*Lucas*
Sasha fell asleep in my arms on the ratty couch. My mories of her flooded back so quickly that I hadn’t had a chance to think about how this Lucas in this tiline lived.
It didn’t matter. All I cared about was having my beautiful mate in my arms. She had my mark now, too.
Hopefully, that would an an easier ti finding each other and rembering each other if we had to go through any more tilines.
Honestly, I was ready to get back to ours. We’d done enough damage in all these tilines, and who knew what was going on in our own reality?
Sasha murmured sothing in her sleep and I kissed her shoulder. She imdiately relaxed and settled down again.
The faster we got out of here, the better. With The Immortal after Sasha again, I had a feeling we were safer in our own tiline. We knew who we could trust and count on there.
When The Immortal ca after Sasha in this tiline, she ran. I wondered why she didn’t use her magic against him. She was getting better at controlling her powers, especially when she was in danger.
Sasha’s eyes fluttered open and she gasped. She turned in my arms and buried her face in my chest.
“Oh, you’re still here.”
I chuckled and kissed her forehead. I rubbed her back comfortingly. “Of course, I’m still here.”
“Lucas, when I woke up in this tiline and couldn’t find you... I was so panicked. I know that’s how you felt before.”
I hugged her against my bare chest. Her naked body was so soft and smooth against .
“It doesn’t matter. We’re together now, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m so sorry I put you through all that. I don’t want you to feel that way ever again. It was horrible. And then I heard about your life in this tiline. It’s awful to think there are realities where we might never find each other.”
“Shh. Don’t think about that, my love. You found and I’m grateful. I’ll always find you and you’ll always find . That’s all that matters.”
She nodded and I felt her muscles relax against .
“Sasha, when The Immortal ca after you, why didn’t you use your powers to defend yourself?”
“Right... I couldn’t.”
“What do you an, you couldn’t?”
She sighed, and I felt her reluctance in her body language.
“I tried. I couldn’t feel the magic or access it. Sothing must be blocking it.”
“Have you ever felt that before?” I slipped my fingers through her hair, wanting to stay in contact with her as much as possible.
“No. I think sothing happened in this tiline to restrict my power. It’s like sothing is physically blocking it.”
“Sasha, we have to get back to our own tiline. Too much is going on, and we don’t know where we stand in any of these tilines.”
Sasha lifted her head and gave a concerned look. She pulled away and sat up on the couch, her brow creased.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I don’t think we can leave.”
“What do you an? You told that the future orb is with Lena and the past orb is still buried under the library. It should be easy to get both orbs and get back.”
Before she fell asleep, Sasha filled in on everything that happened since we parted ways in the last tiline. I didn’t say it aloud, but we both knew that if I ever crossed paths with Stone again, no matter what tiline we were in, he was dead. I couldn’t believe he took advantage of Sasha and tried to set her up with him in a tiline. He was a dead man walking.
“That’s not what I an. The Sasha here... she’s defenseless, powerless. I can’t leave her like that.”
I nodded. “You’re right. The Immortal could co after you or her in any tiline. She needs her magic back.”
“Yeah. I’m thinking that finding my mother in this tiline will help. She’ll probably know what happened to my powers. She might have even done sothing.”
“That’s a good idea. While we’re here, I should probably... try to nd things with this Lucas’s family.”
The mories of his anger and violence were intermingled with my own. I didn’t feel those emotions anymore, but I rembered how it felt. I rembered why he lashed out and did what he did. I rembered all the things he did to survive after he left his family.
The guy had a rough ti, and if I could help him reconnect with his family, or start to reconnect with them, I knew he’d appreciate it.
Sasha got up and gathered her clothes.
“Yeah, it’s a good idea to help him out. This house of his is a total dump!”
I chuckled and looked around. She was right. Dirty clothes were lumped all over the floor. I realized the house was so small that there was no bedroom. It was just a kitchen, bathroom, and living room.
Did he sleep on a couch?
Ugh, this guy was a screaming billboard for help.
“We should clean up a bit,” I suggested.
“Eww, gross. I’m not cleaning this pigsty.”
I grinned. “I ant we should hop in the shower. The water will probably be brown, but I’ll take that over whatever I just sat in that’s sticky.”
Sasha wrinkled her nose and nodded.
