Intertwined (24 page)

Riley kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry. We’ll do what we can. As for the demons, they are harder to spot. Some have learned to mask their auras.”

“How did they get here?” Aden asked. “On earth, I mean. And how long have they been here?”

“They’ve been here for thousands of years. Before the walls of hell were reinforced, a few escaped their fiery prison. They could not pass themselves off as humans—the scales, horns and forked tongues gave them away—so they passed themselves off as gods. They mated with humans and half demon, half human babies were born. These children still could not pass as humans, nor could their children or their children’s children. Eventually, though, the offspring were able to insert themselves into society. Thieves, murderers, those who are purely evil can often trace their lineage back to the first demons.”

Purely evil. Like Tucker.

“Tucker,” Mary Ann said, clearly mirroring his thoughts.

Riley nodded. “In some way, yes, though we don’t know what…”

“What else is out there?” Aden asked. What else wanted to use him?

“Anything, everything, though the others have not yet arrived in Crossroads.” Victoria rested her head on Aden’s shoulder. “Dragons, angels, valkryies, shape-shifters of every kind. Most live in harmony with the other creatures, but
several of the races are at war. Perhaps that is why they’re late to this party. Or, if we’re lucky, they won’t come at all.”

Mary Ann swiped at her tears with the back of her hand. “What should we do?”

Aden raised his chin, realizing what had to be done. Mary Ann worried for her father. Victoria worried for her people. Riley, well, he probably worried for Mary Ann. The look the werewolf had given her reminded Aden of how he must surely regard the vampire princess.

“I’ll pack up and leave,” he said. “The creatures will follow me, and everyone here will be safe.”

“No!” Victoria straightened with a jolt. “They’ll follow you wherever you go, yes, but that will place more and more people in danger. You and Mary Ann are both safest here because the only time your signal is muted is when you’re with her.”

“But when she’s with Riley, all of my powers remain. Even now, I can hear my companions in the back of my mind. He has some kind of effect on her ability to neutralize.”

Riley’s head tilted to the side. “Maybe I don’t affect her at all. Maybe I affect
you
. I wonder if deep down you sense that I am a predator, so your defenses and adrenaline work overtime while I’m around, seeping through whatever block Mary Ann places on you.”

They had so much to learn. Too much, it seemed. Where was he supposed to find the answers?

“Come, we must go,” Victoria suddenly said, tugging him deeper into the shadows.

Why? Aden returned his focus to the town square. The fairy had switched directions and was now headed toward their building. Not good. That fairy had the power to drain Victoria, to hurt her. And staying with her would only place her in more danger.

Aden released her and latched onto Mary Ann. “Riley, get Victoria out of here. We’ll meet you at Mary Ann’s.”

“No, I—” Riley began.

“I’ll keep Mary Ann safe,” Aden assured him. “But this way, with Mary Ann and me together on our own, there will be no signal for the creatures to follow. So go!” The fairy was closer…closer still.

Riley nodded reluctantly and dragged Victoria away. Or tried to. She managed to wrench free. As she raced to him, she opened her ring and dipped a finger inside. Before he could stop her, she rubbed that finger against her wrist. Immediately the flesh sizzled apart and a gaping wound appeared.

The moment she reached him, she pressed that wound against his mouth. Her grip was so strong, there was no pushing away from her. All he could do was open his mouth to protest—then gulp down the blood flowing through his lips. It was warm and sweet, fizzing like soda, practically alive as it washed over his tongue.

“This tiny amount won’t kill you,” she said. “Dan can’t see you cut up and bruised again. This way, he won’t. You’ll heal before you reach the house.”

Heat spread through him. Heat that intensified with every second that passed, burning, blistering, scorching everything
it touched. He felt like he’d caught a fever, or like he was on fire, his entire body erupting before crumbling into ash.

“The aftereffect…” she said. “I’m sorry.”

Once more, Riley dragged her away. She held Aden’s gaze as long as possible. He tried not to think about what she’d meant by “aftereffect.” When they were out of sight, the souls moaned, tossed back into the dark realm they so hated.

The fairy, he noticed, stopped, gazed around with confusion and frowned. Good thing. Aden had to hunch over as he gasped in breath after breath. Finally, his body cooled down.

Mary Ann was patting his back to comfort him, he realized as he straightened.

Deciding to check out the alleyway anyway, the fairy kicked back into motion.

