Unraveled

SEVENTEEN

TWO VOICES CALLED TO ADEN. Both female. Both alarmed.

“Try something else.”

“Like what? I’ve tried everything! Screaming at him, shaking him, slapping him.”

“He’s inside that body. Get. Him. Out!”

“What do you want me to do? Reach inside his chest?”

“Yes!”

“You are such a pain! How does Aden stand you? But fine, I’ll do it. I’ll try.”

One second Aden was inside Shannon’s body, drifting through his friend’s mind and memories, reliving a past as painful and lonely as his own, and the next he was standing beside Mary Ann, his hand resting in hers.

She was panting, sheened with perspiration, gaze glazed with shock and fatigue. “Did you see that?” she gasped out. “Did you? I can’t believe I just did that. Tell me you saw that!”

“What happened?” he croaked. God, he ached. Every inch of him ached as if he’d been in a hit-and-run—hit with a baseball bat and run over by a truck.

Victoria moved to his other side, her mouth hanging open with an equal measure of shock. “You’re okay. You’re going to be okay now.”

Was she trying to convince him? Or herself? “What happened?” he asked again.

“She—she reached inside. Jerked you out. You were like a ghost at first, not truly solid, then you were here. I’ve—I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Any collateral damage? Aden took stock. His knee hurt the most, and he was shaking, but he wasn’t puking and wasn’t paralyzed. The poison had passed through him. Thank God. He almost collapsed in relief.

Elijah, Caleb and Julian were no longer moaning, babbling and incoherent. They were quiet. There, Aden could tell, but quiet, as if they were exhausted from their ordeal and needed rest.

Despite Mary Ann’s nearness, Mr. Thomas was also present. A mere outline of himself, but Aden could still see him. He sat at the desk, arms folded over his middle, expression mulish. He couldn’t hide the interest in his eyes, though. He was watching and cataloging every detail.

Odd. Riley wasn’t here. Mary Ann should have muted all of Aden’s abilities completely. Why hadn’t she?

“Uh, A-Aden.” Shannon slowly sat up and looked around the bedroom. He scrubbed his face with trembling fingers. “W-what just happened? I was standing in f-front of you. Wasn’t I? How’d I g-get on the bed?”

He didn’t know that Aden had been inside his mind, then. Thank God for that, too. “You passed out.” It was the only thing his fogged brain could come up with so spur of the moment.

“P-passed out? Why?” Shannon looked at the clock and shook his head, rubbed his eyes. “It’s n-nine-fifteen. How is it nine-fifteen? I tried to wake you up at six-thirty. I should be at school. C-crap! I’m late. D-Dan’s gonna freak. He—”

“He thinks you’re sick.” Aden remembered Dan’s visit, and what he’d said. “And you were. For a little while.”

Shannon calmed, focused on the girls and frowned. “What are you guys d-doing here? And when did you get here? God, this is w-weird. I’ve never passed out before. Never lost t-time like that.”

“Shannon,” Victoria said, her voice suddenly thick, layered…powerful.

The voice. Aden reached out and grabbed her wrist. When she focused on him, he shook his head. “Don’t do it.” Shannon had felt defenseless and out of control all his life, and Aden wouldn’t add to that—whether his friend realized what was going on or not.

Though she was clearly confused, Victoria nodded.

“Shannon, do you feel up to going to school?” Aden asked.

“Yeah. I—I feel fine. Except for that loss of time.”

“You can still make it, if you want.”

One dark brow rose. “You going?”

Aden shook his head. “Yeah, but not just yet.” At this rate, he wasn’t going to get any kind of education anytime soon. “I’m still not feeling one hundred percent.”

“O-okay. I dig.” His friend’s head tilted to the side. “But maybe o-one day, you’ll trust me with your s-secrets. See you later,” he added before Aden could reply. Motions slow, Shannon stood, bent down and grabbed his backpack, then headed out of the room, out of the bunkhouse, the door beating shut behind him.

