Contained (Evolution Series Book 5) (11 page)

I stood there in horror, not wanting to believe what I’d just done. I slowly turned to Aiden whose thoughts were a cloud of confusion. “I pulled out before…”

I looked at Dave who was in just as much shock as Aiden then turned to the crowd, praying there was an explanation out there for what had happened. But all I was met with were frightened eyes. Then the crowd quickly began to disappear fearing that calling a conference was all a trick and that they were next on the list of next gens we were going to wipe out. They didn’t know why we would do that after insisting they lay low but they weren’t willing to stick around and find out. We weren’t to be trusted and they were going to do what they thought was right, not what we told them was right.

Bringing his arm over my chest from behind, Aiden pulled me against him. Then turned me in his arms and held my head close against his chest as the last of the people left. “I’m taking her home,” Aiden said to Dave.

“Ah, yeah, okay,” he replied. “We’ll clean up here then meet you back at the house.”

Tears slipped from my eyes as I listened to the thoughts of the remaining next gens. None of them wanted to believe what I’d done but they’d seen it first hand and Anna’s mind was the worst. She feared that Tyson and Mrs. Carson were next and whether she should have them moved to somewhere I didn’t know about, but it would be pointless because all I needed to do was go into her mind and I’d know their location or just transport to them. I was uncontrollable.

Aiden kissed the top of my head as we phased out. A moment later we landed on the floor of our latest bedroom. He guided me over to the bed and gently eased me down so I was sitting with my back on the pillows. Aiden then climbed in next to me and pulled me into his arms, letting my tears fall without saying a word. He knew that I needed time to process what had happened and if he was honest with himself, he needed that time as well.

What felt like an eternity but was more like five minutes later, I tilted my head up so I could look at him. “I didn’t… I pulled back before…”

He drew my head against his chest and stroked my hair. “It’s okay.” Aiden kissed the top of my head. “We don’t have to do this now.”

Seeing with his own eyes what I’d done, Aiden still thought there had to be a logical explanation.

I closed my eyes as my mind reeled with images of the mans death, the pain I’d put him through and how I’d moved one step closer to becoming my father. I had let his crimes consume me and was so focused on seeking revenge for the women he’d hurt, but I never thought—or wanted to, kill him. Yes, he deserved to die or at least end up in a padded cell like my father’s but… I never truly believed I was capable of it.
“I swear I pulled out.”

Aiden trusted me and took what I said as the truth, but I had to make him see for himself. I opened my mind to him, not just my thoughts. I needed him to not just believe with his heart, I needed him to know without any doubt what had happened on the stage.

At first Aiden was confused, but then anger flared inside of him when he realised what the man was responsible for. Eventually he saw that I had indeed pulled out, and he wondered if I had secretly hoped the guy would die, because that’s what he would’ve done, if the situation were reversed. Aiden would’ve finished him off. Maybe not in front of so many people, but he definitely didn’t think the man had a right to take another breath.

“Did I kill him without meaning to?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” When he realised how bad that sounded, he said, “That’s the only explanation, because I felt you pull back.” He was referring to my memory of the event, not what he witnessed standing beside me. Aiden still hated not being able to hear every thought I had. And at times like this, I wished he were still able to.

All too soon, the others arrived at the house and I quickly put my mind barrier up. I could hear the questions looming in their heads and felt sick at the discussions they’d already had about me. Not one person downstairs wanted to believe I had done that on purpose and all thought there must’ve been a good explanation for my actions. No one suspected the other possibility, not even Anna. And I didn’t want to bring that part of my worries to their attention. What Anna was thinking was worse than the others, but at least she’d had the decency to keep her mouth shut about her vision until we’d spoken about what she’d seen.

I heard Anna excuse herself from the others, then her footsteps as she trotted up the stairs on her way to see me. Any other time she would’ve transported to us, but she thought that I could use the warning as a brief period to ready myself for her questions.

A moment later she knocked on the door. “Can I come in?”

