Divine Intervention (Eternal Flames Maddox Book 7) Read online

  But the sight of Jensen all cleaned up, with his long black hair brushed back off his now clean face, showed Logan the real Jensen under the grime. Not that Jensen had been filthy, but living out on the street seemed to leave a layer of uncleanliness on you. Logan remembered that from his time out on the streets.

  Happiness that he hadn’t felt before filled him as he watched Jensen eat everything on his plate, as well as all the dinner rolls in the basket. He knew the man was hungry, but shit. The amount of food Jensen packed away shocked Logan, but filled him with a sense of pride that he had provided for his mate.

  He had spent the meal going over questions in is head and fighting the urge to ask them. He knew they would get to it eventually and he didn’t want to ruin Jensen’s meal, so he stayed quiet. But once they were done and he had the dishes put in the dishwasher and the table cleaned, he was ready for their talk. He just wished Jensen was too, and that once the gorgeous man opened up to him, that Jensen would want to stick around.

  Logan moved to the sofa and waited for his mate to join him. When Jensen walked over to the sofa and sat on the other end, Logan was a little disappointed, but he understood Jensen’s concerns. He needed to be patient with his mate and hope the gorgeous man would open up.

  CHAPTER 7

  Jensen sat quietly, his body tight, hands in his lap fidgeting, as his gaze flicked around the room. Logan could see the fear and trepidation and wanted to ease his mate.

  “I wasn’t lying when I told you I understood about being homeless and living on the streets. I did that for a few years. I had my reasons for being there, but it seems just from the little you told me, that you have some good reasons, too.”

  Jensen turned his head and their gazes met. “Why were you out there? I mean, look at you. You seem to have a good life.”

  Logan gave him a small smile. “You’re right, I do. Now. You have to remember, shifters have long lives. I know I don’t look it, but I’m actually a hundred and fifty years old. My life started nice and peaceful, hidden away from the rest of the world, living with my herd. We kept to ourselves and didn’t mix with humans, or even other shifters. One of the herd elders was a healer, and it was discovered at an early age that I had a gift for taking care of others, so I became an apprentice to the elder.”

  Logan sat forward, grabbed his bottle of soda and took a swig, then turned his body to face his mate. “While I was away studying with this elder, our herd was hit by human hunters. They ended up killing everyone, my family included. If I hadn’t been sent away to live with the elder, I would have been there too. So anyway, after that, there was only the two of us left of our breed. One of the reasons the elder had been looking for an apprentice, was because he knew his time on this earth was limited and he was soon to move on to the beyond.”

  He looked down at the bottle in his hand and began picking at the label as he absently continued. “A year later, the elder died, and I was left alone. A few months later, I was found by the humans and placed in an orphanage. They had no idea I was a shifter of course, and when asked about my parents, I told them they were dead.”

  “How old were you then?” Jensen asked as he turned toward Logan, his eyes watching him intently as if he hung on Logan’s every word.

  “I was six when I went to start my training under elder Ramsey, then eight when my parents and herd were killed. Nine, when elder Ramsey died, and I was found by the humans. I spent the next nine years in orphanages and foster homes. You have to remember, it was a lot different then. The year was 1885, and the foster system is nothing like it is today. A lot of times, kids were taken in by people as free labor. Anyway, when I hit eighteen, I was on my own, but I was lucky, because I had taken the tests to see if I could go to medical school, and was accepted to the Perelman School of Medicine, which today is also known as The University of Pennsylvania, on a scholarship.”

  “Wow, that’s very impressive,” Jensen replied.

  Logan gave him a grateful smile and said, “Thank you. During the day I went to school and at night, I worked any odd job I could get so that I would have some spending money. Later I won a few grants, which helped. Anyway, once I became a doctor, I traveled all over the country, and worked in some of the bigger hospitals for the time, to some of the smallest one-horse towns, and I did that for many years. The problem was, like with most shifters, we age a hell of a lot slower than humans. For a long time, it was easy for me to forge new paperwork and change my birthdate and my credentials.”

  “That must have been a fun life. Traveling, meeting new people,” Jensen commented.