So. Shannon suspected something was going on.

Worry about that later. Aden glanced down at himself. He wore boxers and sweat, and that was it. His knee was caked with dried blood, the skin still shredded. His skin was pale with a grayish tint. Nice. “Can you guys stay while I shower?”

“Of course,” Victoria said.

“Yeah,” Mary Ann agreed. She was peering at her hands, turning them in the light. “But will you tell us a little about what happened first? Just a small detail to tide us over before we grill you.”

“I…time-traveled through Shannon’s past.” Aden gathered some clothes—a plain gray T-shirt and jeans.

“That was Eve’s ability,” Victoria said, “not yours.”

“I know. Maybe, I don’t know, maybe when she left, her ability somehow stayed with me. Or maybe she gave it to me, even. A final gift in case I ever needed to right a wrong.”

“Or maybe you time-traveled so much, your body simply learned how to do it without her,” Mary Ann said. “You’ve heard about muscle memory, right? When a movement is repeated over and over again, a long-term muscle memory is created for that specific task and soon a person can perform that task without any conscious effort.”

That made sense—as much as anything in his life did these days. “You, Mary Ann, are a genius.”

She grinned. “I know.”

He rushed to the bathroom, where he hurriedly washed and dressed. By the time he returned to his room, Riley was there, sitting on the edge of the bed, stiff, obviously uncomfortable. Mary Ann stood as far away from him as possible, leaning against the closet door and looking anywhere but him. Clearly, whatever had plagued them yesterday had yet to be resolved.

Only thing they could be fighting about was that defense lesson. Was Riley still throwing a tantrum? Baby.

Victoria sat at the desk, composed again. Thomas had moved to the window, no longer an outline but as clear and sparkly as always.

“Oh, good. You’re back. I found this.” Victoria handed him a sheet of paper. “It’s for you, from Dan. Don’t worry. He had no idea we were here. I made sure of it.”

He peered down and read.

Aden,

You have another session with Dr. Hennessy this evening. Sorry for the late notice. He only called me this morning. I thought you were sick, so I told him no. Then I ran into Shannon, who was better and on his way to class. He reminded me you were better, too, and already there, so I called the doctor back. Glad you’re feeling better. I’ll expect you to do your chores after school. On another note, I’ve hired a new tutor, and she’s coming to dinner tonight to meet you boys. It’ll be after your therapy session, so no worries. Even though she won’t be teaching you, I’d like you to be there to help welcome her.

Dan

Great. More Dr. Hennessy. And another tutor? Aden flicked Thomas a glance. Would the next tutor be a fairy, too? Even the harbinger of death that Thomas had promised? He’d find out tonight, he supposed. Aden crumpled the paper and tossed the wad in the trash can.

“So what happened to you?” Mary Ann asked, and he knew what she meant. “All the details this time.”

“Once upon a time, a goblin took a bite out of my leg…” He told them everything but what he’d learned about Shannon’s past. That was Shannon’s secret to share. He no longer cared about Thomas getting an earful. Wasn’t like the guy could do anything with what he learned.

“I’m sorry I didn’t protect you, my king,” Riley said, standing and bowing his head. “I take full responsibility for your ordeal.”

“I’m not your king.” The denial slipped from him automatically. “And the responsibility lies with me.”

“Thank you for the exoneration, my king.” Such a stiff, formal, irritating tone. “I can promise you nothing like this will happen again.”

Aden rolled his eyes. “You’re such a jerk, Riley.”

Victoria wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his shoulder, her body hot as fire. “You’ve been injured too much lately. No wonder Elijah thinks you’re going to die soon.”

“What?” The single word exploded from Riley’s mouth.

“Oops,” Victoria said with a grimace. “Sorry.”

