“No,” Ares growls, his voice deeper and darker than I’ve ever heard it.
I stand up slowly. Ares is barely visible now—the shadows are so thick. “He doesn’t mean you, Ares; we know you would never hurt any of us.” I step into the shadows and they coil around me in a physical sense. The air is thick, but not unpleasant. I lift my hand and wave my fingers through the inky fog. “Do you have any idea of what would have happened if the guys hadn’t stopped you?”
The path to Ares in the corner clears, but the darkness still shrouds us from the others. His hands are balled into fists at his sides, and I can see the struggle on his face as he thinks about the question.
Eventually, he shakes his head in denial. “I was really focused on getting to you, but I was also fighting the influence, and…” He pauses, and his voice lowers so I can hardly hear him. “I was fighting the darkest part of myself. He wanted to take over, but I was afraid he was under Leon’s control.” The confession is wrenched from Ares, like he’s ashamed of himself for letting it happen all over again.
Determined to make him come to me this time, to not hide behind his shadows, I stand apart from him, leaving a few feet between us.
“What do you think now? Was he?” I lick my lips as I think. It’s strange, almost like that part of Ares is the one talking to me.
Ares takes a long stride in my direction. Voice deep, he replies, “No, only one can control me.” Another icy blast chills the room. Without an ounce of reservation, he continues until he’s standing right before me. His head tilts like he’s assessing me, and the bright sparks are present in Ares’s black eyes.
“He should have let you free,” I murmur, laying my hand over his chest, his heart beating steady and strong.
“It won’t happen again.” Ares slams his lips against mine and steals my breath with a soul-searching kiss. He retreats just as quickly without warning. I’m left feeling breathless and needy.
“What the fuck! Are we sure he was okay? He was acting off. Where the fuck would he have taken her?” Ollie’s urgent voice pulls me from my thoughts. I turn to see the misty black fog sliding to the floor, like it’s being pulled by a vacuum.
“Jesus Christ, Ares!” Dante reaches forward and snags my arm, dragging me away from his brother.
Ares lifts the corner of his lip in a slight sneer but doesn’t say anything else. I grab Dante’s hand on my wrist. “That has nothing to do with Leon. He’s fine. We’re all fine,” I insist.
“Don’t go all dark and creepy right now, that’s not cool, Ares.” Ollie folds his arms over his chest and tips his chin up.
Ares tugs at the bottom of his wrinkled t-shirt like he would his vest. The fabric stretches and it catches him off guard. He looks down, almost surprised to find himself without his formal clothes.
“I’m not trying to be dark and creepy, Oliver. It’s my natural state,” Ares deadpans, but a miniscule smile graces his lips. I exhale a heavy breath. We just might get through this.
Dante goes into the kitchen and comes back with several cans of soda. After he passes them out, he, Ares, and I return to our seats.
After a few moments of rather tense silence, I say, “We need to figure out what Leon wants. Maybe we should take this up with the council you work for? Shouldn’t they help us? Do you guys have jail, or a legal system?”
“I not sure they would see him for the threat he truly is, since they didn’t do anything eighteen years ago,” Ares answers.
“The council is better at sweeping problems under the rug. I don’t think they’ve ever really dealt with anything like this. Most of what they do is protect us from the norms catching on to our abilities. No offense, Ares. I know you work with them.” Milo shrugs.
“None taken. You’re right. The stuff that happened with Leon and Amanda—no one even talks about it. They’d rather pretend it didn’t happen than deal with the fact that it did, and make sure nothing like that ever happens again.”
“So, what should we do?” Dante looks around the circle.
“Frankly, I’d rather just deal with him permanently.” Ares eyes me from the side, gauging my reaction. I don’t offer one. “I’m tired of waiting to see what he’s going to do. I think it’s time we should go after him,” he continues.
“What about the council?” I question again.
“I’ll make some calls, but I don’t know what support they could offer, except bodies. And I’m not sure we want a bunch of people around that could turn on us if they touch something Leon has influenced.” Ares opens his hands, at a loss for what else to say.
