Intertwined (13 page)

If he had to have strange powers, Aden wished they could have been more like hers. That voodoo voice would have made his life a lot easier; he could have sent certain people (cough Ozzie cough) away with no memory of him.

“Are you dead, like legends claim?” He’d lost track of who owed whom an answer. But then, trading information was no longer his goal. Touching her was. He wrapped his free hand around her waist and splayed his fingers on the small of her back. She didn’t seem to mind. “I mean, did you die and someone turned you into a vampire?”

“No, I am not dead. I live.” She lifted his palm to her chest and pressed. Her skin was as hot as before but underneath, he could feel the steady rhythm of her heart. It beat faster than his, faster than anyone should have been able to survive, racing to a finish line it would never reach. “My father, he was the first of us. You might have heard of him. Vlad the Impaler, some call him. During his first life, his human life, he drank blood as a symbol of his power. So much blood it…changed him. Or perhaps he simply drank infected blood. He has never been sure. All he knows is that he began to crave it until it became all that he could stomach.”

Talk about the ultimate punishment for his deeds. “How many of your kind are there now?”

“A few thousand, scattered throughout the world. My father is king to them all.”

King. The word reverberated in his head, making him cringe. “That means you’re a—”

“Princess. Yes.” She stated it so simply, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

A princess. Suddenly Aden felt even more inadequate. She was royalty, and he was poor, stuck at a ranch with kids too wild for civilization. She was the daughter of a king. He was parentless and considered mentally unstable.

“I should probably go,” he found himself saying. Why couldn’t Elijah have shown him this? Knowing what she was would have saved him the trouble of caring for her—only to lose her.

Confusion darkened her features. “Why are you leaving?”

Did he really need to spell it out? “I’m a nothing, Victoria, a no one. Or should I say Princess Victoria? Should I bow, too?”

His sneering tone had her swimming backward, out of his reach. “You didn’t care that I was a vampire, yet my station bothers you. Why?”

“Just forget it,” he said, turning. His hands felt like ice blocks without her fiery heat.

Before he could blink, she was in front of him. Back in his arms. “You are beyond irritating, Aden Stone.”

“So are you.” He knew he should release her, but couldn’t force his hands to obey this time.

“Because I am a princess, I have spent most of my life sequestered. Rules and regulations are mine to follow, more so than anyone else, for I must always act with the decorum such a title demands. I must be everything the people want me to be: polite, polished and above reproach. Then you summoned us and we came to observe you. I saw how you kept yourself separated from those around you. I saw the loneliness in your eyes and I thought you would understand how feel. And then, when you first looked at me, every time you’ve looked at me, really, I
felt
your excitement. It causes your blood to flow so swiftly.” Her eyes briefly closed, as if she were savoring the memories.

“Tonight,” she continued, “you asked me to stay with you. You’re the first person to want to spend time with me, to talk and get to know me. Do you know how irresistible that is? Riley is my friend, but it’s his job to watch me. And with him, I can never forget who and what I am. But with you…1 feel normal. Like any other girl.”

Being normal. It was a desire he knew well. And that
he
made her feel that way was astonishing.

“You do the same for me,” he admitted. “But I’m—”

“Irresistible, as I said. I should stay away from you, but can’t. So now I will be the one to ask you not to go.”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh. As long as she didn’t see him as a nothing, he would try not to, as well. “I’ll stay.”

Slowly she grinned, and it lit her entire face. “Good. Now. What were you saying about me? About the way I make you feel?”

“Just that I feel normal when I’m with you.”
And I think you’re the best thing to have ever happened to me
. He cleared his throat. “So what else happened when your dad became a vampire?” he asked, pretending they had never veered off course. Pretending, for them both, that they really were normal. Despite the topic of conversation.

She must have realized what he was doing, because her smile brightened. “He ceased aging, his body strengthened exponentially. His skin lost all remnants of color, becoming an impenetrable shield.”

Aden recalled the way she’d laughed when he’d mentioned cutting her with his daggers.
I can’t be cut
, she’d said. “Your skin can’t be broken?”

She shook her head. “Not with a sharp object, no.”

That would be both a blessing and a curse. A knife couldn’t hurt her, but no doctor could operate on her if needed.
Was
it ever needed? “Do you ever get sick?”

“Once,” she hedged, then sighed and released his hand to pluck at the fingers. Some contact was better than none. “Aden.”

