The Secret of Spruce Knoll (14 page)

Chapter 26

It wasn’t hard to convince Elisabeth and Luke that she just wanted to go straight home after school. Mustering up a few tears to get Luke to let her walk home alone hadn’t been hard either. The sight of Luke sort of made her want to cry anyways. If it weren’t for him she’d be with Aiden right now.

Regardless of how angry she was at both him and Elisabeth, she was as nice as she could stomach. Turning them away now would ruin any chance at finding out what they were up to. And more importantly, she wouldn’t find out if they knew anything about what had happened to her parents. Though she was beginning to think she’d have to trick them into telling her. It didn’t matter. She’d do whatever was necessary to find out the truth.

So she blamed her anger and tears on Aiden. They ate it up, encouraging her by saying what a jerk he was being and how he was always so selfish. They never explained why they hadn’t mentioned that Aiden was their brother by adoption and she pretended to be too upset to notice. Luke took full advantage of the situation, walking with his arm around her the rest of the day.

Eren was so happy to get away from him at the end of the day that she was in tears. Fearing he would change his mind, she ran all the way home. Though Aunt Sylvia gave her a questioning look when she slammed the door and ran straight upstairs, she said nothing. Throwing her backpack on the floor, she collapsed face first onto her bed and gave herself over to the crushing sorrow she’d been holding back all day.

Several hours later, Eren awoke to a knock on her door. She lifted her head from the tear-soaked pillow just enough to say come in.

“Dinner is almost ready honey. I made mac and cheese with hotdogs,” Sylvia said. Her cheer sounded a bit forced, heavy with worry.

Eren tried to smile but couldn’t quite accomplish it. Aunt Sylvia gave her a sad look before nodding and turning to leave. She got major points for respecting Eren’s privacy and not asking.

As Sylvia’s footsteps faded away Eren got up and went to wash her face. Her lips tasted like salty tears and she was stuffed up from crying for so long. While toweling off her face she heard a very faint voice call her name. It had to be a dream. After what had happened today she was pretty sure she’d never hear that voice call her name again, especially so tenderly. Then she heard it again. In a flash she was at her bay window, peering out into the darkness. And there he was, standing on the back deck staring up at her. She threw the window wide and leaned out.  

“I need to talk to you,” Aiden whispered.

Not knowing how to respond, she sank back onto the daybed and tried to remember how to breathe. Before she could, Aiden soared through her window, cleared the bed, and landed softly on the floor. He remained half-crouched, staring up at her from beneath a mess of his brown/black hair. An aura of green energy surrounded him. Much to Eren’s relief there wasn’t a trace of anger in it. Until that moment she hadn’t realized that she was actually a bit afraid of him. Guilt and remorse darkened his eyes, stopping her from saying anything.

“I’m so sorry, E. I never meant to make you cry. I didn’t want to leave things like that but I had to,” he told her.

It took a moment for it to sink in that he wasn’t mad at her. When it did, Eren moved forward onto the edge of the bed and reached out to touch the side of his face. Her hand shook. Afraid or not, she couldn’t bear to see him like that. The look of misery in his eyes eased a bit.

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry for. It looked bad, but I swear there’s nothing going on between Luke and me. I don’t even like him,” Eren said.

It didn’t make sense that he felt bad. He had a right to be mad considering how what he had seen appeared. As much as it hurt her, she understood his initial reaction.

“I know. I could see that in your eyes, in the way you cringed. I wanted to tear him away from you, but I couldn’t. I had to make them think I was furious with you and wanted nothing more to do with you. It was the only way to keep you safe,” he explained.

Eren was blown away by the fact that he’d noticed all that. Not too blown away to miss the last part though.

“Keep me safe?” she asked.

“The Moldovans and your family have a lot of bad feelings between them. My siblings hate me and if I’m around you, it only gives them more of an excuse to hate you,” he said as he reached up and took her hand in his.

A horrible realization settled over Eren. He didn’t know what had really happened to his birth parents, and what had most likely happened to her parents. Taking a deep breath, she reached down and took his hand in both of hers. She told him everything Sylvia had told her, leaving out the part about Alin and Fane. There was no way she was going to betray Sylvia’s trust and he really didn’t need to know that part anyway. She wrapped it up by telling him her suspicions about her own parents’ deaths.

There was a long moment of silence while his stunned mind worked over this. Anger and helplessness warred across his face. To her surprise though, his anger was muted.

“I’m not surprised. Actually, I think I always suspected something like that. My adopted parents hate me. They regretted taking me, I could tell. I remind them every day of how far they were willing to sink when they thought they couldn’t have kids of their own. I’ve always known they’re terrible people,” he finally said.

Tears slid down Eren’s cheeks. She couldn’t hold them back. It hurt too much to hear the pain in his voice. They had both lost so much. It wasn’t fair.

“But you’re not a bad person, Aiden. You’re amazing and I
won’t
stay away from you,” she swore.

Aiden scooted up to the bed and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her leg. Eren bent over him, burying her face in his hair as she embraced him. It was a long time before either of them moved.

