Old Souls Read online

  He looked more relaxed, and yet he still managed to appear rugged. His messy hair stuck up in every direction, which only added to his innate sex appeal. And he had some serious five o’clock shadow. Since I usually saw him at work where he was always clean shaven, this was different. It felt private, something that was mine alone.

  Finally, I pulled myself from gawking and padded my way to the bathroom. After closing the door, I noticed a bag on the counter and peeked inside. That’s when I realized where Mark had gone when he left the condo last night. Inside the bag was an assortment of toiletries; toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, hair brush, shampoo, conditioner, and I couldn’t help but smile when I noticed he’d even bought me moisturizer for my face. God, the man was thoughtful.

  I emptied my bladder, brushed my hair and teeth and washed my face. Then I went back to the bedroom, unsure of what I should do next. I wanted to climb back into the bed with him, but I didn’t want to wake him.

  “Morning.” He surprised me, but what made my heart skip a beat was the raspy, morning tone that had my body reacting like a teenager.

  “Morning.”

  “You talking to me today?” Glad to see he was amused by my immaturity.

  “Sorry. Are you mad at me?” I asked, tentatively. “I know I behaved a little childish last night.”

  “A little?” He said dryly. Then his lip inched up into a slow, tantalizing grin. “You’re adorable, even when you throw a tantrum.”

  Oh boy, there went that crazy heartbeat again.

  “Um…Thanks, I think.” Sighing, I ran my hand through my hair. “I guess we have some important things to discuss.”

  “Yeah.” He sat up, threw off the blankets and stood. I could barely tear my eyes away from the plain white t-shirt clinging to his muscular upper body. And despite the fact he was wearing blue pinstripe pajama bottoms, the man radiated sex. As if he could hear my lascivious thoughts, he flashed a knowing grin my way. “But let me go to the washroom first. I’ll just be a minute.”

  After he closed the door I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. I saw my purse on the nightstand; he must have brought it in last night. I reached in and pulled out my cell. My stomach clenched when I noticed I had ten missed calls, all from Colin.

  Shit.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Mark, startling me. I hadn’t noticed him return so fast.

  “I think we’re going to have to postpone our talk and deal with Colin first. He’s been calling.”

  ***

  Mark and I were both uncertain how to handle Colin. He suggested we play it by ear and see how he coped with the situation before deciding how much information to give him. Sounded good to me, I’d let him take the lead here.

  Colin lived in Oakville, not quite an hour outside Toronto. Since we had time to kill on the drive, Mark enlightened me about witches. I discovered I had a lot to learn about this new world I’d been unwittingly thrust into.

  According to Mark there was nothing more important to a witch than keeping their secret. No one wanted to risk exposure, the danger was too great. There was even an organization whose sole purpose was the concealment and safeguarding of that secret, the ISM (Information Security Militia).

  “So this ISM, what do they do exactly?”

  Mark’s fists tightened on the steering wheel. “Anything they have to do to keep our existence a secret.”

  “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “We need them, Alyssa. Do you have any idea what would happen if the general population knew what we could do?”

  “I’m new to this world so I haven’t had time to consider it.”

  He glanced at me quickly before turning back to the road. “They’d want to study us, for starters. Who knows what else,” he shrugged. “And I don’t want to think about what the government would do if they ever discovered our power to heal.”

  “Yeah, I meant to ask you about that, but I’ve had so much on my mind since yesterday I forgot.” I lifted the leg I’d injured in the accident and rotated my foot still surprised that it had healed so perfectly. “I broke my leg in that accident.”

  His head whipped to me. “It was broken?”

  “Can you watch the road please?” A hint of panic infused my tone. “I was in a bad car accident yesterday. Remember?”

  “Sorry.” He refocused on the road, jaw clenched tight. “I will never forget what happened yesterday.”

