Cancer: Book 5 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series) (13 page)

Chapter Sixteen

‘Are you sure you want to sit next to me?’ I asked Derek as he put his bag in the locker overhead.

We went ignored as everyone on the plane focused on Leo. He whinged about where he could put his guitar safely. I had told him to put it in the hold but he wasn’t having any of it. The poor stewardesses were trying hard not to upset him, especially because they fancied him.

‘Leo, put it in the overhead locker. Stop making such a fuss,’ Virgo said.

The flight had been booked last minute so they had seated Virgo and Leo a few rows behind us. I smiled and shook my head when Leo chatted up the woman. She walked past, holding the guitar. Obviously taking it to front of the plane. Leo had got his way. He always did.

‘I think I’ll survive,’ Derek said, folding himself into the seat next to me.

As everyone settled around us, we both sat rigid. I hadn’t apologised again, there was no point in going over it. He had hardly spoken to me since the night before but I wasn’t going to keep on.

‘I think your power is pretty cool,’ Derek whispered.

My gaze darted to him. He had a small smile on his face as he reached for a magazine in the seat pocket.

‘Do you?’

He nodded as he flicked through the pages but didn’t actually read anything. I glanced out at the runway but I couldn’t ignore him for long.

‘What does it look like?’

It was a strange question but I had often wondered. My siblings would have taken the piss if I had asked them but somehow I knew that Derek wouldn’t.

Shoving the magazine back, Derek turned towards me. He put his face near to mine so I moved in to hear what he had to say. It was a bit reckless talking about it on the plane but I wasn’t worried. If anyone heard, they would think we were making it up anyway.

‘You know in the films when people materialise out of liquid?’ he murmured.

Our noses almost touched. My gaze was glued to his as he spoke. His breath hit my face. I couldn’t help but smile.

‘Yes, I think so.’

The corners of his lips lifted. ‘Well, you look like that but the other way round. So you start solid, then you turn into a see-through thing.’

‘Thing?’ I laughed.

He chuckled. My heart lifted. It had been heavy for a while but the moment we shared was different somehow. It was nice to have a friend.

‘You know…when you can see through liquid but it’s still moving. Sort of like that.’

He reached forward. It took ages for his hand to reach mine. His mouth moved but slower than usual. I shook myself quickly. I couldn’t start to change on the plane.

‘Focus on me,’ he said. ‘Try to keep yourself solid.’

His words were muttered but I could hear them. Keeping my eyes on him, I imagined myself as a solid form. Everything returned to normal. The captain made the announcement that we would be taking off soon.

‘I don’t understand why this has started to happen.’ I moved my head away from him.

Derek’s fingers squeezed mine before he stood and pretended to rummage in his bag. He was actually checking everyone on the plane. His eyes travelled over every single individual seated around us. My head fell back onto my seat. I tried to shake off the feeling that had come over me.

‘Everything okay, sis?’ Leo said, leaning on the back of Derek’s seat.

The stewardess came storming down the aisle, gesturing at Derek and Leo to sit down. They weren’t supposed to be standing after the plane had started to move. They both did as they were told.

‘Not long until you’re back in the same country as Matt,’ Derek said.

Glancing at him, I frowned. ‘Did you not hear what he said in the car?’

Derek shrugged. ‘If you believe that he’s your soulmate, then surely you’ll be together.’

His hand clenched around the arms of the seat. His teeth gritted together. I could see it in the tightness of his jaw.

‘Don’t you like flying?’

He opened his mouth and then closed it again.

‘Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.’ I picked up the book that I had brought with me.

‘Nothing to do with flying. I just don’t like Matt.’

I didn’t look up from the page. My breath left my lungs as his words sunk in. It seemed that no one liked Matt. Why was that?

I ignored what he said and put the book away. I pulled out the journal that Pisces had given me. All along, she had told me to write everything down. Flipping open the book, I turned so that Derek couldn’t see what I had written, and started to read.

