Chapter Thirteen
“We just finished blurring the memories of the witnesses,” Theo said, sounding exhausted. His soulmate, Guy, stood behind him looking just as tired at Theo sounded.
Jeff didn’t even try to sit up. He was tucked into bed next to Nick, and neither of them had the energy to move right now. I know all about tired, he thought, touching the newly healed spot on his skull gingerly. It still felt tender, so he let his hand fall. Healing wasn’t easy. Healing oneself was even harder than healing someone else. Both he and Nick had needed his Healing power, and now their energy reserves were basically nonexistent. They’d holed up in one of the Council safe rooms for the moment. Unlike the earlier suite, this room was small and functional. It was meant to crash in for a night or two, not for an extended stay.
“I’m really sorry about that, Theo,” Nick said tiredly. “We tried to handle it quietly, but sometimes shit happens.”
“It’s not your fault,” Theo said. “There was no way to predict how it would all turn out.”
Jeff shook his head. “You realize that there will be more, right? Richard said he wasn’t the only one who hated the Council.”
“I know,” Theo said, rubbing his face. “But for now, we have time to rest, and heal.” He looked around. “You should stay here for tonight, at least.”
Jeff grimaced. He knew that the safest place to regain their strength was in the Council building here in DC, but he wished he could go home. “One night,” he agreed.
“You can go home tomorrow,” Theo said, clearly sensing his frustration.
“Did you get a chance to reassess the autopsy report of Jeff’s parents?” Nick asked.
“Wait, what? I didn’t know you were doing that,” Jeff said, confused.
Theo nodded. “Since your parents were bonded members of the Craft community in good standing, I was able to request original copies of the report directly from the medical examiner’s office where you live.” His expression slipped from tired to somber. “I’m sorry, but the report the medical examiner gave us doesn’t match the one the police had.”
Jeff frowned. “What does that mean, exactly?”
“It means the cops were suppressing evidence,” Guy said, his voice a quiet rumble. “The original report detailed evidence of constricted blood vessels. They’re not sure how it was done, but they think someone with Craft power, possibly a Healer, did it. The other alternative was that someone’s developed a new poison that causes a similar reaction.”
Jeff shook his head. “One of the men who captured me told me he did it. He didn’t have enough power to be a Healer, but he had enough to hurt people.”
“Damn,” Guy said, expression grim. “That’s appalling.”
“Yeah,” Jeff said. “Vivian knew exactly what he could do. She probably paid those cops off.” Guilt pricked at him. If he’d never dated her… His thoughts trailed off.
“This is not your fault. She targeted you so she could get to your parents, Jeff,” Nick murmured.
Jeff sighed. His soulmate was right. His parents’ research was what began this nightmare, and they’d begun that work when he was a child. She may have started at PharmaCarin in order to steal information from the company, but once she’d met him, it wouldn’t have been difficult for her to research his background. His parents had never tried to keep their work a secret.
Theo nodded. “That’s our best guess. She targeted Jeff, and got Richard to kill his parents when they wouldn’t give her their formula.” He shrugged. “I believe she thought it would be easier to get it from you, Jeff.”
“But you can’t prove it, can you?” Nick asked.
Theo looked at his soulmate, Guy, and then he sighed. “Unfortunately, no. We can’t prove that she did any of it. She left no traces.”
“So we have no idea who else might have information about my parents’ formula,” Jeff said, angry all over again that his ex could be so evil.
“We’ll just have to be vigilant,” Theo said, and then he smiled wryly. “Not everyone with Craft power is psychotic, Jeff. I promise.”
Jeff snorted as he leaned his head back on the pillow. He closed his eyes. God, I’m so tired.
“We’ll let you get some rest,” Theo said.
“One minute,” Jeff said, forcing himself to get up. He walked over to the dresser and grabbed Nick’s crumpled up pants. Dried blood flaked off onto the floor, and he grimaced as he checked the pockets. “Where is it?”
“Where is what?” Nick asked.
“The formula,” Jeff said, and then he remembered: they’d given it to Theo. He walked over to the Council Head.
“Let me have it.” He held out his hand.
“We told him to put it in the vault,” Nick said, but then Theo reached into his pocket. “Well, shit,” Nick said when Theo drew out the flash drive. “Really?”
“I didn’t have time to put it in the vault yet,” Theo said apologetically.
“It’s just as well.” Jeff took the small device and dropped it to the floor near a chair sitting next to the nightstand. He picked up the chair and smashed the drive under the chair leg.
“What the hell, Jeff?” Nick asked, standing up. “What are you doing?”
Jeff gave him a look, and Nick stopped mid-step. “You know exactly what I’m doing, Nick.” He scooped up the remains and walked to the bathroom. After he’d thoroughly doused the broken pieces with water, he dumped them in the trashcan and walked back into the bedroom.
