Chapter 14

Soul mates are said to be two souls destined to be together, programmed to recognize each other across time and space. I didn't know whether that was the truth, but I was inclined to believe it. I wasn't naïve to assume just because Thrain and I were attracted to one another, everything would always turn out well, but I would give it a chance in spite of our differences in character and background. Where I came from fate played a more important role than choice. We didn't believe in choice, only in that what's meant for you will reach you in time, and if you embrace it with your arms wide open it might just stay with you forever and bless you with more happiness than you could ever envision.

Thrain was fate. I knew it. I had recognized it during our kiss. When our lips locked, a floating sensation washed over me, like I was diving in sparkling blue water with the soft rays of light caressing my skin. And then the tingling began like a tiny spark between us. That tiny spark became a silver thread shimmering in a million shades as it wrapped around us and drew us closer. In that instant I knew I had found the one to complete me. But I also knew Thrain's fear was justified. The others had been oblivious to it, but I could feel the darkness around that bond, feeding from it, trying to draw us into a direction that would decide over our future. I doubted I could change that direction, but I vowed to myself I would rethink every step twice before making a decision.

I snuggled against him and let my thoughts draw me in. Thrain must've misinterpreted my sudden silence though because he leaned back and pulled me closer, mumbling something like, "We can take it slowly if you want."

"I'd like that." The steady beat of his heart and the silence of the night drew me to a place of love and comfort. Eventually, I closed my eyes and gave in to the need to sleep, and for the first time in weeks that unnerving darkness didn't descend upon me.

***

I didn't know how long I had been sleeping when the noise of cawing woke me up. I sat up groggily and squinted against the unnatural brightness of the ceiling light, wishing I could tell whoever was causing this much noise to shut up and let me catch some more snooze. My hair caught in something. "Ouch," I yelled out.

"Stand still," Thrain said. I stopped stirring as I watched him from the corner of my eye as he unwrapped a strand of hair from around the button of his shirt, then smiled. "Sorry."

"Thanks." I got up and peered out the window at the darkness stretching over the woods and mountains in the distance. My gaze searched the unnerving bird and found it perched on the windowsill. It was staring at Thrain as though unsure whether to trust his intentions.

"That bird's been watching me for hours," Thrain said, coming up behind me and grabbing me in a tight hug. My hands brushed his naked arms, soaking up the warmth of his skin. Not for the first time I wondered whether his unnatural heat was a demon thing.

"It's been following me for weeks," I said.

"A stalking bird?" Thrain laughed softly. "Now that's the kind of stalking I like."

My heart almost stopped at the thought of him with another woman. "Been stalked by many?"

"I was just kidding."

"Right." I nodded, feeling silly for my sudden outburst of jealousy. It wasn't like me. I wasn't usually the possessive type.

"What do you think it wants?" Thrain asked.

I shrugged. "My first guess was to warn me, but I'm not so sure now. It seems to know me."

"Maybe you should talk to it."

Admittedly, that thought didn't cross my mind. Talking to demons and vampires and what else not was one thing, but to a bird? I smirked. Wasn't happening. Once I started communicating with a crow, I knew my sanity was probably going down the gutter. Maybe one day I'd pluck up the courage and make a fool of myself, but not yet. There were more pressing issues to take care of.

"Is Cass back?" I asked. "She owes me a one-on-one."

"She's in the living room," Thrain said, so I got up, prepared to leave. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down on his lap, his hot breath brushing my cheek. "Hey, haven't you forgotten something?"

A kiss. Grinning, I gave in wholeheartedly, then pulled out of his embrace and left, wishing there would be many more to come. Soon but not soon enough.

Cass was already waiting for me in the living room. The others were gathered around her, Amber sitting on one side, Clare on the other. Aidan stood by the window, his gaze scanning the darkness. He was expecting someone or something. I would've liked to ask but I bit my tongue to keep quiet. Prying wasn't attractive—it was one of the few virtues my mother had tried to teach me. Unfortunately, this one was the hardest to follow because it completely defied my personality.