Aiden looked to me, wondering if he should send his mother away until I was in a better frame of mind. The problem was, what I’d done wasn’t going away and I had to deal with it sooner or later.

“Come in,” I said, my stomach churning with dread.

Anna stepped inside the room with a mixture of emotions.

I felt as if I was going to be sick and had to cover my mouth with my hand while I breathed in and out, trying to make it all go away.

Her eyes softened and she smiled sadly. “Can we talk?”

I nodded.

Anna’s gaze flicked to Aiden as she sat on the edge of the bed.
“Does he know about my vision?”

“Yeah,”
I replied.

She patted my leg. “What happened back there with that guy?”

If I hadn’t been able to hear her thoughts I would’ve suspected she was trying to get another vision and I realised that I might have to stop people from touching me all together.

For the next few minutes I explained what had happened. Anna’s face twisted in horror when I explained what he’d done to those women. She believed that man didn’t deserve to take another breath, but was surprised that I’d actually killed him when I had spared my father. She also wondered, as I had, if I really had done it and just didn’t want to believe it. And if I had, then was her vision eventually going to come true, and what the ramifications of that would be.

“Are you sure you pulled out?” she asked.

Nodding my head, I said, “I’m sure.”

“I saw her pull out just before he died,” Aiden said.

“So, you’re sure that you didn’t leave it too late and you’d accidently gone too far when you witnessed his crimes first hand. I mean, no one would blame you if you did. The guy was a scum bag and what he did to those women… he deserved so much more in my opinion…” Anna trailed off as she imagined what those girls must’ve gone through. But she also had questions, and I didn’t like what Anna was about to propose.

“Do you mind if I see things for myself?” When she saw the horrified expression on my face she added, “That way I can help you try to work things out. I mean, Aiden doesn’t have as much experience with these things as I do and I’m sure you want to get to the bottom of this, don’t you.”

I sat there staring at her, trying to work out what to say. Of course I wanted to know what was going on, but I didn’t want to let her inside my mind. Yes, I trusted her but if she so much as caught a glimpse of one of my other visions. She’d probably kick me out just as a precautionary step, for the safety of her family.

“Mum,” Aiden said. When she looked at him he continued, “Don’t pressure her.”

Her heart sank. She didn’t understand why I was being so on guard when in the past I’d always allowed her into my mind when something was confusing me. And Anna, being Anna, also felt guilty for making me feel nervous. “I’m not pressuring, I was just trying to help that’s all.”

For a second I thought about how easy it would’ve been to make her forget about it all, but I feared that maybe that was the start of letting my power over people take control. In the end I just said, “I’m sorry.”

Anna’s gaze dropped to her feet as she nodded slowly.

“You’re worried she might see you decapitating that guy aren’t you?”
Aiden asked.

“I know she wouldn’t purposely look for other things… But I can’t risk it.”

“Then let her see it through me.”

“But you’ve seen it, too.”

“Then delete the memory and put it back later,”
he said, trusting I would do the right thing by him. But the problem was, I knew I wouldn’t. That was not something I wanted him to remember when so many other things were proving I was becoming that evil monster.

Feeling guilty as hell for what I was about to do, I said,
“Okay.”
I then pushed into his mind and removed the memory, a sense of relief washing over me as soon as it was completed.

Lifting her head, Anna narrowed her eyes at me, wondering what I was hiding.

“I can show you if you want,” Aiden suggested, bringing down his mind barrier before she had a chance to respond.

Anna sighed then turned her attention to her son and smiled. “Thanks.” She entered his mind and basically had the same reaction as Aiden. She felt sick at the sight of what that arsehole had done and that overcame any questions about my intentions. There was a huge possibility that, even if I had briefly pulled out of his mind with the intention of giving him a slight reprieve before I moved on to his next victim, that I’d wished his death and had killed him without meaning to.

Withdrawing from Aiden’s mind, she sat there too stunned to put her thoughts into words.

