She noticed Dylan part his lips with what she assumed would be an objection to her decision, but her mother cut him off. “Layne won’t hurt her.” She gave him a brief glance before joining his mother near the archway. “You know they share an affinity, Delia. She’s the only one who can get close enough.”
The news startled Heaven. She stared at her mother, stammering for words. “What…what did you just say?”
“You and Layne share an affinity, Heaven. It’s the strongest Seeker-Keeper bond that exists, but it’s also the most rare.”
“How do you know we share an affinity?”
Her mother and Delia gazed at each other a second later, like they were having a mental conversation. When things grew awkward amidst the silence, her mother cleared her throat and faced her again.
“Affinities are confirmed through aura readings. You and Layne are surrounded by multiple shades of pink and gold. Pink hues represent many levels of love. Gold represents love too, but it’s about levels of attraction, such as spiritual, emotional, magical, and cosmic.” Her mother’s eyes roamed over her face. They didn’t linger long before making their way above her head and around her body. “When you and Layne are near each other, those layers forge together, even when you’re standing on opposite sides of the room. The day you arrived here, I noticed it the second Layne walked inside the house.”
The more Heaven tried to make sense of it, the more confusion spun inside of her. “So what does this mean?”
“That his connection with you is stronger than we thought.” The way her mom lowered her eyes to the floor made her stomach flip. “Your life depends on his abilities, and his abilities depend on the strength of your connection. He won’t hurt you. He cares about you, and the more he does, the safer you’ll be.”
She didn’t need anyone to explain what she already knew. In fact, she’d been trying to tell Layne the same all along. “Does he know about this?”
“No,” Delia spoke up. “Dylan knows. I told him the other day, but I didn’t tell Layne. Neither have your parents. There’s information inside the Tome of Souls if you want to read more about it.”
Irritation prickled her skin once she met her husband’s weary eyes. No wonder he took them away for the weekend. This is why he said what he’d said, about everything changing when they returned. Why hadn’t he told her about this then?
While she was glad he knew what her connection with Layne meant, the fact that he kept something from her was upsetting. They were supposed to be past this, yet it continued happening.
Damn him. Damn them all for doing this over and over. The lies…the secrets… She couldn’t handle it, couldn’t handle the thought of being around them another minute. There were other things she needed to attend to, other people that deserved her time. All that was left was to be there for those people, which was exactly what she intended to do, and she’d start this very second.
Layne needed her. The rest of them could go to hell.
* * *
The cottage reeked of booze. Not just any booze, but the hard stuff. Heaven swore she recognized the scent. Whiskey. It had to be whiskey. Layne had smelled of it the night he found out about Faith’s pregnancy and abortion.
She would never forget the way he’d shown up at Dylan’s, the rich scent heavy on his breath. The moment she had opened the door to him, it filled her nose. He confirmed her suspicion minutes later, when he kissed her. That kiss set off a chain of events they were still fighting to overcome.
She stepped further into the heated house, holding on to the doorknob as she took another breath of stale air.
Yeah. It was definitely whiskey. There was no denying it at this point.
Staring into the dining room, she closed the door behind her and focused on the thrum of Layne’s energy. It wavered around her, pulling her in different directions. Whether the liquor lingering in the air was days old or hours, she couldn’t say. As hot as the cottage felt, she didn’t see how anyone could be inside.
Of course, Layne wasn’t just anyone. The heat came from the fire within him. It was his creation. Aside from a little sweating, he never complained about it. Neither did she…
She pushed the thoughts from her mind, focusing instead on the fact that he’d been drinking. There was never a doubt in her mind that he’d tie one on after crossing paths with Faith, but something said it was more than that. The array of emotions spinning through him involved her as much as her sister.
“Enjoy your trip?”
She turned toward the sound of Layne’s voice, which came from the front corner of the living room. He sat in the rocking chair staring at something in his hand. From where she stood, it appeared to be a tarot card. Dark blond strands of hair covered part of his face, but she didn’t miss the heat in his eyes when he met hers.
“What’s up with the card?” she asked, letting her eyes fall to his hand.
He clutched the card and tucked it into the pocket of his flannel, avoiding her gaze when she looked up. “It’s nothing.”
“Is this how we’re going to start this conversation? By pretending there doesn’t need to be one?” She waited for him to speak, but he sat there frozen in his seat, avoiding her at all cost. “I’m sorry, Layne. I didn’t know. Dylan said he told you we were leaving but not that he did it in a note. After I got your text, he told me the truth.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Doesn’t matter. He’s your soulmate. I’m just your Keeper.”
If only it were as simple as he tried to make it sound, but it was far from that. The connection they shared ran deeper. It had to run deeper. They both needed it to. She debated on telling him about their affinity, mainly because she doubted he’d believe her. He was trying to be indifferent, but she could sense the frustration consuming him.
“You have to understand, we all needed this. He and I needed time alone. You said yourself you needed the same.”