Ollie tips back on the legs of his lawn chair, his face pensive as he stares at the ceiling. “What did Amanda say when you asked if you could…” He wiggles his fingers near his head, indicating Ares looking through her memories.
“She’s not receptive. I don’t blame her after last night,” Ares adds quietly.
“It probably wouldn’t have been much help anyway. I mean, what’s the chances you’ve been to the house he was holding her at?” Milo offers.
“Well, I’m not going to let him keep controlling my life. He’s been keeping me prisoner for almost eighteen years. I just didn’t know who my jailer was,” I interject.
“He won’t, Laura, but we need to be smart about this, especially after last night.” Milo glances at Ares.
“What do you propose about how we go about finding him?” I try to ignore the fact that I know finding him might mean Ares is going to do something permanent, and I can’t even bring myself to acknowledge what that actually is.
“Last night would have been the perfect opportunity. I have to figure out what he wanted me to do once I had you, then we might be able to use that and convince him that his plan worked. That he was controlling me, but I have no idea what he wanted. It was just an empty thought to get to you.” Ares rubs his hands over his face, his frustration visible.
“We might still be able to do that. Where’s the pizza box?” Ollie lifts his hands at Ares’s and Dante’s immediate protests. “Hear me out first,” he rushes to add. Ares snaps his mouth closed, but glares at Ollie. “What if Laura touched the box?”
“Are you fucking mad?” Dante yells at Ollie for even posing the question, but I can see the merit.
“Just listen, we’re only talking about it. I’m not suggesting she should go do it right this instant. But let me fucking finish,” Ollie barks, his face red as he sits up straighter in his chair. I’ve only seen Ollie this serious a few times, and it changes his entire demeanor.
“Fuck, you act like I’m stupid. I’m just trying to say,” his eyes slit, daring anyone else to interrupt him, “that if we let Laura touch it, she would know what the goal was, if it was to get us to fight, or for her to leave and go to him. But…” He stresses the word. “We could make sure she was safe, that she couldn’t leave. If she only wanted a fight, we could wait that out.” Once Ollie is able to convey his thoughts, the group goes quiet.
“It’s not a bad plan,” I comment, a little hesitant. I don’t want to be the guinea pig, but if we can figure out what Leon was planning, we might be one step ahead of him for the first time. “How long were you under his influence, Ares?”
His nose flares as he exhales. “Too long,” he mutters.
“About twenty minutes?” Milo answers, looking over at Dante for confirmation.
“About that, I’d say.” Dante’s eyes narrow as he agrees. “But it could be totally different for Laura. Ares is really strong, he’s been using his ability for years. We don’t have any way of knowing how she would react.”
“Okay, so we should plan for that. Assume it would take me twice as long to shake his influence.” Now that the idea has been brought up, I can’t help but think it might just work. I scoot forward to the edge of my seat. “We could finally get some answers.” I look at all four of them. “I’m tired of being the one always running. Let’s show him he should have left us alone while he had the chance.”
Milo
’s eyes go a little wide at the vehemence in my tone and the anger seeping out of me. “I don’t know if this is a good idea, but what else do we have?”
“Laura’s right, we’re stronger than this. He’s one man, we’ve been letting him control us with fear of the unknown.” Dante nods his head, coming to the same conclusion.
I knew convincing Ares was going to be the hardest. I reach over and grab his hand. Letting him see the truth about what I’m going to say in my eyes, I stress, “I trust you guys. I know you’ll be able to keep me safe.” Ares’s lips thin and he doesn’t look persuaded, so I continue, “He took my mom from me, and a dad I never even got to know. I just want him to leave us alone, to leave my mother alone.”
Ares looks away from me, his shoulders bunching. “The box is still at the house,” he says, sounding defeated.
I clasp his hand harder in gratitude, since I know this is hard for him. “Thank you.”
He peers back at me. “Don’t thank me, Cara. If I can think of any way to prevent this from happening… I will.” He pushes off his chair and drags his hand away from me, leaving the room without another word.
