Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Lark wanted to wrap her in his arms and comfort her as she shivered and puked beside him. The downside of being the pilot meant the best he could do was offer a soothing word and back rub.

He hated when Stone puked, saw it as a weakness that needed to be dominated, squelched, and overcome. But seeing Ebony do it made him feel all kinds of different things. He could imagine a life taking care of her when she was ill.

His thoughts went dark as he pictured the email response he'd gotten from the doctor he'd sent her records to. The best in the country and someone he trusted implicitly.

Get her to me as soon as possible. She'll never survive without the rest of her soul and even then, things don't look good.

He'd nearly thrown his laptop across his office this morning. He was more determined than ever to get her soul to her so she could have a better chance. With that and the best doctor and medicine that money could buy, he'd help her, he'd stay by her side, and he'd see her better.

Lark glanced her way. She was looking pale but improving and staring straight ahead. The way was smooth from here so she should be alright. "You can lay down in the back, the seat reclines back there but watching the horizon is usually the best cure."

The small plane had a space for two in the rear with seats that reclined into beds and a bathroom. It wasn't as nice as the plane Stone and Granger were on right now, but for such a short flight, it was all they needed.

"I'm afraid to move," she said with a bitter laugh.

"Trust me to get us there safe, Ebony, and I promise it'll be a worthy trip."

"An experience like no other," she agreed.

They settled into companionable silence and the sparks of desire that flowed through him from just being near her didn't irritate him like they had in the truck. Probably because he didn't have two idiots in the back seat, worrying him with what they were thinking about his soulmate. Simple possessiveness didn't even come close to what he felt about her.

He relaxed with the feelings, letting it become a low hum of desire as he went through the familiar routine of flight.

The rest of the flight went smoothly. Ebony watched the sky pass and as they got closer to Vegas, her nerves about what they were here to do started to resurface. She puked again as they descended to land, and she practically jumped out of the plane as soon as he opened the door. She was breathing deeply, trying to calm herself when an airport worker hurried up to scan her hand. She nearly panicked but Lark stepped in front of her and stuck out his hand.

"My wife," he said as the woman scanned him.

The woman didn't argue, and Ebony was surprised by the ease of it. She'd expected travel as a halfling to be full of questions and hassle, maybe Vegas was just more accepting than other places. The woman enthusiastically greeted Lark.

"I'll have your plane stored until you're in need of it again, Mr. Duport," she said as Lark slyly passed her a folded bill.

It wasn't until then that Ebony realized the woman was a halfling. The woman's eyes widened at the money she clutched desperately. Ebony could see the dullness in her eyes, and yet she looked healthy and happy, and had—in Ebony's opinion—a pretty good job. No halfling she'd ever met looked that good.

"Thank you, Jamie," Lark said, obviously reading the woman's nametag. Lark moved to Ebony's side and grasped her arm lightly, guiding her away from the plane. "You look surprised," he said quietly.

"I am. I guess I expected travel into a new city would be more difficult. Don't they care that a new halfling is here to plague their city resources?"

"Is that why you never left the city?"

"No, I never left because I couldn't afford to," she said with a shrug. It was normal to her; it was what every halfling she knew dealt with.

"Where would you have gone, if it were possible?" Lark asked as he led her to a waiting car.

"Somewhere tropical," she said with a sigh. "I've always wanted to be on a tropical island without many people."

"Sounds heavenly," Lark agreed. He held the passenger door open for her, then walked to the driver's seat. "I'll put tropical island into the travel plans first," Lark said when he got in.

Ebony only grunted in response and looked out the window. She stared like a kid in a toy shop at everything they passed. She knew she probably looked like a total dork as she oohed and aahed at the buildings, the lights, and the people; but she didn't care, she'd never seen anything like it.

The main strip of Vegas was open to halflings and fullsouls without discrimination. It was one of the last cities in the U.S. where there was almost as much normal interaction as there had been before the curse. Her mother had talked about it like a sinful place to never want to visit. Ebony was fairly certain it was where her mother had met her father and that was one of the reasons she'd felt so negatively about it. Ebony's father had seduced her mother and left, never even knowing that a baby had been conceived. Her mother's story had been that promises of all sorts had been whispered between the drinks he'd plied her with and the bed he'd brought her to. But that in the harsh morning none of it had mattered. She'd been left, and when she knew she was pregnant, had decided that she was going to make the best of it, halfsoul child or not.

She loved her mother for her strength. Ebony wasn't sure she could make the same decision if she'd been in that situation. Of course that was probably because she knew the reality of what a halfsoul grew up with. Her mother had been under the impression, because of the lies perpetuated by the government, that the halfsouls lived a decent life; separate, but decent. That their parents could survive nicely, provide well for their children, and go on maybe to meet their soulmate and have more children, fullsoul children, even after having a halfling child.

It wasn't true for anyone Ebony knew.

