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  Grabbing my phone, I did the first thing I always do when I wake up… check my text messages. Most people think that getting up to pee is the first task in the morning, but with technology overpowering us more and more every day, I bet that statistic has changed.

  A huge smile spread across my face as I noticed a text message from Jonah.

  I’m so glad I got to know you better yesterday, Ella. Feel free to call me when you wake up.

  Before I responded to him, I knew I had to get up and start my morning.

  As I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, I realized I couldn’t hear my mom. Usually her thoughts were louder than anyone else around me. Peeking down the hall towards her bedroom door, I noticed it was open, which probably meant she wasn’t in there. Within moments, I found a note hung to the refrigerator door letting me know she had a few errands to run and would be back after lunch.

  “That’s odd,” I said out loud. She usually always took me with her wherever she went. Not that she had to take me with her, but she usually always chose to. She said she didn’t like to be alone and the company made her happy. As soon as the thought hit my head, a huge grin spread across my face. I hope a man is the reason she chose to go without me today.

  As the water for my tea increased its temperature in the kettle, I pulled my phone from my robe pocket and thumbed for Jonah’s number. My stomach jumped with the anticipation of hearing his voice.

  “Hey beautiful,” the sexy voice on the other end said with a slight breathlessness, like he had to run for the phone.

  My perma-grin was only visible to myself as I looked at my reflection in the microwave’s glass door. “Good morning, Jonah. Did I call at a bad time?”

  “No, of course not. I was just loading the kiln with some larger pieces. The result of a workshop I hosted last week. The pieces aren’t heavy, they’re just very tall, which makes them difficult to keep them steady while loading,” he paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “What have you been up to this morning?”

  “I actually just woke up. I usually never sleep this late,” I admitted.

  “Did I wear you out last night?” he teased.

  “Something like that,” I responded as the kettle started to whistle. I quickly pressed the phone to my shoulder and rescued the boiling water from the burner.

  “Tea, huh? This may be a bit forward of me, but mind if I come over for a cup?” I froze. I definitely wanted him to come over, but I was certainly not ready. Heck, I still needed a shower! “I’m sorry for inviting myself. You can say no. I would really like to see you though,” he disclosed with a bit of bashfulness in his tone.

  “Oh, I don’t mind. I would love for you to come over. I’m just not showered or dressed yet. I was contemplating how quickly I could make myself presentable,” I said as I hesitated and bit my lip. “I want to see you too, Jonah.”

  “Aw, hell. I’m sure you’re as beautiful as ever. I know I’m not much to look at after loading this kiln all morning. Plus, it’s just a cup of tea, right?”

  “Right,” I agreed as I turned the burner on low and darted to my room for some rescue clothes. I’ll be damned if he sees me in my robe.

  “Great. I’ll see you in ten,” the distant voice said over the phone with a grunt, probably due to loading another piece in the kiln.

  “I’ll be here.” Hanging up the phone and throwing it on my bed, I frantically searched my closet for something comfortable to throw on. Choosing my signature jeans and a black tank, I quickly got dressed.

  As I threw my messy curls up in a ponytail, I suddenly felt lightheaded and had to grasp at the side of the dresser for support. Ever since I woke up in the hospital, I’ve had to deal with overcoming this weakness that plagued my body. It seemed whenever my heart rate increased and I tried to be more active, my muscles would give up rather quickly and I would find myself on the floor more often than not. Plus, I really pushed my limits yesterday with all the walking and then certain forbidden activities with Jonah.

  “Get a grip, Ella,” I scolded with a few deep breaths, attempting to calm myself enough to regain my balance.

  In no time at all, Jonah’s knock on the front door had my heart sprinting out of my chest yet again.

  Chapter Six

  Standing on the porch was the most beautiful artist I have ever laid eyes on. Jonah looked the part in his clay-stained cargo pants and sweaty black shirt that hugged every ripple of his slender, yet toned, body. He wasn’t overly muscular. His body was the perfect combination of muscle and meat. Good enough to sink my teeth in to.

  “Hey,” he said as he stepped into the doorway, closing the space between us with a sultry look on his face. You know I can hear your thoughts, right? he pushed, letting me know he heard my overly uninhibited biting fantasy.

