Twisted

THIRTY

MEMORIES FLOODED ADEN. None of them his own, all of them Julian’s, and all of them devastating. His name was Robert Smart. Yes, he’d had thinning hair and had worn glasses. Daniel had been the good-looking one, the strong one, the smart one, but he’d never been the beloved one, and so he’d always been jealous of Robert’s talent for the supernatural.

So Daniel had turned to spell books. Black magic, deeper and deeper into the occult, until finally delving into human sacrifice.

Robert’s sacrifice.

Normal people would not have known to go that route, but Daniel hadn’t been normal. His human parents had loved all things mystical, believing whole heartedly in psychics, Ouija boards and enchantment of any kind.

Maybe that’s why they had loved Robert so much more. Maybe that’s why Daniel had finally struck at him—fatally.

On the night of December twelfth, Daniel had called Robert and asked him to come to the hospital. Robert had gone because he’d wanted to talk some sense into his twin. But there had been no talking. Daniel had stabbed him over and over, trying to draw Robert’s ability into his own body as Robert lay dying.

Only, Robert had been absorbed by Aden—his past buried, his mind reborn—before his twin could succeed.

Something else Robert had done to defeat his brother during those final minutes alive? Over the years he’d learned to control his ability to raise the dead, and he’d raised the corpses in the morgue. Several had disposed of Robert, eating him completely, and the rest had killed Daniel before help arrived.

Before all of that, however, Daniel had cast a spell over Tonya to gain her eternal devotion.

“Uh, Aden,” Victoria said at the same time Julian said, I loved her, his tone sad, so sad and heavy with his memories, but she never loved me back. She loved him, and she paid for it. Too late she realized Daniel’s craziness and tried to leave him. That’s when he cursed her to love him always. All I wanted, there at the end, was to set her free. And I could have done it, if my own brother hadn’t betrayed me.

“Then we’ll set her free now,” Aden said. A wave of sadness moved through him. Doing this would set Julian free, as well. Smart-mouthed, fun-loving Julian, whom he adored. Whom he wanted to keep forever. Losing Eve had devastated him. Losing Julian would be even worse. Julian was like his brother, closer than blood.

“Aden?” Victoria tried again.

How, though? Julian asked. I need to know what spell Danny used, and I don’t know. I wasn’t there. That’s the real reason I went to the hospital. To see if I could trick him into telling me.

“Aden, please.”

What if you traveled back through her life? We could listen to the spell he cast.

“Aden!”

Wait, wait, wait, Elijah said before Aden could turn his attention to Victoria. He travels back, he looks through Tonya’s eyes, hears through her ears, and HE—WE—could become bespelled to love Daniel, too. I don’t think any of us want that.

And he, we, could not become bespelled. It’s worth the risk, Julian replied with a huff and a puff.

They always thought the risks Aden took on their behalves were worth it. For them, they were. For everyone else, no.

He didn’t go back for my witches, he’s not going back for your human, Caleb said.

He told us he’d do anything to help us, Julian snapped. Correct me if I’m wrong, but time traveling falls into the category of anything.

“Guys, please. There’s gotta be another way. How many times do I have to say this—traveling through the past is dangerous.”

“Aden!” Cool fingers shook him.

Aden forced the room back into focus. “Victoria, I—” The words died in his throat.

His father was sitting next to a too calm Tonya, a gun resting on his thigh, the barrel pointed at Aden. Immediately Aden jumped to his feet, in front of Victoria, acting as her shield. Junior belted out a snarl, responding to the spike of aggression in Aden’s veins.

The ward to control the beast suddenly seemed like a brilliant idea, damn the consequences.

Aden did a little deep breathing, keeping his blood pressure down and his head clear. Emotions were not going to engulf him. Not this time.

“How’d you find me?” he asked.

“Do you really think I’d ward you and not make one of them a tracker?”

Joe had always known where he was, he realized. His father had simply chosen not to seek him, until now. Don’t react. That’s what he wants.

“Now, if I was going to hurt your girl, I would have hurt her already.” Joe tapped at the trigger, light but threatening all the same. “Sit down.”

Aden sat, angling his body so that he remained Victoria’s shield. She trembled against him, her chilled breath shuddering over his neck.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“No reason to be.”

“He snuck in, and…” Another shudder raked her.

He reached back and squeezed her knee.

“I’d be still if I were you,” Joe said. “The slightest move makes me twitchy.”

Warning received.

