Intertwined (17 page)

Suck it up. Be a man
, he told himself. He’d faced corpses before. Yeah, they’d bitten him and yeah, this one was possibly a thousand times more vicious, had sharper teeth, wasn’t really dead and still enjoyed the taste of blood, but he liked Victoria. For her, he would face anything. Anyone.

“Please,” she said, taking his silence as resistance.

“I’ll be there,” he said. He had a month to prepare, body and mind.

She grinned. “Thank you.”

Inside, a bell sounded, signaling they had five minutes to reach their first class. “You’re students, right?”

Victoria and Riley nodded in unison.

“Come on, then. We can’t be late.”

Reluctantly, the four of them headed toward the school. Their reprieve was over, and they wouldn’t get another one for a while yet.

“Do you guys have schedules and should we give you the tour?” Mary Ann asked, shyly glancing up at Riley.

“Yes and no,” the wolf shifter replied. “Yes, we have schedules and no, we don’t need a tour. We’ve already looked around.”

They had? “When?”

“Last night,” Victoria said with another grin. This one was sheepish.

God, he loved when she smiled like that.

His pulse must have spiked because her gaze fell to his neck; she licked her lips. Thinking of biting him?

That didn’t scare him anymore, he realized. Not even a little. Good thing, too. Soon, she would do it, unable to resist, just as Elijah had shown him. Finally Aden could lay two of her fears to rest: he would not be horrified by her actions and he would not become a blood-slave.

What if you do?
whispered through his mind. He ignored the thought. Not like it would matter. He wasn’t going to be alive much longer, anyway.

“Did you see him?” a girl whispered to her friend as they walked past the tree and onto the pavement.

“Oh, yeah. Who is he?” another asked. “He’s hawt!”

“I know!”

Just as their voices trailed off, a group of boys passed. “Christmas must have come early. Have you ever seen a girl that fine?”

“Think the new kid’s already hit it?”

“Does it matter? There’s enough for everyone.”

They laughed, then the doors closed behind them, cutting off the rest of their comments.

Aden’s hands clenched at his sides.

“Humans,” Victoria said with a roll of her eyes.

“Shall I punish them for you?” Riley asked her.

That should be my job,
he thought darkly.

She laughed, even as Mary Ann stiffened. “No. Thank you, though.”

Just before they reached the doors themselves, something slammed into Aden’s shoulder from behind, propelling him forward. Riley caught him with a hand on his chest and pushed
him to a stand, keeping him from eating the entrance. He spun around, eyes narrowed—and came face-to-face with Tucker.

“You’re in my way,” the jock growled.

He raised his chin, the fury he’d felt a minute ago nothing compared to what he felt now. Since Mary Ann was no longer dating him, Aden didn’t have to play nice. “So go around me.”

You can’t fight him,
Eve said, no longer content to remain quiet.

Yeah, but he can’t walk away, either,
Caleb told her.
He’ll look like a wuss
.

And if he’s kicked out of school
…Julian sighed.

Elijah remained strangely silent.

“Get. Out. Of. My. Way.” Tucker shoved him again.

The kids in the parking lot rushed forward, expecting a brawl. Wanting it, even. They began chanting, “Fight, fight, fight.”

“Tucker,” Mary Ann said, grabbing for his wrist. “Don’t do this.”

Riley grabbed
her
wrist before she could even touch the jock and shoved her behind him. “Oh, no you don’t.”

Victoria approached Aden’s side. When she opened her mouth to speak, he held up his hand to stop her. She could save him from this fight, yes, but Tucker would come back. Bullies always did—until someone gave them a reason not to, exactly as he’d done with Ozzie.

“If you don’t get out of my face, jock, I’m going to grind your teeth into the concrete and everyone here will know you aren’t the tough guy you pretend to be. That you’re just an overgrown baby who runs to his girlfriend’s best friend to cry.”

Good one!
Caleb said excitedly.

Tucker sucked in a breath. “You’re going to die for that.”

“Ohh. How clever,” he said and clapped. “A death threat. You know what’s funny? That’s not even my first of the day.”

For a long while, Tucker just glared at him. Then the glare became a frown of confusion, and the frown of confusion a scowl of irritation. Finally, he pivoted on his heel and stomped into the school.