In my writing, I could instantly see that I was obsessed with Matt. He didn’t do this or he didn’t do that. Not one thing I said had anything to do with what I did or didn’t do. Matt had been right.

I traced my fingers over the splodges where my tears had hit the ink. I blamed him. I blamed everyone else but not once did I blame myself. To be fair, I hadn’t actually done anything. Maybe that was the problem.

‘Is that your writing?’ Derek asked.

I huffed as I closed the book quickly. I didn’t want to answer questions. It had been stupid to get it out in the first place.

‘I see straight through you,’ he said. ‘You think that this is everyone else’s fault. Yet, deep inside you know that you are partway responsible. But you can’t admit it, can you?’

I rested the book on my lap and stared out of the window. I chewed on my lip as I thought about his words. I didn’t want to be a victim.

‘One thing I have noticed…’ Derek spoke near my ear.

I didn’t jump, even though he was close. I had been skittish for weeks, yet, he didn’t make me jump.

‘Every single one of you is having to do this… Inner work crap… If you know what I mean? You’re having to look at yourselves and see how messed up you are.’

Something made me take hold of the journal and give it to him. He received it in his hand automatically but didn’t open it. This forehead furrowed as I went back to staring out of the window.

‘Why have you given me this?’

I shrugged, unsure of the answer to his question. I didn’t know what had made me hand it over, he wouldn’t want to read it anyway.

‘You can’t face yourself, can you? So you want me to face you instead.’ Derek cracked open the journal and started to read.

I clenched my hands into fists as I imagined what he was thinking. I had no idea what he was reading or what part of me he was seeing.

‘You worry about your hair too much.’

I started to laugh. Out of everything in the journal, I didn’t think that he would pick up on that. As I laughed, he glanced at me. I couldn’t help it, I couldn’t stop. He grinned, which made my heart start to pound.

‘And you’re not as in love with Matt as you think you are.’

His sentence stopped my humour abruptly. I licked my lips as I watched him read.

‘Are you going to elaborate on why you think that?’ I reached out and squeezed his arm when he ignored me.

He raised his eyebrows as he glanced down at my hand. I released him and sat back. He still didn’t say anything but I didn’t interrupt his reading when he went back to it.

‘Cancer!’ Leo called from behind.

The plane started to build speed as it hurtled down the runway. It wouldn’t be long until I was back in London. Back to the madness.

‘What?’ I called, hating to be one of those annoying families.

We shouldn’t draw attention to ourselves. Which was quite hard considering we had a six foot five, blonde haired, tattooed brother. Not only that, he was probably the most muscular man I had ever seen. Other than Aries and Scorpio. They matched him.

‘There’s a handsome man back here. I reckon you could hook up with him if you wanted to forget about Matt.’

I heard Virgo berating him. I couldn’t help the smile that came to my face. Especially when I looked at Derek and saw the horror on his. I was used to my brother’s antics. Not many people were.

‘Your brother’s worse than me,’ Derek said. ‘Do you want to know why I don’t think you love Matt?’

‘Cancer! Did you hear me?’ Leo shouted.

We were in the air now. I cringed as the seatbelt lights turned off. If I sunk down in my seat maybe no one would know I was with him.

‘There,’ Leo said, coming over to us. ‘A few rows back. He’s got brown hair, which you like. A bit of stubble, like Matt.’

I scowled at Leo as he leant on the back of Derek’s seat and pointed at the stranger.

‘Mate?’ Leo called. ‘Are you single? I have a sister who’s a bit heartbroken.’

Derek launched from his seat, spun towards Leo and grabbed his sleeveless shirt in his fist. ‘Will you shut up?’

‘Calm down.’ Leo frowned down at my bodyguard. ‘He just pointed at his girlfriend. Sorry, love!’ he shouted at the poor girl.