Clearly, the newest question made her uncomfortable. “If your father ceased aging, does that mean you’re almost as old as he is?” he asked, and she relaxed. “No, wait. You can’t be. You told me older vampires can’t tolerate the sun and you can tolerate it.”

“Yes, I’m younger than he is. I’m only eighty-one years old.” She tangled a hand through his hair, clearly liked the feel, and did it again. “But don’t think I have looked as I do now
all that time. My siblings and I age slowly, very slowly. Our mothers despaired of ever getting us out of the terrible toddler stage.”

He remembered the few toddlers he’d encountered at various foster homes. The tantrums, the “all mine” mentality, and the way they drew on everything, even his walls. “Where’s your mom now?”

“In Romania. She was not allowed to travel with us.”

He wanted to ask why, but didn’t want to have to answer anything about his own parents. So instead he said, “Eighty-one. Wow. You’re like my grandma. If I had one.”

“What a terrible thing to say,” she said, but was smiling again.

“In all your eighty-one years, you must have had a lot of boyfriends, huh?”

For some reason, that wiped away her amusement. She looked away guiltily. “Only one.”

Just one? And why the guilt? “Why so few?”

“He’s the only boy my father has ever approved of.”

Which meant her father’s approval mattered to her. Sadly, approval was not something Aden was likely to get. So how long did he have before Victoria gave up on him? How long before she left him, never to return? How long until she started dating someone her father did like?

As the questions hammered through him, a sense of urgency overwhelmed him. He had to show her how good it could be between them. Had to bring a vision to life—before it was too late.

“I told you I see the future, yes?”

She nodded reluctantly, probably confused by his sudden subject change.

A tide of nervousness swept through him.
Just say it, tell her.
“I’ve seen us together.” Good. Now for the rest. “I knew you’d come to me before you arrived.”

She stilled, frowned. “Wh-what did we do? When we were together?”

He didn’t mention that he’d seen her drink from his neck. He didn’t want to scare her away. She was skittish enough about being with him. “We…kissed.”

“You and me, kis…sing.” The last was uttered on a wispy catch of breath. “I want to, oh, God, do I want to. But I can’t. I’ll end up feeding from you, and I refuse to let you see me that way.”

Was that the only thing holding her back? “You’ve already tasted my blood, and you were able to walk away.”

“I almost didn’t,” she admitted.

“So what if you can’t this time? I can take it.”

“You can, perhaps, but I can’t stand knowing that you will have seen me behaving like such an animal.”

Victoria? An animal? “I would never think that of you.”

Her arms circled his neck, her elbows resting on his shoulders. Sharp white fangs peeked over her bottom lip. “Aden,” she said, then sighed. “What am I going to do with you?”

“You’re going to kiss me.”

Still she resisted—but the determination she’d exhibited earlier was fading. “I could scare you. I could horrify and disgust you.” Before he could reply, she pushed away from
him. She spun around, refusing even to face him. “We should go.”

Waves lapped at his chin, and he fought his disappointment. Soon, he told himself, they
would
kiss. She would bite him, and he would prove to her that such an act didn’t disgust him.

“You can’t leave yet. It’s my turn to ask you to stay and your turn to relent.” He didn’t want them to part unhappily. When she thought back over this night, he wanted her craving another like it. “Besides, I have one more question for you and you owe me an answer.” Truth or not, he didn’t care.

She didn’t look back, but she did nod stiffly. “Ask.”

Slowly he inched toward her. “What do you think of…this.” He scooped a handful of water and chucked it at her, drenching her hair.

She was sputtering as she whirled around. Droplets fell into her eyes, catching in her eyelashes. “Why did you—”

Laughing, he tossed another handful. This one hit her dead center in the face.

“Why, you little…human!”

Before he could blink, she had him dunked under the water. When he surfaced, she was laughing, and the sound warmed him body and soul. Like children, happy, carefree children, they played until the sun began to rise. Splashing each other, dunking each other. She won, of course, because she was infinitely stronger than he was, but he’d never had so much fun.

Aden, honey
, Eve said, speaking up for the first time in hours. Her voice actually surprised him. The souls had behaved and he hadn’t even realized it until now.
You have to
go back. We’ll be lucky if Dan is still sleeping and doesn’t catch you climbing through your window.

She was right.

