Vengeance (14 page)

“So as I was saying,” I said, trying to push Mum’s thoughts out of my head. “It wasn’t until tonight that I was able to find out why you didn’t recognise him. If you had any photos of him, I would’ve been able to tell you earlier that it was him, but you didn’t. And when you saw Nathan, he made you believe you were seeing someone else.”

“How was he able to do that?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know how. I just know that’s what he was doing when you got here.”

Mum knew how, but she didn’t want to say. She didn’t want everyone to know what they had gotten up to when they were together.

A thought popped into my head. “I need a volunteer.”

Lucas raised his hand. “I’ll do it.”

I shook my head. “Sorry, but I’m going to need someone whose abilities are more advanced.”

“I’ll do it,” Mum said, knowing she was who I needed.

I had to try my idea on someone who was stronger in the mind than the others. And since she had fooled the Scotts for so long, she was definitely the best choice.

“I’m going to push inside your mind.”

“Okay,” Mum said warily.

“I’m going to need you to try to push me out of there with as much force as you can.”

“Got it.”

Nobody really understood what I was doing and why, but they didn’t question me. I quickly pushed my way inside Mum’s head, the same way I had done to Nathan.

“Okay, push,”
I told her.

Mum did as I asked and tried her hardest to push me out of her mind, but she wasn’t successful.

I withdrew. “She couldn’t push me out like Nathan did.”

“Try me,” Dave said.

“Okay,” I said, not wanting to tell him that I thought my mother was stronger than he was. I shoved my way into his head.
“Push me out now.”

Dave tried his best to shove me out, but all his efforts were in vain.

I withdrew. “Anyone else?”

“I’m guessing you weren’t able to push her out?” Anna asked Dave.

He shook his head. “No. I wasn’t.”

“So what does this mean?” Harry asked.

“It means that I think Nathan is somehow more advanced than the rest of you,” I explained.

Kai laughed, thinking there was no way that was possible.

Chelsea looked at Lucas. “You’re his son. Didn’t you notice any of what Jade’s saying?”

“Ahh…” Lucas didn’t know what to say.

“I mean, you had to have sensed something,” Chelsea continued. “You lived with him. Did you not think it was strange that he was disappearing so often without telling you where he was going? Or that he was hiding Nikki somewhere?” She tilted her head to the side as she studied his face. “Where was he hiding her?”

Lucas’s eyes widened in horror. He feared that everyone would think he was like his father.

“Chelsea, stop,” I said. “He doesn’t know anything.”

She bit her bottom lip as she considered what she should say and where she should stand. I was her best friend, and she felt that deserved her alliance more than someone she had a major crush on. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” I said. “You know I can hear his thoughts.”

Chelsea turned to Lucas. “Sorry. You know I’ve got to stick by my girl.”

Lucas smiled and slung his arm around her shoulders in a friendly gesture. “I know.” She barely heard what he said because her thoughts were so consumed with the way his arm felt against her body.

“So what do we do now?” Jack asked.

“I think we all need some time to process this,” Dave said.

“Maybe we can meet up again in a few hours?” Anna asked.

Jack nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Shall we meet back here again?” Mum asked.

Aiden nodded. “Here’s good.”

“Okay then,” Anna said, clasping her hands together.

“Just one more thing before you all go,” Aiden said, stopping his mum before she phased out. “Jade still needs to go inside your minds. We need to know that no one here knew about Nathan and was helping him.”

“Sure thing,” Dave said, and everyone else agreed.

I spent the next fifteen minutes searching through everyone’s minds, looking for anything that would suggest they had known about Nathan or had anything to do with Ben’s or Chrissy’s deaths, Marie’s burns, or Chelsea’s house exploding. Thankfully, everyone came up clean.

“Just one more thing,” I said, stopping Anna once again from leaving. “Nathan has hidden cameras everywhere. That’s why we had to bring you guys here to talk. So you’ll need to watch what you say.”

A proud smile spread across Kai’s face. “I can take care of that. I’ll do a sweep of your house later,” he said to Anna then turned to my mum. “And I can also do one on yours.”

Mum nodded. “Yeah, that would be good. Thanks.”

