Author's Note: I would like to give a special shoutout to my friend inuhime313 who spent a lot of time helping me with this fic. Thanks so much. Also, I would like more people to review. I have no way of knowing if you like it if you don't review. And finally, I would like you to please note that the breaks in this chapter and probably the rest of the fic represent a change in POV. That's all. Please enjoy.
Chapter 3
Having just finished feeding, Jayden turned for home only to stop dead in his tracks when a woman's desperate prayer found its way into his mind.
"Dear God, please don't let me die. Not when I've only just begun to live."
Jayden's world exploded with color. Suddenly, he could see every shade of green and blue in the coniferous evergreen trees. The ground, even muddy, was a vision of beauty. Every drop of rain falling from the sky held a kaleidoscope of color. Jayden was in awe. Pure joy filled his being. There was only one way color and emotion could be restored to a Carpathian male. Jayden had found his lifemate. Joy soon turned to fear and utter dread as he realized his lifemate's words were a desperate cry for help. She was dying, and if Jayden didn't act soon, he would lose her before ever having the chance to love her.
Jayden took to the air and scanned the ground for signs of a woman in distress. It was not long before he found a series of felled trees and a badly totaled car smashed up against an old oak not far from collapse. He rushed to the driver's side and ripped the door off its hinges. A woman lay squashed up against the steering wheel, shards of glass peppering her hair. Blood trickled from her right ear and her left leg was bent at a bad angle. She struggled to breathe as the seat belt tightened around her neck. With superhuman speed, Jayden set to work releasing his lifemate from the metal deathtrap.
People say that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes. Well, maybe that's true for some, but as Kris laid there in that car, her body twisted like a pretzel, the only pictures that flitted through her mind were visions of a future she'd never have. Kris saw herself as a successful author, having finally published the novel she'd been working on for years. Her friends and family cheered her on, having finally seen her true worth. She saw herself walking down the aisle of a church, ready to marry a gorgeous man with dark hair and golden brown eyes. She saw them raising two beautiful children together, the son and daughter she'd always hoped to have. All her hopes for a future passed away in an instant just as she soon would as well.
But it wasn't her future Kris regretted losing. All those dreams were just that—dreams. No, Kris regretted leaving behind the life she'd worked so hard for. Perhaps it wasn't much to speak of after 24 years, but Kris was proud of it. After an entire childhood of being humiliated and picked on, most of her peers were finally seeing her as an equal. After years in and out of mental hospitals, Kris had, for the most part, learned to channel her empathic gifts instead of letting them overwhelm her. After years of living off of government checks, Kris finally had a paying job at a book store, and she volunteered at the local library twice a week. Three months ago, Kris had finally moved out of her parents' house, renting an apartment with her best friend. She'd regret leaving her friends behind most of all—all her wonderful friends who had learned to love Kris for the wonderful caring person she'd grown up to be. There was her friend Nina who'd suffered tragedy after the loss of her own brother, Emily who'd helped her live through the stress of an alternative school, Rachel whose sense of humor always brightened up her darkest days—all of them were special to her. Then there was Tara, Kris' friend in Ohio who had some extraordinary psychic gifts of her own. Over four years ago, the two of them had met in a Yahoo chat room. It didn't take long for a friendship to form. Somehow, even though they'd never laid eyes on each other, a psychic link had formed between them much like Kris' bond with Mickey. Kris had been trying to meet Tara in person for a few years now, but so far they hadn't been able to make it happen. Now they never would.
Her nephew, Danny, would find life practically unbearable for a while. Kris' had promised him she'd always be there for him. She'd broken that promise. Danny might spend years transferring the blame from his aunt back to himself until he finally realized the true nature of the accident. Her adoring nephew didn't deserve this so soon.