“Looks like I’ve got another non-fairy-tale to weave.” Sighing, Aden explained about Elijah’s prediction. That soon Aden would die on a darkened street, a knife in his heart. Though he tried, he couldn’t keep the fear from his voice.

“Oh, Aden,” Mary Ann said, tears in her eyes. “I already knew, but still. It’s—”

“You knew? You knew and you didn’t tell me? Thanks for keeping me updated, sweetheart.” Riley practically vibrated with sardonic rage.

“First, I only found out the other day. And second, we had other things on our minds,” she snapped. “I planned to tell you after this week from hell was over.”

The wolf accepted the explanation with a stiff nod. “You won’t be hurt on my watch, that I swear.”

“Thank you.” Later, Aden would tell him that nothing could be done—and yeah, he’d once planned to try something himself, still planned to try something himself, really, but he didn’t want to get the wolf’s hopes up. Later, though. Always later. As Mary Ann had said, they had enough to worry about during this week from hell. “So what’s the plan for today?” he said, changing the subject. He walked Victoria to the bed, sat down and pulled her down on his lap. After everything he’d just endured, he wasn’t ready to let her go. Thankfully, she cuddled close, unconcerned by their audience.

“We go to school,” Riley said, still fighting his emotions. “My brothers are currently letting every creature in town know we have a witch in our custody. Which means the fireworks should start tonight. Use today to catch up in all your classes. Tomorrow you might be too…sore.”

In other words, there was going to be a fight. Great. Worse, there was nothing else they could do right now. Except wait. And hope. And pray.

THROUGHOUT THE DAY, Aden expected a witch to jump out of every shadow and ambush him. Or if not a witch, then something, anything. A rabid gnome, maybe, or a vampire with a complaint. Even a fairy making a play for his head.

Instead, he arrived at school in time for lunch, ate, attended his next three classes, and boom, that was it. Class dismissed, time to go home. Nothing happened.

Aden was almost disappointed in the lack of combat. Just two more days until the death curse affected his friends. Two was too close for comfort. A year was too close. He had to do something.

Victoria walked him home and left him at the ranch, as silent and distracted as he was. In his room, he found another note from Dan, telling him not to forget to do his chores or his therapy. Like he could. Aden headed to the barn to muck the stables and feed the horses. He loved the horses and hated that he hadn’t spent much time with them this past week. Sometimes, as a special treat for good behavior, Dan let him and the others go for a ride.

The souls loved the horses, too, and cooed at the beautiful animals while Aden worked. And yeah, it felt weird doing normal things. Acting normal, the other boys working alongside him. Redheaded RJ, punked-out Seth. Shannon, Ryder, Terry and Brian. RJ was due to turn eighteen next week, and Terry soon after that. Aden had heard them talking about getting a place of their own. Dan had asked them both to stay, to continue their studies, but the two were determined to get their GEDs and be “free.”

What was freedom, really? Once, Aden had thought he knew the answer: to be alone, without the souls, to be able to do anything he wanted, damn the consequences. Now he had friends, a girlfriend, and everything he did affected them. Consequences mattered.

No one could ever truly be free as long as they loved, and life wasn’t worth living without love. So freedom? Overrated. He’d much rather have Victoria, Mary Ann and Riley, even the souls.

So how are you going to save them from the witches? The thought was his own, the souls still baby-talking at the horses—and maybe the horses could hear them, because they were calmer than usual, even with all the activity in the barn—and he wished he could blank his mind. He couldn’t.

Aden sighed. Once issued, spells took on a life of their own, he knew. So he couldn’t stop the magic that had already been unleashed, even by threatening the witch they had locked up.

Hell, maybe they should release her as a gesture of goodwill. Riley would throw a fit, of course, but he would do what Aden told him to do. Aden was vampire king, after all.

Yes. King. The title was his and— Aden shook his head, disrupting that line of thought. He wasn’t king, didn’t want to be king. The end.

