Intertwined (9 page)

Her eyes narrowed, but he could still see the crystalline glow of them. She doesn’t know you the way you know her, he reminded himself. He had to be careful with his praise.

“Come.” She beckoned him with the crook of a finger and walked—no, floated—to the window. Then, without moving another inch, she seemed to disappear. A breeze brushed over him.

He was standing a second later, his body compelled to obey on a level he didn’t understand. And hadn’t expected. He’d walked in his vision, yes, but he hadn’t realized
he
would not
be the one in control. His feet moved of their own accord, maneuvering him in front of the opened window. Could
she
possess other bodies? He didn’t sense her inside him, but…maybe.

Not even when he climbed through, his bare feet pressed against the dewy grass, was he able to grasp the reins of control. He didn’t panic, though. He was with Vision Girl. That was all that mattered.

He scanned the area, finally spotting her a few yards ahead, in the line of trees. She hadn’t possessed him, then. But what
was
she doing to him?

“Come.” Again, she beckoned him with a finger. Again, she seemed to disappear—but not before her gaze raked him from head to toe.

He fought a wave of embarrassment. The only piece of clothing he wore was a pair of boxers. At least they were plain black rather than the red-and-white pair that were covered in Valentine hearts.

What did she think of him?

Part of him felt as though he already knew her, and that part of him was already comfortable with her, already half in love with her. After all, that part of him knew the taste of her lips, had heard the way she sighed his name and felt the way she melted in his arms.

But the rational side of his brain was growing a bit wary. Last time she’d truly spoken to him, she’d wanted to know things he had no answers for. Last time he’d seen her, she’d been with another boy.

The night was cool, the sky painted with clouds. Crickets
chirped, and in the distance a dog barked. Both soon quieted, leaving only silence. Utter silence, thick and dark.

Until his companions began to wake up, yawning inside his mind.

Outside?
Julian asked sleepily.

“Yes,” he whispered.

Ugh. We’re not running away again, are we?
Caleb demanded.

“No.”

Eve sighed with relief.
Thank God
.

Want to tell us what’s going on, then?
Elijah asked.

“We’re living a vision.” Finally, he reached a clearing, foliage surrounding him, hiding him from prying eyes. But where was Vision Girl? Again, there was no longer any sign of her.

“Stop,” she said. Her voice came from behind him and he spun around. And there she was, his beauty. His…killer? She held a dagger in each hand. His daggers. The ones he’d dropped earlier when he’d slipped inside the wolf’s body.

He frowned.

A beam of moonlight peeked through the clouds and swathed her, illuminating the thick blue streaks in her hair—not an illusion caused by the sun, then, as he’d supposed last time he’d seen her—as well as the daggers. Surely she wouldn’t stab him. She looked too innocent in the haze of shadows and gold, dainty, harmless.

“Where’s the boy?” he asked. Now there was someone who wouldn’t mind cutting him up. He hadn’t forgotten the anger that had radiated from the male. “The one I saw you with?”

She remained in place, head tilting to the side. “Had he come tonight, he would have killed you.”

Points to Aden for having figured that out already. “Why?”

“He’s jealous of you. Besides, I’m not supposed to be here and had he known where I was headed, he would have stopped me. I
had
to come alone.”

A thousand questions seemed to rush through his mind at once. Someone was jealous? Of Aden? Why? And why wasn’t she supposed to be here? In the end, he asked the one he felt had the greatest chance of being answered. “How did you get me here? You spoke and I was forced to obey.”

She lifted a delicate shoulder in a shrug. “A little gift of mine, you could say. These are yours, I believe.” Steps measured, she approached. When she reached him, she stopped and extended the daggers.

Aden was proud of himself. He didn’t flinch or even crouch to attack.

Who is she?
Eve asked.

I have another bad feeling, Aden
. Elijah sounded panicked all of a sudden.
I think you should leave
.

“Quiet,” he mumbled.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” the girl snapped. The more she spoke, the more he detected an accent. Not English, but close.

“I wasn’t talking to you.”

Confusion washed over her lovely features. She gazed around the forest. “Who, then? We are alone.”

“Myself.” In a roundabout way.

“I see,” she said, but it was clear she didn’t. “Here. Take
these.” She placed the weapons in his hands before he could take them…touch her. “I’m sure you will need them in the coming days.”

Nope, she had never meant to hurt him. He looked down at the sharp metal, fingers curling around the hilts. “You aren’t afraid I’ll use them on you?”

A laugh escaped her, the sound like bells tinkling. “It wouldn’t matter if you did. They cannot hurt me.”

