Page 71 of Kidnapping Their Third

Finally her expression changed. A slow, confident smile curled her lips as she looked from one to the other. “I’m ready.”

“Ready?” Pike repeated, as puzzled as Kimble was.

Before Cora could answer, it dawned on Kimble what she was saying. “Souls?” he questioned.

She looked at him, her gaze bold and confident. “Yes.”

On the rare occasions he’d thought about this moment, he’d expected to feel jubilant. Instead he felt cautious and even a little insecure.

“Because of Pike’s family?”

She tilted her head and regarded him curiously. “They’re part of it, but also you.”

A small hint of excitement filtered through his worry. “Me?”

“You got better without me,” she explained. “I mean, I was here helping to keep you alive when you did something dumb, but after that, you focused hard on remembering how to talk and keeping control of your protective instincts. I don’t need jewelry or shit like that. I need people I can depend on. People who aren’t going to use me to prop them up.”

Pike made a pained sound. “No, never.”

“Meeting your family made me realize how dysfunctional my family is,” she whispered, a frown breaking through her serene happiness. “It was the final piece I needed. Eventually, I’m going to start talking to my dad and brothers again, but you can help me keep perspective when they start spewing crap. At some point, or many points, they’re going to need my help, and I’ll have to help because they’re family. With Kimble getting so much better, I can trust him not to massacre one of my brothers when he acts like a colossal dick.”

“Still might bite them,” Kimble murmured, relief at Cora’s words making him feel lighthearted.

“A few bites are fine,” Cora agreed, then an evil grin took over her face. “Hell, some blood loss might make them easier to deal with.”

A bark of laughter came out of him. Cora and Pike chuckled at his laugh, then she spoke again.

“My fear is gone, and my heart wants this. I promise I’m ready.”

“No pain,” Kimble promised. He was far more controlled now than when he’d first found Pike and knew he could do this exchange without causing her any discomfort. He let go of their hands and moved Pike and Cora until they were facing each other, hands clasped between them.

“Be still and focus on Pike. Breathe together.”

Kimble could see a little worry in Cora’s face, but also confidence. Kimble moved to stand behind Cora and drape his arms over her shoulders so he could join his hands to theirs but also press his front to her back.

Closing his eyes, he focused on finding her soul. It was bright and lively, full of yellow, orange, and red hues. She was so beautiful it took his breath away. Slowly and with great care, hetugged a piece free but didn’t pull it from her body. He left it there and focused on his soul.

“I feel weird,” Cora murmured. “Like something is loose inside me.”

“It’s part of the process,” Pike assured her. Kimble ignored their conversation as he separated a piece from his soul and moved it into Cora. The moment it was near her pulsing soul, his piece sped ahead of him, like a magnet near another magnet. It hit with a little more force than he wanted, but Cora didn’t wince or cry out in pain.

Pulling in a sharp breath, she looked around the room. “Oh, wow, everything seems brighter.”

Pike explained that the process gave the flock some advantages they didn’t have before. He helped distract Cora as Kimble did the most dangerous part of the process: pulling the piece of Cora’s soul out. Like their bodies, human souls were more fragile than vampires or shifters.

He took his time teasing her soul from her body and into his own. When he pressed it into the pulsing red of his soul, the colors mixed and melted until his entire soul was a slightly lighter shade.

He only got a moment to enjoy the feeling of being whole with both his flock’s souls secured to him when a tidal wave of memories hit him. He was pulled under. Unable to speak, he felt his entire body jerk, then go numb. He lost all control of his body, and the last thing he was aware of was Cora screaming and the sensation of falling.

***

“You exchanged souls and then he fainted?” a familiar voice asked. Kimble lay still, unsure how long he’d been unconscious. His brain was a mess of memories that weren’t layering themselves in any specific order. The screaming face of a woman dressed in clothing three centuries out of date felt as fresh as the memory of Cora wearing the glittering gold dress Mama Monroe bought for her.

He heard Cora make an aggressive sound and then declare loudly, “I said that already!”

“Then there’s nothing I can do,” Tobias answered. The way his voice sounded off told Kimble he wasn’t in the room but on speaker phone.

“Are you sure?” Pike asked. “This isn’t like when he passed out exchanging souls with me. He’s fed and strong now. Shouldn’t he be able to do this without going limp?”

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