“Do you think we should try to find Georgia?” Anna asked. “She doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into if she runs into Nathan.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I said. Before they could ask why, I brought Georgia to us.

“What the hell?” Georgia asked, when she realised where she was again.

Anna transported to her side and placed her hand on Georgia’s shoulder. “Come stay with us. Please?”

Georgia nodded. “Okay,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“Where are you going to go?” Chelsea asked Lucas.

He shrugged. “I can’t go home.”

I got off Aiden’s lap, walked over to Lucas, and knelt down in front of him. “You can stay with us.”

Lucas shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re my sister.”

I laughed. “I can’t believe you’re my brother.”

My attention was diverted to Gemma, who was watching with envy the way Lucas and I interacted.

I got up off the floor, went over to Gemma, and knelt beside her.
“I know how you really feel,”
I said silently to her.

Gemma chewed on her bottom lip, not knowing what to say.

“I want to get to know you. You know, as a sister.”

A nervous smile spread across her face, and tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
“Thanks.”

I returned her smile.
“I’m going to go now so you don’t lose face as the smartass bitch you’re known for being.”

Gemma laughed out loud, which garnered curious looks from Mum and Jack.

“We’ll speak soon.”
I stood and walked back to Aiden.

Dave rubbed his chin. “You know, it might be a better idea if none of us go home just yet. If Nathan’s as psychotic as we think he is, who knows what he might try?”

Anna was on the same train of thought as Dave. “And maybe none of us are safe to sleep at our houses until we put an end to Nathan.”

Lucas cringed. He may have accepted that his father was the one responsible for the sick game, but he still didn’t want him dead. The problem was, I didn’t see any other way around it.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go home either,” Jack said.

“At least the room should still be safe,” Harry said under his breath, but of course everyone picked up on it.

“The room?” Dave asked.

“Umm, yeah,” Harry said, realising he hadn’t told anyone but Aiden and me about it.

Chelsea had known, but her memories of the place had been wiped to keep her and the room’s location safe. Even I didn’t know the exact whereabouts, so there was no way Nathan could’ve figured it out from any one of us. Harry looked to Jack to see if it was okay to tell everyone. Jack gave one short nod of approval.

“It’s a room Jack had built with no doors or windows,” Harry explained. “The only way in is if you’ve been in there before… well, unless you’re Jade, of course. It’s where we’ve been keeping any information about Jade and Adam.”

“So it’s kinda like your Bat Cave?” Chelsea asked with a smirk that brought a smile to Lucas’s face and a burst of laughter from Kai.

“Man, I’ve got to see that place,” Kai said. “But I guess that won’t be happening for a while.”

“One day,” Jack said. He, like Harry and Mum, didn’t want to let anyone in there until he could trust them.

“Where are you going to stay?” I asked, then realised I’d forgotten that one very important, vulnerable person was alone. “Shit.”

Everyone stared at me. Before they could finish their thoughts on what the hell I was on about, I brought Grandma to us.

“Oh, my goodness,” Grandma said with her hand over her heart. If she didn’t have my blood running through her veins, keeping her heart going, she probably would’ve died from shock.

“Sorry, Grandma.”

She spun around, eyeing everyone. “Where am I?”

Mum walked over and put her arm around Grandma’s shoulders. “Come over here.”

She ushered Grandma to the chair that Aiden had just vacated. When Grandma’s eyes widened in horror at the blood all over Aiden and me, I quickly went inside her mind and made her not see it anymore.

Mum knelt down beside her mother. “Something’s happened, and we’re going to stay somewhere else for a while.”

“What’s happened?” she asked.

“We’ve found out who Jade’s father is, and he knows where we live. Our home isn’t safe anymore,” Mum explained. She pushed her way inside Grandma’s mind and made her accept the idea without any question. Mum figured she could fill Grandma in later when no one else was around.

“Oh,” Grandma said.

Mum stood and walked over to Jack and Harry. “Harry, do you mind if we go back to your house while we figure out where we can stay? Your place should be safe because Nathan has never been there.”

“Of course,” Harry said.

Mum turned to me. “We’ll see you later. You know how to reach me, right?”

