Part Four

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*Luna*

As I was coming to, I slowly opened my eyes, looking around.

I could see that I was in the back of a van of some sort, and the inside was all white. My hands and feet were bound to a gurney, and I could feel an IV sticking in my arm. My eyes darted around, and they landed on the one person whom I never wanted to see again. Chase.

He caught us in the forest. Somehow he must have known we were running there. No. I wanted to get away, I wanted my friends and family to be safe, and I wanted to escape from his wrath.

Amir.

Sarah.

My family?

I just kept myself calm and relaxed as best as I could, knowing Chase was right beside me. On the other side of him was Dr. Kim and Nurse Smith from St. Matthew's. Oh Lord, I'm back to the insane treatments and shock therapy. Just kill me now.

Chase sat with one knee hooked over the other, hands folded together as he grinned my way in his polished black suit. The nurse was in the same uniform I last saw her and does Dr. Kim ever change his clothes? I doubt he even showers. He looked perfect in a creepy china-doll way.

A fine sheen of sweat covered my forehead as I glanced toward the ceiling, knowing I was about to get more shocks any second now. I couldn't help but wondered how everyone was.

"You're probably wondering how I found you, Luna." That was Chase. And my tolerance of him was eating me alive.

He chuckled in his seat, reading my mind.

I shifted my gaze back to his, meeting the startling gray in his eyes. There wasn't an ounce of emotion in his hard, cold stare. "No. I know how."

A soft smile pulled at his lips. "You couldn't possibly think you could get away from me, did you, baby?"

"Don't call me that. That right belongs to my husband, Amir."

"Ah, yes, Amir Ibrahim Khan. You know, when I met him the first time, he didn't know I knew who he was. He was shaking so badly as his eyes glared into mine. I could feel the agony his soul was in when he couldn't pound into me. It was hilarious. I even tapped into his mind and saw the memory of how you were shocked that he could understand English the first moment you spoke to him. So I did the same. Just to insult his intelligence."

I felt the van stop and then speed off quickly, and all I wanted to do was shove his ass out the back door, let someone run over his head. It was definitely a transport van I was in. "You are nothing but a big asshole, and a narcissist."

"Oof. Like that hurt my soul. You don't know what went on. You weren't there."

"Yes, I was. You aren't the only one who can tap into someone's mind."

"Ah, yes. But I am curious about something, Mrs. Khan. Why did you break the rule and fall in love with Amir?"

"Because he knows how to give me what I need, unlike soulless jerks like you."

"Okay, well, that doesn't hurt me a bit. It's just so alluring how your connection to him has developed like this," he said, acting like nobody falls in love. I doubt he ever has. "So, I am curious as to what made you want to be with him?"

"He has an anaconda in his pants," I said, thinking about how good Amir made me feel inside.

"But you were feeling something for him before sex," Chase said, prying into my intimate life. "I looked into his history. He was a virgin until you two got married by—I might add—my close informant. You two did the deed many times in the house and not once have gotten sick. It's just odd."

"No. It's odd that your badgering me about my sex life with my soulmate."

"Soulmate. That is what you two call yourselves." Chase unhooked his leg and moved closer. "You should know, that little blood oath you and Amir did was the worse move you could have ever made."

"No. It was the perfect move, actually." I think it was the best move. It bound us for life.

"We know that you love him," Dr. Kim said. The way he said that made it sound like he didn't expect me to love Amir.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. "I do. I always will."

"And do you believe he loves you, like truly loves you?" Dr. Kim patted down his tie.

"It's not that I don't believe he loves me, but rather I know he does. He loves me."

There was a moment of silence as we rode over a bump, making my gurney shift.

Then Chase laughed deeply.

That wasn't what I thought he'd do. He was laughing like someone just did a funny trick with their hands, like a magic show. He saw me staring at him and shook his head.

"That's cute, sweetie," he said after a moment.

Okay?

He smiled and chuckled again. "You lie there so confident and yet, you have no idea Amir's true feelings for you." I said nothing and held my breath, wishing I could go to sleep, because he was trying to get to me.

And he continued his little rant. "You developed feelings for someone whom you're paired for. And being a tethered soul, we aren't supposed to fall in love with them. Our genes have consequences, and you broke the rules. You weren't supposed to meet and keep this love-match going. When human anomalies are paired for someone, a love shouldn't take place. It's an abomination."

"You know what an abomination is? That's you, Chase Marquette. You are an abomination."

He chuckled like he couldn't care less what insults I threw at him. "I just wanted to make sure you knew that. Tethered Souls have one purpose: never meet and work together, telepathically. When two Souls fall off course, that becomes my business, and it is my job to straighten them out."

