Free Possession of the Soul by Trinity Blacio Page A

as bright as his eyes.
    Emotions rolled through her—happiness to see her brother, shock that he wasn’t dead and, last of all, anger.
    She sat up and said, “Okay, someone better explain where the fuck you’ve been for the past ten years.” She lunged for him, anger surging through her system. How could he be alive and not tell her? Tabatha slapped him across the face. “I went through hell. I had no one!” She screamed.
    Ben wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. He held her until her pent-up emotions ran out.
    “Mom and Dad…” Tabatha sputtered as the tears started to flow.
    Her brother pulled her down on the bed next to him and embraced her tightly again. Tabatha noticed a new scar down his cheek. She traced the scar with her finger.
    “I’m sorry you had to go through that alone, Tabby.” He leaned back and looked into her eyes, brushing her hair back. “The explosion threw me from the boat. A PSU agent found me and took me to the hospital in the next city. I lay in a coma for six months. They wanted me to help them find out what had happened. The PSU didn’t want the killers to know I was alive, so they set me up in a different town, working behind the scenes. Now that you’ve been threatened again, I had to come home as soon as I could.” He sighed, the sound weary and forlorn. “I visited Mom’s and Dad’s gravesites first. Then I came here. Everything still looks like it did when the accident happened. I am so sorry I wasn’t there.” He cupped her cheek.
    “So, let me get this straight,” she replied. “You’ve been working for the PSU the whole time, but no one informed me you were alive? Do you know what I went through without you?” She stood and frowned down at him. “I had one year left in high school when this happened. Social Services wanted to send me to a foster home. They wanted me to leave the only home I’ve ever known. Thank God, Melody’s mom came to the rescue and told them that I could live with them.” Rage consumed her, body and soul. “You’re my older brother. You’re supposed to be there for me! So tell me, did you go in for training to be in this special force?” She detected movement behind her and turned to face Hoyt. “Don’t even say a word to me, Hoyt.”
    “You have to understand, Tabatha. They wanted to keep you safe. If Ben had come back to you, the people who killed your parents would return to finish the job they’d started,” Hoyt tried to explain.
    “You knew, didn’t you?” She nearly shouted. “Wait, this is why Shane appeared all of a sudden right before he met Melody, isn’t it? Shane knew all this, too!”
    His eyes confirmed what she suspected.
    “So you three have been lying to us the entire time. I know you work for the Paranormal Specialty Unit, but does Shane work for them as well?” Tabatha paced back and forth in the small bedroom.
    “Tab, I started to train with them before Mom and Dad died,” Ben explained. “Hoyt and Shane trained with me in the same classes.” He stood and tried to pull her into his arms.
    “Don’t!” She pushed him away. “Tell me something, Hoyt. Is all this about being my mate a lie, too? Did you just say it to keep an eye on me? And what about you, Chax? Do you work for them also?” She strode to the doorway, anger in her every step.
    “I wouldn’t lie about being your mate,” Hoyt replied with conviction. “You’re mine, and Chax isn’t involved with the PSU. What he has said is true.” He followed her into the hall.
    Bumping into the door, Tabatha glanced over her shoulder to see Melody. Her friend’s face was pink, and she had crossed her arms over her chest. Tabatha knew she’d heard everything they had said. Shane attempted to pull Melody away.
    “So all this shit is a lie?” Melody asked. “Meeting you guys? Hell, you know what my family is like, but I couldn’t see my best friend in a foster home. I had to beg my mom to allow her to stay with us. And it wasn’t