“We need to find enough evidence to prove what they’ve done. That’s the only reason I’ve even talked to Luke and Elisabeth,” Eren said when she was able to stop crying.

“You think they might know something?” Aiden asked.

“Maybe. I’m guessing they’re close to their parents,” she said.

Aiden nodded against her leg and she thought she heard him sniffle. A terrible idea occurred to her. Something she desperately hoped she was wrong about.

“What happened the day you channeled for me?” she asked.

Instead of stiffening like she thought he might, Aiden clung tighter to her. A hint of that scary anger darkened the core of his power, making him hot to the touch. Eren didn’t let go though.

“Luke and Elisabeth followed me here. They suppressed their energy so I wouldn’t know. When you turned your back Elisabeth commanded a bear to attack me. Then she turned it on you. They drug me home and my adopted father chained me up so I couldn’t leave,” he said.

Eren drew in a sharp breath and clung tighter to him.

“Did he hurt you?” she whispered.

“That doesn’t matter. You’re all right, that’s all that matters,” he said.

Shaking her head, Eren pushed him back so she could look into his face.

“That’s not true. You matter,” she told him, her desperate tone leaving no room for argument.

Aiden stood and pulled her to him. Her arms snaked around his waist and she pressed her cheek against his stomach. It was amazing how much comfort she drew just from his touch.

“Then you’re right. To keep each other safe we have to find proof. I think my siblings may be trying to hurt both you and me to please their parents,” he said.

Eren noticed how he said ‘their parents’ and she also caught the angry way he sneered the word ‘siblings.’ They must be very cruel to him to cause him to be so bitter. Suddenly his interaction with Elisabeth at the coffee shop last summer made sense. No wonder he had a dangerous temper. It made Eren so angry that she had to fight back the vibrating feeling of the channeling. He shouldn’t have to live like this, something had to be done.

“They already think you won’t forgive me. What if we keep up the act? Soon they’ll reveal whatever it is they have planned and maybe we can use that to expose your adopted parents,” Eren suggested.

Aiden’s arm convulsed around her and Eren was reminded of the boulder he’d tossed across the river. He didn’t hurt her, but she felt the hidden strength as his muscles flexed. There was also the intense pressure of his energy just beneath the surface of his skin. It was formidable, of that she was certain. It felt like an endless well of power and it pulled at her. Rather than make her fearful, it was comforting. Despite his temper, she trusted him above all others.

“I won’t put you in danger,” he protested.

Eren pulled back to look him in the eyes.

“I’m already in danger. Besides, you’ll always be close by. We can sneak away and meet each other and we have a lot of classes together. I’m sure it won’t take long, they don’t seem like the patient types,” she said.

He reached down and stroked her face. The feel of his fingers brushing so softly across her cheek, completely scrambled her thoughts. Damn, she had missed him. Keeping away from him for even a moment was going to be hard.

“All right. He’ll expect me to be jealous so it will give me a reason to stay close. If they catch us together we can pretend to be fighting. But if he puts his hands on you, or hurts you in any way—”

“If he does I’ll break his arm myself,” Eren interrupted him.

He smiled his incredible, charming smile and she melted against his hand. Footsteps approached the bottom of the stairs and Eren froze. She had completely forgotten about her aunt.

“Dinner’s ready! Tell Aiden I made enough for him too,” Sylvia called. 

Aiden’s eyes grew wide, but Eren just laughed. If Sylvia suspected they were doing something she didn’t approve of she would have come up. Eren should have known Sylvia would hear them, she’d just been so distracted that she hadn’t even thought about it. Her aunt’s quick acceptance of Aiden meant the world and Eren would be sure to tell her that.

Taking his hand in hers, she stood and led Aiden downstairs. There was no way she was going to let him go home yet, especially since she’d have to pretend to hate him tomorrow. For now they were going to just enjoy being together.

Chapter 27

Being nice to Luke and Elisabeth after learning what they had done, was a lot harder than she had imagined it would be. Every faked emotion and kind word Elisabeth said grated on her already frayed nerves. Letting Luke put his arm around her was almost too much to bear. He wasn’t satisfied with just holding hands. That apparently was not enough contact for him. Jerk.

Just like yesterday, it was easy to blame her anger and anxiety on Aiden. And they loved it, encouraging every bad thing she said about him. By the time the bell rang and called her to first period she was nearly out of her mind with frustration. Luke pulled her into an embrace that was neither quick nor comforting, before he dashed off to his own class. She wanted to scream herself hoarse and spend all day in the shower washing the old spice scent of him off her.

All that faded away the moment she entered the classroom because she felt
him
. People no longer glared at her when she walked into a room (they pretty much ignored her) which allowed her to stare at him unnoticed. Wearing a faded yellow shirt that set off his eyes and clung to his defined chest, Aiden looked delicious. After glancing around the room, he gave her a secret smile.

Eren dropped her head so her long black hair would hide the huge smile that she couldn’t hold back. When the teacher cleared his throat she moved swiftly to take her regular seat in the back row. Aiden was sitting in the same row three seats to her left. When she sat down he leaned his chair onto its back legs so he was out of the direct line of sight of the other students.

