Chapter Twenty Two
Talia
Pain ripples through my abdomen for what feels like the millionth time. I shut the shower off and wrap myself in a towel before it becomes debilitating again.
I slept terribly for hours here on the bathroom floor, but they moved me to the bed at some point.
I woke up to find Vaughn, Diego, Laurent, and Caine lying on the floor around the room, like they were guard dogs taking a little nap.
I sat up, and all of their eyes snapped open like they were ready to fight someone to the death.
For the last hour, I’ve been trying to draw out the forced pleasure with boiling hot water. I figure if he can feel me, too, maybe that will help ground him if he knows it’s coming from me. But now the pain is back, so I need to be somewhere I can’t collapse and hurt myself.
Once I am dressed, the pain is still dull, so I walk out and find Diego waiting for me.
“Feel any better?” he asks, motioning for me to turn.
I do, and he grabs my brush off the dresser to start brushing through the knots in my hair.
I feel slightly more human having a shower and pulling on clean clothes.
“Yeah,” I admit. “It’s just a dull pain now.”
“Well, let’s get some food in you before it comes back,” he says as he braids my hair.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Braiding your hair. It will help keep the knots out, and it won’t get in your way,” he tells me. God, they’re amazing friends. They are the family I wish I had.
“Thanks,” I say, nearly at a whisper.
“That’s what you do for family,” he says. I have to question for a moment whether he can read my mind.
When we get downstairs, I join everyone on the couch, and Vaughn hands me a plate.
This time it’s eggs, buttered grits with salt and pepper, and fruit.
No toast. I am able to force myself to eat more today, but only because I have things to do.
I have to plan and figure out what I am doing first, and how to get Soren back here safely without getting myself killed in the process.
About the time I am finishing my plate of food, a knock sounds at the front door. Every muscle in my body goes rigid, and Caine is already moving. Vaughn sets his coffee down, and Laurent closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose.
“What?” I ask.
No one answers. The knock comes again, three slow, deliberate knocks. It’s not impatient or threatening. It’s like a reminder, but an understanding that we will answer.
“Caine?” I ask, but he doesn’t say anything. “Why are y’all acting like you are covering for a serial killer right now?”
“Well, technically…” Laurent starts.
“Don’t finish that,” Diego groans.
The third knock echoes through the house, and I just stare at all of them. “Seriously, who is it?”
“The biggest pain in the ass any of us have ever met,” Vaughn mutters as he walks to the door. I follow to see who is here. When the door opens, the man standing on the porch looks completely ordinary. Like someone you’d forget about the moment you met him. Dark hair. Tall. A little older.
Rage instantly boils inside of me. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I growl.
“Hey, Tal,” Dad says as he cautiously steps into the house. The guys straighten, but it’s not out of fear or protectiveness, but out of respect.
“You know him?” I turn and snap at the others. “He’s dead. I watched him die.”
“You also watched Soren die,” Vaughn reminds me. “We didn’t realize he was your father until yesterday.”
“You fucking sold me,” I snap at my father.
“I know…” he says, still cautious and maintaining a distance from me. It’s almost like they warned him that there is a good chance I’ll shoot him, because I’d fucking love it.
The burning agony returns so abruptly that it catches me off guard.
I scream and collapse to my knees when the sharp, blistering pain stabs and twists in my belly.
It’s so unbelievably horrific that I curl myself in as I scream in pain.
Everyone comes to my side, except Dad. He keeps his distance, but says nothing.
I try to force myself into taking long, deep breaths as the waves of pain debilitate me.
When the pain slowly starts to fade, Vaughn helps me to the couch as Diego assists me in taking a sip of water.
“He’s alive,” Dad says. “Soren. He’s alive.”
“I know that,” I snap. “I’m really not in the fucking mood for you. You fucking sold me.”
“I know, and I know you are confused. Scared. Sad. I know… But believe me, Talia, I did what I had to do to make sure you survived long enough to find Soren.”
“What the fuck is even going on right now?” I shout. “Will someone just give me some fucking answers and stop treating me like I am fragile?”
“I’m a hybrid,” Dad says. “And your mother is the same witch who created Soren and now has him held captive with Henry.”
“Wait,” I say, sitting up a bit. “Hold on. If… But… That would make me… But I’m not…”
“Slow down,” Dad says gently. “You are a hybrid witch. A human, a vampire, and a witch. Being a witch helps suppress your vampire side, so you do not have to feed. All of that combined is why your bond with Soren is so strong.”
