Vengeance (7 page)

“Why would he want that?”
Dave asked.

Nathan shrugged.
“No idea. Maybe I’m wrong. But either way, we’ll definitely make sure Chelsea’s safe. The poor girl’s life has already been ripped apart thanks to Adam.”

I choked back a laugh that thankfully went unnoticed. I couldn’t believe Nathan could so easily pretend to give a shit when he was the one who was making Chelsea’s life a living hell.

“Are you guys all having another conversation?” Chelsea asked, getting a bit irritated.

“Yes, Chels,” Lucas said. “But don’t worry. It’s just because we’re able to talk a lot quicker than when we’re actually saying the words aloud.”

Chelsea slumped back in her seat. She wasn’t really offended. She just wished she could do the same.

“How’s your mum doing?” Nathan asked Chelsea. I wondered if he was testing me to see if I would react to his sudden interest in all the atrocities he had perpetrated. He’d hardly spoken two words to Chelsea before I’d disappeared. But then again, maybe he was just taking some interest in the girl his son seemed to be spending so much time with lately.

“There hasn’t been much improvement with her burns, but at least she’s not in any pain during the bandage changes, thanks to Aiden and Lucas,” she said, looking up into Lucas’s eyes. As she returned her gaze to Nathan, she tried to squash the smile that forced itself on her lips whenever she looked at Lucas.

“Well, at least that’s something,” Nathan said, leaning back in his chair. “Hopefully, it won’t be too long before she recovers.”

“Hopefully,” Chelsea agreed, as she thought about her mum’s wounds.

God, I was sick of listening to Nathan pretend to care. I was certain he was laughing at us in his mind. “You know what?” I asked, sitting forward. “I think I’m gonna pop over to Mum’s and see if she is awake. If she’s not, then I’ll come back here and wait ’til the morning.”

“I guess I’ll see you guys later,” Lucas said.

“Actually, I think I might stay here, if that’s okay with you?” Chelsea asked.

My heart began to pound inside my chest. I could feel Nathan’s eyes on me as he waited to see my reaction.

“You’ve got to leave her here,”
Aiden said.
“Nathan will know something’s up if you no longer trust her with everyone here.”

“Um, yeah. That’s fine,” I said then turned to Lucas. “Keep her safe, okay?”

He gave a little laugh. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You’ve given me this same lecture how many times now?”

I glared at him, wishing I could tell him that leaving her with him was probably one of the most dangerous things I could do, but insisting I take her was even worse.

“Nothing’s going to happen to her with everyone here to protect her,” Aiden said, probably more for Nathan’s benefit than my own.

I nodded. “Okay. We’ll be back soon.”

Chelsea grabbed a cushion, tucked her legs up on the couch, and lay down. “See you.”

Aiden nudged me. “Let’s go.”

Instead of going to my mother, I transported us both to the doorless room, thinking that if Harry was going to be at her house, that room would be the best bet.

“Jesus Christ,” Harry said when we appeared beside him. He was sitting at his desk, looking at a computer screen.

“Sorry,” I said.

He laughed. “You’re lucky I wasn’t in the bathroom again.”

I looked around the room to make sure we were alone. “Actually, I didn’t transport to you. I transported to the room and hoped you were here.”

Harry twisted his chair around. “Is everything all right?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “And I don’t just mean right now. What happened at lunch the other day? And why did you disappear without any warning?”

Aiden put his arm around my waist.
“I think you’ve got to tell him the truth.”

I chewed my bottom lip. Harry had been the one to tell me that I’d been drugged. He had also been smart enough to keep it a secret from everyone else, and even after I left, he hadn’t told anyone from the UK what had happened and why I might have disappeared.

“Did something happen after I gave you the injection?” Harry asked.

I looked off to the side, staring absently at the white cupboards and walls. Even though Aiden thought we should trust Harry, I wasn’t so sure. Almost every single person in my life had betrayed me in one way or another. And Harry was my mother’s friend. How could I be sure he wouldn’t swear to me that he wouldn’t tell Mum and then break that promise as soon as we were gone? I couldn’t hear his thoughts, so there was no way I could be sure. “Yeah, something did happen.” I turned back to face him. “After the drugs were cleared from my system, my mind was slammed with so many visions overlapping one another that I couldn’t handle being around anyone. I needed to be alone.”

