Beautiful Sins: Leigha Lowery (13 page)

"Well done witch!" He smiled with heavy amusement. She grinned back, and bowed before him.

"I don't understand…" Maria said as she stared at the small woman bewildered.

"If you knew about the wolves all along, why didn't you just do this in the first place?" The small woman shrugged.

"We are not allowed to intervene. However, there are some exceptions." She answered, gesturing towards Alexander. I looked over to Alexander, who was literally glaring daggers at me.

"Remember what you said about that torrent Maria?" I asked. She gulped and nodded.

"I think it's here." I said, holding my face from the pain of speaking.

"Well I'm glad I could save the day for once… I think it's time I'd be getting home." Maria said, as she began to make her exit.

"Don't Move!" Alexander yelled, pointing his finger at her.

"Mina, Caleb, escort Maria home." He said sternly.

"Don't hurt her!" I yelled as I ran limped over to protect her. Alexander caught me before I could make the first step.

"You young lady, are in serious trouble." He warned calmly.

"I had too. They were going to hurt my friends." I defended.

"So you put your safety aside to save a common human?" I asked. I could feel the anger radiating off his face.

"She's selfless. A very rare trait in a human. I hope you let her live." The small woman intervened.

"Your services are no longer needed witch." Alexander informed. The small woman took a step back and Tamera moved to step in front of her.

"As you wish. Come on Tamera. Let's get you fed." She murmured, and climbed onto Tamera's back. A low growl escaped Tamera's lips before she leapt up into the trees, disappearing into the night.

"What the hell?" I said, as I watched them fade into the forest. I turned to meet Alexander's gaze. He quickly extended his hand out to my face, and blew out a cloud of white smoke. I couldn't help but inhale the heavy fumes that irritated my nose. I coughed and sneezed for a brief moment; then suddenly, my eyelids felt heavy and I began to swiftly began to lose control of my body. I remember falling into his cool arms before the darkness fell over me.

I'm not sure how long I was out of it, it could have been hours, days… As my eyes fluttered open to the bright lights of my bedroom, I noticed a familiar face standing over me. Randy placed a cool hand over my forehead, checking my temperature.

"You finally woke up. You were worrying your mother." He said. I pulled myself into a sitting position and Randy sat down beside me. He looked away from me, holding his head down in shame.

"I suppose you want to know why I pulled you and your mother to a place like this." He said, staring at his hands. I put my hand to my face, shocked to feel nothing. I looked to my ankle to find that it had completely healed. I gave him the most bewildered expression I could fathom.

"I hold the gift of healing. Why do you think I'm the personal physician of the King?" He asked.

"Why did you bring us here? What do you plan to do with my mother?" I asked nervously.

"I didn't have a choice Leigha. We don't get to choose who we love. Once I saw your mother, I knew I was going to be tied to her for all eternity." He responded, still staring down at his hands.

* * * * *

Lifemates

I couldn't understand what he was saying to me.

"What do you mean you didn't have a choice?" I asked dubiously. He looked up at me and gestured towards the thick book beside me. I reached over, pulled the Chronicles into my lap, and gasped.

"My mother is your lifemate." I murmured. My mother held a connection to a mythical creature. I rolled my eyes. Just what were the odds on that?

"And she knows the truth about you?" I asked. He nodded. I frowned at that.

"Why didn't you both just tell me?" I asked curiously.

"Leigha, would you have believed us? Would you have come with us?" He asked. Well he had a point there. Had I known the truth about this place I wouldn't have come. But would I have really let my mother leave me behind? No, I wouldn't have allowed that.

"Are you going to change my mother?" I asked, trying to hide the lump in my throat. Randy looked up at me with pleading eyes.

"I cannot be without her Leigha…" I didn’t let him finish. I placed my hand over his cool shoulder as I spoke.

"It's okay Randy. I know." I said, looking down at the Chronicles. His confession was truthful. If I understood anything in the Chronicles, it was the theory behind a male vampire and his lifemate. Randy's total existence would cease if my mother were no longer in it. She held half his soul; therefore, my mother would not be able to exist without him. I sighed, knowing I had no choice in this matter.

"Where's my mom?" I asked. Randy's smile widened as he looked up at me.

"She's afraid to face you. She thinks you're going to be furious with her." Randy explained. He looked at me warily and I could tell he didn't enjoy seeing his lifemate in pain.

"I'd better go downstairs and speak with her." I said, kicking the covers off my body and climbing off the bed.

"Be gentle with her Leigha… Please?" Randy begged.

My mother waited nervously in the kitchen for me. I couldn't hide the anger I felt towards her, that was just inevitable. How could she be so sneaky and conniving? As I entered the kitchen, my mother quickly turned away from me, holding her head down in shame.

"Do you want some breakfast?" She offered, heading towards the fridge.

"Mom, please stop being sad. I'm not angry with you." Well, that was a lie. Hopefully she didn't see through it though. She looked up at me, scanning my face for any signs of sincerity.

"I mean, the only thing that upsets me is that you didn't come out and tell me what was going on.” She sighed, closing the fridge and walking over to the bar.

"I'm not that hungry. I'll just have some fruit this morning." I said, grabbing a ripe apple from the fruit basket. My mother snatched the apple from me and proceeded to clean it. She walked over to the sink and quickly turned on the faucet.

"Mom, are you sure this is something you really want? I'm sorry; I'm just having difficulty registering all of this." I said, placing my fingers on my temples. My mother quickly cleaned the apple and pulled out a plate and knife. She sat it in front of me as she began to slice the fruit for me.