"Look who's decided to join us?" In spite of the glow on her face, Cass seemed bothered.

I sat down on the couch farthest from her. "Any news?"

"Me?" She shook her head, her red mane brushed the collar of her baggy top that accompanied her baggy jeans. "Nope, mate. You?"

"Don't think so." I knew she was talking about my smooching with Thrain and I wondered what gave me away. My gaze moved to Clare—tall and blonde, just like me before I dyed my hair, but with a mysterious elegance I would never possess. Next to her and funky Cass, Amber almost looked normal. But only almost.

"Do you have any idea how old he is?" Cass asked.

"Not old." Maybe a few hundred years, thousands tops, but most certainly beyond his mid-creepies. The thought didn't scare me because physical existence comes with a shelf life, but not our soul. I had lived before dying and being reborn. Thrain had just never died.

Cass clicked her tongue. "You might harbor a different opinion about the 'not old' part if you knew the truth. He could basically be your—" She gestured about with her hand. I noticed her nails were bitten to the point of bleeding. "Anyway, I can't believe you two are dating now. I'm gone an hour and you're already making out."

"We didn't make out," I said indignantly. We didn't, did we? It was just a kiss. Though a hot one that would soon lead to more but, as things stood, we hadn't done anything naughty yet.

"Stop wasting time, Cass," Aidan said from the window. "Whatever they do is none of our business. We need to work on our plan, find out how to unleash Sofia's powers so she can finally return Dallas's soul to his body. Which reminds me—" he turned to face me. A glint appeared in his intense blue gaze "—I believe there's something Cass and you wanted to talk about. Mind if we stay?"

I shook my head. The guy was so friendly and civil, how could I kick him out of his own house? Besides, I figured since Amber had been the one to convey the message during that TV show and she was dating him, he probably knew just as much as she did. He was the one I needed on my side. "I wanted to talk about my sister, Theo. You said you knew where she was and that, if I helped you guys, you would let me see her."

"Uh-huh." Cass regarded me coolly.

"I want to know what happened." I raised my brows at her.

Cass inhaled sharply and I knew I had to prepare myself for bad news. "Theo's in Hell because she killed someone." I opened my mouth to protest, but she raised her finger to stop me. "She killed Gael's brother, Derrick. I don't know why she did it, but apparently she was in danger and he killed her, which doesn't make any sense. If she killed him, how could he kill her, unless they killed each other at the same time?"

"Cass," Aidan hissed. "Get on with it."

"That's the problem with vampires, they're always so grumpy." She rolled her eyes at me. "When Aidan killed his crazy ex, Rebecca—"

"She wasn't my ex. She turned me," Aidan interrupted.

Cass continued unfazed. "We didn't know we'd end up with a crazy killer in Hell. Distros is the home of our supernatural visitors, but it's also the only unsupervised dimension." I nodded, confused, wondering where she was going with this. Cass moistened her lips. "Before Rebecca died, she put a spell on a very important book to take it with her into the Otherworld. I don't think she knew what to expect on the other side, but she probably hoped she'd get her chance to escape when others came looking for the book. And she did, with this lot's help." Cass pointed at Amber who smirked at her. "Amber descended into the Otherworld to retrieve the book. I took it back home with me for safekeeping, but that didn't turn out so well. Rebecca killed Dallas and fed on Theo's life force. She must've targeted your sister. We suspect she did it with the intention to find out who you are."

"Life force? How is that possible when she's already dead?" I asked. The thought of my sister's death almost choked me. Clare pushed a glass of water across the table. I thanked her, then turned my attention back to Cass. My trembling hands clasped the glass tight until I feared it might just break.

"Blood is the essence that keeps the physical shell alive. Life force is the essence of the soul. Without blood, a mortal dies. Without life force, a soul may forever be extinguished," Cass explained.

"Is Theo—" My voice broke. Forever gone—I couldn't speak out the words.