“Y’all knew?” I ask Vaughn.
“Yeah,” Vaughn confirms. “We suspected, but knew you didn’t know, so we hadn’t told Soren.”
“Does Micah know that?” I ask.
“I suspected it first,” Vaughn says. “I was doing some research on mates, and what I found didn’t match at all what Micah was telling you.
I wanted to make sure I had all of the information, but basically, humans don’t mate.
They’re human, and mating is a supernatural event.
They can in the sense of having a child with a hybrid or a witch, but true mates? Not a chance.”
“Why would Micah… Well, I guess that answers itself,” I mutter. “So… Fuck. Okay. Why did you fucking sell me, Dad?”
“Because I needed a reason to get you close to Soren without having to tell him that he was meeting his mate. Your mother has come back in several lifetimes and murdered his mates, so he avoided it. I knew that the only way to keep you and Soren alive was if you formed your bond,” Dad explains.
“Believe me, I fucking hated it. I really did. I will never truly forgive myself, no matter my reasoning.”
“Did you call in the hit on Ben?” Vaughn asks. “It sounded like bullshit when I read it, but we still took the contract.”
“Yeah,” Dad chuckles. “Ben is a fucking idiot.”
“Was,” I say.
“Was,” he agrees with a small smile. “I will make up for what I did and the hell I put you through, but right now…”
“Soren is the priority,” I say.
“What exactly do they want with him?” Vaughn asks.
“If Julie helped take him, then she’s likely trying to make him mortal,” Dad says.
“I know Micah has been helping her for decades. When I found out who she was regarding Soren, I killed her with the help of another witch. That made it to where she couldn’t come back until at least you found your mate, or twenty years. ”
“She’s been dead what… Like nineteen years?” I ask, and he nods. “Shit.”
“So I got into a bunch of debt with Henry, knowing I could connect Soren through a contract hit for whoever bought you,” he explains. “I didn’t expect him to slit my fucking throat, but he has no idea that I’m a hybrid. I doubt that she told him, because she is undoubtedly after your powers.”
“How could she take it?” I ask.
“By killing your mate and taking over your body,” he says. “It’s very dark and forbidden magic, but she’s been around so long that she can do it. It takes a lot of power to make a hybrid mortal, though, especially someone as strong as Soren.”
“Shit,” I say, panic starting to build inside of me. “They’re going to kill him?”
“What do we need to do to get him out of there?” Vaughn asks, rubbing my back.
“Honestly?” Dad asks. “Talia needs to be there.”
“Fuck no,” Diego snaps. “Soren will fucking kill us.”
“If he is turned mortal and dies, Julie will absolutely be able to take over Talia’s body, and the only way to stop her would be to kill both of them.”
“What do I need to do?” I ask.
“Whatever you have to do to prevent them from turning Soren mortal,” Dad says.
“They’re likely draining him of his energy and starving him.
That will put him into a coma, so he will need to be fed before you can get him out of there.
If you can get him fed enough, he will have enough strength to get away from her. ”
“Is it like a spell or something?” I ask.
“No, an injection,” he tells me. “I’ve seen it done a few times before, but there is a lot involved. If you can still feel his pain, they haven’t done it yet.”
“So what if I just take it?” I ask. “They can’t do shit if I destroy it.”
“Don’t get yourself killed trying, but yeah. If you can get it away from her, that would be best.”
“No, I’ll go through Henry,” I say. “I know how to manipulate him.”
“The sooner the better,” Dad says. “And when you get back…”
“When I get back, I’ll forgive you,” I say. “If this works, and you aren’t bullshitting me right now, all is forgiven.”
“I’m so sorry, Tal,” he says softly. “Watching him… That’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but… I can’t risk you dying. Not when you have so much life to live.”
“Are you sure about this?” Vaughn asks. “Soren will be pissed.”
“He can’t be pissed if he dies, so let’s give him a chance to be pissed,” I say.
“Okay,” Vaughn says with a sigh. I can tell they all hate it, but we all know it has to happen.
For a long time now, my life hasn’t been my own. I was told what to do and when to do it. I’ve been hurt in so many different ways, but this time… This time I can walk into it knowing that I put myself there. I chose this path. I have a reason to be here, and I know the way out of it.