  I just gaped at him with wide eyes as he backed me up against the wall, splaying both of his hands against the hard surface on either side of my head. Staring directly into those piercing emerald eyes, I couldn’t help but want to taste him.

  Slowly, I shut my eyes and closed the gap between us, molding my lips to his in a gentle, passionate kiss. His hands left the wall and found my face as he returned my caress.

  Open your eyes, Orella. I need to see you, Jonah projected.

  Never breaking our hold on each other, I did as I was told, opening my eyes to see him staring at me intently. His tongue pushed past my lips. His taste exploded like pop rocks in my mouth. I couldn’t help it—my eyes rolled to the back of my head and fluttered shut with the decadent feel of his tongue against mine.

  With a pop of our lips and a dramatic exhale from my chest, Jonah broke our embrace, breathing heavily as he held my face in his hands. Needing the feel of his arms around me, I slowly brought my face to his chest, burying my cheek against his strong muscles and wrapping my hands around his back.

  Holding onto me with a gentle touch, he said, “Ella, I’m all sweaty and nasty. I probably reek.”

  “Mmm. You smell good,” I mumbled against his chest as I closed my eyes and squeezed him tighter.

  I felt his body rumble with laughter. “Somehow, I doubt that.”

  “You do.” I landed several small pecks against his chest before pulling away to look up at his handsome face. “Tea?”

  “What?”

  “Tea. You came over for some tea, right?”

  “Oh, yeah. Somehow, I think my mind became distracted with other more important things than tea,” he said as he smiled and placed a small peck on my lips. “Mind if I go to the bathroom and wash up first?”

  “Of course not. It’s just down the hall,” I said as I separated my body from his and pointed toward the bathroom. “I’ll be in the kitchen. Do you like milk in your tea?”

  “Just a bit, thanks.”

  As I busied myself with the tea bags, I imagined what it would be like to wake up next to Jonah in the morning. I bet I would never want to leave the bed. My thoughts then led to my dream last night. It would be embarrassing to have such a vivid and twisted dream like that and have to explain it to him when I woke up.

  The thought that Jonah’s concentrated stare could comfort me so much was a relief to the horrible imagery of the dream. I still wondered what it meant and why Divinus seemed to keep popping in my subconscious when I’ve never met the man before. The fact that he would hurt Jonah right in front of me was unnerving. Yet the look of pity on his face was the exact opposite of his brutal actions, which caused all kinds of confusion to swim in my head.

  Jonah suddenly appeared across the room, clearing his throat and startling me. I whipped around and felt like I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar.

  “What were you just thinking about?” he asked as he slowly stepped toward my frozen body, which was now pressed up against the counter.

  “Oh, nothing,” I said, attempting nonchalance as I waved my hand in the air haphazardly and broke eye contact with him.

  “It wasn’t nothing, Ella. I can see and hear your thought
s clear as day when I’m this close to you. I can see what you see. Feel what you feel. You’re frightened and you seem to have an image of my father in your mind. What’s wrong?” he finally asked as he gently hooked a finger under my chin and brought my eyes to meet his.

  Damn. My weakness.

  “Really, Jonah. It’s some stupid dream I had. I don’t mind telling you, but can we go sit out on the deck out back? I’d love to start enjoying this beautiful day,” I coaxed, hoping to at least bask in the sun while I told him of my twisted nightmares.

  “I think we should know by now that our dreams deserve more merit than we give them,” he said honestly. Tilting his head toward the French doors leading to the deck, he added, “C’mon. Let’s go talk about this dream.”

  Grabbing our now lukewarm cups of tea, we headed out back where the mid-morning sun shimmered through the trees, casting shadows among the patio furniture and making the temperature perfect for dream confessions.

  “Okay, I’m just going to spit it out because I actually do think the dream means something—I just don’t know what,” I said as I sat in the chaise lounge and gestured for him to sit with me. Luckily, the chaise was just big enough for the both of us if we snuggled close, which is exactly why I chose this spot.

  “Trust me, sweets, I should know more than anyone how dreams can overtake your thoughts. So, I know we can look at it from all angles and see if it really means anything,” he assured me with a light peck on my forehead.

