A Broken Fate (The Beautiful Fate Series book 2) (19 page)

Ari walked back in to the bedroom still talking. “Come on over in a bit. We can talk about things here.” He said. “No, Ava
’s…” Ari looked over at me for the first time since he came back in the room. He looked me up and down taking in the sight of my frumpy, baggy clothes. “Ava’s just getting ready to go to sleep.” He sighed. “See you in a minute.” Ari hung up the phone.

“That was Nick.”

I nodded.

“He
’s coming by.”

I nodded again.

Ari slipped his pants back on, I lay down on his side of the bed. He shut off the bedside light, kissed me on the top of the head and left to open the back door for Nick.

****

I stirred around dawn, blinking my sleepy eyes. Our bedroom was bathed in soft, muted, early morning hues. Rooting around in the bed, my hands searched for Ari so I could wrap myself around his warm body. My toes were cold. He wasn’t there in bed. I was still alone.

The bedroom doorknob turned and I watched him walk quietly in our room. My eyes followed Ari to the dresser where he removed his wallet, keys and cellphone from his pants pockets. He undid the clasp on his watch and slipped it off his wrist. He undid the button on his pants and stepped out of them. He looked over at me for the first time.

“Oh, Ava; you are up early.”

“You are up late.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry.” Ari looked beyond tired. He crawled in bed next to me and instantly wrapped our bodies up tightly together. I basked in his warmth. I nuzzled my face in to his chest and he did the same to my hair. 

We slept the morning away and woke in the early afternoon to Ari
’s cell phone. He stumbled to the dresser and answered.

“No, we
’re home.” He yawned. He grabbed his watch off the dresser and squinted his eyes at the time. He picked his reading glasses up and slipped them on, “calm down, we’ll be right there.”

Ari hung up his c
ell and moaned. “My mom,” he said shaking his phone in his hand. “Everyone is at Gianna’s. Get up and start to get ready.”

“Get ready for what?” I stretched.

“To tell them all about No. 7.”

Ari turned to head to the shower. I lay around a bit longer and stretched my joints, each one loosened and popped.

“Ava!” Ari hollered. “Get up.”

I didn
’t budge.

Ari emerged from the shower a bit later. I was still in bed, laying on my stomach, face first in a sea of pillows.

I heard his chuckle, then I felt the swift movement of my blankets being ripped away from my behind. I peeked my eyes up and saw a mischievous grin on Ari’s face.

“I
’m up!” I jumped up. “I’m up!”

Ari laughed. And I quickly showered, dressed and met him in the kitchen so we could walk together to Gianna
’s.

Ari
’s and my semi-light-hearted mood did not last long. The heaviness of the previous evening’s tragedy sunk back into my psyche. The atmosphere at Gianna’s was solemn and grave. The tension was thick in the air. Gianna, herself, had red, puffy eyes and a tear streaked face. People stood and sat around, some cried some stared in to nothingness. Nick sat alone in the empty living room. His fingers were tangled in his hair, his elbows rested on his knees. He stared straight down at the floor. Occasionally, he would begin to cry and weep into his hands.

“You are always late.” Aggie said sternly at the two of us. “You should have been here with the rest of us hours ago.”

“You are right. I’m sorry.” Ari said to his mother.

“He was up with me until six in the mor
ning, Aunt Ag.” Nick spoke up, his voice was throaty and deep.

Aggie pursed her lips and then relented.

Gianna burst in to full-blown sobs and Aggie and Julia rushed over to soothe her.

We spent the day like this. No one really speaking we just stared and cried for Nick and the loss of Misha, their unborn child and the potential they had to be a loving family.

Misha’s funeral was set for Monday. We learned this information from Collin, who had grown up with Misha in Etna and therefore, was a very close friend. He and August were planning to fly up for the service along with their other friends, Nigel and Rachel. 

Ari and I learned from Rory that Thais was angrier then Rory had ever seen him. Thais felt betrayed by Nick. Not only had Nick kept his relationship with Misha a secret for three years, but he was dating a non-Greek and he had gotten her pregnant. Thais locked himself away in his study the night before after Nick confessed his secrets and hadn
’t spoken a word since.

Evening set in and I began to help Aggie make an easy dinner of leftover turkey and noodles. Thais appeared from his study and pointed to Nick who was still sitting in the living room with bloodshot eyes. “Let
’s have a talk.”

“Yes, s
ir.”

Nick stood up
to join Thais. Nick was the tallest between himself, Ari and Rory. They all shared the same bright brown eyes and creamy skin. But Nick’s hair took on a lighter honey brown color like his mother’s. Unlike Ari, Nick kept his hair neat and short. He was charmingly handsome and smart. He was currently finishing law school at Pepperdine and lived in Los Angeles. Nick was always quiet and we only really saw him a few Sundays a month, on holidays and at an occasional beach party.

He walked away through the crowded kitchen and followed his dad in to the study. Thais shut the door. Gianna began to cry again. They were locked away in the study for a long time and when the two reappeared, they both had red-rimmed eyes.

“Ari, can I talk with you for a minute?” Ari looked up at Nick. He rubbed his fingertips across his scruffy, unshaven face.

“Uh, sure.” Ari squeezed my hand and Nick took a seat next to us.

“I can’t live there anymore - in that apartment. There are just too many… memories. Her stuff is gone, she’s gone. I am never going to see her again. Do you think you could drive up there with me tonight and help me pack up and move home?”

Ari patted Nick on the back. “Of course.”

“We can leave after dinner.” Nick suggested.

“Ava and I need to take care of something first, then we will leave.”

Nick looked at me and I smiled reassuringly then we all sat down to dinner. The table was full of awkward and uncomfortable silence.