When the barn was clean, the other boys trudged inside the bunkhouse to shower, change and prepare for dinner with the new tutor. Seth lagged behind, calling over his shoulder, “Yo, Ad. You coming or what?”

Never ceased to amaze him, how different things now were. Only a few weeks ago, this boy had treated him like a leper. “In a minute,” he returned. There was only one shower stall, so there’d be a wait. He’d rather spend the time out here. Besides, he kind of liked the thought of going to therapy covered in horse shit.

Seth paused. He braced his arms against the sides of the barn door, keeping his back to Aden. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” he said, dread leaking into his voice. He pushed his rake into the ground and leaned against the long, thin handle. “Ask.”

“I heard Shannon tell Ryder that you’ve got girls coming into your room at all hours of the night.”

Okay. Not too terrible a topic. “Only two girls, and yes.”

Seth swung around, one corner of his lip curved up. “You dating both?”

“Just one, but the other is taken, too.” And Riley will gut you if you go near her.

“Oh.” Seth’s shoulders sagged. “Maybe you could invite others and, I don’t know, introduce us?”

Aden almost grinned. “Next week, maybe.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I know a girl. Stephanie. Very pretty. And she has four friends who I’m sure are pretty, too.” No better way to get rid of his unwanted dates than to foist them off on other guys. “I haven’t met them yet, but I know you’ll love them.”

“That’d be great.” Seth tossed him a parting grin and loped off.

“Finally. We are alone,” a female voice said from behind him.

Aden whipped around as one of the horses whinnied. An unfamiliar girl stood at the end of the barn. She wore a red tank top and a pair of black jeans that molded to her legs. Girls at Crossroads High wore similar attire every day, but on her it looked odd, out of place and uncomfortable.

He studied the rest of her. She had shoulder-length brown hair and dark eyes that slanted up at the corners. Her skin was pale, and she was smiling. That smile wasn’t a happy one. Two sharp fangs poked into her bottom lip, revealing the predator she was.

Please tell me this is your next date, Caleb said, finally deigning to speak to Aden.

His next date? Aden tried not to groan.

She appeared older than Victoria by at least ten years, but he supposed that made her young by vampire standards. Vampires aged much, much slower than humans, and the older the vampire, the less their skin could tolerate the bright rays of the sun without blistering. Victoria was “only” eighty-something—that still made him chuckle, since he’d once teased her about being his grandma Vicky—and she could still roam freely.

“I see you’re looking at my clothes. Stephanie told us colors were now acceptable, and that you actually preferred them. What do you think?” This new vampire twirled, dark gaze remaining on him as long as possible.

“You look beautiful,” he said, which was true. She did. She just wasn’t his type.

“What’s your name?”

“Draven.”

An unusual and pretty name. “I’m Aden Stone.”

“I know.” She moved toward him. Floated, really, so graceful were her movements. As she passed, the horses bucked, but she paid them no heed. “We’ve met. You do not remember?” A pout curved her bright red lips. “I was there the night you met each of my—your people. You told me you were so happy to make my acquaintance.”

Oops. “Uh, now I remember,” he lied. Too many faces, too many names. No one stood out. And really, he’d said the same thing to everyone.

Tell her she’s hot and you could never forget someone like her, Caleb instructed.

We aren’t prowling for babes, Julian admonished. We do have a girlfriend.

Actually, I have a girlfriend, Aden thought, but they couldn’t hear him.

“I’m here because every king requires a queen, and you are in need of one. And I’ll be honest. I resisted the thought of being bound to a human at first, but I now think we would be a perfect fit.” Her voice dipped huskily, her gaze on the pulse at the base of his neck. “I still feel the pull of you, and I find it…delicious.”

He liked when Victoria told him that. Draven? Not so much.

Lucky, Caleb said. She’s hot and she wants you.

“Actually—”

Draven reached him and traced a white-hot fingertip along his jawline. “You will discover that I’m much better suited for you than Victoria. I,” she added, leaning all the way into him and sniffing, “will do anything you ask. Anything.”