I covered my cheeks with my hands as they heated. The people in the seats opposite us watched the boys before staring directly at me. The stewardess came to see if there was a problem.

‘Of course not, darling,’ Leo purred. ‘I was just trying to set my sister up. She’s been abandoned by an arsehole, that’s all. This is her…friend. I’m not sure what’s wrong with him. You could take him away.’

I heard the slap before Virgo spoke. She had jumped out of her seat and hit Leo over the head. The stewardess wrung her hands together.

‘Derek, please sit down,’ I said, pulling on his sleeve.

Derek instantly stepped away from my brother and lowered himself back into his seat. Virgo and Leo hurried back to their aisle and settled down.

‘It’s okay. We’re all related.’ Derek waved towards the others.

I couldn’t see Leo’s reaction from where I was but he must’ve been friendly because the stewardess went on her way.

‘Did you want to hook up with that man?’ Derek asked.

I opened my arms in a ‘what the hell are you talking about?’ gesture. ‘Will you just tell me why you think I don’t love Matt?’

Derek shook his head as he opened the journal and started to read again. He glanced at me, pointing down at something I had written.

‘Here…you say that right from the beginning something felt off in your stomach.’

I shrugged. Why did that mean anything?

‘I’ve read a few pages and all you do is write about yourself. I’ve only actually seen Matt’s name once or twice. If you’re in love with him, surely you would think about how you two can be together more often. Instead of worrying about your home and family.’ Derek snapped the book shut.

‘Don’t you care about your family?’ I huffed.

Derek handed me the journal, sat back and closed his eyes. I was tempted to hit him with it. I studied his jaw. He had a tiny mole right on the space where it joined his neck.

‘Of course I care about my family. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I’m just saying that you need to relax a little. Enjoy life. Forget all about the…mission…or whatever it’s called,’ Derek said without opening his eyes.

Punching the top of his arm, I leant towards him when he looked at me. ‘Do you have any idea what it’s like to have this burden? To know that the whole world could disintegrate into evil if I don’t find the right man?’

His eyes roamed over my face, studying me just as I had him. ‘Of course I have no idea. I’m not one of you, am I? I’m just a bodyguard. You shouldn’t listen to what I have to say. I’m Derek. Everyone thinks I’m stupid.’

‘You’re not stupid.’ I sat back in my seat and took out my music player so I could drown him out. The last thing I wanted to do was argue all the way home.

My favourite song played as I shut out everyone on the plane and tried to block out all that he had said. He was right about the gut feeling I’d had when I met Matt. Had I felt that way because he was one of Nick’s men? Or because our love wasn’t genuine?

There was only one way to determine whether or not Matt was my soulmate. I had to confront Nick. He would know.

Chapter Seventeen

The war was over. My father and mother had just told me. We had a long way to go to repair our world. The city was in ruins and many lives had been lost. I fell to my knees on the living room floor, cradling my head in my hands.

‘It’s okay, dear,’ Dad said, getting on the floor with me.

As he wrapped his arms around me, my mother joined us. We embraced each other and allowed our tears to flow. The bombings would stop. The death wouldn’t be so bad.

‘You know what you have to do, don’t you?’ my father said.

Wiping my eyes, I looked up at him. He cupped my cheek and smiled gently.

‘You have to go and get him.’

I nodded as I hiccupped. He was right. I had left Henry alone but it was time to go and speak to him. Three weeks had gone by since I had seen him last, down in the shelter. I had cried myself to sleep almost every night since. I couldn’t bear the thought of breaking his heart. I missed seeing his daughter, I missed seeing him.

‘You may as well go now,’ Mother said, wiping the tears from my face.

I pulled out of their hug and got to my feet. The war was over and it was time to make amends. Going past them, I picked up my coat and wrapped it around me. My feet carried me to the front door. I was determined.

I waved as I left the house. My parents smiled from their huddled position on the floor. I would tell Henry about my feelings for him, and if he felt the same, I would promise to be his. I wasn’t sure if he would forgive me for not telling him the truth.