“Why didn’t you tell him the truth?”
Aiden asked.

“Because I can’t be sure that I can trust him.”

Aiden left it at that, but by the way his jaw tensed, I knew he had something more to say.

“So your visions have stopped now?” Harry asked.

“They’ve stopped, and I think part of the reason is because I’ve been drugged again.”

He shook his head. “How can you be so sure?”

“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I’ve got. After you gave me the injection, my mind was clearer than it’s ever been. Then, not so long after I got back to England, my mind clouded up again.”

“Okay,” he said, standing up. “Well, I guess there’s no harm in giving you another dose. If it turns out you haven’t been drugged, then your body will still be able to handle it.” He went over to the white cupboard that housed his needles.

“Oh, God,” I murmured.

“Come here,” Aiden said. “Up you get.” He lifted me up onto the stainless steel bench. He hopped up beside me and put his arm around my shoulders.

Just as Harry closed the door and turned around, Aiden filled me with some calming endorphins.

“Hey,” I said when he stopped a little short. “I know you were holding out on me last time.”

Aiden pulled his eyebrows together in confusion.

Harry laughed. “Don’t worry, mate. I calmed Jade down last time I gave her the injection, and apparently, I’m a little better at it than you are.”

Aiden’s arm tensed around my shoulders. He obviously didn’t like the fact that someone else could help me more than he could.

“Relax, man,” Harry said, putting the tray down on the bench. “It’s only because my abilities are stronger than yours because of the age difference.”

Aiden’s arm didn’t relax straight away, and I decided not to push the subject. I wrapped my arm around his waist and rested my head in the crook of his neck. Within seconds, his body relaxed, and he leaned his head against mine.

Harry wrapped the rubber thingy around my arm.

I gasped. “Oh, G—”

Aiden sent some more endorphins that would’ve rivalled Harry’s pulsating through my veins, and I barely noticed the prick of the needle as it entered my skin.

“Is that what I was meant to do?”
Aiden said with a silent laugh.

“Perfect.”
I tilted my head back and kissed him on the neck.
“Just like you.”

Aiden barely contained his laugh.
“So that’s all I needed to do these last couple of days to get you back into me?”

“Enjoy it while you can, because as soon as the antidote kicks in, I won’t be controlled so easy.”

“All done,” Harry said, dropping the needle onto the metal tray.

I lifted my head from Aiden’s shoulder.

Harry placed the tray on a bench adjacent to where I was sitting and turned back to face us. “So are you going back to England now, or are you going to stick around here for a bit?”

I thought up a quick lie. “We’ve got to get back. They’re waiting for us to have breakfast.”

“Do you want me to tell your mum you stopped by?”

“Yeah, that would be great. Can you also tell her I’ll stop by again in the morning?”

“Sure thing.”

I was about to leave when I remembered to ask, “How’s Grandma doing?”

He smiled. “She’s doing great. You would never know she had any surgery. Her scar is now a thin white line, and her energy level is something you’ve got to see.” When I narrowed my eyes at him, he added, “Let’s just say your blood has definitely made some positive changes to her once-tiring body.”

“I can’t wait to see. Is she still staying here?”

“On and off. She’s determined to enjoy her newfound energy as much as possible before it disappears.”

“So, it’s only temporary?” Aiden asked.

“We’re not sure just yet. But she’s not willing to wait and see,” Harry explained. “I’m sure she’ll be here if she knows you’re going to be back.”

I smiled. “I hope so.” I hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know her, and I hated to think that I had missed the opportunity again when I took off.

Aiden put his hand on my thigh and gave it a squeeze. “We better get going.” He added for me only,
“I know you want to find out about your grandma, but I don’t think we should leave Chelsea alone any longer.”

“Okay. We’ll see you in the morning?” I asked Harry.

“Sure thing.”

“Later,” Aiden said.

I transported the two of us back to the UK, where the arsehole was still waiting for us to return.

Chapter 8

I probably should’ve waited in the States until the drugs were out of my system so I could hear what Nathan was thinking, but I didn’t want to leave Chelsea with Nathan for another twenty minutes.