  “Well, my dream started out at a very fast pace, but also very disorienting. I was in some sort of maze. You know those mazes made of nothing but tall bushes? It was like that. I felt like I was running away from something, but I didn’t know what. I was in a lot of pain. Mostly my legs, but also my chest and head were hurting, too. After touching my head, I realized I was bleeding, but it didn’t scare me as much as it would have in real life.

  “After continuing to run for what seemed like forever, my legs and chest were hurting so bad, I thought I wouldn’t be able to carry myself much further. Each breath I took was like a stabbing pain in my chest,” I said as I grabbed onto the area of my chest that hurt.

  At the same moment, Jonah winced and drew in a sharp breath. “Like you broke a rib?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I guess so. Can you feel this as I explain it?”

  He nodded as he confirmed, “Yes. You’re feeling the pain as you describe it, Ella. Goddamnit, that hurts!” As he winced once more, I consciously felt the need to back off on the physical description of the pain I felt.

  “I’m sorry, Jonah. I’m not trying to hurt you, I promise.”

  “I’m just amazed you were able to put up with this type of pain in a dream. I’m about to double over and you’re just explaining it as if you’re barely feeling a thing,” he said as he started to sit up some.

  I pushed him down and breathed in a few deep breaths, calming myself and attempting to get rid of any thoughts of pain from my mind. “Shhh. Just relax. Breathe. Look at me and breathe.” I cooed.

  Jonah looked right into my eyes and immediately began to ease the tension in his muscles. I gave him a light peck on the cheek as I said, “I won’t continue. I’m sorry.”

  “No. I need you to tell me this. Obviously this was a serious dream if you were in that much pain,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “But, I if I think of all that happened in my dream, you’ll likely feel it too. I can’t stand to see you hurting.”

  “The only thing that could hurt me right now is losing you, Ella. If there’s something important in your subconscious, both of us need to know. I’ll be fine,” he said as he thumbed my cheek and nodded for me to continue.

  “All right. I’ll try my best to keep the pain part out of my description,” I said as I turned slightly and snuggled back against his chest. “So, as I thought I wouldn’t be able to run any further, I saw the green bushes begin to dwindle down, showing white walls in their place. It was still a maze, but it was now nothing but white all around. I had to feel my way along the walls just to find the corners.”

  Taking a moment to breathe, I paused and pressed my ear to his chest—the sound of his heartbeat grounding me enough to continue explaining my dream.

  “Unable to carry myself another step further, I collapsed to the hard white surface of the ground. When I looked up, I saw nothing but white all around me, but it didn’t seem like there were actually any walls in sight. My surroundings were only a vast white space of nothing. Attempting to get up, I buckled again and noticed I was pale, bruised, and… um… not wearing any clothes. Well, you get the idea…”

  “Boy, do I,” Jonah said with a light chuckle. I just playfully swatted his chest, knowing if he could truly see the same image I was thinking of, he was now staring down at my nakedness.

  “All right, perv. You get a free pass just this once!” I exclaimed.

  “God, you’re beautiful,” he avowed as he pulled me to him and devoured my mouth.

  I pushed myself away and said, “Enough of that for a moment, or I’ll never get this damn dream off my chest.”

  “Wow, and what a beautiful chest it is, too,” he said with a wag of his brows.

  “Damn it, Jonah!” I yelled as I swatted him once more, this time a bit harder than the last.

  “Okay, Ella. I promise. I’ll be good… for now.”

  “Thank you. So, anyway… where was I? Oh… So, looking up around the room again, I see a man in a long, white coat. Kind of like a doctor’s coat. When he turned around, it was your father.”

  “How do you know what my father looks like?” Jonah asked with sincere curiosity.

  “Because, he was also in my dream… err… coma. He came to my house wanting to meet me before you and I went out for the first time. But, that’s a story for another day. In this particular dream from last night, your father walked over to me with a fierce determination that frightened me. I was so desperate for help that I tried to reach out to him. But when I tried to move, I realized I was now secured to a platform of some sort. My arms and legs were bound and the pain was still radiating through my entire body, but mostly…”

  “Yeah, your legs. Fuck!” Jonah groaned as he sat forward and grasped onto the lower part of his right quad.