Oh, really? “Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but no one can withstand a blade.”

“I can. I cannot be cut.” Absolute confidence radiated from her.

His arms fell to his sides. “Who are you?”
What
are you? He quashed the second question before it could escape, not wanting to offend her. Again.

Besides, the answer really didn’t matter, he supposed. He was glad she was here, whatever she was.

“My name is Victoria.”

Victoria. He rolled the name through his mind. Soft, lovely. Like her. “I’m Aden.”

“I know,” she said, voice now hard.

“How?”

Again using those slow, measured steps, she circled him. “I’ve been following you for days.”

Days? No way. He’d only seen her that once. You’re not always the most observant of people, he reminded himself. “Why?”

In front of him again, closer than before, almost brushing
against him, she said, “You know why.” Her breath was a lick of heat against his skin, like a bonfire on a winter day.

He liked it. A lot. But he would have given anything for actual contact. “I don’t.”

Her gaze met his, as hard as her tone had been. “You called us.”

On the phone? “I couldn’t have. I don’t even have your number.”

“Are you trying to provoke me?”

“No. I honestly didn’t call you.”

She pushed out a frustrated breath. “A week ago, you somehow overwhelmed my people with energy. Energy that was so strong, it left us writhing in pain for hours. Energy that latched onto us and tugged us to you as if we were tethered with rope.”

“I don’t understand. Energy? Sent by me?” A week ago, the only thing he’d done was kill a few corpses and meet Mary Ann.

With the thought, his eyes widened. The first time he’d seen Mary Ann, everything had ceased to exist before the world had seemed to explode in a burst of wind. Could
that
be what Victoria meant? And what did that mean for him and Mary Ann if it was?

“Who are your people? Where do you live?”

“I was born in Romania,” she said, ignoring his first question. “Wallachia.”

His brow furrowed as he considered her claim. A tutor had once forced him to do a report on Romania. He knew that Wallachia was north of the Danube and south of the Carpathians
and that Wallachia was not what the town was now called. He also knew there was no way the wind he and Mary Ann had generated could have reached a place that far away. Right?

“Were you there when the energy hit you?”

“Yes. We move around a lot, but we
had
just returned to Romania. So what game do you play with us, Aden Stone? Why did you want us here?”

Us? No, he’d only wanted her. “If I
was
the one to send that energy, it wasn’t intentional,” he said.

She lifted her hand and rested her fingertips just below his ear. He closed his eyes for a moment, savoring. Finally. Contact. Her skin was burning hot, static, like lightning. Down her nails raked, gentle, so gentle, stopping at the base of his neck where his pulse hammered.

“Intentional or not,” she said, “my father was angered. And believe me, his anger is a terrifying thing. The stuff of nightmares. He wanted you dead.”

Aden was too entranced by her actions to be scared of her words. “Is that why you brought me here? To kill me?” Then why had she given him the blades? “You’ll understand if I don’t lie down and take it, I’m sure.”

The harshness of his tone must have jarred her because she backed away until she was no longer within easy reach. I should have kept my mouth closed, he thought darkly. What would it take to make her return?

“I said my father
wanted
you dead,” she admitted softly, gaze falling to the ground. “He no longer does. I convinced him to wait, to study you. We still feel the hum of your power, after all.”

One part of her speech intrigued him more than any other. “Why?”

She didn’t pretend to misunderstand. He wanted to know why she would seek to help him, a boy she knew nothing about. “You…fascinate me.” Her cheeks brightened with pink. “That was stupid of me to say. Pretend I said something else.”

“I can’t,” he said. Nor did he want to. “You fascinate me, too. I’ve thought about you since the moment I first saw you.” He didn’t tell her that had been months ago, in a vision. Didn’t tell her that sometimes she’d been the only thing in his life worth living for. “And when you visited me while I was sick…don’t try to deny it,” he added when she opened her mouth. “You took care of me, I know you did. I’ve wanted to spend time with you ever since.”

She shook her head as he spoke, tendrils of hair slapping her face. “We cannot like each other. We cannot become friends.”

“That’s good, because I don’t want to be your friend. I want to be more.” The words rushed from him, unstoppable. What he felt for this girl was different than what he’d ever felt for anyone else. It was more intense, consuming.

Maybe he should have kept that information to himself, as he’d told himself earlier, at least for a little while. But because of Elijah’s death-vision, he knew his days were numbered.

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew…” Her eyes narrowed on him. “Do you have any idea of what I am, Aden? Of what my father is?”

“No.” And it didn’t matter. He had four souls trapped in his
head. Like he could really complain about someone else’s heritage, whatever it was.