"Leigha honey, I've wanted Randy the moment I first saw him." She arranged the apple slices perfectly on the plate. She walked over to the cupboards and grabbed a jar or peanut butter. She was so obsessive compulsive. As she scooped a few spoon full’s of peanut butter onto the saucer, her face held so much serenity as she spoke. It was astonishing.

"I don't know how I can explain it, but it was like he held some sort of power over me. The way he stared at me, it captivated me.” She passed the perfect breakfast appetizer towards me. I quickly grabbed an apple slice and dipped it into the peanut butter. To be honest, I was famished. My mother knew me all too well.

"The way he just stares at me, it's the most beautiful feeling I've ever felt. I wish I could gather the words." She murmured as she watched me eat.

However, I knew exactly what she was feeling. I was too well versed in the Chronicles not to understand that she was feeling the love of her true soul mate. How many times had I wished to witness such a beautiful love? Now that it was in front of me, I began to realize that it was more difficult for me to handle than I thought it was.

"Please don't hate me Leigha. I know I am horrible for dragging you here, but you had to understand why I pulled you here." She begged. She looked up at me with the most pleading eyes.

"Mom stop! I'm not angry with you. You have to believe me when I say that."

"I do baby, I do. I'm just so afraid that you'll hate me." She ranted, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Mom?" I cried. I quickly hopped off my bar stool and hurried over to her. She pulled me tightly into her arms and finally let the tears fall down her face.

"It's okay Mom, it's okay." I murmured.

"I love you so much baby." She cried into my shoulder.

"I love you too Mom." I replied sincerely. I had to do something to break all this tension or she was going to make me cry.

"I just have one request before I give you my blessing to become one of the undead." I murmured into her shoulder. She pulled back warily, drying her damp face, waiting to hear my request.

"Just don't expect me to join you." I joked, pointing my finger at her sternly. She broke out into a loud laugh; causing my face to turn five shades of red.

"Mom! Quiet down." I chided. She continued to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Randy asked, curiously entering the kitchen.

"Leigha is so funny." My mother chuckled, holding her stomach from laughter pain.

"Well I'm glad to see the two of you on better terms however, there's a serious matter that I need to discuss with Leigha." Randy intervened. His expression turned hard and wary.

"Is this about the incident at the basketball game?" I asked cautiously. I turned to my mother, who had her arms folded over her chest. A hard frown crossed her face and it made me cringe.

"Let's take this conversation into the living room, shall we?" Randy suggested, gesturing out of the kitchen. I could just imagine how much trouble I was getting into this time.

In the living room, we sat in silence for an unfathomable about of time. It felt like forever. I kept my hands nervously in my lap. I decided to say my peace before I heard my fate.

"Listen, before the both of you ground me for life, I just want to say that if I had the chance to do it all over again; I wouldn't change one thing. Those were my friends; I wasn't about to let anything happen to them."

"So you would risk your life to save another? Your safety means nothing to you?" Randy asked. I groaned. He was starting to sound like Alexander with all the safety crap.

"Leigha, this is serious." My mother interceded. I let my back hit the sofa as I awaited my verdict.

"Leigha, I admire the fact that you were willing to risk your life to save your friends however, the way you went on about it was unacceptable. A matter that could have been cleaned up privately has now become a public matter." Randy explained.

"The humans know you exist?" I asked anxiously. Randy shook his head.

"What I mean by public Leigha is that the royals have gotten involved. It's putting the Island in a complete uproar that you were not only attacked once, but twice. The King has requested your audience. He wants to hear your story before he decides their fate." Randy explained. Okay, my mouth fell open this time.

"Excuse me?" I said, staring at him in disbelief.

"We only have a few days to get you prepared, and I can't let you miss anymore days at school. You're going to be a very busy lady." Randy was suddenly interrupted by the sound of his pager.

"I'm going to have to take this. Leigha, get ready for school, Mina will be here any moment." Randy said sternly.

"But…" I said, giving him a wayward glance. He frowned at that as he walked over to me, and buried his face in my hair. His cool body temperature was so welcoming. It was odd… Any other human would shy away from it. He pulled my mother into an intense kiss just before grabbing his lab coat and heading out of the living room. I hopped off the sofa, thankful that I had the use of my limbs and skipped up the steps to my bedroom.

"Can I help you get ready?" My mother asked as she followed behind me. I just rolled my eyes.

After allowing my mother to straighten my thick long hair, I quickly threw on a white cardigan, and a pair of jeans. I allowed my mother to con me into a pair of stiletto boots, a black purse, and more ridiculous jewelry before I hurried downstairs into the kitchen toward the kitchen door. I grabbed my hat and scarf, along with my jacket and headed out to the phantom. Caleb and Mina stood outside the vehicle, staring up at me in disbelief. I shrugged.

"I know it's totally not my style, but since I'll be on the Islands in a few days, I'd better learn to get use to it.” I grumbled. Caleb chuckled and proceeded to open the passenger door.

"Well you look lovely Leigha." He crooned. I looked over to Mina, and she looked perfect as usual. She wore a tightly fitted emerald bra-top halter dress that stopped right at the edges of her thighs with a long green jacket. She stood properly in her green stilettos, letting her brown hair flow down her shoulders.

"Wow Mina." Was all I could manage to say. She smiled and gave me a quick wink as she gestured towards the car.

"Mina hates to be tardy." Caleb explained.

"Oh." I said, quickly hopping into the backseat.

During the drive, I felt compelled to ask them just how much trouble I was in.

"How mad is he?" I asked. Mina laughed. Caleb and I stared at her warily. It wasn't like Mina to behave so un-lady like.