Ollie lets out a heavy breath. “He’s probably going to kill me for even bringing it up.” He forces a chuckle.
“We better make sure nothing bad happens, because I’m pretty sure he would kill all of us if it does,” Dante mutters, while looking at his hands.
My resolve fades a little with their trepidation, but I’m convinced we’re doing the right thing. Leon has been using fear to control my entire life one way or another. Forever. It stops now.
Chapter 12
Ares is pacing the room like a caged animal. Ironic, since I’m the one who should feel trapped. I’m tucked into the small walk-in closet in the master bedroom on the main floor. We haven’t used this room much. It should have been the first room renovated, but Leon thwarted our plans for that, too.
All the guys have thick, black gloves covering their hands as a precaution. Ares told me to change into long pants and a long-sleeved shirt to minimize my exposure to the box. It’s easy to see how anxious he is about the whole thing. He spent most of the afternoon upstairs, trying to work out another plan. When he failed, he decided to put all his efforts into making this plan as foolproof as possible.
He pauses his stride. “You don’t even need to pick it up. Leave it there, one finger.” He holds up his finger to demonstrate. We all know what the it is he’s referring to—the pizza box. He crosses his arms over his chest and peers down at me. “This might not even work, for all we know, the influence could be gone after one touch, or it’s just worn off by now,” he adds, sounding a little too hopeful.
“Yeah, whatever you need to tell yourself,” Ollie mutters under his breath, but with the way Ares’s neck snaps in his direction, I’m sure he was heard.
“I know,” I tell Ares, hoping to distract him from Ollie.
Milo wrings his hands together. “What if she tries to shadow walk?” I’m surprised Ares isn’t the one to bring this up, but I’m not too worried about it.
“I’ve only ever done it once, and I only managed to get across the room. I’m sure I’ve never been to the place Leon is hiding. I don’t think I have enough control to manage it,” I reason, praying that my assumptions are accurate.
“I could track her,” Ares informs us.
“You could?” Ollie sounds astounded.
“I’m confident I could. It’s the only reason I’m even going along with this plan in the first place. There’s no way I would chance losing you to him, no matter how much you begged, if I didn’t think I could.” His dark eyes bore into mine, challenging me. I’m the first to look away.
“Well, that’s good to know, but what about last night? If you could track her, why didn’t you just shadow walk to her?” Dante sounds mildly confused, his brows are furrowed.
Ares’s jaw tics, and I can almost hear the grinding of his teeth. “I couldn’t, I have to open myself to more power for that, and that was something I didn’t want to risk under Leon’s influence. I didn’t know if I could maintain any level of control after releasing it,” he admits.
“Next time, trust yourself.” I meet Ares’s eyes and I see a flash of white over his irises. Milo, Dante, and Ollie take turns looking between us. I’m not going to elaborate any more if Ares isn’t.
“All right, let’s get this over with.” I clap my hands together and take a step closer to the innocent-looking pizza box lying on the floor.
“Wait, why are you guys listening to me? No, this is a bad idea. We’ll figure something else out.” Ollie shakes his head quickly in denial.
I glance up with my hand poised over the box. “I love you all.” Before they have a chance to stop me, or even reply, I brush my fingertips over the cardboard. I don’t even feel the box under my fingers, but I can hear the sound it makes as my fingers scrape across the box top.
A whisper of power courses up from my fingertips. I feel it travel up my arm, and I instinctually grab my inner elbow to stop it from coming up any further, but that doesn’t work. Within seconds, a slimy feeling fills me, making me feel like someone is invading my space, looking too closely at me.
My mind goes a little foggy as anger fills me. My hands ball into fist and I look up to see all four guys staring at me like I’m some sort of science experiment. I hate the way they’re looking at me. Rage continues to build, my hands start to shake, and I’m clenching my teeth so hard my jaw aches.
I know what they’re thinking. I’m just a nobody, a poor girl who is barely managing to take care of herself and her crazy mom. My mom. A memory tickles my thoughts, and I grab the sides of my head and close my eyes.
