Page 55 of Shattered Soulmates

“How?” I ask, my voice filled with desperation.

“True love’s kiss,” answers the disembodied voice.

As the dream recedes, I emerge from it as if pulling myself from a thick, clear gel, slipping slowly but with a sharp pop of release. My vision clears, and reality snaps back. The pieces of the puzzle fall into place. My vision's key players are here: me, Paisley, Miles, and Marissa. The female of my dream is Paisley, the one lying on the bed with Miles wrapped around her. Her convulsions continue unabated, and she chants without stopping.

“Save me! Save me!”

“Save me! Save me!” I echo her words from the vision, whispering. “True love’s kiss.”

“Save me! Save me!”

“True love’s kiss!” I shout in the pandemonium as my dragon thunders inside me viciously. I barely have him restrained.

“That’s what she’s been saying all day in her delirium: ‘True love’s kiss.’I don’t know what it means,” The female, who I suppose is the med tech, Rachel, states.I can barely hear her over Marissa’s vitriol overthe tablet and the excited chattering of everyone else in the room.

“Quiet!” I command as my Alpha power washes over everyone, and even Marissa shuts up. Deathly silence fills the room, except for Paisley’s frantic, breathy words on repeat.

“Save me! Save me!”

“Mute her,” I order Byte, pointing to the tablet displaying Marissa’s twisted visage. “Keep her facing this direction; she is necessary for this.” Byte does as I say, as Marissa’s mouth moves furiously in silent screams, no sound escaping.

I quickly share with the others in the room the vision I had last night, giving as much detail as I can without prolonging Paisley's suffering. Then, I reveal the prophecy:

“Two mate bonds were created before the world began—one of ice, the other of fire. The first will shatter you; the second will restore you with a true love’s kiss. Within you, both were meant to join, but deceit tore the bonds apart. The choice is yours: choose both, choose one, or neither. In your choice, true happiness will be found. Decide, and your heart will be healed, and your path will be sealed.”

Miles is on the bed, rocking Paisley. Her face is a lifeless pale, her pallor revealing her exhausted and weakening condition. I'm sitting on Paisley's other side, still shaking and chanting.

“Miles, based on my vision, I believe you and I were meant to be Paisley’s true mates. However,” I say, pointing to Marissa, “she helped you destroy the bond between you and Paisley before you two were even born, and she did so again here over the last year.”

He drops his head into Paisley’s neck and breathes deeply, lamenting. “I know, I had a visit from the moon mother, but I have to try. I can’t see a future without her in it.” He looks up and glares at the tablet, where Marissa’s shocked face stares back. She’s on mute but can still hear every word we say.

“I can’t believe I let Marissa cost me my true mate. I knew it, as I did it, but I didn’t stop.”

I watch as Miles lowers his head and gently kisses Paisley’s lips, but nothing happens. She continues to chant breathlessly despite his touch.

“Save me! Save me!”

Miles, realizing that he will not be able to save her with “true love’s kiss,” contorts in anguish as he begins to sob, his mouth still pressed to hers. Tears slip down his face, bathing her in his pain. He sinks his face intothe slope of her neck, where the mate mark would be, and howls.

Though thoroughly territorial, my dragon accepts that Miles is no competition and allows him to say his goodbyes.

Miles pulls away from Paisley and looks at the tablet once more. He shouts, “I hate you, Marissa!” He moves to the back of the room and tries to gather himself.

My dragon urges me to take Paisley into my arms, so I do. Looking at this beauty, fire burns in my heart, licking through my veins. I know her not only from my vision but on a visceral level. The moment I touch her, the chanting stops, and she sighs. I push her hair from her face and wipe away the moisture from Miles’ tears. Caressing her plump bottom lip with my thumb, I admire her perfect cupid’s bow. I press a chaste kiss on her mouth, and she gasps. I dip my tongue to hers, and I’m instantly transported.

The room around us begins to melt away, and I feel pulled, like being sucked into a whirlpool. My hand cradled her head, my other arm around her waist, so soft, binding me to her even as we were tugged deeper into the vortex. She begins to respond by kissing me back, tasting like honey, and I drown in her, consumed by the kiss.

The air around us feels sultry and dark. The room disappears, replaced by the world of my vision–an indigo night sky, a purple eclipsing moon, the heavens filled with colors.

I look down and find her eyes open, and she's smiling at me, still wrapped in my arms.

“Are you here to save me?” she asks, her voice as sweet and desperate as the kiss we shared.

“No,” I reply. “You're here to save me.”

Chapter 26–Paisley’s Promise

Miles

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