  His words, so heartfelt, surprised me. I pushed that aside, refusing to be distracted from my question. “I know it was broken, but I felt it healing in the car while they cut us out. I know I asked yesterday, but we got distracted. How is it possible for a broken leg to heal that fast?”

  Drawing a deep breath, he explained. “Witches have the ability to heal others. We can repair damaged cells and organs and even restore life—as you’ve discovered. Once our powers are activated this ability happens within our own bodies instinctively. All of it is instinct really, but with Colin you would’ve had to concentrate on what you were doing. Our own bodies will heal even while we’re unconscious.”

  “Repair damaged cells?”

  “Yes.” I saw him watching me out of the corner of his eyes, hesitantly. “Including the damage caused by aging.”

  Holy crap. Did he mean what I thought he meant?

  “Does that mean—” I couldn’t finish the sentence, it was too outrageous to say.

  “We don’t age Alyssa, nor will we die from illnesses. Our bodies will heal everything. You won’t even suffer a cold.”

  “So, you’re telling me we’re…immortal?”

  “No, we’re not immortal.” He answered, shaking his head. “We can be killed, but it’s more difficult since our bodies heal almost all wounds so rapidly. If we’re injured enough that we die before our bodies can heal then we will die. Decapitation for instance, can’t be healed. Fire will also kill us. Short of that, most other injuries can be healed.”

  “But we could potentially live… hundreds of years? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Alyssa, I have friends who measure their life spans by millennium, not centuries.”

  I honestly didn’t know what to say to that. This was a lot to take in all at once. First my strange new powers, then the accident, bringing my best friend back to life, finding out I’m a witch, the horrible consequences I still had to deal with, and now finding out my life span could possibly expand to thousands of years. This was too much.

  “This is too much.”

  Mark pulled my hand into his, lacing our fingers together. “Let’s just take one problem at a time, okay. I’ll be with you to help you through this. For now, let’s wait and see how Colin is coping. If he can handle it we’ll tell him everything.”

  “Is that allowed?”

  “Of course, if we know for sure it’s someone we can trust implicitly.” He squeezed my hand. “Colin is a big part of your life. Do you trust he can keep our secret?”

  As much as I hated to admit this, there was too much at stake for me not to be completely honest. “If you’d have asked me that a few days ago I would have said undoubtedly, but after seeing the way he looked at me when that car was hovering above us while my hands glowed, I’m not so sure anymore.”

  He flashed a soothing smile, aware of how much that admission hurt. “Like I said, we’ll play it by ear.”

  We rode silently the rest of the way, I was worried about Colin’s reaction and I think Mark was giving me time to gather my thoughts. He was good that way, never pushing me, allowing me to talk to him when I was ready. By the time we pulled into Colin’s driveway my stomach was in knots. Terrified of losing my best friend, I knocked on his door, mentally preparing for rejection.

  Colin opened the door and his whole face suddenly went slack, I could practically feel the relief roll off him. Okay, not what I was expecting. Pulling me into a breath stealing bear hug, he lifted me off my feet.

  “Holy fuck, Lyss! I was so worried about you. I asked about you at
the hospital and they said you were released already. I went to your house and called your phone all night. Where have you been?”

  Still shocked by the extent of his concern, I held him for a second before I answered. “I…I stayed at Mark’s last night.”

  He stepped back, glanced around me, and for the first time took notice that I was not alone. “Mr. Young?”

  “We’re not at work, Colin. You can call me Mark.” He chuckled, and then he stepped forward clapping Colin on the shoulder. “Glad to see you’re okay.”

  “Thanks,” replied Colin, evidently unprepared to find his boss on his front step. I almost laughed at his stunned expression. He cleared his throat and, though he spoke to Mark, his eyes locked onto mine. “I’m lucky to be alive.”

  The intensity of his words made me wonder if he knew what had happened.

  He stepped back from the door and invited us inside. “Come in.”

  We all sat in an awkward silence, not knowing what to say to each other until Colin finally said. “Lyss, do you think I could talk to you for a minute, alone?”

