‘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 throat. 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.’

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

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