“Did she drain the big guy?” Darius laughed.
“She waited until she had only one opponent left and she sucked up all his stamina.” Allie laughed. It was a brilliant strategy. “I like her style.” She was happy to see the girl win and she hoped she’d actually get the money and not have any repercussions for it later. But at the last second, Allie saw the small brand on the girl’s ankle. Like Jim, she seemed to be a slave working the Amrita crowd. Of course they would have planted one of their own as the winner so they’d never actually have to pay the money.
“Can we get out of here now? This place is giving me the skeevies.”
“We still have the party, Lex.”
Can’t we just sneak out?
We need to play by their rules. Pretend like we’re having the time of our lives and then we can go home.
As everyone drifted into the lobby—the place that had just held a slave auction for kids just like all of them—the atmosphere really began to change. The thump of music grabbed Allie’s attention and the lights dimmed. She could feel the pull of the party; even her blood seemed to respond to the atmosphere, like a drug.
Someone is trying to make sure we enjoy this, Aidan muttered.
Should we resist it?
I don’t think that’s a good idea. Aidan cast furtive glances at the others. It seemed like they didn’t have much choice but to give in to the mysterious influence. Let’s give in about forty-five percent. Maybe they won’t notice if we’re not as into it as everyone else.
Allie wasn’t in the mood for a party and she was having trouble going with the flow.
“Come on, Red, let’s dance. I bet I can get you to relax.” Aidan pulled her onto the dance floor.
The music was loud and the revelry was at an all-time high.
“All right, why not.” The last of her resolve cracked and she yielded to the night. Fifty-five percent of her was ashamed of herself for daring to have fun when Quinn was in such a precarious position. But forty-five percent of her was on cloud nine.
~~~
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
“You think they’ll be waiting on us at the marina or at home?” Allie asked as she slipped into the backseat of the nondescript car Aidan had left parked at Tower City mall earlier in the week. They needed to be very careful after leaving Amrita. To make sure they weren’t followed, they walked around the city, stopping for breakfast at a local cafe before they circled back to the car at Tower City. Allie was with Darius, Sasha, and Aidan; the others were with Naomi and Erin. They were going to meet back at the marina and head home together.
“They might not realize what we we’ve been up to,” Sasha said.
“They know,” Allie said. “It’s just a matter of how mad they are at this point.”
“Once we tell them what we discovered, they’ll have other matters on their mind. Dad’s probably not going to be in a listening mood, though.” Sasha looked worried. Now that it was over and they accomplished what they’d set out to do, it was time to face the music, and none of them were looking forward to it.
“I’ll probably take the brunt of it,” Darius said as he drove toward the marina at Edgewater Park. “I’m supposed to know better.”
When they arrived, Naomi and the others were already there. And so were Gregg, Daniel, Liam, and Greyson, Naomi’s father. None of them looked too pleased with their children—or in Allie’s case, it was her brother glaring daggers at her.
“Liam looks bigger when he’s mad,” Allie said nervously. “How does he do that?”
“Let’s just get this part done, guys,” Aidan said. “I’ll take as much responsibility for it as I can.”
They all stepped out of the car and into the silent morning. Naomi stood by her father with her head hanging low and her ears bright red in embarrassment. The others seemed to be on the boat already.
“Sasha, Darius, go with the others,” Gregg said softly.
“Naomi and I will be leaving now,” Greyson said. “I just wanted to make sure you all got here in one piece. I’ll sweep the area, Gregg. Make sure they weren’t followed.”
“We weren’t followed,” Naomi said.
“None of you are experienced enough to know what the hell you’re doing in a place like that, which is why I told you not to go! You want to be an adult, Naomi, then act like one. Make better decisions.”
For once, Allie identified with Naomi. She was just a kid like the others. She’d messed up and had to pay the consequences like the rest of them. Allie tried giving her a sympathetic look, but Naomi was as abrasive as ever, ignoring Allie’s gesture.
“Gregg, Daniel. I apologize for my daughter’s part in all of this. She is hot-headed, and far too spoiled. We will rethink her position at the school. If she can’t be trusted, then maybe she needs more training and less freedom. Like when she was the sixteen-year-old.”
Allie actually felt sorry for her. To be embarrassed like that in front of everyone was probably more than the high-spirited girl could take.
“To be fair, Greyson, she only came with Erin and Dean. I’m the one who brought the others and she tore me a new one for it,” Darius offered.
“Thanks, Dare,” Naomi mumbled before she darted to the car and slammed the door behind her.
“I will speak with you later,” Gregg said, pointing to the boat with a glare. Darius cast a glance at Allie and Aidan and joined Daniel and the others. Allie was surprised when the boat pulled away from the dock. Apparently, she and Aidan were in the most trouble.
Allie trembled nervously as she watched Gregg’s jaw tighten and flex. He was barely in control of his anger.
“Da, I’m sorry—” Aidan barely managed to get the words out before Gregg whirled around and slammed him up against the boathouse. His head made a crunching noise against the wall as the stucco cracked and fell to the ground.