We hopped in the shower together and cleaned off as best we could. There was no soap either.
“You know, the Lucas in this reality had believe he was quite the lady’s man. He doesn’t even have soap!”
“Like I said, he needs a lot of help.”
After we got dressed, Sasha and I decided to go visit my mother first. She was closest, and I wouldn’t be able to move on until I had at least spoken to her and helped give her hope about her real son’s return.
When we got to her house, she greeted us on the porch. She was stiff and uneasy. I could practically feel her apprehension.
“Lucas, you ca back.”
“I should have called first. I’m sorry to surprise you like this.”
“Sorry?!” she gasped. She looked at Sasha with a hard look. “I see you found him.”
“And I brought him back. You should listen to what he has to say.”
My mom gave a curt nod. She motioned to the porch furniture.
“Forgive for not inviting you in. The last ti you were here....”
“I understand. We can sit out here. I don’t mind.”
I took Sasha’s hand and led her up the porch. We sat next to each other. My mother sat on the opposite side of the porch.
She sat stiffly, her hands in her lap. Her eyes were wide and open and she just stared at .
“I don’t even know where to begin,” she admitted.
“Let . I want you to know that your son, Lucas, is grateful for all the help you offered him when he first got attacked by rogues.”
“My son?” she asked, her eyebrows shooting up.
“This might sound hard to believe, but Sasha and I are from a different reality. We got stuck here and we’re trying to get back. But I have the mories of the Lucas that belongs in this reality.”
“Well, any other day I might not believe that. But having you on my porch, speaking to like a civilized adult makes question if you really are my son.” She nodded slowly.
“I’m sorry I can’t give you more details than that. It’s too complicated, and we don’t have a lot of ti.”
My mom held up her hand. “I don’t need to know more. Just tell , am I ever going to get my son back?”
I sighed and glanced sideways at Sasha. She reached over and placed her hand on my knee.
“When we leave this reality, your son will return. However, I’m guessing that’s not what you’re talking about. You want to know if you’ll get him back the way he was before the rogue attack.”
She sucked in a sharp breath and nodded. “Is that so wrong?”
I smiled warmly and shook my head. “He’s in a lot of pain and he’s very confused. He’s lost but not gone. You can reach him.”
“How!?” she begged.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know. But you’re his mother. You’ll find the right thing to do and say.”
“I haven’t known what to say to him for a long ti.”
“Trust , you’ll figure it out.” I nodded encouragingly.
She didn’t look like she believed , but she finally nodded.
“I really appreciate you sending Sasha, my mate, to find . Without her, I wouldn’t be here to have this conversation with you now.”
“I almost didn’t send her. She’s very... persuasive.”
I smirked and winked at Sasha.
“Hey, I had to find you sohow,” she defended.
“By any ans necessary?” my mom asked.
“Either way, I’m glad you took a chance on her. She’s worth it all, and if the Sasha of this reality is your Lucas’s mate, then you should find a way to bring them together. It may be the key to healing him.”
“I’ll try to find the Sasha of this reality.”
“Good, because she is going to need protection. There are forces after her, and I know that your Lucas will want to protect her. Even if he’s angry and confused, protecting her will be important to him.”
“You’re sure?”
Sasha chid in. “Absolutely! Before he got his mories back... well, I t the version of your Lucas. Even without knowing at all, he ca after to protect when I was in danger when minutes before, he tried to dismiss . Sasha can get through to him.”
“I am sorry, Lucas.” My mom’s eyes glistened with tears and she covered her mouth with her hand.
“Sorry for what?” I creased my brow.
“I didn’t do everything I could have or should have after the rogue attack. I just... let you go.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Believe , I know it wasn’t easy on you. I know how this Lucas tested you and pushed you away. Trust when I say that he regrets it. He’ll never admit that but... that’s how he feels.”
“It is?” Her eyes lit up with hope.
“Yes.” I nodded. “He fills his life with aningless friendships and working relationships, but he never creates anything aningful. He’s very lonely and not happy about it. I think he’s too proud to admit he needs family.”
My mother nodded slowly and smiled a little. “Thank you for sharing that with . I will work to repair my relationship with him and bring him and Sasha together.”
“Thank you... Mom.”
She sniffled a little and nodded. “Whatever I need to do to help, I’ll be ready.”
Reviews
All reviews (0)