Page 44 of Infinity Chronicles 2
“What story?” Dante rumbles, his voice thick from not having used it much over the last hour.
Adam rolls his eyes. “You know, the cautionary old tale of not eliminating the competition.”
“You mean the guy who killed his pair and tried to take his powers?” Ollie asks sounding stunned.
“You guys really don’t know about this? Huh, I thought all parents told it to their kids.” Adam rubs his fingers over his mouth.
“Can youjusttell us?” Ares’s tone is too demanding to be an actual question.
“I did, it’s that simple. A guy found out about his pair, decided he didn’t want to share his Synergist, and killed him trying to absorb his abilities somehow. No one really knows what he did, or if they do no one talks about it, but I know whatever he did almost killed him and the female.”
“But you saidthatguy is dead, right?” Milo looks between Ares and Adam.
“Yeah,prettysure it had to do with what he had done, and we’re notreallydesigned to handlemore than one ability.”
I open my mouth ready to ask what he means, I already have several, but with one look from Ares, I snap my lips closed.
“Hewas actually erased from the directory,” Scott adds. “I didn’t think it was a good ideaat the time,but everyonewanted to forget what he had done, make like it never happened.”
“What about the female, what happened to her?” Dante wraps his arm around the back of my chair, his fingers rubbing my shoulder.
Adam looks over at Scott. “I don’t know, Idon’t think anyone every really talked about it.” Scott shakes his headlike he doesn’t have a clue either.
“Do you think she was my mom?”
Chapter 16
It’s the only conclusion I can come to, well, that makes any sense anyway. If that guy really did something like that, and it involved my mom, it could explain some of her behavior. If she didn’t know he was dead, she had good reason to always be hiding and moving us around.
Hell, she probably thought she was protecting me all these years. I mean I knew she thought she was, but I never really believed there was an actual threat. It would also explain why she never told me about being an Infinity. She didn’t want me to go through what she did.
“I’m not sureCara, but we’ll figure it out.” The conversation dies down quickly. No one here has any real answers, and we need to wait until we talk to Ares and Dante’s parentsto really know anything. Even then it’ll only be an assumption. Without my mom to confirm the information, it’s still just a guessing game.
But there’s something else that’s bothering me. After we’ve all said our goodbyes for the evening, some awkward in my case, Iask the question that has been making me doubt everything I think we’ve learned. “Ares.” He hums a response, distracted. “If Leon is dead, and we think my mom didn’t leave on her own…” I let the subject sit for a moment.
“Then who took her?” he finishes my question for me. Apparently, I’m not the only one unconvinced.
“Yeah, who took her and why?”
* * *
I’mup early Sunday morning. I’ve lain in this bed for as long as I’m physically able and I need to get up. All the guys are still sleeping so sneaking out of bed shouldn’t be an issue, especially since Ares sleeps like a log. Inching out of the covers, I lift my leg over him and crawl away. He doesn’t even stir.
The closet door slides open soundlessly as I grab a pair of jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt. The guys said Maggie had my shift covered yesterday, but there’s no way I’m leaving her hanging for a third day. Ihope one of them is up in time to drive me to work, I would hate to have to wake them. It’s been such a crazy few days.
Leaving the lights dimmed low, I start the shower and do my morning business while the water heats. Stepping under the spray I let out a heavy sigh. It wasn’t long ago when just taking a shower would have big an ordeal. The luxury of having indoor plumbing is something I will never take for granted. I wash my hair first, wanting to let the conditioner sit while I wash and rinse my body.
I linger under the spray much longer than needed, just letting the hot water cascade over my back and neck. When I finallystep out my fingers are a little pruned, but I feel more relaxed than I have in a few days. My bond with Ares and Dante is complete. Ihaven’t had very much time to get comfortable with what that means, but it’s almost like I don’t need to. They’re now part of me, and I’mpart of them, but it doesn’t feel strange. It finally feels like I’m headed in the directionI was always meant to go.
With a fluffy black towel wrapped around my chest, I wipe the fog and condensation from the mirror. I’m probably leaving streaks behind, but I don’t really care. When the glass clears enough andI can see my blurry reflection, I expect to seesomephysical change, some evidencethatI’m not the same girl I was just a few weeks ago, but I don’t. My hair is a little darker, it’s still dripping wet so that’s no surprise. My cheeks might be the slightest bit fuller, which makes sense because I’vebeen eating three meals a day, if not more. But those aren’t the changes I was looking for. I’d expect that something as profound as finding your pairs and bonding to them would change something deep within you, and it has. I can feel it, it’s just not visible.
As I’m heading over to grab my clothes, I hear a light tapping on the door. “Yeah?” I call out quietly. Instead of an answer, the door pushes in. Dante is standing there all scruffy and sweet looking, with his hair all mussed up and his eyes hooded with sleep.
“Gotta go,” he mumbles shuffling right passed me to the little alcove with the toilet. I turn around to give him privacy, but it doesn’t seem like he needs it. Seconds later I hear him relieving himself. A little giggle escapes. I’ve being peeing next to strangers my entire life, but nothing has ever felt this intimate. The toilet flushes and I pretend like I haven’t been standing here in a daze since he walked in.
I feel Dante’s heat as henears me from behind, and his big hands run down my sides to the end of the towel. “You’re supposed to wash your hands, you know.” I’m notreallybothered. I know he was touching himself to got to the bathroom, but it’s not like he peed on his hands. Dante makes a low growling noise andhis heat is gone as he moves away, washing his hands under the sink. He doesn’t even bother drying them before coming back and dropping his sopping wet, freezing cold hands onto my shoulders. I suck in a deep breath and try to squirm away. “I was just kidding,” I plead.
“Too late.” Dante leans in and runs his nose along my shoulder, his lips trace the water droplets he left behind while his hands go to my waist. “Why are you up so early?” I let my eyes close, between his kisses and that deep voice of his I’m a total goner.
