Her Mortal Mate

Chapter Twenty One: Reunited

Adam

As I drifted out of sleep, I could feel every part of my body aching.

It took me a moment to realize I was no longer sitting in a hard, cold metal chair. Instead, I was laying down on a rather comfortable bed. There were sheets covering me. Everything felt and seemed too real to be a dream. I was in too much pain to be dead.

Taking a deep breath, I ascertained I wasn't in a hospital because there was always a specific smell to that kind of environment. Not to mention all the noise as well from the machines in the rooms.

Where I was, it was too silent.

Curiously, I blinked open my eyes and found myself staring up at an unfamiliar blurry white ceiling with a dark fan. Dim light from the curtained window lit the room.

Where was I?

I remembered being captured by the wolves. I remembered the uncomfortable ride down to SoCal. Then they placed me in a container at a shipyard where they proceeded to hook me up to an IV drip with ... Demons blood? That's why my entire body was aching. Hell! I was sure every single cell in my body was affected by that poison.

But, how was I awake?

How had I survived?

I should have died in that container…

It took me a few moments longer to recall the fuzzy images of Garret walking into the container, along with several other unfamiliar faces. As he was telling me I was safe and would survive--because he was giving me the antidote to the demons blood--I'd blacked out.

Garret!

That meant Jadea was here!

I tried to sit up, but my body didn't respond to the command. My body jerked, but that was about all it did and pain lanced through my body, making me groan. Right as I did that, though, a hand on mine registered and an instant later, her head popped up off the bed. Even through my bad eyesight, I knew it was her. Jadea had been sleeping in a chair next to the bed, her head resting on the edge, her hand holding mine. She retreated and then returned, gently sliding on a pair of glasses.

“Briar found these from your apartment,” she explained gently. “I hope they are okay?”

They were my back up pair of glasses and they were perfect!

I blinked a few times to bring my gaze into focus and when I did, those big light green eyes--as startled as they looked still had a haze of sleep in them--met and held mine and in their depths I saw everything. I saw the pain and panic she'd gone through trying to save me. I saw her relief. Her love. But there was also a wariness there that hadn’t been before. Tears welled in the depths of her eyes and she launched herself at me, wrapping me up in a huge hug.

I hadn’t realized how much I had needed that. How much I’d needed her. It took a lot of effort and concentration to wrap my arms around her, but deep in my chest I felt the calmness and relief settle in.

She was here.

I tried holding onto her tighter, but my body was so weak.

And then she jerked away, an odd look on her face. It was strange seeing such confusion and uncertainty in her expression. She bit her bottom lip—hard enough I was afraid she would break skin—and shifted nervously to sit on the edge of the bed, out of my reach. "I-I'm sorry," she muttered, those large eyes of hers peering at me through the messy tendrils of white hair. She was still sporting that adorable pixie cut.

"Why?" I croaked, my mouth so dry I felt like I had cotton mouth.

She instantly reached for a cup of water on the bedside table and helped me drink it. She was stalling as she fussed over me. When she sat back down she blurted, "For everything! I-I don't know how I could have stopped this other than if I hadn't left you last year." Those big green eyes filled with tears again, and when I reached for her she shifted further away. Why was she keeping her distance? "And I don't even know if you were ready for me to come back into your life, yet here we are. If you never want to see me again, I completely understand," she rambled, her hands wringing. I'd never seen her so unsettled.

"Jadea," I started, interrupting her gently. If I could just tell her I'd been intending to go to her last concert to see her, that I'd wanted to pursue a life with her, maybe I could calm her down.

"You probably hate me," she rambled on, not processing my interruption as she shifted on the bed. Her legs dangled over the edge, her back turned halfway towards mine, her head down. "I-I can..." As she rambled off about how she could ensure my family was protected by relocating us and providing us with new identities, I realized this was the first time I'd seen her so riled and heard her stutter. It broke my heart--

"W-Wait!" I snapped, my mind registering something she'd said. "Family?" I asked for clarification. My heart beat out a painfully hopeful rhythm. "B-But th-they'd told me they'd k-killed ..." I couldn't say their names, my throat closed off with tears and pain. The terror and ache in my chest felt so real and hurt so bad, I pressed a hand against my chest wondering if it had been flayed open.

Her eyes turned into these huge round saucers, and then anger overtook them. Pursing her lips she looked away and took several deep breaths. I didn't know what she was battling but when her gaze returned to mine, she was calmed back down. Only a deep determination remained. "Come! We need to get you cleaned up."

