Cancer: Book 5 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series) Read online

  Cancer

  A Zodiac Twin Flame Novel

  By Rachel Medhurst

  Copyright © 2015 by Rachel Medhurst

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  This book is dedicated to Tyler, my Cancerian Cousin

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Free Books & Author’s Note

  Copyright

  Author

  Chapter One

  ‘If he kills Matt, I’m going to rip out his heart and make sure it never beats again.’

  The tears threatened but I wouldn’t let them free. Our enemy, the Dysfunctionals, would not reduce me to a sniffling wreak. Again.

  ‘We’ll get him back, Cancer, calm down.’ Aries bumped into someone. They glared at him but didn’t say anything. London was like that. Full of glares and silence.

  A car horn made me jump. I followed my brother through the crowd of people in Covent Garden. I had no idea where he was taking me.

  ‘Stay behind,’ he said, stepping back suddenly.

  His six foot five frame blocked my view of anything ahead. I stumbled into him as the people behind me pushed past.

  ‘What are you doing?’ I gasped, grabbing hold of his thick forearm to get my balance.

  ‘I’m trying to find your boyfriend,’ he spat, shrugging me off.

  Releasing him, I shoved him forward. There were too many people gathered around to stop. He wasn’t exactly the most subtle of men. His height and good looks were the first thing people noticed. His prosthetic legs were the second.

  ‘I don’t get why you can’t wear jeans like a normal person,’ I muttered as he strode off, leaving me to trail behind.

  A band started playing nearby. I recognised the song instantly.

  ‘What’s he doing here?’ Aries said.

  Taking my arm, he pushed through the gathered crowd and dragged me to the front of the circle that had formed around our brother’s band.

  ‘Leo did mention he was busking today. I didn’t know it would be here, though.’

  Aries ignored me. I pulled away from his grip when his palm started to get hot, sending a searing heat through my skin. It was handy that he could form fire with his hands. Not so handy if he touched you when he was angry.

  ‘How will we find Matt here?’

  Aries looked down at me. The sun caught the dark tips of his hair as it started to curl around his ears. His brown eyes met mine for a second. ‘Pisces had a hunch.’

  Letting my breath rush out of me, I followed his gaze. Leo, our musical brother, played a haunting song in the middle of the circle.

  His voice was raspy. The guitar he strummed was the colour of sunburst, which suited his fiery nature.

  ‘Seriously? We’re here because you listened to Pisces?’

  Leo opened his eyes as he reached the chorus. His gaze landed on me. Winking, he raised his hand to let us know that he had seen us. His tattooed arm bulged as he gripped the microphone stand. A couple of girls near him glared in my direction.

  ‘Isn’t it funny how people get jealous?’ Aries asked.

  I glanced up at him, ready to get his attention and drag him back to our excursion.

  ‘Yes, a lot of people do. I have no idea why,’ I found myself saying.

  Aries stayed where he was, which was unusual. He didn’t usually take an interest in Leo’s band.

  ‘What are we doing?’ I moaned.

  Aries stepped back as someone tried to pass him. The shorter man pointed at his metal legs and said something to his friend.

  ‘What’s up, mate?’ Aries said to him.

  The man’s cheeks grew red as he shook his head.

  ‘No, go on. Tell me what you just said.’

  I swallowed. Aries had been behaving for a while now. His old habit of fighting seemed to have calmed down since he had proposed to his twin flame, Natalie. Maybe he needed to let off some steam.

  ‘I said that I would choose to be that tall if I had prosthetic’s, too.’

  My lips twitched. It was the wrong thing to say to my brother. He would floor them with one punch. Aries’ arm flexed as he brought it up. He was just as muscly as Leo. Our other brother, Scorpio, was the third musketeer as far as I was concerned. All three of them were six foot five with muscles that rivalled heavyweight lifters. It was a shame Scorpio was working. It would have been amusing to see everyone’s face when they were together.

  ‘I was actually this height before I lost my legs, mate.’ Aries offered his hand instead of throwing his fist into the man’s head.

  My shoulders slumped. I hadn’t seen the boys get into a fight since Pisces was rescued from the Dysfunctionals a few years ago.

  I forgot about the men in front of me as I remembered that the Dysfunctionals now had Matt. If Nick hurt him, I had no idea what I would do.

  Aries chatted to the men, telling them the story of how his legs were blown off in an explosion. I ignored him, waiting for Leo’s song to come to an end.

  ‘Cancer, come here,’ Leo said into the mic when he had finished.

  I left Aries gossiping like a woman and stepped over to him. He put an arm around my shoulders and led me to his drummer.

  ‘I think you should go out with-’

  ‘Stop!’ I interrupted. ‘I’m not really in the position to go out with someone.’ I smiled apologetically at the man sitting behind the drums.

  He grinned back at me, shrugging when Leo tutted.

  ‘You’ll never know if someone else is your soulmate. You won’t open up enough to see,’ he whispered to me as he moved me away from the band.

  The young girls that stood on the edge of the crowd still burned holes in my skin with their eyes. ‘Why don’t you talk to your fans?’

