*
Chapter Thirteen
Thereasa
wanted to groan at her choice of room to teach Liam, but her options had been
limited due to her current status. The pack was hardly likely to let her leave
or go to a less secure house, so she had to make do with what she had.
She quickly ran her eyes around the interior of the bedroom; it
was patently obvious that though it contained a large King-sized bed, it was
clearly furnished for one occupant. There was a single, large upholstered chair
beside the empty fireplace, and a smaller chair beside the vanity table. Liam’s
huge size ruled out the smaller chair and brought the larger one into doubt as
well. That only left the bed.
There was nothing else for it, so she squared her shoulders and
turned around to look at the Vârcolac. “Do not get any ideas. After choosing a
position at the head of the bed, she faced him as she crossed her legs and got
comfortable. She motioned for him to join her, and the mattress dipped under
his weight as he mirrored her position at the foot of the bed. Liam placed the book between them.
“Before
we start, will you please stop that?”
Liam blinked slowly, unable to hide the confusion that crossed his
face. “Stop what?”
“Looking
at me like you’re about to eat me up,” she snapped, as she added glare for good
measure. “You are extraordinarily powerful, and you will need your full
concentration for what I am going to teach you. We don’t have the luxury of
time here, Liam. Who knows how much longer those people up at the Praetorian
Compound have? It’s been days since the incident.”
Her words appeared to sober him, and he nodded in agreement as
guilt flashed across his face.
“We
don’t have time for that either,” Reasa remarked, though her tone was slightly
less acerbic. “It happened. Deal with it. The important task now is to see if
we can fix it. Put all your energy into that and just maybe we have a chance of
doing the impossible. “
“It’s
that easy for you, Reasa? You do something wrong and you just deal with it?”
There
was curiosity in Liam’s tone as well as a hint of reproof. It was clear they
wouldn’t be able to begin the tutoring straight away as she’d hoped. The large
male before her had too much empathy, too strong a belief in right and wrong.
Everything was black and white to him; he had to learn that there were shades
of grey too.
Taking a deep breath, Reasa closed her eyes while searching for the
words that might help him understand. “Everything moves at a fast pace when you
live in the covens. It’s a completely different world to the one you live in,
Liam. Here, you have the luxury of being protected by those who love you. From
what I have seen during the short time I’ve been here, you are vastly
overprotected—to your detriment—and that’s why the incident occurred up at the
other compound. In the covens, you have to prove your worth daily. You have to
be stronger, faster, and have a unique talent that sets you above everyone
else. Only then would you attain the protection of your coven leader. It has to
be earned.”
His eagerness to absorb every word was dampened by the thoughtful
frown that settled across his face. Reasa took another deep breath and
continued. “If you make a mistake you have
to deal with it swiftly. You can’t afford to wallow in self-pity and ‘if
onlys’. If you do that, you’re dead. So, yes, Liam, it is that easy for me.
It’s how I’ve stayed alive for as long as I have. I learn from my mistakes and
I move on.” She let her words sink in, and fought to keep a smile from tilting
her lips upwards. She could see almost see the wheels turning in his head as he
processed what she had said.
He
finally nodded, his gaze intent. “You have had to struggle all of your life,
Reasa, I can see that. You don’t have to struggle any more. The pack will
protect you. I will protect you.”
It
was on the tip of her tongue to snap out that she didn’t need his protection,
but she did. She was human now, frail and easily hurt as had so recently been demonstrated.
Until she was immortal once more, she would need their protection and that was
something she was just going to have to accept—for now.
Reasa
rolled her shoulders and focused back on the task at hand. “The shields you
wove earlier are very good. You learn quickly, so that should speed things
along. Did you sample the emotions in the house when we were all together?”
A
wide smile split his face and she had to stop herself from sucking in another
deep breath. He lit up when he smiled—a different kind of beauty from the
savage, feral animal he had been when she was hurt—but beautiful none the less.