But day’um, I wish I could feel what you feel
, Caleb said.
I didn’t even mind the forced silence. You were pressed against boobs. Several times!

He barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “If I don’t return, I’ll be caught.” He reached out and smoothed the wet hair from Victoria’s temple. “I want to see you again, though. More than just once a week. I want to see you every day.”

Her smile faded, but she nodded. “I can’t promise I’ll be able to sneak away tomorrow, and as I’ve told you before, you’d be wise to stay away from me. But…I’ll try. Either way, we
will
see each other again.”

I
NSIDE HIS BEDROOM
, Aden couldn’t stop yawning. He glanced at his bed with longing. He had to sleep soon or he was likely to pass out somewhere in public. But there was no time to rest. He’d stayed out so long he only had a little time before he had to leave for school. His gaze swung to his mirror. His eyes were red and burning, his eyelids heavy. Didn’t help that one was blackened from his fight with Ozzie.

At least his lip was healed. Victoria’s touch had worked wonders.

He grinned, remembering. He wanted her mouth on him again. Only this time he wanted her to linger. Wanted her to wind her arms around his neck, to shift her head so that her tongue flicked
inside
rather than outside.

What are you thinking about?
Eve asked.
I can feel our blood pressure rising.

“Nothing,” he muttered, embarrassed.

He showered and dressed and gave himself a once-over.
Thankfully, after a few washings, the writing on his T-shirts had faded. That didn’t lessen his pleasure over punching Ozzie for it.

When he entered the hall, Ozzie was waiting for him. One of his eyes was swollen shut, his lip was cut and a lump the size of a golf ball jutted from the side of his jaw.

“Say a word about what happened,” he hissed. “I dare you.”

Victoria had kept her promise, then, and returned his memory. Well, probably not about her or what she’d done to Casey. “I’m not afraid of you.” He grinned and leaned down as if he had a secret to share. “You couldn’t win a fight against a sleeping toddler.”

Ozzie’s mouth floundered open and closed.

“And anyway, we’ll have to tell Dan we fought. There’s no way around that.” Because there was no way Dan would miss their wounds. “We just won’t tell him why, when or where it happened.”

“And the…stuff?” Ozzie spoke from the side of his mouth, gaze zooming down the hall to ensure the bedroom doors were closed and no one could hear. “About Casey?”

“I don’t plan to say anything.” Ozzie relaxed—until he added, “Unless you mess with me again. Then I have a feeling every little detail will come spilling out. Understand?” Aden didn’t mind blackmailing the dreg. He was tired of being pushed around, abused, and being unable to do anything about it for fear of being sent away.

Ozzie cursed under his breath. “You even think about narcing and I swear to God, you’ll regret it.” He whipped a
steak knife from his back pocket, one he’d obviously stolen from Dan’s kitchen, and waved it in front of Aden’s nose. “Do
you
understand?”

Aden rolled his eyes, bent down and withdrew one of his daggers. It was bigger and sharper, specks of corpse blood staining the silver. “What I understand is that I could slice you to ribbons. You have no idea how mental I can actually be.”

Speechless once again, Ozzie backtracked into his room and slammed the door shut.

Oh, I’m so proud
. Eve sounded like a beaming mother.
You stood up for yourself without endangering your circumstances.

Way to go, Ad!
Caleb said.
We need to celebrate. With girls!

I wish you could have at least punched him again,
Julian said.
I hate that kid.

Don’t encourage him,
Elijah replied.
We don’t want him in jail. Believe me.

Did Elijah remember being in jail in a past life or had he seen Aden in jail and knew how terrible it would be for them?

There was no time to ask. Shannon peeked his head out of his door, probably wondering what the noise was about. He surprised Aden by entering the hallway.

“H-here.” He handed him a stack of papers. “Ozzie came in 1-last night and told me he was going to t-take these. I snuck in first and took them myself.”

His English paper, which was due today. Aden hadn’t even realized it was gone. All the work he’d put into it…if Ozzie had succeeded, he would have received an F. He popped his jaw, wishing he
had
punched the dreg again.

“Thanks.”

Shannon nodded. “Owed you. For—” His gaze fell to Aden’s shirt. “Y-you know.”

When he turned, intending to head off, Aden grabbed his arm. “Wait. You’ve hardly spoken to me all week, but you just saved me from being kicked out of school. What gives?”