  “It was, but after doing it for over seventy years, it became tedious and tiresome. I wanted to settle down and call somewhere home. I headed back to Pennsylvania, and once again I applied to medical school at Perelman. When their records showed that someone with the same name had attended a long time before that, I told them that was my grandfather. So once again, I attended Perelman on a partial scholarship and worked my ass off, and graduated top of my class.”

  Jensen sat forward as he gave him a bright smile. The look made Jensen even more beautiful than he already was, and Logan loved seeing it on his mate’s face. “Wow. I can’t see going to medical school once, forget twice. Wasn’t it boring the second time?”

  Logan chuckled as he shook his head. “No actually, it was great. The advancements in medicine was astounding and I was able to learn all the updated procedures. After that, I did my internship in the Poconos, then did my residency in Allentown, before landing a job at a hospital in New York and stayed there until people started questioning how young I looked for my age. Anyway, I moved around again for a few years before I was able to find a paranormal forger who could help me change all my information whenever I needed to. In the age of computers, it made things harder to forge, but easier to hack.”

  “So what happened? Did you decide you were tired of being a doctor, so you became an Paramedic?”

  Logan knew the question was coming and thought he was almost prepared for it, but once it was out there, he realized he wasn’t. He looked down at the bottle that was still in his hands and swallowed around the lump in his throat.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” Jensen said softly, and Logan could tell Jensen was upset thinking he said something wrong.

  He looked up again and saw that Jensen was no longer facing him, but was back to sitting stiffly against the arm of the couch. He had gotten Jensen to loosen up a little and needed to get him back there. “You didn’t pry, pretty boy. You’re my mate and have every right to want to know about me.”

  Jensen looked up at him shyly and gave him a small smile. “I’m sorry if it brought up bad memories for you.”

  “It did, but that’s not your fault. It’s okay, pretty boy,” Logan said and slid across the couch, moving closer to Jensen. “I finally settled back in Philly, at the same hospital I had first worked at over a hundred years earlier. I loved it there. My life was really good there. I was able to buy a condo, had some friends. I even had a lover. But then one day, there was an accident involving a school bus full of teens from the local high school. There was a lot of injuries and it was chaos. A lot of hard decisions were needed to be made, and I ended up losing a patient. I had lost patients before, but this young lady was different. She should never have died.”

  Logan stopped to swallow the large lump that was lodged in his throat as the memories assaulted him. A small, soft hand covered his and Logan’s gaze flicked up to meet Jensen’s beautiful blue eyes. He was amazed to see compassion and understanding in Jensen’s eyes, and not judgement.

  “It’s okay, Logan, you don’t have to tell me anymore.”

  Logan put the bottle on the table, then placed his free hand over Jensen’s and gave him a sad smile as he blinked the moisture from his eyes. “It’s okay, mate. I want to tell you. That was a really hard time in my life, but what happened was a travesty. There was a beautiful young lady by the name of Anne Taylor. She was seventee
n years old and in her senior year, looking forward to prom and graduation, and just starting her life. She was a cheerleader riding in the bus with the football team coming back from a victory against a rival team. This…man, came out of nowhere and hit the front corner of the bus. His car was pushed away from the impact, but the bus lost control and flipped onto its side. A lot of the kids were injured.”

  “I was on call that day, working in the Neurology department, when the call came in. Adams, the chief Neurologist wasn’t in house that day and had been called in, but it was going to take him some time to get there. Anyway, I was called down to the ER to assess two patients. After looking at both scans, I concluded that one had a brain bleed and there was swelling, and that patient needed immediate surgery, while the other could be given medication and watched.”

  “As I made my way up to the OR floor, the chief of staff stopped me and told me that he looked over the scans as well, and he concluded that the other patient’s needs were greater. We argued, and I was ordered to do the other surgery first, and Walker, the chief of staff, would watch over the first patient and get Adams to do the surgery as soon as he arrived. So I headed in and took care of the patient.”

  “And she died?” Jensen asked, his voice choked, and Logan could see the tears in his eyes.