It concerned her that she was noticing how attractive he was. She had meant
what she said; she was not his mate and never would be. Still, she was so
enthralled it took her a moment to realise he was talking again.
“The
emotions were there but so muted. They didn’t overwhelm me at all; in fact,
they felt sort of comforting.”
“Good,
that is the way it should be. I will teach you how to separate the emotions and
apply them to each individual, but first you need to understand how a mind
works, how to use the deftest of touches. I have years of experience but lack
your strength. If someone has a very strong mind, they can keep me out without
realising it. For this exercise, you will need to allow me into your mind.”
“My
mind is always open to you, Reasa. You need never ask to join with me.”
His voice was filled with so
much honesty and trust that, for a moment, all she could do was stare at him
with her mouth open. Then she pulled herself together and gave herself a mental shake.
If what he said was true, she could enter his mind and wipe it completely. He
would put up no resistance, would allow her to do as she willed. If she really
wanted to, she could finish what she started up at the Praetorian Compound, but
she found herself oddly loathe to do so.
She
told herself it was because the others would kill her on the spot if she harmed
him, that she would never learn to Dream Walk or help the injured vampires. She
would lose any chance of ever becoming immortal again. It had nothing to do
with the fact that the male before her had defended her not once, but twice.
No, it was about what she could gain from the situation, what she could learn
to protect herself.
“You
might find it easier if you close your eyes and just relax. I will keep my
delving slow so you can follow what I’m doing within your mind. I will continue
to talk out aloud as opposed to telepathic communication. It will help keep you
grounded in reality. It is very important
to remember that, when you delve, you are in the physical world as well as in
the mind.”
When
he obeyed her without question, she swallowed hard. She let her gaze trace his
strong features, and for some reason her heart twisted at the trust he exhibited.
He was probably at his most defenceless right now, and yet, he was completely
relaxed. Oh, how she wished she could trust as easily as he did.
Reasa reached out with her mind, and slipped into Liam’s, passing his outer defences with agile precision
as he laid himself
bare to her. “You should view the mind as an infinite corridor with doors
running down either side. Behind each door is a memory of the past or the
present.” She breathed softly, smiling as he quickly grasped her meaning, and
suddenly the long corridor was before her psychic self. The doors were brightly
hued in a perfect rendition of a colour chart, from light to darker shades.
He’d even placed numbers on the doors, though they were out of sequence
numerically.
“Excellent,
Liam. You have a wonderfully structured mind for one who is so strong in
empathy. Usually empaths have a more random structure, the corridor twisting
and turning haphazardly, flowing downwards and then rising sharply. It is a
testament to your increasing control that you can formulate a more logical arrangement.”
“It
feels easy to do this, Reasa. Should it be harder? Do you like the colours? I
was initially thinking of white, but figured that would be too harsh on your
eyes.”
She
could feel his happiness and pride. Being in his mind amplified the emotions
and she couldn’t help but smile at the almost childlike glow coming from him.
He was happy because he had done something she approved of. While she smiled, a
shiver of concern washed over her, which quickly began to escalate. He was
projecting without realising it!
“Liam,
dial back your emotions a bit. I know you’re pleased with your easy grasp of
the concept, but you’re projecting that happiness onto me. I know I said you
needed to let me in, but you do still need to maintain shields around your
emotions. Projecting is dangerous as you’ve learned to your cost.”
Immediately,
the building euphoria died down and Reasa felt more able to function under her
own emotions. She took a moment to calm her racing heart, then she met Liam’s
gaze and saw concern in his deep brown eyes. “It’s okay,” she quickly reassured
him. “I’m fine, though I’m sure the others out in the main room will be
wondering why they were suddenly walking around with silly grins on their faces
for a moment.”
As if
on cue, there was a knock on the door and Elina’s concerned head peeked in. “Is
everything okay? Liam?”
“Sorry,
Elle, I projected outwards without thinking. Everything is fine. I won’t do it
again.”
His
cousin looked doubtful though she disappeared again, closing the door quietly.
