Chapter Twenty-four

 

 

 

Brandi watched as Jabari played with the food on his plate. His brothers were watching him too.

“Are you going to try them?”

“Why are they so green?” Thrice asked her.

She tilted her head, opened her mouth and closed it. “Honestly, I don’t know. It’s a plant and a vegetable.”

“We tried the broccoli.” Thrice frowned.

“You don’t have to eat it.”

“That just means there are more for us,” Quinn told them. “I’ve never tasted them like this.” She took another bite and sighed.

“Quinn likes them.”

“You should have seen them when I was trying to get them to eat french fries. They called them little sticks.”

She lifted her fork with some greens on it and offered it to Jabari. When he opened his mouth, it reminded her of their first meal. If the twinkle in his eyes meant anything, he remembered.

“I put hot sauce on them. Well?”

“I need to try them again.”

“It could be an acquired taste.” She fed him a second forkful.

He took a bite of what was on his plate and frowned. “Mine don't taste like yours.”

She showed him how much hot sauce to put on. His brothers followed and soon they were all eating. A smile graced her face as she watched them eat.

“This is better than the broccoli. Not crunchy.” Akron told her.

“I have to tell you I like my broccoli to have some crunch. I hate it overcooked and limp.”

Jabari pushed his plate back. “The food is excellent, but I don’t have an appetite.”

“You’ve been silent since we came back. What happened?” Slade asked.

“You can’t just not eat, and you know it,” Thrice said.

Phoenix turned to Brandi. “We were starved and abused when we were young. Our other sides will no longer tolerate those conditions in our lives.”

“Now that you're capable of defending yourselves, you will. I get it.” She stood up and moved to sit in his lap. “Tell us what’s wrong.”

“I spoke to the chieftain on Ancentrass when you were asleep. He told me that only one of his people had ever gone missing. His younger brother. He’s my… You call them uncles.”

“That’s great right? I mean you found part of your family and your history.”

“I told him what happened to the brothers I was born with. How I am broken inside.”

“What did he say?” She laid her head on his chest while she wrapped her arms around him.

“That I was too strong to break on my own. Whatever happened to me was caused by another being.”

“How could that be?” Slade demanded.

“Maybe it was whatever I saw in my hallway.”

“What happened in the hallway?”

“We were going to my apartment…” Her head fell back.

“Brandi!”

“Tired. I made dinner like I promised.”

“Don’t, you’re going to be all right.” He stood up. The chair flew behind him in his rush to get to his feet. “We’ll go upstairs and lay down.”

Fie jumped up on them as Jabari took her to the elevator.

“It’ll be okay defender, all you need is a little rest.” He met the pain in Slade’s eyes before the elevator closed.

He laid her on the bed taking off her slippers before he pulled the covers up to her chin.

“She’ll be okay Fie. As long as we stay by her side, she can’t leave us.” He climbed onto the bed with her. As long as he was awake, she wouldn’t be able to slip away from him.

“Tell Piper I said I’m sorry, and I love her.” Her hand was on his chest moving in small circles.

“Stay Brandi, so you can tell her.”

“I can’t. I feel like one system after the other is shutting down. My body is saying goodbye and giving me a chance to say it too.”

She looked at him, her eyes asking the question he didn’t want to answer. With a nod, he called Slade and asked them to come. They came through the door one at a time. It reminded him of how they looked and felt when Brie died. It was the same look of horror. They hadn’t known Brandi long, but she was already family. They teased her and loved her. They even argued over whose team she would be on.

Quinn came to the side of the bed and hugged her.

“Keep an eye on Jabari for me. Remind him he is loved.”

She nodded and went back to Mekhi’s arms.

“I’m going to miss you guys.”

Slade came and knelt on one knee by her side. “You are our sister. Officially a created even though the defenders want to claim you. We will always be less without you.”

One by one each brother knelt and declared that she was one of them.

Jabari picked her up and placed her on his lap. “Brandi, I love you and I always will. I was broken until you stood up to me and showed me what love is.”

She smiled and closed her eyes. Her hand slipped from his chest. The roar of pain that came from him couldn’t be contained it echoed through the room, the house and the land they called home.

He rocked her and roared while his brothers stood watch over them. What did he want more than life or even death? To be reunited with Brandi. His brothers flashed before him but wherever they were they were safe and happy. It was selfish, and he knew it, to want her so much. To be so unwilling to let her go. But the one thing he wanted was a lifetime with his mate. His hand closed around the necklace he wore.