  He waved a hand, dismissing my distraction technique. ‘I mean it. We’re worried about you. It’s been three weeks since Matt was kidnapped and we’ve not heard anything. Nick could have killed-’

  ‘Don’t say that!’

  I ripped out from under his arm and spun to look for Aries. When he saw my face, he made his way over.

  ‘We think that you need some time away.’ Leo picked up his guitar.

  They thought that? All eleven of my siblings?

  ‘You’ve opened your mouth, haven’t you?’ Aries said to our brother.

  I couldn’t believe that they had spoken about me behind my back. My six brothers and five sisters had conspired against me. We hadn’t long moved into our new home. Now they wanted me to get away?

  ‘She’s obsessed, mate,’ Leo said, gesturing towards the crowd.

  Aries took my hand as I looked around. People were staring, which wasn’t unusual. My blonde hair flicked into my face as the wind whipped around us. Winter was fast approaching.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Aries said.

  I allowed him to guide me away from Leo and his band. Not looking back as we left, I kept swallowing to clear the lump in my thr
oat. Although my siblings weren’t my blood relatives, we shared a bond. A mission that kept us close.

  ‘Ignore Leo. You know if Matt is your twin flame,’ Aries said as he pushed through the crowd.

  The music started again but I was glad to leave it behind. Leo was tactless in some cases. Sometimes he was serious, other times he was a complete idiot.

  A man grinned at me as I bumped into him. Smiling back, I forgot about my brothers for a second.

  ‘Keep walking.’ Aries huffed.

  I followed him without question, not able to see where he was leading me. The nice man faded away. Maybe it would be easier to forget about our mission and be with a kind man. A normal person.

  ‘Maybe he isn’t.’ I halted in the crowd.

  Aries stopped too. He looked down at me, his eyebrows furrowed deep. ‘You’ve been saying that he’s your soulmate for a couple of years. Surely you know by now?’

  Biting my lip, I glanced back the way we had come. The crowd had moved, swallowing up any hope of me seeing the man with the kind face. A man I should settle for. One that could take me out and lavish me with love, gifts and fun.

  Matt was no fun. He was hard work. And so was I when I thought about him.

  ‘Maybe I don’t want to do this.’

  Aries pulled me out of the crowd. We finally broke free and took a rare empty seat outside a café.

  ‘You’re telling me, after all your whinging and moaning, you want to give up?’

  I had never seen him look so concerned. Certainly when it came to someone else, anyway. Resting my chin in my hands, I looked him in the eye.

  ‘Maybe you’re right. I should get away.’

  My eyes filled with water. I blinked to clear them. When my friend Sophie had died, I had been so wrapped up in Matt, I hadn’t grieved. Now Matt had been kidnapped by the man who wanted to stop us from completing our mission.

  Nick hated the twelve of us. Taurus had managed to find out why. We were warriors of love. Our mission was to come to Earth over and over again until we united with the other part of our soul. Each lifetime, we had failed. We struggled to get all twelve of us to unite.

  Nick, the leader of the Dysfunctionals, was a man consumed with hatred and evil. He was a man that would stop at nothing to make sure we didn’t fall in love.

  ‘Do you think it would help you? Your mind is so wrapped up in Matt, you’re struggling to focus on life.’ Aries smiled at passers-by when they gawped at him. Why did he have to wear shorts all the time? It was as if he loved the attention.

  ‘They’re eyeing you up,’ he said, pointing at a small group of men.

  I looked over. They were gathered around a table, laughing and joking. Their attention was aimed towards us. Did they think we were together?

  ‘Go talk to them,’ Aries encouraged.

  Frowning, I looked away from the men. I didn’t want to talk to them. Matt was locked up with Nick somewhere and Aries wanted me to chat up someone else.

  ‘I will keep searching for him,’ Aries said, ‘just allow yourself to have some fun.’

  Glancing back at the men, I smiled at one of them. He was clean shaven with big white teeth. He grinned back at me, his cheeks glowing red when the others nudged him.

  ‘Look,’ Aries started, bringing my attention back to him. ‘I know I’ve been hard on you but it’s only because I care. You need to stop keeping things from us. We’re your family. We love you and want you to be happy.’

  I sat back in my seat, resting my hands on my lap. There was movement by the lad’s table. I caught it out of the corner of my eye.

  ‘I know. I’m sorry for not telling you everything but…I worried that you wouldn’t understand.’

  My admirer was approaching. He moved around the other tables.

  ‘Understand? You are joking? All of us have to go through this process. I’ve been there. I know.’

  Aries looked up as the lovely man came to stand next to our table.

  ‘I’m sorry to interrupt. I know this is forward but are you two together?’

  Aries snorted. I blushed. ‘No, he’s my brother,’ I replied.

  The man grinned as he wiped a hand over his forehead. ‘Phew. That could’ve been awkward.’

  ‘Like it still isn’t,’ Aries muttered, getting up. ‘I’ll be over here when you’re finished.’

  My cheeks heated as the man lowered himself in the vacant seat. He opened his mouth but I held up a hand.