Tonya hadn’t moved or spoken during the entire exchange. She wasn’t dead, but she wasn’t all there, either.

“I drugged her,” Joe explained, having noticed Aden’s attention on the woman. “One injection, and she’s out but still functioning. Guy learns to use what weapons he can when he’s always running for his life.”

The first wave of danger had passed. Clearly conversation was up next on the chopping board. “You sound bitter. As old as you are, you should get over yourself already. Some people have had harder lives.”

Junior kicked up a bit of a fuss, drowning out the arguing souls.

One sandy-colored brow arched. “Meaning you? You think you had a harder life than me, boy?”

Don’t you dare react. “Meaning you’re a baby. By the way, you should see what happened to the last guy who held a weapon on me. Oh, wait. You can’t. He’s dead.”

Joe placed his free hand over his heart. “My son, the killer. I’m so proud.”

First time Joe had ever willingly acknowledged their link. And to do it that way, full of piss and vinegar, well, that was a far more deadly weapon than the gun. “So you’ve never killed in self-defense, you—”

Reacting…

In and out he breathed.

Victoria linked their hands. Her trembling had intensified, though her expression was serene. Junior gave another roar. Much as Aden despised his…this man—no way he’d refer to the guy as his dad again—he didn’t want Joe to become a Happy Meal for his beast.

“By the way, your conversations with yourself are more interesting now than they were when you were three.” Joe’s gaze shifted to Victoria. “Do you know what his first word was? Lijah. His second was Ebb. His third, Jew-els. His forth, Kayb. Yes, he had a slight pronunciation problem.”

I was last? Caleb said. Thanks for the love, Hay-den.

Rather than getting caught up in a distracting conversation with the soul, Aden ignored him. There had been no affection to Joe’s words. Just straight-up facts. No question, Joe was determined to flay him alive and leave him bleeding to death internally.

Murder with words. Smart. You couldn’t be convicted for that.

Victoria tsked under her tongue. “You know, Joe—may I call you Joe?—Aden probably said the names of the souls first because they were better parents and friends to him than you had ever been or would ever be. Food for thought, don’t you think?”

Joe popped his jaw, and Aden squeezed Victoria’s knee, in warning this time, hoping to stop her from lashing out again. However sweetly she lashed out. Do not poke at the armed bear. Aden could, because well—fine, that wasn’t such a good idea, either. Not while Victoria was so vulnerable.

“Enough of that. Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Joe said. “Why do you want to travel back through this woman’s life?”

“I don’t.” But why not tell him the rest? Wasn’t like Aden had been doing anything wrong. “However, she was bespelled, and I need to break that spell. To break it, I need to know what spell was used.”

“You can’t tell?” Asked with the same intonation Joe might have used speaking to a special needs kid.

At least he hadn’t called Aden a liar. “You can?”

“Wait. You can time travel into people’s pasts, you’re apparently king of the vampires and wolves, and you can’t hear the echo of the spell cast? Can’t feel the vibe of its magic?”

Again with the special needs voice. “You can?” he repeated. “Wait. Don’t tell me. You have a ward for that, too.”

A shake of his blond head. “Practice.” Then, “Why do you care about this woman anyway? She’s nothing to you.”

“I don’t care.”

Hey, now, Julian snapped.

Joe frowned. “Then why—”

“I don’t,” he went on, “but one of the souls inside my head does.”

Okay, then. I can respect that.

“The souls. Of course. You always did love them best.” Joe turned to Tonya. “Be a dear and fetch me a pen and paper, darlin’. All right?”

“Yes, of course,” she said, slurring the words. “Pen and paper.” She stood and stumbled off, unconcerned, unwitting and in a lot of danger.

Victoria made a play to follow her, but Joe shook the gun “no-no” as if he were shaking his head, and she remained in place. “Aren’t you afraid she’ll run?”

“No,” was all the man said. “The drug opens her mind to suggestion. She’ll do only what she’s told.”

Perhaps not the wisest thing to admit.

Victoria studied him for a moment. “You know, you’re worse than my father, and I didn’t think that was possible. He used to whip me with a cat-o’-nine-tails, you know. Just for fun.”

“Yeah, and who’s your father, honey?”

Aden squeezed her knee in another bid for silence. Much as Joe hated the creatures of the otherworld, he might try and punish Victoria for her origins or even the sins of others.

Joe offered him a small smile, content to let the mystery of her pass. “You picked a damaged girl with daddy issues. I guess we’re more alike than I ever thought possible.”

