Contained (Evolution Series Book 5) (12 page)

Georgia didn’t know whether she should be upset or happy. On one hand she wouldn’t have to watch the two of us together but on the other hand she’d hoped she would get the chance to spend some time with Aiden and pray that he’d once again see in her what he had all those years ago.

“Not a chance,” I said, glaring at her.

She narrowed her eyes at me and thought
‘bitch’
.

Just to piss her off, I tilted my head to the side and kissed Aiden. Although I couldn’t see her face, I could feel the anger within her and I revelled in it. My eyes went wide and all feeling of having one over her went away with her next thought.

“Are you sure you want to do that Aiden?” she asked with a smug look on her face. “I mean, can you really trust being alone with a murderer?”

Anna almost choked on her tea. “Georgia!”

“What? It’s true,” Georgia said. “Jade killed someone tonight and everyone wants to sweep it under the carpet because of how fragile she is after everything she’s been through.” She’d said the last part imitating Anna.

That was it. Without thinking, I sent her flying backwards over the couch. She landed on the floor, which was a first for her. Every other time she’d tripped or been knocked, she’d always had time to phase out before connecting with the ground but this time was different.

Anna was out of her seat and behind the sofa in a split second, bending down to help Georgia up.

Georgia knocked away Anna’s hand and slowly climbed to her feet. My eyes went wide when I saw the blood dripping from her lip.

Anna glared at me. “What’s going on with you?”

Georgia grinned wickedly as she wiped the blood off with her thumb. “See, she can’t be trusted.”

“I can’t be trusted around her,” I said, pointing to Georgia.

Aiden pulled me tighter against him as he feared there was a good chance I was about to get physical too. “What do you expect? Do you really think Jade’s going to just take all that shit from you? You deserved that and more in my opinion.”

Georgia’s mouth dropped open. It was one thing to have me throw her around, but it was another to hear such hurtful words coming from the mouth of the man she loved.

“You need to get over him,” I said to Georgia. “He’s never going to love you ever again.”

“Actually, I never did love you,” Aiden said.

Georgia felt as if her heart was being ripped open.

“Aiden!” Anna said. She knew her son hadn’t really known what love was when he’d thrown the words around so flippantly with Georgia but she didn’t think Georgia needed to have her heart stomped down any further—especially in front of me.

“What?” Aiden asked. “She needs to face up to reality for all of our sakes. And maybe then she can get over whatever it is she thinks we may have together. Maybe then Georgia can move on, although I pity the poor guy who would—”

“That’s enough!” Anna snapped. She looked to Dave for support but he just held up his hands. He didn’t want to get involved and secretly he wished what his son was saying would snap some sense into Georgia. Dave believed that under all her hostility was a lovely girl who’d turned bitter seeking the unattainable.

Everyone stopped talking as Anna looked between the three of us. “Maybe it would be better if you two got your own place.” She held up her finger when Aiden opened his mouth. “And that doesn’t mean I’m kicking you out or choosing Georgia over the two of you. I just think you both would be happier on your own. And, it’s not as if you’ve never lived on your own before.”

Anna walked over to us. “Now, why don’t you two take the lake house. You’ll have peace and quiet away from everyone’s thoughts.” She smiled at me, hoping to move on from her little outburst.

“Thanks,” we said in unison.

I couldn’t hold it against her. She had a heart of gold and Georgia was lucky that Anna did, otherwise she would’ve been out on her arse for being such a troublemaker.

Anna hugged us and gave each of us a kiss on the cheek. “Just make sure you come back every now and again.”

“Will do,” Aiden said.

She then added silently,
“And I’ll let you know when we’ve set up a time for you to visit Nathan.”

“Thanks,”
we said in unison.

Aiden pulled me to the stairs but stopped at the first step. “Oh, and Georgia?”

“What?” she asked in a flat tone.

“I meant what I said. You need to find a way to move on. Find someone. Be happy.” He paused for a moment as he remembered what she used to be like. “You used to be happy… It would be nice to see that again.”

Georgia’s heart skipped a beat and for a second she thought there could’ve been hope for the two of them. Aiden sensed that and quickly added. “But I’m never going to be the one to make you happy.”

Aiden looked at me and smiled.

Returning his smile, I squeezed his hand then trotted up the stairs with Aiden in tail.

Closing the door behind us, I leaned against it and sighed. “She’s right you know.”