  “Um, actually, we can talk in front of Mark.”

  “No, seriously, Lyss. We need to talk.” He wasn’t very subtle if that’s what he was trying for.

  Mark interrupted me before I could respond. “Colin, I know what you want to talk about.”

  Unsure, Colin’s eyes flashed to me. “Lyss?”

  “Colin, I—”

  “Alyssa, sorry to interrupt, but things will move along better if we just get everything out in the open.” Mark’s words took me by surprise. Was he planning to tell Colin the truth? So much for playing it by ear.

  “Get what in the open?” asked Colin, suspiciously.

  Mark turned from me and focused his attention on Colin. “I know you want to talk to Alyssa about what happened in the accident. You want an explanation for what you saw yesterday.”

  “How do you know what I saw?”

  In place of an answer, Mark raised his hands out to either side and lifted them in the air. Suddenly, the sofas we sat on lifted off the ground and hovered about three feet above the floor.

  “What the fuck?” Colin exclaimed, grabbing onto the armrests. “Put me down.”

  We hovered for another minute before the couch slowly lowered until it was seated safely on the ground again. Colin and I both sat there staring, mouths agape. I may have known about witchcraft and magic, but it was still so new. And this was the first time I’d seen Mark doing anything magical. I doubted I’d ever become accustomed to it.

  "Now that I have your attention,” Mark said, “believe me when I say I know what you saw yesterday."

  "How..." Colin cleared his throat, shaken. "How did you do that?"

  “I wasn't sure if we could trust you before, but as soon as I saw your concern for Alyssa,” Mark smiled at me briefly, his blue eyes impossibly tender, “I knew you'd do anything to protect her.”

  "Of course I’ll always protect her. She's my best friend, I love her."

  “I know you do.” Mark nodded. Somehow he seemed further assured by Colin’s vow. "We're witches, Colin. I recognized Alyssa as a witch that first day I met her. That's why I behaved so unusual in that meeting—I was surprised."

  Colin whipped his head in my direction. "A witch?"

  I nodded cautiously, afraid this might be too much for him to deal with. Shock was evident on his face, but at least he wasn't looking at me the way he had in the car yesterday. Then, to my surprise, his face broke out into a huge grin. "That is so fuckin' cool!"

  "Really? You're not freaked?"

  "Well, I admit I was yesterday when I saw that car floating in midair. I mean, Christ Lyss, your hands were glowing. I never thought I'd see anything like that. I didn't know what to think. But then..." A thoughtful expression crossed his face. He became quiet, suddenly pensive. When his eyes locked on mine again I noticed tears glistening. "But then...after...when I lost you… I died Lyss, and you brought me back."

  So he did know what happened. "I was terrified. I thought I’d lost you." I admitted.

  "You almost did. I don't know how I can ever thank you."

  "I'm just glad you don't think I'm a freak, and we’re still friends."

  "Oh, I definitely think you're a freak. But you know what they say: If you're lucky enough to be different don't ever change." He waggled his brows playfully before turning serious again. “And I will always be your friend.”

  I couldn't help but smile. That was Colin, perpetually optimistic. I don't know why expected anything but total acceptance from him. He was awesome that way.

  "I love you." I said with complete sincerity.

  "I love you, too."

  After crushing me with another hug he released me and turned his attention back to Mark. "I assume this is a secret. You’re not telling everyone?"

  "Absolutely not,” Mark stiffened, a suspicious look crossing his face. “Why?"

  "You might have a problem, then. That paramedic from the accident came around this morning asking me a ton of questions."

  "What sort of questions?" Mark's voice was tight.

  "He was asking if we had another person in the car. He wanted to know why there was so much blood in the car when no one else was found with us. Also, he’s really curious about how both Lyss and I have no injuries. He was basically fishing for information, but he suspects something unusual."

  "What did you tell him?" I asked.