Before he could blink, Victoria was once again in his face, pushing him backward until he slammed into a tree and lost his breath. He’d wanted her near him, but not like this. Not angry.

Her lips pulled back from her teeth, revealing sharp white fangs. “You would be running in terror if you knew.”

Those fangs…“But…you can’t be. You stood in sunlight. I saw you.”

“The older we are, the more the sunlight hurts us. The younger ones like me can stand in it for hours, unaffected.” There at the end, her voice rose. “Do you understand now? We use your people for food. Our mobile meals. Our blood on tap. And if we like that food enough, we drink again and again until that human becomes our blood-slave. But they never become our friends. To care for them is useless, for we will live on while they wither and die.”

He’d wondered what else was out there, and now he knew. “I can’t…I mean…A vampire.”

Suddenly, in his mind, one of Elijah’s visions opened up and he saw Victoria’s head against his shoulder, her teeth in his neck. He saw his knees buckle and his lifeless body fall to the ground. Saw her back away from him, mouth smeared with crimson, horror in her eyes.

He wanted to deny what he was seeing but couldn’t. He’d suspected Elijah’s ability was growing and this proved it. Victoria was here, real and in front of him. She’d led him into this forest, had touched his neck.

One day, Victoria would bite him. Drink from him. It wouldn’t kill him—someone’s knife would do that—but it
would
leave him helpless.

Could he stop it from happening? Did he
want
to stop it? Having Victoria in his life had somehow become almost as important to him as breathing.

The vision faded, and Aden blinked, his surroundings coming back into view. He was still in the forest, but Victoria was nowhere to be seen. With a sigh, he made his way back to the house, already knowing he wouldn’t sleep.

M
ARY
A
NN ARRIVED
at school an hour and a half early. Presently, she was the only one outside, the sun barely peeking through the clouds. Good thing. She was shaking, unkempt. All night she’d sat at her computer, researching werewolves and paranormal abilities, replaying what had happened in the woods through her mind.

Though she’d printed hundreds of pages, she had found nothing substantiated, both subjects treated as fiction. In that fiction, werewolves were able to shift from animal to man, but even then none were reported as having the ability to insert their voices into human minds. But she knew,
knew
, that wolf had spoken inside her head.

The ability to make a body disappear was known as teleporting, and she also knew Aden had vanished. Knew his body had gone through the wolf’s but hadn’t come out the other side. She hadn’t imagined it. Her terror had been too real, and the feel of the wolf was still burned on her hand.

Was the wolf okay? The question had plagued her all night long, which in turn caused guilt to eat away at her. She should care more about Aden. Was
he
okay? Where had he gone? Had he returned?
Could
he return? She’d looked up Dan Reeves’s number but it was unlisted, so she’d almost driven over there. The only thing that had stopped her was the thought of getting Aden in trouble. That, and the fear of voicing what had happened and being told she was delusional.

I’m not crazy
, she thought, pacing in front of the black double doors. She was going to confront Aden, demand answers.
If
he showed up. And if he denied his ability, she’d…what? Her shoulders sagged. She didn’t know what she’d do. Telling her dad—or any adult—would earn her a referral to one of her dad’s coworkers and perhaps medication. She’d known it in the forest, the first time the wolf had spoken to her, and she knew it now. Her friends would laugh at her, perhaps ostracize her.

A dark blue sedan eased into the parking lot, and Mr. White, the principal, emerged, briefcase in hand. He frowned when he saw her, his steps clipped as he approached. He was an older man with thinning hair and wrinkled features. His glasses were thick, as was his silver mustache.

“You’re here early,” he said.

She smiled; the action felt brittle. She’d always liked him because he’d always been kind to her, but she couldn’t feign her usual upbeat mood. “Just wanted to get away from my house to study for today’s chem test,” she lied.

His dark eyes filled with pride. “Want to come in? You can wait in the office.”

“No, thanks.” She’d stand out here all day if she had to, but she wasn’t moving from this spot until Aden arrived.
If
he arrived, she couldn’t help but add again. Knots formed in her stomach, twisting painfully. “The air out here helps me think.” When had she become such a fraud?

“Well, you’re welcome to come inside if you change your mind. I’ll leave the door unlocked.”

Alone again, she renewed her pacing. Her gaze continually strayed to the line of trees, looking for the wolf. She stomped her foot. No. Not the wolf. Aden. Looking for Aden.

An eternity passed before teachers began arriving. Finally, the students showed up. All but Aden.

Penny’s Mustang swung into the lot, the tires squealing a little. Her friend had no concept of speed laws and why they were important, which was ironic since she was usually late. Several people had to jump out of the way as Penny parked.