“There’s so much evil out there isn’t there?” I said what everyone was thinking. Only, I was worried that I was going to be the worst of them all. I could wipe out others without so much as breaking a sweat. I was dangerous. And I was scared out of my mind, fearing what I was turning into. What if I was too late in stopping Nathan, and he already had my outcome sealed in stone? What if I never stood a chance?

It took Anna a good couple of minutes to pull herself together and remember what else she’d wanted to talk to me about. “I think we also need to discuss my vision.”

“Was it the first you’ve had since Aiden was born?” I asked.

Anna was taken aback by my question, as she’d prepared to do all the asking. “Um… yeah. I didn’t think I was ever going to get my ability back again.”

“Do all the next gens get visions?” Looking over to Aiden, I realised he’d never had a single vision since he’d told me I was a next gen. “You’ve never had one have you?”

“No,” he said. “Although sometimes I wish I did.” He was thinking that if he was able to, then maybe he could give a different insight into the future and not just have to rely on my version. The fact that his mum’s version was all too similar to mine remained insignificant in his belief in what was to come.

“Visions aren’t something that all, or even most next gens, have the ability for,” Anna said. “I was the only one out of our group who ever had one. And as Aiden told you, I haven’t been able to have them since he was born…” She trailed off as she tried to remember exactly when she’d lost her ability. “Actually, it could’ve been while I was pregnant but…” Anna couldn’t pin point the exact time when she’d had her last vision and I thought that was all to do with my father screwing with them from earlier than we first thought.

The three of us had jumped to the same conclusion. “When did you first meet Nathan?” I asked.

“Shortly after Aiden was born.” She remembered the first time she’d seen him as clear as day. Nathan had been sitting on a bench in a park, on his own with two tiny babies. The look on his face was devastating, but she couldn’t hear his thoughts, which was a dead giveaway that he was like her. Anna had approached him while pushing Aiden in his stroller. Nathan had looked up at her as she walked by, his eyes glistening with tears. Anna, being Anna, stopped to ask if he was all right and if there was anything she could help him with. Nathan had quickly realised they were alike and only confided the barest of words as to why he was upset. The twin’s mother had died at birth and he was struggling to deal with his pain and raise their babies without her. That was the first and last time he’d mentioned her.

Anna and Dave had taken him in, helped to look after Lucas and Georgia, giving him the time he needed to heal on his own. Nathan hadn’t wanted to use his abilities on himself because he believed his wife deserved more than a casual tear every now and again. Over the next few months, Nathan slowly moved past his grief and had already become a part of the Scott’s life.

Once again, I wondered if that had all been set up, if he’d really been grieving for his wife that day in the park and who really was Lucas and Georgia’s real mother?

That question would remain unanswered until I was able to get near Nathan again.

“I don’t suppose you could ask Kai to organise for us to see Nathan so we can clear up a few things?” Aiden asked his mum.

I narrowed my eyes at him wondering how the hell he knew what I’d been thinking. Yeah, his thoughts had practically matched mine but it always surprised me how in tune we were with each other. It was as if he really were my other half.

“Didn’t you already search his mind before we put him in the psych ward?” Anna asked me.

I bit my lip. Yeah, I should’ve gone right through his memories but that would’ve taken forever. “I was really only looking for certain things and just bypassed the rest as I focused on finding the trail I was after.”

“Which was about you and Aiden wasn’t it?”

I nodded. “And my mum, too,” I said, trying not to sound like the pathetic person I was. I had Nathan in my hands and could’ve found out whatever I wanted to and all I could think to do was verify Aiden’s love for me and see if my mother betrayed me in any way. “There were so many other things I should’ve looked for. I mean, Lucas deserves to find out who his mother is and—”

“And Georgia,” Anna said.

Aiden bit down on his smile, which didn’t get past his mother.