“I don’t want to hear it, Aidan. Not this time.” Gregg gripped him by the collar, his face red with rage. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Aidan’s eyes blazed with fury and hurt. He’d never seen his father this angry.
“Not here, Gregg,” Liam said. “Let’s go.”
“Liam?” Allie whispered uncertainly.
“Do not speak to me yet, little one. I am too angry. Let's just go.” No one spoke as Liam guided the small racing boat out of the boathouse and headed for open water. The quarters were cramped inside and the tension was palpable. The yelling started once they were away from shore.
“How could you be stupid enough to risk going there?” Gregg finally asked.
“It’s supposed to be discreet,” Aidan said. “That’s supposed to be the main draw.”
“But it’s not, is it. You found that out, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” Allie nodded reluctantly. She wouldn’t let Aidan take all the blame for this. “It’s not his fault, Gregg. I have a mind of my own. I could have said no.”
“And why didn’t you?” Liam asked, not looking at her.
“We didn’t go there for fun,” she muttered.
“Aye, you went to stick your noses in things you’ve no business sticking your noses in. I know you kids want to help Quinn, but you have to trust us to take care of it. You think we weren’t capable of having people there tonight?”
“The bouncer, Da? You know as well as I do he had no hope of finding anything. The Amrita people are affiliated with that Livia woman. We know that for sure now,” Aidan said. “She has him. He’s not in some Coalition prison. If there was ever a chance to find out something you couldn’t possibly find out on your own, it was at Amrita last night. And none of your people could get in there like we did.”
Allie admired the way he stood up to his father, but she wasn’t so sure now was the right time.
“It wasn’t worth the risk, son.”
“Quinn’s not worth it? How can you say that?” Aidan gave his father a look of disgust.
“Our world is not ready for you two,�
� Gregg growled. “They might not ever be ready. You have the kind of power the rest of us can only dream of. And you’ve put that power on display to the wrong people.”
“We didn’t show all our cards, Gregg. We’re not that stupid,” Allie said.
The boat began to slow, but they were still miles away from Kelleys Island. She glanced at Liam and saw he was gripping the steering wheel so hard she was certain it would disintegrate at any moment.
Finally he turned toward her and was suddenly in her face, his icy blue eyes sparking with anger. “You are too important to risk, Allie.” He towered over her, trapping her between his long arms. Allie backed up, but there was no escaping his anger.
“I’m sorry, Liam,” she whispered, feeling the threat of tears choking her throat.
“There is nothing about you that wouldn’t attract attention, Allie. With that hair, your power, and with all of you there as a group, you call attention to yourselves. You all are so sheltered … you don’t know how intimidating and impressive you all are as a group. Don’t think for a moment that people won’t be talking about all of you. Especially the redheaded spitfire they saw tonight. Do you have any idea what that could mean? I don’t know how to protect you from that kind of attention, short of shaving your head so you’re not so recognizable. And don’t think I won’t do it.”
“We were careful Liam,” Aidan said. “I promise. People may talk about us, but no one will know who we are or where we live or—”
“You’re both unknowns,” Gregg said softly. “Or at least you were until tonight. That place was full of the most corrupt members of our government.”
“What do you mean we're both unknowns?” Aidan asked, looking stunned.
“We felt it was best to give Allie some time to adjust to this world before we registered her with the Senate. We didn’t want to risk them taking her away from her family. And when we adopted you … your mother and I decided to shield you for as long as we could. As far as the Senate knows, we do not have a son named Aidan. It’s one of the reasons I named you after my brother. Partly because you reminded me of him so much and partly because anyone hearing the name Aidan McBrien would think of Aide and not wonder about it.”
“Why did you never tell me?” Aidan whispered. “The accident last year. I should have been punished. But you said the Senate let me off with a warning.”
Aidan had made a huge mess of things when he decided to race a train one night simply because he was bored. Technically he died in the accident, long enough for the paramedics on the scene to take him to the morgue. Gregg had to move heaven and earth to get him out of that mess. He’d always wondered how he had been so lucky not to be called before the Senate. Now he knew.
“You’re so young, Aidan.” Gregg sighed.
“I’m not an infant, Da. I know you can’t see me as anything but a little boy, but I had a right to know!”
“What does this mean?” Allie dared to ask.
“Neither of you are registered with the Senate. To them, you do not exist. It’s a daring move, especially for Aidan, since we are so well known among the Senate. Even as a baby we knew he would be the strongest of his generation. By giving you obscurity, we bought you time, son. Time to grow up and become the man you’re destined to be—and I don’t mean the prophecy.” Gregg waved off Aidan’s rebuttal. “I wanted you to have the freedom to become the man you are in here.” Gregg thumped Aidan’s chest. “Not the man they would make you. If the Senate knew of your power, they would interfere in your training. They might even take you away from us on some pretense that you deserved the best training they could offer. I wouldn’t allow that, under any circumstance. So we kept you a secret. And we let you have the most normal life we could possibly give you.”
“Am I meant to live my whole life in secret?” Aidan asked softly, his eyes blazing with some combination of fury and love for his parents who took such a dangerous risk, just for him.
“No, we intended to deal with it after you reached your Proving.”