What was he saying? That Aden’s mother was damaged? That she, too, had daddy issues? So badly he wanted to ask. Despite everything, he was hungry for information about his mother.

The few times he’d allowed himself to think about her, he’d wondered what she looked like, if she’d been as eager to give him away as Joe had been, or if she’d wanted to keep him. Where was she now? What was she doing?

Was she the woman Riley and Mary Ann had seen with Joe that day in his truck?

“Don’t ask,” Joe said stiffly, sensing the direction of his thoughts.

He opened his mouth to do just that, but Tonya returned with the commanded paper and pen and handed them to Joe before reclaiming her seat beside him. Joe balanced the notepad on his thigh and began writing, his other hand never leaving the gun. When he finished he tore off the paper and slapped it against the coffee table.

His gaze met Aden’s, familiar and once again blank. “Now you can’t say I’ve never helped you.”

Do NOT react.

He couldn’t stop his heart from pounding in surprise or Junior’s consequent slamming against his skull. He slanted his head to the side, motioning to the paper. “What’s that?”

“Ms. Smart’s ticket to free will.”

Truth or lie? Either way, “Father of the Year award, meet Joe Stone. Or not.”

Frowning, Joe leaned into the human. “Tonya, you’re going to be a good girl, sit still and listen to Aden. You’re going to do what he says, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I will do what he says.”

Those eyes lasered into Aden. “Spells are unbreakable unless the caster leaves himself a safe word, I guess is the best way to describe it. I can hear the spell this Daniel person cast inside my head, and he absolutely left himself a way out. Probably in case he stopped loving her and wanted to be rid of her. Or punish her. Or hurt her. There’s always a reason, but those I can’t interpret. Anyway, the words on the paper are her way out.”

He would not thank the man. Too little, too late.

“Don’t try to find me, Aden, and don’t try to find your mother. I’m sure your friends told you about the toys they found in the house. Yes, you have a little sister. No, you cannot see her. She’s not like you, and you’ll only bring her pain and suffering.”

Yeah, they’d told him about the girl, but hearing the words—little sister—and once again realizing he’d never get to see her, hold her, beat up the boys who hurt her feelings, well, Aden hadn’t cried the two times he’d been stabbed, but he wanted to cry now.

“That’s why I’m here,” Joe went on, uncaring of the injuries he inflicted. “To tell you nothing good will ever come of your search for them.”

Bang, bang. Junior, against his skull,

Easy. Easy now.

“You didn’t kill me, and I didn’t kill you,” Joe said. “Let’s leave it at that and parts ways. Forever.”

“At least give him a picture of his mother, his sister,” Victoria said, sympathetic to Aden in a way only she could be.

“No. Cutting all ties is best. Believe me.” With that, Joe stood and strode from the living room. Though he did pause in the arched doorway for several heartbeats, as if he had something more to say, but in the end, he didn’t. He left, the front door slamming shut behind him.

How could Joe do that to him? Let him go like that? Again. The most disturbing question of all, though—what would life have been like if Joe had actually loved him and kept him around? If Joe had trained him?

Junior nearly busted his eardrums with his next screech.

Calm, steady.

Tonya remained in her seat, unaffected.

Victoria threw her arms around him, settled herself in his lap and hugged him tight. “I’m so sorry. He doesn’t deserve you.”

Words she’d probably said to herself—or Riley had said to her—after her own father had broken her heart. Aden held her, letting her comfort him as only she was able, breathing her in, loving her scent, his mouth watering for a taste, not letting himself have a taste or think about tasting, not letting himself bite her but simply luxuriating in what she offered. Finally he calmed the rest of the way, and so did Junior.

Aden, please, Julian was saying.

Julian. His friend. Whom he would help, no matter the destruction to himself. He kissed Victoria on the temple, settled her on the couch, grabbed the paper, read it and stood. As he closed the distance between himself and Tonya, his hand fisted, crinkling the words. This was supposed to work?

He crouched in front of her. “Look at me, Tonya.”

She obeyed without hesitation.

Will this work? Julian asked. This has to work.

Aden wasn’t sure what his father had proposed, something so simple, so easy a freaking caveman could do it—too much TV?—would do anything more than embarrass him, but he said, “Tonya Smart, your heart is your own. Your soul is your own. Love may whither, love may die, but your truth will set you free.”

She blinked down at him.

Why hasn’t anything happened? Julian again.

