Gena Showalter - Intertwined 02 (24 page)

Close, too close. He forced his gaze to fall to the tabletop. He was sure everyone was now staring at him, and he hoped like hell he wouldn't blush. He blushed. Fine. Better they stared at him than the window. He hadn't realized he'd been so obvious. “Is looking over your shoulder a crime?”

A pause. Had his bluntness startled her? “I much prefer my students to look me directly in the eyes.”

She did, did she? “I'm not your student.”

“You could be,” she said, leaning forward and reaching for his hand.

He snapped both into his lap just before contact. “I'm happy at Crossroads High.”

“And you've been attending for over a month?”

“Yes.”

“So you never spent time with Mr. Thomas?”

Thomas knelt beside her, beseeching. “I'm right here. See me. Please, see me.” He sounded close to tears,
and Aden had to clear his throat to dislodge the lump growing there.

“Aden,” Dan said. “Answer Ms. Brendal, please.”

Had he just been sitting here in silence? What had she asked? Oh, yeah. “Correct.” He prayed he wasn't a neon sign of guilt. “I didn't spend much time with Mr. Thomas.”
I only used up half an hour to kill him
.

Necessary,
Elijah told him, and he blinked. Usually the souls didn't hear his thoughts. Or had Elijah just guessed? No, he realized a moment later. The topic had given him away.

That, and we're certified bad asses,
Caleb said.
I swear, God might have created the world in six days, but we could have done it in five!

That isn't something to joke about,
Julian snapped.

Who's joking?

Aden hated when they argued, but that was far better than the poetry.

Meg returned with a large plate piled high with brownies. She offered Dan and Brendal first choice, then placed the treats in the middle of the table for the boys. Everyone dove in like starving dogs that had just spotted a meaty bone.

“Now that we're relaxed, I'd like to ask some personal questions,” Brendal said. She placed her brownie on her plate. “I want to ensure my teachings fulfill your needs.
In that regard, I'd like to know what everyone thought of Mr. Thomas.”

“We didn't have time to get to know him,” Seth said.

Brendal was undeterred. “Then tell me what you think could have happened to him.”

“If he's missing, shouldn't you talk to the police?” Ryder asked.

A moment passed in silence, and yet, in those quiet seconds any resistance the boys harbored melted away. Until the last brownie crumb was consumed, they, and even Dan and Meg, speculated about the man's sudden disappearance. Alien abduction was mentioned. A need for a fresh start. Murder—Aden tried not to squirm—and even a car accident.

“Tell her I'm here, Aden,” Thomas said, speaking to him without animosity for the first time since Brendal had entered the room. Their eyes met, clashed. “Please.”

He almost caved. That please…
I can't
, he projected.

“You owe me.” The anger was returning to Thomas's tone.

Aden shook his head.

Still Thomas persisted. “She might be able to save me.”

So you can kill my girlfriend?
No. Not now. Maybe after the witches were dealt with, and only if Thomas swore
to drop his quest for vengeance against the royal family. Until then, no deal. So he looked away, silently ending the conversation. Thomas began yelling again, snarling, stomping around, and guilt once again welled inside Aden's chest.

“Aden?” Dan said, drawing his attention. “Are you agreeable to Ms. Brendal's suggestion, then?”

“Her suggestion?” He could only imagine what she wanted. His head on a silver platter? His heart in her favorite trinket box? As much as she'd charmed everyone, Aden doubted a single one of them would hesitate to please her.

He searched the boys' faces. They were peering at him with envy. Except for Shannon and Ryder. Earlier they'd gone to such great pains not to look at each other, but now they were locked in some kind of livid staring contest. Both of their eyes were narrowed, both of their lips thinned with displeasure.

His gaze shifted to the window, but Victoria was no longer there.

“Sure,” he finally said, sweat beading on his brow. “I'm…agreeable.”

“Good.” Dan pushed to his feet, his chair sliding behind him. Everyone but Aden followed suit. The boys gave Brendal one last lingering once-over—Seth even wiggled his brows at her—before shuffling from the main house and back to their bunks. Dan walked to
Meg and threw his arm over her shoulders. They waited, watching Aden expectantly.