He wasn’t dumb. He knew what she was implying, and so did the souls.

I’ll take her! Caleb said.

You’ll also get us stabbed and killed sooner rather than later, Elijah grumbled. She’s power-hungry. A man-eater.

Even better.

Dude. Julian tsked. Were you a pervert in your other life? Like I already said, we’ve got Victoria. We don’t need this one harshing our mellow. Do you remember those trees Victoria battered? We flirt with this girl, and that’ll be our head.

We? Aden had Victoria, and they needed to start remembering that. “That’s sweet of you to offer,” he told Draven, then coughed again. So uncomfortable. “To do anything, I mean, but, uh, nothing like that will be necessary.”

I think I hate you right now, Caleb grumbled.

You should be thanking him, Elijah said with a sigh.

Draven’s eyes narrowed, her lashes fusing together. “Well, if you change your mind…the offer has no time limit. Now, what shall we do for our date, hmm?” Hot breath trekked over his face, and he stepped back. “I know humans enjoy having dinner together. We could eat.” Her attention returned to his pulse and she laughed. “Or I could.”

“I’d prefer not to be the main course, thanks. Or dessert,” he added before she could.

She shrugged a delicate shoulder. “Then let’s get to know each other better.” The words were purred. “That’s why I’m here, after all.”

She couldn’t be more obvious. Elijah’s disgust was clear. She wants to be queen, nothing more. If you marry her, you’ll be in pieces by the time she’s finished with you.

“Yeah, I kind of figured that out on my own,” he muttered. First, Aden wasn’t marrying anyone. Not even Victoria. Not yet. He was only sixteen. Well, almost seventeen. Second…he realized he didn’t have a second point.

“Figured what out?” Draven asked, brows furrowed in confusion.

He had that effect on everyone. “Oh, uh. Nothing. Listen.” He backed up a few more steps, placing himself out of striking distance. “For our date, we can sit there, in the hay—” he pointed to one of the empty stalls “—and talk about any laws you’d like to see changed.” Easy. Innocent.

The grind of her teeth echoed from the wooden walls. “Sitting in hay and talking about laws isn’t romantic.”

“I never promised romance.” God, he wanted this to end. Did Victoria know Draven was here? If so, was she currently bottling her feelings? Part of him certainly hoped so. Unbottling her was fun.

“You studied the stars with Stephanie.” Irritation radiated from Draven. “When she met with your councilmen, she extolled the virtues of such a pastime. Now, I would like to study the stars.”

The candidates really were reporting their “dates” with him. Talk about embarrassing! “Sky’s clear right now. If you want to look at the stars, you’ll have to come back tonight,” he said, knowing full well he wouldn’t be available. First, therapy. Then dinner. Then he’d be in town with his friends, hunting. “You aren’t allowed to drink from any of the humans here, though, and that’s an…order. From your king.”

Embracing the role of sovereign? Elijah asked.

No. Yes. Crap. Desperate times and all that. He’d only said what was necessary.

Draven popped her jaw, even as she bowed her head in acknowledgment of his command. “I will not harm your friends, Majesty. You have my word.”

“Thank you.”

“However, I cannot visit tonight. You may not know this, but guards are posted around our home at all times. We all take turns protecting what’s ours. Tonight, from midnight until six, I must patrol the grounds. Unless you relieve me of my duties…” She reached out and drew a fingertip across his collarbone. She was close enough to touch again, yet he’d never seen her move.

He had to arch his back to avoid further contact. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. That wouldn’t be fair to the others.” Impartiality, yeah, that’s what he was all about.

Her hand fell heavily to her side. “Very well,” she said stiffly. “We will postpone our date, then.”

Not if he could help it. “Great. Can’t wait.” Except that I can. Forever.

“Until then.” Draven turned and floated from the barn, leaving him alone with a sudden sense of doom.