Serenity

Chapter 11

Julian

When I came to, I was on my back, staring at the ceiling. There was a closed door in front of me, and a jackhammer drilling into my skull. A hand reached down. I grabbed it and allowed Phil to haul me to my feet. "What hit me?"

A grin appeared on his face as he handed me a can of gunna paste. I grimaced as I scooped a small amount of the foul tasting, thick green goop and forced myself to swallow it. Phil slapped me on the back and herded me into the kitchen. He pointed to one of the bar stools, then walked over to the fridge.

I sat on the stool and rested my elbows on the bench. A glass of apple juice appeared in front of me. I snatched it up and drank the whole thing in one go. "Another." He refilled the glass, and I emptied again. Phil tried to refill it, but I covered it. As much as I hated the lingering taste of gunna paste, it was fading, and I needed answers. "What the hell happened?"

Phil held up his hand in a gesture that told me to give him a minute. He glanced toward the lounge room. Marie was in there working on something on her tablet. "Marie, can you check on Tami? She was upset a few minutes ago and I want to make sure she is ok."

Marie's eyes flicked from Phil to me. Her mouth widened, and she took off, running down the hall to her room. Once she had disappeared inside, Phil's face sobered. He put my glass in the sink and poured straight rum into two clean glasses. He slid one over to me, then studied me for several moments. "Phil. What's going on? What aren't you telling me?"

"You don't remember?"

I searched my recent memories, looking for the reason I woke up on my back outside Tami and Marie's bedroom. What I found had my gut churning. "Oh no. Tell me it's not true. Tell me I didn't."

"You did. Then again, she could just be angry that you grabbed her arm without her permission. But I doubt it. Look at your hands."

I frowned as I did as he told me. My hands were bare. I turned my focus inward. My Mori sulked in a corner of my brain, reaching for something I couldn't see. Solmi. Well, that answers that, I guess. I had bonded with Tami. It was what I had wanted, what I hoped for, what I saw in my dreams, so why was I even thinking of breaking the bond? A loud groan forced itself out, and I buried my head in my hands. "What am I going to do now?"

He slammed his empty glass on the countertop. "That decision isn't mine to make. It's yours. But whatever you decide, do it fast. The longer you leave it, the more the bond will grow and the more she will get hurt if you decide to break it."

"That's the thing, though. I can't break the bond. I've loved her since I was too young to understand everything that word encompassed."

"Then I guess you're screwed."

I didn't have a response to give him. He was right.

The next day, Jared found me on the roof, watching the birds as they dive-bombed the sea in search of food. "So you're up here thinking, instead of being downstairs with your life mate?"

I spun around and glared at him. "If you know about that, then it won't surprise you to learn that she wants nothing to do with me. And moments after we bonded, she decked me."

He nodded. "You deserved it. She warned you not to touch her, but you ignored her warning."

"Not my finest moment, and you're right, I deserved it. But she won't let me get near her for long enough to apologise. Perhaps the best thing to do is just to break the bond and walk away. Phil's a superb pilot. He'll find someone else to partner with him in no time."

"No!" The sharpness in the Amazon's voice caught me by surprise. His eyes flashed and while he stood in the same casual stance, something in his demeanour had changed. There was an energy to him that spoke of someone who wielded significant power and was on the verge of using that power. I swallowed hard and stepped back. The back of my legs bumped against the railing that surrounded the edge of the roof.