  “Not under my scalpel,” Logan said bitterly. “After I got out of surgery on Carl Harris, I inquired with the surgical nurse how the other patient was fairing in surgery. She informed me that the other patient, who I later found out her name was Anne Taylor, hadn’t made it. A half hour after I entered the OR to operate on Carl Harris, Anne died of a brain hemorrhage. Five minutes late, Adams strolled in like it was any other day, and said that sometimes these things happen.”

  “Oh no,” Jensen said and squeezed Logan’s hand.

  “The worst was, I found out later that Carl Harris was the son of some politician, who was a good friend of our Chief of Staff and a big donor to the hospital. When I went back over the records of both cases, I concluded again that Carl Harris could have waited, should have waited, but Anne Taylor should have been seen immediately. If only I had operated on her when I wanted to, that young girl could have been saved. When I looked at the bloodwork from Carl when he was first brought in to the ER, it showed he had a blood alcohol level of 2.0 and there were traces of cocaine in his system. He should never have been operated on with all that crap in him. Before the surgery, myself and the anesthesiologist checked his bloodwork and it showed he was clean. That was only half an hour after being brought into the ER. There was no way that crap should have been out of his system. When I started questioning Walker, he told me to let it go and get back to my job, that he would personally be handling the investigation.”

  “So what did you do?”

  “I couldn’t let it go. I got in touch with a detective friend of mine and told him what I suspected, and he started digging around. Suddenly, he just disappeared. A few days later, my boyfriend at the time, Walt, just up and said he couldn’t see me anymore, then two days later he moved across the country out of the blue. Another week passed, and I was called into Walker’s office where Carl Harris and his father were meeting with Walker and they thanked me for saving Carl’s life. When his father shook my hand, all I saw was red and I wanted to deck the prick. He grabbed my hand tight and gave me this look and I knew it was a threat. He didn’t have to say a word, he was telling me to keep my mouth shut.”

  “Oh my god.”

  “I left Walker’s office and ran to the records room and found Carl’s file. The original blood work from the ER was missing and only the second form which I saw before the surgery was there. It was signed off by Walker himself, which should never have been there. I quickly made a copy of the page and got the file back, then hid the paper at home. The next day I came home to find my condo had been broken into and the place was trashed. The paper was gone. I had no evidence. The next few weeks I started getting every shit case and harassed by other doctors. Then a friend of mine in Radiology told me he overheard Walker talking to someone about making an anonymous call to the cops telling them that I had attacked an underage patient and raped her. Then the other guy said they should fabricate the paperwork to make it look like I was to blame for Anne’s death. I knew I had to run.”

  “I walked away from my life that day. I took every penny I had and a backpack full of clothes and just disappeared. I made my way up to Northeast Pennsylvania, lived on the streets, and stretched my money for as long as I could.”

  “Then you met Nick?”

  “It took a few years, but yeah. I met him through Rune. Nick took me in, helped me out, and got me to go for my Paramedics certificate, then gave me a job. He and Rune are the only ones who know my real story, well, besides you now.”

  “I can’t believe they would do that to you. That’s…I don’t even know what to say. I am so sorry you had to go through that,” Jensen said as he rubbed Logan’s hand.

  “Thank you, pretty boy. So you see, I do know about living on the streets and about running from evil. I promise you can trust me, Jensen, and I will help you with whatever you need me to,” Logan said sincerely as he intertwined their fingers.

  CHAPTER 8

  He was scared. He really did want to tell Logan, especially after Logan had opened up to him and shared his story, but he was still scared. If Logan knew the truth about him, would he want to destroy him like the others did? Would Logan be afraid of him and chase him away, or run, leaving him behind? He never thought he would ever have a mate, and the thought still surprised and scared him, but since meeting Logan, he was filled with a sense of peace he hadn’t felt in a long time. Just sitting having a meal with Logan and now sitting here talking, holding hands, it all felt so…right, and he didn’t want to lose this. But would it be fair to try to pursue a relationship with Logan without telling him anything? Gods, he was just so confused.

  “Please trust me, Jensen. I promise I won’t let you down,” Logan said, and held his hand tighter.