Something is wrong. This isn’t right. I cover my face, trying to push back the ugly feeling of anger and resentment trying to bubble up inside of me.
“Laura?” I hear a deep voice. I know that voice. Would know that voice anywhere. It’s Dante. I tilt my head to the side, waiting and listening for him to speak again. His voice soothes the jagged anger surging through me.
“Laura, what are you feeling?” His voice is nice—smooth, and deep—but his question pisses me off.
I pull my hands away from my head and sneer at him, I can feel the familiar pressure in my gums that tells me I’m shifting. He’s the reason I’ll never be normal. He’s the reason, even now, that I’ll always have to be invisible and make sure I don’t let anyone see me and what a freak I am.
I take a step forward, not even sure what my intent is myself. Dante’s eyes go round, and he steps back. That, more than anything, breaks through the fog of rage. I pull back and a sharp pain sears through my mind. I shake away the pain and try to remember what I was doing.
“Talk to her, Dante, she likes your voice,” Ares mutters lowly.
The pain in my head recedes enough for me to think. “I’m supposed to be doing something.” My voice sounds loud to my own ears.
“That’s right, Laura. Whatever you’re feeling—it isn’t you.” Dante takes a tentative step in my direction. “Tell us what you’re feeling, thinking…”
I open and close my fists a few times, feeling my fingers straining from how tightly I had them clenched. “I’m angry,” I spit, admitting it feels strange, because I can’t figure out why I’m so angry.
I glance back at the guys, my guys. The rage I was feeling comes back when I see them staring at me. They’re part of the reason I’ll never be normal. Part of the reason I’ll always be forced to hide who and what I am.
“Why are you angry?” Dante’s tone is gentle. I want him to yell at me, like I want to yell at him.
I narrow my eyes at him, and the confusion is back. Why am I so angry? “I don’t know!” I scream and grab hold of my head. The sharp pain is back, I’ve never had a headache this bad. “Stop looking at me! Stop staring at me!” I continue to shout, even though it makes the pain in my head worse. At least when the pain is there, I can’t think about the anger. Something abou
t it feels wrong.
“What should we do?” Ollie asks, sounding unsure. “She looks like she’s in pain.”
“Quit talking about me like I’m not here,” I snarl, and I’m leaning so far forward, my hands are in fists almost behind me. Ollie lifts his hands in a supplicating manner.
“I don’t like this. How much longer?” Milo pushes past Ollie so he’s standing closer to me.
“Well, I don’t like it either!” I match his sentiment. I want to fight with them, want an argument.
“Laura.” Ares tips his chin up and peers down at me from his considerable height. “What is it you want?” There’s an edge in his voice as he crosses his arms over his chest.
His confrontational stance makes the anger sing in my veins. “I want you to leave me alone.” But as soon as the words leave my lips, I know that’s not really what I want. Darkness dances over Ares’s eyes as he stares at me. He’s never looked at me like this before, and it sends a sliver of panic through me that overrides the anger simmering at the surface. Is he going to leave me now?
Before I can even respond, he drawls, “Well, too fucking bad. It ain’t happening.”
I lick my lips. “Something isn’t right,” I confess, shaking my hands in front of my body. It’s me, I’m here, but it still feels like there is something else here with me, too.
“Laura, you touched the box, remember?” Dante urges.
I look down at the pizza box, and a memory just out of reach teases my thoughts. I wanted to touch that box. “Leon,” I say, looking up.
The anger takes root and this time there’s a focus. My gums ache again, and I bend my knees, ready to spring at any second. He’s the real reason for everything. I want to rip him apart for what he did to my mom, my dad, to me.
I push off the balls of my feet, intending to find him so I can make him pay. Instead of going through the door, I slam against what might as well been a wall—Milo’s chest.
The air leaves my lungs in a whoosh as I crash against him. I feel his arms come around my back to keep me from sliding to the ground.
Infinity Chronicles Book Four: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Series Page 11