Kris' hated leaving Mickey most of all, for not only was Mickey like a sister to her, but it had been Mickey who'd really enlightened her to her empath nature. Before she'd met Mickey, Kris had believed the doctors when they'd told her she was mentally ill. She'd used her bipolar disorder as a crutch, cruising along in life like there was nothing she could do to better herself. Mickey had shown her a better way to live, to help people with her gifts instead of hiding away inside herself. Mickey didn't deserve to deal with all this alone. That vision—Mickey would blame herself for Kris' death when really it was she who'd given her a life. It was just too bad Kris would never get a chance to tell her that.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Kris was vaguely aware of someone lifting her out of the wreckage. But it was too late; the pain was just too much to bear. Kris sent a silent prayer for her friend Mickey and then breathed her last.
He'd cut the strap off her neck and torn the entire driver's seat out of the car, but his lifemate's chest remained still under his hand. Jayden's heart began to pound and sweat dripped from his pores. He would save her. If he was unable, if she died this night, Caleb would be left alone to battle Wilhem, for there was no way he'd let her leave this world alone. Jayden laid his lifemate underneath a large pine and hurried to heal her, but as soon as he turned to light and entered her body, he felt her spirit begin to travel to lewl ma—the astral plane.
Frantic, Jayden cried out for his twin on the other end of the state. "Caleb, I've found my lifemate, but she's dying. Her spirit is leaving her body right now! I need your help if I am to save her! Please, Caleb, you are the greatest healer I know."
The reply was instantaneous. "Merge with me, my brother. Let me see." Jayden obliged, merging so fully that the two were almost one person. "Open a vein in your wrist and allow the blood to fall into her mouth. When she awakens, she will need blood to sustain her." In his haste, Jayden tore into his wrist and shoved it into his lifemate's mouth, painting the ground red in the process. "Follow her spirit Jayden. Find a way to hold her to this plane while I heal her. I'll call for help along the common path. Every Carpathian who hears will not hesitate to lend their aid. We will save her Jayden."
"Thank you, Caleb." Jayden then followed his instincts in order to rescue his soul's other half.
Kris was floating, swimming in a seemingly endless sea of mist. Is this death?, she thought. Is this a gateway to the next world? Am I flying through the clouds to reach Heaven? This all looks like something from a dream. As she floated onward, the mist seemed to move, reshaping itself around her. Kris found herself in a network of tunnels. Though every chamber looked alike, she felt her spirit pulled toward one in specific. As Kris followed the pull down a long corridor, gravity soon began to take hold of her. Her feet touched down on a varnished hardwood floor.
She watched as the mist dissipated, leaving her in a strange house. There was a small crowd gathered around a long table filled with food and a birthday banner hung above a long wooden staircase. The joy of celebration filled the air and Kris couldn't help but wonder why she'd been sent here. It soon became clear, as she walked among the partygoers, that she was invisible to everyone. At least, it seemed that way until one blonde head popped out of the crowd.
As soon as the girl looked up and met her gaze, Kris knew three things for certain. One, Kris was not only dead, she was a ghost. Two, she was looking at her friend Tara-she recognized her from her picture on Facebook. Third, Kris knew she didn't have long to stay. Even now, she could feel her spirit being pulled away toward a beautiful chorus of foreign voices. This was her last chance to help her friends before leaving them forever.
Kris knew from numerous online chat sessions, that Tara could see spirits, but she couldn't hear them. If Kris wanted to get a message across, it would have to be something simple and easy to read on her lips. But as she watched her friend come to terms with her death, and Tara's horror and devastation reached her, all words vanished. Kris could think of nothing to say. The voices were growing louder and more insistent, one deep baritone voice in particular. She had to leave, and she realized that there was really only one thing she could say. Her friends could help each other. "Help Mi—" But it was too late. Her time had run out.
Jayden came back to himself, opening his eyes to see his lifemate desperately sucking the blood from his wrist. He swayed with weakness, but he couldn't help but smile. "We did it Caleb," he called to his brother. "She's alive. I almost didn't reach her, but she's alive and I'm never letting her go." Jayden waited until the color returned to his lifemate's face before removing his wrist from her mouth and sealing the wound with his saliva.