Aden ushered Mary Ann in the opposite direction of their friends. He couldn’t worry about the aftereffects of drinking vampire blood right now. No way it would be any worse than corpse venom. And Mary Ann’s safety came first.

He increased his pace. If the fairy got a glimpse of him, he didn’t know it. He kept moving, never looking backward, until he found an unlocked door. Inside the building—a clothing shop—he ran into an employee who told him no one was supposed to be in the back. He apologized and made his way outside, where he slowed his step. Mary Ann stayed close to him, silent, perhaps too afraid to talk.

There were so many people. Watching them from a distance hadn’t done justice to their numbers. They were everywhere. At first glance, they looked as normal as he’d
originally assumed, even at this new, close range. But as he stealthily watched them, he began to see past their masks. Most were so beautiful he wanted to gape. Some were so ugly he wanted to vomit. Gaping and vomiting, however, would have given him away.

I’m nothing
, he wanted to tell them.
A no one. Don’t waste your time tracking me
. They wouldn’t have listened. They wanted to use him. Kill him, perhaps.
Would
kill innocents, if he didn’t find a way to stop them. Most likely, they were not all evil. Like Victoria and Riley, some of them might be honorable and trustworthy. But he couldn’t take a chance. Not now.

“Anyone following us?” Mary Ann asked in a fierce whisper.

Oh, yes. She was afraid. It was there in her voice, layered in every word. He dared a peek behind him. “No. Not that I can tell.”

Together, they were like any other kids. Keeping their pace unhurried and normal proved difficult, but they managed it. But if his expression was anything like Mary Ann’s, frozen and fearful, they were in trouble.

“Smile as if I just said something funny,” he commanded her.

She managed an unconvincing laugh. “Maybe you
should
say something funny.”

“I’ve got nothing.” He had to get her mind off their surroundings. If not funny, he’d go with factual. “You ordered our birth certificates, right?”

“Right.”

“When will they arrive?”

“Today, I think. I paid for expedited delivery. Actually, they might already be waiting on my front porch.”

“That’s good.” If the certificates were there, they’d have his parents’ address. They might be able to head out tomorrow—Saturday—to see of the couple was even still living there. And if not, they might still have time to drive to the hospital where he was born and try to get into their files, find out a little more information about him and his “family.”

“So you’ll never guess what I did. Because I don’t want a conversation lag, I’ll just tell you. I snuck into my dad’s office and read some of his notes about you,” she said as they walked. Blessedly, she sounded calmer, in control. “He remembers you, and really liked you, but what you said about my mother really freaked him out.”

She’d done it. She’d truly done it. For him. “First, thank you. Second, I didn’t say anything about your mom.”

“Yes, you did. The time travel thing.”

He’d only mentioned his own time travel. Dr. Gray had been the one to mention another’s, a woman’s. Could it be? “Did your mom disappear at times?”

“No, never. And I would have known. Most of my childhood I was glued to her side.”

“Then I don’t understand.”

“Me, either. He mentioned both a wife and a current wife, made me think that the woman I thought was my mom wasn’t. But I don’t see how that’s possible.”

He led her back to the car Victoria had stolen—the corvette was gone—and they slid inside. He locked the doors. They sat
there for several minutes, panting, waiting to see if anyone—or thing—would turn a corner. Nothing did. He heaved a sigh of relief and started the engine.

“Thank you,” he told her again. “For everything.”

“I plan to talk to him. I just have to do it sometime when he can’t avoid me or order me to my room. Otherwise, we’ll never get answers. Besides, I need a break from this, you know?”

Hopefully, that time would come before Halloween and the ball he was supposed to attend. Knowledge was power and Aden had a feeling he would need all the power he could get to face Victoria’s dad. He loved her, planned to be a part of her life for as long as he had left, and her father’s permission would help. As it was, he wasn’t likely to gain it. He was a troublemaker, a “schizo.”

“We’ll learn about you, don’t worry,” Mary Ann said, probably sensing the direction of his thoughts.

They drove to her house, and this time Aden obeyed the speed laws. He couldn’t risk being pulled over. To his disappointment, no package was waiting on Mary Ann’s porch, and Riley and Victoria were not there, either. Where were they?

“Your dad’s still at work, right?” he asked before stepping foot in the house.

“Yeah. He won’t be home for hours yet.”

“Then I’ll stay. For a little while, at least.”

“Just…promise me you won’t talk about what’s happening, the past, the future. I just can’t handle it right now.”

She
was
pale. “I promise,” he said.