Today Penny wore a sapphire dress that matched her eyes. Eyes that were rimmed with red, Mary Ann noticed. Her pale hair was anchored in a ponytail, as though arranging it into the usual neat style would have taken too much energy. Her skin was pallid, her freckles stark.

Mary Ann met her halfway. “What’s wrong?” she asked, concern for her friend momentarily obliterating her worries about the wolf and Aden.

The question earned a strained laugh. “What’s wrong with me? Nothing. Tucker called me last night
and
this morning, wanting to know if I knew what was wrong with
you
. Said
you’d acted weird after school yesterday. Said he’d called you all evening, but you didn’t answer.”

Tucker was of no importance right now. Especially the new Tucker who hurt people’s feelings and threatened her friends. “Tucker’s just going to have to wait.” She looked past her friend, watching the trees for any sign of life.

Finally, she was rewarded. Shannon cut through, big and beautiful. The entire world seemed to slow down, her skin tightening over her bones. Aden might be close. And it wasn’t disappointment she was feeling, she assured herself. Seeing the wolf should be last on her list of priorities.

“I’ll call you later, okay?” Off she rushed, Penny’s sputtering ringing in her ears. Her backpack slapped against her, the books inside nearly crushing her spine. “Shannon!” she called.

He spotted her and his eyes widened, a startling green against the darkness of his skin. Once again, those eyes reminded her of the wolf’s. Her wolf.
Oh my God
. Could he be her wolf?

The closer she came, the more he tried to swoop around her. Which wasn’t like her wolf. Frowning, she jumped in front of him, blocking his path.

“Is Aden coming?”

His brows drew together. “W-why do you c-care?”

Her wolf hadn’t stuttered, either. But then, he also hadn’t been using his mouth. God, this was confusing. And weird! Picturing a human morphing into a wolf was not normal.

But was Shannon or wasn’t he?

“I just do,” she finally said. “Is he coming or not?”

“He’s b-behind me.”

He’d reappeared, then. That meant he was alive and well. Her relief was so great, her knees almost buckled. She was grinning as she said, “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Shannon didn’t respond, but he couldn’t hide the curiosity in his eyes as he finally maneuvered around her and headed into the school. Knowing Aden was out there made waiting that much harder, but she did it, stood there and waited until he came into view. When she saw him, her knees almost buckled again.

That same burning wind stabbed at her chest, there one moment, gone the next, and she would have sworn she’d been cut open, even though she knew otherwise. Before, that might have freaked her out and sent her racing away. Not this time. This time, she wanted answers. Aden was unlike anyone she’d ever met. His eyes changed color in the light, and he was able to disappear in a blink. How was any of that possible?

“Hello, Aden,” she said.

His step faltered when he noticed her. His expression became guarded, his gaze scanning the area behind her as if he expected someone to jump out and grab him. Someone like the wolf? Or an adult? She, too, glanced around. There was no other hint of life, the insects and birds strangely quiet.

“Mary Ann.” There was a bite to his tone he’d never used with her before. He stopped in front of her. “What are you doing here? With me, I mean.”

Whatever had happened to him, he hadn’t changed physically. He was just as tall, just as adorable with his black-dyed hair and swirling eyes. No cuts, no bruises.

“I want to know what happened yesterday,” she said.

He uttered a nervous laugh. “What do you mean? Someone’s dog escaped and scared you. I shooed it away and went home.”

Liar! “That’s not what happened, and you know it.”

“It is,” he insisted. “Your fear has just distorted your memory.”

No. No, no. He wasn’t going to convince her the entire thing had been a mind-trick brought on by the intensity of her emotions. She’d spent too much time replaying the scene through her head last night. Too much time wondering about that wolf.

“Tell me what happened, Aden. Please.”

For a moment, he didn’t speak. Then he sighed. “Just let it go, Mary Ann.”

“No! One thing you’ll learn about me, Aden. I’m stubborn to a fault. You’ll give me the answers I want or I’ll get them another way.” Not that she knew what that other way would be, but still.

“Fine.” His stare was penetrating as he gave her his full attention. “What do
you
think happened?”

Going to play that game, was he? Let her voice her version of events so he could tailor his own recounting to either fit or discredit hers. Her dad had used a similar technique on her many times, like the day he’d given her the sex talk.
Tell me what you know
, he’d said, and then blushed when she had.

