“Me neither.”
He blew out a long breath. “I guess that because I saw her in the vision, I always took it for granted that she’d be mine. That once I finally found her, everything would fall into place, you know? It never occurred to me that there would be other obstacles. And as obstacles go, this one’s a bitch.”
“Was it only shock that made you reject her or is she right and you really don’t want her?”
He ran a hand through his unkempt hair. “We’d never have what you and Sam have.”
I leaned forward in my seat. “Evan, I love being Bound to Sam. If you want the truth, it’s the extra security that someone as fucked up as me needs. But we were still happy before the Binding, and we would have continued to be happy if we hadn’t done it.”
He met my eyes then. “But could you have been happy with her knowing that someone else was Bound to her? That she belonged to someone else?”
“I won’t lie, it would have been fucking torture if she was Bound to another guy. But it wouldn’t have kept me away from her. Nothing could.” It was the truth. “You’re thinking that Alora belongs to that prick because they’re Bound, but that’s not how it works. Someone can only belong to you if they allow it. We know that better than most. Our mother never saw people as people – they were objects for her to own, use, and manipulate. But we never let her own us. We rejected her, just as Alora rejected that prick.”
“I can’t even kill him. If I killed him, she’d die.” His laugh was hollow. “Hell, Jared, her fucking life-force is tied to someone else’s. I don’t know how to even begin to deal with that.”
“I get that but, like I said before, she doesn’t belong to him. She made an error of judgement when she was young and she’s been paying for it ever since in a truly big way. Do you think she likes being joined to someone she despises? Or did you get so wrapped up in your pain that you forgot about hers?” His silence spoke for him. “If you’re prepared to let this keep you from Alora, then maybe you were wrong and you guys aren’t meant to be together after all.” Evan opened his mouth as though to object, but then he snapped it shut. “Maybe you just made yourself think she’d be yours because you saw her in that vision through Luther. Maybe you had that vision for no good reason at all.”
Evan tilted his head. “You’ve never told me about the vision that you had through Luther.”
I stiffened. “You never told me about yours until Alora finally arrived here.”
He winced. “I didn’t want you to spoil it.”
“How would I have spoiled it?”
“By laughing about how I was being faithful to someone I hadn’t even met yet.”
That actually hurt. “I’m not that much of a bastard, Evan. Just because I hadn’t really seen the point of relationships back then didn’t mean I thought everyone else was dumb for wanting one. I knew you didn’t function like I did, and I didn’t want you to. I envied the fact that you weren’t fucked up about women and relationships despite our childhood. But I was glad for it, too.”
His smile was a little sad. “Oh I’m messed up in my own special way, trust me on that. But you went through a hell of a lot worse than I did. That kind of shit makes its mark. And don’t think I didn’t notice that you totally evaded the subject of your own vision, by the way.”
Yeah, well, that wasn’t something I had any intention of touching on. If I was going to talk about it, then Sam deserved to be the first to know. “That’s not important at the moment. We’re talking about you. About your future. Are you really going to fuck it up?” The stubborn shithead said nothing. “She only came here to help find a way to save you,” I reminded him. “You’re fine now, which means she’ll be leaving very soon unless you stop her.”
It was clear how much the idea pained him. “She’s probably already gone.”
A smile slowly surfaced on my face. “Sam’s keeping her occupied.”
“Of course she is,” he said dryly, smiling. “You’re a pair of interfering little shits, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.” I stood. “Come on. I’ll take you back to your place so you can shower and change, because you really do reek. Then I’ll take you to Alora.”
He sighed. “I hurt her badly.”
“So make it up to her. She cares about you, and you care about” The doors suddenly opened and the entire squad piled into the room. Every one of them was so jovial and keyed up that they looked like a kid in Disneyworld.
Stuart grinned at Evan. “You’re awake. In case you didn’t already know, you look like shit.”
Max was also grinning. “Yeah, like a tornado survivor or something.”
Evan snorted. “You guys don’t look like spring chickens either, you know. Glad you’re both healed, too.”
So was I but, not really good with emotional stuff, I simply said, “Yeah, it’s good to see that you’re okay.”
Max exhaled heavily as he turned to me. His expression was serious now. “I wanted to talk to you about something. The guys told me about that asshole, Collins. I’ve already told Sam, but I want you to know too that the fucker’s lying – I did not make any kind of complaint about her.”
“None of us believes that you did.”
He looked taken aback. “Not even you? I mean, I know you don’t like me. And you’re still paranoid that I want Sam.”
“I’m actually not.” It was true. Sure, I could be possessive and jealous and overreact when someone touched or flirted with her. But I knew when someone wanted her and when someone was just trying to fuck with me for their own damn entertainment. The latter applied to Max. “I’ve known for a while that you don’t want her anymore. You even told me that, remember?”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t sure if you believed me.”
“Well, I did.” I snickered. “If I thought you really had said that shit to the Prelature out of bitterness and some kind of ‘if you can’t have her than no one can’, I wouldn’t have asked Paige to heal you. I’d have let you die and not given a shit.” Max tipped his head, accepting that.
“Okay, I’m feeling left out here,” said Evan. “Who the hell is Collins?”
“I’ll explain everything before I take you to Alora.” When Evan grimaced, I added, “You’ll regret it forever if you don’t at least talk to her. Even if it’s just to say goodbye.”
After a moment, Evan nodded and got to his feet. I grabbed his arm, ready to teleport us away, when Chico suddenly spoke.
“Wait, the main reason we’re here is to invite you both to the party we’re having tonight.” He gave us a pointed look. “I’ll expect to see you there. If anything deserves to be celebrated, it’s the fact that everyone’s alive and well.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “I’ll be there.”
“Me too,” said Evan. Only then did the squad leave the room, still giddy and even boyish in their excitement to be a whole squad once again.
I then teleported Evan to his apartment where he showered and changed into fresh clothes. As we both drank some NSTs, I told him all about Collins and Eloise. Evan’s face increasingly darkened until he looked ready to pounce on someone. Yeah, Collins and Eloise seemed to have that effect on everyone.
“I’m surprised by – and kind of in awe of – Sam’s restraint.” Evan chucked all the empty NST bottles into the garbage can.
“So is everyone else.” Tapping into my bond with Sam, I found her exact location and teleported both Evan and I there. This particular room was the only one inside Antonio’s mansion that had a tall glass aviary in the centre which was framed by a narrow stream. Inside the aviary were trees, plants, and animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, canaries, and other species of birds. It was a place Antonio often came when he needed to relax and think.