“Oops,” Liam smiled with a chagrined expression, and a soft giggle
escaped Reasa unbidden, as amusement
danced in her eyes.
“Oops, indeed. Now concentrate. We need to get back to the task at
hand.” She was surprised to find that instead of being annoyed at his mistake,
she was actually enjoying the experience. She attributed it to the fact she’d
never had the opportunity to explore her talent with anyone before. Truth be told, she was equally fascinated by
Liam’s mental strength and what she could learn from him as he learned to
control his powers. Anything that could benefit her was a good thing, at least,
that was what she kept telling herself.
“As I
was saying, behind each door is a memory, but some of them will actually contain
a part of you. Those are usually
grouped closely together, as they need to be close to make you into a whole
individual. Someone fully in tune with themselves can gather all the fragments
into one room, for want of a better
word. The Dalai Lama has an amazing mind. He is one of those individuals. For
the most part, everyone else has to make do with having their essence as
closely packed together as possible. People with mental health issues generally
are more scattered within their minds.”
“You’ve
met the Dalai Lama and been inside his mind?”
“With his permission,” she sighed. “And
that’s a story for another time. Will you please focus now?”
“Sorry,
Reasa. This is all just so fascinating that I keep getting side-tracked.”
Reasa
sighed again, her expression grave as she nudged at his knee until he opened
his eyes to look at her. “You can’t get side-tracked when you’re in someone’s
mind, Liam. You could damage them that way. You have to focus. If you won’t,
then I cannot teach you. In fact, I will refuse to teach you if there is any
hint you might endanger someone.”
It
was hard not to soften a bit as she looked at his crestfallen expression, but
she really needed to hammer home the point otherwise he could potentially cause
devastation if let loose on his own.
“I
want to learn,” he answered, his expression turning serious. “I don’t want to
hurt anyone. The newness of all this just overwhelmed me for a moment. I
promise I will do everything you ask of me, exactly as you say. Please teach
me, Reasa. Please help me ensure I never again inadvertently hurt someone
else.”
“Close
your eyes,” she answered, her tone business-like, as she once more slipped back
into his thoughts. She gave him a moment to regain his inner balance, and then
she was staring down the endless corridor again, with its pretty coloured doors
that looked just a tad muter in colour than they had before.
“The
duality of your nature is a precursor to your essence being split. You are wolf
and you are vampire; however, there is also a part of you that is human.
Vampires and Weres try so very hard to ignore that fact. Never the less it is true,
even if the human portion is so minute it is barely detectable. We need to find
your different personas behind these doors, Liam. Only you know where they are,
so you will need to guide me. With what has happened twice already, I believe
that your essence is too fragmented. We must find you and bring you more into harmony with yourself. Only then will
we be able to begin your training in earnest. Will you help me?”
*****
Liam
heard the words and felt a tremor run through his body. His mate was asking for
his help, but what she was asking for terrified him. Up until this moment,
everything had been fun and exciting. His agile mind grasped the concepts she explained
easily, even if he had made a bit of
a mess a little earlier. However, what Reasa was asking of him now…he didn’t
know if he could do it.
He
knew precisely where his wolf was, that was a given. He had been in tune with his
animal all his life and didn’t even need to think twice about what door that
part of his persona lived behind. He could also detect the miniscule part of
himself that was human, now that its existence had been brought to his
attention.
But
his vampiric side…that was the part that terrified him the most. That side of
him had hurt his aunt! It was full of rage and consumed by the need to destroy.
Although his wolf also shared some of those basic urges when threatened, the
intensity of them paled in comparison to what his inner monster was capable of.
“I’m
afraid,” he whispered, still feeling Reasa in his mind, and reaching out to her
psychic presence with his own. “What if I can’t control it? What if I hurt
you?”
“You
didn’t the last time, Liam You may have
not been aware of it, but you were able to exert some control over your
vampire. Your
speed at learning is exceptional. Twice the vampire has arisen, and twice you
have learned from the experience. It’s time to face it again with the new
knowledge you have to guide you. It doesn’t have to be right this very moment.