They climbed the stairs and turned on the TV, as if this
were a normal day and they themselves were normal. For the first time in his life, he was able to enjoy a show without any distractions.

The package never arrived. Neither did Riley nor Victoria. He couldn’t wait it, or them, out. If he didn’t return to school and walk home with Shannon as if he’d been there all day, he’d ruin all of Victoria’s hard work.

He glanced out Mary Ann’s bedroom window. Victoria’s car was still parked there. He’d use it one more time, he decided, but he wouldn’t leave it at Crossroads High. He’d park a block away and hide it in the woods until the vampire could retrieve it.

“Lock your doors when I leave,” he said. “If you hear from Riley or Victoria, call the D and M. I don’t care if it gets me in trouble. I’d rather be punished than worry.”

She nodded, hugged him. “Be careful.”

“You, too.”

O
F COURSE
, Mary Ann’s package came at seven that evening, the last delivery of the day. Her dad was home, in his office, probably poring over his notes about Aden, trying to think up a rational reason he’d been able to claim a friendship with Mary Ann years before he’d actually met her.

She was about to open the package when she realized Penny was tentatively scaling the steps.

“Hey,” Penny said.

Mary Ann froze.

They stood facing each other for an eternity, silent, unsure. Mary Ann had avoided her so steadfastly, her friend had eventually stopped calling, stopped seeking her out at school. Or maybe Penny hadn’t been there. Sadly, she couldn’t be sure. She’d been too preoccupied.

“Hey,” Penny said again.

“Hey.”

Penny gazed down at her hands, fingers twisting together.
She looked awful. Defeated. How long had it been since Mary Ann had seen the girl’s usual sparkle?

“How are you?” Mary Ann asked, not knowing what else to say.

“I could be better. Morning sickness has been a bitch.” That flat tone hurt more than it should have, all things considered. “My parents want me to get rid of the baby.”

“Are you?”

“Yes. No. Maybe.” A sigh. “I don’t think so. I hate Tucker, but the baby is also a part of me, you know? I want it. I think.”

Tucker was a demon. Would that mean the child Penny carried also carried that taint? She’d wondered before, but now, with Penny right in front of her, that didn’t seem to matter. “That’s good.” Yes or no, a baby was a baby. Innocent and precious.

Silence met her words, heavy, oppressive.

“I miss us,” Penny suddenly burst out. “I want us to be the way we were. I’m so sorry for what I did to you. I was drinking, but that’s no excuse. I knew better. Oh, God, Mary Ann. I’m so sorry.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You have to believe me.”

Mary Ann waited for the sense of betrayal to surface, but it never did. For all she knew, Tucker could have used his power of illusion on her friend, making her more susceptible to him. Besides, she hated seeing Penny like this, so torn up, so beaten down.

“I believe you,” she said. “I don’t think we can go back to the way we were, not yet, but I do believe you.”

Penny regarded her for a moment, then whimpered and rushed forward, throwing herself against Mary Ann. Mary Ann gasped in surprise. But as Penny cried, she couldn’t help but hold her, tracing her free hand along her friend’s spine and uttering soothing coos.

As Riley had said, everyone made mistakes. This was Penny’s, and if Mary Ann wanted the girl in her life—and she was beginning to think that she did, for she, too, missed their friendship—she had to forgive.

“I’m so sorry. I swear I am. I’ll never do anything like that again. You can trust me. I learned my lesson. I swear to God I did.”

“Shh, shh. It’s okay. I’m not mad at you anymore.”

Penny pulled back, though she kept her arms tight around Mary Ann’s middle. “You’re not?”

“You’re an important part of my life. I don’t know how long it’ll take for me to trust you again, but it no longer seems impossible.”

“I don’t deserve you.” Penny swiped at her face with the back of her wrist. “I know I don’t, and I know I should walk away from you and leave you in peace, but I just can’t. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You understand me in ways no one else ever has, and I’ve hated myself since this thing with Tucker. I wanted to tell you, I did, but I was so afraid of losing you.”

“You’re not going to lose me. I need you, too.” She saw that now. The tension that had settled on her shoulders since seeing all those creatures in town had just kind of melted away with
Penny’s appearance. Was this how Mary Ann made Aden—and Tucker—feel? “Besides, you did me a favor. I’d needed to kick Tucker out of my life. You gave me the push to actually do it.”

That earned her a watery smile. “He
is
a jerk, isn’t he?”