“Did you get to speak with your mum?” Anna asked. Everyone was still sitting in the same spots as they were when we left, except for Chelsea, who had fallen asleep.

“She’d already gone to bed.” I noticed something about Nathan’s demeanour that made me think he was wondering why we had been gone so long. So I added, “But we ran into Harry, who’s going to tell Mum in the morning that we popped in. He wanted to know if I was all right and why I had disappeared at lunch that day,” I said.

“She was probably worried out of her mind while you were gone,” Anna said more to herself than to me.

“I’ll make it up to her.”

Nathan stared at me. I was going crazy, wondering what he was thinking. Did he doubt my story? Trying to ignore him, I cocked my head toward Chelsea. “How long’s she been asleep?”

Lucas put his hand on her calf and gave it a little push, but she didn’t budge. “She’s been out of it since you left.”

“Right,” Nathan said, putting his hands on the armrests of his chair. “I’m going to leave you guys to it.” Before anyone had a chance to say anything, Nathan disappeared.

“Do you think he knows something?”
I asked Aiden.

“Not sure.”

“Who wants some breakfast?” Anna asked.

“Yes, please,” Lucas said eagerly. “What’s Bernie got for us today?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“You noticed he was acting a little strange, too, didn’t you?”
I asked Aiden.

“He’s probably just trying to work out if there’s more to why you took off. But you’re back now, and I think that’s all he wants from you at this stage.”

“What about you two?” Anna asked Aiden.

Aiden looked up at his mum. “Sounds good.”

She turned to me. “What about you? You’re going to eat something, aren’t you?” she asked with a concerned look.

“I’m not really hungry.” My appetite was completely gone after seeing Nathan again. “Besides, someone’s got to stay here with Chelsea.”

“You should eat something,” Anna said, getting all maternal.

“I’ll bring her back something to eat,” Aiden said. I hoped he was just trying to get Anna off my back and wasn’t planning on following through on his promise.

Lucas, Anna and Dave disappeared, leaving Aiden and me alone with Chelsea. He leaned down and kissed my cheek, his lips lingering there as he spoke silently to me.
“Will you be okay while I go?”

“I think I’ll be okay,”
I said with a smile that threatened to reveal itself on my lips. “
I don’t think he’s going to come back and chop her up while I’m here.”

He pulled away, trying to contain his laughter. “I’ll be back soon.” He disappeared.

My mind kept replaying the way Nathan had watched me. I wished more than anything that I was able to hear what he was thinking. He had to have been planning something. Or maybe he knew that I had figured out who he was, and he was trying to work out how to put an end to me before I had a chance to do the same to him.

Chelsea stirred. “No,” she mumbled.

I couldn’t hear what she was dreaming about. Dreams weren’t like thoughts; we couldn’t hear them without being able to go into someone’s mind. And I wasn’t able to do that again, thanks to Nathan. But whatever it was she was dreaming about, I was sure it was something that I had caused by being her friend. Just as I was about to wake her, she smiled and let out a giggle. I wished real life could mimic dreams where you could twist your fate so easily and not have to deal with the monster who terrorised you only moments ago.

Aiden returned holding a tray.

I glanced past the assortment of pastries, muffins and fruit and pointed at the cup of steaming coffee. “
That
I can handle.”

He put the tray down on the coffee table then sat down beside me. He reached forward and grabbed a muffin. “You want some?”

The smell of the bacon and egg combo almost made me spew. I shook my head, afraid that if I opened my mouth, I wouldn’t be able to keep my stomach contents down. I picked up my coffee and brought the mug to my lips and inhaled the aroma in an attempt to get rid of the sickly bacon and egg smell. Just as I was about to take a sip, a small pain shot through my head, followed by an overwhelming pressure that engulfed every inch of my skull.

“Take this,” I said, shoving my coffee at Aiden.

He took the cup, but hot coffee splashed over my hand, running down my wrist and onto my thigh. Another blinding pain shot through my head, and I felt as though my brain was imploding. Then I heard Aiden’s thoughts, Chelsea’s dreams, and the sounds of everyone in the house going about their breakfast routines.