A muscle ticked in Shannon’s jaw. He ripped free of Aden’s grip, but he didn’t race off.

“You might as well tell me now. I’ll just hound you till you cave. In the forest. At school. After school. During chores—”

“Th-that day in the forest,” was the growled response. “You were right behind me, man. Then those k-kids showed up and you took off, leaving me on my own. I know we haven’t always been the b-best of friends, but we had reached a t-truce.”

“So you really were in a fight?”

Another nod, this one stiff.

Shannon wasn’t the werewolf, then. That left…who? Victoria’s bodyguard, maybe? No. Couldn’t be. Victoria thought werewolves were vicious. She wouldn’t want to be guarded by one.

Aden thought of everyone else he knew with green eyes. A lot of names came up. What if, when a human shifted into werewolf form, his eyes changed color? Aden was living proof that eyes could change hues in the blink of, well, an eye. If that was true, anyone could be the werewolf.

“I’m sorry,” he told Shannon, realizing the dreg was waiting for his response. “I didn’t know you were ambushed. I didn’t see
the guys. If I had, I would have stayed with you. Maybe. I mean, I heard Mary Ann scream and rushed to see what was wrong.”

“She okay?”

“Now she is.” He hoped. Somehow, some way, he had to corner her today and force her to talk to him. “So what made you decide to forgive me for bailing on you?”

“Hard to be m-mad at the guy who kicked Ozzie’s ass.”

They shared a grin, then gathered their sack lunches from the counter beside the front door where Mrs. Reeves always left them.

Shannon can’t be the werewolf
, Julian said.
He did you a favor. The wolf would have chewed the paper up, spit it at you and laughed.

Then lit you both on fire
, Caleb added.

Since Aden hadn’t spoken his thoughts about this very subject aloud, they couldn’t know that he’d already reasoned this out.

Unless this is a trick to throw you off
, Elijah said thoughtfully.

Not a trick, he wanted to say, because he didn’t want to believe it. His life finally seemed to be on the right track. He’d ruin that himself if he allowed suspicions to poison him. After all, suspicions led to paranoia, and paranoia was classic schizophrenic behavior. He’d be gift-wrapping his doctors’ diagnosis when he’d been struggling so valiantly to
dis
prove it.

He has enough to think about, boys
, Eve said, probably sensing the intensity of his thoughts.
Let’s give him some peace this morning.

Yes, Eve,
everyone said at the same time Shannon said, “You need a good story for your f-face or you’ll get kicked
out. And maybe don’t bring up Ozzie. Do, and h-he’ll have the others plan a sneak attack.”

Took Aden a moment to sort through the voices and pick out what Shannon had uttered. See? The guy hadn’t been faking his gesture of friendship; he was still trying to make things better.

“I can’t leave Ozzie out of it because Ozzie has the same beat-up face that I do. We deny it, and Dan’ll know we’re lying. We’ll be in worse trouble.”

“Maybe you’ll get to put it off. Maybe he’s gone.” Some mornings Dan was up doing chores, but a few lucky mornings, he slept in or was off running errands.

For the first time since starting school, they headed outside together. The air was cool, the sky overcast. Dan was at the truck, about to open the door when he spotted Aden and froze. As if Aden were cursed, the sun broke through a wall of clouds and spotlighted him, seeming brighter than ever. He had to blink against it, his injured eye burning and tearing. Guess he wouldn’t be putting off the conversation, after all.

“Where’d you get the bruises, Aden?” Dan only used that hard tone when he was fighting his anger.

Here goes.
He squared his shoulders, even as his stomach clenched painfully. “Ozzie and I had a little disagreement. We’re over it, and we’re sorry.” Short, sweet and honest.

Dan stomped around the truck, bearing down on him. “You know better than to resort to physical violence, no matter the problem. That’s one of the reasons you’re here, to get a handle on your violent tendencies.”

“This was a one-time thing and won’t happen again.”

“I’ve heard that before.” The big guy scrubbed a hand down his face, some of the stiffness leaving him. “I can’t believe you did this. I get you into public school, I buy you clothes, make sure you’re fed. All I ask is that you get along.”

His companions started screaming inside his head, trying to tell him what to say. Loud as they currently were, he heard only a jumble of indistinguishable words. “We made a mistake. We learned from it. Isn’t that what’s important?” Hopefully, that fit.