“Yep,” I said. Aiden came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“What about George?” Grandma asked.

“Your cat.” I thought about the cat I had seen the day I first met my grandma and brought him to me. “You mean this one?” I asked, holding out her Persian cat.

Grandma’s face lit up. “Georgie Boy.”

“Oh, God,” Georgia muttered, realising she and the cat shared almost the same name.

For once, neither Kai nor Lucas said what they were thinking.

“See you,” Gemma said. She, Grandma, and the U.S. clan disappeared.

“Right then,” Anna said. “We’re going to that place we stayed at the last time we went to Greece.”

“Okay,” Aiden said. “Not that there’s any need to tell us where you’ll be.”

Anna smiled and turned to Georgia. “You’re coming with us, right?”

Georgia nodded, got up off the floor, and walked over to Anna.

“See you,” Anna said as they went into the next room to collect Bernie.

Aiden looked at Chelsea and Lucas. “Do you want to stay with us?”

“Ah, yeah,” Chelsea said, wondering why the hell Aiden would be asking her that. Then, it dawned on her. “Oh, you were speaking with Lucas, weren’t you?”

Aiden laughed. “Yes, Chels, I was.”

“Right.” She turned to look up at Lucas. “You’re staying with us, aren’t you?” What she meant was,
Please don’t leave me alone with these two ’cause I know what they’re going to do the second they’re alone
.

“Since you put it like that,” Lucas said then chuckled. Chelsea didn’t understand his amusement, but she wasn’t complaining. She would get to spend more time with him.

Chapter 15

“I’m going to go clean up,” Aiden said, releasing me from his embrace. “There’s another bedroom and bathroom through that door.” He pointed across the room. “Do you guys mind ordering some room service?”

“Sure thing,” Lucas said.

Aiden slowly walked into the other bedroom. Chelsea looked at me, wondering what the hell I was doing there with her when I should be in the room with Aiden.

I smiled at her. “You’ll be okay?”

“Of course I will be,” she said, thinking,
What could possibly go wrong with Lucas there beside her?
Also, she wanted me out of her way so she could get some alone time with him.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay with her?”
I silently asked Lucas.

“I’ll be fine.”

Chelsea’s eyes went wide. “My mum!” With everything that had happened, she had completely forgotten about her mum, and more importantly, that her mum could easily be a target.

“You stay with Aiden and make sure he’s okay,” Lucas said. “And Chelsea and I will go to the hospital and stay with Marie ’til we can figure something out.”

“You sure?”

“Aiden needs you,” Chelsea said. “He’s just been stabbed, for Christ’s sake.”

“Thanks,” I said with relief, then Lucas and Chelsea disappeared.

On my way into the bathroom to check on Aiden, who was already in the shower, I stopped as I passed the wardrobe mirror. In the past, my reflection had always belied how I was feeling inside, but the girl I saw looking back at me appeared as broken on the outside as I felt on the inside.

My boyfriend had almost made the ultimate sacrifice by taking a knife for me, and I wasn’t sure he would’ve still been with us if it wasn’t for my blood. The life in Aiden’s mind had almost disappeared and had only come back when I mixed my blood with his. I wondered how the wound had affected him. I’d thought we were supposed to be able to live through anything. Something definitely didn’t seem right. But when it came to Nathan, nothing ever did.

I heard the shower turn off, and a minute later, Aiden walked in wearing a hotel robe. “You should have a shower, too. I’ve put a robe next to the bathtub for you as well.”

“Thanks.” I walked into the bathroom, partially closing the door behind me. I changed out of my clothes and threw them in the wastebasket. I definitely wouldn’t wear them again, so washing them would’ve been pointless.

I turned on the tap and stepped under the steaming water, letting it wash away the evidence of the horror my father had inflicted. The water going down the drain slowly turned from light red to pink then finally clear as I scrubbed with the tiny hotel loofah.

I turned off the shower, grabbed a towel and dried off, then put on my robe.

Aiden was sitting on the edge of the bed when I walked back into the room. “How are you feeling now?” He stood up.

I walked over and tugged on his robe. “I was going to ask you the same question.”

“I’m okay.”