  "Nothing. I told him I can't remember anything. That the only thing I remembered was waking up that morning, then nothing."

  "That's good.” Mark exhaled a pent up breath. “I'm going to have to report this to the ISM. They'll want to handle the problem.”

  “ISM?” Colin asked.

  “I’ll tell you later,” I promised Colin and then turned to Mark. “What will they do?” Anyone could recognize the worry in my tone.

  “They won’t hurt him if that’s what you’re worried about. There is someone who has the ability to muddle his memory of yesterday’s events, nothing harmful.”

  That was a relief.

  We talked awhile longer. Mark and Colin spent the time getting better acquainted. They seemed to get along well, which thrilled me. I wanted them like each other, my best friend and my...what? I didn't really know how to classify my relationship with Mark, only that I wanted there to be a relationship. I knew I couldn't walk away from him or pretend that there was nothing more than friendship between us. I guess this was just one more thing we had to discuss.

  As we pulled away from Colin’s house I turned to Mark. “Where to now?”

  “Promise you won't freak out and you'll hear me out.”

  Oh god, this didn't sound promising. “I can't promise to go along with whatever you're planning, but I’ll at least agree to hear you out.”

  He breathed a deep breath and reached for my hand. I loved that he was always touching me. “Okay, I'll explain on the way. I have a solution to your problem. I tried to tell you last night, there's a way we can restore balance that you might be able to live with.”

  Chapter 6

  Soul Mates

  Her skin was sallow, the area around her eyes thin, almost translucent, and marred with dark circles. The woman’s once lustrous hair, now aged and brittle, thinned to reveal the scalp below. A tube in her nose and a mask covering her face provided oxygen. The staccato beep of machinery droned in the background. I watched her, horrified with myself because I was actually contemplating murder.

  “I can’t,” I whispered.

  “You have to, baby. I can’t do it for you or I would.” He ran his knuckles over my cheek, softly. “I explained this Alyssa, it’s the best way.”

  He did explain, in the car on the way here. I already knew if I did nothing at all that someone would die, but he went on to suggest an alternative plan. It was a sort of loophole other witches had discovered on the rare occasions they were forced into this predicament. That…loophole is what brought us here. We wer
e in a hospice. The woman lying on the bed before me was in her eighties and days, possibly hours from death.

  “I can’t,” I whispered again.

  “Alyssa, she’s in pain. Nothing will save her now, you can feel it. Her family is praying for a quick death. It will happen, and will happen soon. If you give her peace, it will restore the balance and save another innocent life. Someone out there will die before their time, otherwise. A person who would have had years ahead of them, possibly someone with children or family who need them.”

  God, I hated that he made sense. It was easy to justify this course of action in my mind. Mark was right, this woman was dying anyway, that much I could feel. All I would be doing is relieving hours or possibly days of suffering. Regardless, it still felt wrong. I looked at Mark’s expression and knew this situation was killing him. He wanted to take this responsibility from me, but like me, he had no choice. And, I had the distinct feeling he was troubled for other reasons he wasn’t mentioning, but I’d worry about that later.

  “What do I do?”

  “Do you remember when you funneled energy into Colin after he died?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s the same thing, but instead of taking energy from outside and pushing into someone, you’ll be drawing the energy from her and releasing it.”

  I stepped close to the bed, laid my hand over her forehead, and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I’m so sorry.”

  I backed up to stand and her eyes suddenly snapped open and locked onto mine. I’d been struggling with what I had to do before I had to actually face her, now it was impossible. There was no way I could do this with her staring at me. No way. Turning to leave, I was surprised when she grabbed onto my arm with a grip I hadn’t expected from her frail body.

  Cocking my head back so I could look at her, I focused on her steady grey gaze. Even if I was unable to feel her life slipping away, I could see in her eyes she was dying. The whites were almost completely yellow and bloodshot, and the color of her irises was a grey so dull and unnatural, it looked like she’d already passed.