Infinity Chronicles Book Four: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Series

by Albany Walker

  “Ollie said we have plans tonight?” I stand back and let my butt hit the counter.

  “We do. We need to get your mother talking, and I need to know where Leon is. I’m hoping she’ll let me look through her memories. I don’t want to force her.” Ares drags a container out of the fridge and flips open the lid. His lip lifts in a sneer before he sets it back on the shelf.

  “I don’t want you to force her either.” I wrap my arms over my chest and watch him close the fridge.

  “Hopefully, I won’t need to.” He looks over his shoulder at me, not hiding the fact that he will do whatever he thinks necessary to ensure the outcome he wants.

  “I’ll talk to her,” I promise.

  “Good,” is his only response.

  A loud noise kicks to life downstairs. Ollie rolls his head back on his shoulders. “Great, now he knows you’re awake. Here come the power tools.”

  “Better get used to it.” Dante lays a hand on Ollie shoulder. “The renovations are just getting started.” Another groan of disapproval from Ollie.

  “We want to go to the grocery store,” he announces to Ares. “Laura said she was going to start smacking people if she didn’t get eggs and bacon.”

  “I did not,” I admonish. “I said I would smack someone for some eggs and bacon,” I amend, realizing it doesn’t sound any better.

  “Let’s keep the maiming to a minimum, shall we?” Ares drawls like he’s talking to wayward children. “Should we make a list?”

  “Are you sure you’re not too busy? I don’t want to keep pulling you away from work.” I reach for a bag of beef jerky one of the guys picked up from the gas station the other day.

  “Nothing pressing.” Ares grasps the bag after I take out a small chunk, and he brings it up to his nose and takes a whiff. “Are you sure this is still good?”

  I roll my eyes. Beef jerky is its own food group. “It’s fine,” I assure him.

  “It says refrigerate after opening.” He examines the words on the bag.

  “Ares, it’s fine. I used to eat it all the time. I never put mine in the fridge.” I gnaw off a bit of my piece, and he watches me chew before taking out a small piece of his own.

  “I’m trusting you,” Ares warns me before taking a small bite.

  “We’ll need to go to Walmart or Target, someplace we can pick up a few cooking essentials.” I look around the empty kitchen, noticing we don’t even have a pan to cook eggs in, let alone a toaster. “We’re going to need a list,” I confirm, tearing off another piece of meat.

  Chapter 6

  Milo grabs the back of my seat and pulls himself forward. “I could use a few more things from the hardware store.”

  “So, apparently this is a full day of shopping,” Ares complains, and groans his disapproval.

  “I can always run out and grab it later, I just thought since we were already out we might as well,” Milo reasons.

  “No, it’s fine.” Ares flips on the blinker to make a right turn. I reach over and lay my hand on his thigh. I’m relieved he agreed so easily. I’d rather we all stay together. “We’ll go there first, that way you won’t need to rush because we have groceries waiting in the car.”

  We pull into the parking lot of a big box hardware store, and Ares glides the Suburban into a spot near the front. It’s nearly lunchtime on a Monday, and we have our pick of places to park. Dante and Milo open the rear doors, and Ollie climbs out of the last row of seats after the others.

  “Do we need a cart or one of those?” Ollie points to a big, orange, flatbed cart.

  “A regular cart should be fine, the wood and dry wall were all delivered on Saturday. I need a level and tape measuring tape Maybe another drill in case anyone decides to help me.” Milo tugs a cart free from the corral.

  “That’s all you need?” Dante sounds doubtful.

  “I mean, I can get some other stuff, too, but this is what I need for today. Once the rough work is done, I’ll need drywall tape and mud, and some tools for that.” Milo widens his hands. “I don’t know how long before I’ll be ready to use it though.”

  “We might as well just get that stuff, too; that way we don’t need to make another run up here tomorrow. I have a meeting I’ll have to be home for,” Ares informs us, as he steps through the doors of the store.