Okay. What had just happened? Why had Tucker walked away without Aden having to throw a single punch?

The kids surrounding Aden moaned in disappointment but followed Tucker’s lead.

“Very strange,” Riley said. “I could see spiders springing from the blackness of his aura. It was almost as if he was projecting them at you, as if he expected you to see and feel them all over your body.”

“What are you talking about?” Inside that glass foyer, Aden watched as Tucker’s attention swung to the boy beside him. A second later, that boy screamed so loudly it shook the glass, patting at his body, ripping at his clothes.

“Yeah, what are you talking about?” Mary Ann asked. “What do you mean, projecting spiders?”

“Demon,” Victoria said grimly.

Riley nodded. “You’re right. Of course. I should have guessed. Clearly Tucker is part demon. A very small part, but it grants him the power of illusion.”

“What?” Aden and Mary Ann exclaimed simultaneously.

“And did you say
demon?
” Mary Ann added, mouth
floundering open and closed. “That can’t be right. He was my boyfriend. We dated for months. I might’ve been distracted for much of that time, but c’mon. I would have known if he wasn’t human. Right? I mean, I’m studying to be a shrink. A trained observer. And okay, yeah. Yesterday I wondered if demons could maybe walk among us and that’s who Aden had trapped in his head, but I didn’t really believe it.”

Aden didn’t want to believe it, either. “A demon, like, possesses him?”

Riley shrugged. “Either that, or there’s a demon in his family tree.”

“Penny’s baby,” Mary Ann gasped out. “Will
it
be a demon?”

Again, Riley shrugged, though his expression was sympathetic. And relieved, if Aden wasn’t mistaken. “Only time will tell.”

“Shane Weston knows about Tucker, I think, and doesn’t seem to care. I wonder if that makes him one, too.” She massaged the back of her neck. “Very soon you’re going to have to tell me how this kind of thing is possible. I mean, I still don’t want to believe you about this demon thing, but I guess it explains Tucker’s cruel streak, the way he once produced a snake out of thin air and why he was so adamant about dating me and later, when we broke up, about remaining friends.”

“He wanted to stay with you because you are beautiful,” Riley said.

“You think I’m beautiful? Not that it matters,” she rushed out, then shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. “What I was saying was that Aden once told me I calm him, then
Tucker later told me the same thing. Maybe I’m, I don’t know, like a tranquilizer to anyone who’s not human.”

“Not a tranquilizer,” Aden said. “A neutralizer.”

“Well, if I negate powers, how was Tucker able to produce that snake? I was on the other side of the door from him, but we were still close.”

“Perhaps to do any negating, you need open space between you and the one with the power,” Aden suggested.

“Let’s not talk about this here.” Riley eyed the many cars in the parking lot, the doors in front of them and the students still in the foyer. Anyone could walk up on them at anytime. Anyone could be hiding in the bushes nearby.

They strode into the building, leaving the cool morning behind. Students rushed along the halls. Aden leaned into Victoria and whispered, “Are you going to be okay?” He rubbed his neck to let her know what he meant.

“Yes,” she whispered back, her breath warm on his skin. She didn’t sound sure.

“If you get hungry—”

“I won’t,” she said. Again, she didn’t sound convinced.

“Well, I’m here for you, anyway.”

The bell rang and each of them froze.

“We better get to class,” Aden said with a sigh. “We’re already late.” And just how was he going to explain that to Dan?
Hey, Dan. You can’t toss me out because I was talking business with a vampire and a werewolf.

“I’ll take care of it,” Victoria said with a grin. “No one will know.”

“How—oh.” Her voice voodoo. He grinned, too. Hanging out with a vampire princess certainly had its advantages. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

He expected them to all go their separate ways, but it turned out Riley and Victoria had done more than sneak into the school; they’d ensured Victoria had the same schedule as Aden and Riley the same as Mary Ann.

Victoria. At school with him all day long. He would get to spend more time with her, see her openly, talk with her, learn more about her and her people. Did it get any better than that?

Actually, yes. Mary Ann was helping him and Riley wasn’t threatening to kill him.