Aiden narrowed his eyes at me. “Right about what?”

“That I can’t be trusted.” I looked at the floor, wishing the answers to my problems were hidden somewhere in the floorboards, but of course they weren’t.

He moved in closer and put his hand on my hip. “I trust you.”

I smiled at him sadly. “Thanks.”

“And Chelsea trusts you. Lucas trusts you. And then there’s Gemma, your mum, my mum, Dave, Harry, Kai and Jack. The only one who doesn’t is that twisted bitch down stairs.”

“Georgia and the rest of the world,” I said. “You heard them… Actually, no, you wouldn’t have. But you saw all the next gens scatter, fearing they were next.”

Aiden put his hand on the side of my neck and ran his thumb across my jawline. “Who cares what they think. I don’t.”

I forced a smile. I was sick of being on the receiving end of his pity. “Then I don’t either.”

He didn’t believe me for a second but he didn’t pull me up on it either. “Good.” Aiden dropped his hand then went over to our bags. “Let’s get out of here.”

Nodding, I went over to Aiden and put my hand on his arm. “Take me away,” I said with a smile.

He picked up our bags and transported us to the bedroom of a little house surrounded by trees, overlooking a lake. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought we were sharing the same lake as his parents. The only thing different was the variety of trees. There was only one place on earth Eucalyptus trees grew. We were back in Australia. A Kookaburra laughed in the distance, bringing a smile to my face. As a kid, Chelsea and I loved trying to imitate their chatter. I was hopelessly bad but Chelsea nailed it, and often had the birds responding to her as if she was one of them.

“What do you think?” Aiden asked, setting the bags down.

I looked around the room. The furnishing wasn’t the Scott’s usual modern décor but it perfectly suited the woodsy theme they had going. “It’s perfect.” I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. “Thank you.”

“You know, I did this partially for me as well.” He pulled me into a hug. “I couldn’t stand not being able to touch you…” Aiden ran his hands down to my arse.

I smiled. Aiden wanted more but I wasn’t in the mood after what Georgia had said. I needed a distraction. What I needed was Chelsea. “Chelsea.” I had completely forgotten about her, and wondered where she and Lucas had gone after we left the meeting. “Where is she?”

“Hold up,” Aiden said fearing I was about to bring her to me and we had no idea what state she was in. She and Lucas were in the new lust stage of their relationship and we both knew what that meant. “Why don’t you call her first?”

“Good idea.” I pulled out my phone and dialled her new number. She didn’t answer. My stomach was in knots but I had to remind myself that she most likely wasn’t in any danger. Nathan was locked away and no one was playing any games with us. Lucas was with her and he wasn’t letting her out of his sight, not just because he knows I would kick his arse if anything were to happen to her, but because he wanted to keep her safe.

I dialled her number again. And again she didn’t answer. “Something’s wrong.”

“Or something’s very right.”

I shook my head and put the phone to my ear again.

She answered. “Hey chicky,” she said. “Is everything okay?”

“Um, you know I called you like three times and you didn’t answer.”

“Oops, sorry. I had the thing on silent for the conference and I can barely feel the phone vibrating through my bag. Lucas was the one who heard it.”

“Oh,” I said. “Hang on. The meeting is over. You saw what happened…”

There was a moment’s silence before she said, “I know what I saw but I don’t know what happened.”

“Um, yeah. I’ll fill you in when I see you.”

“Do you want to talk now?”

“Where are you?” I asked.

“We’re in Italy but we’re about to head over to your Mum’s meeting. Apparently it’s going a lot better than the other group.”

Crap! I had completely forgotten that the group Mum was speaking to were oblivious to what I’d done.

I dropped the phone from my ear and said to Aiden, “The other group’s still going. We should probably go check it out.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Aiden asked. “I mean after what happened?”

“You mean do you think I can control myself this time round?”

“Jade?” Chelsea asked. “Are you talking to me?”

“I’m talking to Aiden,” I said into the phone.

“No, I just thought you might want to take a break. By the sounds of it, your mum’s handling it fine on her own.”

“Is that what happened?” Chelsea asked. “Did you lose control and…”

I sighed. “No, Chels. I didn’t loose control. The guy deserved what happened to him, but I didn’t do it—”

“What?” she asked.

“Or, I at least didn’t mean to.”

“And that’s why Aiden was asking if you can control yourself? Should I be worried?” Chelsea asked with a humorous tone.

I threw my head back and groaned.