“I assume you can recreate the formula, if necessary?” Theo asked.
Damn, he’s sharp. Jeff grimaced. “How did you know?”
Theo half-smiled. “Empath.”
Jeff sighed and sat back down on the bed. “I should’ve known.”
“I would not have let you destroy it if I hadn’t known you could recreate it.” Theo fixed him with a hard stare. “Even dangerous knowledge shouldn’t be arbitrarily destroyed.”
“I didn’t do it arbitrarily. I did it because this knowledge shouldn’t exist,” Jeff said grimly. He would not be made to feel guilty about destroying that formula. It had caused nothing except trouble his entire life.
Guy sighed. “You realize that other scientists are probably working towards the same goal, right?”
They can try, but they’re not my parents. Jeff shrugged. “Yeah, I know, but I’m skeptical that they’ll be able to recreate what my parents did. My parents were brilliant.”
“If someone else succeeds, at least it won’t be by your hand,” Nick said, getting right to the heart of the matter.
Jeff looked at his soulmate, relieved that Nick understood exactly what worried him most. I don’t want more blood on my hands, he thought, very privately. “You know me. You know my memories.”
Nick touched Jeff’s shoulder. “I know your heart.”
The sudden surge of energy through their bond reassured Jeff that Nick did indeed know exactly why Jeff had to destroy the flash drive. “I know it was their life’s work,” he explained to Theo and Guy. “But I can’t let such a dangerous thing out into the world. I’d never be able to sleep at night.”
Theo sighed. “I understand.” He glanced at his soulmate. “We really should let them get some rest. They both need time to recover from their injuries.” He smiled wryly. “Healing is wonderful, but it also has limits.”
Guy nodded. “Before we go, I have something that might help.”
Jeff watched Guy pull a small pouch out of his pocket. The WoodCrafter held it out. “I made these for you and Nick last night.”
Nick frowned, but Jeff sat up and reached for the cloth bag. “Made?” He opened the drawstring and spilled two gorgeous wooden rings onto his palms. He knew what they were immediately. “Soulmate rings?” He stared at Guy in shock. He was holding a literal fortune in his palms.
“Yes.” Guy smiled. “That’s what I do.”
The wood tingled where it touched Jeff’s skin. His parents had been bonded his entire life, but they’d never managed to find a WoodCrafter who could create rings for them. Seeing a pair Crafted for him felt surreal. His parents had given up hoping that he would ever have any Craft power, let alone bond with someone. “I don’t know what to say.” He sensed Nick’s shock, and knew he spoke for both of them.
Guy lifted a shoulder. “Sometimes my Craft power knows things I don’t. I don’t argue with it anymore. When I felt the energy tell me to Craft these, I let it happen.” He nodded at the rings. “These are for you and Nick.”
Jeff touched a finger to one of the rings. The pale wood gleamed against his skin, as if imbued with an inner light. “These are sycamore,” he breathed as a conflicting rush of emotions pushed through him. “My parents loved the sycamore at the edge of our property.” He swallowed, struggling with the lump in his throat. The grief he’d shoved down over the past few days welled up again, strong and terrible. Would he ever get used to missing his parents?
“They’re beautiful,” Nick said in a hushed tone.
Making a sudden decision, Jeff closed his fingers around the rings and looked at his soulmate. “There’s no going back if we put these on.” He wanted to wear them, almost desperately. He wanted Nick to admit that what they had was something that meant forever, a concept he’d never even considered might be possible for him. He hadn’t loved Vivian. Nick, though … Nick held his heart. Jeff held his breath as his soulmate stared at him, hazel eyes solemn. Please say yes, Jeff thought quietly. Hopefully. Somehow, putting on the rings felt like a vindication of his parents’ death.
Finally, his lover spoke. “I know what this means to you, Jeff.” Nick reached out and gently pried opened his fist. “And though neither of us knew it, there was no going back the moment I first set eyes on you.” He picked up one of the rings. “Let me.” He took Jeff’s left hand in his. “Will you be my soulmate? I promise to love you and protect you and die with you.”
God. He would say vows like that. Jeff could barely breathe through the pounding of his heart. “Yes, of course,” he managed to choke out.
Nick smiled, eyes bright, and slid the ring onto Jeff’s finger. Jeff closed his fingers around it, and then he picked up Nick’s left hand. He had to do this before he completely lost it. “I promise to love you and support you and heal you, all the days of my life.” He slid the ring onto Nick’s finger. The moment the ring settled in, an electric spark flowed from his ring to Jeff’s, and he gasped as his entire body vibrated. “It feels like someone just struck us with a tuning fork,” he said, staring at their hands.