Looking around at the unfamiliar city, Ebony could almost understand her mother's belief in that lie. Growing up in Vegas would have given her mother a very different view of what a halfsoul went through on a daily basis. Maybe if her mother had stayed here, she would have been able to afford better healthcare for herself, maybe Ebony wouldn't be counting down her own last days. She rubbed at her chest but dropped her hand quickly when she noticed Lark's angry glance. If her mother had stayed, maybe she never would have met Lark. That would have made this situation less complicated.

Her mother's choice to move to LA when she found out she was pregnant was because she didn't want to make trouble for the father. Apparently, he found his soulmate soon after their one-night stand and it would have been very scandalous and unpleasant to be faced with a halfsoul child when you were busy making fullsoul babies with your soulwife. He probably would have demanded her mother have an abortion, which was easy enough to get if a woman wanted one. But her mother had decided she wanted the child, never knowing if she'd have a chance with a soulmate to make another. She'd wanted a child no matter what.

That was a viewpoint that Ebony could only imagine came from a fullsoul who'd grown up with two happy fullsoul parents. She didn't blame her mother; her mother didn't know how hard it was going to be.

Ebony held no hard feelings toward the man that had fathered her, either, but she did wonder what it would have been like to know him—what it would have been like to meet her fullsoul half siblings.

Probably devastating.

Her mother had likely done the best thing, keeping her existence a secret.

Ebony looked out at the city and tried to let go of the past and what ifs. The energy here was definitely different than LA With all the flashing lights and smiling faces, she felt like anything was possible. And what a dangerous feeling that could be, she thought as she dared a look at Lark and his enticing body so close to her.

Lark was silent as they drove but she couldn't forget he was there. Her body sparked, even at this distance, with awareness of him. It was as if her cells were reaching out and trying to make a connection to his, as if they wouldn't be whole until they were pressed against him. Would that awareness ease if she gave in to her desire? Would one good romp around the bed with him satisfy the aching need that had settled over her? Would her skin quit lighting up at the mere thought of him naked and looming over her?

Ebony took a shaky breath, she had to calm herself down. She pressed her thighs together to try and stop the pulsing ache, but it only seemed to amplify it and she squirmed in her seat until Lark made a strangled sound beside her that told her that he was aware of what her body was doing. She glared out at the street and willed her body to relax. She couldn't wait to get out of this small space and get some air.

When he pulled into the parking garage of a hotel, she finally turned to look at him again. "What's the plan?"

"We'll get settled in a room and then I want you to meditate."

"Meditate?" she said with doubt.

"Yes, I want you to reach out for the connection to your soulsister, see if you can tell whether or not she's in the city."

"And if I don't feel anything?" She already had her doubts about her soulsister being here. As soon as they'd landed she had decided that she felt no different and that could only mean they weren't about to get lucky.

"Doesn't necessarily mean she isn't here. We'll walk around and you can assess as we go. Some soulsiblings have strong connections and seem to feel each other over hundreds of miles, others don't. You may have to be in the same room to feel her."

This was feeling more and more like a wild goose chase to her and she didn't hide the frustration in her voice. "Is that your usual method for finding soulsiblings? Seems a little farfetched."

"It's just a shot. Stone and Granger are investigating another lead and yes, it is a usual place to start when there is so little information to go on. Most of the time a soulsibling can sense another within a reasonable distance. Like how you knew for certain she wasn't in LA. Generally you can count on a sense when you're within a hundred miles of each other."

"True, she felt so… far away, so small," she shook her head feeling like her words were ridiculous.

"Does she still?" Lark asked.

Ebony frowned. "Yes, I think so."

"It certainly won't hurt to give meditation a shot, and then we'll walk, just in case. You also might need to give your senses the time to adjust to the surroundings. If you're too amped up with travel and getting sick on the plane and… other things going on in your body that are new."

He didn't have to say it, she knew what he meant. She was overrun with desire and that was not something she was used to feeling at all.

"So we will take a walk. We may get lucky. At the very least you'll get to enjoy the city, see something new."

"And the guys might find something in DC?" she asked, though she wasn't sure what they could possibly think they'd find in a city that didn't allow any halflings in it. What leads could they be following? Where was Lark getting his information?

"Yes, they might."

She eyed him skeptically but didn't comment. He was good at what he did, it was why she'd sought him out in the first place. Her hand rubbed absently at an ache high on her chest, she just hoped he was as fast as they said.

"Where do we go if she isn't here? What is the next place you usually search?"

"Chicago," he said with a frown, and she gasped.

Chicago was a terrible place, or so she was told. Mostly halflings lived there now which meant there was a large underground nosoul population. It was dangerous, she had never in her life wanted to go there.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you no matter where we are," Lark said.

Ebony nodded and looked up at the tall building they were parked outside. One new experience at a time she told herself.

"This is a nice place, they're going to scan me," she whispered mostly to herself.

"No, they are going to scan me."

"And assume I'm just your halfling whore?" she asked with a resigned sigh. It was what she had to do she supposed. It would be common here, even in a place as open to halflings as Vegas, one of the main occupations for them was prostitution; highly illegal prostitution now that sex between non soulmates was illegal. Places like this probably turned a blind eye to a lot of things like that.

