What the Heart Takes (21 page)

What a confusing mess of puzzles, riddles, and secrets this new life had become. The more she learned, the heavier her burden grew. Many lives depended on hers. Dylan’s life did, as did Layne’s, the baby’s, and now every human in existence. She couldn’t defend herself from her psychotic ex-boyfriend, Zeke, or Nate for that matter. How could she do this? How could she save anyone if she couldn’t save herself?

Dylan shifted his weight on the bench, releasing her from the warmth of his embrace. He tucked a few curls behind her ears before he leaned his elbows on the table and stared at their parents.

“Is there anything that could have saved my dad from choosing this path?”

“We don’t know, Dylan.” Delia hesitated on whatever else she’d planned to say when she noticed Heaven’s mother shake her head.

“Yes, We do know. It was our fault. Nicholas and I gave up on him too soon.”

“Anna,” her father cut in, but her mother held up her hand.

“Believe what you want to believe. I know we could have saved him. We went about it wrong.”

An intense amount of tension formed between her parents. They rarely argued. To see her mother grow so passionate in her defense of Nate reminded Heaven of her defensiveness toward Layne. She couldn’t imagine losing him to The Fallen. How her mother had dealt with it, she didn’t know. The pain it caused her still lingered in her soul.

“Does this have to do with my dad being in love with you?” Dylan’s words had her mother’s mouth gaping. She struggled to speak, but nothing more than a crack filled the air. “I made the connection in Aruba, right before Heaven went missing.”

“Yes,” her mother whispered. She tucked her face behind her hand to hide the sadness Heaven sensed in her heart. “Nicholas and I… We could have handled things differently. Instead of trying to work through it, we slowly pulled away. It only made Nate worse.” She swiped a few tears from her face before covering her eyes again. “Once I found out I was pregnant, I thought it would help him get over things, but…”

“But it sent him over the edge,” her father finished, squeezing her mother’s shoulder until she looked at him. He mouthed the words
I’m sorry
then brought her hands to his lips.

Heaven shifted her eyes to Layne. He’d turned his back to the sink, leaning against it as he crossed his arms at his chest. His eyes stared straight ahead into the dining area, but she noticed the crease between his brows.

She knew the current topic bothered him. He’d expressed his fear of following in Nate’s footsteps on more than one occasion. Now that he heard firsthand how that happened, he questioned if it would happen to him. He cared about her. A lot. She sensed it within him. Yet no matter how deep those feelings might run, she couldn’t accept the fact that he would hurt her. He needed her. She was more than his Seeker. She was his source. That had to mean something.

Before she could give it more thought, Layne parted his lips to speak. “You’ve mentioned how chaos is derived by the unfortunate pair. Is it because one of them always turns to the dark path?”

“No,” Delia answered. She came to a stand, grabbing her coffee cup from the table before she walked in his direction. “Some can go their separate ways and find happiness elsewhere. I’ve known quite a few who have, but the amount that fall into darkness is tremendous.” She stopped in front of the coffeepot, pouring herself another cup. “Once the Supremes begin to strengthen their love, the unfortunate are less likely to fall to the dark path. The ones who are on it can be drawn back to the path of light.”

Layne seemed to be processing the information when Dylan shot off the next question. “So if Heaven lives and our love shifts the balance back to good, some of Dad’s people will turn away from him?” He paused long enough to see her nod and then continued. “Couldn’t he come back to our path as well?”

His question didn’t surprise her. Part of him still hoped that his father would revert to the man he used to be, the one who had a heart. No one wanted to believe they were the spawn of something evil. Finding out that he was worried him, though she wasn’t really sure why. She’d never sensed the fear in him in the past.

“It’s possible your dad could come back,” her father cut in, “but highly unlikely. For your father to have the type of clout he does, he’d have to be prestigious among his kind. He’s in a leadership role. Those who hold these roles are usually unreachable. They remain to keep chaos thriving for the next generation.”

Heaven’s temples began to pulse. In all the confusion of what was happening, there was still one thing their parents hadn’t answered. This one thing would be a pertinent part to them being a Supreme Trinity.