His optimism didn’t last long, though. Something would go wrong and soon. It always did. That wasn’t paranoia. That was the simple crux of Aden’s life.

“Elijah,” he mumbled as he entered first period beside Victoria.

The psychic knew what he wanted.
Bad is indeed on its way, my friend. I told you that before you began this journey
.

Yet he’d embarked on it anyway, so whatever happened would be his fault.

T
HIRD PERIOD
, the boy pretending to be John O’Conner was waiting for Aden, practically bouncing up and down in the doorway. Aden was still furious with him, plus now suspicious of his origins, and pretended not to hear his eager questions.

“Did you talk to Chloe, huh, huh? I couldn’t get to the cafeteria for some reason, but I tried.”

Victoria claimed “John’s” seat, forcing the boy to stand beside Aden. Others were filing inside, staring at her with openmouthed astonishment. He wanted to hit them.

“Go away,” Aden growled.

“Who? Me?” Victoria asked.

He motioned to John with a tilt of his head. “No. The pest.”

She frowned as she peered over at John. Or tried to. Her gaze never quite made contact. “What pest?”

“Is he…do you think he could be…”

“Come on, man,” John said before Victoria could reply. “It’s not like I’m asking you to solve world hunger or anything. I just want you to talk to Chloe, see how she’s doing.”

Aden flattened his palm against John’s chest and shoved—or tried to. His hand slipped through as if he were only touching air. Electrically charged air that zapped him as if he’d stuck his fingers in a light socket.

For a long while, he simply peered down at his tingling hand. The teacher started talking, then forced Victoria to stand in front of the class and tell everyone a little about herself—
Hi, my name’s Victoria and I’m from New York. I’m happiest when I’m alone and my favorite ice cream flavor is butter pecan. Thank you.

He raised his gaze to John, studying him through new eyes. The glittery skin, now so clearly an outline of the body he used to have. Not a goblin, fairy or witch, after all. How had he not known? How he had not reasoned it out?

“What? You didn’t know?” John asked him. The real John, after all. Killed by a drug overdose and now, apparently, a ghost.

Figured, Aden thought. Were these spirits after him now, too? If so, how was he supposed to be guarded from them?

T
HROUGHOUT THE DAY
, the gossip about Victoria and Riley intensified. One group claimed they were models trying to hide out from the media. Another claimed they were the
children
of models trying to hide out. Everyone thought they were wealthy and a few even speculated they were here to film a reality TV show.

Mary Ann rolled her eyes at it all, not quite sure how money and stardom had entered the equation. She could hardly believe Riley was here. And in human form!

He stayed by her side, watching everyone around her and making sure they behaved. Part of her was still afraid that he only wanted to hang out with her because she calmed him as she calmed Aden and Tucker. Who was a demon. A freaking demon. And she’d kissed him. Did she have demon germs now?

Not that she was complaining about Riley’s attention, but she hoped and prayed tranquilization—neutralization—wasn’t her only draw. Did he find her attractive? He
had
called her beautiful, but what if he’d said it only to be nice?

He could have anyone he wanted, she was sure. Like Penny, if she’d been here. Mary Ann hadn’t seen her all day. He could even have Christy Hayes, head cheerleader, who was currently blowing him kisses as she sashayed by.

“You can go talk to her if you want,” Mary Ann told him. Was that harsh tone really hers? “There’s time. The third period bell won’t ring for another,” she glanced at the wall clock, “four minutes and our class is just down the hall.”

His brow furrowed, his step never faltering. He shifted the books he held—both his and hers—from one arm to the other. “Talk with who?”

O-kay. He hadn’t even noticed the perky and beautiful Christy. Pleasure zoomed through her. “Never mind. So how are you handling the day so far?”

“Fine. We’ve attended school before. Of course, the students and teachers were just like us, but school is school. You go, you learn, and you kill anyone who gets in your way.”

All the heat drained from her face. “You can’t just go around killing people. There are rules, laws that must be obeyed or—”

His husky laugh silenced her. “I was only teasing, Mary Ann. I would not harm your friends.”

“Oh.” Her apprehension faded, and she growled. “Don’t scare me like that!”

“Your enemies, however…” he muttered.

She shook her head at him, unsure whether to believe him this time.