Layne was on his feet in a matter of seconds. Swift steps brought him just a few feet from where she stood. “I told you that I wanted a couple days to process everything. I said nothing about needing to be apart from you.” His energy rushed around her in a fiery dance, but the moment he gripped her wrist, the heat died away to a slow, simmering thump. He loosened his grip on her arm as his eyes softened. “We’re not supposed to be apart, Heaven. I have to be near you at all times. It’s the only way I can protect you.”
“We won’t be apart anymore.”
He shook his head as his anger stirred back to life. “How do I know that? For all I know, Dylan has more weekend getaways planned.”
“No, Layne, he doesn’t. He planned this one for specific reasons, one of which has to do with you and me. He realizes that we have to be closer and that he hasn’t been fair about it.”
Releasing her hand, he took a couple steps back until he ran into the couch. Conflicting emotions waged war on his heart, but he did his best to hide it from her. He turned around and gripped the couch as he choked on a laugh. “So to be fair, he decided to sneak off with you. Yeah. Problem solved…for him.”
“For starters, I wasn’t aware that we were sneaking off. Second, he and I needed to be alone. We had a lot to discuss, including my connection with you.”
His eyes peered over his shoulder, raking her from head to toe. “Let me guess. He told you how much he hated our connection, but he’s going to do better about accepting it.”
She gritted her teeth at the sardonic tone of his words. He had a right to be angry over what happened, but he could save the sarcasm for someone else. “Look, I won’t deny that Dylan’s made promises he hasn’t kept. He doesn’t deny it either. And you’re right. He doesn’t like our connection, but he knows it’s necessary. He knows it has to grow stronger too.”
The couch regained his attention as he turned back around. His body grew rigid before he asked, “What makes you think that?”
“Because he said he knew things would change when we came back. That’s why he wanted a few da
ys alone with me, Layne. He knows I have to spend more time with you.”
A grunt resonated from his chest at the notion she implied. “Like he’s going to let that happen.”
“If it keeps me safe, then yes, he will.”
“And what if it doesn’t keep you safe?” He spun away from the couch, fully facing her. “What if it’s just me unloading my crap on you? What if—?” The words fell short as he moved forward. He didn’t stop until she was wedged between his chest and the wall. The more his brows knitted, the more his eyes danced over her face. “What if it has nothing to do with your safety? What if I want to monopolize your time because I’ve had a bad day, or maybe I just need a day with you?”
A trickle of sweat formed between her breasts as his energy shifted. The amount of heat he produced increased with every question he asked, but the amount of space between them decreased. It had her heart racing and breath quickening. If he was trying to make her uncomfortable, he needn’t bother. She’d reached that point the second she walked through the door.
“Anything that affects you affects my safety,” she said through heavy breaths. “So the answer is yes. If you need to unload on me, he will understand.”
“Well, let’s test that theory, Heaven. Let’s find out how sincere Dylan is. I’ll start by unloading some wonderful news on you. Did you know that your sister is still pregnant?” A gleam came to his eyes when she stammered for a response. “Yeah, exactly. I found out about an hour after I found Dylan’s note. It was a perfect start to a fucked up weekend.”
“How can my sister be pregnant? I saw her, Layne. She’s as thin as a rail.”
“I don’t know why she’s so skinny, but she’s definitely pregnant. Probably as far along as you.”
His eyes fell to her belly as if he were comparing it to the memory of Faith’s. He took another step closer, the last possible step he could take thanks to her tiny protrusion. The skin around her navel warmed from his body heat as well as the heat his energy continued to produce.
“You know what the real kicker is?” He slowly worked his eyes up to hers. “After I had time to process the news, there’s only one thing I couldn’t come to terms with.”
“What would that be?”
Her words came out in a whisper, but he heard them all the same. A tinge of sadness pulsed inside him as he stared hard. “The fact that the one time I really needed a friend, she wasn’t around.”
Pain wavered in his voice. It tore at her heart, just like it pulled at her soul. “I should have been here for you, Layne. I’m sorry that I wasn’t.”
His eyes lingered on her lips before they shifted toward the floor. “Yeah. Well, it doesn’t matter now. I dealt with your absence. I dealt with Faith. I even dealt with the fact that it’s not my kid.”
“How do you know for sure?”
He patted the pocket on his shirt. “What do you think the tarot card was for? Delia gave me a reading to confirm what her intuition said. The baby isn’t mine.”
She didn’t think it would be, nor did she think he’d want a child with Faith. Yet something said he still needed comforting. “I’m sure it’s a relief. Isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is, but…”
But?
Whatever else bothered him remained a mystery. She couldn’t figure out what would weigh on his mind about a baby that wasn’t his? “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. For a brief moment, I thought—” The words fell short as he finally shrugged his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter what I thought. I didn’t want a wife or kids. I’m not the family type. Never have been.” The more he tried to sound tough, the more vulnerability she sensed in him. But he wouldn’t give in. “Faith was right about one thing. She said that I didn’t have time for a child. That no one would ever matter as much as…”
Something snapped inside him, like a tendril of sanity had broken free. He needed something—someone—to hold on to. He needed her.
“Look at me, Layne.” She gripped the sides of his face, forcing him to look her in the eye. “Don’t listen to anything Faith has to say. She’s full of venom. Don’t let her infect you with it. You’re going to be okay. You’ll make it through this.”