Dan worked his jaw. “Doesn’t matter if you learned something or not. Actions have consequences. I have to punish you. You know that, too, right?”

“Punish me?” That, Aden heard. He tossed up his arms, his irritation boiling over with the same potency his rage had boiled over last night. “It’s not like you’re perfect, Dan. It’s not like you haven’t made mistakes.”

His caregiver’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Don’t do it
, each of his companions shouted in unison. No mistaking their meaning this time.

“You know,” he said anyway. “You and Ms. Killerman.”

Now his companions moaned.

Dan’s mouth fell open. He stared at Aden in silence for several moments, the time ticking away in tune to the crickets’ chirps. Finally, his gaze shot to Shannon. “Get in the truck. I’ll drive you to school.” His tone was no longer hard or upset, but flat. No emotion.

Shannon hesitated only a moment, his expression sympathetic, before obeying.

Dan crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know how you learned about Ms. Killerman or what you think you know, but I assure you, I’ve done nothing to be ashamed of. Because that’s what you’re getting at, isn’t it?”

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and nodded, the action tentative. He’d started this; he would see it through.

“Well, you’re wrong. I flirt with her solely for the sake of you boys, and Meg is very aware of it. Sometimes she’s even in the same room while I’m doing it because it’s the only way I can stomach what I have to say and hear. But I do it because it keeps you boys here when you should be pulled in for violence. Or drugs. Or theft. Or any number of other things. I do it because your requests are processed before anyone else’s. How do you think you got into public school so quickly?”

“I—I—”

Dan wasn’t done. “At first, I couldn’t believe I’d called her and asked her to make it happen. But then I remembered your disappointment when I told you it wasn’t going to happen. So I called her again and asked her to hurry things along. And you know what? She did. Do you think she does that for everyone? She had to get state and school approval. She had to fight the powers that be.
I
had to fight.”

Guilt, white-hot and laced with acid, swept through him. He’d judged and condemned Dan without all the facts. Something that had been done to
him
time and time again. Some
thing he’d sworn never to do to others. As honest and forthright as Dan was, he should have known better.

“Dan,” he began, tortured.

“Appearances are often deceiving, Aden,” Dan said softly. “Next time you think poorly of me, I hope you’ll give me the benefit of the doubt. Come to me, talk to me.”

“I will. And I’m sorry I didn’t this time.” He raised his chin and met Dan’s stare. “I just hope you’ll do the same for me. Give me the benefit of the doubt.”

Dan crossed his arms over his chest, another of those long silences taking hold. What was going through his head, Aden didn’t know. Whatever it was, though, caused his expression to change from suspicion to chagrin and finally to acceptance.

“Get in the truck,” Dan said gruffly.

Get in the—what? Did that mean…was he…

“Am I pretending the fight never happened? Yeah. I’ve been where you are, and I know what it’s like to be judged and convicted when you’re innocent. So I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt and trusting that you did what you did for a reason. But it better not happen again. Now, don’t just stand there. Move, move, move. You don’t want to be late for first period.”

Aden couldn’t help himself. He threw himself at Dan and gave a quick squeeze. Dan grunted and mussed his hair, and Aden grinned before jumping into the truck.

When they reached the school parking lot, Aden saw that Mary Ann was waiting at the double doors, watching the woods expectantly. For him? He wanted to believe it, but as many times as she’d run from him after school…

The moment the truck reached the drop-off lane, easing forward, that swift, jolting wind cut through him, straight into his chest. The souls groaned, disappearing into their black void. Aden’s guilt returned, although for a different reason. They had helped him get into this school and endured the pain of the darkness so that he could find them a way out, bodies of their own. So far, he hadn’t done anything to keep his part of the bargain.

That would change. Today. He’d already decided to force Mary Ann to talk to him, hoping to learn what was going on inside her head, but now, he’d take it a step further. He would reveal the rest of his abilities—no matter how he feared she would react—and find out how she sent the souls away.

He studied her more closely. She looked tired, as if she hadn’t slept in days, and there were shadows under her eyes. A frown pulled at the corners of her lips. Usually she was bubbling over with energy, had a smile for everyone.

Mary Ann’s frown became a scowl as her friend Penny approached. Penny looked worse than Mary Ann, her face swollen as if she’d been crying. Mary Ann said something, head shaking violently. Penny grabbed her hand. Mary Ann ripped it away and disappeared inside the building.