“I want Brandi in my life loving me and caring for me the way I love her. I want it more than my life.”

He dropped his head.

“Then that is what you shall have. The day you leave this life so will she.”

There was no one in the room with them, but he knew that voice. It didn’t matter he didn’t have time to question all he could see was Brandi. Her mouth opened and her body lifted.

“What happened?” The lights went off, and she knew it was time to move on. No matter how she tried to cling to Jabari, she felt her hands slipping as she left her body. She cried when she looked down because he was clutching her lifeless body like there was a chance at saving her. She walked away knowing that the pain of watching him would only get worse when a voice stopped her. Wait Brandi, it whispered to her. Don’t go far you’ll be needed soon.

“Mekhi!”

A black substance was coming from Brandi’s eyes.

“Don’t touch it.” He left the room and returned with a vial and a large eye dropper.

“What is that?”

“It’s what killed her.” He used the dropper to pull it from her face and then placed it in the vial. “It doesn’t take a lot, and it’s undetectable. I only know about it because I saw it leave a dead body once.”

“What is it called?”

He shrugged. “I never named it and as far as I know no one else has either. It comes from a planet that is off limits. We have to take it back.”

“I’ll do it.”

“Slade, you’re needed here. I’ll dispose of it.”

“Phoenix.”

“This is my family too. Get well, Brandi. When I get back were playing war games.”

“Can’t wait.” He took the vial from Mekhi.

“Am I really going to live?” Mekhi was already examining her. “Get away from him! Behind you Jabari.”

“Only you can see me.”

“The creature I told you about in the hallway.”

“Not this time. I want you first. You shouldn’t be able to see me. You shouldn’t be alive I went through a lot of trouble to make sure you died. Now I’ll have to do the job myself. You’re standing between me and what I want. Now I’ll take both of you.” He swung his sickle aiming for Jabari’s neck. It stopped not penetrating the field surrounding him.

He screamed in frustration and came for her. His sickle stopped unable to touch her.

“What did you do? He can’t touch us.”

“The chieftain told me that whatever was wrong with me would be fixed if you lived. You saved my life, defender.”

“Is it still here?” Slade asked.

“No, he’s gone.”

“When you get well can you draw us a picture of it?”

“I can.”

“Get some rest.” They left the room with Jabari still rocking her.

 

*~*~*~*

 

“This is all your fault.” The reaper turned to look at the male in front of him.

“Mine? I didn’t go to a forbidden planet, then plant an organism on Brandi that would kill her. I believe it’s all your fault.”

“How could she see me?”

“Again, your fault. It attacked the part of the brain that humans don’t use, giving her more access to her senses. She will always be able to see you.”

“I want them, and not you, or anyone else will stand in my way. Their life force will belong to me, and their bodies will decorate my trophy case.” He took several steps towards the male.

“Be careful reaper. If I choose to enter the game the only one on display will be you.”

 

*~*~*~*

 

“You should stay in bed.”

She was struggling to sit up, and he looked like he wanted to make her lie down by force if necessary.

“I’m going downstairs. It’s movie night, and Quinn picked out a chick flick. You can either carry me down, or I’ll crawl.”

He folded his arms.

“Fie, come make me invisible.”

“Don’t you dare!”

She smiled in victory. Fie made their hovercraft disappear as well as all signs of them. According to Quinn, he made the house invisible the other day. Her sweet baby was coming into his powers.

“You don’t play fair.” He picked her up.

“All’s fair in love and war.” She snuggled into his arms. They kept a cover in the living room for her. So, she’d be nice and warm. Recovery didn’t happen like magic although she wanted it to. Mekhi said her body was slowly knitting itself back together.

He carried her downstairs. Movie night consisted of some of the best pizza she had ever tasted with popcorn and hot chocolate just for her.

“Where’s Thrice?” Phoenix was taking whatever tried to kill her back to its planet, but everyone else should be here.

“He went to find Piper.”

“She should be back.”

“He went to her place first. There was no sign of her. He has a picture of what she looks like. I told him where she was supposed to go. He’s going to search for her.”

“Why?”

“I can’t leave you to go look for her.”

“He went because we’re family.” She looked around the room to see her brothers and sister. They were one big blended family, and she loved it.

“I love you Jabari.”

“I love you more.” The words whispered in her mind reminding her that they were one.

He took her lips in a gentle kiss that made her want to get well faster.