We can start with the easier doors until you’re more confident in your
abilities. In fact, let’s start with a few memories first.”
Reasa’s
reassuring words helped and he grasped at the chance to put off the inevitable.
Liam strode towards a pale yellow door and threw it wide open without
hesitation…
*****
Girlish giggles
echoed through the forest, and the wolf pup’s head rose sharply from the damp
earth, tilting to the side to listen. It gave an excited bark and raced off into
the trees towards the sound, the breeze caressing its deep auburn pelt.
“Elle! Elle!
Elle!” the wolf projected telepathically as it barked again and scampered ahead
at full speed.
“You’re not
supposed to let me know you’re coming, Liam,” his cousin giggled, as she hung
upside down from a low branch. Multi-coloured hair brushed the moss beneath the
tree as she swung, her legs hooked around the branch the only thing that
prevented her from falling.
The pup burst
into the clearing, yapping excitedly and jumping up to lick the little girl’s
face, which sent her into another flood of giggling.
“Ugh, that’s wet!
Stop it, Liam.”
Elina’s laughter
caused her to lose concentration when the wolf jumped at her again, her body
swaying with the impact. She forgot to maintain her grip with her legs and
shrieked loudly when she fell from the branch.
In a flash, the
wolf pup vanished, to be replaced by a little boy a couple of years older.
Elina landed on top of him, her face showing concern when his breath whooshed
out and he made a funny noise.
“Are you okay?
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Liam grinned and
rubbed his stomach before giving her a hug. “I’m fine. You’re too teeny to
really hurt me, and it was my fault you fell anyway.” He had meant to reassure
his cousin but from the expression on her face, his words had clearly had the
opposite effect as she rose to her feet and planted her hands on her hips.
“I am not too
teeny! Mother says I am as strong and fast as everyone else in this pack, and
I’m not to let anyone tell me any different. That includes you, Liam Eriksson.
You’re family and family are supposed to stick together.”
“Jeez Louise,
Elle! I didn’t mean anything by it. I know you’re super-fast and super-strong.
You’re better than all the other kids in the pack. You’ve got Eriksson blood
and we’re the best!”
Her expression
lightened instantly and she smiled happily. “Yes we are! We’re going to grow up
and be Alphas like Rafe and Lacey.”
Liam laughed at
her determined expression, happy his cousin was smiling again. He loved seeing
her smile. He would do anything to hear her laughter and often goofed around so
he could. “I’m not so sure about being Alphas. Maybe we might make betas.”
“Mother says I
can be anything I want to be if I set my mind to it. I’ll be Alpha if I want to
be,” Elina said grandly, her little nose tilting up in the air. “And who is
Louise?”
Liam laughed, as
he jumped up and grabbed her hand. “It’s just an expression, like when I call
you Elina the ballerina. Aaron Junior said it the other day and it made
everyone laugh. I wanted to make you laugh.”
“You do make me
laugh, Liam. You always make me laugh. You’re the best cousin ever.”
“Good, my job is
done then.” Liam pulled her hand and they began to jog out of the clearing.
“Just so you know…if we’re both Alphas we would have to be in different packs…”
“Okay…betas it is,
then.”
*****
The
memory faded as Liam closed the door, a hint of moisture in his eyes as he
relived that day playing with his cousin. She had been so happy as a child, with
her infectious laughter, and her fierce determination to be the best in everything
she did. It hurt him to experience the moment, knowing that his beautiful
cousin was so different now.
“I
was an only child and we lived in a secluded region. I never had anyone to play
with when I was little. Thank you for sharing that memory with me.”
Reasa’s
quiet words twisted his heart painfully. He wanted to reach out and soothe her,
but knew it was much too soon and she wouldn’t accept any solace from him just
yet. He felt hopeful that she had chosen to share something of her own past
with him. It was a beginning.
He moved
to another door, another memory from his past. He took a deep breath and opened
the dark blue door.