"Her soul's alive," Cass said. "The gate keepers saved her, but when life force flows from one person to another, so do the person's memories." She leaned forward, her green eyes focusing on me, her voice dripping with meaning. For the first time, I was awestruck. Although the others had already pointed out that Cass wasn't your usual immortal being, I didn't really consider the magnitude of their implication. But now, staring into her striking eyes and listening to all the knowledge she shared with us, I understood why the others looked up to her even though she was the youngest. Cass was the one who had access to the dead, both to the mortal and the supernatural souls. She had seen Heaven and Hell.

"Hey, Soph, are you listening?" Cass asked, jolting me out of my thoughts. "It's not just Rebecca we're talking about. Others will come for you so we need to work on a plan to unleash your powers and protect you at the same time because the stronger you get, the more you'll be in danger."

I still didn't understand. "But what would she want from me?"

"To bring her back from the dead," Aidan whispered.

I took another sip of my water. My mind raced a million miles an hour. There were so many unanswered questions I had no idea where to start. I opened my mouth to ask how a vampire, strong enough to cause complete havoc in Hell, depended on someone like me when a faint memory hit me. It was more of a blur, no pictures, not strong enough to make complete sense of it, and yet I knew I had something important here. "I can only return a soul into a body. If there's no body, there's no way to keep the soul in the physical realm."

Aidan shot me a questioning look. "And you know that how?"

"Past life regression. She seems to have a lot of that in her dreams," Thrain said from the door. My head turned sharply. I hadn't heard him come in. How long had he been standing there, listening? He smiled and inched closer, slumping down next to me. His arm wandered around my shoulders naturally as though it belonged there. As though we had been dating for months. For a moment I froze because I didn't know how the others would react. What would they think of me, hooking up with a guy I barely knew? Thrain pulled me closer and I gave in because no one's opinion mattered.

"I don't see anything in my dreams."

"You have the wrong impression of regression," Thrain said. "Everyone expects it to be like watching a movie in front of your eyes, but in reality the actual focus should be on some of your senses. You need to pay attention to smell, taste and your body's responses rather than to what you see and how you feel because pictures and emotions can be deceiving. The actual memories consisting of bits and pieces will always come later. The darkness you see in your dreams is something from your past life, maybe a last thought that's supposed to convey a message. I think that's what keeps triggering the regression."

A message. Just like the crow. I had figured that much and yet I had no idea what I was supposed to understand. Time to talk to the bird then. I sighed and nodded. "Makes sense."

"But we still don't know how to tap into those powers of hers," Cass said. "I wish we had someone to ask."

"Have you tried Google?" Clare winked at me.

"Of course we have, mate," Cass said, grinning. "That was my first choice." I couldn't tell whether she meant it.

"Wanna go to bed? You must be tired," Thrain leaned in to whisper in my ear. I didn't fail to register the double meaning. Waiting for my answer, he raised his brows, his expression betraying amusement. I lowered my gaze, lest the others notice my scorching cheeks. Damn, what was it with this guy and me putting words in his mouth? "Of course I wouldn't mind joining you, but I'd rather you got some sleep," Thrain continued.

There it was again—that innuendo I kept hearing. Did he mean I wouldn't get any sleep if he stayed with me? I groaned inwardly at myself and my brain's inability to stop overanalyzing everything he said.

"I need to get some fresh air," I said, getting up. Maybe the night air would clear my mind and help me gain a new perspective.

"Don't let her stray away from the house," Aidan said to Thrain, already assuming Thrain would be playing babysitter.

I frowned. "Actually, I need to be alone."

"Five minutes," Aidan said.

"Control freak," Cass muttered.

He shot her an irritated look. "Need I remind you Dallas's life depends on—"

Tuning out, I got up and headed for the back garden, leaving the others behind. It wasn't so much the fresh air I needed but the solitude to do the one thing I should've done already. And for that embarrassing display of human stupidity I didn't need witnesses.