Twisted (30 page)

“You're probably right.” Riley had never had to work for a girl, so a resisting Mary Ann was good for him. Seeing them together, seeing the need Riley tossed her way when he thought no one was watching, Victoria had stopped blaming Mary Ann for what had happened to her friend. Clearly, they needed each other.

Aden gave her a quick kiss and dragged her up the porch steps. Hard and sharp, he knocked on the front door.

Several seconds ticked by. Victoria didn't see or hear anything, but Aden must have because he said, “You will open the door, Tonya, and welcome us inside.” The polished cherrywood swung open, Tonya's eyes already glazed as she stepped aside.

Aden led Victoria into the living room. The furnishings were clean, yet clearly aged, the floral fabric on the couch faded in spots, the coffee table scuffed. In fact… Victoria studied the few magazines resting on top of that table. They were yellowed, a little brittle and dated seventeen years ago.

Grimacing as he made himself comfortable on the couch, Aden muttered, “Julian is going crazy. He recog
nizes the furnishings. He clearly spent more time inside than out.”

“Well, there's a possibility the inside looks the exact same as it did before he died.” She motioned to the magazines.

“Huh. Interesting.”

Tonya sat across from them. “What do you want?” The words lashed, as if she were fighting the forced desire to welcome them. And those shadows…they were in her eyes and undulating madly.

“First, I want you to know that I will not hurt you,” Aden said. “Do you understand?”

A frown. “Yes, but I don't believe you.”

“That's all right. I'll prove it.”

“What do you want?” she asked again, and wonder of wonders, she was less hostile.

“Answers. The truth about your husband and his brother. Tell me what I want to know, and I'll leave you alone.”

“I don't like to talk about my darling Daniel and that rat Robert.” Adoration mixed with revulsion. Her frown returned, and the shadows picked up speed. “I always call them by those names. And I feel that way, I do. I loved my husband and hated his brother, but…”

“But?” Victoria prompted.

“But I didn't always feel that way. I mean, I never
loved Robert, but I liked him. And I remember wanting to divorce Daniel.” Her brow furrowed with confusion. “Or maybe I only dreamed that, because I love him so much. I will always love him.”

Aden massaged his temple. Was Julian shouting? “Tell me about them.”

“They…were…twins.” Tonya acted as if she were having to push each word through a too-thin pipe. “Daniel worked at the hospital morgue…Robert was a good-for-nothing con artist. Yes. That's right.” Flowing more easily now. “My Daniel was
not
jealous of his brother.”

And yet, the words seemed so rehearsed, as if she were repeating something she'd been told over and over. Maybe she was. Those spell books…the shadows in her eyes…the faded black aura Riley had mentioned.

Perhaps Tonya's emotions and her unwavering loyalty were magic-driven.

Yes. That was it, Victoria realized with shock.

In unison, she and Aden sat up straighter. “I think I know what happened,” they said.

M
EMORIES FLOODED
A
DEN
.
None of them his own, all of them Julian's, and all of them devastating. His name was Robert Smart. Yes, he'd had thinning hair and had worn glasses. Daniel had been the good-looking one, the strong one, the smart one, but he'd never been the beloved one, and so he'd always been jealous of Robert's talent for the supernatural.

So Daniel had turned to spell books. Black magic, deeper and deeper into the occult, until finally delving into human sacrifice.

Robert's sacrifice.

Normal people would not have known to go that route, but Daniel hadn't been normal. His human parents had loved all things mystical, believing whole heartedly in psychics, Ouija boards and enchantment of any kind.

Maybe that's why they had loved Robert so much
more. Maybe that's why Daniel had finally struck at him—fatally.

On the night of December twelfth, Daniel had called Robert and asked him to come to the hospital. Robert had gone because he'd wanted to talk some sense into his twin. But there had been no talking. Daniel had stabbed him over and over, trying to draw Robert's ability into his own body as Robert lay dying.

Only, Robert had been absorbed by Aden—his past buried, his mind reborn—before his twin could succeed.

Something else Robert had done to defeat his brother during those final minutes alive? Over the years he'd learned to control his ability to raise the dead, and he'd raised the corpses in the morgue. Several had disposed of Robert, eating him completely, and the rest had killed Daniel before help arrived.

Before all of that, however, Daniel had cast a spell over Tonya to gain her eternal devotion.

“Uh, Aden,” Victoria said at the same time Julian said,
I loved her,
his tone sad, so sad and heavy with his memories,
but she never loved me back. She loved him, and she paid for it. Too late she realized Daniel's craziness and tried to leave him. That's when he cursed her to love him always. All
I wanted, there at the end, was to set her free. And I could have done it, if my own brother hadn't betrayed me.

“Then we'll set her free now,” Aden said. A wave of sadness moved through
him.
Doing this would set
Julian
free, as well. Smart-mouthed, fun-loving Julian, whom he adored. Whom he wanted to keep forever. Losing Eve had devastated him. Losing Julian would be even worse. Julian was like his brother, closer than blood.