  “Is someone coming to the house?” I look over to the right and see huge Christmas trees lined up along with massive yard inflatables decorating the main aisle. I’m immediately drawn to a fat tree, it has realistic pinecones and fluffy white snow on the branches, making it look like something out of a fairy tale. I brush my palm over the needles, wishing I could tell if they’re as soft as they look.

  We never had a Christmas tree. I would decorate the camper with the things I made at school. One year, we were even given a small pine tree sapling in a Styrofoam cup to plant. I put it in the ground, but we moved before I ever saw it get any bigger. I wonder if it’s still there? I don’t even remember what town that was in.

  “That’s a nice one, but I like the real ones better.” Dante shakes one of the branches and small pieces of the fake snow fall to the ground.

  “Does it ever snow here?” Mom usually tried to have us in a warmer climate in the winter, since the motorhome isn’t insulated very well and hard to keep warm. Plus, I always had to walk to school.

  “In the mountains it does.” Ollie wraps his arm over my shoulders and gazes up at the tree. “We should go skiing.” He releases me and turns to Milo. “Remember that one time when you swerved off into the woods because you almost ran over that little kid?” Ollie doesn’t bother to hide his chuckle.

  “Yes, I remember.” Milo starts to walk away from the Christmas display. I follow along behind him. “I had scrapes all over my hands and face from the stupid tree branches.”

  I look back over my shoulder, watching the tree as we head deeper into the store. Ares catches me staring.

  Milo gathers up supplies, filling the basket so much I wonder if we shouldn’t have gotten the flatbed after all. “Are we going to be able to fit the groceries in the back?” I watch the cashier ring up the items as Milo dutifully places them back in the shopping cart.

  “We can always load the groceries in the back seat. Ollie can sit in the middle,” Dante suggests, tangling his fingers with mine while we wait.

  It doesn’t take long to stack all the stuff in the back of the vehicle, leaving a surprising amount of room for the other stuff we need.

  We pile back into the SUV with me still in the front seat and the guys in the back as Ares drives. “Where to next?” he asks, after putting on his seatbelt.

  “Someplace we can get a few pots and pans, maybe a little microwave and groceries,” I tell him, excited at the idea of getting our own things.

  Ares looks in the rearview mirror. “Does anyone else need anything while we’re out?”

  “Nah, we’re good,” Ollie answers for all of them.

  The drive to the next store is pretty quick, and it’s much busier than the hardware store. Ares finds a spot near the rear of the lot to park.

  “I have the list.” I fumble with my pocket, my fingers clumsy as I pull the scrap of paper from my back pocket.

  “Normally I’d say divide and conquer, but let’s stay together. It shouldn’t take us too long,” Ares instructs as he exits the car.

  Dante and Milo end up on either side of me as we make our way to the doors. Ares grabs a basket. “We might need two.” He jerks his chin at Ollie who happily tugs another cart free.

  “Have you ever grocery shopped before?” I ask Ollie, when he makes his way over to the fresh produce section right at the front of the store.

  “No, not really. I mean, I’ve picked up a few things here and there.” He grabs a huge grapefruit and tosses it in the air. I reach to snag it before he can, but I miss. Ollie gives me a funny look and places it back with the others. I slowly wrap my numb fingers over the end of his basket and steer it to the center of the store. />
  “We need to get the pots and pans first. Cold stuff—for the fridge and freezer—we’ll get last,” I direct, planning our strategy.

  “Aye, aye captain.” He mocks salutes me as I drag the cart away from the produce section.

  It’s late afternoon by the time we get out of the store, it took way longer than any of us expected. Each of us had different ideas of what to get, and how much—not to mention all the times one of us got distracted by something that we didn’t need.

  As soon as we get close to the car, I get a bad feeling. I lift my arm to stop the guys. “Dante,” I whisper urgently. He immediately goes on alert. He tips his head back, and his chest expands as he drags in a lungful of air.

  “I feel it,” he confirms.

  “What is it?” Milo asks, looking around the parking lot for a threat.

