for yourself very quickly." No way would the others not notice the change immediately. "I've stayed away from her for her own good. I think that's going to have to change."
She needed him and he had to save her before her own abilities made her completely lose track of herself. The girl Fate had given him and placed oceans away where he couldn't help her, he would not fail her again.
He'd die first.
Chapter Five
Marina couldn't breathe. Almost all the people she loved were in the same room with her. And Drew was there. He seemed so much the man she loved and yet he still remained an enigma to her. Did she love him in this life? She wanted to but he stayed away. How was she supposed to feel connected to a person she wasn't sure would be there when the cards were down.
And yet. And yet. And yet…
"You all have to understand." She screamed at the top of her voice and the room shut up. Good, they had to understand. Marina would make them
know
. And then they would get it.
"What do we have to understand?" Leonardo said from behind the crowd. She hadn't spoken to him yet, he'd stayed back, talking to Drew. Why? Were they discussing her? Did they think something wrong with how she was? They wouldn't. Not after she could make herself clear.
"We can't win."
Kal rolled his eyes and stepped away from her. "Well you came back a bag of good times didn't you?"
"Listen. We've done this before. Over and over. Sometimes we win, sometimes we don't."
Colin held up his hands. "That much we know."
"Even when everything is right we lose. We just do. Or we win. But we can't defeat him starting so far behind the eight ball. Don't you understand? You"—she pointed at Colin—"where is Gia? Why isn't she here with you?"
Gia hadn't been her name the last time but it was in their current manifestation. How did Marina know? Oh, she didn't. But, yes she did.
Colin's eyebrow popped up. "Gia? Who is she?"
Marina waved her hands in the air and stalked toward him. "She's yours. Where is she? Why isn't she here? She should be here. And Zane." He'd been so strong, such a fierce warrior. Many battles had been won thanks to Zane. How could they function without him? "And Raquel, the fire starter."
"Rina." Drew tried to interrupt her only she couldn't let him. They had to see what she saw or there would be no help.
Eden grabbed onto Samuel's arm. "I can see them. She named them and suddenly they're in my visions even though I've never seen them before. The three of them."
"Interesting." Leonardo crossed his arms over his chest.
Oh, Marina couldn't deal with him. His hard-assed attitude would have to change.
The room spun and so she spun with it. "And Alexa. She needs to come. To heal. She isn't bad, Leonardo. I know you hate her. Only you shouldn't. She is yours. Has always been. You're so strong together."
Drew's arms came around her and pulled her hard against him. "There's nothing for either you or Charma to do, Jase."
What was he talking about? He was speaking over her head to the healers. Why? What did he think was going to happen?
Jason said through clenched teeth, "Look at her."
Drew kissed her eyebrow. "There's nothing physically wrong and no emotional wound to soothe. She's going to have to manage it. These are her powers. They were always there. She never tapped them. Only she can pull them back."