“If Dylan and I are a fortunate pair, who is the other pair? How will we find the rest of our trinity?”

“We’ve already found the other fortunate pair,” her mother announced. “It’s Hope and Scott.”

The news brought a sense of relief to Heaven, even if she wasn’t sure how accurate it was. Guess there was only one way to find out. “I thought one of you said that Supremes were the firstborn.”

“Yes,” her mom nodded, “but when there are multiple births, there can be more than one Supreme.”

“But how do you know we both are?”

Her mother drew an imaginary arc in the air. “It shows in your energy. A fortunate pair not only have their individual aura, they have a second aura that blends with their soulmate. The unfortunate pair doesn’t have the blended aura, just their individual auras.”

Her answer proceeded to build more questions in Heaven’s mind. “Then how do you recognize an unfortunate pair?”

“They are always connected to one of the fortunate pairs in a familiar way. They’re either close friends or relatives.”

It was exactly as Heaven feared, which meant her earlier concerns were probably true too. “Does that make Faith part of the unfortunate pair?”

Both her mother and Delia traded glances across the room. Her mother focused on her coffee cup, but Delia looked at Layne, then back to Heaven. “We think so, but it doesn’t mean Layne is her soulmate. It could be the man she was involved with, the one that could have been…”

All eyes went to Layne. He glanced at each person around the room then shook his head. “Go ahead and say it. The one that could have been the father of her child.”

“Layne,” Heaven whispered. She stood from the bench and headed in his direction. As soon as he noticed, he moved to the archway near the dining room.

“It’s okay. I’ve come to accept what happened was for the best. I don’t know who this dude is or what he’s like. What I do know is that she and I didn’t need a kid, together or apart.”

Heaven couldn’t believe he’d lied so easily, especially after their last conversation. He’d admitted that seeing the pregnancy test had him thinking about having kids, even if it was for a split second. He wouldn’t say so, but Heaven knew it awoke something inside him. That something ate away at him every time he looked at her, at the life she carried within her. Deep down, Layne wanted to have kids. He wanted to be a father.

“I don’t know if I can listen to any more,” she grumbled, rubbing the kinks in her back and neck. “My head feels like it’s going to explode.”

Dylan joined her a second later. He slipped behind her, placing his hands on either side of her back as he began massaging it. “It’s a lot to take in. Maybe it would do you some good to go outside and get some air. We can take a walk on one of the trails behind the cottage.”

“A walk isn’t going to change anything, Dylan. We were just told that the fate of mankind rests on our shoulders. I can’t wrap my head around this. I went from book nerd who couldn’t get accepted into an art program to the most powerful Seeker in the world. How does that happen? How do you go from nothing to something?”

A nagging sensation of guilt resurfaced in the room, or rather, in her mother-in-law. It was the same guilt she’d sensed in her earlier. “You’ve always been something, Heaven. There’s never been a minute you’ve been anything less.”

“You’re kind to say so, Delia, but—”

“No buts.” Unable to hold her gaze, Delia glanced at her parents and then the floor as she worked her lips together. “I know you thought otherwise, but you made it into that art program.”

Heaven scoffed at the notion, but when she sensed the guilt in Delia grow, she realized her mother-in-law was serious. “How do you know I made it?”

“Because,” Delia said, tapping her finger against her cup as she averted her eyes. “I’m the one who sabotaged your acceptance.”

CHAPTER 14

A steady thump echoed in Heaven’s ears as she listened to her heartbeat. Each thud accentuated Delia’s words in her mind, leaving her in a wake of confusion. Dylan’s arms wrapped about her, keeping her on her feet, but the weight of the words made her head continue to spin.

“Did you just say…how did you even know I’d applied for the program? You said you and Mom lost contact over the years.”

Delia nodded slowly. “Yes, but my husband kept tabs on you, all of you. I overheard him talking to someone on the phone about your scholarship. When he found out it was approved, he volunteered to sponsor you. He knew if you were in the program, you wouldn’t come looking for Dylan, but it would also give him an opportunity to make sure you never did. I overheard him on another call plotting your death. He’d planned to kill you while you were abroad.”