What was he supposed to do?

“Shall we go, then?” Brendal asked him in that musical voice.

“Uh, sure.” Maybe he should have declined her “suggestion.”

She moved around the table and toward the front door. Aden remained in place for several seconds, peering out the window. Victoria suddenly reappeared and pressed her hand to the glass. If he wasn't mistaken, someone, a female, stood beside her.

Another date for him? Probably.

Fabulous.

“You'll need a jacket,” Dan said, prompting him into motion.

He stood. “I'll be fine.” He walked over to Brendal, who held the front door open for him. Knowing she might attack him helped dull his unnatural fascination with her.

Thomas followed him silently into the night, though the ghost disappeared from view the moment Aden stepped from the porch. For some reason, he was only visible—and aware—in the ranch and bunkhouse, not outside in the elements.

Cold, damp air slithered around Aden, biting at his skin.
Should have accepted that jacket
. The moon was
partially obscured by clouds, and there were no stars to be seen. The insects were eerily silent.

“We'll begin our tour in the far pasture,” she said.

Ah, a tour.
That
he could do. “I'm not sure why you'd want to see a barn, horses and cows this late in the evening, but come on.” Unless, of course, she'd simply wanted to get Aden alone. “I'll show you the way.” He uttered a quiet prayer that Victoria wouldn't follow.

Ten bucks says the woman is gonna try to nail us. And not the good way!
Caleb said.

You don't have ten bucks,
Julian reminded him.

Aden will pay.

“If seeing the ranch had been my goal,” Brendal said as they started forward, “I would have chosen one of the other boys.”

“I guessed as much.” The Fae were power-hungry, Victoria had told him. They loved humans—until those humans exhibited signs of their own power. Aden exhibited signs of power. Had she sensed them, or had she figured out who he was and what he'd done?

No. She probably felt the draw of him right now. Without Mary Ann nearby, they all did, all the creatures of this otherworld. Some had called him a beacon in the night, some a chain that tugged without regard. And because he'd possessed Thomas's body, Aden now knew how cold fairies were inside. Deadly cold. Yet,
when Thomas had fought Riley, he'd drawn warmth into him. Delicious warmth. Was that why they craved power? Did power equal warmth?

“You guessed, and yet you came with me anyway.”

“I'm not a coward.” He and Brendal reached the far edge of the pasture, where a wood and wire fence blocked the animals from the surrounding field. Aden had no trouble seeing, despite the darkness, because Brendal now glowed. What the hell? She
must
have swallowed the sun.

“Do you know what I am, Aden?” she asked, her tone now lacking any hint of emotion. She rounded on him, her dress—flowing and white, something girls probably wore to the beach to cover their swimsuits—dancing around her ankles. “You haven't remarked on my radiance.”

To lie or not? Why not tell the truth? he thought next. In this, at least. He knew better than most how hard it was to tell truth from lies when the two were intertwined. “I know,” he said, and settled atop the top post of the fence, as if he were relaxed, as if this conversation was no big deal. Casual disregard—rather than fear—would throw her off.

Was Victoria nearby? He couldn't see her.

Brendal nodded with satisfaction. “Good. We can skip the formalities. My brother's final report said that you were the reason we were here. That you were the one
who summoned us. So here we are. Why? Why did you want us here?”

Careful
. A warning from all the souls.

“I didn't, I don't,” he said. “It was an accident, summoning you.”

She arched the perfect line of a brow. “Yet that accident summoned many others, as well. Our enemies. Enemies to all humankind.”

“Yes.” He'd argue that vampires weren't an enemy to humankind, though. They fed off humans, yes, but humans fed off animals. What was the difference? And no, he wasn't calling himself an animal. It was simply the circle of life.

“Did you hope to start a war? We have not been together in centuries, and the last time we were, our numbers—
all
our numbers—dwindled significantly.”