“Beyond a doubt. Does he plan to help you—”

Penny was shaking her head before Mary Ann could finish the sentence. “He let me know he wants nothing to do with me or the kid.” Her chin trembled and the moisture in her eyes once again spilled over. “I’m on my own.”

“Well, you’ve got Aunt Mary Ann. I’ve never been around kids, but I’m willing to learn.”

She was awarded another smile, this one reminiscent of the old Penny. “I have to get back. I’m grounded for being a slut, as my mom says, but I want to get together with you soon. I want to talk.”

“Absolutely.
I
want to hear all about the baby.”

Penny rubbed the slight bump in her belly, one Mary Ann hadn’t noticed before. “I love you, girl.” She kissed her cheek and walked away, her step much lighter than when she’d first approached.

Mary Ann watched her until she disappeared inside her house. What a day.

She opened the package eagerly, wishing Aden, Riley and Victoria were with her so they could share this moment together. But she still hadn’t heard from the latter two, and didn’t want to contact the first without news of their friends.

When she read over Aden’s birth certificate, she made note of the hospital where he’d been born—St. Mary’s—the names
of his parents—Joe and Paula Stone—as well as his birthday—December twelfth. Funny. Her birthday was December twelfth, as well.

She read over her own certificate next. Shook her head. Stared. The words never changed. She stumbled backward, reeling. This wasn’t right. Couldn’t be right. She’d never thought to ask her dad where she’d been born, but she, too, had entered the world at St. Mary’s. Worse, the woman she’d called Mom her entire life was not her mother after all.

Everything suddenly made sense. How she could look like the woman who had raised her, but not be that woman’s biological child. How her dad had had two wives.

The warm fuzzies that had filled her while talking to Penny faded completely, leaving a deep chasm filled only with rage. Mary Ann was having trouble catching her breath as she stormed inside her dad’s office, each of her limbs trembling. There was a ringing in her ears as the blood rushed, crashing against her skull.

He glanced up, saw her and immediately dropped the journal he held, concern deepening the lines around his eyes. “What’s wrong, honey?”

Waiting to talk with her dad until he couldn’t escape her or order her away was no longer an option. She had to have the truth. Now. “Explain this,” she shouted, slamming the certificate onto his desk.

He looked at it and froze, even stopped breathing, his chest no longer moving. Several long, agonizing beats of silence ensued. “Where did you get that?” he asked softly.

“Doesn’t matter. Why don’t you tell me why Aunt Anne is my mother, yet you had her sister raise me as her own?” He’d never told her, never even hinted that her aunt, the one she’d never met, the one who had supposedly died
before
her birth, was actually her biological mother.

Her dad’s head fell into his upraised hands. He stayed like that, hunched over, for a long while. Silent, dejected. Finally, he said, “I didn’t want you to know. I still don’t.”

“But you’re going to tell me. Right. Now!” It was a demand, not a question. Fury and hurt seethed so violently inside her that she couldn’t stay still. She paced the room from one side to the other, feet digging into the carpet, pounding against the wood. It was as though the entire expanse of the sky was under her skin right now, making her more than human, making her infinite, while she looked down at everyone, seeing everything clearly for the first time in her life.

“Please, sit down. Let’s talk about this like rational human beings.”

She was anything but rational just then. “I’ll stand. You talk.”

He uttered a shuddering sigh. “Does this really matter, Mary Ann? Carolyn was your mother in every way but biologically. She loved you, raised you, held you when you were sick.”

“And I loved her for it; I still do. But I deserve to know the truth. I deserve to know about my real mother.”

With another of those sighs, he fell back against his chair. He propped his elbow on the arm and rested his temple on one hand. He was pale, the blue veins beneath his skin visible. “I
planned to tell you, I did. But I wanted to do so when you were older. Ready. What if you don’t like what you hear? What if, once you know, you wish I’d never told you?”

How dare he! “Stop trying to manipulate me. I may not have a degree, but I’ve read the psychology books you gave me. I am not some patient you can convince to believe as you do, then send on her way. I’m your daughter and I deserve to have what you’ve always promised me. Honesty.”

Once he absorbed her words, he nodded somberly. “All right, Mary Ann. I’ll tell you. Honestly. I just hope you’re ready.”

He paused, clearly waiting for her to tell him she wasn’t. When she didn’t, he briefly closed his eyes as if praying for guidance.