My body stiffened. The van ride jarred over another pothole, jostling the gurney against Chase. I felt like a cat who was caught by Animal Control. A tiny cat in a cage. My heart was pounding so badly, I'm sure that even Chase could feel it. Perhaps I shouldn't be mentally writing my goodbye letter to my love. Perhaps I should write my erotic love poem instead. That'll make his day. Give him some pointers.

"Your job," I snorted. "Okay."

"I want to know more about what you can do," he said, slowly. "How can you light up like a street on the Vegas strip?"

I didn't respond.

Maybe Amir and I are one of a kind. He shook his head, passing me a humorous smile and glancing at Dr. Kim on the other side of me. Before I could take a breath, the doctor reached for a syringe that was filled with some kind of clear liquid, and then he picked up my tube, about to insert it. A jolt of panic shivered up my sternum as my eyes widened. It could be poison for all I knew, and right then, I knew that I had taken my last breath.

Chase leaned on his knees, spreading his legs apart. "I want this transport to be easy and with no problems. You know I am a soul hunter. I am The Hunter, and I can make life a living hell for you. More than you ever imagined. Just answer my question."

I glared back at the doctor and the nurse and kept my mouth shut. I could feel myself lighting up inside, and I could have gone all Christmas tree in this van, but I didn't want to. I didn't even know if I needed my partner or not. We'd only found out about our new gift earlier, if it was still the same day. I didn't even know what day it is.

"It's only been an hour since you and your gang of Aluna Army, as you all call yourselves, was captured. If you want to keep them alive, you better value your life, especially for Amir's sake. You see, that blood oath was orchestrated by me. When you combine the bloodline like that, he will die if you die. And vice versa." Chase's tone sounded like he was telling me what he watched on TV. "Understand?"

I nodded, even though I was ready to spit all over his suit.

A speed bump later, and Chase scooted back. "Now, moving on. How did you light up?"

I hated giving him what he wanted, but seeing as I didn't have a choice and that I was strapped down against my will, I'll comply with as little details as I could. I didn't want to throw anyone under the bus, well, besides these people.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that Amir and I were holding hands and somehow lit up brighter than a light bulb out there on the highway. Okay? That's all I can give you."

Every muscle in my body ached when his hand touched my leg. I just wanted to bite it off. "Keep going," he said near my left side. "I know more than you think."

"Because you orchestrate everything."

The nurse laughed softly. "Well, aren't you the smart one?" Her fingers busied themselves while she jotted down God knows what in her journal. "For your own sake, I wouldn't keep messing around."

I drew in a long breath. "Amir and I are Pure Souls."

"And what does Pure Souls do?" Chase asked.

As much as I wanted to turn from his eyesight, I kept my gaze on his. "So far, I can sense other Souls whose powers have not manifested yet. I can seek tethered pairs and help join them together. He and I have more powerful abilities-"

"Abilities?"

"Some." I sucked in a breath as Chase ran his hand down my arm. That snake. "We haven't discovered all that we can do. Yet. I know we can shield ourselves from other souls."

Chase listened as the transport van rolled on. "Hmm. Interesting, love. I'm glad to find out all that you know."

"And we needed to know what you know," said Dr. Kim. "We've discovered that Pure Souls can do everything other Tethered Souls can, however, they are more than the exceptional TS running around out there, TSE, and once Pure Souls combine their blood, it combines everything. It's truly astonishing. And Amir is the good part of you two, whereas you are the evil part. Good verses evil. We will have fun working on you two, together."

I balled my fists, and then I flicked my gaze from him to Chase and back to him. Chase spread his arms back in his seat and looked like he was getting all kinds of comfortable. I just wanted to knee him in the groin. "We're very powerful when we work together."

Pressure seized inside my chest as I got a real bad feeling forming in the pit of my stomach.

"How powerful?" Dr. Kim asked.

Chase tsked softly. "Is there more you'd like to share with us, Luna?"

"There is." The nurse smiled softly, drawing a finger up my arm. "Oh, wow, so when you and your husband are alone, you can literally be one. That's amazing."

Oh, no.

"One? Really?" Chase said, amused.

"Yes, Chase. They are one. One body. Their souls fused together when they were intimate. And that's not everything," the nurse said, looking over at Chase and the doctor.

"Keep going," Chase grinned.

The nurse's finger trailed over my forehead. "There's a TSI among them."

"Oh dear," Dr. Kim murmured.

I stared at them, my brain trying to figure out what a TSI means.