“Are you there?” Chelsea asked.

Sighing, I put the phone to my ear again. “Yes, I’m here. But can we talk about this later?”

“Hey,” she said, her voice softer than normal. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just mucking around.”

“I know.” I backed up until my legs touched the foot of the bed and sat. “It’s just all this shit about what happened with that guy and then Georgia—”

“What about Georgia?” she asked.

“What did she do now?” I heard Lucas ask in the background.

Chelsea muffled the phone. “I don’t know.”

Sitting beside me Aiden slipped his hand under my shirt and drew invisible lines across my lower back.

I leaned into his hand and smiled, loving the way my tension eased at his touch.

“So, what did she do?” Chelsea asked again.

“Don’t worry. I’ll tell you later,” I said, trying to focus on what she was saying.

“She’s already with your mum’s group so I can bitch-slap her one when I get there, if you want?”

I laughed then quickly stopped when I realised Georgia was with my Mums group. “What? Why is she there?”

“I don’t know. She went with Anna.”

“Anna’s there, too? Why?”

“No idea.”

“We’ll meet you there soon.”

“And then we can bitch-slap Georgia together.”

I chuckled. “Maybe.”

Chelsea laughed then disconnected the line.

Dropping the phone onto the bed, I lay back and rolled onto my side, facing Aiden.

He ran his fingers over my hip, down to my thigh then stopped. “You’re going to make me go there aren’t you?”

“I just want to see what’s going on. And I promise I won’t go out on stage or pull any other arseholes out of their chairs. If I do happen to run across another screwed up mind, I’ll be discrete. But I don’t think that’ll even happen.” I wasn’t sure if I was trying to talk him into it or talk myself into thinking I was safe and I could control myself. “I can do this.”

Aiden smiled. “Of course you can. But,” he ran his hand up to my arse, “Afterward I want to make this move worthwhile.”

“I’ll be all yours.”

Transporting to Chelsea, we found her and Lucas sitting on the floor in the back, thinking about puppies.

Jumping to her feet, Chelsea wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I pulled back. “I’ll be fine.”

A few people nearby turned to see what all the fuss was behind them. They instantly recognised Aiden and me from the video footage going around the net.

Not wanting to cause a scene, I pushed my way inside their minds and made them forget they’d just seen us, turn around, and pay attention to Harry who was speaking about splitting genes and the need to isolate the one that gives eternal life. Tuning out from his speech I turned back to Chelsea who was looking at me with a sad smile. “Want to go for a walk?” I asked her.

“Sure.”

I turned to Aiden. “We’ll be back soon.”

He nodded.
“Be safe.”

Standing on the balls of my feet, I pressed a kiss on his lips.
“Always.”

Chelsea kissed Lucas and I practically had to tear her away from him. She was hopelessly and unashamedly in love with the guy.

Taking Chelsea’s hand, we slipped out the back door and into a hallway that lead to the hotel lobby. There was a small room next to the one we’d come from and I couldn’t feel anyone inside. Turning the handle, I was glad to find that it was unlocked. Being able to transport anywhere you wanted only worked well if you knew where you were going, or in my case, if I knew the person I was trying to get to. Without actually being able to see where I wanted to appear, I may as well have been a normal human.

The door opened to a room that I presumed was set up for a bride and groom to have some alone time before or during the wedding. There was no bed, only a love seat to one side, a full-length mirror on the opposite wall, a desk in the corner with internet access, and a bathroom off to the side.

Chelsea closed the door behind us, and dragged me over to the couch, pulling me down beside her. “Tell me, what’s it like living with Georgia?”

“We’re not staying with the Scotts anymore.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, let’s just say it’s a little small.”

She drew her eyebrows together then a second later it clicked. “Ahh, you’re afraid they’ll hear you getting it on with their son,” Chelsea sung the last part.

I slapped her knee. “That was not the reason.” It so was the reason but I wasn’t going to admit it to her. She’d never let me live it down. “Anyway, that wasn’t what I came in here to tell you,” I said removing Lucas’s little trick so I didn’t have to constantly hear about puppies.

Her eyes lit up. “Ooh, that’s right. You were going to tell me about something Georgia did?”

I sighed. I knew what she was doing. Chelsea was trying to make me forget about what I’d done but there was no forgetting. The memory of his lifeless body falling at my feet was etched into my memory for an eternity.