‘Isn’t it wonderful news, Catherine?’ our neighbour called.

Smiling broadly, I waved as I went by, not wanting to stop. If I thought too much about what I was about to do, I would lose my nerve. Ruined houses, bricks and shelters, flashed past me as I ran. I couldn’t help myself. I needed to see him.

When his house came into view, my heart flipped in my chest. My stomach fluttered but I didn’t let it stop me. Going straight up to the door, I pounded as hard as I could.

When the baby started crying, I cringed. I had forgotten that she was probably having a nap.

‘What happened?’ Henry asked as he threw open the door.

He froze. He had a tea towel in his hand. My mouth opened and closed. I was unsure of what to say. He watched me, also not speaking.

‘Have you heard? The war’s ended.’

Henry’s shoulders slumped. He hadn’t heard the news. A shout made us look to the street. People celebrated in the road. When I turned back to face the man I loved, he spun away and went into the house, leaving the door open. I followed him inside, to where his daughter still cried. He picked her up and started to bounce her in his arms. She quickly quietened down.

‘That’s fantastic news,’ he said, not looking at me.

‘Henry, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about John. I’ve hardly seen him this year. I-’

‘It’s okay,’ he interrupted.

When the baby stopped crying, he put her back in the cradle. Taking the tea towel, he walked past me, back into the kitchen. I glanced down at the sleeping child before following him.

‘It’s not okay. I’m no longer with him. Henry, I… It’s…’ I couldn’t get the words out.

He was standing by the sink, drying a cup before he put it away in the cupboard. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

I put my hands in the pockets of my coat and huffed. The sound made him glance over at me. His hand froze on the way to pick up another piece of cutlery. I blinked as tears filled my eyes. His gaze dropped but quickly came back up to meet mine. He released the tea towel, stepped across the kitchen and ran his thumb under my eye, catching a tear as it fell.

When he looked at me with such tenderness in his gaze, I went up on tiptoe and wound my arms around his neck. His lips crushed mine as his hand went to the back of my head. My whole body hummed as he kissed me. He returned my love.

‘I’m sorry. Please forgive me,’ I said, releasing his mouth.

His forehead fell against mine as he let the air out of his lungs. ‘I forgive you. It’s been a crazy time but it’s over now. I love you, Catherine.’

My smile was so wide, my cheeks hurt. His grin matched mine. ‘I love you, too.’

He kissed me again but the baby’s cry made us pull apart. Laughing, Henry took my hand and led me back into the front room. Picking up Isabella, he handed her to me.

‘Are you ready to be a mother?’ His voice was quiet.

When my gaze travelled up from the baby and looked straight into his eyes, my heart melted. ‘Are you sure you want me to?’

His smile was gentle as he stepped over to me. He put an arm around my shoulder as his other hand stroked his daughter’s cheek. ‘I love you. I want you to be in my life as my wife,’ he said, making me swallow. ‘But…she comes with me, I’m afraid. We’re a package.’

He looked up from her, searching my gaze. I could only stare at him. My cheeks started to hurt again as I nodded quickly. ‘Of course. I would love to be her mother. I would love for us to be a family.’

He held me tight, squeezing Isabella between us. She gurgled happily. We laughed when she burped.

‘So, you’ll marry me, then?’ Henry said.

‘Yes, I would love to marry you.’ I giggled as he kissed my forehead, my nose and my lips.

‘Good. It’s not going to be easy.’ He flicked his tongue over my lips and my whole body shuddered.

He was right, it wasn’t going to be easy, just like the lady had said. She told me that I needed to try my hardest with him, though. I somehow had to make it work between us. I was determined because I loved him. I loved him more than I had loved anyone. I loved his daughter, too.

‘It won’t be easy but I’ll do anything.’

He touched his nose to mine. ‘And so will I,’ he whispered.