*****
The room was
dark, the compound silent in the early hours of the morning. Someone was crying;
someone was hurting so badly inside that it felt as if shards of glass were
scraping along his chest, gouging deeply. The weeping continued, anguish so
intense it was overwhelming, and all he could do was weep with her.
He tried to reach
out with his mind, tried to find a way inside—but he was too little and her
mind was strong. “Don’t cry,” he sobbed softly. “Please don’t cry. It will be
okay. Everything will be okay, I promise.”
Had she heard
him? He didn’t know but the sounds vanished swiftly and he was left alone in
his own mind as if she’d never been there. Liam scrubbed at the tears on his
face, rolled over in his bed, and gently rocked himself back asleep.
It was light when
he opened his eyes again and he could hear Mommy making breakfast. He headed
into the kitchen quietly, so quietly she didn’t hear him. Looking at his
mother, he saw she had a strange look on her face and the moment he saw her, he was
flooded by unfamiliar emotions again.
His heart hurt,
so much so, he started to cry.
“Liam, what’s
wrong, sweetie?”
Mommy picked him
up but it didn’t stop the pain. It didn’t stop the weeping that started again
inside his head, a dull muted sound that wouldn’t go away.
“My heart hurts,
Mommy,” he whispered into her neck. “It hurts so badly and it won’t stop.”
He could feel his
mommy’s fear as she felt his head and ran her hands over his body. He knew she
wouldn’t find anything because it wasn’t his pain he was feeling.
“Liam, tell me
where it hurts, honey,” she asked, as she took him into the sitting room and
sat on the sofa to cuddle him.
The sound of the
front door made Mommy sigh with relief. Daddy was instantly at her side, his
already weary expression turning to one of concern.
“What’s wrong
with him?” he asked urgently, touching his son’s forehead but unable to find a
fever.
Mommy bit her lip
and shook her head. “I don’t know. He just keeps saying it hurts and pointing
at his chest. I can’t find anything wrong with him though.”
“Liam, tell Daddy
what’s wrong,” his father coaxed, cradling his face in his hands gently.
“Hurts here,
Daddy,” Liam sniffed, his hand over his heart. “Always hurts here, but not this
bad. Help her, Daddy. You have to help her.”
Mommy and Daddy
shared puzzled looks as he tried to tell them what was wrong, his crying
becoming stronger as the cutting feeling grew worse and worse.
“Help who,
Liam?” Mommy asked gently. “Who does
Daddy need to help?”
Big tears rolled
down his face, his eyes pleading with them as he looked up at his parents.
“Aunt Freya,” he sobbed. “She hurts so bad, Mommy.”
*****
The
memory was a hard one to re-live. Liam wasn’t surprised to find his cheeks wet
as he closed the dark door. He had chosen that moment because he knew that
Reasa related to his aunt on a level he couldn’t understand. He wanted her to
see how important Freya was to him and just how overwhelmed he could become by
others emotions.
“You
were just a toddler at the time.” Reasa’s voice was barely audible and if he didn’t
have enhanced hearing, he might have missed the words.
“My
abilities were closely attuned to my family when I was younger. I always had a
special affinity with my aunt, in particular, and that was why I sensed her
pain so keenly at the time. It was as I grew older that everyone else’s
emotions began to overwhelm me and it became unbearable.”
His
hand touched another doorknob; this gateway a darker blue it was almost black.
“My deepest shame,” he whispered, before throwing it wide open.
*****
He screamed over
and over, as his young body thrashed wildly in the hospital bed. “Make them
stop! Make them stop! Make them stop! Make them stop! Make them stop…!”
“Mallen, do
something!” His mother screamed, as she held him down on the bed, nearly
blinded by the tears running down her face. “Liam, I’m here, darling. Mommy’s
here!”
“I gave him
enough sedative to knock out a full grown Were,” the doctor said, his tone
frantic. “Rafe, I don’t want to give him any more. It could put him into
cardiac arrest!”