Chelsea’s smile dropped and she sighed. She put her hand over mine and squeezed it. “What happened?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I pulled back just before… but he still died.” I stared blankly at the full-length mirror. “It should’ve stopped when I pulled out but…”

She drew her eyebrows together. “Why did you pull him up on stage?”

I blinked back tears as the vision of what he’d done flashed through my mind. “Let’s just say the guy was a sick bastard. And used his abilities in the worst possible way.”

“Worse than Nathan?”

How could I possibly compare the two? Yeah, Nathan had done some sick twisted things but I was able to stop him before he’d hurt too many people. That other guy had been doing it for years. Preying on women, and sometimes even on teens he would have to have known were still minors. “Maybe,” I said, because if I admitted the dead guy was far worse, then it felt to me I was dismissing Ben’s life and what he’d done to Marie and my Grandma. Oh, and then there was Chrissy. But at least Nathan hadn’t sexually violated anyone—that I knew of.

Chelsea looked at the haunted look in my eyes, her heart dipping out on her. “A problem shared is a problem halved. Or so my mum always tells me.”

I shook my head. Chelsea was really something else. She took everything my new life threw at me with an open mind and never hid from the hard times. “You really want to know?”

“I really want to see what’s affected you so much.”

She said
see
. “You really want me to show you?” I asked in disbelief.

“Well, you saw it. And at least that way I’ll know what’s really going on.”

I shook my head viciously. “No way. I’m not going to do that to you.”

Chelsea was about to object but a knock at the door stopped her before she could get a word out.

Relieved for the interruption, I jumped up and rushed over to the door, not even bothering to focus on who was out there. I opened the door and almost slammed it shut again, damning myself for getting caught up in what I was telling Chelsea rather than keeping my wits about me. Georgia was standing in the hall with a sullen look on her face. “Can we talk?” She peered into the room, locking eyes with Chelsea. “Alone.”

As soon as Chelsea saw who it was, she almost tripped as she got up. Chelsea righted herself, brushing down her clothes then walked, with her head held high, over to my side. She put her arm around my shoulders and said, “Yeah, don’t think so, bitch.”

Georgia’s eyes flared. “Who the hell are you calling bitch? You’re just a…” She took a deep breath, held it in for a moment too long, then let it out.

“I’m just a what? Hey?” Chelsea asked, glaring at her.

Ignoring Chelsea, Georgia returned her gaze to me. “Can we talk?”

I couldn’t believe what she wanted my help with. It was as if my prayers were finally coming true.

I tapped Chelsea’s arm. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Seriously?”

Nodding, I smiled. “Trust me. This I want to hear.”

Georgia rolled her eyes.

Chelsea drew her eyebrows together.

“She wants me to make her stop loving Aiden,”
I said, silently to Chelsea.

Her eyes lit up as she thought, ‘
Please make her ask here. I want to see her beg
.’

I bit down on my laugh.
“Her pride is too big. She’ll never say it in front of you.”

Georgia turned around at the end of the hall. “Are you coming?”

“Um, yeah.” I smiled at Chelsea then followed Georgia outside.

It was the first time I’d seen the outside of the hotel. We were on an expansive property located in England, with a winding driveway up to the front entrance, surrounded by perfectly manicured lawns and hedges.

We went around the side where there was a little café with a small outdoor seating area. The only patrons were an elderly couple having brunch in the corner.

Georgia took a seat at the farthest table from the couple. “Okay, so, you already know what I want, so…”

I barked out a laugh as I took the seat opposite her. “And you think that’s the way to ask for my help?”

“Look, I don’t like you and—”

“Seriously?” I asked. “Even after everything we’ve been through?” I shook my head. “I thought we were tight.”

Georgia glared at me. “You know what?”

“Ah, yeah. You’re forgetting I can hear your thoughts. But don’t worry, you can still tell me because I’d rather hear it from your lips.”

She leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. “I thought you would’ve jumped at the chance to do this to me.”

“Oh, believe me. It’s the highlight of my day.”

Georgia snickered.
“Geez, I thought killing someone was the highlight.”

Just like that, she wiped the smile from my face.

Leaning forward, Georgia put her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands. “You might think I’m a bitch, but at least I’ve never taken another life.”

I could feel myself loosing control and had already drawn the attention of the other patrons and the waitress standing inside the door to the café. Not trusting I could control myself for a second longer, I jumped out of the chair and ran around the corner and back inside the hotel lobby.