“Someone say something, please. Let
’s try to get our minds off the grief for just a moment.” Aggie said to the quiet table.

No one spoke.

“Andy?” I asked.

“Hmmm?” Andy smiled up at me.

“When did your study catch on fire?”

He squinted his eyes, amused by my odd question and tapped his fingers on his lips, thinking.

“Oh, I don’t know, Ava; sometime in September of last year.”

“How did it happen?”

“The fire marshal determined that it was arson, but wasn’t able to find evidence pointing at anyone in particular. He said something about ‘teenagers with nothing better to do,’ but I don’t believe any of us, including the marshal, found that scenario a likely one.”

“What was in your office that someone might want to destroy?” I asked, agreeing with Andy
’s assessment of the fire marshal’s conclusion. I didn’t believe for a second that some Dana Point teenagers had set that fire.

“Well, I keep most of my important documents in my safe at work; all I had in
the study were some of my books, a few paintings, and some of Aggie’s earlier works. My computer was destroyed, but that’s all.”

“You didn
’t lose anything important?”

By this time, the entire table was listening to our conversation.

“No, Ava, the only document I kept at home was the one I had been holding for years, for you. It was in the fire safe and was unharmed.”

I pursed my lips.

“They never caught who started the fire then?”

“No,” he said looking at me quizzically.

“Huh,” I said and then dropped the subject and we all went back to eating quietly.

Once the dinner mess had been cleaned up and the dishes put away, Lauren and Luke left for a walk on the beach. Collin and August went back home to pack. Ari and I both agreed that we wouldn
’t bring up No. 7 until Collin and Luke were both out of ear shot. Neither of them knew
who
we were- descendants of Greek deities that is, and the Alexanders worked hard at keeping family matters private. Ari turned to his family and took a deep breath.

“I know that this is a really horrible time to do this but since everyone is here, Ava and I have something important to tell you all.” Everyone turned and looked at us. Their faces all displayed different emotions from worry and confusion to shock and concern.

Ari waited a moment and continued once he had everyone’s attention.

“Ava has discovered that there is a seventh member of the Kakos family.”

Gasps and murmurs erupted throughout the kitchen. Aggie broke down in to sobs and was comforted by Rory. Andy closed his eyes in pain and sadness. It was as though Ari had dropped a bomb on an already weakened community.

Once everyone calmed
back down, Ari started up again, “Ava has been able to remember some strange details of what happened to her while she was kidnapped and she believes that No. 7 was involved somehow.”

“Strange things like what?” Rory asked, not unkindly.

“Well, without going into too much detail about her experiences, she heard some phone conversations that Damien Kakos had and she has a feeling that No. 7 may have been the one to stitch up her wrist.”

“No offense, Ava, but weren
’t you pretty drugged up during that whole ordeal?” Julia asked this time.

“Yeah, I was. But I think No. 7 was the one who had been drugging me. I can
’t help but feel as though he was working against No. 6 in some way. As if he wanted me to survive so that he could have me all to himself or something. I think I was given drugs so I would not feel the pain. If I hadn’t been stitched up, I wouldn’t have survived; I would have bled to death. I remember watching the blood running down my hand and pooling before I passed out, I remember thinking how quickly it was moving. No. 6 didn’t care if I lived. He wanted me to feel pain; he was so sadistic.”

I shuddered at the memories of him and then shut my mouth, not wanting to talk about my experiences anymore.

Ari continued, “When Ava cut Damien’s thread that night, he wasn’t alone. She didn’t get a clear look at who was there, but she’s confident that it was No. 7.

“Then later, we met Maya, Ava
’s grandmother, in Greece. Maya is Ava’s real grandmother. She and Margaux had been friends and Margaux had promised to keep Lucy safe. When she failed, Maya cut all ties with Margaux. Maya had a second daughter who was also killed by the Kakos family. Before she died, Lucy’s sister had a baby and Maya is raising him. He is Ava’s cousin and his name is Max. He shares some of her abilities, but Maya is certain that no one besides us knows about Max. She believes that No. 7 will try to kill Ava.”

By this time, people were just gaping open mouthed at Ari and me.

“Maya had heard stories of the seventh Kakos and told Ava to be diligent in her watchfulness. No. 7 does not show his face; rather, he possesses the body and soul of anyone he chooses. He could look like anybody.

Ava has been doing research for the last few weeks and she has discovered that No. 7 cannot be killed. When the host body dies, No. 7 simply moves on to find someone else. Ava thinks there has to be a way to deal with No. 7, but she doesn
’t know yet how to find the loophole. We’re both working on discovering a way to be safe...and we want to caution you guys to be careful, too.”

After a few minutes, people began to close their mouths and blink again.

“Is that why you were wondering about the fire last fall?” Andy asked after a moment, breaking the tension.

“Yes,” I said nodding. “Don
’t you think it’s a little strange that just days after my mother died, right before I moved here, someone set your study on fire and the only thing of importance that you had in there was the letter and information from my father? I mean, if that had been lost, if I had never read that letter, it is possible I would have never been warned. I would have been killed months ago.”

“Who do you think started the fire?” Andy asked.

“I don’t know. I guess it could have been any of the Kakos, but I have a gut feeling that it was No. 7.”

“That
’s so creepy,” Julia said, shaking a chill out of her shoulder.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” I said, rolling my eyes in her direction.

We all sat around and grasped at straws for a while. The conversation had certainly done a fine job at moving the attention away from Nick for a bit. But it did nothing to lighten our moods. Soon after, Nick and Ari stood up to leave.

“Will you be ok
if I leave?” Ari asked me.

“Sure,” I picked at my chipping
fingernail polish.