  Even though he was still afraid, he pushed himself to open up to his mate. Jensen took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “As I said earlier, I am the son of Kali, fate. My father is Asclepius, he is the God of medicine, health, healing, rejuvenation, and physicians,” Jensen began.

  “Wow, I’ve actually heard of him, being a doctor and all. Wasn’t he smote by the gods or something?” Logan asked.

  “Not smote, but banished. He became so skilled in his craft that he was able to bring back the dead. Which was a crime against the natural order, and so Zeus destroyed him with a thunderbolt, when I was just a baby,” Jensen replied sadly.

  “Destroyed him?”

  “Well, that’s what they call it. He’s still alive out there somewhere, but he was forced out of Arcadia and not able to return, so that in itself destroyed him. I don’t really remember him. Mom always told me stories about him, so I feel like I know him, but…” Jensen replied with a shrug.

  “So both your parents are gods…which makes you a…demigod?”

  Jensen gave him a sad smile, then looked down at their joined hands. He shook his head and peeked up at his mate through his long lashes, afraid to see what he would find in his mate’s eyes. But when he saw nothing but genuine curiosity and maybe a little awe, it gave him some relief and Jensen continued.

  “No, not a demigod. They are the offspring of a god and another being, but the offspring of two gods, is a…um…god. A lower god, but a god still.”

  “Holy shit. So…my mate is a…god?” Logan inquired, awestruck.

  “I’m sorry,” Jensen whispered and looked down again.

  Logan raised a hand and place a finger under his chin, then gently pushed until Jensen looked up to meet his gaze. “You have nothing to be sorry for, mate. No one decides on who they are born to be.”

  “I know, but knowing your mate is a real live god should be freaking you out. I’m sorry that you got saddled with me.”

  Logan’s brows
drew down into a frown and his eyes became angry. “Hey, none of that. I did not get saddled with you, I got blessed with you. Jensen, you could be a three-headed alien and I would be grateful that fate made a mate for me and that I have been blessed with finding you. The only thing that matters to me is if you are a good person, and from what I have seen so far, I know you are,” Logan said gently, then leaned in and brushed his lips against Jensen’s softly.

  Jensen’s heart beat faster and his stomach flipped, but in a good way. Logan’s warm, soft lips against his, even briefly, thrilled him and sent a rush of electricity through his body. He really did want more with Logan, but still didn’t see how it was possible.

  “You say that now, but that is because you don’t truly know me, Logan. I am not a good person. If I was then I would have never been banished from heaven, like my father was.”

  “Wait, you were banished from heaven? But why?”

  “Because of my powers. Each god that is born receives their powers from birth, but as we get older, they become stronger and we get more. We spend most of our young lives, until we are a thousand, training as a cherub, so that we can learn how to control and use of powers, but mine came in pretty strong when I went through puberty, and that made the other gods nervous.”

  “A cherub? Like those little angels with the tiny wings, heart, and bow and arrows?”

  Jensen chuckled. “No. In Arcadia, heaven, the word cherub means apprentice. Here on earth, you think of cherub as those little chubby angels, which they are, but not how earthbound souls think. The cherubs you’re thinking of are angels in training, like I was a god in training. An apprentice. Once we hit a thousand, we graduate. They become full angels, and I would have become a seasoned god, ready to stand on my own,” Jensen explained.

  “Then what happened, baby?”

  “The gods were already leery of me because my powers were already too strong for someone my age, but when I was sixteen, I was in a training session learning sword fighting, when I drained my opponent of all his powers within seconds, and he passed out. No one, not even me, had realized what had happened, but as I swiped my blade at him, he was suddenly falling forward, and my blade impaled him, just missing his heart. He was rushed to the healer and it took some time, but they were able to save him. After that, the gods got very angry and told my mother that I was a threat to them. I had drained my opponent’s powers in less than two seconds and put him to sleep doing it. They said I was a danger to all of Arcadia. My mother said it was because they were terrified I would drain all their powers and take over. So they gave her an ultimatum, either she bind my powers so that I wouldn’t be able to use them, or I would be banished from Arcadia,” Jensen replied, his voice very sad.