“Aden?” Victoria tried again.

How, though?
Julian asked.
I need to know what spell Danny used, and I don't know. I wasn't there. That's the real reason I went to the hospital. To see if I could trick him into telling me.

“Aden, please.”

What if you traveled back through her life? We could listen to the spell he cast.

“Aden!”

Wait, wait, wait,
Elijah said before Aden could turn his attention to Victoria.
He travels back, he looks through Tonya's eyes, hears through her ears, and HE—WE—could become bespelled to love Daniel, too. I don't think any of us want that.

And he, we, could
not
become bespelled. It's worth the risk,
Julian replied with a huff and a puff.

They always thought the risks Aden took on their
behalves were worth it. For them, they were. For everyone else, no.

He didn't go back for my witches, he's not going back for your human,
Caleb said.

He told us he'd do anything to help us,
Julian snapped.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but time traveling falls into the category of anything.

“Guys, please. There's gotta be another way. How many times do I have to say this—traveling through the past is dangerous.”

“Aden!” Cool fingers shook him.

Aden forced the room back into focus. “Victoria, I—” The words died in his throat.

His father was sitting next to a too calm Tonya, a gun resting on his thigh, the barrel pointed at Aden. Immediately Aden jumped to his feet, in front of Victoria, acting as her shield. Junior belted out a snarl, responding to the spike of aggression in Aden's veins.

The ward to control the beast suddenly seemed like a brilliant idea, damn the consequences.

Aden did a little deep breathing, keeping his blood pressure down and his head clear. Emotions were not going to engulf him. Not this time.

“How'd you find me?” he asked.

“Do you really think I'd ward you and
not
make one of them a tracker?”

Joe had always known where he was, he realized. His father had simply chosen not to seek him, until now.
Don't react. That's what he wants.

“Now, if I was going to hurt your girl, I would have hurt her already.” Joe tapped at the trigger, light but threatening all the same. “Sit down.”

Aden sat, angling his body so that he remained Victoria's shield. She trembled against him, her chilled breath shuddering over his neck.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered.

“No reason to be.”

“He snuck in, and…” Another shudder raked her.

He reached back and squeezed her knee.

“I'd be still if I were you,” Joe said. “The slightest move makes me twitchy.”

Warning received.

Tonya hadn't moved or spoken during the entire exchange. She wasn't dead, but she wasn't all there, either.

“I drugged her,” Joe explained, having noticed Aden's attention on the woman. “One injection, and she's out but still functioning. Guy learns to use what weapons he can when he's always running for his life.”

The first wave of danger had passed. Clearly conver
sation was up next on the chopping board. “You sound bitter. As old as you are, you should get over yourself already. Some people have had harder lives.”

Junior kicked up a bit of a fuss, drowning out the arguing souls.

One sandy-colored brow arched. “Meaning
you?
You think you had a harder life than me, boy?”

Don't you dare react.
“Meaning you're a baby. By the way, you should see what happened to the last guy who held a weapon on me. Oh, wait. You can't. He's dead.”

Joe placed his free hand over his heart. “My son, the killer. I'm so proud.”

First time Joe had ever willingly acknowledged their link. And to do it that way, full of piss and vinegar, well, that was a far more deadly weapon than the gun. “So you've never killed in self-defense, you—”

Reacting…

In and out he breathed.

Victoria linked their hands. Her trembling had intensified, though her expression was serene. Junior gave another roar. Much as Aden despised his…this man—no way he'd refer to the guy as his dad again—he didn't want Joe to become a Happy Meal for his beast.

“By the way, your conversations with yourself are more interesting now than they were when you were
three.” Joe's gaze shifted to Victoria. “Do you know what his first word was? Lijah. His second was Ebb. His third, Jew-els. His forth, Kayb. Yes, he had a slight pronunciation problem.”

I was last?
Caleb said.
Thanks for the love,
Hay-den.

Rather than getting caught up in a distracting conversation with the soul, Aden ignored him. There had been no affection to Joe's words. Just straight-up facts. No question, Joe was determined to flay him alive and leave him bleeding to death internally.

Murder with words. Smart. You couldn't be convicted for that.

Victoria tsked under her tongue. “You know, Joe—may I call you Joe?—Aden probably said the names of the souls first because they were better parents and friends to him than you had ever been or would ever be. Food for thought, don't you think?”

Joe popped his jaw, and Aden squeezed Victoria's knee, in warning this time, hoping to stop her from lashing out again. However sweetly she lashed out.
Do not poke at the armed bear.
Aden could, because well—fine, that wasn't such a good idea, either. Not while Victoria was so vulnerable.

“Enough of that. Let's get down to business, shall
we?” Joe said. “Why do you want to travel back through this woman's life?”