“Look, I haven’t told anyone what I witnessed.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “And I won’t. It’s our secret, yours and mine. But you have to tell me what’s going on. I’m in the middle of something I’m completely clueless about, seeing
things I once thought were impossible.” She was babbling, she knew she was, but couldn’t stop. “I don’t know what to do or how to protect myself. Actually, I don’t know what I need to protect myself from or if I even need to be worried.”

His gaze flicked pointedly to the school. “Maybe now isn’t the best time to discuss this. We’ll be late to first period.”

“Let’s ditch.” She’d never uttered those words before and had never thought to do so. In fact, in the past, when she’d even considered them, she’d gotten sick. Now, all she wanted to do was talk to Aden. Nothing else mattered. “We can go to my house, my dad’s at work. We’ll have privacy for the rest of the day.”

For a moment, his expression was so tortured she had to glance at his nails to make sure pins hadn’t been shoved underneath them. “I can’t,” he said. “If I ditch a single day, I’m—okay, look, I have a confession to make. I do live at the D and M Ranch and if I ditch, I’ll be kicked out. I don’t want to be kicked out. Besides, this is my first day. My teachers are expecting me.”

A dejected breath left her. “Then we won’t ditch. But we
will
talk.”
Please, please, please
.

He nodded reluctantly. “Come on. Walk me to school. We’ll talk along the way. Just be careful what you say, okay? You never know who, or what, is lurking nearby.”

Though she wanted to stay right where she was to prevent their conversation from ending before she was ready, she pivoted and they ambled toward the school side by side. Thankfully, they had a while yet until they reached the masses blithely going about their day. As she once had, she thought.

“You don’t have to start at the beginning or anything like that. Just tell me
something
,” she pleaded.

There was a heavy pause. Another sigh. “What if I told you there was an entire world out there you had no idea existed? A world of—” he gulped “—vampires and werewolves, and people with unexplainable abilities?”

A whole new world, the wolf had told her. “I—I would believe you.” But she didn’t want to. She wanted to deny it. Despite everything she’d witnessed, despite the fact that he was saying exactly what she’d expected him to say, denial was her first instinct. The thought of bloodsuckers and shape-shifters was abhorrent. The people with unexplainable abilities she didn’t yet understand—but she would. She was determined.

“And what if I told you there was a boy who was somehow a magnet for those things, drawing them closer and closer to him? A boy with strange powers of his own?”

She licked her lips. “Can this boy disappear in the blink of an eye?”

He shook his head, a single jerky motion.

“But I saw—”

“Not disappear,” he said, stopping her. “You saw him possess someone else’s body.”

Dear God. Aden could possess other people’s bodies. Just step inside them as if they were an elevator and he needed a ride. She shuddered, fighting the urge to dart away so he couldn’t do such a thing to her.

He’d ground to a halt, she realized, no longer seeing him at her side. She whipped around. He was regarding her with
that tortured expression again, this one mixed with fear and dread. He
expected
her to run screaming from him.

She might have done so, had she continued to think about him possessing her. This was just so much to take in. Too much, probably, for a girl who had always relied on science to explain the unknown. He didn’t deserve that sort of treatment, though. He was giving her what she wanted, what she’d demanded. What he hadn’t—and clearly still didn’t—want to give.

He must live with a constant fear of discovery, afraid of what people would do to him if they knew. Such stress would have destroyed the bravest of men, and that he was standing there, unmoving, expectant, waiting, proved the depth of his strength. That he’d told her anything at all proved the depth of his friendship.

She softened her expression as she closed the distance between them. Beads of sweat glistened from his forehead, a testament to his nervousness.
I will not fear him. I will not fear him
, she mentally chanted. Without warning him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, giving him the hug she’d wanted to give him since the moment she’d seen him.

At first, he remained stiff, unyielding, then his own arms encircled her tentatively. They stayed like that for several minutes, lost in the moment. As he held her, any lingering qualms she’d harbored vanished. Yesterday he had protected her from the werewolf. He didn’t want to hurt her.

He was the one to pull away, as if he didn’t trust himself to continue. His expression was blank but his eyes…oh, his
eyes. They were brown this time. What did the change mean? She had so much to learn about him.

“So tell me. Is possessing bodies all this boy can do?” she asked softly.

Another shake of his head.

So there was more. Surprisingly, the fear did not return. “What else?”

He tangled his fingers through his hair, and a thick black lock tumbled to his forehead. “Mary Ann, what do you think the chances are that this make-believe boy who can do things others can’t has spent most of his life shuffled from one mental institution to another?”

Mental institutions? Poor, sweet Aden. She might be young, but she’d seen how intolerant people could be of those who were different. Look how Tucker had treated Shannon because of his stutter. And a stutter was nothing compared to what Aden could do!