That wasnt what was supposed to Joe pressed his lips together, but hed already said enough. Riley had already figured it out, and now Aden knew without a doubt.
That wasnt supposed to be what happened to me? Aden spat. Was I supposed to die? Or did you think leaving me in the care of the state when I was so young was going to work out for me?
Breath hissed through Joes flaring nostrils. Thats right. Am I your father? Yes. Was there someone else like you? Yes. My father. I was dragged all over the world as a child because of the things he drew our way. And you call me a monster? You have no idea what a true monster is! I watched huge, ugly beasts kill my mother, my brother.
And that excuses your behavior with me?
Joe continued as if he hadnt spoken. When I was old enough, I moved away from my dad and never looked back. He tried to contact me a few times before he died, killed by the same things that had killed the rest of my family, Im sure, but I wanted nothing to do with him. I wasnt going to live that way anymore. I had my own family to take care of.
You didnt take care of me! Aden shouted. Why did you risk having kids, if you knew you could pass on your fathers abilities?
I didnt know. He was the only one. I thought I hoped It wasnt genetic, shouldnt have been genetic. He did it to himself. Messed with things he shouldnt have messed with.
Like what?
Magic, science. Joe leaned down, getting in his face. As for abandoning you, how could I not? You were just like him. About a week after you were born, they started showing up. Stray goblins at first, trying to crawl through your window, then the wolves, then the witches. Rogues, all of them, without true ties to their race, but I knew it was only a matter of time until you drew them in groups. Just a matter of time until we were runninguntil your mother was dead. Me, you.
What about the girl? Riley asked. Aden didnt know, not yet, but didnt betray his lack of knowledge by speaking.
An accident.
Is she
I wont talk about her!
Well, I dont believe you about your reasons, Aden said. I managed not to draw those monsters to me for over a decade.
Because of the wards, Joe replied.
Aden balled his hand into a fist. I got my first ward a few weeks ago.
No. You got your first ward as an infant.
Impossible.
No. Hidden.
Nostrils flared. Where?
Your scalp.
The freckles, Victoria suddenly gasped out. Remember?
Aden rubbed at his head. Then why did they stop working? For that matter, if you gave them to me, if they kept the monsters away, why not keep me with you?
Joe closed his eyes, his spine sagging. He sighed. Maybe the ink faded. Maybe the spell was somehow broken.
Aden and Mary Ann shared a look, and Riley figured they were remembering the first time theyd met, when an atomic bomb of power had been unleashed, summoning everything Joe had named and more.
And as for why we didnt keep you with us, Joe said, I wasnt willing to take the chance. I had to keep your mother safe.
My mother. Absolute longing radiated from Aden. Where is she?
That, I will never tell. Firm, final.
Riley refused to accept. If you didnt want to be found, you should have changed your names.
Joes gaze met his for about half a second. I did. For a while. But Paula He shrugged. She insisted. Had she wanted Aden to find her?
Aden straightened as if a board had just been strapped to his back. Ive heard enough.
Actually, Riley thought hed reached his limit. He might be veering close to a breakdown. Here was his dadwho still didnt want him. Who didnt want to help him, who didnt so much as throw him a bone.
What about Joe? he asked.
Leave him. Im done with him. With that, Aden walked out of the room, out of the house.
Riley motioned for the girls to follow him. When they were out of view, he tossed the gun on the floor. Rather than make a move for it, Joe stayed on the bed. Hes a good kid, and now hes leader of the very world you despise. And guess what? The monsters of your nightmares obey his every command. He could have protected you unlike any ward, and in a way no one else in the world could have, yet you just tossed him away like garbage. Again.
Blink, blink. II dont understand.
Well, understand thishe deserved better than you. A lot better.
Now Joe bolted to his feet. You have no idea what I went through when
Make all the excuses you want. It wont change the facts. You didnt protect your own son. Youre greedy, selfish and an all-around bastard. Now give me your shirt.
The swift subject change threw the guy for a loop. What?
You heard me. Give me your shirt. Dont make me say it again. You wont like the results.