“You two really need to give her a chance,” she said then looked to me. “Georgia is your sister. And—”

“Half sister,” I clarified. I was happy to call Lucas my brother but with Georgia, she was lucky I was that generous.

“Whatever,” Anna said. “Forever is a long time to not speak to your family. You never know when you might need each other and,” she held her finger up when I was about to say something, “You may be surprised that you both have things in common.”

“Yeah, we both love your son,” I said under my breath.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean the two of you can’t get past it.”

I choked on a laugh. “Ah, yes it does.”

“Look,” Aiden said to his mum. “Georgia’s the one being a bitch. You can’t possibly expect Jade to just accept the way Georgia’s been treating her.”

“Or dismiss her constant wishes that I would just get hit by a truck so she could have Aiden back.”

Anna’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Yeah, I bet you didn’t know that about her did you?” I said. I was sick to death of Anna trying to play the peacemaker. The fact was, Georgia and I would never get along and I was fine with that. All Anna needed to do was accept my wishes and move on.

“No, I didn’t,” she said, frowning. She half wondered if that was the truth or I was making things up. Anna didn’t want to start doubting me but her vision was starting to play on her mind and I wasn’t doing myself any favours in repelling her concern.

“Mum,” Aiden said. He only ever called her that when he wanted to pull on her heartstrings, which had all to do with me as he had already picked up on the energy shift in the room.

“Yeah, sweetie,” Anna said, with a smile.

He wrapped his other arm around me, pulling me tighter against his body. “Please, just leave it alone. We’re happy and we don’t need, nor want, Georgia in our lives.”

Anna took it the exact way he had intended. He was making it clear to her that he only had one priority in his life and there was no room for anyone who tried to jeopardise his relationship with the one he loved. We didn’t need that in our lives when we had so many other things to deal with.

Her face slumped and she smiled wearily. “I’m sorry. I won’t push anymore. If you really don’t want to try to move past these hang ups you have with each other, than that’s your business.”

I smiled. “Thanks.”

“Right, then.” She stood. “I’ll leave you guys to it.” Anna phased out but quickly reappeared. “Oh, and I’ll have a chat with Kai about when you can go see Nathan.”

“Thanks,” we said in unison.

“Well, why don’t you two get some rest, you’ve been up for well over twenty-four hours.” She smiled once more before transporting down stairs to the others.

I breathed out heavily, glad that I had somehow gotten out of talking in detail about Anna’s vision and half-wondered if I was subconsciously to blame for that, too.

Aiden shifted so his head was resting on the pillow and I was tucked into his side. “Sorry about Anna.”

I tilted my head back so I could see him. “It’s fine. It’s what she does.”

He drew his eyebrows together. “Does Georgia seriously want to see you hit by a bus?”

I grinned. “Yep. She sure does,” I said. “But I guess I have to give her credit, because she knows a bus could never kill me and she’s never wished that Nathan was successful when he tried injecting that shit into me.”

Aiden stilled at the memory of that event. Even though that night still haunted me, Aiden thought of it as one of the best nights of his life. He’d fallen in love with me all over again and we’d come up with a way to put Nathan away for good.

I peeled back the top of his shirt just enough to see the only scar to ever remain on his body. A shiver ran down my spine as I traced the thin line with my finger. That night could’ve ended so badly and Aiden’s scar would be my constant reminder. Yeah, I was lucky my blood was able to save him, which was kind of an irony at it’s best. Nathan was responsible for sticking the knife in Aiden’s chest, but he was also responsible for the blood running through my veins that enabled me to save him. For that, I was forever grateful I was different. But that would never have been an issue if it hadn’t been for my blood, either. It was a catch twenty-two.

Aiden put his hand over mine then brought my hand to his lips. “I love you, you know that?”

I chuckled. “That is something I definitely know.” I turned onto my stomach and moved up so my lips were inches from his. “But I’ll never get tired of hearing you say those words.”

“I love you,” he said again, then put his hand on the back of my head and kissed me; softly at first but quickly growing with intensity as that night flashed through his mind, knowing we were lucky to still have each other.