  “I don’t know yet, but it has that same wrongness as the box at the camper did.” I take a step closer to the SUV, but Ares grabs my arm to stop me, his eyes locked on the Suburban. I place my hand over his. “I’m not going to touch anything. I’m just going to see if I can figure out what it is,” I tell him.

  He releases me reluctantly. Dante matches my steps, moving right next to me. As we move, the eerie feeling grows stronger. I look over my shoulder, convinced someone is right there ready to strike, but I only see the guys. Milo and Ollie are keeping an eye on the surrounding parking lot, and Ares is bringing his phone up to his ear.

  Pushing forward, I make it to the rear of the vehicle. “I think it’s up there.” I point to the front of the car. Dante jerks his chin and steps in front of me. Slowly, we make our way around the SUV. As we pass the front passenger door, the car’s hood becomes visible. Expecting to find another small box, I’m surprised to see a purple flyer tucked under the driver’s side windshield wiper.

  I peer up at Dante, confused. “Is that it?”

  He shrugs, not taking his eyes off the paper. “Could be.”

  Ares approaches from behind. “I have your mother on the phone,” he announces. “Leon can influence objects and imbue them with emotions. If he left something here, he’s trying to influence one, or all of us.”

  A weight settles in my stomach. “So that’s how it works? If one of us picked it up—touched it—it could infect us?” I stare at Ares, his eyes are locked on mine.

  “I’m going to get rid of it now. We’ll talk more tonight.” He pulls the phone from his ear and mashes his finger on the screen. “From what she said, it’s only temporary. We would need constant exposure for it to continue working.” Ares retreats back to Milo and Ollie in a jog. He grabs one of the bags filled with groceries and dumps its contents into the cart, keeping the bag in his hand.

  Ollie and Milo return with him to the front of the car and watch as he shoves his hand in the bag and reaches for the purple flyer. “Wait, are you sure?” I caution him before he grabs the paper.

  “Amanda said as long as I didn’t let it touch my skin it would be fine.” Ares balls his free hand into a fist and goes for the paper again. “I can’t just leave it here, who knows what would happen to the person who found it if it flew off the car while we were driving. Plus, I don’t want it anywhere near any of us.” He carefully lifts up the wiper blade and, using the bag as a glove on his other hand, he snatches up the flyer, crumpling it in the bag and folding the plastic over it while removing his hand.

  Ares holds up the bag, examining the simple piece of paper inside. “What did it feel like?”

  I scrunch up my nose. “It just felt wrong, like the box. I can’t describe it more than that.” I look over at Dante to see if he has a better assessment.

  “Same,” is his only answer.

  “You can’t tell what would happen if we touched it? I mean, I’m sure it wouldn’t make us want to paint rainbows, but it would be helpful to know exactly what his intention was.” Ollie’s eyes are narrowed on Ares’s fist.

  “Should we test it?” Milo asks hesitantly. “If Amanda said the feeling would be temporary, should one of us touch it to see what it would really do?”

  I shake my head vehemently. “I don’t want any of you guys touching it. What if it made you want to hurt each other, or yourself? No, it’s not a good idea.”

  “We might not have another option, Cara. We could take some precautions first.” Ares looks at the others, his face grim.

  “How do know it would only be temporary for sure? Maybe that box my mom had was what made her so crazy,” I counter, my hands going to my hips. “I mean, it kind of makes sense.” She said she would think about me when she was at work, when she was away from the camper, but she didn’t like me when she was there. “Maybe once you touch it, it only needs to be in your proximity to influence you?” I could totally be grasping for straws, but the explanation does fit. And it would be nice to think my mother’s indifference to me growing up wasn’t all her.

  “We’ll talk to her more tonight,” Ares says, not confirming either way if he’s still planning on testing it or not. “Let’s get this stuff loaded up.”

  “What are you going to do with that?” I motion to the bag still in his hand. “I don’t think we should take it home.”

  Ares examines the bag again. “Any ideas?” He looks at the guys.

  “Laura’s right, we shouldn’t take it home,” Dante agrees.

  “Fuck, I don’t know what to do with it.” The frustration in Ares’s tone is clear.