“Annie?” The deep
baritone of his Alpha filled the room, followed by the musical lilt of his
sister’s voice.
“I can’t reach
him. His shields are too strong, but there’s also something wrong with them.
He’s keeping me from psychically entering his mind and yet, he appears unable
to construct a defence against pure emotion. I believe he’s feeling every
emotion within the pack and most certainly the full impact of all of our emotions
in this room. We need to get everyone out and as far away from him as we can.”
“I’m not leaving
my son!”
Mommy was crying
and her heart was hurting as badly as Aunt Freya’s had once hurt. He could feel
his Aunt in the room and he reached out for her because she was the only one
who felt cool, where everyone else was burning hot.
“Liam?”
“Make them stop,
Aunt Freya. Make them stop!”
“Everyone leave
the room…now!” His aunt bodily picked up his mother up from the bed as she
fought against her. “Ashleigh, your terror is leaking all over him, you have to
leave now. I will protect him, but you have to go!”
He curled up, and
covered his ears with his hands in an attempt to make everything go away. The feelings
subsided a little and he could think a bit more coherently. He could hear his
aunt talking to the doctor, could distinguish their conversation.
“The safe room
may be a better place to put Liam.”
“You think he’s
going rogue?”
“No, Mallen, I
was thinking there may be some benefit to the padded room being some kind of
external buffer to the emotions he’s being subjected to. No nephew of mine will
ever go rogue. Not as long as I live.”
“That may work.
I’ll talk to Rafe.”
The emotions
muted a bit more, and then lethargy overcame him. Now that he
wasn’t being overloaded with emotions, the sedative the doctor gave him was
finally able to take effect. Liam sank down
into a deep oblivion.
When his eyes
opened again, he was in the safe room. They’d all seen it before, their Alpha showed
them every aspect of pack life, including the fact that sometimes Weres turned
rogue and had to be locked away for both their own safety, and that of innocent
people. Had he turned rogue? Was that why they’d moved his hospital bed into
the safe room?
Liam rose slowly
and surveyed his fifteen-year-old reflection in the two-way mirror. There was a
wildness to his gaze that frightened him, but apart from that he felt as if he
was sane enough. In the back of his mind, he could still feel the pack’s
emotions but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been before, when he felt as if
his head would burst.
The door to the
room opened and Elina stepped inside. She was on the cusp of turning from child
into a young woman, but the expression in her eyes made her appear much older.
Her customary smile was missing, and in her eyes was a bleakness that he could
see but couldn’t sense.
“Elle? What’s
wrong?”
“You almost died,
Liam,” she answered in a voice that was devoid of all emotion. “You were able
to reach out to Mother and it was enough that the doctor was able to get you
sedated and bring you here. It helped for a little while, but then you went
wild again.”
He frowned at
her, fear coursing through his body. “I don’t remember anything after the
hospital room. What did I do?”
“It doesn’t
matter. You didn’t hurt anyone apart from yourself and you have healed.” Elina
moved to sit down on the side of the bed and he followed her. He reached
out to sample her emotions as he sat down beside her. He knew it
probably wasn’t a wise thing to do, but her lack of inflection was starting to
concern him. He didn’t like seeing his cousin so serious.
“I’m shielded too
tightly for you to feel anything,” she said quietly, turning her intent gaze on
his. “Whatever help Mother was at the beginning quickly wore off, Liam.
Everyone was certain we were losing you. I snuck down one night to see you because I
couldn’t bear to be apart from you any longer.” Her voice faltered and for a
moment he thought she wouldn’t continue, then she took a deep breath and let it
out slowly. “You were hurting yourself. You were in wolf form and you were
biting at your own paws…you were trying to chew them off.”
Her voice had
dropped to a whisper, and for a glimmer of a moment, he felt a strong surge of
pain and then it vanished as quickly as it had come.