Nick squeezed his hand. “Like electricity just shot through us.”
“Witnessed and confirmed, Seer and Healer,” Theo murmured.
Jeff looked at the Council Head. “Oh.” He should have known the man would know what they were. What he was. He glanced at Guy, who smiled at him.
“Theo is an Empath, and he’s the Council Head,” Guy said softly. “He has the knowledge and authority to recognize soulmate couples legally and officially.”
“I’ll draw up the paperwork for you, and make sure it gets filed properly,” Theo said, stepping back. He smiled slightly. “Be happy, you two. And get some rest.”
Guy nodded. “What he said,” and then he opened the door, waiting for Theo to step out before following.
Jeff stared until the door closed behind them, and then he looked down at the ring on his finger. The light wood was beautifully Crafted, with rounded edges and a stylized marking swirled through the wood as if it had grown that way. The grain was smooth and almost freckled. He’d never seen anything so beautiful, and it already felt familiar on his finger. Comforting. “Is there something carved on it?” he mused, rubbing it with his fingers as he looked more closely.
“Flames. Why flames, of all things?” Nick asked, voice tight.
He’s upset. Jeff knew why. “Because you can see through fire to the other side of things, Nick. And because I can see through people to the very energy that ties us all together. It’s a combination of our power.” He closed his fingers around the ring, not about to give it up without a fight. “I don’t think these rings are supposed to show us what we want to see. They’re supposed to show us what we are.”
Nick rolled over in the bed and wrapped himself around Jeff. “Flames have always heralded the worst of my visions.” He sounded exhausted.
Jeff ran his hands down Nick’s back. “Flames also cleanse.”
“I thought you were dead, Jeff. I went through most of my life knowing that the other half of my soul was gone. I believed I would never have a soulmate.” Nick’s voice dipped low, and Jeff could feel the turmoil in his lover through their bond.
“I know,” he said softly, not sure what else to add. Everything Nick said was true.
“I don’t know how I feel about having rings that show flames,” Nick murmured.
Jeff leaned into him, savoring the solid warmth of his lover. “Don’t think of them as flames. Think of the design as the thread of energy that binds us all together,” he murmured into Nick’s hair. “Fire can destroy, but it can also warm us. It can keep us alive.”
Nick lifted his head. “Energy?” He shook his head. “I feel like this fire chewed us up and spit us out.” He sighed, heavily. “I am done with fire.” He stared at his ring, but he didn’t take it off.
Jeff could sense his lover’s bone-deep exhaustion. He wasn’t faring much better. “Why don’t we sleep on it? We don’t have to wear the rings, you know.” Even as he said it, a pang of worry shot through him. He’d take the ring off if he had to, but he truly didn’t want to. For him, the ring symbolized everything he never thought to wish for. But I’d do anything for this man. If I have to take my ring off, I will.
Nick stared at him. “You would be okay with not wearing them?”
Jeff’s heart ached. He missed his parents. He wished Nick didn’t have such horrible memories of fire. He wished a thousand and one things that were never going to change. “I would,” he said steadily. Because freaking out is never going to help. He hated the idea that Nick wouldn’t want to wear the rings they’d just exchanged, but he understood why. How could he not? They were bonded. He’d lived Nick’s memories, and let them become part of his own.
Nick inhaled deeply, and then slowly let out the breath, as if he needed the extra time to make his lungs work properly. “I think maybe we’re too tired to decide right now.”
That’s not a “no”, Jeff thought, relieved. He chose hope, instead of worry. “The vow is what’s important, Nick, not the symbol,” he said, reaching to turn off the light. He was okay with delaying the decision. The longer the rings stayed on their hands, the more familiar it would become for his lover. And maybe that’s all he needs. They say time heals all wounds, right? Jeff hoped so. He needed healing as much as Nick. It was only early evening, but he knew he’d sleep through until morning. His body needed rest, and his heart— Well. His heart needed repair that only distance could provide. Nothing would bring his parents back, and he wanted to remember them at their best, not their worst.
“I meant it,” Nick assured him. “I meant every word I said. If we go down, we go down together.”
“I know,” Jeff whispered, letting his eyes close as the energy of their bond gleamed steadily against the midnight of his inner exhaustion. He let it soothe him. “Why don’t we concentrate on going up, instead of down, eh?” He smiled. Nick would be okay. So would he. “Sleep, now,” he murmured, running his palm down Nick’s shoulder to his wrist. “We have time for it, finally.”
“That’s the plan,” Nick said, rolling so that his face pushed into Jeff’s shoulder. “Sleep sounds good. No visions, no nightmares.”
“No nightmares.” Jeff relaxed, sensing Nick’s energy through their bond. Everything was going to be all right. It didn’t matter what might happen in the future. They’d face it together.