Before I could demand answers, she had me up and the pain took what little breath I had away. It took everything I had to focus on moving. She tucked herself under my arm and helped me to the Jack-and-Jill bathroom where she helped me do even the most basic of things. Several minutes later, she'd sat me on a stool and whipped out her makeup bag. Looking in the mirror, I saw the large purple rings under my eyes and my color was off.

I looked like hell. A walking corpse. Hell, I even scared myself!

"It's from the demons blood," she explained, quickly dabbing foundation on me with some kind of makeup tool. "It affects everyone differently, though it is a deadly poison to mortals," she rambled. "You're very lucky to have survived," she muttered softly, emotionally under her breath.

"Jadea," I said sternly.

"Almost done," she interjected quickly, not meeting my gaze as she reached for a few other items in her magical bag. I knew what kind of sorcery she could weave with makeup. I'd seen her transform her entire band into completely different and unrecognizable characters so they could go out into the world without being recognized.

"Jadea," I said with more strength behind my tone, my fingers closing around her wrists with some force. "Just stop," I told her forcefully. Why wasn't she giving me a chance to speak? What was she so afraid of?

That wary look overcame her features again and she looked nearly ready to bolt.

"What are you afraid of?" I softly asked her. I desperately wanted to know what she'd meant about my family, but this seemed more important in the moment. This was the underlying issue to everything, and I felt I needed to get this solved before anything else.

She swallowed hard and I felt her retreat into herself. She bravely held my gaze, though as she finally admitted to what was bothering her. "I'm afraid you'll reject me," she whispered. "I'm afraid of losing you. Again." She broke, tears streaming down her face as sobs began to wrack her frame. "I-I almost lost you already. But, I'm terrified you'll want nothing to do with me. I truly do understand if this is the reality of the situation that has come about. I-I just wasn't ready to hear it from ... You." Her proud shoulders drooped and I felt my own heart breaking before softening and warming at her words.

I pulled her closer and pressed my lips firmly against hers.

At first she was surprised, but then she relaxed into me.

An immediate bolt of lightning shot through my system at the connection and fire spread through my body at an alarming rate. I'd forgotten just how intense our connection was. It only took seconds and then she slanted her mouth more comfortably over mine, taking the lead.

Surprisingly, she broke away first, those beautiful eyes of hers outlined in wet lashes.

"On the night I was taken, I'd been intending on attending your concert," I said softly in the space between us. Even though it took a lot of effort, I couldn't help but reach up and caress her cheek, her lips. I needed to feel her skin, to know she was indeed real. "I'd been intending on asking if it was still possible to be together. I was ready to come home, Jadea. I was ready to come home to you."

She licked her lips nervously, her gaze hopeful and scared. "Is that something you still want?"

"Yes. Desperately," I whispered fiercely against her lips, once again capturing them in a searing and emotionally charged kiss. Her fingers dug into my hair gently as she held onto me, as if she was afraid to let me go. My arms loosely banded around her waist, pulling her further into me.

"Jadea," Garret's voice carried into the bathroom from the bedroom. "It's all set up for you."

"Thank you!" she pulled away so she could look down on me. She did a quick once over and then nodded. "You'll do."

"Jadea?" I asked her curiously. What was she up to?

"Come," she encouraged, her familiar, bright smile lighting her face. "I have a surprise for you."

Before I could ask her, she'd ducked under my arm and had me up and moving once again. The pain took my breath away and I was left out of breath when she plopped me gently into the chair at the small table in the corner of the room. A laptop was left there, halfway closed.

Taking the other seat to my right, she quickly pushed it open and clicked a few buttons before turning the screen towards me.

The sight I saw on the screen knocked the air out of my lungs and the despondent emptiness I'd felt ever since I'd been told of my children's fates melted away and was replaced by a surge of overwhelming happiness and joy. Tears streamed down my face as Aidan's and Anika's voices yelled my name excitedly.

She had saved my children! They were alive!

I desperately wanted to reach through the screen and hug them, to hold them. I blubbered a few words, but mostly listened to their heavenly voices as they told me what they were doing with Mrs. Lindsay and Jadea's father, Lucien. I allowed their love, laughter and happiness to seep through the screen and heal me in ways I didn't know I'd needed. I honestly couldn't tell you everything they said, their sweet voices fell away as peace and so many other emotions settled in my heart and soul. As they continued to talk, I turned to Jadea. I wanted to tell her exactly what this meant, but by the look on her tearful face she already knew and understood the importance of this insurmountable gift she'd given me.