“I swear to you, I don't want a war to erupt. Especially here. But I can't help what I am and what I can do any more than you can.”

Her head tilted to the side, and she peered at him intently. That unwavering stare—and her unemotional tone, he realized—was familiar. Reminiscent of…Dr. Hennessy. His eyes widened as a very repugnant idea sprang up. Was the doctor a fairy, too?

“What exactly can you do?” Brendal asked.

He gave a falsely negligent shrug. “I draw creatures, like you said. Just not with a pen and paper.”

“And that is all?”

“Yes.”

“Then you must die,” she said simply. “Only when you're dead will the pull to you cease.”

He didn't hop off the fence, didn't try to run away. One, he didn't know what she could do, ability-wise. And two, he didn't want her to know she'd spooked him, his mind replaying his death by stabbing over and over again.

“You won't kill me,” he said with more bravado than sense. Or certainty.

“No, I won't,” she replied, surprising him. “Yet. Where is my brother, Aden? And do not lie to me. I have lived for more centuries than you could comprehend. I know when my humans lie.”

Her
humans?

Uh-oh,
Caleb said.
This is dangerous territory
.

Tread carefully,
Elijah suggested.
Your next words are highly important
.

Because they might be his last? Yeah, he'd surmised that. For all he knew, Brendal could teleport him into town and stab him, bringing Elijah's vision of Aden's final minutes to life. Or death.

She sure is pretty, though, isn't she?
Caleb continued.

I prefer girls with dark hair,
Julian said.

Not now, guys,
he wanted to shout. He needed to concentrate, to keep his emotions at bay.

“Aden?” Brendal prompted. “My brother would not have left without first contacting his people, without first contacting me. Yet he did. Which means something happened to him. So I ask again. Where is he?”

He wanted to tell her. The truth was there, welling up in his throat, threatening to spill over. All he had to do was open his mouth. She would know, and he would feel better. The guilt would leave him.

His brow scrunched in confusion. Were those his thoughts? On some level, they seemed to be. That guilt…But on another level, they seemed foreign. They were softer, almost like the music of the fairy's voice, like a song in his head.

“Tell me,” she said softly. Her eyes, so deep a brown, were hypnotic, swirling, and then, oddly, different colors began flickering. You could get lost in those eyes.

They were very much like Victoria's, only darker.

Victoria.

Aden snapped back from whatever spell the fairy had cast, only to realize he'd hopped off the fence, closed the distance between them and now had his arms resting on Brendal's shoulders, his hands fisted in her hair.

Oh, hell, no. Had he been about to kiss her?

Scowling, he dropped his arms to his sides and stepped back. Brendal frowned. “Listen, I don't know where your brother is. He was here, and then he was gone.”

“You lie,” she replied, and yet again, there was no emotion in her tone.

Somehow, that made her all the more dangerous.

“Aden,” a male voice suddenly called. Dan. “It's time to hit the books. Ms. Brendal, I know you understand how important his studies are. Thank you for coming to speak with us, and we'll see you in the morning.”

Obviously, Victoria had voiced him into sending the fairy away.

Brendal stared at Aden for several moments, her expression as blank as her tone, before nodding. “We shall speak again, Aden. That, I promise you.”

 

A
DEN PACKED A BAG
while Victoria and Stephanie—the vampire who'd been beside her at the window—convinced the boys, as well as Dan and Meg, that he was here, he was sleeping and they'd see him in the morning to wave him off to school.

Actually, he was spending the rest of the night at the vampire mansion.

When the sisters returned to him, he was ready,
standing outside the bunkhouse, bag in hand, the souls chattering happily about this latest turn of events.

“Never thought I'd see the day Victoria broke the rules,” Stephanie said with a laugh. “A reason to celebrate. For real.”

“What rule?” Aden asked, holding out his free hand.

Victoria twined their fingers. As always, her skin was hot, a brand, and the warmth shot straight through him.

“I'm not supposed to be around you while you date the others, so you'll have to remain inside my bedroom, quiet.”