Chase tapped his fingers on his knee cap. "Having a TSI around is a big deal, Luna. Did you really think having something like that wouldn't expose you?"

"Forgive me if I don't know what a TSI means," I said, swallowing air in my throat.

"It means a Tethered Soul Indicator. Having one around is like having a beacon, and we can see beacons, Luna. We can sense them from a mile away," Chase said, casually. "It's different from a TSH. It is so much bigger than anything on the planet."

"And guess who it is?" the nurse murmured, grinning my way.

"It's her sister. Liberty. She's an Indicator."

Right then, I figured out who this nurse was.

She was a Tethered Soul, reading my thoughts.

But so was Chase.

And not only can they pick up everything I'm thinking about, they can for everyone who was a tethered soul. "Yep," she said, smiling. She brought her mouth next to my ear, her nose scrapping along my cheek. "There's no way you're getting out of this. Not for a second, my dear."

The inside of the van suddenly became smaller. "Why?" I gasped out, scared for my friends and family.

"Did you know about Liberty?" Chase asked, throwing his arms over his chest. "Or did she not show up on Faisal's trusty little device he brings with him everywhere? Liberty isn't a tethered soul by our genetics, but she is an indicator, which means that she can see souls who aren't active. She isn't meant to be a tethered soul. Her job is simply to guide them along their path. But she can also do something other Souls can't."

"She can eliminate souls before they become active. Just like Ahmed who can remove pain from souls who are hurt, she can extract the power from a Tethered Soul," Dr. Kim said, staring down at me. "She can basically eliminate their genes in a fraction of a second. Take away the powers they were born with. All she has to do is absorb the powers into her own body." The nurse looked away and jotted something down on her pad. "I think Liberty will become useful for us."

"So now we know that Liberty is special, she can help us remove the genes from all tethered souls." Chase crossed his legs, and I felt the van turn a curve quickly, almost sliding me toward him. "I do have a solution for you, Luna, in this van. We have a syringe that has the elimination serum. It will eliminate your connection to Amir."

Crap. Crap. Crap.

Nurse Smith giggled.

"We need to extract the pure souls genes' first. That's our priority. Then Matthew will tell me where Colin Decker's wife and son are hiding, and we will continue until we find any other soul who is in hiding. The lead domes and rings only do so much." Chase smiled his charming smile of his. "But we need to do a little experiment first. We have to get Liberty to harness her power and concentrate to withdraw the genes of an active soul."

The pain I felt in my chest was like a hummingbird pecking at it. "You have my sister?"

"Yes, Luna. She is riding in a van behind this one, along with Sarah. Both are strapped down and lying on a gurney."

"Why? What did they do to you?"

"It's not about what they did, but what they can do." Chase adjusted himself in his seat. "Sarah has the defective gene in her blood, but she is Matthew's good side as he is her evil side. Light and dark sides need guidance. Liberty can withdraw Matthew's darkness from him. That's what I have been searching for all this time. But first things first. I have to remove your powers beforehand, that way you can't do anything to stop us, because I know you'll inform your lover as soon as you get a chance." He nodded toward Dr. Kim to stick his syringe in my tube. "You won't feel a thing. You'll fall asleep, then wake up and have no powers. It'll be like you were never a Tethered Soul."

"No! Please!" I pleaded with tears in my eyes. I can't lose Amir or Sarah.

"Luna, Amir won't be tethered to you anymore," Chase said, reading my mind. "He won't be hanging around and watching me give you red roses at restaurants. Right after I did that I could sense the agony your partner felt by not being able to give you a rose himself. I couldn't see where he was, but I felt his soul shatter from across the room."

"You're disgusting!"

"Yeah, well, at least I'm powerful and can make people suffer," he said, giving me an impish grin.

"I hate you!"

"And I love... nobody." He giggled, but before I could respond, my mind started fading, and I was suddenly falling asleep.

In my dream, I was with Amir, my husband and companion.

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Ah! What do you think about all this? Is this a twist or what? Did you catch it? The rose comment refers to the time Chase handed Luna a rose, and Amir was standing idly by, desiring to hand her one himself. Chase had a reason for all his actions in this story, and he sensed Amir's presence. But Luna unknowingly blocked him. Chase is cruel. I have had the time of my life writing this book, this storyline, and coming up with these crazy ideas to keep you all interested. Poor Luna... She and Amir are only facing the beginning of their trials as a tethered couple. They are called, The Tethered Trials. The blood oath is a focal point further down the line. Thanks for all the love shown in my book! Some juicy stuff is ahead and a question that has been weighing on everyone's mind will be answered! Why can't tethered pairs meet? Keep reading to find out!