Joe jerked the material over his head and tossed it at him. There. Happy?
Riley caught it. Not even. There were thick scars all over Joes chestscars in the pattern of claw marks. There were also other wards, and Riley recognized the biggest. It was an alert. Whenever danger approached, his entire body would vibrate. No wonder hed known to run when Riley neared. Understand this, Joe Stone. If we want to talk to you again, theres no place youll be able to hide now. He brought the shirt to his nose and sniffed. Though he could no longer shift and didnt know if he could track, his brothers could still do both. Weve got your scent.
With that, he, too, walked away.
TWENTY-SEVEN
THE REST OF THE DAY, the entire night, and most of the next morning, Aden spent locked inside another motel room with Victoria, Mary Ann and Riley. They pored through the photos and papers Tonya Smart had given them, taking only a few breaks to eat or stretch their legs.
Aden pounded back a pint of Victorias blood, appeasing Junior, Victoria downed a pint of his and a Big Mac, Mary Ann three Big Macs, and Riley a chicken nugget Happy Meal.
When teased, hed said, What? I like chicken, then went back to scowling at everyone and generally acting as if he was on his period.
No one mentioned Rileys wolf. Maybe because they knew the top of his head would explode. And no one mentioned Joe. Not even the souls. Maybe because they knew the top of Adens head would explode.
Joe. His father. Hed looked into those dark gray eyes, and hed known. Part of him had even recognized the man. His father, he thought again. His. Father. The man whod given him up. The man who hadnt loved him enough to keep him. The man who had thrown him to the wolvesliterally. The man who had admitted the truth only upon threat of death.
If hed shown any hint of remorsebut no, Joe Stone was ashamed of who and what Aden was, even denying him the opportunity to see his mother, his sister. And now Aden felt as if he were bleeding inside. Bleeding and unable to suture the wound. There was a steady drip, drip inside him. He had a sister; Riley had seen her toys. Joe apparently loved the little girl in a way hed never loved Aden.
Drip, drip.
For years hed dreamed about meeting his parents. About his dad coming to his rescue, telling him how much of a mistake letting him go had been, about how loved he was. Then, when none of that had happened, the want had sharpened into indifference, and eventually the indifference into dislike.
One look at Joe and the want had returned.
Yet no matter what Aden had said, Joe had regarded him as a liability. Ive made something of myself, hed wanted to say. Im king of the vampires now. More than that, I earned the title. It wasnt handed to me. Would his father have regarded him with horror then? Probably.
That wouldnt stop him from wanting to be king. Or acting as king. Already hed gotten texts from Sorin and Seth. Shannon sat in his cell and stared at the walluntil someone entered with blood for him. Then he attacked. Ryder was on the mend, yet inconsolable about what hed done, and begged everyone who approached him to kill him.
Sorin wanted to grant his request; Seth wanted to eliminate Sorin.
Aden had commanded them both to leave the boy alone and let him heal. Oh, yeah. And to suck it. They were supposed to help him, not hinder him.
Hey, I think I know them, Julian said excitedly, cutting into Adens thoughts.
Focus, he had to focus. He peered down at the photo in his hand and saw two men. Both were of average height. One had thinning dark hair and glasses, the other had a full head of dark hair and no glasses. They were standing side by side, though they werent touching. Or smiling. The back of the photo read Daniel and Robert.
So. Here were the Smart brothers.
Do you think thats really me? Julian asked. The one with the hair and without glasses, I mean. I would not have sported a comb-over.
How do you know? Caleb asked. Or rather, grumbled. But at least he wasnt crying. We dont know anything about our former selves.
Im glad you recognize the guys, but do you remember anything about them? Aden asked. Or why there are spell books in this box? Lots of spell books. And the papers? All about casting spells. Love spells, black magic spells. Spells to raise the dead. Spells to find the dead. Was that how Robert had done what hed done?
If so, why didnt Aden need spells to do what he did? Joe had claimed even his grandfather had used magic. Julian sighed. No. I dont remember.