  ‘I can’t really talk too much right now. He’s not the most patient of people.’ I gestured to Aries who stood chatting to a group of girls.

  His usual charm had toned down now that he was in love with his soulmate.

  ‘Okay. Well, I’m sorry for barging in. It’s…well, you…’

  I couldn’t help the grin. He was tongue tied by me. I liked that.

  ‘Can I get your number? Maybe we could meet up sometime?’

  I appreciated his forwardness. Not many men had the courage to ask a girl out any more. Everyone was so wrapped up in their phones and the internet. Speaking face to face was hard work.

  ‘Sure, I’d like that.’

  We both smiled as I gave him my number and said goodbye. Aries waved to the girls as we headed away from Covent Garden.

  ‘See…that was easy wasn’t it?’ he said.

  My throat threatened to close again but it didn’t last. The image of the man with the white teeth and lovely smile made me happier.

  ‘You need to stop worrying about Matt. Let me take care of it.’

  I threaded my arm through his. He looked down at me as he raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Thank you, Aries,’ I said as he led us towards the station.

  ‘What for?’

  My breath was shaky as I exhaled it. ‘For being there for us. For not judging me when you knew that Matt was married.’

  Aries didn’t reply as his phone rang. Digging it out of his pocket, he held it to his ear. After a moment of talking, he put it away again.

  ‘That was Gemini,’ he said, looking down at me. ‘We need to get home. He has something to tell us.’

  Chapter Two

  Our new home was intended to be a building for student living. Father assured us that we couldn’t stay there forever. When we finally united with our soulmates we had to move on. Father was the head of a green energy company but he dabbled in property development, so he helped with the rent and also kept us under his watchful eye.

  The building was a blank canvas from the outside. A brick and glass facia with nothing eye catching to alert anyone to what was inside. That was a good thing. We didn’t want Nick to find us. We had already moved twice because he knew where we were.

  ‘Why didn’t Gemini just tell you what he wanted to say on the phone?’ I asked Aries as he typed in the entrance code.

  The door buzzed, allowing us entry. The hallway smelled dingy. The floor was dark lino to cover any dirt. A rusty old lift beeped at us as we got inside.

  ‘I don’t know.’ Aries pressed the button for the fifth floor.

  We had decided on the fifth floor in case we were discovered. The security of the building was pretty tight. I could escape by using my power. Forming into a puddle of water made it easier to hide. The others weren’t quite so lucky.

  ‘Was it about me?’

  Aries shook his head. Clicking his knuckles, he shrugged without looking at me. It was annoying when he refused to say anything.

  The lift door creaked open. It revealed the hub of our new home. The place was one big living area with high ceilings. Plaster hadn’t made it onto the walls yet. A few well-placed windows on the left allowed light to stream into the room. Directly in front of us was a semi-circle of sofas that faced the right wall. The flat screen television was the centre piece.

  ‘Yo, Gemini,’ Aries called when we stepped inside.

  The kitchenette was beyond the living area. It lined the back wall, taking up the whole end of the room. A decent sized island separated the kitch
en from the rest of the room. It was big enough to seat all of us around it. We had to use it for meals because we had no dining table yet.

  ‘Keep your hair on,’ Gemini called from above.

  We looked up at him. He stood on a balcony that ran along the right hand side and back wall. The stairs up to it were to the right of the lift. Eight doors led off to bedrooms and two bathrooms.

  ‘Are you coming down?’ Aries asked when Gemini leant on the railing.

  I huffed, moving to a chair when he took his time.

  There were two more bedrooms’ downstairs. The door to Aries’ room was at the bottom of the stairs. Gemini’s room led off from a door between the television and the kitchen area.

  ‘I’ve been keeping something from you.’ Gemini settled on the arm of the sofa.

  Aries paced in front of the coffee table. His legs bounced as he moved, the metal squeaking ever so slightly.

  ‘What is it?’ he snapped.

  My heart started to thump when Gemini looked at me. I wiped my palms on my thigh. The light denim did nothing to alleviate the dampness of my hands.

  ‘Cancer. Liam, Nick’s son, gave me a message for you.’

  ‘When?’ Aries said.

  I swallowed. Why would our enemy’s son have a message for me? I had nothing to do with Gemini and Athena. They had fallen in love right under his nose. The man was horrid anyway. He didn’t deserve to have Athena. Still, it wasn’t anything to do with me. Gemini had united with his twin flame soulmate and there was nothing Liam could do about it.

  ‘A couple of weeks ago. When I went to the casino one last time.’ Gemini tugged on his shirt sleeve. He failed to make eye contact with our brother. I knew why.

  ‘And you didn’t think to mention it before now?’

  I looked at Aries. His cheeks were red. His teeth were clenched. Something upset him. Not just Gemini. He had been touchy all day.

  ‘When you started talking about Cancer going away, I thought it might be a good idea. You’re not going to like what I have to say.’ Gemini cocked his head to the side as he regarded Aries.

  Taking the hem of my white top, I fiddled with a loose bit of thread. ‘What has this got to do with me? You keep looking at me as if I’m involved.’