“I don't.” But why not tell him the rest? Wasn't like Aden had been doing anything wrong. “However, she was bespelled, and I need to break that spell. To break it, I need to know what spell was used.”

“You can't tell?” Asked with the same intonation Joe might have used speaking to a special needs kid.

At least he hadn't called Aden a liar. “You can?”

“Wait. You can time travel into people's pasts, you're apparently king of the vampires and wolves, and you can't hear the echo of the spell cast? Can't feel the vibe of its magic?”

Again with the special needs voice. “You can?” he repeated. “Wait. Don't tell me. You have a ward for that, too.”

A shake of his blond head. “Practice.” Then, “Why do you care about this woman anyway? She's nothing to you.”

“I don't care.”

Hey, now,
Julian snapped.

Joe frowned. “Then why—”

“I don't,” he went on, “but one of the souls inside my head does.”

Okay, then. I can respect that.

“The souls. Of course. You always did love them best.” Joe turned to Tonya. “Be a dear and fetch me a pen and paper, darlin'. All right?”

“Yes, of course,” she said, slurring the words. “Pen and paper.” She stood and stumbled off, unconcerned, unwitting and in a lot of danger.

Victoria made a play to follow her, but Joe shook the gun “no-no” as if he were shaking his head, and she remained in place. “Aren't you afraid she'll run?”

“No,” was all the man said. “The drug opens her mind to suggestion. She'll do only what she's told.”

Perhaps not the wisest thing to admit.

Victoria studied him for a moment. “You know, you're worse than my father, and I didn't think that was possible. He used to whip me with a cat-o'-nine-tails, you know. Just for fun.”

“Yeah, and who's your father, honey?”

Aden squeezed her knee in another bid for silence. Much as Joe hated the creatures of the otherworld, he might try and punish Victoria for her origins or even the sins of others.

Joe offered him a small smile, content to let the mystery of her pass. “You picked a damaged girl with daddy issues. I guess we're more alike than I ever thought possible.”

What was he saying? That Aden's mother was damaged? That she, too, had daddy issues? So badly he wanted to ask. Despite everything, he was hungry for information about his mother.

The few times he'd allowed himself to think about her, he'd wondered what she looked like, if she'd been as eager to give him away as Joe had been, or if she'd wanted to keep him. Where was she now? What was she doing?

Was she the woman Riley and Mary Ann had seen with Joe that day in his truck?

“Don't ask,” Joe said stiffly, sensing the direction of his thoughts.

He opened his mouth to do just that, but Tonya returned with the commanded paper and pen and handed them to Joe before reclaiming her seat beside him. Joe balanced the notepad on his thigh and began writing, his other hand never leaving the gun. When he finished he tore off the paper and slapped it against the coffee table.

His gaze met Aden's, familiar and once again blank. “Now you can't say I've never helped you.”

Do NOT react.

He couldn't stop his heart from pounding in surprise or Junior's consequent slamming against his skull. He
slanted his head to the side, motioning to the paper. “What's that?”

“Ms. Smart's ticket to free will.”

Truth or lie? Either way, “Father of the Year award, meet Joe Stone. Or not.”

Frowning, Joe leaned into the human. “Tonya, you're going to be a good girl, sit still and listen to Aden. You're going to do what he says, aren't you?”

“Yes. I will do what he says.”

Those eyes lasered into Aden. “Spells are unbreakable unless the caster leaves himself a safe word, I guess is the best way to describe it. I can hear the spell this Daniel person cast inside my head, and he absolutely left himself a way out. Probably in case
he
stopped loving
her
and wanted to be rid of her. Or punish her. Or hurt her. There's always a reason, but those I can't interpret. Anyway, the words on the paper are her way out.”

He would not thank the man. Too little, too late.

“Don't try to find me, Aden, and don't try to find your mother. I'm sure your friends told you about the toys they found in the house. Yes, you have a little sister. No, you cannot see her. She's not like you, and you'll only bring her pain and suffering.”

Yeah, they'd told him about the girl, but hearing the words—
little sister
—and once again realizing he'd never
get to see her, hold her, beat up the boys who hurt her feelings, well, Aden hadn't cried the two times he'd been stabbed, but he wanted to cry now.

“That's why I'm here,” Joe went on, uncaring of the injuries he inflicted. “To tell you nothing good will ever come of your search for them.”

Bang, bang.
Junior, against his skull,

Easy. Easy now.

“You didn't kill me, and I didn't kill you,” Joe said. “Let's leave it at that and parts ways. Forever.”

“At least give him a picture of his mother, his sister,” Victoria said, sympathetic to Aden in a way only she could be.

“No. Cutting all ties is best. Believe me.” With that, Joe stood and strode from the living room. Though he did pause in the arched doorway for several heartbeats, as if he had something more to say, but in the end, he didn't. He left, the front door slamming shut behind him.