Eve hadnt, either. Not at first.
Still. It was only a matter of time now.
And the Boy King is back from la-la land, Riley muttered.
Boy King? Aden flipped him off, and Victoria batted his hand to the mattress. They were on one bed, and Riley and Mary Ann were on the other. Since leaving Joes house, the pair hadnt spoken a single word to each other. They were stiff, unwilling to even glance at each other.
Julian thinks he knows these guys. So, whos who?
A yawning Mary Ann stood and clomped over to study the photo. I saw pictures of Daniel on the internet. Thats him, and thats Robert.
No way, Julian said.
Caleb snickered, and Aden was heartened by the sound. If Julian was Robert, as Mary Ann suspected, then Julian had indeed been the guy with thinning hair and glasses.
He was known for communicating with the dead and helping the police find bodies. I printed out a few stories. She dug through a nylon bag Riley had fetched earlier and handed Aden a thick stack of papers. Should have given these to you before. Sorry.
No problem. Weve all been pretty busy.
Ive been thinking, she said. For you to absorb his soul into your mind, he would have had to die near the hospital. Which makes sense. His brother worked there, so Robert was probably visiting Daniel. What if he visited, raised one of the corpses in the morgue, and that corpse killed them both?
From what you told me before, only Daniel was found dead in the hospital that night, Riley said. And hed been mauled to death.
Right, Mary Ann agreed.
Well, well. Conversation.
Riley raised his arms as if shed just made his point for him. So where was Roberts body?
Never found. She shrugged. He just disappeared.
Well, he had to have died that night, too. And nearby, just as you said, or Aden wouldnt have absorbed him, Victoria said.
What if Aden absorbed Daniel? Riley asked.
Julian grabbed onto that rationale like a lifeline. The one with the hair? Im liking Rileys theory.
But Daniel had worked at the hospital for years, Mary Ann replied. Why hadnt he raised the dead before then? Someone would have noticed.
Riley arched a brow, looking her up and down with a darkness Aden had never before seen from him. Maybe he had latent abilities. It happens.
She popped her jaw. Maybe. So?
So, they all knew he was referring to her draining.
Please dont make me referee, Aden told them. Anyway, I think we can all agree Julian was one of the Smart brothers.
If by one of you mean the handsome one, then yes, I agree, Julian said.
Junior made a mewling sound in the back of Adens mind. The ever-growing monster was hungry. Again. And he was getting harder and harder to appease, craving more and at shorter intervals.
Ill read the stories, Aden said, and see if anything jumps out at Julian.
Going back in time helped Eve remember, Mary Ann reminded him. Maybe you should let Julian take over and take you back and relive one of the stories through his eyes.
Time travel. Nearly everyone in this room had suggested he go back at some point, and he couldnt seem to make them understand the consequences. Change something in the past, and you change something in the futurea something that could leave you snot-crying for what used to be.
Look at us, Aden, Mary Ann said. Can things get any worse than this?
Yes. Indubitably.
Well, I dont see how.
Okay, how about this? I could wake up and never have come to Crossroads. Never have met you.
Dark hope turned her eyes into fathomless pools. Maybe that would be a good thing.
Victorias chin trembled, as if she was fighting tears. Shes right. If you had not come to Crossroads, my father would not be after you.
Think about it, Aden, Riley said.
What was this? Gang up on Aden hour? Theres another way to help Julian, he said. And were all going to be fine. Arent we, Elijah?
Silence.
Hated silence.
Talk to me, please. He hunched forward, resting his face in his upraised hands. At the very least, argue the pros and cons of what theyre wanting. Not that Aden would ever consider going back. Dont just leave me hanging.
A sigh, familiar, adored, necessary. Im not going to tell you what Ive seen, Aden.
Finally, a response, and Aden was as relieved as he was irritated. After all this time, thats what Elijah had to say? So youve seenwhat? What happens if I go back? What happens if I dont? The end of this entire mess? He was used to hiding his conversations with the souls, yet here he was, talking as if the souls were in the room, too, and he wasnt embarrassed.