“She’s still drugged,” Victoria said. “Maybe that’s preventing her from showing a reaction.”

“Fight your way from the drug’s influence,” Aden said, and just as before, she obeyed. Not because she’d been told to obey him, but because he’d used his vampire voice.

Her gaze cleared of that glassy sheen, revealing the shadows churning so violently behind them. A scream ripped from her, her entire body bowing, shaking her chair, then hunching over. She shook, she moaned, she writhed, her fingers gnarling.

Aden backed away from her, unsure how to help her.

Make it stop, Julian begged.

“I can’t.” All he could do was watch, horrified, as those shadows seeped through her pores, rising from her, enveloping her in a dark mist and screams, so many screams, echoing through the room.

Her screams? The ones she’d trapped inside herself, every time the spell forced her to do something against her will?

Aden returned to Victoria—and the movement must have scared the shadows or something, because they shot up and out, disappearing through the ceiling. Leaving silence, such heavy silence.

Tonya sagged against her seat, slid to the floor and lay there panting. She was drenched with sweat, tears pouring down her cheeks, her skin flushed a deep red. “I…he…oh, dear Lord!” Sobs racked her entire body as she curled into herself.

Victoria slipped forward and reached out. Tonya caught the motion from the corner of her eye and reared backward.

“Don’t touch me! Get out! Get out of my house! I hate you. I hate you all. I hate him. Hate, hate, hate.” The sobs intensified, nearly choking her.

“Julian…Robert,” Aden said. “Is there anything you want me to tell her?”

A pause. Then, No. She wouldn’t listen now, and besides, I don’t know what I’d say. I don’t love her as I once did, I just couldn’t let her rot in the prison Daniel had built for her. She’s free, Julian said. She’s really free, and that’s all that matters.

With every word, his voice had become softer, quieter.

He was leaving, Aden realized, fighting a cry of his own. Just like that, without any other warning. Don’t go. I’m not ready. He held the words inside himself. No reason to burden Julian with them. “How—how much time do you have left?”

Not long. A whisper now.

Victoria linked their fingers. “Aden?”

“Come on.” He was shaking as he led her out of the house. He could have teleported them, but he was too emotionally messed up and wasn’t sure where they’d land.

Cold air blustered around him, a storm clearly brewing. The sky was gray, the clouds bulky. The scenery fit his mood perfectly. He got them to a thick crop of trees before he dropped to his knees. “Julian?”

Still here. And I want you to know… I love you, Aden. Weaker still.

“I love you, too.” So much.

Thank you for everything. You were a great host, and I will never forget you.

Once again he wanted to shout, Don’t go, but he didn’t. He’d just lost Joe—not that he wanted to be a part of Joe’s life—but to lose Julian, too? Here and now, like this? His eyes were like twin coals just pulled from a fire.

“You were a great friend to me.”

Julian, Elijah said, sad and happy all at once. Aden understood. He was sad for himself but happy for his friend. We will never forget you, either.

Dude, Caleb said. I knew you were the one with the comb-over.

Julian laughed. I love you, guys. Even when you were being a pain in my ass.

Caleb was the one to laugh this time. You might want to rephrase that. You don’t have an ass.

“I’m going to miss you,” Aden said softly. His chin trembled so violently, he barely got the words out.

Would it be gay if we attempted a four-way hug? Julian asked.

Yes, Caleb answered. How about a mental slap on the back, instead?

Another laugh, this one so weak Aden had to strain to hear it. Yep, even when you’re a pain.

“Just…if you see her, tell Eve we said hi.”

I will.

I bet she’s a babe, Caleb said, his amusement gone. Like everyone else, he was fighting with his emotions.

Julian snorted. I can’t believe this is goodbye for us. Can’t believe I’ll never see you again. Never hear Caleb being perverted, or Elijah bringing down the party or you Aden, the most honorable, loving person I’ve ever met, finding his way into the light. I’m no psychic, but great things are in store for you, my friend. I know it.

The burning migrated to his cheeks, a wet tide, unstoppable. “We’ll see each other again.” Believing otherwise would kill him.

I love you so much, Julian said again, and then, just like that, he was gone. Aden felt the absence of him all the way to his bones.

Another goodbye he hadn’t been prepared for.

He remained just as he was and let the tears flow. Victoria wound her arm around him and cried with him. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed.

When they both quieted, she whispered, “Let’s find Riley and Mary Ann and go home, Aden.”

“Yes. Home.”