“Son-of-a-bitch,” Dylan mumbled against her shoulder.

Delia flashed him a sympathetic gaze as she nodded. “Once I found out, I called the program the next day and pretended to be his assistant. I told them that he’d reconsidered sponsorship and set it up for someone else. You can imagine Nate’s surprise when he found out you were in town.”

Heaven didn’t have to imagine. She remembered the way he stared at her when they met at Dylan’s. The way he raked his eyes over her, making her skin crawl. “How did he find out I was in L.A?”

“The newspaper,” Dylan chimed in. “Scott called him after I found the paper with our picture in it. He’d already seen it and he wasn’t happy.”

“Were you surprised to see me too, Delia?”

“No.” A smile lit up her mother-in-law’s face. She set her cup on the table before walking over to grab Heaven’s hands. “I knew you were coming.”

“How?” Heaven asked, but the spark in Delia’s eyes said it all. “Oh… Your cards.”

“They showed me you were coming.”

“Wow.” The heat of Dylan’s mouth faded from her shoulder as he raised his head and stared at his mother. “That’s why you insisted I have a reading the morning of Kyle’s wedding.”

“Yes. I wanted you to see that love was coming your way.”

“Unbelievable,” He grumbled the words and released Heaven from his embrace. Several strides placed him across the room, not far from Layne. Like his friend before him, he’d placed a significant amount of space between himself and Heaven—space he felt would keep her safe from his irritation.

“The amount of secrets you have never ceases to amaze me, Mom.”

Delia released Heaven’s hands and followed him, though her steps were hesitant. “I’m sorry, Dylan. I wish I could have told you about this. I wanted to so many times, especially when you told me that you were dreaming of her again.”

“That’s what pisses me off.” He kept his back to her, facing the wall of cabinets. “I don’t understand how you could keep those secrets when you knew how much it hurt us to be apart. You should have told me. You should have trusted that I’d do the right thing and wait to find Heaven. Instead, you stood by and let Dad make me forget her.”

“I tried to stop him. That’s why I gave you the locket. It had a special ability to keep you two linked regardless of what your father used against you.”

Heaven touched her hand to her chest, feeling the locket underneath her sweater. She wrapped her fingers around the chain, tugging it up until she worked the necklace free. Now it made sense why he’d given it to her.

A memory she’d lost years ago played through her mind. They’d stood together under a willow tree, wrapped in each other’s arm. Pain had plagued his eyes when he told her their time together was ending. She remembered the way the locket felt in her hand when he gave it to her, telling her it would help her cope with the separation.

An overwhelming amount of emotion came with that realization. It swept over her, as well as Dylan. He turned to meet her gaze. The anger once knitting his brows had fallen away. And though he’d meant the words for his mother, his eyes held hers with each step he took. “You knew I’d give it to her. That’s why you said give it to the girl that steals your heart
and
your breath.”

“Yes,” Delia whispered. A notable amount of relief resonated in her voice. “That locket has been used for the same purpose for years. It kept my parents linked during a time they were apart. I was surprised that it didn’t work.”

Dylan stopped in front of Heaven, just shy of the kitchen table. He pulled her close and trailed his fingers over the curve of the heart. Regret played in his eyes, regret she knew he felt for the time his father stole from them. She didn’t enjoy the thought, or the one that hurt her even more—knowing she could have prevented it.

“I think the necklace would have worked if I’d had it over the years. The night Dylan said goodbye, I put the locket in my journal, which I left at Chelsea’s house. I didn’t get it back until I went to L.A.”

“That explains why we forgot,” he said, cupping her face in his hands. “But it doesn’t explain how we started dreaming of each other again.”

“Soulmates always find a way.”

She’d almost forgotten anyone else was with them until Delia answered. Caught up in the look of love in his eyes, she knew it didn’t matter how much time his father took from them. They had their future. They’d make the most of each day ahead.

As serene as the moment was, the enjoyment didn’t last for long. Movement in her peripheral drew her eyes back to her Keeper. “I don’t mean to interrupt,” Layne said as he shifted his weight to the other foot, “but I have a couple questions. When is this going to stop? When will Heaven be safe?”