  I closed my eyes and took several more deep breaths, clearing my mind of all pain. I can do this. I can describe this dream without the pain.

  “I’ll try to finish up quickly and pain free, Jonah. So, Divinus approached me. He was all gray, like a black and white photograph and even though he frightened me, he had this look of pity in his eyes. Then, you walked in. The only color I could discern was the green of your eyes. Looking at you didn’t really take away all the pain, but it made it more bearable. Like, you were giving me strength to deal with it. You stood next to your father and me, but it was like you were meeting me for the first time. I didn’t see any sort of recognition in your eyes, only approval. You kept staring, looking deep into my eyes, and nodding to me as if you were giving your father permission for something to happen. Before I knew it, Divinus slashed your wrists, causing your blood to poor all over my naked skin.”

  My heart rate sped up at the memory of how his blood felt against my skin. How each drop singed the surface of my body and sent shockwaves straight to my heart.

  Sitting so close to Jonah, I could feel his heart increase right along with mine. I gently placed my hand on his chest and looked up at him.

  “You get it, right?” I asked as a lone tear trickled down my cheek.

  He nodded and clutched my hand, securing it to his chest before saying, “Yeah, I get it. I feel it. And I know why you think this dream is so significant.”

  “Tell me. Tell me why,” I whispered.

  “Because our hearts beat together. It’s as if our blood is entwined with each other. I can only feel it when I’m touching you, but it’s very clear there is a more intimate connection between us than just our dreams, Ella.”

  I just nodded an
d forced a small smile on my face. I was relieved he felt as strongly as I did, but confusion still wracked my brain as to why we were so connected.

  “I think I might know why,” Jonah added, stunning me completely silent.

  Chapter Seven

  I felt like I could jump out of my skin with the mixture of emotions that were playing tug-of-war with my mind. He knows why our pulse just sped up in rhythm with each other and he’s sitting there like he’s talking about the weather? I’m almost freaking out over this dream and he’s calm as can be. Doesn’t he feel how intensely anxious I am over this?

  I sat up quickly and turned my entire body to face him, straddling the chaise and forcing him to do the same. We now sat facing each other and stared into one another’s eyes. Oh, how I could get lost in his eyes.

  Focus, Ella, and listen to the man!

  “Now, wait. Don’t get too excited, because I’m not sure if this is related to anything. Although, now that I think back, I can’t believe it took me this long to put the pieces together,” he said as he looked down with a pensive expression crossing his face.

  “Quit stalling, Jonah. What do you think it is? What do you think it means?” I babbled, unable to control my restless curiosity.

  “Calm, Ella. You’re making my heart pound like a conga drum. I can feel my pulse racing through my ears. Just calm down and breathe,” he soothed.

  “Okay, sorry. I’m calm. I promise.” I said with false conviction as I bounced around inside my skin. Get on with it, Jonah!

  “All right. I think it was the day before your accident, but it might have been the day of… my dad asked me to donate blood.” I covered my mouth with my hand as he continued, already speculating what he was about to say. “My blood type is O negative, which can be used for transfusions with any other blood type. What was odd about this day is, my dad usually forbade me to donate blood… ever. He said if a human were to be transfused with a Soul-Seer’s blood, it could cause adverse effects, but he’s never gone into great detail about it. So, when out of the blue he asked me to donate blood, I only assumed it was for another Soul Seer, but I knew better than to question him about it. I’m a little fuzzy on the exact understanding about blood transfusions between Soul Seers, but it is my comprehension that a blood transfusion is strictly forbidden between our kind—no matter what the situation is. It’s got to do with something about the Soul Seer’s abilities being strengthened by combining the blood of another Soul Seer with their own. Then again, if a Soul Seer receives a blood transfusion from a human, it could cause their abilities to weaken or become non-existent altogether—which would suck hard-core. So, regardless of the understood rule, I’m not surprised my dad would have chosen to break it in order to save you. But, I’ve been dreaming of you ever since that day. So, this whole scenario just makes sense. The fact he didn’t tell me after all these years, especially knowing about my dreams, just pisses me off.”