Everyone stopped and stared. I wasn’t doing anything that would normally draw attention to a person but they felt something in me that had the hairs on the backs of their necks standing up. I quickly jumped inside their minds, made them look the other way and forget they ever saw me.

I hurried through the lobby and the hall, back to the room where I’d left Chelsea. The moment I touched the door hand, I froze. A second later, when my mind had overcome the shock, I was pissed at myself for letting my emotions get out of control over something so stupid with Georgia that I’d missed what was going on inside the room. I transported inside and found a man holding Chelsea up against the wall with a knife to her throat.

Tears were streaming down Chelsea’s face as the guy slowly pushed the blade into her skin. Memories flashed through her mind of the time when Nathan had sliced her neck open and she feared that unlike last time, I wasn’t there to save her.

The second she saw I was in the room, her eyes locked on mine and the man realised his error. He had wanted to spill her blood in the hopes of getting enhanced abilities like me. I had stupidly forgotten to redo Lucas’s puppy trick and the guy had picked up on her thoughts and hoped that if he consumed Chelsea’s blood then there was a possibility he’d mutate to become more like me.

Rage built inside of me, blinding me from everything except the blood trickling down her neck. The man recognised me instantly, and pulled Chelsea in front of him with the plan of using her as his hostage but I was never going to let that happen. With a flick of my hand, I had him pinned to the wall, the blade still in his hands.

I barely registered Chelsea collapsing to the floor, as my mind was consumed with the man standing before me. I phased out, reappearing in front of him. I held out my hand and made his muscles go lax, dropping the knife from his hand. He, too, would’ve collapsed to the floor if I hadn’t been holding him up with my mind.

I picked up the knife and ran my fingers over the blade, wiping Chelsea’s blood from it. Then, in one swift movement, I shoved the knife to his throat. “How do you like it?” I scraped it from one side of his neck to the other, leaving a thin read line in its wake. “Tell me, what’s it feel like to be powerless against someone?”

The man was freaking out, silently pleading for me to let him go.

“And you want me to listen to you, when you didn’t give a crap about my best friend begging for you to let her go?” I slowly put more pressure on the blade, stopping as soon as it pierced his skin.

“Now, I can make this as painless, or as painful, as possible.” I’d said it just to scare the crap out of him so much so that he would never dream of holding someone against their will ever again, but my words hit home, I was no better than him.

I quickly pulled out of his mind and watched as he crumpled to the floor before me.

Gaining control over his own actions once more, he clutched his hand over his throat as he clambered to his feet.

Seeing the blood trickle from the side of his throat, I sucked in a sharp breath. I had almost killed someone. I turned to Chelsea and saw the fear in her eyes and prayed I wasn’t living my vision. Only, she wasn’t scared of me. She was terrified of the man who was escaping out the door as quickly as he could.

Before he was out of site, I jumped inside his mind and made him forget what I’d done. I didn’t need another controversy to add to my list. I also made him have a phobia of pain—on himself and on others. That was going to be a hard one for him to live with, but after what he’d done to Chelsea, it was the least he deserved.

Dropping the knife, I knelt on the carpet, pulled her into my arms and held on until her anxiety had eased, which was all of two seconds.

“Why?” She pulled back to see my face.

Aiden rushed into the room, saving me from answering her question. He took one look at me and somehow knew. He’d seen the haunted look in my eyes and he’d picked up on and the fact that I was still shaken, even though Chelsea was at ease.

Tearing his gaze away from mine, he looked over to Chelsea. “What happened?”

She looked at him blankly. “I don’t know.”

Aiden held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. He then led Chelsea over to the sofa, had her sit down and pretended he didn’t have a clue what the man had done or that he was even there in the first place.

Standing up, I made my way over to the couch and sat next to her. Aiden sat beside me and pulled me into his embrace, comforting me the only way he could.

A moment later he kissed my cheek then stood. “I’m going to let Lucas know what’s happened, and then I’ll come back.”

Chelsea’s eyes went wide. “Please don’t tell him.” She hated the thought of Lucas knowing what had happened. Secretly Chelsea believed that he still saw her as unequal and didn’t want him to think of her as someone who couldn’t take care of herself. The fact was, though, she was my responsibility and I’d left her to speak to Georgia for my own selfish needs; it was something Chelsea never even considered—but I did. I felt as if every time I looked away, I was just inviting trouble into the lives of my loved ones.