Page 49 of Infinity Chronicles 1
Maggie pinches her lips and bring a hand up to pat her hair. “Milo, you know how it works. I don’t remember anything. What did I say?”
Milo turns to me, I slump my shoulders under his scrutiny. Ollie’s arms wrap over the top of my chest in a protective manor. “It’s okay Laura, Maggie is like us. She’s like a precog, or an oracle. What did she say to you?”
I glace at Maggie freaked out that I’ve found myself in the middle of some alternate reality. “Laura,” Milo urges.
“She…” My brain isn’t coming up with what she said.
“Laura?” Milo barks. I jump, his urgency not helping calm me enough to make me remember.
I try again “She said… she knew I was coming, or something like that.” I look at Maggie, hoping it will jump-start my thoughts and my teeth start to chatter together. The memory of her eyes going white instills a fear in me that the darkness in Ares’s eyes didn’t.
“Did she say anything else?” Ollie prods from over my shoulder.
I clear my throat. “Something about power, they were coming for the power. Then her eyes went white and I yelled.”
Milo spins back to face off with his grandmother. “Do you have any idea what you could have meant?”
Maggie’s face tightens. “Milo, I’m giving you some leeway cause you’re my grandson, but don’t you dare look at me like that boy. You think if I knew anything I wouldn’t tell you?” She turns away from him, crossing her arms. Milo looks down and places his hand on Maggie’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry Gran, I didn’t mean…”
“Yeah, well you better start meaning what you say and owning your actions.” Her eyebrows rise in challenge as she gives him a perfected side eye. “Now take Laura home, and if you damn fools don’t get your shit together to helpherthrough this process, I’m going to make all of you pick a switch.” With that Maggie turns on her heels and storms to the kitchen door, letting it slap closed behind her.
Eighteen
Ollie leads me from the restaurant with his hands on my upper shoulders. The black Range Rover is parked right outside the door. It chirps and the lights flash when we get close. I’m ushered into the passenger seat, and Ollie leans over me to grab my seatbelt but I swat his hands away. I’m not an invalid. Milo jogs out seconds later, climbing into the backseat.
I barely remember the ride to Dante’s house. The shock of seeing Maggie’s eyes cloud over stays with me the whole ride, along with her warning. Now that the pressure is off me, and I have a second to recall her words, they come easily. I’m completely clueless as to whom she was referring to, but it sounds like we need to be worried.
There’s a small black car parked in front of the garage as we pull up to the main house. I’m instantly on edge. I reach down for my bag out of habit, only to remember I didn’t grab it from the diner. The passenger door opens as I curse under my breath.
“What’s wrong?” Dante asks, poking his head into the car.
“I forgot my bag at Maggie’s.” Feeling dejected, I hit the button to release my seatbelt. Dante leans back enough so I can slide out.
“We can grab it on the way to school tomorrow, come on.” The door to Dante’s clubhouse opens, not revealing anything but shadows. I stop, waiting for whomever it is to step into the circle of light coming from the lamps on the garage. Ares moves into the light with the woman from this morning tucked under his arm. An unwarranted jealous rage tightens my throat. I clench my fist, fighting my body’s reaction, wanting to go over there and remove his arm from around her. My focus is solely on him as my vision starts to waver. I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding my breath. I turn my back on them, disgusted with Ares and myself for how I’m feeling.
When I turn to Dante, he’s watching the couple behind me. I don’t wait for him, instead I rush up the few stairs leading to a side door Milo and Ollie already disappeared through. It opens to a small mudroom. Several sets of shoes line the wall behind the door, and I kick off my worn sneakers, keeping them away from any of the others. My shoes stick out here, just like I do.
I take a few more steps into the room, looking past the doorframe into the space beyond. It opens up to a long narrow hallway with a closed door on the right, and set of stairs leading up to the second floor at the other end. Uncertain where to go, I wait for Dante to come in. I just want to take a shower and climb in bed; I’m so tired of this constant upheaval. I let my back hit the wall, sliding down to the floor beside my shoes.
A door opens nearby and Ollie pokes his head into the mudroom, searching around before his gaze lands on me where I sit on the floor. His brows furrow, “What are you doing, where is Dante and Ares?”
I roll my eyes and shrug. “Out there still with that woman, I guess.” The exterior door opens, emitting Dante and Ares. Neither of them gets very far when they see me sitting on the floor and Ollie leaning on the doorframe. “What’s going on?” Ares questions, looking back and forth between Ollie and me.
“I just asked that question.” Ollie crosses his arms over his chest, somehow looking down on Ares and Dante even though I think they each have an inch or two on him. Ares pushes past Dante, coming to stand in front of me. He reaches his hand out, offering it to me. I ignore it, standing on my own. He just had that hand wrapped around someone else, as irrational as it is, he’s not touching me.
I turn my back on him and Dante, approaching Ollie. “I forgot my bag at the diner, I could really use a hot shower and a t-shirt to sleep in, if those things are available. I just need a corner to crash in.” I let the exhaustion I’m battling seep into my tone.
Ollie bends his knees making us eyelevel; he searches my face then nods his head. “Everything can wait, come on.” His arm goes around my shoulder, and I allow him to lead me down the hallway and up the stairs. He turns to the second door on the left, opening it and urging me to enter.
It’s dark until he swipes his hand to the right of the entryway. A small overhead chandelier flickers to life, casting the room in a dim glow. Straight ahead are two long windows reaching almost from floor to ceiling. The wooden casings are a dark wood, which matches the floor. Against the right wall is a bed a little wider than the one I have in the trailer, it’s covered in a soft yellow and white quilt. There’s a dainty white vanity with three mirrors against the same wall as the door to the hallway. To the left, there’s a slightly ajar door and a sliding door that looks to be a closet.
I don’t see any personal touches, no photos or knickknacks. It’s just a spare room. I snort. It’s nicer than anything I’ll probably ever own, and it doesn’t look like anyone has stepped foot in here in ages. “Do you not like it?” Ollie questions me.
“It’s great Ollie, thanks.”
He sounds unsure when he responds, “Okay, well the shower is right through there. I’ll see what I can do about rounding you up something to sleep in.”