  “I’ll run back in the store and get a better bag and some gloves, just in case. We’ll figure out where to stash it until we decide what to do.” Ollie doesn’t give anyone a chance to respond before he jogs back toward the store.

  Dante moves to the rear of the SUV with Milo right behind him. They shove the items that Ares dumped out of the bag into other random bags. I grab a few sacks on top, knowing that we have too much crap to fit into the very back, and take it to the rear passenger door to load into the last row of seats.

  Ares keeps his distance, staying near the hood of the car. Ollie returns with a small lunch cooler in one hand and a grocery bag in the other. He and Ares place the paper in the lunch box using disposable gloves as we finish loading the groceries.

  “Did you figure out what to do with it?” Milo questions, slamming the hatch of the SUV.

  “I need to keep it. We need to examine it more.” Ares looks a little strange wearing the latex gloves while holding the small purple lunch box. “I have way too many questions to just throw it away.”

  “Other than what it would do, what else do you want to know? How it would affect us?” I ask, curious about what he’s thinking.

  “Yeah, like would it affect anyone, or is it designed specifically for us? How long do the effects last? Does increased exposure affect its potency, or does the emotion left behind fade over time?” Ares replies quickly. “This is our best chance to find out what exactly Leon is capable of and how to use it against him,” he finishes. I hadn’t even thought of all those variables.

  “What about one of the guys who installed the security system?” Ollie suggests. “It’s not like we have many options right now, unless you want to get the council involved.”

  Ares grimaces, but drags his phone out of his pocket. He tears off one glove and lets it hit the ground before poking at the screen. “There’s a climate-controlled storage place about eleven miles away. Elliot and the guys are already back in Columbia.”

  Dante tangles his fingers with mine, as Ares studies us. I cling to him, grateful that I feel more like myself when his fingers are around mine. The loss of touch has left me feeling a bit off balance. You don’t realize how often you rely on a sense until it’s gone.

  “I know this makes you guys feel uncomfortable,” Ares holds the lunch cooler up a little, “but I can’t leave you here knowing Leon has been here and could still be here watching us. Do you think you could deal with it being in the car long enough for me to get to the storage place?”

  I peer up at Dante. “I’m okay. It g
ives me the heebie-jeebies, but I can deal with it. You?”

  “I’d rather tape it to the bumper, but it’s fine,” Dante sneers.

  “I’m too hungry to wait until later to eat. Can we stop and grab something?” Dante mumbles, as soon as Ares returns to the car after dropping off the lunch box. I can’t imagine what the people he rented the storage unit from thought about him wearing latex gloves and carrying his package.

  I slam my hand over my mouth to keep from giggling. All the tension I’ve been feeling this afternoon is looking for an outlet. We just spent hours shopping so we could avoid eating out, but here he is asking to get takeout.

  Dante looks over at me, his brow furrowed. I’m squished between him and Ollie in the middle row. I widen my eyes and roll my lips in, any thought of humor evaporating. I will not laugh at him for being hungry, I’ve gone hungry enough to know it’s nothing to joke about. I know Dante’s situation isn’t the same, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve known for a long time his appetite is far larger than normal.

  “I’ll run through somewhere for you, but it needs to be on the way home and quick, before this shit melts.” Ares checks his mirrors before backing out of the spot.

  “I don’t care, just someplace I can get a couple burgers. I haven’t eaten since this morning.” Dante places his hand over his stomach like it hurts.

  I look out the front window, spying a place that says “Butter Burgers” on the sign with a big ice cream cone next to it. “How about there?” I point between Ares and Milo in the front seats.

  Ares moves to the left lane so he can make the turn for the restaurant. He glides up to the drive-thru ordering screen.

  A greeting, followed by, “What can I get you?” comes from the box almost immediately.

  “We need a second,” Ares drawls. “What do you guys want?”

  He repeats each of our orders, adding a grilled chicken sandwich for himself. I gawk at the price displayed on the bottom of the screen, it’s more than I spent on food in a week. I just shake my head. I’ll probably never get used to how easily they spend money.