“Da, that could be a hundred years from now!”
“Not with you. You’ll reach your potential early. Both of you will. And once Proven you’ll have the strength and power to protect yourselves. To not be manipulated or used. Once Proven, you’ll both be able to fight for the right to live the lives you want to live. But now, if the wrong people saw you last night…. If word gets out about you two, people will talk and it’s only a matter of time before you’re found out. I know a few decades seems like a long time to hide, but it’s nothing compared to the rest of your lives.”
“If you trusted me. If you realized I’m capable of making good decisions, you would have told me long before now.” Aidan shook his head. “I never would have risked what we did last night if I’d known we were both unknowns. It never occurred to me that you wouldn’t have registered Allie by now, much less me.”
“Aye, I should have told you. I just didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to pull something like this.”
“Well, if we’re all done yelling now,” Allie said, “would you like to hear about how Quinn is up for sale like some trussed-up prized pig in an Immortal slave market?”
~~~
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
Once Allie and Aidan finished telling Gregg and Liam all they had discovered at Amrita, the adults ran with the intel and the kids were back in the dark, with a warning to never do anything like that again or they would all be grounded to the crypt for a decade. Allie didn’t know what the crypt was, but she was pretty sure she didn’t want to know.
Allie absently flipped through her art history notes spread across Aidan’s bed, prepping for her next exam. Aidan sat at his desk, studying for his music theory class. Sasha was holed up in her room, supposedly studying as well. The brief return of the old Sasha faded quickly after Amrita and she was back to isolating herself again. Aidan worried about her even more now, but Allie knew she would come to them when she was ready to talk.
“What do you want to do for your birthday, Lex?” Aidan sprang the question on her at least once a day now. She would be seventeen in a few days and she’d made it clear she did not want the traditional Immortal seventeenth birthday party. It was meant to be a unique celebration and a time to reflect on the past year and how far she had come since her Awakening a year ago, but Allie didn’t want to have a party her parents couldn’t attend. She really didn’t want a party at all. Really, she just wanted to ignore it as if it were any other day.
“I don’t want a party.”
“I didn’t say anything about a party. I asked you what you wanted to do.”
There was one thing she really wanted, but she wasn’t sure he’d go for it.
“I want a tattoo.”
Aidan nodded. “Okay, we can go see Erin. What did you have in mind?”
Allie pulled out her sketchbook, not sure if she should show him the full design or not.
“I’m going to see it eventually, Lex. Show me.”
Allie flipped through the pages and turned the book toward him.
“Allie, no.” He shook his head. “You don’t need to cover up your scar with this.”
“Read it.”
“Read what.” He frowned down at the intricate drawing of vines and flowers. He changed his attitude when he saw the lines of poetry she’d worked into the black and purple vines that would follow the path of her scars. It all spoke of positive body image and accepting her perceived imperfections as part of the unique and beautiful person she was, inside and out. It was a message to herself. She didn’t want to let the ugly scar affect her anymore, she was ready to embrace it as the badge of honor it was.
“Let’s go.” He shut his textbooks and shoved them into his bag.
“What, now?”
“Yes, now. If you’re going to get a tattoo, it needs to be spontaneous. Are you sure this is all you want for your birthday?”
“Yes.” She was actually really excited. Aidan’s cousin Er
in had a way with her creative gifts. Allie couldn’t go into just any tattoo studio. They would wonder why she kept healing so fast. But Erin could create the most amazing tattoos for Immortals. And she could change them or remove them at any time.
Erin’s school was only a short drive from the ferry dock at Edgewater Park. When they arrived at the row of townhouses, Erin was waiting out front for them.
“Will this hurt?” Allie asked. “I forgot to ask if it hurts.”
“Of course it hurts,” Erin said as if the suggestion that it might not would make her less of a tattoo artist.
“Great.”
“Now let me see your sketches for this mega-birthday tattoo.”
Allie followed her into the townhouse she shared with her brother, Dean, and decided to just let Erin do her thing. She was a pro at this and Allie trusted her to translate her designs just like she’d planned.
After much deliberation over the sketches, Erin was ready to roll.
“This is going to be fantastic. Boys, out.” She shooed Aidan and Dean from her small studio space on the first floor.
“What? I want to watch,” Aidan protested. “This is for her birthday. I thought I might get something new too.”
“You want him here when I tell you to take your clothes off?” Erin asked.
“Nope.” Allie laughed at Aidan’s look of disappointment.
“Seriously? How big is this thing? I though it was just along your scar.”
“And you haven’t seen my whole scar.” Allie gave him a shove in the direction of the door.
“Yeah, there’s going to be some side boobage involved in this design. Now get out of my studio,” Erin said.
Aidan’s eyes widened as he took another look at the swirly vines.
“I don’t think ‘boobage’ is a word, Erin.” He gave them a wink and went to play some sort of loud video game with Dean. Have fun, Lex. And happy birthday.
Thanks. But I'm blocking you, so no peeking.
I'm not that big of a tool, Lex. I can control the urge to peek. Most of the time.
Immortals of Indriell- The Collection Page 72