He rolled me onto my back as he climbed on top, then slid his hands under my shirt and lifted it over my head. My heart was thumping against my chest as I grabbed the hem of his shirt, wanting to get it off as soon as possible so I could feel his skin against mine, but I froze.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered.

I pushed him off.
“We can’t do this here.”
I sat up and put my shirt back on.
“Your parents are down stairs and they know what we’re doing.”

Aiden pulled me back down.
“They know to tune out, which I’m sure they have already done so.”

I glared at him.
“But you don’t get to hear what they’re thinking before they tune out or after. I do!”

He sat up and ran his hand through his hair then stared at me for a moment. “Well, we’re not staying here then. We’ll get our own place.”

“What? Where?”

Ignoring me, he pulled me to my feet and led me over to the closet. “Pack your things.”

“Where are we going?”

Aiden shrugged. “I don’t know.” He let the lid of his suitcase fall open then took my hand and squeezed it. “I’m not staying anywhere that you’re too freaked out to be with me.” Aiden cupped my cheek in his hand and brushed his thumb over my over my lips. “Besides, I think we’re getting a little too old to still be living with my parents.

We were hardly what society saw as old enough to move out, but I appreciated his offer. Although, I didn’t feel right about tearing him away from his family. “You know, we could just disappear for the night,” I said, trying to appease him. “Oh shit,” I said, as I felt Georgia arrive. “Georgia’s staying here, too!”

He grinned. “I guess that settles it then.” He brought his other hand up to my face. “We’re moving out.” He pressed a kiss on my lips then pulled back.

It wasn’t even an option anymore. There was no way I was staying in the same house as his ex-girlfriend. “I guess we are.”

Aiden kissed me one more time before shoving his things into his bag and zipping it up. He turned back to find me still standing there, watching him. “You know, the whole idea of moving out is taking your things with you.”

Technically, not. I’d already moved out of the home that I’d grown up in when I moved into his castle, but I didn’t want to be the downer. I shook off my thoughts and got busy packing my things into my bag, then stood it next to Aiden’s. “You know, it might be nice to know where we’re going.”

“Does it really matter?” Taking my hand he transported us to the lounge room downstairs.

Georgia was curled up on the lounge with a sullen look on her face, a hot chocolate in hand that she sipped at while listening to Anna chat away. The others were caught up in another conversation between themselves and were trying their hardest not to get caught up in Georgia’s sudden mood swing which had everything to do with what Aiden and I almost did upstairs. The moment Georgia realised we were in the same room, she swung her legs off the couch and adjusted herself. She was extremely uncomfortable with having to share a house with us and didn’t know how she was going to handle seeing the two of us together all the time. For a second, I thought about telling Aiden we didn’t need to move out, just so I could see Georgia squirm. But even though that would’ve been the highlight of my day, spending time alone with Aiden far outweighed any enjoyment I would get out of rubbing her face in it. Instead, I had to hear another smartass comment about to come out of her mouth. “Over so soon?”

“Hasn’t even started,” I snapped back with the sweetest fake smile I could muster. She was infuriating. I just wanted to bitch slap some sense into the girl. While she pined after the man she was never going to have, she’d probably scared away at least half a dozen guys who could’ve made her happy. But no, that wasn’t Georgia’s style.

“Oh, what’s wrong? Doesn’t she do it for you anymore?” Georgia asked Aiden, with an evil smirk.

“That’s enough,” Anna snapped. “We are not going to spend the next however long living here with you three at each other throats.” That was one of the few rare times I’d seen Anna get upset. And each time, it was about the three of us and our mouths.

Aiden wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and hung his head in the crook of my neck. “That’s what we wanted to tell you. We won’t be staying here with you guys.”

Anna sat up straight. “What? Why?”

“I think it’s pretty obvious,” Dave said, thinking how our announcement came so soon after they’d had to tune out.