“I couldn’t let
you do that. I couldn’t let you hurt yourself. I opened the door and came in,
even though I’d been warned to stay outside and call an adult if you needed
help. I did the only thing I could think of: I just threw my arms around you. I
could feel you in my head, screaming relentlessly. It hurt my head, so I tried
to push you out and something snapped into place. The adults think it may have
been something to do with the fact that we connected before I was born. The
shield I used protected me, but it also strengthened your own shield. When we
are connected like this, I can help keep the overload at bay.”
Shock rippled
through him, his astonishment so profound that for a moment he couldn’t quite
grasp what she was telling him. Now that she’d mentioned the connection, he
could feel her nestled quietly inside his head. Her presence wasn’t intrusive
in any way; she wasn’t reading his thoughts or anything. She was just there,
right where he imagined his mental barriers to be.
What he did
notice was the utter calm she projected. He felt something similar around his
aunt when she contained her emotions, but nothing nearly as strong as what he
felt around his cousin. As his astonishment subsided, it was replaced by a
dawning realisation….
“Elle, if you’re
protecting me all of the time, then what about you?”
Big eyes met his
and for another moment, the barriers she held wavered; he felt a shaft of pure
love radiating outwards before it was cruelly extinguished in the next
heartbeat.
“Aside from my
parents, there is no one I love more than you, Liam. You are my family, my
cousin, the brother I’ve never had. You have always protected me, always
welcomed me into your life. You’ve never once chased me away because I’m
younger than you or a girl, even now when you’ve started thinking about girls
and what you can get up to with them. Now, I can finally do something for you,
to repay everything you’ve ever done for me.”
“No! Elle! Not
this!” Despite trying to hold them back, his eyes filled with tears as the full
impact of what his beautiful cousin was willing to do crashed over him in a
wave of despair. “You can’t sacrifice yourself for me, Elina. You just can’t.”
“It is only a
sacrifice if I achieve nothing from it,” she smiled, but there was no warmth in
the tilting of her lips. “I can’t lose you, Liam, I just couldn’t stand it if
you were no longer in my life. This way I get to keep you and you get a chance
at living a normal life.”
Liam was shaking
his head, oblivious to his tears, and determined that she wouldn’t do this
thing. “Your parents will never allow it. Rafe won’t allow it. When they find
out what you’re doing…”
“They already know,
Liam. There have been endless meetings about the subject. They’ve covered every
possible angle and this is the only one that works. Mother said I am old enough
to make my own decisions and Father has reluctantly agreed to it. I think they have
realised my shields are too strong for them anyway, and they know there is
nothing they can do to prevent it.”
“Elle...Elle,
your beautiful smile…your laughter I love so much. You can’t give that up for
me, not for anyone.” There was desperation in his voice as he gripped her hands
hard, trying to get her to see sense.
“Then work on
your shields, Liam. Work as hard as you can and one day you will hear my
laughter again. For this moment though, keeping you sane is the most important
thing and my mind will not be swayed from this course of action.”
He could see the
truth in her eyes and knew there was nothing he could say that would dissuade
her. Gathering his beautiful cousin in a bear-like hug, Liam wept...for both of
them…
*****
“I
should have argued more,” Liam sobbed, as he bowed his head to hide his shame.
“I should have refused her, but the peace she brought to my soul was a balm I
never thought I would ever experience. She gave up too much for me. I wasn’t
worth that kind of sacrifice, not when I have gone on to do such terrible
things.”
“A
person’s worth is not how they perceive themselves but how others do. Elina
clearly loves you, as do your parents and your pack.” There was a healthy dose
of respect in Reasa quiet words, as well as a slight catch.
Liam
turned his tear-stained face to look at her, but she was staring straight
ahead, her eyes dry.
“I
don’t want to do this anymore,” he ground out, leaving the psychic plane and
opening his eyes. He was shocked to see his hands resting on top of the book,
Reasa’s smaller hands wrapped around his.
She
removed them, meeting his gaze with a neutral expression. “We need to continue
what we’ve started. We need to heal the fragments of your soul before we can
move on.”