His eyes scarcely left her at all during the entire hour. Their weight was both a comfort and an electrical charge that she was starting to crave more than air. She stole as many glances at him as she felt she safely could. Each time she caught him looking at her like she was the most precious thing in his world. It was embarrassing and sweet at the same time.

Her heart sank when the bell rang because she knew who would be waiting for her in the hallway. Before she dashed for the door, she stole one last glance at Aiden. If she didn’t go quickly she wouldn’t go at all. Besides, it would not look good if she and Aiden were the last two to leave the room.

Luke misunderstood her upset look when he saw her and that was just fine. It was best to let him think she was eager to be back at his side. He sneered at Aiden as he draped an arm possessively around Eren’s shoulders. It made her so mad she had to fight back the instinct to shove Luke away.

The rest of the morning was just as torturous with small moments of relief in between. Class was wonderful, she got to see Aiden. When she couldn’t steal glances at him she could at least feel his energy. The time between spent with Luke and Elisabeth was hell. And then lunch time came and she had to redefine her understanding of hell.

“I feel terrible about what happened yesterday. Come have dinner at our house tomorrow so I can make it up to you,” Luke said.

The lunch room meatloaf was almost bad enough on its own to make her choke, his words actually did. She coughed and had to wash it down with water. Elisabeth patted her on the back a few times, a gesture that felt forced like everything else she did and said. To give herself more time, Eren took a few more drinks.

Meeting Luke’s dark eyes, she tried to figure out what he was up to by reading his expression. He was doing his best to look regretful. But Eren was no idiot. If Luke was sorry the Sahara was wet. His energy was excited, as if her misery fed him.

“Wow, you don’t have to do that,” Eren said and meant it.

“I insist. My mom can’t wait to meet you, she’s making her famous caltabosi, you’ll love it,” he insisted.

“I didn’t know she was making caltabosi! That’s my favorite,” Elisabeth exclaimed.

Yeah, riiiight
. His mom was dying to meet her, huh? Did he really believe she was a complete idiot? He had to know that her aunt and grandfather would have told her about the issues between their families. But then it occurred to her that maybe he thought she was stupid enough to ignore the warnings and go for him just to make Aiden mad. Considering the type of girls he was probably used to dating, it wasn’t much of a stretch to think he’d believe that. So, she let him.

Was their plan to poison her? No, that was too obvious and besides, they ate lunch together every day. If that was the plan he would have done it already.

“My aunt would never let me,” Eren said. And it was true, she wouldn’t.

Luke leaned across the table and grabbed her hand, a gleam in his eyes.

“So don’t tell her that’s where you’re going,” he said with a wink.

Eren’s stomach turned but she forced a smile. So that was it. He believed she’d fall for him because he was the bad boy. It was so cliché that it made her want to throw up, preferably on him. Instead of doing that, she decided to use it against him. Her smile widened and she pretended to be charmed.

“I can probably come up with something,” she said.

Unfortunately, she’d have to. There was no way Sylvia would let her go. Her aunt and grandfather were doing what they could to find proof, she knew that. But she also knew that she could help in ways that weren’t available to them, ways like this. They wouldn’t knowingly let her help, it was too dangerous, and she was too young, they would say. She hated the idea of lying to Sylvia but she couldn’t pass this opportunity up either. There was a chance she could find some kind of proof at the Moldovan’s house. It was worth the danger.

“Yes!” Luke exclaimed.

The rest of lunch she had to listen to him ramble on about how great his mother’s cooking was and how much Eren was going to love their house. It sounded huge, which was no surprise, considering Luke’s ego had to fit in it. She pretended to be impressed.

When the bell rang Elisabeth slapped her palms on the table and gave him an irritated look. Eren jumped.

“Are you going to ask her or not?” she demanded before grabbing her tray and turning away.

Eren watched her brown ponytail bounce as she stormed off. It was such a complete transformation from her cheery attitude that it made Eren’s head spin. Something was definitely up and it was getting harder and harder to play stupid.

Luke glared after her, clearly upset that she had ruined his fun. When he turned to look at Eren he had replaced his annoyance with a charming smile. It didn’t work but she acted like it did.

“At the end of this month there’s a big bonfire party, kind of a Halloween celebration, and I was hoping you’d go with me,” he said.

There was no nervous hesitation or fear of rejection in his voice. He was so sure of himself it was disgusting. His good looks were completely ruined by his fat, ugly ego. Eren had to feign embarrassment and look down to hide her revulsion.

Since he was asking her to a party at the end of the month, it wasn’t likely that he planned to kill her at dinner tomorrow. That brought her a small bit of comfort. There was no way they’d get away with an outright attack. But a party,
that
sounded like somewhere they might try something. Knowing what they were up to would give her the advantage and a chance to expose them.

The end of the month was a little over a week and a half away. The hard part would be keeping up this act that long.

“Yeah, I’d love to,” Eren said with a smile.

Lying was getting easier. She didn’t like that. Come to think of it, there was nothing about being around Luke and Elisabeth that she liked. How had she gotten herself into this? It was going to be a very long wait until the party.