"I am happy for you, Jayden. You deserve this." It was clear in his voice that Caleb had given much of himself to save the woman. "Be careful with her, Jayden. I healed only the major wounds. I recommend you leave at least some of the minor injuries, at least until you've explained to her who and what you are. It will be hard enough without having to explain to her why she doesn't have a scratch on her. I have business I must finish up here, but I shall come down and meet my new sister in a few nights time. I have to go now. I must feed. You should as well. You must be strong for the nights ahead."
"Thank you, Caleb. I am forever in your debt." Jayden broke the connection with his brother and turned back to his lifemate. She was soaked through to the bone. Even unconscious she was shivering. He had to take her home and get her warm.
He took her body in his arms and sped back to his large house in the woods. "Yo boss. Where's the fire?" Carlos asked as he rushed in. Carlos Santiago and his family lived with and worked for Jayden and his brother. They'd been trusted friends of the Kosturaks ever since Caleb had saved Carlos's father from a falling elm tree at the age of six. They were the only humans Caleb and Jayden had ever trusted with the secret of their Carpathian nature. Carlos noticed the woman in Jaden's arms. "Hey, who's the chick?"
Jayden sent Carlos what could only be described as a death threat glare as he stripped the sheets off the bed in a spare room and laid the woman on the mattress. "This chick is my lifemate and if you wish to keep your limbs, you will never again refer to her by such a vulgar and obnoxious name," he growled at his employee.
Carlos went white in the face and held up his hands palm-up in surrender. "Sorry boss. I didn't mean nothin' by it. Do you need help or something or do you just want me to go?"
"Go. But send in your mother or one of your sisters. I will need someone to watch over my lifemate when I head out to feed. I won't have any other male looking at my lifemate in her vulnerable state."
"Sure boss. Whatever you say."
As Carlos turned to go, Jayden called him back. "Forgive me, Carlos. I did not mean to yell. I know I told you once about lifemates. I have emotions now and I'm discovering that one of them is jealousy."
Carlos smiled. "It's alright, boss. I'll go get Mom for you. Congratulations by the way." Carlos walked out before Jayden could thank him.
Jayden shut the door and got to work. He started a fire in the fireplace and, with a thought, he made new bed sheets as well as replaced his woman's wet t-shirt and jeans with a warm fleece nightgown. Jayden placed a hand on her cheek and once again admired her beauty. He watched as her chest rose and fell with each breath and he couldn't help but remember how still it had been not long before. He nuzzled her neck. He knew he shouldn't, but after coming so close to losing her, he needed a blood bond. He sank his fangs into her neck to complete the exchange.
Kris woke up to the feel of something nuzzling her and then a sharp pain erupted as what felt like twin needles entered her neck. The pain soon gave way to pleasure though and Kris instinctively reached her arms up to hold onto the warm fuzzy feeling. She felt her fingers touch long, soft hair and after a few moments, she opened her eyes to see a gorgeous dark-haired man lift up his head to gaze at her with his beautiful golden brown eyes. Kris' glasses were missing, yet she could still see that he was the man from her visions—the one she'd seen herself marrying. Kris felt a wave of pure happiness emanate from the man as he pulled her into his warm embrace. "Is this Heaven?" she asked him.
"No, sivamet. This is still Earth. You are still very much alive." Kris recognized the deep baritone voice that had pulled her away from Tara. The man was shaking as he held her and she was pretty sure she heard him crying. She didn't know who this man was or why he seemed to care so much for her, but right now she didn't care. Kris rested her head on his shoulder, closed her eyes and smiled. She'd let herself worry about everything later. The man had said she was alive, but resting here in his arms, it sure felt like Heaven.
Authors Note: Chapter 4 will follow Mickey and Tara during the events of this chapter. I won't be coming back to Jayden and Kris until Chapter 5. I thought the friends deserved a chapter to themselves.