His eyes fell lower as his face crumpled in pain. He raised his hand toward her stomach, letting it linger a few inches away before brushing his fingers against her taut shirt. So much sadness beat within him, heartwrenching sadness that had her struggling to keep her tears at bay.
“I, uh, I don’t…” He cupped her belly, teasing it with his thumb. Regardless of what he’d said, he longed to have a child of his own. “I don’t understand, Heaven. I don’t understand why?”
Light brown eyes gazed up at her with moisture filling them. If he blinked, it would spill onto his face. It broke her heart to see him like this. “What don’t you understand?”
He fought against the emotions consuming him, fought against the throbbing in his heart, and gave her the answer she waited to hear.
“Why your soul picked Dylan’s instead of mine?”
CHAPTER 19
Rain beat against the metal roof of the garage apartment, losing the soft pitter-patter sound it had when Heaven first arrived. The repetitious thumping didn’t drown out the wind howling through the eaves, nor did it ease the smoldering warmth that lingered in her soul. That warmth belonged to the hot mess of love and hate she’d left inside the cottage.
She tilted her head to the right, waiting for the thunder that rumbled a moment later. It seemed to last forever. Each roll grew to a deep bass sound that made the apartment windows shake.
Layne loved thunder. He’d always tell her as much when a storm would come through Jamaica. Said it reminded him of his drums, how he used to roll out the beats to a fast song, challenging himself to see how quick he could beat the skins in a perfect rhythm.
She knew it was his way of distracting her. Not that she hated storms, but they’d witnessed a few rough ones before hurricane season ended. Somehow, the stories became a habit after that. She didn’t have the heart to tell him she wasn’t afraid anymore, not when it gave her the opportunity to be close to him. Guess in a way, she just enjoyed hearing him talk.
He wasn’t doing much of that when she left him in the cottage. Awkward silence formed after his last comment. There was no way to answer what he’d asked and he didn’t wait around to see if she could come up with one. The moment the spell between them broke, he headed straight to his room.
No matter how many times she’d begged him to talk to her, he refused to listen. Any hope she had of convincing him otherwise ran out the second he locked his bedroom door. He had to deal with things on his own. She knew that, even gave him the space to do it. She had a sister to deal with.
It was that thought that brought her to this point, sitting inside an oversized chair in the apartment listening to rain. The harder she stared at the woman across the room, the less she recognized her. For a person who shared more of her DNA than an ordinary sibling would, she found it hard to think of Faith as her sister. She wanted to rip her throat out. Then she’d never spew her venom again.
Faith uncrossed her legs and adjusted herself on the couch across from the chair. She tucked her feet under her bottom, leaning the rest of her weight on the cushiony pillows lining the sofa. Her eyes remained away from Heaven’s, mainly to avoid the question Heaven had asked. Instead, she stared at the spot where her hands rested—on the round protrusion that resembled the one under Heaven’s hands.
Bitterness flooded Heaven’s heart for the lies Faith told, lies that were partially responsible for Layne’s meltdown. She didn’t understand how her sister could be as coldhearted as she was. Then again, if she was part of the unfortunate pair, it made perfect sense. If she was going to wreak havoc on Heaven, she was going to do it through Layne.
“Are we finished here?”
Heaven cringed at the sound of her voice, focusing instead on the tiny kicks under her palm. She knew this conversation would
n’t go far when she stepped inside the apartment, but she had to try. She owed Layne that much.
“We’ll be finished as soon as you answer my question.”
Faith snorted, letting her head drop back onto one of the cushions. With her eyes toward the ceiling, she shook it from side to side and released a growl. “I already told you. It’s none of your business. The only reason you want to know is because of Layne. Are you afraid that he won’t be up your ass if he has a kid?”
“No, Faith. I’m trying to figure out a way to help you. You found it necessary to lie to everyone about this baby. Why? Is it because you didn’t want to talk about the father?” The words echoed off the walls around them, but Faith didn’t move. She tapped her fingers on her stomach, as if she were bored with the conversation. “What was your plan, anyway? Were you going to give up the baby, or were you planning to surprise everyone when you decided to come home?”
Sitting straight up, Faith glared across the room, her jade eyes pinning Heaven in place. “My plan was that me and my guy would be together. I was waiting for it to be official before I sprang it on everyone. Instead, he gets his girlfriend pregnant and I’m left out in the cold.”
“Of course! What a classic Faith move. Shit on someone else when the universe shits on you. Isn’t that how our entire life has gone?”
“Whatever.” Faith gripped the arm of the couch and stood up before working her way to the kitchen. If she thought she could run from this conversation, she was wrong.
Heaven was on her feet, moving across the floor just as Faith turned around the corner. She was halfway to the room when loud clanking began. As she rounded the same corner as her sister, she found Faith shoving dishes into the sink.
Perfect. Time for round two.
“Don’t whatever me. You’ve given me grief all of our life. I dealt with it because you’re my sister. It was only me you were tormenting, but hurting people I care about is where I draw the line. I refuse to let you mess with my Keeper.”