"You care a lot about what other people think," he said with a cock of his head.

"You would too if you were constantly judged by other people," she snapped.

He laughed and she glared. How dare he make fun of what her life had been like.

"You think I'm not judged? You think that anyone who knows what I do thinks I'm a great guy to be around? I'm not welcome in fullsoul society because they all think I'm tainted by the halflings I help; all are afraid I'm going to dig into their little secrets," he spat. "The women come to my bed looking for a trip out of their daily boring lives knowing that they won't have to see me at daddy's dinner party. You think you're judged because you're not a fullsoul. Try being one and still seeing the judgment in their eyes because you refuse to conform to their ideal of what we should all be; how we should all work to appease the whim of the gods who cursed us." He turned and stared out the front window. "I grew up a halfling, Ebony. In an orphanage. I thought getting my full soul would fix my entire life but it's just a new set of problems. A new set of rules they want me to conform to. It isn't the freedom everyone thinks it is."

"Oh." She didn't know what to say.

"So yeah, let them talk, let them assume because you know what, it'll give them a little thrill to gossip about their guests, and their dull lives deserve a little titillating if you ask me."

Ebony couldn't help laughing. "It's true. We gossiped about the guests constantly, best part of the job some days."

"Well then, soulwife, what do you say we give them something to tell their friends about?"

"Not your wife," she insisted as he got out and came around the car to open her door.

"Details," he said with a sly smile, and offered her his arm.

She wasn't sure what to do with this change in attitude of his. It was disconcerting to see him smile and tease. She almost preferred he went back to angry and annoyed. She took his offered arm and the thrill of connection zinged through her as they walked. He handed his keys to a valet and gave instructions for the bags in the back, then they walked into a gorgeous lobby.

Everything was gold and white and shining brilliantly under the many lights and there was a fountain in the middle of the lobby that made the most delightful sound to cover the murmur of voices. There were a lot of voices, the lobby was packed.

"Why are there so many people?"

Lark frowned. "I don't know for sure, but I'm glad I called ahead for a room."

A room, singular. Ebony's mind tripped on those words and she didn't hear anything else he was saying as they went through the crowd to the front desk. He had made reservations for just one room here. She knew she shouldn't be surprised, especially after what he'd said in the truck on the way to the airport, but still. It filled her with unease and anticipation, and she wasn't sure which was going to win.

The distraction was enough to keep her from noticing anyone staring at her as they crossed the lobby and once they were at the desk in front of a pretty girl in a white uniform, she knew it was too late to beg Lark for her own room.

"How can I help you, sir?" The woman said with a wide smile, her eyes glossing quickly over Ebony and dismissing her.

Lark held out his hand to be scanned. "We have a reservation."

She looked down at the screen in front of her. "Oh yes, welcome to the Garden Palace Mr. and Mrs. Duport."

Ebony made a sound of disagreement in her throat but Lark gripped her arm tight in warning, so she didn't correct the woman who was clacking away at the keys as if she had to write a novel in order to check them in.

"Your keys," she said finally, handing Lark a packet with the key cards and a map of the hotel.

"And the room for my associates, I expect them tonight, late probably."

This was news to Ebony, and she stared up at Lark in question, but he was smiling at the woman across the desk.

"You know we can't check someone in who isn't here, no matter who's paying, sir."

"If you give away their room to one of these suited buffoons, there will be a problem," he hissed and the woman took a step back.

"No, of course I wouldn't, Mr. Duport. You're a very good client, we will honor the reservation."

"Great then," Lark said and pulled Ebony away from the desk.

"Did you just threaten that poor woman?"

"Did it sound like a threat?"

"Yes!" Ebony hissed.

Lark just chuckled darkly and led her to a waiting elevator. "I have no intention of being forced into sharing a room with Stone and Granger tonight."

"Just me," she said under her breath, but by his grunt of mirth she knew he'd caught it.

"Besides, we stay here often enough we really should always have a room on standby."

When the elevator doors closed them in, she wasn't sure if she was relieved to be away from the busy lobby and so many questioning eyes, or nervous about the close space with Lark. He was still holding onto her arm and it was sending waves of tingles from her arm to the rest of her body. She couldn't hold back a slight shiver.

"That wasn't so bad," he said, dropping her arm and hitting the button for their floor. "They may have all looked because you're a very attractive woman, but they didn't think anything of it. They weren't judging."

"Just another halfling whore."

"Maybe to them, but they don't matter," he said with a smile and touched her chin gently.

"Right," Ebony said. "The only thing that matters is what you want."

He smiled wickedly and let his finger trail along her jawline then down her neck and stopping at her shoulder. "Just me?" he asked as she shivered from that single touch.

Ebony was thankful that the doors opened then, keeping her from having to answer. They stepped off onto their floor, and a few doors down, Lark was swiping the keycard. He held the door open gallantly and she stepped inside, not expecting it to be anything more than she'd cleaned a hundred times.

She was wrong.