“I dated your mother—Carolyn, the woman who raised you,” he said, “while in high school. I was seventeen. I thought I loved her. Until I went home with her and met her younger sister, Anne. She was sixteen, the age you are now, and it was love at first sight. For both of us. I stopped dating Carolyn immediately. Anne and I weren’t going to see each other—that would have hurt Carolyn, and we both loved her in our ways. But we couldn’t stay away from each other and all too soon we were dating in secret.”

Mary Ann plopped into the seat in front of the desk. Though she was still a mess of turbulent emotions, her legs would no longer hold her up. This was too much to take in.

“Shall I continue?”

She nodded. Too much to take in, but she needed to hear the rest. Why had she never suspected? She didn’t even have
a picture of Anne in her room. Had barely given the woman, her own mother, a passing thought over the years.

“The more time I spent with Anne, the more I realized she was a bit…unusual. She would disappear for hours and claim—”

Mary Ann’s gasp stopped him. “She would claim that she had traveled into a younger version of herself.”

His eyes widened; he nodded. “How did you—Aden,” he said through clenched teeth. “He’s been feeding you his lies, I see.”

No. Aden was the only one who’d given her the truth. “This isn’t about him. This is about you and the lies you’ve fed me for years. And I think we both know, deep down, that Aden wasn’t lying.”

“I thought I’d made it clear that I don’t want you hanging out with that boy, Mary Ann. He’s dangerous. He was dangerous as a child, beating up the other patients, the guards, and he’s dangerous as a teenager. Need proof of that? I did some digging. Found out he’s living at the D and M. Everyone knows those kids are bad news. Stay away from him.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do right now!” She slammed her fist against her chair. “I know him, better than you ever did, and he wouldn’t hurt me. Right now I think I know him better than I know you.”

He blanched. “People can turn on you. He—”

“He knew that I would meet him one day. He even told you that. But you, in your stubbornness, didn’t believe him. After your experiences with Anne, you’re the one person, the one doctor, who should have given Aden a chance to prove he’d
told the truth. Yet you’re trying to discredit him even now, when the evidence supports him.”

Her dad waved a dismissive hand. “Once he had your name, all he had to do was look you up at a later date. Finding people isn’t difficult these days.”

So
that
was the rationale he had convinced himself of. And she’d once thought him the most intelligent man on earth. “So he waited five years to find me, just to freak you out? His knowing the name of my boyfriend before I started dating the guy was a coincidence, right?” She laughed without humor. “Stop stalling and tell me about my mother. Or so help me, I’ll go upstairs, pack my bag and leave. You will never see me again.”

He opened his mouth to protest, then closed it with a snap. She’d never threatened him like that, so he had no way of knowing if she’d actually see it through. She didn’t, either. Mad as she was, she thought she just might be able to do it.

He gave her a stiff nod. “Anne got pregnant while she was still in high school. Her family was upset, Carolyn most of all, and rightfully so. Anne ended up dropping out, and we got married. The only silver lining was that she stopped disappearing once she was pregnant with you. I thought impending motherhood had changed her. We were so happy those days despite the shotgun wedding. Then your mother began to weaken. No one knew why. She was so weak, in fact, we thought she’d lose you. But she didn’t. She held on. Then you were born and Anne…she…she…died, immediately afterwards. The doctors couldn’t explain it. She didn’t have any condition that placed her at high risk and hadn’t weakened
further, but the moment they placed you in her arms, she just sort of drifted away from us.”

He’d done the right thing, marrying her birth mom, whom he’d loved. Despite everything, Mary Ann was proud of him for that. Tucker wasn’t doing the same for Penny. Not that many teenagers would.

Her dad cleared his throat, his chin trembling. “There I was, this eighteen-year-old kid with a baby to raise on his own. As you know, neither of your grandparents are the most supportive of people, so they wanted nothing to do with us. The only person who would help me was Carolyn, but again, her parents hated me, blamed me for Anne’s fall from grace and eventual death. So we raised you together. She had always wanted marriage, still loved me, so I did it, I married her.

“I never stopped loving Anne, though, and Carolyn knew it. I didn’t deserve her, but still she stayed with me. I owed her so much and she loved you as if you were her own. She was afraid if you knew, you wouldn’t love her as much, that you, too, would love Anne more. I promised her I wouldn’t tell you, and until now, I kept my word.”

So many things made sense now. And yet her entire world had crumbled around her, ceasing to exist, building itself up as something different, something foreign. Truth now, rather than lies.

She’d just forgiven one friend for betraying her, and now she was faced with another betrayal. From someone who was supposed to protect her in all things, someone who had encourage her always to tell the truth, no matter how painful.